Jeb and Ari stepped out of the light. We all sighed in relief. Angel smiled. Now I know what you're thinking, "Jeb's a white coat, why are you all so happy to see him?" well you see Jeb is about as nice as a white coat can get. He also has a son, Ari, he's three and totally adorable with his little lab coat and clipboard that both said "scientist in training". Angel loves him, he's nice to her. Even though there is only a slight age difference since Angel is two Ari can talk almost as much as Nudge and Angel hasn't said a word. Today Ari is silent he's picked up on his father's worry. Jeb frowns as he looks at us.

Nudge couldn't keep her mouth shut though, "Jeb! What's wrong why can't Iggy see? Why are you so worried? What's going on?" It's times like this that I wish I could just duct tape that girl's mouth shut. At least I would if I had any duct tape, really nice stuff. I could take over the world I had duct tape. I should try that some day. My throne would be made of duct tape, my crown would be made of duct tape, my… OMG I'm turning into Nudge. Who says OMG anyway?

Anyway. Jeb silenced Nudge with a look, "I'm breaking you kids out of here."

We all stared at Jeb then at each other. Was it true or was this a test. "Jeb please tell me this is real," I hoped he told me the truth.

"Iggy is blind because the last experiment failed. Their new hybrid experiment was a success. They created a lupine human hybrid. They want to use you to train them." He looked at me seriously. He wasn't joking

"Lupine as in….." I started

"Wolf." Jeb finished.

"So are they like werewolves." Nudge asked "like do they turn into wolves at the full moon, and bite people and turn them into werewolves and do those werewolves turn more people into werewolves and then-"

"NUDGE!!!!!" we all screamed. Really is it to much to ask for one role of that awesome tape of duct form?

"They can turn into wolves at will, they can run as fast as you, they can track you through scent," Jeb looked at each of us. "Even if they couldn't I would never let them mess the rest of you up like Iggy."

"Hey!" Iggy shouted.

Jeb grinned, "Just jokin Iggy. We're going tonight"

Ari looked up at Jeb, "Where are we going daddy?"

Jeb smiled at Ari sadly, "Not you Ari you're safe here I'm taking these guys somewhere where they can be safe."

Ari look sad, "Okay daddy."

*****

Two hours later they thought we were asleep we lay still in our cages breathing deeply. We waited for Jeb. It took him HOURS to get there. When he finally did the only thing to announce his presence was the creak of the door, it was pitch black. I heard the others sit up in their cages. There was a slight rattle of keys as Jeb opened out doors one by one. When my door opened I waited for the sound of Jeb moving to the next cage before scrambling out. OH SWEET, SWEET FREEDOM! I hear the noise of the others moving around the room. "Where are you guys?" I whispered. There was a chorus of "here's" from around the room. Then right in my ear there way a "You're standing on my foot."

I jumped about 10 feet in the air and literally hit the ceiling. I hadn't expected Fang to be so close. I punched Fang in the arm when I landed. "What was that for!?" I whispered as loud as I could (I could still feel Jeb's glare).

"You were standing on my foot." Fang said. "And now my arm hurts too."

"Head towards the door. Try not to trip over anything." Jeb's voice came from behind me.

The door opened a few feet in front of me. The hall was lit just enough for me to see when my eyes adjusted. I looked around. No doors or windows in sight. Jeb carefully pushed past me into the hall to lead the way.

I picked up Angel who was standing by grasping the door way. I handed her to Fang. "You hold her."

"I thought you were supposed to lead by example." He muttered

"I'm delegating."

Several turns later we came to a door with a security lock Jeb placed his hand on the lock and it opened. We walked into a "normal" reception area. The place they showed people who came snooping I guess. Outside was a van with no windows or plates, our ticket out of here.

We were halfway to the car when the spotlight turned on. "PUT YOUR HANDS OVER YOUR HEADS!" a voice said over a loudspeaker. "IF YOU DON'T SURRENDER WE WILL SHOOT!"

We broke into a run; Jeb had longer legs and got their first. He threw open the car door and jumped in the front seat. The rest of the flock stated jumping in the back as Jeb started jumping in the back. I heard Gazzy scream. "Max!" I looked back one of the werewolf things got him. I didn't like them not having a name so I decided to call them erasers. They erased the life around them.

I heard a scream from the van. "Gazzy! No!" Angel said her first word.

I ran at the eraser and threw my full body weight against him I might not weigh much but it was enough. He dropped Gazzy who stood there for a moment before I screamed at him to get in the car and at Jeb to drive without me. Fang started to say something but it was lost in screeching tires as Gazzy jumped in the car and Jeb floored it. I push the eraser away and sprinted into the woods. I heard men following me. I laughed they would never catch up. Then I heard the dogs. We can't outrun dogs. The woods ended in a clearing. I barely managed to stop in front of the cliff. Not a clearing, a cliff. The dogs caught up I turned an eraser grinned at me. "Nowhere to go now Maximum Ride." His friends snickered.

Nowhere to go but up.

I stepped backwards off the cliff.

I heard a gasp. I closed my eyes and unfurled my wings. A sudden jerk shocked me. Ouch! Bad idea. That hurts! I opened my eyes afraid I was still falling. A grin filled my face. Not falling, flying. I turned towards the sunrise. At least that would throw off their aim. I didn't care about the sun or the trees or the stream below me. I had never seen the real thing before yet all that mattered was that I was flying. I guess they did something right after all.