Oh my God. I actually have nothing to say…for once. Lol. Well, thanks to the people who read this story, and like it. I'm sorry guys, I know I suck.

Oh, and I forgot! I haven't read the fourth book yet (wah!) so no spoilers, no telling me what happens or anything.

I do not own Maximum Ride, blah blah blah……..


10

Max POV

"Uh, Max? What exactly are we doing?"

Iggy's voice rang through the crisp morning air like a bell. Fang shuffled along beside me, his hands shoved in his pockets, not saying anything. "Your arm hurts, doesn't it?" I asked, not looking at Iggy, who was to my left. "Uh…yeah, only a whole lot" Iggy replied sourly. "Well, Jeb talked to me last night, in my head, and he told me that we're near Dr. Martinez's house". Aka, mom. It was true. After Jeb had talked to me, I'd run for my life back to the guys, my crying slowing down. When I'd reached the guys, I hadn't told them anything, just to get some sleep. And now we were walking through the woods, crisp leaves crunching beneath our feet, which were sinking in to the ice cold snow.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Max, doesn't Dr. Martinez live in Arizona? I didn't think that Arizona got snow.Yeah, well, I thought that too, but I guess that the whitecoats are screwing up the climate now too, as part of their whole 'By half plan' thing. Oh, you mean I haven't told you yet? The whitecoats are working on a 'project' they call the By Half Plan. Basically what it means, is that they're going to reduce the world's population by half, killing off all the weak, sick, 'useless' (as they called it) people. And we were at the very top of the list.

"Dr. Martinez?" Iggy asked, envy dotting his voice. "You mean your mom?" My face reddened just slightly. Yes, it was true. Dr. Martinez was my mom, and Jeb was my dad. So, technically, I am Maximum Batchelder Martinez Ride, but anyone caught calling me that shall die in five seconds. I am Maximum Ride, as I've always been. "Yeah" I replied to Iggy. "My mom".

Fang still shuffled along next to me, on my right, saying nothing. His dark eyes had a kind of…I don't know…out of it look. "How many people have looked at the blog?" I asked, turning toward him. Fang shrugged. "I've no idea. A lot. The thingy that measured how many people were looking at it broke, but it stopped at about 2,406,984." I raised my eyebrows. "That's a lot of hits. Are the kid armies still with us?" Fang nodded. Oh yeah, I forgot this too. Fang has an army of kids on our side, courtesy of his blog. When Angel, Nudge, Ari, and I had been in Germany, and were getting our butts kicked by Flyboys (robotic Erasers), a whole bunch of kids had raided the castle and saved our sorry butts. Kudos to those kids.

After what seemed like forever, but was only an hour, Fang, Iggy, and I reached the edge of Dr. Martinez's house. As always, I hesitated before running into the yard. I don't know why I always hesitate. It's just a thing about me, I guess. But none the less, very slowly, I crept into the yard, cautiously. Fang and Iggy followed close behind me. My heart was thumping, and I could hear it banging around in my chest. We reached the front door. My heart thumped louder.

C'mon Max, you can do it I told myself. I felt as though my heart were about to erupt from my chest. It's okay Max, just reach out a hand and knock on the door. Cautiously, I reached out a shaking hand, and knocked hard on the door. It stung to knock on the door with my bloody knuckles, but none the less (I've already said that, haven't I?) I didn't pull away.

The knock seemed to echo around the empty clearing, making it seem so creepy and eerie. I heard footsteps sound behind the door, and I think someone looked through the peep hole in the door, because the instant that the footsteps stopped, the door whirled open, and Dr. Martinez was standing there, Ella at her shoulder. Somewhat unwillingly, I smiled. I guess I was trying to act cool, but that was almost impossible around Dr. Martinez. "Hello Max" Dr. Martinez said cheerfully.


Chocolate chip cookies. The most amazingly awesome cookie in the world. Dr. Martinez had made them once we'd settled down, and Iggy and I had had our 'battle wounds' treated my Mom. I bit into my sixth, savoring the warmth, the taste of melted chocolate and vanilla and brown sugar and just…oh my God, they were so good! "You seem to be enjoying yourself" Ella said happily, sitting next to me to my right.

I nodded, my mouth full of chocolate chip cookie. "She always enjoys herself around chocolate chip cookies" Iggy said, shooting a teasing glance at me. I shot him a mutinous look, but the effect was ruined by the smile on my face that the chocolate chip cookies were causing.

Fang was sitting on the other side of Iggy, chewing his cookie more slowly than I was. "You'll be staying over night, right?" Ella asked, her gaze fixed on Iggy, but then flicking back to me. "Well duh" I said, finally swallowing the last of my cookie. "I mean, why wouldn't we? But just until Iggy and I are better" I added hurriedly, seeing the happy look that crossed Ella's face. Ella's face fell. I patted her shoulder. "Sorry to rain on your parade" I said sympathetically.


