A/N: This is the first story I've published on this website, though I've haunted it for years. Nobody besides my sisters has ever read anything I wrote so I'm anxious to see what you guys think.

I do not own Maximum Ride or Fang. If I did, I would be publishing for pay, not on a free website. :)

Fang (2010)

For hours, I flew.

The flying helped.

The air filling my wings reminded me that I was still here, still the same me.

And yet… I wasn't.

I shook my head. Past time for second guessing. I had made my decision.

She would be so mad if I went back now. Even if I went back…

I shook my head again. Best not to think about that.

I took a deep breath and gathered my courage, and then I turned my head, scanning the horizon I was leaving behind.

…No winged shape followed.

She must have decided not to follow me.

Good. That's good. Yet my chest seemed tight and I realized I was angry.

Any other time she wouldn't listen to me. She would disregard my wishes and to hell with the consequences.

Never again, though. Never would I get to see her eyes narrow in anger when I questioned her orders. Or her face redden as she begrudgingly admitted I was right. Her cheeks blush when I caught her staring at me. Her eyes light up when I smiled at her.

My chest seemed to constrict more. My lungs, so adept at pulling oxygen from even the thinnest air, seemed unable to fill. I needed to land for just a minute.

I angled my wings and dropped very quickly. The wind was burning my eyes, stinging my cheeks with cold. I closed my eyes. I could feel the ground looming up beneath me.

Closer, closer…

I snapped open my eyes and my wings in the same instant, coming to an abrupt stop rather painfully. I hardly felt it. The pain in my chest was overpowering.

Slowly, I landed on the ground. I was a little dizzy. Probably from dropping so fast with my eyes closed. I took a few deep breaths, keeping my wings extended to let them cool and keep my airways fully open.

I stood that way for a while. Can't say exactly how long. It wasn't like I had anywhere to be.

I hadn't really decided where I was going to go or what I was going to do. For now it seemed easiest to just focus on getting… away.

Distance, that will help.

I looked back. Shouldn't have, but I did.

How long had I been flying? Four hours? Six?

I really didn't know.

The backpack I had brought with me was pathetically empty. Extra pairs of clothes. A few cans of food. A couple of granola bars. I had felt bad, stealing from the Flock. They needed it more than I did.

I should have been hungry, but I wasn't. Besides, it was probably best to save my food until I found a city or an abandoned house or something.

I figured I may as well get some sleep. It would be easier to be unseen at night, with my black wings and dark clothes, but it would also be hotter during the day. And I knew my body must be tired.

Reluctantly, I found a covered grove of trees and lay down, using my backpack as a pillow.

This, I found, was the hardest part of being alone. With the Flock, there was always someone on watch, even if it was only a blind kid with a crazy ability to hear. Now, every little sound could be something sneaking up on me. Something with a dart gun. Or a real gun. No warning.

And when I tried to stay still and sleep anyway, that's when the memories came.

Max, in her little dog crate across from mine, staring up a Whitecoat with all the defiance a four year old could muster.

Angel, with her big Bambi eyes asking for a little stuffed bear.

Max, looking at me from across the room and knowing exactly what I was thinking.

Iggy, cooking in the kitchen and turning to hit me with a spatula when I crept up next to him.

Max, flying just ahead of me, glancing back to make sure we were all still together.

Nudge, chattering nonstop about some new magazine she picked out of a garbage can and found out the holey jeans she was wearing were actually in style.

Max, bruised and bloody and still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Gazzy, running from the kitchen as Max tried to cook, yelling as he went, "That smells worse than me!"

Max, panicking the first time I went invisible.

Max, laying on a metal table, telling me she loved me.

Max, crouched above me after Ari beat me, her lips red with blood from my lips.

Max crying into my shoulder… Max smiling at me from across the aisle…

Max, her arms around me, whispering to me, "Don't ever leave me again."

My reply, "I won't. I won't, not ever."

"Gahh!" I yelled as I sat up and threw my backpack against a tree. I heard the cans smack together but I didn't care.

I wanted to go back. So badly.

I held my head and thought.

Right now she is probably storming around the house, cursing my name. Or crying alone in her room.

Or crying on Dylan's shoulder.

I wish I had something else to throw. At Dylan.

I quickly reminded myself of why I had to leave.

To keep them safe. To keep her safe.

Max with Dylan is better than Max dead because of me.

Mostly.

I sighed angrily and laid back on the hard ground.

I needed a plan. Something else to move toward, to focus on.

What would Max do?

She had wanted us to learn. She wanted us to be prepared for whatever was coming next.

I could do that. For her, I could do anything.

Tomorrow, my mission was to find a library or a café with free internet or something, and learn.

A/N: So let me know what you think. I have four more "chapters" written already (some in Fang's POV and some in Max's), but I'm not going to put them up until at least one person reviews. I need to know somebody is following. If you think I need to include something, let me know and I will see if I can fit it in, although I already know where I'm going with the story. Still, your input is appreciated. Thanks.