Part 8 (1/2)
”Hey, guys,” I said, a little too loud. ”Everyone okay?”
n.o.body moved, not even my mom, who, of all people, I thought I could count on to lead the Max welcoming committee.
”Mom?” I said, walking over to the couch where she was resting. ”How's your arm?”
She looked at me, and I felt... empty. I mean, my mom was the person who had taught me that people really can show love through their eyes. Maybe I was imagining things, but she just seemed... different.
”It's okay,” she said. ”How are you, Max?” She sounded like she didn't care much one way or the other.
”I'm fine,” I said. ”I'm sorry I stayed out all night. We decided to try to spy on the Gen 77 school, and-”
”Did you find Hans's body?” she said, interrupting me.
”No. We looked, but we ended up finding these spider-eyed 'noid kids, who-”
”That's great, honey. Can you scoot over a bit? I'm trying to watch the news.”
Angel, Dylan, and I looked at one another, like Okayyy, Okayyy, then we really took in the view: then we really took in the view: Nudge, covered in bandages, was lying quietly on the floor by herself, looking miserable.
Gazzy was sitting at a table playing with Ella's old Legos. He was making little people. Not making houses and then exploding them, not blowing things up. Just making little people. Quietly.
Jeb was on crutches, brooding, watching Gazzy from across the room. He looked distraught. Okay, I'll give him a pa.s.s since he'd been one breath away from pancaking.
Ella and Iggy were sitting in the kitchen, putting peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly on saltine crackers. Ella was chatting up a storm, and Ig was nodding enthusiastically at her like a bobblehead doll, an idiotic grin on his face. Neither of them even acknowledged my presence.
My heart seized with sudden understanding: the flock was majorly peeved at me for ditching them in the desert.
Dylan sensed that I was on edge and stepped closer to support me. I was freaking out. It would've been so nice just to lean into his warmth...
Instead, I shot him a look that said ”I will break your fingers like a nutcracker if you touch me right now” and turned to Angel.
”Ange? Powwow. Stat.” I said.
She nodded. I felt a pang of regret when I saw Dylan's hurt face as Angel and I walked out onto the deck, but the flock was my first priority, regardless of those fluttery feelings I kept having that were severely cramping my style.
”Oh, my G.o.d,” I said as soon as we were outside. ”Why didn't you warn me? Is it just me? They're totally giving me the cold shoulder, aren't they? Are they trying to punish me?”
Angel shook her head. ”Don't worry, Max. They'll get over it. They're mostly just exhausted and in shock from everything. Something happened between Gazzy and Jeb out there, and I think Gazzy's still reeling, but he's okay.”
”But even my mom...”
Angel c.o.c.ked her head as if she knew something I didn't. ”Yeah, something's kind of up with your mom.” I tensed, but Angel continued. ”I'm way more worried about Ella and Iggy, though.”
”Yeah,” I huffed. ”Could they be any more annoying with all that puppy-eyed sappiness? It's like a barfwich in there.”
”No, it's more than that,” Angel said. ”But I can't quite put my finger on it. It's just-I can always dip into their minds. Not that I do, of course,” she added quickly.
”No, of course not,” I said.
”They just don't feel like themselves. I mean, they haven't been replaced with clever replicas or bots. It's definitely them. But they're a little-off.” She frowned.
”Okay,” I said, ”Let's find out what the deal is with the Stepford Flock.”
32.
”MY FRIEND WAS on TV earlier,” Ella said, all up in my grill.
She licked peanut b.u.t.ter off her fingers and handed a paper towel to Iggy.
”Oh yeah?” I asked, backing up. ”Which friend?”
”Someone from school,” she said. ”They had this huge rally with all the schools from the district. We talked about the earth and everything that was wrong with it and all the changes that needed to be made,” she said, breathless. ”You would've loved it, Max. Then we had to stand up and make a pledge if we cared enough about the world to take action, and I stood up, and then they paired us with new friends, and my friend was the best. He told me everything was going to be okay if we just followed his lead, and I believe him, Max. It's going to be beautiful.”
”Hey, you know I'm all for fixing the planet,” I said. But Ella seemed a little... fanatical all of a sudden.
My mom looked up. ”Was that the friend who brought the flyers by?”
”What flyers?” Dylan asked.
”The flyers are an invitation to change,” Ella said earnestly.
”Yeah, I can see you've already RSVP'd,” I said, eyeing her.
”It's really amazing, Max,” said Iggy, waving a couple of bright sheets of colored paper at me. ”You have to trust the message and take action. We need to hand these out to everyone we know, so they can join the cause.”
I raised an eyebrow. Cynical Iggy wants to ”join the cause”? I was officially creeped out.
Angel, Dylan, and I all looked at each other.
”Yeah?” I said, feigning interest. ”Let's see 'em.”
”Sure,” said Robo Iggy.
I unfolded the magenta paper to find pictures of smiling kids and these words: We know you're special! We know you're one of us.We care care about you. Come join us and learn about the message of the One Light. about you. Come join us and learn about the message of the One Light.Brought to you, with love and caring, by the Doomsday Group ” 'Love' and 'caring' and 'Doomsday Group' don't seem to go together,” Dylan said, leaning over my shoulder and making the hairs on my neck stand up. ”Who's this Doomsday Group, and what are they selling?”
”Basically, they make it sound like a big, ecofriendly glee club,” I said. ”But it seems a little over the top.”
Nudge got up and slunk over, looking absolutely wrecked. ”Ella's been ranting about this all afternoon,” she whispered. ”At first I thought Iggy was just being supercute and lovey-dovey and humoring her, but since that weirdo came to the door and talked to him, he's started to seem really wonky.”