Max slowly drifted up from the staidness of unconsciousness, only aware of two things. First, her head felt like it was being hit with a flaming sledgehammer. Second, she was lying alone on a slab of something cold and smooth. She cracked one eye, wincing as her head seeming to collapse inward. A thought passed through her head, a bright flare of alarm before she sank back into the void.
"Who got away, other than Fang?"
The next time Max opened her eyes she felt better, yet still too weak to get up. She lay on the floor, realizing that it linoleum. As she lay still and tried to ignore the throbbing of her head, Max thought about what had happened however many days ago.
She had been out flying with Gazzy and Fang. The three of them had been racing back, all cheating of course. Gazzy had hidden a stink bomb in both Max and Fang's hoods. While they were trying to get rid of the stench, Gazzy zoomed ahead, laughing maniacally, only to stop as Max used one of her gifts, speeding past him at 200 miles per hour. Max was jerked to a stop by Fang, who had tied her ankle to Gazzy's. Max didn't bother to untie the rope, instead she grabbed it and jerked hard, enjoying the chance to indulge and use her extraordinary strength. Max sped up, feeling nothing but wind in her hair and the strength in each beat of her tawny wings. She passed first Gazzy, then Fang. The look of irritation was enough for Max to allow herself a small, irreproachable laugh. Streaking through the afternoon sky, Max allowed herself to disappear. There was no Max, no Fang, no thoughts at all, just the beat of wings. A shout jarred Max from her mindless state. It wasn't Fang or Gazzy. It was Angel. Max looked down, saw the other members of her flock and fell into instant bloodlust. Iggy, Nudge, Angel and Total were all pinned to the ground by what looked like flyboys. Not stopping to consider that the flock themselves had made sure each and every flyboy was blown into pieces no bigger than a Chihuahua; Max threw herself into a steep dive. She slammed into the flyboy that was pinning Nudge, noticing a shallow cut along her cheekbone. Something connected with the back of Max's skull and everything went black.
Max groaned softly, wincing as the noise reached her ears. She had just realized that the only reason the flock had been caught was sheer negligence. Just then, the stainless steel door swung open, catching Max in the back of the leg. A prim young woman walked into the cell, her shoulder length brown hair flicking side to side as she looked down, her face rippling in disgust as she saw Max's prone form. The door swung shut, the lock clicking, sealing the room.
"You are to call me Nevva. Nothing else." Nevva said primly. Nevva said, " I am the leader of a subversive group in the process of taking over the country. Your flock will either help us, or watch each other be tortured. Your choice." Max used the wall to haul herself up, then spat at Nevva. Nevva turned to the door, looked back over her shoulder and stated calmly, " You have two days to decide." Then she knocked twice on the door and left.
Fang walked down the street with Gazzy, trying to look like he knew the two boys in front of them. He heard the taller one say to the shorter, "Hey Justin, where is your Gameboy?" Justin proceeded to punch the taller one in the arm and curse at him until the device was returned. Fang wasn't paying much attention to the boys. Three days had elapsed since the other five were taken. Max, Iggy, Nudge and Angel were all in jeopardy. The flyboys had loaded four crates and an unconscious Max into a van and had driven to a compound not far away. Fang was giving Gazzy one more day to make bombs, then they were going to jailbreak Max.
Nudge picked the lock after Nevva had left her. Then she walked over to the door that hid Iggy, and freed him. Iggy sabotaged Angel's door, snapping the handle cleanly off. Angel walked out, followed by Total, who was huffing about not getting his own room. Then Nudge picked the locked on Max's door. Max was leaning on the wall, looking like she was about to break someone's neck. When she saw Nudge, Max sagged, then told Nudge in an exhausted voice, "Go print whatever you can, then meet us outside." Nudge ran off. Iggy looked at Max expectantly, but she didn't move.
"We need to leave." Iggy stage whispered urgently. Max pushed off of the wall and almost fell, catching herself on Iggy's arm. His brows knit in concern, but Max muttered, "I'm fine," and straightened. She led the way, following Nudge's path. After a left turn, then a right, the group ducked into a small room. There was a coffee machine, a printer, and a desk with a computer. Nudge was sitting at the computer as sheets of paper filled the printer tray.
"Okay, Nudge, time to go." Max said, grabbing the papers. On top was a list of members of the organization. At the very bottom of the list was a name that simultaneously tore Max's heart in two and filled it with fond memories made painful by betrayal. Jeb Batchelder.
Max shrieked, "That dirty, conniving, traitorous…" then she stopped, noticing the tear in Angel and Nudge's eyes and the fury in Iggy's blind ones. Max stormed out into the hallway. Suddenly, a fluttering sound filled the hallway. Max, Iggy, Angel, Nudge and total all fell silent. Suddenly the world lurched as a massive explosion rocked the compound. Flyboys filled the hallway behind the mini flock. They broke into a sprint, only to be blown off of their feet. Max leapt to feet as flyboys filled the hallway in front of them. A third explosion wracked the hallway, and a hole appeared in the roof. Max leapt into the air and shot out of the hole, followed closely by Iggy, Angel, Nudge and Total. Fang was hovering about a hundred feet away; Gazzy was throwing bombs at random now, laughing maniacally.
Max yelled to Fang "Let's go!" The flock rocketed away. Suddenly, Max plummeted out of the sky. Fang grabbed Iggy by the back of his shirt and they both raced to catch Max. Fang got there first, catching her in his arms, slowing her fall, unable to stop it completely. Then Iggy grabbed the handle of Fang's backpack, slowing them to a fast glide down to earth. Fang's feet hit earth, he tripped, dropping Max.
"Max!" Nudge cried, landing much more gracefully than Fang. Max winced and asked, "What day is it?"
"About four days since you were caught." Fang replied.
"I woke up yesterday."
"We should stay here for now." Nudge said.
"We need to keep moving." Max protested.
"You just fell out of the sky. You're not going anywhere." Max didn't respond. Fang stared at her for a minute, then realized she had fallen asleep.