Hi,

I'm disappointed in the amount of reviews I'm getting. I won't publish the next chapter until I at least get 7 reviews.

Come on people It's not that hard. I love long reviews by the way.

Heart of Diamond

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Max: The War Eagle

Chapter 3: Realisation

Max POV

I stared at her. "Wha... What?"

Nudge had tears pouring from her eyes as she bit her lip. "We... We fell apart."

I sunk to the ground, staring at nothing. No flock. How can a world exist without a flock? Nudge sunk to the ground next to me.

Nudge continued, her voice croaking every now and again. "Fang became leader in an instant. As much as he tried to take care of us, he was falling apart. We all agreed that we would go our own ways. If we came across you, we would find each other again somehow. Fang went looking for you. I came straight here. I knew that if you were any where you would be here. And if you needed help this was the first place you would go. I guess I was right."

I screamed, causing Nudge to jump in surprise. Indi woke up and began to cry. We were all crying.

It was my fault. I let the flock down. No, I killed the flock. I killed the very meaning of the flock. My fault. All my fault.

What have I done?

"Max?" I heard Valencia whisper near me. Go away, I wanted to say. But I couldn't. I was too much of a wreck.

I vaguely remember Valencia carrying me inside. What I remember the most is clutching a pillow that magically appeared under my head and spilling my heart out onto it.

I don't know how long I cried. I guess I wasn't really just crying over my flock, but I was crying over the situation. I was crying all the tears I had held back for the past months.

I must have fallen asleep because I was back in my happy memories again. The memories played in my mind, flashing like pictures in a random order.

I began to wake up, but I pushed myself to stay in the memories. But I knew I couldn't stay there forever and when I was pulled out of the memories the second time, I let go.

I instantly felt my surrounding. I was warm and comfortable. My hands gripped a pillow, which I expect was meant of be under my head and a doona covered me up to my waist.

My sensitive ears picked up that the small sounds around me. Where I was, was unfamiliar to me. From the sounds I heard bouncing off the walls, I knew I was in a room. The door was open ever so slightly, but the window was closed.

I opened my eyes.

The room was just as I had expected. It was Ella's room. The one I stayed in when I was last here. More memories.

It was dark outside, but my lamp was on. I sighed sitting up. The pillow I was clutching was damp. I felt guilty. I never cried with the flock. Nudge didn't have to witness that. It made me weak.

I put the pillow in its rightful spot. I looked around. Indi wasn't in the room. My heart started to pound. Breathe Max. She has to be with Nudge.

I stood up but noticed the sign on the door. I smiled when I noticed Nudge's writing. It was neater, but it still had spelling mistakes.

Max,

Shouwer, wash your hair, put on the cloths at the end of your bed.

Indi is safe with Valensia and me. No areguing.

Love Nudge

I turned at looked at the pile of clothes. There was also a towel, a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, a bar of soup, deodorant and a plastic bag of chocolate chip cookies. God Nudge knew me well.

I walked into the bathroom chomping on the homemade chocolate chip cookies. I showered quickly, keen on getting downstairs. I massaged the shampoo into my hair, groaning with pleasure of washing my hair for the first time in ages. God it felt good.

I stepped out and dried my hair quickly. I put my wet hair up in a pony tail. I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked cleaner. The grit and dirt had cleared from my face, and my cheeks had gained colour slightly. But my eyes were still blood shot and surrounded by black, almost making it look busied.

I slipped on my clothes. Casual jeans and a spaghetti string top with a pair of converse shoes. There was also a matching pair of underwear and bra and a clean pair of white socks.

When I was dressed, I instantly felt refreshed and clean. I sighed smiling pouring the crumbs of the cookies into my mouth.

I dumped my grotty clothes on the bed and walked down stairs. Valencia's house hadn't changed. I stopped half way down the steps.

Valencia was my mother.

Oh god, how could I forget?

My breath quickened. What do I say? Hi mum. I'm back! With your granddaughter.

In and out Max, Jeb whispered. Don't hyperventilate on me.

I growled. Shove off.

My voice was silent. I took a deep breath and walked down the stairs. Valencia was in the kitchen holding Indi. I walked into the kitchen silently. Valencia was still intrigued by Indi.

