Thank you all so much for reading! And for those who reviewed, thank you even more! It's really wonderful to read all the nice reviews and know that people liked my story. I'd love to thank all of you guys personally, but this will have to suffice *smile*. I'll try and continue it for as long as I can, until it is completed. Once again, if you have request feel free. If not, I'm just gonna be lil' ol' random me as always. Ok, enough talk. Enjoy!


Chapter 2: The Prologue Part 2

I feel so sluggish. It's a pretty fun word. Sluggish.
Running through mazes all day can do that to a kid I guess, or anyone really, with or without caffeine pumping in their systems.

All that energy and adrenaline finally dying down is such a buzz kill though.

That and the exercise catching up. I'm gonna feel so sore later. Great.

I can hardly think straight, it's amazing I can do anything at the moment.

Wait. What am I doing?

I look around.

I'm standing in line. It's a pretty long line, but no one is talking. I see some familiar faces, none from my age group though. Huh. I must have lagged behind since I was now surround by little kids around 4-7 years old. Whoops.

I spot a small blonde spiky head a few places in front and spare no seconds to cut.

After not hearing any complaints I poke Gazzy on the shoulder.

"Hey, bud. What's going on? What's with the line?" I ask.

He stares up at me blearily. "Hiya Max."

"Uh huh." I'm feeling impatient. Not very nice of me. I'll make it up to him later. Somehow. "And…?"

"Din-nuh."

"Since when is dinner waiting in line?" I wonder aloud. I should probably stop saying what I'm thinking. I'm annoying myself. "Have you seen Iggy? Or Fang?"

He shook his head and put his little fingers in his mouth. "Do you th-ee my new tee-f comin' out, Max?"

I squinted at the flat pink gums he kept prodding.

"Sure."

What? I'm making it up to him now. They'll grow in no time. "You look like a little wolfy Eraser."

I felt a little guilty when he beamed a large toothless grin at me. But just a little.

He liked talking sloppily. I suspected half of how he was talking, was on purpose.

It's finally my turn for the "dinner" and I look down at the little package sitting in a box that says "Take ONLY ONE".

I raise an eyebrow. The package is tiny, half the size of my fist to be exact. How could it hold enough food for hungry growing kids?

After making sure no one was looking carefully at me, I decided to take two.

I'm not exactly the "if there are rules, you gotta break them" kinda girl, as much as you think I am. Trust me, some rules are great. Like gravity. Sometimes.
But I just think some rules should have exceptions. Like this one for example.

"Th-d you hear? (Did you hear?)" A small tug at my shirt. "My thi-i-th-der is gonna be joining u-th, Max! We get to th-ee her in a fw-ew days! I f-ink th-he ha-f wings too! (My sister is gonna be joining us, Max! We get to see her in a few days! I think she has wings too!)"

My heart softens. We had heard from Jeb that Gazzy had a biological sister that was two years younger than he was. We just never got to see her since she was deep deep in the ICU place.
"That's awesome, Gaz." I said as I petted his blonde grass-like hair. "You thinking of names?"

He nodded so furiously I had to grab his head to stop it from falling off.

"I wa-th f-inking of-"

"Hey! What are you doing here?" A White Coat's cold fingers wrapped around my arm. "You should be in Division D."

"We have divisions now?" My tone is half sarcastic, half actually surprised. "I thought it was just "Kid's here and littler kids there" at meal times."

A loud slap against my cheek and a rough tugging away happens in the next few seconds. I hardly flinch. It's pretty standard procedure around here. I just prefer to spice things up with my say in things. Makes life a bit more fun, you know? I mean, if you are stuck in a situation you can't change, might as well make the most out of it. Not to be sappy or inspirationally motivating, but I do have my moments.

I smiled to myself. I bet I could be a motivational speaker if I had grown up normal.

As I'm towed away, I notice that the hallways look a little different than they had a few days ago.

Risking another slap to my already stinging cheek. I tap the white coat on its shoulder. Nowadays I can't tell if people are he's or she's. Some people really go all out for gender equality if you know what I mean.

"Hi, uh. What is up with the new look? You guys seem to be sporting whiter coats if that were possible."

I get a glare and the white coat turns away. We continue our little march and the guy, or girl, doesn't reply me.

So rude. I think to myself, then. Man, I really must have drifted. I am so far off. Haha.

"There is a new management."

"Oh, it speaks!" I mutter as soft as I can, but I think it still heard me. I am flung forward and I almost fall on my face. I don't. Please. I have good enough reflexes.

I get to my feet and the white coat is nowhere to be seen. There is however another long line in front of me. I sigh and start walking. No way am I waiting for something I don't know about.

"Max!"

Nudge seizes my arm from out of nowhere and pulls me next to her.

"Whoa! Yesterday it was interrupting, today it's grabbing. What's next? Pulling my hair? Clawing my eyes out?" I grumble.

"What? No! Did you hear? There are new-"

"Management. Yeah I did. New Big Tops huh? What have they got up their sleeve now? Actual torture chambers?"

Nudge looks at me with surprise. "New management? That would explain a lot. But no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about- hey did you have the coffee thing today too? They put sugar in mine I think, haha! It was sweet. Could have been artificial but I don't really care since it actually tasted so much better-"

"Nudge! Focus!" I snap my fingers in front of her face. "And breathe every five words would you?

"Sorry." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"And while you're at it, d'you know where Fang and Iggy are? I haven't seen them since morning." I felt a little worried, especially about Iggy. Fang, I knew could handle himself pretty well. After Iggy had lost his eyesight almost a year ago, he had kind of lost his good side.

"I haven't seen them either. You think they could have gotten in trouble?"

"I hope not. What were you saying again?"

She thumped her finger against her chin. "Oh right! I heard that they were installing new security systems or something."

"The ol' Erasers not good enough for them?"

She shakes her head, her long black hair whirling around her face. "They are adding something besides the Erasers. I heard that the old management was completely replaced because of some "experiments" getting too much free will."

I laugh at that. Someone must have complained about me. Oh well.

"So what we dealing with here?" I rub my hands together, I didn't notice how cold the hallways were.

"More Erasers, more high-tech security and…"

A white coat grabs me, again, and slaps a thin metal cuff on both my wrists and both my ankles.

"High-tech chains." I realize with apprehension.


Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. JP does.

I'll try updating every day or other while I can before I have to go back to school. Please look forward to it!
Till next time!