“I want to do it too!” said Gazzy, sitting very, very quietly, completely motionless.

“Nope,” said Nudge, shaking her head. “You stand out like a fart in church.”

“Appropriately enough,” I muttered.

“What about me?” Iggy asked. He folded his wings in and went statue still.

“No, you’re visible,” I told him.

“Am not!” Iggy said.

I hurled a big prickly pinecone at him and heard it thunk hard against his chest. He howled in pain.

“Could I do that if I couldn’t see you?” I pointed out.

“Seriously, you can’t see me?” Fang sounded pleased.

“Not when you’re still and quiet,” I admitted.

He smiled big, and it was horrible, seeing only a mouthful of white teeth against the rough tree bark. He shook his head, and bam, there he was, all of him. I started to get an idea of how incredibly annoying he could make himself with this skill.

“Oh, guys, I had a couple thoughts I wanted to go over with you,” I said, suddenly remembering. I heard Total mutter something, but I paid no attention.

Iggy pretended to snore loudly. I threw another pinecone at him.

“Quit throwing things at me!” He rubbed his arm.

“Glad you could join us,” I said. “Now, listen up. We’re on the road again. Erasers don’t seem to exist anymore, and we haven’t seen any Flyboys. But you know whatever’s left of Itex is regrouping and gearing up for the next war. Plus, someone tried to explode us. So, a couple guidelines: We need to move every other day, keep on the go. No staying in one place more than forty-eight hours.”

“Ugh,” Total said. He was curled up in Angel’s lap.

“We will not make friends with humans until after the apocalypse,” I went on, ticking items off on my fingers.

“What’s the apocalypse?” Gazzy asked.

“Basically, the complete destruction of the world as we know it. And we will not trust humans, even after the apocalypse.”

But Max, you’re mostly human, said the Voice.

So were Erasers, I shot back. Besides, you know what I mean.

“However,” I went on, “I do want us to try to recognize the good in things. Like my mom. And Ella. And chocolate-chip cookies. It just seems like we shouldn’t let our enemies make us all bitter and full of hate and stuff.”

I waited for everyone to give me a hard time about being all Hallmarky.

“Oh, yeah, ix-nay on the ate-hay,” said Fang.

“Who are you, and what have you done with the real Max?” Iggy asked.

“Ha ha. So I think we should take turns naming three good things that have happened to us. Who wants to start?” I said brightly.

Silence.

“Nudge?”

“Um,” she said.

“Well, dinner was delicious,” said Total. I gave him a Look. “Okay, okay,” he said. “Um, well, no one tried to kill us today.”

“That’s one,” I agreed.