My second Maximum Ride story. Oh I just can't wait until the fourth book comes out! I saw on Amazon it was going to be released March 18! Hooray! Anyway, if this story confuses you at all, I am sorry, but that's just how it is. Send me an e-mail or something if you get absolutely too confused and I'll do my best to explain it but otherwise it's in the story.

By the way, I do not own Max or anyone else. It's sad, I know, but true.

Maximum Ride, Maximum Fall

One choice was all it took. By stopping to eat breakfast one fine autumn morning four years after destroying Itex, Max chose one door and entered the bitter future it held.

However, by choosing not to land, another Max, another timeline, another future was created. So next to the first bleak room now stands an identical, if not brighter, room.

"This was not supposed to happen." A stern pale woman said to her self as she watched two windows which appeared to be showing the same people. "Having near identical rooms so close to each other leads to the destruction of one or the other, if not both."

And one choice was all it had took, she thought bitterly.

Room One

Max ran as fast as her injured legs could carry her. Even half supported by Fang she stumbled over every tiny obstacle there seemed to be. Her wings throbbed and her back ached from her previous flights and injuries and she was sure that the desolate abandoned city looked grayer then it should.

"C'mon," Fang urged, setting her back on her feet again. "We've got to hide."

Max nodded mutely and followed her husband as steadily over the destroyed streets as she could. On either side were broken houses. The fierce wind had stripped them of their paint and shine and the glass in the windows was either broken or missing. The grass had died and been replaced with gray dirt and the pavement was cracked, turning it into large chunks of rubble.

But Max and Fang did not notice any of this. It was too ordinary to gain much attention as it was, but with a Hunter chasing them, their surroundings became obsolete all together.

"In here." Max panted pointing to one house that looked sturdier then the others, but still appeared shabby and broken. Fang stopped and picked her up and then jumped up with the help of his wings to the second story window. Max held on tight, her arms around Fang's neck, annoyed that her wounded legs and wings could not have even made that small jump successfully.

The room they found themselves in was bare and dirty with only a mattress, a bedside table with only three legs and a closet whose door hung half way off its hinges. The room's door was missing entirely and as the Hunter's swift foot steps grew closer Max pulled Fang to the empty doorway and stood so that they were both underneath the frame.

"We need a door." She said standing close enough to Fang that she had to tilt her head back to see his face.

"He's going to try and open it and if it's locked, then he'll just break it down." Fang said angrily as he dug a small circular device the size of his palm out of his jeans pocket. "And the only one who'll be glad to hear your back was broken is the Director."

"Then we'll just have to move when he thinks he's opening the door." Max whispered irritably also keeping her voice down as Fang attached the small circle first to Max and then to him self.

The front door shattered with a loud crack as the Hunter entered the house. Fang activated the circle without a sound and the image of a rotting wooden door slowly crept up their legs in a two way mirror where Max and Fang could see out, but no one else could see in.

They were fully hidden by the time the Hunter had ascended the stairs and searched one of the other rooms. They stood quietly, barely breathing in case the Hunter heard them as the other mutant walked calmly along the hall.

After what felt like hours later, the near perfect assassin stopped in front of Max and Fang.

All three stood perfectly still. Fang stared out of the protective haze willing the hunter to keep searching and leave when he could not find anything. Max resisted the irritating urge to turn around and look at the thin face of the false eyes of her enemy, but any movement would break their camouflage and with the Hunter not even a foot away, it was something she could not do.

The Hunter, oblivious that his prey was literally right under his nose, stared at the door. He was confused by the decaying things presence. The only other door in the abandoned house had been the front door; the rest had been taken long ago by scavengers or travelers. Slowly, the Hunter reached out a clawed hand and pushed the door open. Taking the small squeak that Max let out for rusty hinges, the Hunter saw that the room was sparsely furnished. This would explain the door. Someone had lived here recently and had replaced the door for privacy. Logical, however his prey had not been in the room. There was no excess resonance left over from their bodies or baggage.

Forgetting the empty room, the Hunter searched the rest of the house and as soon as his sensors saw that no trails of body heat or scent were left over, he left the run down house to search the surrounding area. Then when his search came up empty, he morphed into one of his former hunts and flew off in search of the rebel leaders, gliding on the wind with his newly grown wings.

Fang let out a deep breath of air then turned off the camouflage device. Silently crossing the room, he peered out the window just in time to see the Hunter turn into distant speck in the sky.

"He's gone." Fang said, turning back to Max. She was pale and unsteady, using the door frame for support.

"Max?" He said coming back from the window in time to catch a very shaky Max as she slipped down the door frame. "Are you okay?"

"No," She said feeling dizzy and lightheaded. "I think the Hunter had poison on his claws." She mumbled, her voice getting weaker as she spoke. Fang set her down on the worn out mattress as gently as he could.

"Max," He said quietly shaking her shoulders. "Stay awake okay, here we go." He said pulling out a slim silver case from his torn bag. He popped open the lid to reveal five skinny needles filled with clear liquid. Quickly, before Max was unable to keep her heavy eyes open, Fang turned the syringe horizontally and pressed pushed down the plunger until he heard a small click, like a pen. A green light poured out of the small rectangular box on the body of the syringe, scanning the cuts where the Hunter had first cut Max.

After the two seconds it had taken the syringe to scan Max's body in order to discover the type of poison the Hunter had decided to use today, the clear liquid inside the syringe body turned a watery shade of red. As soon as the serum had completely changed colors, Fag injected the antidote into Max's weakening body.

Max fell back against Fang's chest as soon as he took the empty needle away from her neck. "Max," She thought she heard Fang's voice above and behind her head. "Max?"

"I'm okay," She managed to say feeling the relief of the antidote spread through her body. "But I'm tired." She forced the words past her lips as her lids shut. With the Hunter chasing them, neither she nor Fang had gotten much sleep, if any, in the past three days. That coupled with the receding adrenaline rush, Max was past exhausted.

So was Fang for that matter, however as the last one to actually sleep, he was in slightly better shape then his wife. Besides, Hunters were known for their infallibility, so if by some miracle they missed or passed their prey, then the hunt turned into a wild goose chase and the Hunter moved on. At least for a couple of hours before he, or she, realized they had failed and went to correct their mistake with a vengeance. If the Hunter was not back by then, then Fang would chance some sleep. He was going to need it eventually anyway.

A silvery figure watched as Fang moved into a more comfortable position and leaned his head against the decrepit wooden wall of the room a few hours after the Hunter had left. The glowing women nodded her head gravely and then turned her attention to the empty space next to the window of air which showed the exhausted and injured Max and Fang.

She waved her hand over the neighboring patch of air and another window appeared also showing Max and Fang.

Except that these tow were clean and smiling and just getting ready to go to sleep in their own four poster bed. New Earth's capitol city of Valencia, named after the only adult who had truly cared about the Flock when they were young, showed beyond the clear cut window as a shimmer of sparkling lights.

Room One was ready, the Guardian thought to her self, now she just had to wait for Room Two and she could begin.

Well that's chapter one. I hope you like it, even if I did end he world. Come back for more soon!