Chapter 1: A Day Like Any Other

Ah, flying through the skies! Nothing could better, could it? Sweeping, swooping, soaring, having your wings full of air like sails . . . man, life's good.

If only.

If you're wondering who is writing this, telling you all about the luxury of flying, then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Max, short of Maximum. Full name is Maximum Ride. I am a fourteen year old girl and I would say average, but . . .

Well, I mean, I could be average. I'm smart, funny, have an unforgettable personality, but there's just one thing.

I can fly.

Yes, yes, I know. How can I fly? Humans can't fly! Only in their wildest dreams. Well, see, if you just happened to be experimented on while you were still your mother's womb and just happened to grow up in a sick and twisted hellhole with crazy sadistic scientists, then maybe a flying kid wouldn't seem so drastic and unbelievable.

Weird? Yes. Unbelievable? No, since I lived through it. Well, not just me. My flock, consisting of Fang, Iggy, the Gasman, Nudge and Angel, all had the poor sad fate of growing up in that freak show.

But we turned out okay.

So, now, we were all just flying, quite casually. The wind was with us today, and we were letting it do the work for us. Fang was flying beside me, kind of. His almost black wings were brushing the tips of mine occasionally on each downstroke. Fang's a silent guy, I think the most words he ever said was maybe thirty. He's not a guy to naturally talk your ear off (unlike Nudge). Fang has shaggy black hair and almost equally dark eyes. He caught me looking at him and raised an eyebrow, and I looked away, trying to appear casual and ignore the fluttering of my heart that his look caused.

Iggy was a little behind us. Iggy's blind. See, the freaks at the lab we grew up in, known as the School, wanted to see if they could add to our freakiness. So they thought they could improve his night-vision, and it didn't go well since he's blind. But that doesn't slow Iggy down. Sometimes, with the stuff he does, I forget that he is blind.

The Gasman, Iggy's number-one partner in crime, flew a little bit away from him. His blonde hair was messy, windblown, as he swooped gracefully, like a mini-hawk. Nudge was off to the left of me, her unruly dark hair blowing out behind her as her dark brown wings beat somberly. The last and youngest member of the flock was Angel; the sweetest six year old girl I have ever known. She has blonde hair, like the Gasman, which makes sense I guess since they're related. Her wings are white like pure-driven snow, and her eyes are a bright sparkling blue. She saw me looking at her, waved, and did a little twirl in midair.

Love that kid.

Oh, I guess I shouldn't have said that she was last member of the flock. The smallest member was our black Scottie, who was flying beside Angel. Yes, a flying dog! Thank you mad scientists! Total is Angel's dog really, she found him and claimed him during our adventures in New York. Total had seemed like a normal dog, but then we saw that he ould jump quite high, like really freaking high. Then, get this, we discovered that he can talk. And recently, we saw that he was growing wings, and now can fly, though he's not as good as we are, but we've had years to practice.

So, besides my merry band of mutants and their lovely traits, it was just us. On the run, no home, enemies almost everywhere we looked, all that good stuff. It's not like we asked for it. Like, having a normal life would have been nice, sure. But, oh no, the crazy scientists just didn't want that. Before, I had wondered what my life would have been like, if I hadn't been born as a bird-kid, but, eh, just didn't feel like wondering about it.

I mean, come on, I can fly. No offense to you wingless readers.

I must have been lost in my mental blathering, because I didn't notice that Fang had gotten tense. A little crease appeared between his eyebrows. Uh oh. I looked at him as he wheeled around and turned to face Angle, who had an intense look of concentration on her face. This wasn't good.

"What is it?" I asked, her, Fang, anyone who knew what was going on.

"I don't know," Angel muttered, slowing down and hanging in the air. Everyone stopped and looked at the youngest member of the flock. "I feel something coming."

Wait, you're probably lost. Right. Okay, well, to all of the uninformed, Angel has a "gift." She can, well, she can read minds. So, when she had that look on her face, I knew that I shouldn't overlook. I mean, most people would. They'd probably think that the kid was just thinking of something really hard, like what silly mischievous thing they could do next. Um, not with Angel. Unless I had "Idiot" tattooed on my forehead.

"Iggy, you hear anything?" I asked the strawberry-blonde lanky male who had better hearing than a dog, probably.

