Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the flock. JP does.
Chapter 2The soft sound of the rain soothed his pain. Something rubbed his side and he jolted from surprise. The lanky figure jumped away and cowered next to a dumpster… wait a dumpster? He did a double take. The ground was wet and he could hear sirens in the distance. He was…. OUTSIDE! Kitty was dressed in different clothes and so was he. She looked terrified. Slowly and carefully, he advanced towards her to comfort her, but she backed up against the wall to get as far away from him as possible. She was afraid of… him.
"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," he showed her his palms to she he wasn't going to hurt her. She still didn't trust him, but she relaxed slightly. Then he realised she was going to run for it. He quickly grabbed her and held her close until she settled. She fought for the first minute, but eventually gave up the fight. Tears streamed down her face. "What's wrong?" he said as he patted her head. "Eyes. Eyes, black and cold," she mumbled, "Blood seeping through skin". She began to rock in his arms, as though she were insane. He had no idea what was talking about, but knew it was pointless to ask.
After a while he realised she didn't have her cat ears, or her tail for that matter, "Where are your ears?" he asked as he searched her hair for them. "I hid them," she sniffed. "You can do that?" His eyes widened, "Wow". She smiled, finally sinking into his hug, She was over it…. for now, whatever it was.
It had been a while since Striker had been on the New York streets. There weren't many people out after all it was raining. He wasn't quite sure what to do; they needed shelter but he didn't have any money, they needed food again they needed money. They past a boarded subway entrance, he didn't need to be a genius to realise boarded subway shelter. He broke some boards and they both squeezed through.
Inside was cold, wet and pitch black, but it was easy for both of them to see. It smelt absolutely foul and there was mold growing on the walls, the place must have been closed for years. Kitty reached out to touch the mold in curiosity, but Striker grabbed her hand, "No," he said firmly but with all the love in the world. She withdrew her hand and followed close behind Striker as he walked towards the railway.
Striker knew that there would be an area somewhere down there where the hungry and homeless hang out. He jumped down onto the tracks then helped Kitty down. They walked down the track for a few minutes until he saw light at the end of the tunnel approaching fast, no it wasn't salvation, it was a train! Striker quickly grabbed Kitty's arm and pulled her to the side. He pushed her up against the wall with his body to protect her from anything that might come flying towards them.
The train past and they continued down the track. They eventually hear voices and turned down a side tunnel towards them.
There were a few fires in some old oil containers with groups of grubby men and women warming themselves. Others were leaned up against the walls asleep or mumbling conversations to each other. No one really noticed the pair wander in and set themselves up in a free space against the wall. "I'm hungry," Kitty looked up at him with adorably sad eyes. "I know, me too". He let her snuggle into his chest.
He was half asleep when he heard an argument not too far away. He looked up and saw a boy waving his laptop in the air. He was yelling at a girl who was clutching her head and a mixture of kids and teenagers who were around her. "Tell you girlfriend to stop messing with my computer. This happens every time you come here," he yelled. Striker look around to see how much attention it was attracting, but no one was taking much notice.
She's not doing anything, your paranoid," a teenage boy sitting next to her argued. "Whatever, just keep her under control," he snarled as he walked away. The teenage boy began talking to the others. Something about the group seemed familiar. He had never seen them before, but he felt as if they had something in common. But he highly doubted it, not many people had wings.
Striker gently pushed a sleeping Kitty off him and walked over to the group. As he approached the group they went quiet and stared at him. "Are you okay?" he asked the girl. She nodded, but didn't look at him. "She just has a headache, she'll be fine," the boy said, but wasn't convinced himself.
"My name's Striker," he reached out for the boy's hand to shake, and you are?" THe boy paused before answering, as if contemplating whether to tell the truth or lie, "Fang and this is Max," he pointed to the girl. Then there was silence. "Well, are you going to introduce us?" another boy the same age asked. He didn't seem to be looking at anything particular, but he didn't look at the person her was talking to. "Oh, this is Iggy, he's blind. Nudge never shuts up," he nodded his head towards an eleven year old girl with tanned skin, she smiled. "Gazzy," he motioned to an eight year old boy sitting next to a little girl, " and that's Angel, the youngest. Max is the oldest". Max smiled and add, "And in charge". "What about me?" the dog said. "Oh, and Total". The dog huffed and sat on Angel.
"So you're Striker, didn't you come in with a girl?" Max asked. "Yeah, that's Kitty she…" he looked over to where he left her, but she wasn't there. He quickly scanned the area and found her crouching in front of a sleeping old man, her face inches from his. "Kitty," he groaned and ran over to her. He put his arm behind her back gently pulled her back towards the group. "He smells," she commented. "Well, there's a high chance that he hasn't had a bath in a while," he quietly told her. She giggled childishly.