Hey guys it's the Jade Empress. I know I'm late, again. I'm sorry for this, but I've been having some problems lately, so if I miss next Friday or something don't be mad. I will be editing this later in the week so make sure you check it out. It is about twelve pages, so I hope that makes up for the fact that it's late.
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, James Patterson does.
Flashback (the previous night)-
"Be quiet Sam they just fell asleep. Wait don't step on Abby's hand, she won't appreciate that." I told Sam as she carefully made her way towards me without stepping on anyone.
"Don't worry I got it all under control," she thought back.
Sam stopped at the opening of the cave and then looked behind herself. Three bodies were sprawled out on the cave floor. Their chests were rhythmically moving up and down in their sleep. I was on first watch, while everyone got some rest. Maya had to go vent her anger by flying and requested for her file to be burned while she was gone.
"So what do you want?" Sam asked snapping me out of thought.
"I just wanted to give you your folder once they were a sleep, so you wouldn't have to share any… personal information."
"That's a good idea, but we need to have trust in our group. They shared their own information without hesitation if we don't do the same they may stay wary of us."
"Then we will share tomorrow morning before anything else gets done. I'm just going to go through my file first."
"Ok," Sam started sifting through her papers. Her file was stuffed with papers and was as big as my own, but wasn't labeled the same. Instead it was just titled:
Experiment 26012
This confused me for a moment. Abby's file had said restricted on it and I bet Sam and Abby would be worthy competitors. I can't tell who would win in a match, but why didn't Sam's folder say restricted? They were evenly matched, so that meant it had something to do with Abby's past in the Schools. Questions began to form in my head.
Like what did Hunter Mix mean? Why was her participation list, restricted? How come she was originally from School 5 and what made her change to 4?
I shook my head clearing those thoughts and began to sort through my papers. Surprisingly enough I already knew half of the stuff in the folder and some was just a given. Some of the given things were my genetics. It wasn't surprising to me when I saw that I had Peregrine Falcon DNA. They are the fastest member of the animal kingdom and can reach into the about 200 miles per hour when diving. Here's the rest of my file:
-Experiment: 25001 (aka Maximum Ride)
-Age: 16
-Gender: female
-Hybrid: Bird/human Peregrine Falcon (has been given drugs to enhance abilities.)
-Appearance: light brown hair with blond streaks, tanned skin, chocolate brown eyes (Brown, tan, white wings that are dotted with black and gold.) Five foot ten.
-Behavior:
Past: very protective of flock members. Would bight and snap at others. Jeb B. was in charge of watching over them. We let them have a test of living in the real world up until she was 14. Then we unsuccessfully tried to bring her back by taking the smallest of the group. Was very rude and sarcastic, looked out for the others.
Present: very quiet when by herself, anger is always in her eyes, eats and sleeps very little. Acts up and goes into dazes while in cage. Sleeps no longer then 5-6 hours unless drugged. She is sarcastic to all of us including the scientists. She complains about how are practice is inhumane.
-Personality: sarcastic, caring towards the other experiments, serious, confident, and rude. (has kept the routine that was used in past Schools.)
-Powers: Breathing underwater, flying at supersonic speeds (about 400mph), enhanced: vision, speed, strength, intelligence, and hearing, creating force fields, read/control minds (level 8.5)(more on the theory on pg. 19,) controlling fire and water.
-Everyday Skills/Assets: Survival Skills, quick thinking
-Weaknesses:
Past: the Flock
Present: Emotions, mental stability, broken connections, refuses to kill any experiments in the arena
-Likes: sleeping in cage, eating, flying tests
-dislikes/hates: Snakes, betrayal, erasers, reminding of past
-Fears: betrayal (proven with memory test,) holding responsibility for others deaths.
-History: Mother: Dr. Valencia Martinez. Father: Jeb Batchelder. Dr. Martinez donated an egg, which we took out of her body and was later injected with avian DNA. The egg got to grow for 3 weeks outside of the body and then we place the embryo back inside the mother. Stayed in mother for 32 weeks and then came out with wings. Taken to School 2.
-J.B.'s Reports-
At first experiment 25001 struggled and was kept under constant care. By four months we were sure its health was fully stabilized. By a year and half the experiment could speak broken sentences and reached all basic human milestones.
