I just recently read the second in the MR series (sooooo good! XD) and thought they missed out some pages when I got to the end, so this is what my mind comes up with to fill in the blank until gulp May, when the next book comes out. This is my first serious fan fiction so be nice! It starts where School's Out Forever ends. Italics are Max's thoughts.
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. If I did Max would have jumped Fang already.
A/N: This is the second draft I suppose, of the first chapter. It has been rewritten because there were a few parts I wasn't fully satisfied with. Thank you to all who reviewed particularly MariahRulesOk and PyroXXmaniac for their comments which helped me to improve this fanfic (I hope).
After a while I fell asleep. I don't know how long I slept for but when I finally stirred the sun had set. I blinked groggily, yawned and then realized that I had been using Fang's shoulder as a pillow. Fang didn't seem to have noticed I had woken up, so I didn't move. He must have kept watch the entire time.
I was just about to drop off again when I heard a sharp crack in the shadows. Iggy's ears pricked and I felt Fang's muscles tense, yet none of us moved. I knew that the other three must have been awake too and we were all waiting. I heard footsteps edging closer and closer and then when another crack sounded out of the darkness we were all on our feet and launching into the air.
Shouts of anger and frustration followed us as we soared into the night sky, but we were soon followed by the winged erasers.
"Why can't we have just a little head start on the enemy? Just once! How are they following us so easily?!" Yelled Nudge.
I clutched my arm guiltily. I needed to get rid of the damn chip, and soon. We managed to get fairly far out into the sky before the Erasers caught up with us. There were only 10 or so and Ari wasn't one of them I noted curiously. He always seemed to lead these attacks on us.
Two erasers were down before they realized what was happening. Another one dropped out of the sky without a fight as Angel looked up and flashed a small angelic smile my way. That girl really scares me at times. Fang finished off another while Gazzy took out one who was trying to sneak up on Nudge. An eraser charged directly at me then stopped short glancing at something just behind me. Then he did a hasty 180 and retreated. I whipped round quickly to see what had frightened him off but was too slow. A heavy blow to the side caught me. I dropped 10 feet before regaining myself and hovering in mid air trying to get my breath back. Ari was hovering above me grinning stupidly.
"I should have known." I winced, holding my side. His grin widened. "You just can't leave me alone can you?"
Anger flashed through his eyes. I launched myself at him aiming for his head. Granted he was a lot bigger then me, but I was a lot faster. He couldn't lay a paw on me. I sent him reeling with a powerful kick to the jaw and dived in for another but he recovered faster than I was expecting and caught my wing in a powerful grip. His claws bit into my flesh and I almost tore it off pulling away from him.
I pulled back a little, regaining my balance and looked back towards the flock. More Erasers had arrived but they seemed to be holding them off well. Turning back I almost jumped right out of my skin. Ari's face was only inches away from mine and that grin was still plastered all over his face. But he didn't attack me. Instead he spoke.
"You know if you just stop resisting and come with me, we wouldn't be chasing after you all the time."
"Really. Now why would I want to go anywhere with YOU, dog boy?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I saw his jaw tighten and smirked.
"We only want you. The other freaks don't matter anymore. Come with us and we won't hurt them."
"Hmmm, interesting. I might have fallen for that if 1. I could believe that and 2. If you hadn't already taken angel before. If I leave then you'd kill them anyway. So I guess that would be a no." Somehow I managed to keep my voice calm without screaming at him during this.
"You sure you don't want to think this over?" he growled. "If you don't agree we'll kill you all"
No duh.
"No, you'll TRY to." I replied angrily
I pushed backwards away from Ari as he lunged at me. He attempted to grab my neck but I ducked and he just caught the side of my face with his claws. I retaliated quickly slamming both my feet into the centre of his chest and knocking him backwards slightly. He panted trying to get his breath back, glaring at me maliciously. He swiped at my head but missed as I dodged backwards again. He nodded slightly and I felt furry eraser hands closing round my throat. Another eraser was holding me slowly choking me as Ari grinned and reached inside his shirt and pulled out a gun.
