Holy crap, IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE UPDATED! I'M SO SORRY! Time just slips away! I've had the WORST writer's block... I feel like the story's been slowing down. I'm gonna try to pick up the pace and save all the boring backstories until later! Let's jump to the next plot point!

Also, thanks to all of my orange velvet shoes :D You know who you are.

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Close Enough to Dysfunctional

Juni's POV

Saige hurried into the room, panting. "No sign of Mom or Dad, but plenty of 'Max' bodies," she said. Dread seeped through me, are our parents even still alive?

Sara frowned and stood up. "We're not safe. Juni, you said that Dave's sending people?" I nodded. "Small child, accompany me outside. Keep a lookout for anyone less gorilla-like."

Cedar nodded and giggled. They swiftly exited the room, and I pulled myself to my feet, groaning. I turned to Saige, about to suggest that we do something productive, when the two came scrambling back into the room.

"BIRDS!" they screeched. I was confused for a moment, until two feathery creatures came flapping into the room. I shrieked and ducked for cover, until I heard maniacal laughter. Daring to peek from behind the couch, I saw two teenagers, a dark haired boy and a girl with pink hair doubled over in a fit of laughter. I frowned, and stood up. Sara had her hand on her hip and was glaring at them.

"Who the heck are you?" she asked. The girl straightened, grabbing the boy's arm for support.

"I'm Mack," she said, "and I'm Zack," the boy completed. "Listen, not much time to explain stuff," she said more seriously. "All you need to know is that Dave sent us, and you'll be stuck with us for a while."

I opened my mouth to ask for a little bit more of an explanation, but the boy cut me off. "Grab some bags and essentials. Food, clothes, money, stuff like that. Hurry up, too, if you don't wanna get left behind."

Sara, Saige, Cedar, and I all shared a look. These two seemed pretty crazy, but if Dave sent them, they have to be trustworthy. I sighed, and Mack grinned and gave us a thumbs-up.

* * *

With my Wolf Pack full, I met up with everyone outside the front door. We grabbed our bikes out of the shed, and Sara picked up her bike where she had left it before the attack. I looked away for a moment to tighten the screw on my bike seat, and when I looked back, there were two hawks where the twins had been. They're definitely like us, I thought.

The one with pink-tipped feathers, which I reasoned was Mack, said, "We're going north. Keep up if you can, slowpokes," before taking off into the air. The brown hawk followed in suit. I leapt onto my bike and sped forward, tearing down the county road that the hawks were following. The sun had risen, but it was still early in the morning - though it had seemed like days.

The wind whipped my black hair around, and I stood on the pedals and coasted down a hill. I felt like we were safer now, going away from the fight scene and towards our old friends.

Worry gnawed at my gut, worry about my parents, worry about what would happen once we got to Dave. I hoped that no Maximillxons would catch up to us, or anything worse...

We biked until noon, when Mack and Zack began to descend. They landed in front of us, then shifted into humans. We were on a small road, just at the base of a mountain. So far, we hadn't run into many vehicles, which was good. Adults would have questioned the motives of four children biking in the mountains in the middle of a school day.

"Let's take a break," Zack suggested. Those of us on bikes eagerly agreed, and we scrambled out of the harsh sun and into the shade of the trees along the road. Far enough into the trees that no one on the road could see us, we abandoned our bikes and sat on the ground, leaning against trees. Saige opened her Wolf Pack and pulled out assorted snacks and water bottles. I grabbed a bottle and a pack of Cheez-Its and wolfed them down - no pun intended.

Mack inhaled more granola bars than I though humanly possible. Then again, Mack wasn't entirely human. Zack sat still, a little ball of mystery as he stared off into the distance.

Mack finished up her last bite, then cleared her throat. "We still got a long ways to go, but we're away from the biggest danger now. We gotta keep moving, so they don't catch up with us, and take a different route than they'd expect."

Cedar tentatively raised his hand, as if he were going to answer a question in class. Mack grinned and gestured to him. "Yeah?"

"H-how far do we have to go?" Cedar asked.

Zack, quick as lightning, grabbed a stick from beside him and smoothed a patch of dirt. There, he began to draw something. "A... map?" I asked.

"Yes," he affirmed. A few more strokes later, he leaned back, and we scooted closer to his map. It was of the Midwest, with Colorado being the main focus. "We are located here," he said as he placed a small rock on Colorado, "and The Refuge is located here," he continued as he placed another stone on Nebraska. My eyes traced the trail that he proceeded to trace between them, and for the first time, the distance that we were going to travel finally sunk in.

"We're going to ride our bikes to... Missouri?" Cedar asked as he scratched his head.

"No," Zack said bluntly, "that is Nebraska, and we will travel naturally for a large portion of our journey."

"What do you mean, "naturally"?" Sara asked.

"I mean," Zack said, "as our animal counterparts." A few people shifted uncomfortably. Saige, Cedar, and I hadn't ever spoken to anyone besides our parents about this. Our parents...

"Juniper?" Zack asked as he snapped his fingers in front of my face. I snapped out of the trance I hadn't realized I was in.

"Aw, man," Mack said, "I was gonna dump water on her head to wake her up." She laughed, and I rolled my eyes at her.

Zack frowned. "Mackenzie, we cannot afford to waste any supplies. We all require extra calories the way it is, and we will not have many chances to aquire more food." Mack grumbled something inaudible, and I kind of began to feel bad for her. All she wanted was to make a little joke, but Zack was acting like a know-it-all.

Saige had pulled a small compass out of her pocket, and placed it on the map. She sunk deep into nerdy thought, twirling a piece of her orange hair around her finger as she always does when concentrating. Mack sighed and laid down on her back, sprawled out like a starfish. Cedar grabbed some twigs and leaves and began to build a small structure, and Sara pulled out her phone and began tapping away on some orange-themed app.

I sighed, and leaned back against a tree. We get along well enough, but we're still dysfunctional. It was going to take a miracle for them to get to Dave, all in one piece.