Chapter 2: You're a Freak too, Huh?
Max woke up to the sound of arguing voices.
"We should have taken her back to my place!" A male voice hissed quietly.
"Why? So she hero worships you? Is everything about you getting laid!?" A feminine voice angrily replied.
"What!?" The male voice sounded horrified. "No! She's still just a kid. The reason is, she trusted me to help her!" There was a heavy emphasis on me.
What? I thought. I trusted a stranger? Then, last night's events came back to me. Oh, yeah. I did trust a stranger. Well, is he really a stranger now? I know his name after all.
Whilst Alec and angry-female-voice continued their bickering, I took in my surroundings. I was on a sofa. A really comfortable sofa at that. The room was large and had a huge window looking out. Sort of like a penthouse. Huh. Maximum Ride, in a penthouse? Who'd a thunk it? Over in the corner there was a large array of computers.
And a strange old guy in a wheel chair in front of said computers.
My options? Scream and get Alec in here. Crash through the window and fly away to meet up with the Flock. Or, I could just knock the guy out and then go see Alec and angry-female-voice and tell them that, yeah, they should've taken me to Alec's place.
Option one was out. I do not scream. Ever. Option two was out, too. Injured right now, I don't want to worry about glass causing more damage. However, option three was rather appealing.
As I was sneaking up behind the strange old man in a wheel chair, he noticed my reflection in the screen, and then spun to face me pointing a gun at my chest. Awesome. My luck just never stops.
"Don't move." He said. Well, he had a gun, so. Option one it was then. Sucker.
Let's see how my acting skills are. I opened my mouth and let out the most blood-curdling scream I have ever heard come from my mouth. Or any of the Flocks. It did the job though. The strange old guy looked confused, still pointing a gun at me though, and Alec and woman ran into the room to see what's up.
"Are you crazy!" Alec yelled at strange old guy. "Put the gun down, Logan." Ooooh, he sounds scary when he's pissed off, I mean annoyed.
Strange old guy – Logan – began to stutter. "But – I – I was just –"
"Just what? Trying to scare the life out of an innocent kid? Didn't I say put the gun down!" More of a statement then a question, but it got the gun away from my chest. Phew. "Control your boyfriend, Maxie." He sneered. Is he talking to me? No, he's looking at the woman. Hey! We must have the same name. Cool.
"It's Max!" The woman snapped back.
"Actually," I started. "Maybe you should be Maxie. Then we won't get confused." I explained smiling cheekily at her from behind Alec, who had placed himself in front of me. I feel like I have a big brother right now. A big brother protector. Which is weird. I heard Alec huff out a silent chuckle.
Maxie didn't look too happy. I smiled some more. And then I winced. My chest and shoulder really hurt. Other Max and Alec both noticed, and before I could register what was happening, Alec was gently placing me back onto the sofa.
"Hey. You okay?" Alec asked softly, looking me on the eyes, probably to assess if I'm lying.
"I'm always okay." I replied. I heard an amused snort and looked at Other Max. When she noticed she explained.
"You know who you sounded like just then?" I shook my head and I noticed Alec scowl. "Alec." She stated with a smirk.
"Shut up, Maxie." He tossed over his shoulder. No real fire in it, I noticed. During the whole exchange, I was scoping the place for exits. So far the window idea was my favourite. Open air being the reason. There was also the front door behind the glass wall thing. Seriously? Whose place was this? And then there was the kitchen. Thinking about it, I'm starved. As if everyone needed to know, my stomach growled, demanding to be fed. I could feel the red hot flush crawling up my neck and into my face. Well. That was embarrassing.
Alec and Other Max shot me amused looks.
"What?" I cried out. "I haven't eaten in days! And roasted rat does not count as eating. That's more like ... I don't know, eating a teething ring? I don't know, I never actually had one. So. Yeah." I trailed off awkwardly. I sat there nodding for a bit. The looks I were getting said the wearers were amused. Glad to provide your entertainment. You're welcome. I thought in annoyance.
Alec stood up from crouching in front of me. "I'll go see if I can rustle something up for ya." He stated cheerily with a clap of his hands, before he spun and walked into the kitchen.
Other Max muttered, "You were just looking for an excuse to raid the fridge and cupboards." As Alec walked out. I snorted.
"It's better him than me." I stated gaining Other Max's attention, as well as 'Logan'. "I can burn sandwiches." I stated. Horror was Logan's expression. Shock was Other Max's and uproarious laughter was heard from the kitchen.
After eating a rather yummy chicken sandwich, courtesy of one Alec McDowell, and I guess Logan, since it was his food and kitchen. Nah. He didn't look happy about it. So screw the creepy old guy in the wheel chair who reminds me of a white coat.
They all kept throwing curious glances at me. It was getting annoying.
"Can we go to Alec's place now? I don't feel safe here." I stated. That got me three looks of shock. And then Alec sent an 'I told you so' look at Other Max, who just glared at him before ignoring him.
"What do you mean?" Other Max asked me. "Don't feel safe?" She used quotation marks.
"It's too open for gun shot." I stated pointing to the window. It was true. It was too open for gunshot and making me feel uncomfortable. I was just waiting for the firing squad to rain on us with bullets.
"Don't worry, its enforced glass." Logan tried to soothe me.
"So it'll withstand twenty different shooters shooting at the same time, huh? That's cool. What about a bomb. Will it withstand that?" I taunted. "Not to mention we're sitting targets!" I exclaimed. "I don't know about you, but being in such a wide open space, whilst still being confined does not make me feel any better!" I cried getting to my feet.
"Okay, let's go." Alec said getting up. At the socked look, he explained. "What? She's right. And you know it too, Max." He stated looking at the other girl, who nodded and got up too. "Do you want to ride with me or Maxie?" Alec questioned me. At my confused look, he cleared up. "We have motorcycles."
"Oh. Umm. You, please?" The please was for the sake of not knowing how to respond to that without getting kicked to the curb. I needed to heal up so I could meet up with the Flock, a sap. And that meant sticking with Alec.
We had all walked down to the basement, where their bikes were, Other Max lagged a bit because she wanted to say goodbye to Logan.
Other Max had an awesome black bike, whilst Alec had a cool green one. I didn't know a thing about bikes, but it was shiny and big. Other Max hopped onto her bike after smiling in acknowledgment of my admiration of her bike. Alec climbed onto his before helping me get onto the back gently. After Alec's head nod, Other Max zoomed out off the complex, us following not far behind. My chest and shoulder hurt holding onto Alec, but not as bad as it could, considering I heal three times faster than the average human and currently have pain killers in my blood stream. Best invention ever, by the way.
I felt better once we got to Alec's apartment. Although it was smaller, there was less likely to be a shoot out that could kill anyone. Unless Itex managed to get experiments to see through walls. Which I wouldn't put passed them entirely. As night drew closer, Other Max left to go home. Alec offered for me to take the bed, but I couldn't damn the guy to the sofa in his own house, no matter how tempting.
In the end we were sharing the bed. Not entirely sure how that happened. Two stubborn people I guess.
Once I was sure Alec was asleep, I got up gently so as not to disturb him, and left to the living room so I could stretch my wings, which were cramping.
The relief of unfurling my wings was amazing. I think I even moaned in pleasure it felt so good. After giving an experimental flap of my wings to loosen them up a bit, I heard a creak from a floorboard behind me. I froze. Damn.
"So," Alec's voice called out from behind me. "You're a freak too, huh?"
As I said. Damn.
