Twenty Eight

Max POV

By the time we reached the quiet truck stop, it was just opening. There was no one inside yet but the cashier and she watched us strangely as I purchased the showers. I wandered around the store and picked out shirts and hoodies for us. Fang's was shredded from the glass anyway. I tossed him his things and we departed.

I know, taking a shower at a truck stop doesn't sound like the best thing for us right now. But I was exhausted, angry, in pain, freezing, starving, my feathers were burnt, and our cabin had just burned down. Give me a freaking break already. I turned on the hot water and stood there for a few moments, allowing the warmth to reenter my body. I needed this more than I realized. My new plan was to warm up, get clean, get dressed, and then find some food. Fang and I hadn't eaten in at least three days, and I knew I was starving. I rinsed the suds from my hair and watched the black mud, soot, and other debris run down the drain.

"Feel better?" I asked Fang as he met me by the door. His black hair was still damp and he looked at me through the strands. He nodded, shrugging on his new hoodie. Both were gray, a universal hoodie. His t shirt looked crisp as well. We walked out of the truck stop and moved down into the small town further. I was looking for a food place, like a sandwich shop or a burger joint. I had 60 bucks left on this card, and I didn't want to blow it all on some fancy restaurant.

"There." Fang said, pointing. I glanced towards the small shop. It was a log cabin place, and had the words Jason's Pizzeria printed in bold black letters. I immediately moved towards it. Pizza sounded amazing right now. We walked into the shop and were instantly hit with a warm wall of smells. Dough, tomatoes, cheese, herbs, heaven. I felt like my knees would give out as I walked up to the front counter.

"Two large pizzas with everything on them." I said to the man standing there. He nodded silently and typed it into his register. The total came out to 12 even, not bad for us. We took our seats in a large booth next to the window. Fang sat across from me, his shoulder still stiff. He leaned back against the booth and watched people walk by, his hands in his front hoodie pockets. I swallowed hard and saw a family step in, toting two small children. They were small, no more than 6 or 7. They reminded me of Angel and Gazzy, and my heart clenched. I hoped they were doing ok back at moms. I glanced back over at Fang, his exhausted eyes tracking the family as well. He had scratches on his cheek and jaw that I hadn't noticed before. His dark eyes were clouded over and flickered between people carefully.

We waited for a while, and it felt like an eternity. I guess making pizza from scratch takes a long time. That or I just felt like it was forever. The smells of this place were torturous, especially when we were both so hungry. Fang shifted uncomfortably across from me, sighing tiredly.

Fang POV

Max watched the people around us just as I was. I had no idea if any of these people were the ones who had attacked us just this morning. Ari's goons could morph and blend right into the general population with ease. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the bell over the door clang as someone exited. My stomach felt like a tight fist under my ribs. The warmth from this place made me want to find a safe corner and just pass out. I blinked hazily and watched the two small kids walk into the store with their parents. They couldn't be any older than Gazzy or Angel. Max had her eyes on them as well. My stomach growled painfully, and I felt light headed.

"Order number 7." A man called from the counter and Max shot up to go retrieve it. She came back with two massive pizzas. She set them on the table and sat down with a sigh. Both pizzas were piled high with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, sausage, pepperoni, thick cheese, and olives. The smells were amazing and I swear I had died and gone to heaven. Max started on the first pizza, I began on the second.

About twenty minutes later, we were sitting back against the booth's cushions, eyes half open, and bellies way too full. We had easily finished off both pizzas and the people behind the counter were gawking at us. I sighed, leaning my head against the seat and struggled to keep my eyes open. Max seemed to be fighting a similar battle. A man came to take away the empty sheet pans and left us alone.

"Is there anywhere we can sleep?" Max sighed, and I shrugged lightly. "How about an unattended car?" I glanced out the frosted over window and watched the slow traffic. A gray minivan across the road was parked in the alleyway. Max followed my gaze. "That'll do."

