New Friendships

A Maximum Ride and a SWISHY short story

Max-

I sighed. It was almost dark and I couldn't even find a place for us to kick back and sleep. Yes we were on the run again. And yes we were a homeless bunch of kids again. Hey! I didn't ask for a bunch of crazy maniacal scientists to try and kill us. It's just a way of life.

"Yo," Fang interrupted my thoughts. I looked over at him. "We could chill on the beach for the night." He jerked his head toward the shore.

Great a beach. We all know how many great times I've had on a beach. First Ari and his buddies surprise us and nearly rip Fang to shreds, then I almost have a heart attack because Angel discovers she can breathe underwater, then in my attempt to rid myself of a chip the school embedded into my arm, which my mom, Dr. Martinez removed shortly after, then—

Don't think about the bad times Max. We've had a bunch of great times on beaches, too. Angel told me in my head. Yes Angel can read minds.

Like what? I thought back sourly.

Well you and Fang had your first kiss on a beach. I blushed at that.

"Ok, ok. Fine we'll stay on the beach." I was rewarded by the sound uprise of cheers.

"Ooh I love beaches! Will we be able to go swimming? I remember the first time we stayed on a beach. Do you think the flyboys or those ninja things will find us here?"

Nudge shut up once I looked at her.

"I don't know. Let's just find a place to sleep first." I was so tired I could barely walk straight, but I had to look strong for the kids.

"We already have." Iggy said from behind me. I looked over at him and the Gasman startled.

"What? How? You didn't even leave."

"We left five minutes ago and just came back." Iggy said matter-of-factly.

This was bad. Was I so tired that I didn't even know when part of my flock was missing? I needed some sleep now.

Iggy and Gazzy led us over to a bunch of bushes and rocks. It was nicely secluded and hidden. A perfect spot for a bunch of runaway bird-kids.

Ok I should probably tell you about my family. My name is Max, short for Maximum Ride. My family and I, or the flock, were created at a school where we ended up being 98% human and 2% bird. I was created to save the world from Itex-which I already destroyed but there are many other branches around the world with crazy scientists- and to keep you from killing yourself and the Earth from your own pollutants. However not everyone wants the flock alive. Many have tried to kill us because we are an 'old generation' of mutants, so I can't let that happen.

The flock consists of me, Fang, Iggy(who's blind) we're fourteen, Nudge who's 11, the Gasman who's 8, and his blood related sister, Angel who is 6 but claims to be 7.

So in a nutshell we live a pretty tough life.

When I came back to present time, Iggy and Gazzy were building the fire and Fang was assigning himself first watch for the night.

"You shouldn't take first watch," I told him. He turned his dark eyes on me, giving my stomach flutters. "You're as tired as I am. Let Nudge take first watch."

"I'm taking first watch" he said defiantly. I wanted to argue with him but there was no point and I was way too tired. As the others settled down for the night, Fang got up from his seat by the blazing fire to sit down next to me. He put a hand on my shoulder; I smiled up at him and fell unconscious.

After what felt like 5 minutes, I felt someone shaking me awake. I jumped up ready to fight. Then I relaxed, it was only Fang. But he had a serious look on his face so something was up. He pressed his pointer finger to his lips and beckoned me to follow him.

I slowly and quietly got up and picked my way around the sleeping bodies of my flock. I reached out and grabbed Fang's hand, but he barely noticed instead he looked like he was listening to something.

Then I heard it, a splash and some whispering voices. Who in their right mind was swimming at this time of night?

We slipped behind a bush and faced the people in the water. With my raptor vision I could easily see four girls and a guy in the water. One of the girls was a red-head. I gripped Fang's hand harder. I knew how he could be around red-heads.

He squeezed my hand and shook his head. I turned my attention back to the swimmers. The girl with red curly hair was hauling herself out of the water. Her legs dangling over the rock she sat on.

Wait. Those weren't legs. I used my raptor vision to zoom in. I gasped at what I saw. The girl had a long, red, orange, and yellow scale studded tail! What has this world become?