“Were there dolphins?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. They’re really mad. Hey, Total. Come out with me. Practice breathing under water.”
Total wrinkled his nose. “No gills,” he said. “And I’m still getting used to the wings.”
I was stuck on the angry dolphins, but Angel frowned at Total, then at me and Fang. “You guys all really need to practice breathing under water,” she said urgently. “It’s really important. I want you to practice right now.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think any of us can breathe under water except you,” I said. “Remember when Gazzy tried? He barfed up half the ocean. And what do you mean, the dolphins are mad?”
“I really think you guys should try,” Angel said, wearing her familiar and dreaded “I’m not gonna let this go” expression. “You might have developed gills by now.”
“Don’t think so,” I said. “Now, back to the angry dolphins —”
A piercing scream stopped me, and Fang and I leaped to our feet.
A woman was standing at the edge of the ocean, pointing frantically at a small boy being swept out to sea. “A riptide got him!” the woman screamed. “Someone help him! Call nine-one-one!” She plunged into the water but stopped when it reached her waist.
Gazzy and Iggy had set off after the kid, but the tide had pulled him amazingly far out in just a few moments. Fang and I looked at each other, then whipped off our jackets at the same time. Ignoring all the bystanders, we sped across the sand. Right as we reached the small cresting waves of the ocean, we snapped out our wings and jumped up into the air.
Working powerfully, we raced low over the water. The spray misted my face, the wind whipped through my hair, and I could smell the salt air. We were flying again. It felt like we hardly ever got a chance to anymore.
We were incredibly fast, but not fast enough. When we were almost there, the boy sank beneath the waves, his small arms still reaching up. In an instant, we angled down sharply, folding back our wings, and hit the water.
It was so clear that we immediately saw the kid’s bright red rash-guard shirt. His eyes were closed, his face still and pale in the aqua light. We each grabbed an arm, then shot up toward the surface with as much force as we could, popping out of the water like corks, hoping we could get airborne.
It worked. Our wings brushed against each other, but we managed to get aloft and streaked back to land. Sadly, our landing was less than graceful because of our shared cargo, but we thunked to a stop in the sand without falling and put the boy down.
“I know CPR!” a man shouted, already kneeling. Within less than a minute, the little boy was gagging and retching, then gasping for air. “Mom?” he choked out, and then the woman hauled him into her arms. They were both crying, holding each other tight.
Fang and I faded back to where the flock was waiting with Total and Akila.
Angel looked at us accusingly. “You didn’t even practice breathing under water just now, did you?”
40
WHAT THE HECK — everyone had already seen the wings, so there was no point waiting for the tram to take us back to Navy Central. Instead, the six of us hit the skies, the warm breeze sticking our sodden clothes to our bodies. Total flew alongside me, still awkward with the whole flapping thing. He was getting better, though. Iggy and Fang took turns carrying Akila, who was eighty pounds of hot fur. Total talked to her reassuringly, but she was not thrilled to be this high up.
It took about two minutes to get back to the base, and we came down on the training field, landing smoothly and lightly in front of about a hundred stunned ensigns. The next thing we knew, John Abate, Brigid Dwyer, and Lieutenant Colonel Palmer were hurrying toward us.
“You’re heroes!” John said, waving. “We just heard about your daring sea rescue.”
I stared. “How did you hear so quickly?”
“We have you under surveillance. For safety reasons,” said the lieutenant colonel stiffly. Actually, he seemed incapable of speaking in any other way, so from now on, if he talks, assume it’s “stiffly” and I’ll quit putting that in, okay?
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” I muttered, heading off to our hut to change.
“Fang!” said Brigid, pushing past me. “I can’t believe you risked your life for that little boy! You’re wonderful!”
I gazed openmouthed as Brigid gave Fang a big bear hug, wrapping her arms around him. I was about to say, “I risked my life too,” but then realized I didn’t want her to hug me. And I didn’t want to look petty. And the truth was, the rescue had been a snap, compared to other situations, like when Angel and the dogs had been trapped in an ice crevasse in Antarctica. Or when we’d all been in a huge cage, and my half brother, Ari, had literally chewed his way through its metal bars to set us free. For example.