Oh shit.
I screamed at the flock to get away but I couldn't turn my head to see them properly thanks to the eraser behind me. I heard Angel scream and Ari's grin widened.
No, no, not Angel, not her, please god.
I was still being choked, and dots of color filled my vision as I struggled against the eraser. Ari had the gun raised and was pointing it at a point just behind me. I heard the rest of the flock yelling out for angel. Fear rose in my chest and I struggled more violently. I managed to find the erasers instep and stood on it with all my weight making him howl out in pain. He let go of my throat and I spun round to see Angel being held by a different eraser, just as Ari fired. I saw in slow motion my Angel being hit, her eyes wide as she started to drop.
"ANGEL!!" I screamed moving towards her. The rest of the flock was swooping towards her but I was closer and faster. I propelled myself flying as fast as I could, wings pumping. Panic filled my senses making it difficult to breathe.
Not my baby, not Angel, not her, not my Angel
She was falling faster dropping like a stone out of the sky, but I was catching up with her. Pain faintly registered in my brain, shooting its way up from my lower back. I dipped slightly, but quickly caught myself, ignoring the pain and flew straight into the forest below us where Angel was just about to hit the canopy. I caught her frail body in both arms and realized I was shaking. A clearing came into view and I landed quickly.
Angel was pale and unconscious. Still shaking, I searched her for the bullet entry point. She'd been shot in the arm but luckily the bullet had missed any arteries or muscles. It had just hit flesh. Relief swept over me leaving me drained. I heard the rest of the flock land around me noisily as I tried to remove the bullet gently. Thank god she was unconscious or this would have hurt like hell.
"Angel! Angel! Max is Angel alright?!" Panicked voices filled my ears. I turned and looked at the anxious flock.
"She's ok, just knocked out." I said, my voice wobbling though I had tried to keep it steady. "She most likely passed out due to shock than anything else."
Nudge and Gazzy's eyes flicked between me and Angel, lying in my arms pale and unmoving and the both burst into tears. Iggy came over and led them a little distance away, trying to calm both down and stop the wailing. I smiled gratefully at him even though he couldn't see me. Then I looked around for Fang- he had the back pack with the first aid kit I needed to patch up Angel. I scanned the clearing desperately. He wasn't with us and panic filled me again.
"Iggy!" I yelled my voice betraying me "Iggy, where's Fang!?!"
"…He attacked Ari" he muttered after a moment.
Dread seeped through me.
Not both of them. Not two in one day, that's too cruel.
"Iggy! Why didn't you stop him?!"
Iggy spun round to face me with sightless eyes.
"Stop him! How the hell am I supposed to be able to stop him!! You really think he would have listened?! Would you if you were in his place?!" He stopped, breathing heavily.
I sat completely still, shocked at his words…But he was right. If it was me I wouldn't have listened. I felt tears trailing down my face as I curled up hugging Angel to me. I cried softly to myself my head pounding and my entire body hurting. I heard a small groan then I felt a small hand pat my cheek. Angel was watching me through half opened eyes with a small worried smile.
"Don't cry Max. I'm ok, it just hurts a little bit." she said in a quiet voice, trying to make me feel better. So of course I cried harder.
She wrapped a small arm around my neck holding the wounded arm close to her body and I buried my face in her curls muffling my tears.
"Fang will be alright too, Max, he's strong"
I felt Iggy's hand on my shoulder and then two pairs of smaller hands wrapped themselves around my waist from either side, until I became a Max sandwich. I nodded slightly, my tears slowing.
"I'm sorry guys" I muttered quietly, "You must be so sick of me by now." I let out a little laugh.
