A/N: Hey guys! I wanted to thank my reviewers! I also wanted to warn you that I'm going on vacation soon so I won't be updating anytime soon. Sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own maximum Ride!
Chapter 14
Max waited anxiously for Fang to return with Nudge and Iggy.
She tapped her fingers on the ground and sat in a relaxed position, but she was tense and wound up.
Angel was sitting in a position of meditation with her eyes shut. She was the epitome of concentration.
"What's happening now?" Gazzy inquired nervously.
Max flinched at the first sound they'd heard in over half an hour, but Angel didn't acknowledge him.
When it was clear he wasn't getting an answer, Gazzy groaned and started pacing back and forth.
Max knew he was worried about his best friend, and of course Nudge.
He had hidden it considerably well, but Max could tell that he was on the brink of a breakdown.
"Angel, what's happening in there? It's been forever," Max inquired to ease their worry.
Angel opened her eyes and replied serenely, "They're waiting for the coast to clear. They're in the elevator, but they can't leave until the hallway clears."
Max nodded, slightly calmer, but her family was in there without her and she was scared. However, she wouldn't let it impede her judgment.
"Angel, can you sense another clear floor that they can escape from?" Max questioned.
Angel shut her eyes again and nodded without saying anything. Max guessed that she was telling Fang this information.
Max smiled with satisfaction.
She glanced at the other windows and waited to see Fang or, if he was invisible, Nudge or Iggy.
Max noticed one of the windows on the fifth floor open and she saw Fang nervously try to climb out.
All was going according to plan.
That is, until the alarms went off. And the cyborgs flew out of the fourth floor window. With laser like things.
Max was already in the air by the time they started firing. Angel and Gazzy joined her and Angel screeched, "Max, wait! They might outrun the cyborgs. Wait for them to need us."
Every muscle in Max's body was screaming at her to fly to Fang, Iggy and Nudge, but she knew that Angel was right. So Max restrained herself. She watched her flock get shot at and she felt her body fight with itself.
Fang narrowly avoided a shot, but Nudge wasn't so lucky. She got shot square in the arm.
Max propelled herself forward before Angel could even react.
She didn't turn around to check on them, she focused mainly on Nudge.
She got there as Fang gathered Nudge in his arms.
Max screeched, "Aim for the back of their necks!"
Her flock complied and immediately cyborgs fell from the air.
When did they learn to fly? Max thought to herself in a panic.
The flock was doing well, despite that Nudge was injured and Fang was left to care for her, but they weren't doing well enough.
More and more cyborgs came as others fell.
Max finally commanded, "Leave now! Escape if you can! Don't wait!"
Gazzy and Iggy immediately began to leave. Gazzy saw Angel hesitate, so he grabbed her arm and told Iggy to do the same. Together they flew away with Angel screaming the whole way.
Fang looked at Max sadly and froze.
Max turned to fly away, but felt one cyborg grab her arm and yank her back.
They all began to surround her, noticing her weakness.
"Please leave Fang You need to lead them!" Max yelled.
Fang nodded weakly and turned around, still holding Nudge.
Max watched him fly away.
She felt a sharp pain in her wing and knew she'd been shot.
She flailed out with her arms and legs, but barely made a dent.
She was surrounded by at least 5 robots, the others had either fallen or fled, and she didn't like her odds.
She swung her working wing so that it hit all of the cyborgs and they flew back for a moment.
A moment was all that she needed.
She swung out her foot and roundhouse kicked the one closest to her right in the neck.
It crumpled Max flew away from the arms trying to grab her and grabbed it.
She grabbed the weapon out of its hands and started shooting the robots.
Her aim didn't concern her.
After what felt like hours, she opened her eyes and stopped firing.
The wall behind her had large gaping holes in it and the cyborgs no longer surrounding her. They were in heaps on the ground.
She tried to fly on her injured wing and found it painful, but not unbearable.
She used her ability to fly quickly to the town.
Max! Where are you? Angel thought frantically.
Max glanced at her surroundings and noticed a diner of some kind and train station.
She lowered herself to the ground and relayed her surroundings to Angel.
Her vision blurred and she felt lightheaded.
She fell to her knees in exhaustion.
Fang landed in front of her and she noticed the other flock members land behind him.
He knelt down and whispered soothingly, "Are you okay? How'd you get out?"
Max looked at him and smiled.
She replied, "I am Maximum Ride. It takes a little more than a few robots to keep me down. I'm just that amazing.
The last thing Max saw before she passed out was Fang rolling his eyes and give her that half smile of his.