Today we hadn’t risked anything except the possibility of our new jeans shrinking up on us. My jaw set in disgust as I stalked past them, my stomach clenching at the sight of Brigid pressed against Fang like ugly on an ape.
“You must come have dinner with us at the Officer’s Mess,” Brigid gushed.
“Uh, I’m busy,” Fang muttered.
My eyes widened, but I kept walking and refused to turn around. That’s me: suave Max.
“Hey,” Fang said, falling into step with me. I looked at him. “We have to eat. Let’s you and me go into town. I’ll treat you to the best artery-clogging Hawaiian food we can find.”
My heart began thudding painfully inside my chest. I wondered if Fang could hear it. “You mean the whole flock?” I asked casually, trying not to shriek with tension.
“Nah. They can eat at the Officer’s Mess with Brigid and John,” he said.
I stopped and looked into his eyes, seeing nothing but my own reflection, as usual. “Just you and me?” I repeated, barely hanging on to my suavity by my fingernails.
His eyes were unreadable. “Yeah.”
“Hawaiian food?”
“Yeah.”
I was still grossed out by the Brigid display and wanted to coolly brush past him with a mild, “I’ll think about it.” But the combination of having Fang all to myself, plus fun food, was rapidly pummeling my self-respect into the dust. Then I remembered something.
“The last time we… left the flock, all heck broke loose,” I reminded him.
He grinned, one of those rare Fang grins that lights up his face and makes the sun stop in its tracks.
“This time they’re protected by the U.S. Navy,” he pointed out.
I laughed, relief flooding through me. “Well, okay. You got me there.” Oh, boy, did he have me.
41
WAS THIS A DATE? Those four words kept swirling through my mind, over and over, and it was getting to the point where I wanted the old Voice back, just for a change of pace, to hear someone who at least pretended to be rational.
Which I so wasn’t. The whole thing was like a dream. All I knew was that we were in Honolulu. There were festive streetlights and store windows everywhere, crowds of people walking past, many sailors in uniform, an ocean, kind of all around us, and…
Me and Fang. Holding hands and eating ice cream.
And the flock was safe on a giant naval base where you couldn’t even spit without hitting an antiaircraft missile.
If life got better than this, I didn’t think I could take it.
I wanted time to stand still, and not in the creepy, someone-injected-drugs-into-my-brain-so-time-has-become-meaningless kind of way but just… every second had weight. My skin was tingling, my brain was racing, and everything seemed extra whatever it was. Extrafun. Extrabeautiful. Extrayummy.
The hand holding Fang’s seemed to have three times as many sense receptors, and I hoped it wasn’t some new ability showing up. I was still worried about gills appearing.
This totally felt like a date.
And the beautiful part? He’d turned down Dr. Stupendous to be with moi. He’d dissed her and dismissed her, so he could eat kimchi and ice cream with yo
urs featherly.
“Max?”
I suddenly became aware that Fang had said my name like three times. Now he stopped and looked at me. “Are you okay? Is the Voice back, giving you instructions?”
“Uh-huh. It’s in the middle of the crossword of the day.”
He smiled, and we kept walking.
“No, I was just spacing out,” I said, licking my ice cream. I had gotten a double scoop of mint chocolate chip and orange sherbet, two great tastes that tasted great together.
“Well, tomorrow we leap into action,” he said. “So, last chance to space out for a while.”
“Yeah. I just hope —”
“I know. I’m sure she’s okay. We’ll get there in time. And I promise to let you take her kidnappers apart all by yourself.”
He knew me so well. “Thanks. It’s just — it’s bad enough to worry about the flock. Is Nudge okay, is everyone here, are we together, are we safe? I can’t stand the circle getting bigger. I can only worry about so much before my head explodes, you know?”
He nodded. “You know I got your back. You’re not alone.”
