Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel

A/N: G'day evry1, so this is my 1st ever fanfic so plz b nice. I hope u like it plz review.

Chapter 1

She was hiding under the stairs when the pulse hit. It wiped out all electronic devices and financially crippled America all in one day. Beside her was her foster sister Lucy. They were hiding from Lucy's abusive dad, the television had cut out and he was looking for someone to blame. She shuddered at the thought. Lucy still had the bruises from the last time he was angry.

"I think he's gone now Maxie." Lucy whispered.

The two girls crept out of thier hiding place. They slowly made their way around the corner towards the tiny bedroom they shared. Max heard him enter through the back door. Usually he goes to the pub when he can't find us she thought feeling confused. She didn't notice that she had stopped walking. Lucy pulled on her arm and Max followed her but before they could enter the room that would safely keep them out of harms way someone else grabbed Max's arm too.

"Lucy, come with me." Her father yelled.

He was angry because he wasn't getting his daily dose of alcohol. Nearly every building in town was closed because of the pulse and people on the streets were looking to the Government for help. He let go of Max's arm and grabbed Lucy's instead. He rarely beat Max, her body healed quickly due to her transgenic genes and he didn't get the satisfaction he needed because of it.

He pulled Lucy away from Max and dragged her after him as he left for the living room. Before disappearing from Max's view Lucy looked at her with tears welling in her eyes and mouthed GO.

Max ran into the bedroom crying. She didn't want to leave Lucy alone with him but didn't know what else to do. Of course she could easily snap his neck but instead she grabbed her bag and stuffed clothes into it. She left via the back door and jumped the metre high fence with ease. She looked back at the house and felt a great surge of guilt but continued walking as far away as possible.
On the streets, by herself, Max didn't know what to do. She hadn't been free long and hardly knew how to act normal. She was scared. Zack and Ben used to be there to protect meshe thought, NO I'm a soldier not a defenceless little girl. All around her people were panicking, they had lost all of thier money because of the pulse and when the Government hadn't fixed the problem many turned to violence and revenge. People were vandalising, robbing and burning any building they could see. Some people were sleeping on the side of the roads or huddled in a box with their family.

Max began to run she wasn't that scared but other people were and when people get scared they get crazy and she didn't want to be around when that happened. Max ran for the better part of 3 hours she collapsed in a heap behind a dumpster in an alleyway and fell into a soft slumber.

Max didn't usually sleep but she was exhausted emotionally and physically. As she slept she dreamt of her old unit, they were her family and she loved them. It had been 6 months since she had seen any of them and it had been 6 months since they had escaped from their creator Manticore aka her childhood prison. Max had no idea who had survived or who had escaped but she hoped to God that she would see her beloved siblings again.

3 days had passed since Max had run away. She had been living on the streets, trying not to draw attention to herself. She knew Manticore was still hunting her but she would rather die than go back there. She knew she had to leave Seattle and start over somewhere else, that was the smart thing to do, that was what Zack would do.

She had only eaten scraps and she was desperate for a real meal, she could easily steal something to eat or steal something to sell. NO, if I got caught or seen doing something ummmm... ... unusual I could be captured.

Max's first priority was erasing all traces of her ever being in Seattle so she headed off to the Child Services office. The Child Services office was across town, it would be difficult for her to get there. Over the last couple of days the Government decided to divide Seattle into sectors, it would hopefully restore order in the city and lower crime rates. Police monitored the checkpoints 24/7 and checked for ID's so Max had to sneak across 3 checkpoints before arriving at the office.

By the time she got to child services it was 3:00pm. It looked as though it was closed so she quietly picked the lock and listened out for any approaching footsteps. The security system had been disabled due to the increased price of electricity. Walking slowly, Max surveyed the room she found herself in.

There was a small waiting room to her right and a desk directly in front of her, she saw a door leading into a back room just behind the desk and decided that would be where the files were. She found that this door too was locked so as quickly as she could she picked this lock as well. Treading carefully she entered the small room, it had a small window above an ugly brown couch. There was nothing else in the room except a filing cabinet tucked away in the corner. She opened the filing cabinet and searched for her file finally she find Guevara, Max.

Max was about to exit the room when she was struck with an idea. She walked back to the filing cabinet and started to skim through the other folders, looking at the pictures rather than the names. She stopped suddenly, looking at the file of Roberts, John.

"Ben?"

A/N: I no it was short but 2 bad lol plz review even if u dnt like it. Feel free to tell me any of ur ideas or any changes you think i should make thanx

Austchick xx