"Well, it is getting stale, y'know"
My head shot up, tears instantly forgotten as I stared across the clearing at Fang who was leaning nonchalantly against on of the trees. Angel had unwound her arm from my neck and stood up still a little wobbly. Nudge led her over to where the bags had been dropped when they landed, while the boys found the first aid kit in Fangs bag. I assumed Iggy had brought with him as Fang wasn't carrying it. I stood up too quickly, making myself dizzy, but after regaining my balance, ran across to where Fang was and flung my arms round his neck. After a few seconds he lifted his arms and wrapped them round my waist hugging me back.
"You're a fool, you know that?" I muttered angrily against his shoulder. I heard him chuckle slightly followed by "So are you".
I was weak with relief and when I finally released him, I realized I was crying again. The rest of the flock had gathered round and all were looking at me with wide eyes probably wondering what had set me off now. I wiped my eyes on the back of my sleeve but they just wouldn't stop coming and I slowly sank to the ground trying not to sob. Nudge kneeled in front of me and look at me anxiously as Angel came and sat on my lap once again with her arm bandaged up messily.
"Why are you crying Max?" Angel's soft voice inquired. Her arm must have hurt like h-e-double toothpicks but she was more worried over me. She was being so brave, while I sat there crying my heart out.
"I can't lose you!!" I finally managed to choke out through my tears. "I can't lose any of you!!" I clutched Angel tightly to me.
Fang knelt down next to me and said very quietly and very calmly "You're not going to." I looked up at him desperately.
"We're not going anywhere, promise."
"Yeah Max, we'll all be together forever!" Angel spoke up as I looked down into her big eyes. I smiled hiccupping.
"Thank you"
She still looked very pale and was holding her arm carefully. She winced when she got up.
"Come on lets get you patched up" Iggy called quietly and led her back to the first aid kit to redo her badages properly. I sniffed, wiping my eyes and returning to normal max instead of weepy max. I looked around the rest of the flock cataloguing injuries while Iggy dealt with Angel's wound. My gaze finally met Fang's and I mouthed a silent thank you. He nodded slightly. Then I saw the blood on his sleeve.
"What happened?!"
He looked down and as if for the first time noticed the bloody sleeve. His eyes widened slightly, he was shocked.
"It's not mine" he stated.
"Whose is it then?!"
"Is it Ari's?" Nudge asked curiously still kneeling in front of me. "Cos you know, you're really fast compared to him so you could have-"
"Nope" Fang answered cutting her off.
"How'd you know?"
"He got away before I could do any real damage" Fang muttered darkly.
"Then…whose is it…?" I asked breaking into their conversation.
Fang turned and looked at me for a moment.
"Stand up" He commanded.
I stood confused, but then nearly fell losing my balance. I caught hold of Fang's arm before I fell and held my head with my free hand.
"The voice?" Fang questioned quietly while Nudge stared at me eyes wide.
"No, Just a headache." I clutched my head with both hands as another wave of pain hit me. "A freakin' big one, ow."
"Max, turn around, slowly." I turned making myself dizzy again. Fang stopped me as my back faced him. I heard him curse and a hand gingerly touched a spot just under my ribs. I winced, sucking in air.
"Dammit max! You got shot!" I spun round again making my self dizzy.
Note to self: Stop getting shot. It's not fun.
"Oops? Guess I didn't notice" I said trying to stop the world from spinning
"How can you not have noticed that?!" he said grabbing my shoulders and shaking me slightly - which was not helpful.
"I was kinda more worried about Angel being hurt!" I snapped back squinting my eyes trying to stand still and focus on him at the same time.
"And what use are you to her if you're hurt! Think, you idiot!!" His words shot through my head but what he said made sense, I suddenly felt ashamed.
"I'm sorry... I just -"
Then I was falling and the world went black.
A/N:
Not sure where this is going at the moment, it kinda wrote itself after I got it started.
Please, please, please review! All comments will be appreciated! Okay I admit it, I'm a review addict!
Hope you enjoyed!
