The Final Chapter is for you, Cindy, because you got me into Maximum Ride in the first place! Keep working on that story of yours!

My gut was reacting funny to this place. Or it could just be the Indian food I had earlier. But I'm pretty sure it was the building. It reeked of The School. I had needed a place to sleep, and this was my only option except for that dumpster 2 miles away.

As I was searching around for a comfortable place to sleep, I heard a SNAP above me, and something heavy fell on me.

As I fell to the ground, I did what any other sensible person would do in this situation: I took a big breath, and shrieked. I rolled out from under whatever fell on me, gasping, because screams like that aren't easy to pull off. I looked at what had landed on me. My heart lurched and skipped a beat.

It was a freaking girl! A snapped piece of rope was around her neck (the other piece still hanging from the catwalk above us). I turned her over with my shoe, yes, admittedly, kinda grossed out. When I saw her face, my heart fluttered a little. She looked like- like me! Well, like Max, but me being Max's clone, the girl technically looked like me.

A teeny bit curious, I checked her pulse, and when I felt it, I was like No freakin' way she could have survived that 30 foot fall without snapping her neck! I leaned a little bit closer to her, and she sounded like she was having trouble breathing. There was a lump on her throat. Is it normal for half-dead people to have a large lump in their throat?

Just in case you were wondering, fuck NO I was not about to perform mouth-to-mouth with a girl, much less a partly-dead one. So I pumped her chest as best as I could. Never let it be known that Maya (like my new name?) left a helpless girl, well, helpless.

I pumped her chest once more, harder this time, and something flew out of her mouth! It clinked when it hit the ground. When I picked it up, I noticed it was a small tin flute, that, yes, was covered in saliva. Etched onto one side of the flute was GAZZY. The gears in my head turned verrrrrrry slowly, trying to put 2 and 2 together. All I kept getting was 5.

The girl suddenly sat up and started coughing violently, her eyes bugging out in a nasty way whenever she did. Then, as quickly as it came, it stopped. She focused, and noticed me for the first time.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice a little hoarse. I dropped the flute. "Who are you?" she asked, more…. intensely.

And stupid stupid me (which I swear I got from Max), I answered with, "Umm, I'm not your enemy." I sounded more like I asked that.

With an animalistic growl, she got up quicker than she should have been able to and hurled herself at me, putting her hands on my throat, for no reason, I swear.

Quickly, I kneed her in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her, and getting a nasty whiff of her breath. She let me go and clutched her stomach. I reached for a weapon- any weapon, because DAMN this girl is tougher than she looks. Of course, not tougher than me. Of course.

My fingers curled around a bloody pipe that was slightly bent. Ok, so admittedly, my pride was already beat up and thrown in a dumpster for not reacting quicker. So a weapon kinda killed what dignity I had left.

The girl got up and limp-ran (that's possible, right?) to me, but she was slow enough so that I was ready. I swung the pipe against her demented noggin, and knocker her aside. I dropped the pipe and ran to her, kicking her in the ribs with all my strength. Somehow, she was still conscious enough to swing her arm under my legs, making me fall on my butt hard.

As I was down, she got up and put a knee on my chest and started punching me repeatedly. This girl had definitely been trained before. My nose exploded with blood, and the psycho seemed to be enjoying it! What a little weirdo!

My hands were free, so I grabbed her by her hair with one hand, and grabbing her shirt with the other, and flipped her off me. I spent one precious second testing my nose, deciding it was absolutely broken.

She charged at me again but I brought my foot up, so she could taste nice, delicious Nikes. She fell on her back, and I jammed my elbow into her stomach. As I got up, she made weird gurgling sounds. Then, she spun on her back, kicking my feet from under me again. She climbed on me, which I noticed she did with great effort, and secured my arms under her legs, leaving me wholly defenseless. Then, she bagan to choke me. I began to have flashbacks, of when I was in this exact same position, with Max on top of me, choking me until I started losing my eyesight. Right now, my eyesight started to fade quickly, and that's when I began to lose hope. Please, please, please don't do anything to my magenta streak, I thought. Not much of a death wish, eh?

But one thing saved me from oblivion: my face.

She stopped choking me, but still held my throat. She leaned in close to me, and for one horrifying, shocking second, I thought she was going to sniff me- or worse, KISS ME! I sucked in my lips and everything, to avoid dying fulfilling some guy's dream of girl-on-girl action. Hey, don't judge me, she was on top of me, I was defenseless, and she was leaning into my face? Give me a break.

Instead, she beheld my face. Then something flashed in her eyes, something like recognition, and asked, "Max?"

W-what the hell? "No," I responded.

She shook her head and got off me, allowing me to breathe correctly.

"S-s-sorry," she said. "I- I don't even know why I asked that. Sorry. I don't even know who I am, what my name is—sorry, sorry, sorry," she rambled.

"I just attacked you 'cause, well, I don't know, you scared me," she said again.

What the hell ever, I thought. I was just happy to be alive. She paid me no mind, so I was just about to break for the door, escaping from this lunatic, but her sobs stopped me.

She was clawing her face in desperation, and I wondered if she was serious when she said she doesn't know who she is. Something, probably my heart, told me that I was here for her. That my guts had been reacting to her being here when I got to this place.

So I made a decision. Something that I hoped wasn't another of my big-assed mistakes: I cleared my throat, getting her attention, and held my hand out.

"Join me?" I asked. Yep, this was going to be a mistake. I know it.

She hiccupped, sucking in snot. Seriously, ew.

But she took my hand and nodded. She smiled, it was barely there, but still there.

"The name's Maya," I said, not really expecting her to say anything, since she didn't know who she was.

I knew this girl had some kind of connection to Max, that much was obvious, and I was going to use this girl to get to her. Somehow.

And we walked out of the building.

Soooo…how was it? Review, seriously. I'll get Maya on you.