I smiled slight. As if sensing my presence, Valencia looked up. She smiled looking at me through her soft brown eyes.

"You up," She whispered.

I rubbed my arms. "Yeah."

There was silence. I began to wonder if she knew.

We both started talking at the same time. Valencia chuckled, with slight nervousness in her voice. "You first," she whispered.

I fiddled with my top. "Nudge told you," I whispered looking down.

Valencia nodded out of my peripheral vision. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. When she finally spoke her word came out in a whisper. "Max... I can't say I really agree to this. I know this wasn't expected... but you could of really of thought it through a little better."

I shifted slightly on my feet.

"But I also know that the whole flock is extremely mature for their age. And I guess the way you and Fang..."

Jeb snickered in my head. Told you so.

"MUM!" Shut up Jeb!

"Sorry, Max, but it's true," She sighed. "What's done is done. And besides Indi is one of a kind."

I looked up. Valencia was smiling. I hugged her.

"You're the best mum in the universe," I whispered.

I looked up at Valencia and she was crying. She whipped her tears away and kissed my forehead.

"Actually, you seem to be more of a mother than I am," Valencia said with a smiled.

I smiled back and gazed down at my sleeping daughter. Valencia put Indi in my arms. "She's beautiful," Valencia whispered.

I laughed slightly. "Isn't that what all grandmothers say?"

Valencia groaned. "Oh god, don't remind me. I feel so old."

We laughed together. Relief washed over me. I felt a lot happier knowing Valencia was ok about being a grandmother. Jees, that did kind of sound old.

I sighed and gazed at Indi. "I need to find Fang. I need to find him and my flock," I whispered. More for myself than any one.

Valencia hesitated, her eyes filling with worry. "Max... you know the world has changed since you destroyed Itex.

I frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

Valencia looked worried. "Where have you been for the past year?"

I shrugged. "Hiding," I whispered.

Valencia's eyes filled with sorrow. "Things have changed Max. The world. It's... It's not what you think it is any more. It's dangerous."

My instincts told me Valencia's words had something to do with me. My hands instantly tightened around Indi. "What do you mean?" I whispered cautiously.

Valencia sighed. "Max, when Itex was destroyed, the government uncovered hundreds of experiments. Thousands. They had no idea what to do with them. The public were pushing for human rights on the experiments saying that they were human too."

I nodded. I expected millions of people had read Fang's blog and were on his side. It was strange how Fang's name no longer brought tears to my eyes. Maybe because I would see him soon. Hopefully.

Valencia sighed. "Due to the public pressure, the government set the experiments free. They were placed in rehabilitation centres around the world, where they would learn to live human lives."

I froze. I realized where this was heading and it wasn't good.

Valencia looked up. "Of course as you know, you can't change the ways they grew up with. Being part animal, they were designed to fight, destroy and kill. No human can change that. When the experiments thought they were being realised but when they were put in the detention centres, they were trapped and fought back killing hundreds of people."

She gulped. "The public did a total back flip. They all of a sudden wanted the experiments captured and caged. Investors immediately took the opportunity to create a Zoo for the mutants. They torture them, hurt them. Some of these mutants are like you, barely animal at all, but they still use them as entertainment. It's... it's horrible."

I stared at her. This was people we were talking about. My heart raced. Images of my flock back in cages raced through my mind. I looked down at Indi. I wasn't going to let her witness life in a cage. I just couldn't do that to her.

"Where's everyone else?" I said my voice tight. I have to find them.

Valencia looked worried. "I don't know Max. After Nudge arrived 6 months ago, neither of us have heard anything from anyone else from the flock. We thought you were dead or worse caught and put in one of those travelling circuses."

I shuddered and blocked those images out of my mind. I couldn't believe this had all happened in just nine months! There was silence for a while.

"I know what you're thinking. You can't go after the flock."

I stared at her. "Why?"

Valencia looked as if she was about to cry. "I can't lose another daughter."

That's when it snapped. "Where's Ella?"

Valencia burst into tears. I put one up around my mother as her head flopped on my shoulder.

"They took her away," she sobbed. "They said I wasn't a good enough parent... they... they took her away from me."

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I'm only posting the next chapter when I get 5 reviews. PLZ REVIEW! I really want to know what you think!