Maximum Ride Fan Fiction / Maximum Ride Fan Fiction ❯ If I Asked You To, Would You Kill Me? ❯ Vanishing Act ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 1

“Can you sense anything yet, Angel?” Max asked, beating her wings at a steady rate.

The young girl quickly stifled her yarn and answered sharply. “No, nothing yet Max.”

The teen leader balled up her fist even tighter, her anger flaring.

A voice whispered next to her, “It's been the same for the last fifty times you've asked. I did count.”

Max didn't even look to see who flew beside her. “And—what's your point, Iggy?”

The blind teen looked straight ahead as always, “Max…we've been in flight for 20 hours straight, a record even for you. They're trying to be strong and not show it, but though I cannot see, I can feel the others starting to lag behind. Ange is trying so hard to sense his thoughts and still keep flying. No one's drank or eaten anything, and that can be dangerous with our metabolism. We have to rest a bit.”

The set line of her jaw didn't change. Iggy couldn't see it, but he could here the stubborn determination in her voice. “I can't—I won't—stop until we find Fang. That's just all there is to it.”

“I know, but what do you thing Fang would do if he found out that you had sacrificed the flock, for him?”

She smiled ruefully, “He'd kill me. Alright, you've made your case; we'll get a half-hour rest.”

“Max…”

“Okay, okay! An hour rest. Jeesh, Iggy! You should be a lawyer when you grow up!”

He laughed aloud, “Whose ever hear of a blind lawyer?”

Max shouted out to the rest of the flock, “We'll land when we reach the next town; get something to eat, drink, and stuff.”

Nudge, Gasman, and Angel only nodded in confirmation, but she could practically hear their inaudible sighs of relief.

Maybe, Iggy was right. She could feel the fatigue in her own body; even her wings were beginning to cramp. Her adrenaline and inflexible fortitude had been what kept her going. And she would continue on relentlessly, even if her body fell apart.

She could still remember that awful day in her mind…

They had just come out of a gas station, bluffing their way into getting some food. A sudden gunshot had rung out through the air. Swiftly, they were in flight, pursued by a group of surprisingly agile, winged Erasers. They had fought back well, but it was soon found that these Erasers were much stronger than the ones before. She had had no choice but to tell the flock to flee, to separate and meet back up at selected coordinates.

She'd had no trouble shaking hers. In fact, the Eraser seemed to have just given up. She had dismissed it to her skills, but oh how wrong she was.

When they had finally met back up, she was surprised that Iggy had been the first one to meet up with her, but she had guessed that maybe Fang had had more trouble than she did. Slowly, they came in—Gazzy, Nudge, Ange—they had all come, all but Fang. She had wanted to start looking for him immediately, but they all decided to wait for a hour. He was a no-show. Finally, they went out to follow his trail from the battle site. Searching the ground, in the direction he had gone, they had found a heavily wooded area.

Nudge had used her ability to see if she could feel any of Fang's vibes. She began to pick up on them, about two miles from the mêlée area. They were of anger and…pain. They had also found blood, both Eraser blood and Fang's…

They had searched the entire night, and came to the same conclusion that they had all been thinking, when they had started the search: Fang was a POW. He'd been captured by the Erasers.

(A/N: For those who don't know, POW stands for Prisoner Of War. It the status soldiers get, if they are captured by the enemy.)

The next dawn, they had immediately started out for Florida once again. Back to Itex…

It was the only place she had to start with. It was a long shot that he was there, but she had vowed, that even if she had to search the worldtwice over, she would find him. She had to…

Fang had been her unofficial second-in-command. With him gone, she felt as if her right arm had been cut off. It seemed strange, but without him, life seemed very empty and silent. Everyone could feel the uneasy emptiness, even Angel and Total weren't their usual selves.

They had finally landed in what appeared to be a small town in Tennessee; after eating some leftover food from a nearby restaurant and finding a small abandoned field to sleep in, Total, Gasman, and Nudge fell asleep instantly, totally exhausted. That was when Angel came to her.

She smiled smoothing over her blond hair, “You should be sleep, Ange. We have another long day tomorrow.”

The cute little girl smiled back, “Don't worry Max, we're all worried about Fang.”

How did this girl always know what was on her mind? Oh yeah, I forgot, she's a telepath.

She gave the girl a big hug, “Thanks, I needed that.”

Angel whispered in her ear, “I fear for him.”

Max looked her in the face, giving her, her most reassuring smile she could. “He's going to be alright, hon. You'll see.”

The young seven-year-old shook her head, “No, that's not it. You see, remember when heard the gunshot, right before the Erasers attacked us?”