"Then let's go." I forced myself up from the booth, my body protesting. We opened the door of the pizzeria and the icy wind met us once more on the other side. We hurried through the snow and the slushy road towards the empty vehicle. Max got into the drivers side and I began looking for a spare key. They were usually tucked away in the glove box, under the floor mat, in the sun visor, anywhere basically. My fingers ran across the smooth metal object in the glove compartment as Max was trying to pull wires from under the steering wheel. I handed her the key and she took it. We lurched from the alleyway and slid slightly on the frozen road.

"We need to get out of town, way out of the way. We have to drive all the way to Chicago now." Max groaned, hitting the gas harder. I buckled and looked out the window, my mind feeling foggy.

Max POV

I'd drive a little further out, probably another couple of miles, and then I'd park. I had seen signs of a national park and knew we could park in the lot there and relax some. Fang was already asleep, leaned back in his seat. The seats in this van were reclinable, which was a godsend. My eyes felt heavy and I had to keep jerking myself awake. There, the parking lot was just ahead. I pulled us around into it and picked a spot farthest from anyone else. I turned off the engine and reclined the seat back.

Fang didn't move, completely out cold. I sighed and closed my eyes at last, feeling the heavy curtains of sleep draping over me. I had missed being full, missed sleep, missed warmth. I put my hands in my hoodie pockets and opened my eyes to glance over at Fang again. He was reclined back as well, breathing steadily and calmly. I'd let us sleep for a few hours and then we had to get back on the road. We would lose some time now that we weren't flying and we couldn't afford to sleep for too long.

Valencia POV

I was beginning to worry for Max and Fang. They had promised to call us long before now, and we had yet to hear from them. Gazzy had calmed down some but unlike his sister or Nudge, he always asked me about them. Angel seemed unbothered by their absence of communication, while Nudge occasionally would wonder. I sat at the kitchen table with a mug of tea and watched the sun set. Angel walked into the room and plopped down in the chair across from me. I smiled at her.

"You don't have to worry about them, you know?" She said and I blinked in surprise. "Everyone is so worried for Max and Fang."

"Well, we haven't heard from them in quite a while."

"They lost their phone. A lot has happened to them since they've left." She sighed, leaning her arms on the table, resting her chin on her elbows. I could only assume she knew this because she could either sense it or she could read their minds all the way from here. Either way, Angel had some interesting powers at astonishing levels of accuracy.

"Are they ok?" I found myself asking the 7 year old. She nodded and looked out the window at the sun.

"Their bus crashed and Fang got hurt. Then they flew all the way to Missouri, but Ari and a band of his goons found them. They're in a stolen van on the border of Illinois."

"Oh my god." I breathed, shocked at all the trouble they had been through. "Why aren't they flying?"

"Their cabin burned down, and their feathers were damaged." She blinked up at me, her face totally innocent. I shook my head, amazed at her ability of keeping tabs with Max and Fang. They didn't even need a phone it seemed. Angel could always tell if they were in trouble. But she had also withheld all this information from us until now as well. Apparently it was a habit of hers.

"At least they have a car. Illinois winters are one of the coldest in the country. Aside from Maine, I'm pretty sure."

"They won't have it for long." Angel got up and stretched. "Feel better now? I can hear you over here worrying all the time." She turned and walked back upstairs towards her bedroom, leaving me at the table still confused.

Max POV

I opened my eyes slowly, my vision blurry from sleep. I could make out the frosted windows of the van, snow on the hood, and the blanket of white extending over the land outside. The interior of the car was freezing, probably why I had woken up. Fang was asleep in the passenger seat, reclined back with his hands folded over his stomach. I sat up carefully and stiffly, glancing down at my watch. We had been asleep for 4 hours. I inserted the key and tried to turn over the engine. The noise woke Fang and he opened his eyes to look at me.

"This stupid van. How old is this thing?" I cursed as the engine sputtered into life. Fang didn't answer but stretched, pulling his seat back up.

"We'll need gas soon." He said calmly as I jerked the shifter into drive. We rolled down the quiet highway. I glanced down at the gauge, we only had a quarter of a tank remaining. It would be enough to get us over into Illinois and maybe to a gas station, but I really didn't want to waste money on gas. I glanced over at Fang's left wing and at the new feathers already coming through. Perhaps we'd be able to fly in a couple of nights.