Critical Condition

Chapter 6

Angel POV

Fang may have not wanted to ride in a car for 3 days up to New York, but I was glad of it. The monsoon season wasn't even close to being over, and now I watched as bursts of lightning streaked across the dark sky.

"Fang, we would have been grounded anyway." I said quietly and he nodded with a deep sigh. He leaned against the door of the car, gazing out the window. Dr Martinez remained quiet, keeping her attention on the mild traffic in front of us. We had been driving for 3 hours already, making our way into the Sonoran Desert. It was a large strip of land with no civilization anywhere for miles.

"We can take turns driving if you want, Fang." Dr Valencia broke the silence after a while. "I don't care if you have no license, I'm sure you've driven cars before, and we need to make the most of our time."

"Yeah." Fang said, absentmindedly.

"We need to stop for gas." Dr Martinez said, dragging me out of a listless sleep. I sat up in the back seat, not even aware I had fallen asleep. Fang was asleep against the door, his head leaned against the chair back. I reached up and put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened and he looked over at me. He hadn't been asleep after all.

"You ok?" He asked and I nodded, leaning back into the car seat. My legs ached, my mind was bored, God driving sucks. No wonder Fang was so reluctant. To make matters worse, I was starving. I had begun to get hungry several hours ago but I didn't want to say anything to slow us down. I wasn't the only one though, as i had heard Fangs stomach growl a few times now, though he ignored it as well.

"Where is the closest gas station?" Fang groaned, stretching his arms over his head. He cracked his back.

"Not for another half hour, we'll make it." Dr Martinez said. Half an hour would drag by so slowly now.

Fang POV

I felt my stomach growl loud and long under my folded hands. Damnit, I didn't want to stop and slow this trip down even more than it was taking already. But I was so hungry. I opened my eyes finally and looked at Angel through the rear view mirror. She was asleep in the back seat. I had been able to sleep as well for several hours, which was good at passing time, but I woke up feeling hollow and like I could eat an elephant.

"We'll stop to eat at the rest stop. We can get gas there as well." Dr Martinez said after a while. Angel slumped in her seat behind us, obviously disappointed with the time it would take for us to get there. I looked out the window at the rain pelting against the window. Don't worry Max, we're on our way.

Dr Martinez POV

I was so anxious and upset as I tried to focus on the road in front of me. How could this have happened? Who was Ben? I glanced over at Fang as I heard his stomach growl loudly. He and Angel were both starving while I was only slightly hungry. I could only imagine what it was like being on the run constantly, where they had little to no access to food. Fang didn't move though as he leaned against the door with his eyes closed. His thin frame leaned against the car seat and I could see his black feathers. I looked back at the road. It was 4 PM, we needed to get as much driving done as we could before nightfall.

...

Fang POV

We parked in front of a gas pump at last and Dr Martinez got out of the car. I sighed deeply, knowing we could have been halfway to New York by now had we flown. Though Angel had been right. The storms here wouldn't have allowed us to get far. The sun was low in the sky now, about two hours of daylight remained. I inhaled deeply as the wafting aroma of burgers came across the car, my stomach growling in response.

"Go get us some dinner, take my card." Dr Martinez said and handed me the red piece of plastic. I hope she realized that she was traveling with two bird kids with bottomless pits for stomachs...

Max POV

"Ugh," I heard a voice groan. I opened my eyes and instantly regretted it, as burning light seared my retinas. Shielding my face, I forced myself to sit up. I was in a small cell like area, with concrete floors and a steel ceiling. The walls were plexiglass and soundproof, as I could see the whitecoats talking outside of it. The groan had been from Iggy, who was sitting next to me, leaned against the wall. All my senses finally began to come back to me. I jerked fully awake and scanned the cell, but saw no sign of Gazzy or Nudge.

"Iggy! Where is everyone?" I said frantically, scrambling to my feet.

"How should I know?" he said angrilly and stood next to me. This was so bad, I couldnt remember much of anything. I remembered Ben talking strangely and Erasers swarming, but then I blacked out. I rubbed the goose egg on my head painfully.

"Maximum Ride, it's been a while." A voice boomed over an intercom in the cell. I froze as my heart skipped a beat. Jeb...

A/N

I only highlighted the POV's for this chapter because i kept on switching back and forth sorry