By age five Maximum had matured quicker than a regular child. It was considered stronger, faster, and more intelligent. Max could hover in the air for no longer than a minute or two. Around halfway through year I, Jeb Batchelder introduced experiment 25002(boy) to Max. There was tension at first. During the fifth and final try to get a bond the boy bit Max in the arm. I rushed out to stop her from attacking him, but instead of getting really mad she only slapped his cheek lightly and then spoke the word Fang. Strangely enough after that day they become inseparable. Two months later we introduced the experiment 25006, Iggy. Max quickly took a likening him easily, while Fang ignored him (at first.)
When Maximum turned seven we introduced experiment 25008, Nudge, who was about 4 years old. This helped prepare Max's motherly side. She became very protective of her. At age ten we introduce experiment 25010 and 25013, Gazzy and Angel. They were a brother and sister who were about the age of 4 and 2. These kids became her family and they took care of her. I took them out of the School with the permission of the Director. It allowed them to grow on their own- continued on pg. 26-49
-Strategies: Equally uses defense and offense in a fight. She likes to use surprises when facing an opponent in battles. Theory: in the beginning of a fight she observes the others strategies and then creates a plan. Unpredictable.
-Participation:
Past: Restricted
Present: Mazes can take about 6-7 erasers or flyboys at a time. In the arena she will not kill any of the experiments on purpose. Only immobilize them or knocks them out. Has killed a few, but only when they've attack her and had no choice. W-73 T-1.
-Testing's: Poison tests, drug enhancements, healing abilities, splitting of DNA, comparing tests, intellectual tests, resistance to pain, flight tests- Restricted
-Ranked: high
-Extra facts: When separated from the Flock we captured her in the woods at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
-Head Scientist: Jeb Batchelder and Marian Janssen (the Director of School 1.)
-Current status- Active
I flipped through the rest of the files and found reports Jeb had sent in about our day by day activities while in the E-shaped house. That fueled my anger towards Jeb even further. I had been so naive and actually trusted him with my life.
I closed my folder angrily and got up to walk to the back of the cave.
"Max something fell out of the folder it looks like some sort of card." I turned around to see what I dropped. It was plastic and I knew I'd seen it before. I picked up the card and my eye's widened in shock. It was the same exact card I found between the bars of the metal grate in New York. I was sure of it; it even had my name on it: Maximum Ride.
-End of flashback-
"Up and at 'em," I shouted my hands cupped around my mouth.
I return I heard a chorus of groaning and cursing before they began to move.
I'm guessing I went to sleep that night around midnight, yet due to natural impulse I woke before all of them. We had been in the same forest for three days and in my opinion it was too long. We had to leave before someone caught us.
"I'm hungry Max," Jenna whined.
"Oh quit it," Abby commanded. "You're always hungry and if you hadn't noticed we all are."
"So while you guys were sleeping I did a perimeter check and found out that this forest goes on for miles. It wasn't until 30 miles give or take a few that I saw a small, secluded town. I think we should go to the town and then I'll tell you the rest of my plan when we are there. Agreed?"
I heard tired mumbles of yes's.
"I just have a few questions before we go. What gives you the right to give us orders? We never decided on a leader, so why are you the one acting in charge. What makes you so special?" Abby spat out the words fiercely. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen.
"I'd like you to know that I was just trying to help and-" I was cut off by an enraged Sam.
"First of all, you need to understand that Max is a great leader. She has all of traits needed and many years of experience. Who are you to question her? Max is the one who freed us from the School in the first place. I mean some of us contributed in our own way, but she's the one who started it all. Max gave me hope, when I had none. She's meant to be the leader."
"I agree," Luna simply stated. "If it wasn't for Max we'd be stuck in the School to face more torture. She even risked her own plans for freedom to save me."
"I have to say the same. Without her I'd be dead." What Maya said made everyone silent. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I need you guys to trust me. Right now fighting's not going to help. I've learned from the past that every group needs a leader, but to become a good leader you need a good team of followers. People to support the leader or else she will fall. The one in charge shouldn't control everything, it's just they should be there for the others. The leader should be the one they want to follow. I do know that I have the same goals as you guys and I have ideas on how we should take action, but only come if you want to. Sam?"