"So, like, would it be too horribly terrible if I asked you where you guys got your…wings?" Ella asked me, our backs to each other as we threw on our night shirts. "Uh…" I replied. Without a warning, images of pain, getting shocked, throwing up, drinking nasty tasting stuff, and running from the newly born Erasers ran through my head all at once. I winced. "Yeah, kind of". "Oh" Ella replied, crawling into her bed. I was glad that she didn't pressure me to tell her about the School. "Are you sure you don't want the bed?" Ella asked, as I climbed into the cot that was next to Ella's bed. "I'm sure Ella" I said. "You should have it. I'm fine here, where I am". "Okay" Ella said slowly, sounding unsure.

Suddenly, I had the urge to spill everything to my half sister. To tell her about the School, how they'd put Avian DNA into us, all that good stuff. I mean, after all, she was my sister. How could I keep this from her? Ella switched off the lamp light, casting the room in darkness. After maybe about five minutes, I whispered "Ella?"

"Hmm?" Ella asked, somewhat drowsily. "Do you really want to know what happened to us at the School?" Ella immediately perked up, rolling over in her bed to look at me. "Yeah, if you want to tell me" she replied. I could feel her brown eyes boring into me. "Well…um…it's kind of…complicated" I stuttered. Ella nodded. "That's okay. I'm not tired." I took a deep breath. Steady Max.

"The flock and I, we were born to human mothers" I started. "Our mom, she donated me to the School, as an egg. Then I was created. They put the Avian DNA somewhere in the embryo stage." I paused here. Ella was listening intently. "Go on" she encouraged. I took another deep breath. "They did all of this awful stuff to us" I whispered, the painful, agonizing memories washing over me. "Like what?" Ella prompted gently. "They…they gave us nasty stuff to drink, made us run, throw up, made Erasers chase us, just all of this awful, sick, inhumane stuff. I…er…don't like to talk about it". Ella nodded, a look of disgust on her face. "That's awful" she commented. "Those scientists must be really sick." I nodded my head. "You've no idea." There was silence between the two of us for a few more minutes, each of us lost in thought.

"Hey Max?" Ella asked after the pause. "Can I ask you something? Like as a sister? And a girl?" I rolled over so that I faced her. "Uh, depends on what" I stated. Ella took a deep breath, her eyes meeting mine. "Erm...this is kind of embarrassing…." Ella mumbled. "That's okay" I said, egging her on. Ella held my gaze, and then she suddenly burst. "What do you think of Iggy?" This caught me off guard. "Iggy?" "Yeah." "He's like a brother to me" I said. " I mean, I grew up with him, helped teach him how to fight. I've been his leader ever since Jeb left us. Why do you ask?" "Oh, no reason" Ella muttered hurriedly, rolling over. "Goodnight Max". I was startled by the sudden dismissal, but closed my eyes and said "Goodnight Ella."


"Do you really need to go?" Ella asked, her eyes pleading. "So soon?" I nodded sadly, hugging her for the tenth time. "Yeah" I said into her shoulder. "We'll miss you guys". I pulled away from Ella, gave her a last look, and then turned to Mom. "Thanks Mom" I said. Mom smiled, shoving a backpack into my hands. "It's got water, food, and bandages in it" Mom said, a twinkle in her eye, referring to the backpack. I slipped it on, surprised at the light weight. I hugged her. "C'mon Max" Iggy said impatiently. "You're always the last one up in the air". I looked up, seeing Fang and Iggy hovering above me. Iggy's face was more bright than usual, due to the fact that he could move his arm again.

Ella looked up at Iggy, shielding her eyes from the sun, and called up "Bye Iggy! Bye Fang!" Iggy blushed, but waved back. Fang waved back too. I turned to take a last look at Mom and Ella. "See you guys later" I said. And then I rushed forward, unfurling my wings, jumping into the air and down stroking hard. I rose above the ground, feeling alive as my wings began to work to their full power. Iggy and Fang were already soaring away from me. I looked down, and gave one last wave to Mom and Ella. Feeling refreshed and happy, I sailed after the guys.

"Okay Max, what's the plan now?" Fang called to me. I looked over at Fang, gazing at him, admiring how graceful he was in the air. "We need to go find Nudge and Angel" I said, feeling proud at how sure I sounded. "And that won't be to hard, now will it?" an ice cold voice hissed in my ear. Again, instinct took over as ice cold adrenaline seeped through my veins. I folded my wings, and dropped about fifteen feet. Iggy and Fang followed. Looking up, I gasped. Around us, were Flyboys, swarming around us, fully morphed into Eraser form. Ari was above us, laughing maniacally. Why is it always Ari?

I felt hot rage as I remembered that Ari had faked his death back in Germany, and had betrayed me and gone back to the whitecoats. I'd trusted Ari, and I'd actually started to feel proud that he was my brother (Ari is Jeb's son). But now, I'm disgusted that I'm related to him, and even the thought of him makes me want to hurl. Ari could fly too, and dropped down fifteen feet so that he was at my level. "You're so gullible" he teased, his yellow fangs snapping and his claws sharp. "Why don't you go die in a hole Ari?" I spat. "You actually accepted me as one of your own" Ari continued. With a scream of rage, I charged at Ari, blood lust in my eyes.


Well, there you go. I've finally updated. Yay. :D PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE R&R!