She nodded in return. She had thought at the time, that the Erasers must have been pretty desperate if they were going to fire in the open.

Angel went on, “Well, right after it went off and you told us to get down, I could feel and hear Fang's mind crying out! He sounded as if he was in a lot of pain, even though he didn't say anything with his mouth. Max…I think he was shot, and that's why he couldn't fight the Erasers like usual.”

Thinking back, Max tried to relive the moment in her mind. When the gun had gone off, she had been nearest Nudge. She remembered covering her with her own body. When she got up and quickly checked on her flock, she had just checked to see if they had all gotten up.

Now that she looked at it more closely, she did remember seeing Fang holding his jacket close together, not revealing his shirt. His eyes had closed as if trying to settle something. Had Fang been shot and not told anyone? That would certainly be like him, he wouldn't allow himself to slow anyone down. The fool…

She hugged Angel once again, “Thanks for telling me, now you'd better get your rest.”

That's when she heard the small snoring on her chest. The little fledgling had already fallen asleep, poor thing! She smiled and carefully laid her next to Total, putting her jacket over the both of them.

Sitting back in her space, she rubbed the bridge of her nose, fatigue settling in.

“You think he was shot?”

Scrunching her eyes together, she nodded, then realizing Iggy couldn't see that, she answered “Yes, it'd be like him to hide it from us.”

The fifteen-year-old nodded, “I thought as much, the beat of his wings were much slower than usual.”

Looking at him, she smiled. He noticed things that most others didn't. Most people dismissed Iggy because he was blind, but they didn't know that all his other senses were extremely heightened. He could see very well.

However, now that she really looked at him, she could see that his usually handsome face had a very haggard look about it. Fang and Iggy had often served as her right and left hand men. Now, Iggy was picking up the slack, and it was exhausting him. But, like Fang, he would never admit to it; he would support her no matter what.

She thought back to her comment earlier, about him being a lawyer. “You'd really be a great one, I'm serious. You have an acute sense about injustice.”

He cocked his head toward her, “What are you talking about?”

“You being a lawyer. I think you could really do it, once we get through with all this.”

He sniggered slightly, the firelight dancing in his sightless eyes. “I was only joking Max. I mean, how could I do something like that?”

Thinking back to something, she smiled muttering, “Daredevil…”

“What?” Iggy asked, not able to catch what she said.

“Daredevil” she said a little louder.

He sat back in his area, “That's what I thought you said. What do you mean by that?”

She held her hands closer to the fire, “You remember Sam from D.C.?”

“Yeah, the guy you went on your first date with?”

“Whatever, well Sam told me a story about his favorite hero, a man called Matt Murdock. He was young man who grew up in the slums of New York City. He was blinded when he was a boy, in an accident where he was hit by a truck driver, carrying drums of toxic waste. The toxic, radioactive liquid, caused him to lose his sense of sight forever, but it also mutated his DNA, so that the rest of his four senses were all practically superhumanly keen. He conquered his one weakness, by honing his newfound strengths. Soon, he could do things that many normal people couldn't do. He learned that things most people feared, (like heights) he wasn't afraid of. Later, he found out that his accident hadn't really been an accident. That truck was carrying illegal vats of waste. And not only that, but the same criminals responsible, later murdered his father. Angered that these criminals had went unpunished, Matt got a hunger for justice. He studied law, as well martial arts, sharpening both his mind, as well as his body. As time went by he became one of the best lawyers in the Big Apple by day, but at night, he was another kind of crime-fighter. A masked vigilante, known only as Daredevil: The Man Without Fear; a nightmare to all injustice.”

She looked up at Iggy, who was drawn in with wonder by the story. “But he couldn't have done any of that, if he hadn't been hit by the toxic waste. He turned his curse, into a blessing. He was now able to avenge his father's death, in ways he could only dream of, if he was normal. When Sam told me the story, I automatically thought of you, and how much you help us, because of who and what you are. Yes, you're blind, but that's what makes you special. There's no other man in the world like you, and…I would have it, no other way.”

The teen felt his cheeks flush, he had never felt so appreciated, or so strong before! Looking down, he smiled slightly, “Thanks Max, you don't know how much that means to me.”

She yarned and settled down to sleep, unable to keep her tiredness at bay. “You're welcome, Ig. Good night.”

He sat there, hearing her drift off. “Good night Maximum, I'll take the first watch.”

The fire began to die down, and the sounds of night life came with the wind. Iggy enjoyed the music of nature, while thinking of the story Max had told him. He made a vow to himself right then and there, he was going to be like Matt Murdock and become a lawyer. He was going to control his own destiny, from now on…