"Max, I'm sticking with you through thick and thin. Quite frankly, you can't get rid of me." I smiled in her direction.
"Maya? Luna?" Luna nodded in Maya's direction to speak.
"It's the same as before. We want go with you."
"Good. Jenna? "
"I want to come. You seem ok." Lastly I turned to Abby.
"You're the one who questioned me now you can choose. From what I've observed you and I are really alike. We are going to butt heads a lot, but that doesn't mean we can't work together." Abby stared at me for few moments. There was no tension, just silence. I could hear her mind contradicting itself. The human half said yes, while the cat instinct said no. Her eyes closed and then she mumbled,
"I'll go with you."
With that I turned around and walked to the mouth of the cave. The sun was slowly rising and an orange light spread across the sky. I let my face soak up the sun and then I turned around to give some directions.
"Abby, how fast can you go in lion form?"
"I don't know, but I do know it's really fast."
"Sam and Abby, head south from here. We'll meet you at the town behind the clothing shop. If you happen to get there first buy food with this." I handed them the twenty-five dollar bill I found in the stolen lab coat. "We will meet you there."
"See yeah little buddy," Abby patted Jenna affectionately on the head. Then Abby jumped of the cliff and we watched her land on her feet, we were in awe. Sam on the other hand landed with a thump. Thank god she landed in a match of moss, but that still must of hurt. She stood up brushing her hands and cackled,
"You'll never catch us." Abby rolled her eyes and together they both sped off. That left Maya, Jenna, Luna and I on the cliff.
"Ok, guys time to fly."
"Um, Max. I can't fly." Jenna said thinking I had forgotten.
"Oh, I know that, so we will just have to improvise,so how much do you weight ?"
- 40 minutes later-
"WEEEEEEEEE!" Jenna squealed as she was pulled through the air. Maya and I each held onto one of her hands. The wind was blowing, while she flew with us. Luna's moth wings weren't adapted to flying high, so she was positioned underneath us were the wind was less brutal. Even though Jenna's DNA was a creature made almost entirely out of water she loved the flight. Her hair was whistling behind her and her body was completely horizontal. The only thing she didn't enjoy was the occasional bug in her mouth.
The sun was high above our heads beating down on our backs, but we weren't uncomfortable. We were flying over the main current of wind, but every once and a while a gust would push us up. I liked it up here, because we were out of range from guns and human sight.
"I see the town. It's right down there." Maya and Luna's eyes followed were my hand was pointed to. Luna was about to dive when I yelled stop. My voice didn't compare to the winds roar, but thankfully she heard it. "There are powerful winds below us. You have dive strait down at a very fast speed or else you'll get stuck in its path and you won't be able to get out until you are taken far away, you could be stuck for days. You need to build up speed and slice right through. Maya I'll take Jenna, because I've done this before. Also, just so you two don't get separate you should probably hold hands."
The two tightly clasped each other's hands and dove. They disappeared under the swirling wind. I flew higher and prepared to dive.
"Wait Max, what are you doing?" Jenna screeched.
"Diving now hold onto my neck and hold on tightly." Jenna squeezed her eyes shut and held on very tightly. I circled in the air once. Then folded in my wings and dove. The winds rustled past my ears bouncing off my body. Jenna screamed in my ear, deafening me. I finished hurling through the currents and saw the ground coming at me in warp speed. I quickly snapped out my wings and landed softly on the grass.
As soon as we touched the ground Jenna sunk to her knees and clawed at the grass.
"I'm alive. I'M ALIVE," she shouted. I began to laugh at her prone body.
"It's not funny. I thought I was going to die. You scared the shit out of me." Jenna snapped.
"Now, now I thought we established that trust was important in this relationship." I couldn't help it, I barreled over with laughter.
After a few moments, Jenna begrudgingly got up and I could see a crack of a smile.
"We'll keep this a secret," she started out sweetly, but ended with the threat, "or else."
"Come on, let's go and find the other two." We started walking towards our destination. I saw two silhouettes standing on the hill overlooking the town.
"Come hurry up. I see them." We sprinted over to meet them.