He shook his head. "No, nothing yet."

"Whatever I am feeling, it feels human. I think. Maybe." She frowned.

Great, a bunch of uncertainties. Not what I was looking for.

"Are they after us?"

Angel took a minute before answering, but when she did, she nodded.

Fabulous.

Everyone was on red-alert now. We were all kids and we had better reflexes and instincts than military people probably. My heart was racing, adrenaline was creeping through my system . . .

All of my usual pre-battle reactions. Same old, same old.

Then I heard it. So did Fang, so did Angel and everybody else.

An inhuman growl . . .

"Erasers!" Angel shouted.

Seeing as we are about to be attacked (and believe me, we are) I can't explain what Erasers are to the uninformed. (And a word to the wise, get informed, people!) All right, long story short, Erasers are like us, a combination of DNA. They didn't get avian DNA like we did, they got canine DNA, more specifically wolf DNA. They are evil, half-human, half-wolf, bloodthirsty, bird-kid hating beasts. And I mean that too, they are determined to hunt us, kill us, and have us for their next KFC meal (hardy har har).

Yet, I had to think about this. I could have sworn that I had heard that Erasers were being terminated, just like all DNA combinations. So why were they here . . .?

Well, guess it didn't matter, since they were coming to attack us.

So, in short, they were the enemy, and we the prey.

Saddening.

Anyway . . .

As soon as Angel had shouted, we heard heavy wings beating the air, and turned in the direction of the sound. Ah . . . yeah, this wasn't good. At least ten Erasers were approaching us, and you guessed it, they were flying. They all had dark wings, like those of a raven's, but they were huge, making the Erasers clumsy.

But that didn't mean we were going to underestimate them.

We, and apparently, Eraser's aren't ones to hold back, since we all just kinda threw ourselves into battle.

Let the battle begin! Ring the bell: ding-ding!

Beating my wings furiously, I flew at the nearest dog-boy, and landed a nicely aimed roundhouse kick in its barrel chest. A blow like that would have caved in a normal man's chest, but all it did with this freak was slow it down briefly. It reared back and aimed a clawed hand right at my head, and I ducked down quickly. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that these freaks were already in their wolf-form, but still, I had to wonder. How had they known where to find us? What were their plans?

Don't think, just act. Gotta get back in this battle.

Fang was facing a burly looking Eraser, but he was going at that thing with furious fists and well-planned moves. Angel, with her mind-reading, could see what her Eraser opponent was doing before it even knew it. Weirdly enough, it seemed like the Eraser was staring at her dimly, looking right in her blue eyes. Angel had a cold expression on her face and said solemnly to the Eraser, "You're gonna fall now."

An expression of fear came across its wolfish features, and its wings folded and it dropped out of the sky. I didn't have to look down to know that it did a very impressive splat.

Angel turned my way and grinned sweetly.

I had to wonder if I should feel scared.

A heavy blow dealt to my back made me whirl around, just in time to avoid getting decapitated by lethal talons. A sneering brawny Eraser, who was positively frothing at the mouth in its excitement, was pulling back a hairy meaty fist, probably meant as a punch for me. I was still recovering from the blow it had given me before, and was wondering if I could take this one on, when Fang came flying into view, and kicked the crap out of the Eraser, right in its snout. It yelped, blood dripping from its jaws, then snarled fiercely, sounding like a rabid wolverine, but Fang just flew out of arm's reach, and then flew in again and kicked it in its stomach, and then gave it a nasty uppercut. The Eraser was smart enough to fly away. I bet if it had tail that it would have been tucked between its legs.

Fang gave me a look that made me regret being an idiot and not holding my own in battle. Grr. He looked ever so smug. I shot him a wry look, and then turned to survey the battle scene; it looked like the rest of the flock had survived and the Erasers were retreating.

But I had a sinking feeling that they would be back.

I sighed and beat my weary wings as the flock all came together, having been scattered during the fight. Bruises and scratches and bloodstains covered them, but it's something that I was used to seeing.

So being attacked by the enemy and still being on the run. Nothing new.

I guess it was just like any other day, then.

*So, this was my first take on a Maximum Ride fanfic. I am a huge fan of the MR series by James Patterson and I love Max's attitude and personality, reminds me so much of my own. So, if I could, can I ask for a review? They are always appreciated~