I couldn’t speak for a moment, so I swallowed hard and cleaned up a drip making its way down my sugar cone. “Thanks,” I said finally. “I know.” Suddenly we were at a metal railing, looking out at water. “Oh! Is this the ocean?”
“It keeps cropping up. What with the islandness and all.”
Fang dropped my hand to put his arm around my shoulders, his warmth searing my skin through my jacket. I really, really hoped that I hadn’t suddenly sprouted a catrillion new nerve endings. Yes, it would make moments like this better, but the downside? Pain and torture would be a million times worse. Guess which one I was more likely to come up against?
I finished my cone, sucking the ice cream out of the hole in the bottom before I realized how tacky and ungirl-like that was. Oops. I wiped my hands on my jeans and looked out at the deep blue water, glistening with moonlight, knowing that somewhere my mom was being held captive beneath it.
Then I realized that despite everything, I felt… happy? Safe? Complete? I didn’t know what to call it. It wasn’t something that I was on familiar terms with. I just knew I didn’t want this night to end.
I mean, I did, of course — because when the night ended, we would finally, finally, finally go save my mom.
But besides that, I didn’t want this night to end.
“Max.” Fang put two fingers under my chin — I hoped it wasn’t sticky but wasn’t sure — and gently turned me to face him. “You’re a million miles away again.”
“Sorry.” Once more I cursed Jeb for not grafting the gift of gab into my DNA. Jerk.
“Are you too worried about your mom? Do you want to head back?”
“No,” I said, meeting his gaze. “No. I’m okay. Just — kind of overwhelmed.” I gave a little cough. “I don’t want to go back. I want to be here with you.”
Something lit in his black eyes. “Yeah?”
I nodded.
“So… you’re choosing me?”
Okay, if this is what falling in love feels like, someone please kill me now. (Not literally, overzealous readers.) But it was all too much — too much emotion, too much happiness, too much longing, perhaps too much ice cream…
I had to grip the metal railing hard with both hands so I wouldn’t throw myself over it, to streak away into the night, into darkness and safety. Tough it out, Max, I told myself — or maybe it was the Voice.
But it didn’t matter, because then Fang leaned down and kissed me, and I put my arms around him, right there in front of everyone, and kissed him back with everything I had.
And then, all heck broke loose.
Of course.
Because this is my life, right?
42
“I MISS HER, but… it’s kind of nice not having Nudge around being all goody-goody,” Gazzy whispered as they quietly shut the Quonset hut door behind them.
“How can you say that? I totally miss her.” Angel breathed. “Oh — guards ahead at two o’clock. Let’s detour.”
Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel pressed themselves into the shadows as MPs carrying rifles marched by on their rounds. When the MPs were out of earshot, the three bird kids hustled across the training field to the high fence, then nimbly flew over it and headed to the beach, well below any radar.
When they’d landed on the sand, Gazzy continued. “I miss Nudge too — a lot. But you know she was always the one who’d be like, ‘We better ask Max. Maybe we shouldn’t do this. Are you sure that’s okay?’ and stuff.” Gazzy had mimicked Nudge’s voice so perfectly that the other two, for a split second, expected to see her standing right there next to them.
“Well, Nudge isn’t here,” said Iggy, kicking off his shoes. “I wish she was, annoying caution and all. But since she isn’t” — he turned and grinned — “we can try the super-duper-oxygen-scoopers!” He held up a couple of contraptions that consisted of pilfered scuba masks, a vacuum cleaner hose, the motor from a blender, and some charcoal briquettes.
Gazzy held out his hand. “Super-duper-oxygen-scooper, please,” he said solemnly. He and Iggy each donned a contraption.
“You guys should really just try breathing under water,” Angel said, her hands on her hips. “It’s really important! Just try!”
“The last time I tried, I hurled for half an hour,” Gazzy said, his voice muffled by the tube in his mouth. “Max still won’t swim in that stretch of ocean off the East Coast. Nope, for me, it’s the latest handy-dandy inventionuoso by that brilliant duo of mutant scientists: Iggy and the Gasman! Who have genius programmed right in!”