"That was horrible. The wind almost blew me away, thankfully I was holding onto Maya." Luna exclaimed and I think Jenna muttered,
"Not as bad as my experience." I hushed all of them with the wave of my hand. We were had to get regular clothes to actually go into town, so we wouldn't draw any unwanted attention. I quickly scanned the town and saw that there were a bunch of shops, houses, cars and people. A plan formulated in my mind.
"Luna. Jenna. Do you see that Laundromat over there? I need you to go in there and find a person who looks about our size. Maya and I will cause a distraction, so when everyone run out you can um… borrow their clothes from the dryer. Got it?"
"Sure, but why do we have to do it?" Luna replied.
"Because you two are the youngest and will draw less attention than two 16 year old with dressing gowns on and we can't hid our wings. Your wings press against you back and don't even look like they are there and Jenna doesn't have any wings. Now let's go."
I watched as they went into the Laundromat. I followed their lead down the hill after they went in the shop.
"Ah this car should do. It's right in the center of town, so this will be quite a show." I began to raise my hands.
"Wait what are you going to-" Maya's voice was cut off by flames. They surged out of my hand and completely encased the car. I grunted to Maya,
"Kick the car. I want the siren to go off."
Hesitantly, Maya reeled back her foot and kicked right through the flame. The siren wailed and people began to rush out of stores to see what the commotion was. I quickly walked around the corner pulling Maya along with me, before anyone could see us.
"My car!" A silk-suited man shouted as he ran out of the jewelry store. He fell to the ground were the car was furiously burning. "My beautiful Mercedes, she was too young to die," he sobbed
"You can afford another one," I muttered to myself. Maya, with her keen sense of hearing, heard this and gave a light chuckle. I glanced around the corner and saw our other two co-conspirators slipping out of the laundromat. They give a small wave in my direction.
"There, heading behind the clothing shop, where we are all supposed to meet up. Let's go." We avoided the crowd of people by going behind the buildings. When we arrive, we saw Luna and Jenna talking to two other girls. When we approached they all turned around.
"Nice try Max, but we beat you this time." Sam excitedly, grinning ear to ear.
"Whatever," I said, not really caring that they beat us.
"Oh Max," Jenna hollered. "Look what I got for you at the Laundromat. Don't you just love it?" My mouth hung open disgusted at the clothing choice.
"There is no frick'n way I'm wearing that. They don't even have the decency to be called clothes," I stammered. Jenna was holding up a short, and I mean really short mini-skirt and a flowery imprinted tube top.
"Oh I thought you'd like them Max." Jenna said out loud and then whispered to me, "and this is payback for before." I glared at her and she shrunk back, but kept her triumph grin stayed on her face. We all changed into the clothing they got and were ready to go into the town.
"I say we get food first, and then some decent clothing. I have this credit card, so we can buy stuff, but as soon as we use it we have to leave as quickly as possible. I don't know if the School has a trace on it. Ok?"
The six of us walked down streets without drawing to much attention. We stopped at a small looking restaurant and went inside. Inside it was a well-designed area for such as small place, but had no customers at all. At the front counter there was old little lady sitting alone in the eerie silence.
"Excuse me, can we get something to eat. We have a short time frame, and we are really hungry." The old women made a distinct nod and walked us to a table. She dropped six menus on the table and just stood there. In the end we order so much I thought the she was going to have a heart attack.
We ordered twenty medium sized hamburgers, a whole bunch of fries, and drinks. We each ate about two hamburgers on the spot and decided to keep six of them for the road. The meal cost one-hundred and thirty-one dollars. The whole restaurant staff was so surprise they came out to watch us.
Creepers aren't they, watching six teenage girls eat food.
After that we went in to a thrift shop. They really didn't have high fashion clothes, so I was so bummed out. Please tell me you can hear the sarcasm.
"Why are we here?"
"Well a thrift store has second hand items that have been donated by people. The items they sell tend to be much cheaper than buying new clothes and already have that lived in, comfortable look. Look for something you like and get it, then search for one extra set of clothing. If you see any supplies, like backpacks get those too. You have thirty minutes… tops."
