A/N: Chapter 4... yay! So sorry for not updating! We have no excuses*heads hang in shame*

Disclaimer: We disclaim Maximum Ride. We claim that these things are annoying.

Max was oddly at peace. She was sinking deeper and deeper towards the bottom of the ocean. But it seemed like time had slowed down to a trickle, everything was thick and heavy. The waves were lulling her to sleep with their calm rocking and pretty blue shade. Bubbles were playfully escaping her lips and shimmying up towards the light. 'How cute,' Max thought with a soft smile. 'Wait,' Max froze, 'did I just use the word cute?' But that moment of alarm quickly resided. Her vision was growing dimmer, the colour of the sea becoming deeper. It was almost completely dark now. But Max didn't feel lonely. The black was warm. It was pulling her into a hug.

I woke panting, jerking upright only to be slammed back down. My vision doubled for a second. Triple-layered metal cuffs strapped my hands and feet securely to the table I was lying on.

My heartbeat was racing. It was just another dream.

I'd broken into a cold sweat while I was asleep and a shiver skittered up my spine. My head's pounding now. The whitecoats have been doing this for a while now. Honestly, I'm not even sure how long it's been since I woke up in this prison, but I'm guessing four days. In between all of the experiments and poking around, they inject me with some orange tinted liquid right into the left side of my neck. That's what causes the nightmares.

I groan. Places I didn't even know could hurt were on fire. Last night's (or morning's or afternoon's, I dunno) experiment was brutal. They had me hanging from 50 ft. I don't even know why they had a room that big. Anyways, they bound back my wings; and left me there. I dropped at ten minutes. You won't believe how hard it is to try and land on your feet without wings. I think I broke my leg, but I can't really tell.

Knowing that the whitecoats won't come in to take me back to my cage for at least another 30 minutes, I just stare at the white light above me. It takes a long time for the serum to wear off. Apparently, the thing that they inject me with also gives me extreme bursts of strength. They learned that the hard way.

I've been here for four days. Four days. Might as well have been four years. I wonder where the Flock is. I hope they're safe. I hope they're not looking for me. It's too dangerous.

"Yeah," I whisper, trying to convince myself, "I hope they're not."

"I'm hungry," Gazzy grumbled.

The whole gang was struggling through the sky. The whole gang except for one. Max.

"We have a bit of cash, Fang," Nudge hinted hopefully.

Fang, who was flying slightly ahead, turned around now and sighed. "I guess we should make a stop somewhere."

The sun had almost completely set and in the dimming light they spotted a little town below them.

"Let's go down there!" the Gasman and Angel pointed in unison.

"Yeah," Iggy said with a yawn.

Plunging down, they landed in the parking lot of a warmly lit diner. Auntie Mary's, the worn down sign read. It was one of those old-fashioned 24 hour restaurants.

"C'mon!" Nudge squealed.

They all tumbled through the doorway and were greeted by a smiling waitress.

"Good evening," she said, "right this way."

She led them to a booth near the back of the diner.

"I'll be right back to take your orders."

"Thanks," Fang muttered, shrugging his backpack off.

Iggy picked up a salt shaker and began to shake some salt into his palm. "So, what's the plan now?"

It's been four days since Max was taken. The Flock had been flying almost nonstop to Death Valley, to the School.

"I say we barge right in and blow 'em all up!" Gazzy said enthusiastically.

Nudge rolled her eyes at him. "We need an actual strategy this time."

"Yeah," Angel whispered, "we can't let them hurt Max."

They all fell silent at that.

"Okay," Fang exhaled, "here's what we'll do…"

"Get up."

I heard a voice stream to my ears through my half-conscious state. I was starting to become aware of a killer headache pounding at my skull.

"Now," the gruff voice commanded.

I tried to pry my eyes open but it seemed like they were stuck together with crazy glue. That's when a foot kicked me in the stomach. It knocked the breath right out of me.

I grimaced, "You know, patience is a virtue."

Trying my best, I managed to rip my eyelids open, but um, not as gruesomely as that sounded. The sudden light made me blind for a second. Rubbing away the crust around my eyes, I hauled myself to my feet. I was in completely sterile white room. No surprise there. It contained absolutely nothing except for me and the handful of scientists gathered in front of me. Someone cleared their throat. I slowly craned my neck to look up and up until I finally saw the man towering above me. He was over seven feet tall! Whoa. The man looked like he was in his mid-fifties and had a scraggle of graying hair to prove it.

"Hmmm…Specimen M1A5X," he grunted, "human-avian hybrid."

I gave him one of my famous "I'm-so-angry-you-better-be-scared-little-man-cuz-imma-gonna-kick-your-butt" glares. He looked like he was going to pee his pants! Chump.

"Hmmm… Old man that needs one heck of a life," I spat. "And a nose job. I go by Max."

His bulbous nose turned a deep shade of red. "Very well, Max," he sneered. "My name is Professor Ivanhosenog. I am the head scientist for this next experiment. "

What kind of name is that?! Next experiment? Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on just a sec.

"Okie dokie! Look here, Mr. I've a hose in my nose and whatever, I've really got a tight schedule. I've got to whip all of your scrawny butts and then escape all by three o'clock so could we move this along? And what do you mean by 'next experiment'?" I added in a sweet smile at the end. Just a little Maximum Ride charm for ya.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! That button's calling for you! Press it. We know you wanna. Please? Lol hoped you enjoyed the chapter!