Angel rolled her eyes behind her goggles, which Gazzy could easily see in the bright moonlight. Then she jumped upward, spread her pure-white wings, and flew out over the water. Gazzy and Iggy followed her.
When they were about a quarter mile from shore, they all folded back their wings, and dove in.
Even at night, with their raptor eyesight, they could see a whole different world under water, and set off to explore.
The super-duper-oxygen-scoopers worked as planned, siphoning ocean water through some filters, separating the air out, and shunting it into the boys’ mouths. Gazzy took Iggy’s hand and touched it to his own, which was making a triumphant thumbs-up. Iggy nodded enthusiastically.
Look! Sharks!
Angel’s thought floated into Gazzy’s brain, and for a second he was jealous that his own flesh-and-blood-and-feather sister could do that and he couldn’t. But his head swiveled until he saw Iggy pointing to the left. His heart quickened as he saw the enormous hammerhead shark seeming to glide lazily through the water.
Iggy took the rebreather out of his mouth. “I can sort of see down here!” His words were bubbly and indistinct, but Gazzy and Angel could make them out. “It’s like my echolocation works superwell!” He grinned hugely, then put his rebreather back in. “Oh. Big sharks.”
Again Gazzy turned to see several more hammerheads slowly undulating through the water. He was close enough to see their weirdly dead-looking eyes, and he shivered. Meeting Angel’s glance, he signaled to her: make them go away. She nodded, looking disappointed, then fastened her gaze on the huge fish.
It took several moments, and Gazzy had no idea what she told them, but the sharks gradually drifted away. Breathing a bubbly sigh of relief, Gazzy swam toward the large coral reef. He almost wished he could live under water all the time. It was so peaceful. There were so many amazing things to see — starfish clinging to the reef, a million different kinds of fish, some of them tiny and brilliantly colored, and some of them —
“Waugh!” Gazzy shouted into his rebreather. Right next to him, about three times as big as he is, was an enormous silver fish, its body shaped like a gigantic silver dollar rimmed with bright orange red fins.
The fish looked at him. Gazzy, frozen, looked back. The fish seemed to tilt its head to one side, puzzling over Gazzy, who could hardly breathe.
Angel
swam up, smiling. She reached out her hand and stroked the shiny silver side. The fish seemed to enjoy it and turned to her. Angel tickled under its chin. Gazzy could swear that it grinned. Slowly he stretched out his own hand and patted the fish’s side. It was smooth and cool, with tiny ruffled scales. It was like a big fish-dog, practically wagging its tail fin with delight.
Then two things happened: First, several sudden, searing strings brushed against Gazzy’s face and arms, causing him to shriek and almost lose the rebreather. And then Iggy shouted: “Sharks! Sharks! And they’re bloody!”
The pain on his face and arms was so intense, Gazzy felt like he might pass out. But through the bloody water, he could blearily see the hammerheads thrashing, eating something big and white.
At that moment several of the enormous predators turned and spotted Iggy, Angel, and Gazzy. They no longer looked calm and placid. They looked sharp, powerful, fast, and hungry. With jaws agape to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth, they whipped their long tails back and forth, speeding toward the three bird kids.
43
OKAY, I CONFESS: When I heard the deep, rumbling noises and picked up on the bright flashes, even through my closed eyelids, all I thought was, Oh, my God. Fang is rocking my world! Just like those teen magazines say: “Does he put stars in your eyes? Does your heart skip a beat? Does the earth move whenever he’s around?”
I was thinking, Yes, yes, yes! All of those things!
Then I realized it was partly Fang and partly a bunch of M-Geeks with automatic weapons. The area around me was being strafed with bullets. Because this is me we’re talking about, not some cute teenager with shiny hair, a perfect smile, and no wings.
“Duck!” Fang yelled, pushing me to the ground and rolling with me under a cement bench. All around us, bullets sent chips of concrete ricocheting through the air. One shard hit my cheek, and I winced at the sting.
Max: A Maximum Ride Novel Page 10