I worked my way through the piles of clothes, books, electronics, and games. It was just pile after piles of stuff. After a few moments I found a pair of blue worn out jeans, a pair of shorts, seven elastic bands, two t-shirts- one camouflage shirt, while the other was black and said in small white letters: WARNING- If you are close enough to read this, you are about to get hit. Along with that I found a pair of black and blue Asics's, two big messenger bags- one black with red and the other a dark blue, a black aviator jacket, a fully charged i-pod with a big crack on the screen along with its charger, a wicked sharp pocket knife, and extra basic supplies.
I made my way back to the front desk ready to pay for everyone's stuff. As I walked up to the counter Luna came up to me and said,
"Max I couldn't find a bag to put my stuff in."
"It's ok," I replied. "I found two." I handed Luna the dark blue messenger bag and she smiled happily. When everyone arrived, I quickly paid for everyone's clothing. The lady at the counter looked baffled at how much we were buying.
"Is there a restroom that we can go change in?" The lady nodded and pointed us towards the back of the shop. I raced to the back, so I could get out of the clothes I had been wearing. They had been itchy, tight, and way too small for my comfort.
I had rushed into the first open stall and quickly changed into jeans, the black t-shirt, the aviator's jacket and the Asics's. I had put my hair into a messy braid with one of the elastic bands I had found. I put all the extra items I already had or just gotten into my bag, even some of the white coats stuff. I threw the lab coat and white nurse shoes away. I checked to see if I had enough for the journey:
1. Sedative needles (from the School)
2. White coat's I.D.
3. Pen and a piece of paper
4. Credit card
5. Paperclip
6. Folders- files I hadn't looked through yet and my own
7. Clothing- (a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, 2 shirts, a pair of shoes, jacket and um… other things)
8. Misc. items, including some new items like a hairbrush, toothbrush and hair dye (purpose is for later on in the story)
9. I-pod
10. Pocket knife
I was ready.
I looked around to see what everyone else was wearing.
Sam was wearing dark blue jeans, brown sneakers, an aviator's jacket just like my own, and a murky green t-shirt. I tossed Sam one of the ponytail holders as she analyzed my outfit.
"Nice shirt," she smirked as she put her dark brown hair into a ponytail.
"Thanks" I replied back.
Luna came out next wearing a simple outfit just like ours. Faded jeans, a simple black t-shirt with a blue streak, black sneakers and a windbreaker. Her dark hair was already neatly braided and hanging over her left shoulder and in her hand she held small pocket knife.
Maya came out wearing a camouflage shirt a pair of jean shorts, a windbreaker and sneakers. Her hair was a rat's nest, so I threw her my hairbrush and a hair tie.
Abby came out second to last wearing a pair of skinny jeans, combat boots, these black net like gloves (what's the point they have holes in them?) and a white shirt with word in red that said: "Coca Cola… It's the real thing." As I read her shirt my eyebrows lifted as if saying, really? In return she nodded and smirked.
Jenna took a whole five extra minutes, but when she came out I was mentally questioning her choice of clothes. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, a white butterfly shirt that had dark brown buttons on it and wait there's more…
Boots with a thin stick like heel.
"Jenna you know that high heel boots aren't the best thing to wear in the woods when you're getting chased by people, right? And that white gets really dirty when you're on the run… in the woods?" I said this trying to point out that her choice wasn't appropriate for the job we had to do.
"I know, but the boots looked so cute on me and the shirt was the prettiest thing I've ever seen. I've never chosen my own stuff before so I guess I got a little carried away. I'm sorry, but wait isn't Abby wearing boots? Shouldn't I be able to if she can?"
"I'm wearing combat boots, Jelly head. You're wearing high fashion, breakable in a second boots." Abby laughed at the name, Jelly head. I didn't think it a good idea to call her that, but Jenna wasn't really listening. I decided to try to reason with her.
"How about you keep the shirt you have, but change the shoes. High heels aren't meant for the outdoors. How about you get sneakers or combat boots?"
"Fine," she mumbled.
In the end, she chose white/tannish sneakers, because they were lighter than the combat boots. Once we were all ready, I led the girls into a small store that sold disposable cell phones. I bought six with three hundred minutes on each of them. Everyone got one in case we got split up, but the phone was only to be used in emergencies.
"There's one last stop and then we have to get out of here." I stopped at an ATM machine and slid in the credit card. I typed in the password: Mother and withdrew two hundred dollars. Whoever set of the account should have made the maximum amount taken out higher. Two hundred would not last us long.
"This is so we don't have to use the credit card for a while, in case of tracking. The account only lets me take a maximum of two hundred." I said to their confused faces. "Now we need to get out of here." I said this in a commanding voice, so they would understand the importance.
"Where are we going and are we traveling the same way as last time?" Jenna asked her face flushed with pink. I answered when we reached the boarder of the town.
"We should head out into the woods and take cover before nightfall and yes. We are traveling the same way as last time. It's the most efficient way to travel, because not all of us can fly." I turned to Jenna to see if she would protest. Instead she just stared at the ground. Luna was the next to speak up,
"I saw a really tall tree that was about three miles away from here. We would have to head south again and the tree is very easy to find. I think I saw a small ditch surrounding it."
"Ok, that's where we are going. Maya, Luna do an up and away. Abby and Sam, see you soon."
"Save me," Jenna mumbled.
I took a running start and got into the air. Once I had a steady beat I flew back down and lowered my hands, while Jenna reached up and jumped up. We grabbed each other's hands and I began tilt downwards, but with one powerful, strained flap we surged up towards the others. When I got to Maya she grabbed one of Jenna's hands tightly.
"See it wasn't that bad. Was it?" I asked half-heartedly as Jenna kept her eye's pinched shut.
"I'm perfectly fine when you two pull me along. It's just the plummeting and rising that I hate."
"Just think of it as the waves moving up and down." Maya said gently.
"Whatever, let's get going. The sooner we are there, the quicker I'm on the ground."
"You know you have to get use to this, because this is how we are going to travel for most of the time." I replied with sincerity in my voice.
"Oh god," was her only answer.
-A quick 15 minutes later-
We would have gotten there quicker, but Luna wasn't really good with flying. She hadn't really had any practice before and her wings were very thin. Randomly she would be pushed backwards or sideways by the wind. Hopefully she would adapt to the conditions.
"At least I didn't scream this time," Jenna whispered in my ear as we landed.
"Well there was no dive bombing and we weren't above the main wind current."
"Whatever," she mumbled back.
We stood in front of the largest tree I've ever seen. Its roots were gnarly and long, while the braches were nice and thick and branched out randomly. The tree was healthy and covered in leaves.
"Wow, this is the perfect natural tree house." I said looking at it in awe. The others looked at it speechless. The bushes rustled behind us and out came Sam and Abby.
"Wow," Sam said breathlessly.
"Cool tree," was all Abby offered to say.
"Pick a branch that you want to sleep in and then meet right back here at the base of the tree." I shouted.
I whipped out my wings and flew off to one of the higher parts of the tree. I decided to settle in a crotch of the tree. The reason I like to sleep specifically were a branch breaks of is because it has more support than a single branch and there is a less of a chance that you'll fall.
Even as high as I was, the two branches were very thick and wide. I placed my stuff carefully between the two and flew down to the center. When everyone landed, I decided it was time to tell them where we had to go.
"Last night, I had been looking at the files and they basically tell you where the other Schools are, except for the fifth. The files give coordinates on the location of the other Schools. Right now we are in Maine and have recently destroyed School 4. The other places we are going to are: New York, California (The Death Valley,) and somewhere in Europe. I think we should go to New York first, because I know where the School is. It is called the Institute for Higher Living…"
Does everyone remember what the Voice said in book two: Schools Out Forever? In the book the Voice mentioned to Max that the Schools are like the mythical Greek creature called the hydra. It said that Max had to defeat the "body" of it, not the "heads," because the heads would just lead to more, while the body would take it all down. The four places I mention are four parts of "the body" or the major Schools. Any other Schools mentions in the previous books that I didn't say (like the one in Florida where Max battled Max II,) are now considered "heads" or minor schools.
Also, in my story there are two categories that mutants can fall under when it comes to strength, vision, speed, agility, intelligence, etc. Mutants are separated by being called advanced or enhanced.
Advanced- stronger than a human, old version (ex: Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel would fall under)
Enhanced- stronger than advanced mutants, newer version, given the drug in School 4 (ex: Max, Sam, Maya, Abby, Jenna, and Luna)
I hope this clears my story up more.
-The Jade Empress
*Can I get another 15 or more reviews?