A/N: I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that I finished my NaNoWriMo. Or not, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. 50,000 words and a done novel, unlike last year, where I kept writing for a couple weeks afterward.

So here's the chapter. =)

103

The Director glared at Jeb, who had been called back to her office yet again. "You know how much I hate being left out of the loop. Tell me what's going on. Now."

Jeb tried not to show his anxiety outwardly. The Director was like a wild animal; if she sensed your fear, you were a goner. "Well, twenty-five security guards were sent to the laboratory to capture the experiments–"

"Excuse me?" she said. "I was never informed that the experiments had been located."

"Oh, uh…" Jeb licked his lips nervously, then mentally cursed himself for doing so. "We discovered that they were with the two scientists, back in the lab where they'd been held before."

"The two scientists that had been captured for aiding the flock?" the Director asked, an eyebrow raised. "The two scientists that I had sent for earlier? The two scientists that should have been under heavy guard because we know how dangerous they could be if the flock had access to their assistance?" Her voice rose steadily throughout her questions, and Jeb cringed back, biting his lip.

"Ah, yes," he said. "Those are the scientists I was speaking of." In an attempt to keep the Director from having a reason to have him imprisoned or executed, he added, "But we're fairly certain that we'll have them all apprehended within the hour, so there's really no need to worry about it."

"I'm sorry," the Director said, her nostrils flaring, her hands splayed on her desk. "Are you really telling me that there's no need to worry? These experiments have been causing us nothing but trouble since we let them out of their first collective hallucination, and you think that now you've finally found the way to make them settle down and stop trying to escape? Are completely delusional?"

"I never said that," Jeb said. "I said that it's likely that they'll be recaptured. I think that they'll be fighting no matter how long we have them in captivity."

The Director stood back up, removing her hands from the desk. "You know what that means?"

He had a suspicion that he did, but he didn't say anything. The Director liked to be the one to say things like that.

"It means that it's time to terminate the winged experiments."

He knew he'd been right, as she said it with a sadistic smile on her face.

104

Iggy awoke to the sound of madness. Clashing, banging, clanging…It was all around him. Too much to bear, he opened his eyes to see what was really going on and put order to the tumult assaulting his ears.

Blackness.

How could he have forgotten? Order was for people who still had their sight. He was stuck in the disorder of blindness.

He lay still for what seemed like hours, but in all actuality was barely a minute. He knew he should be doing something. If everything that Max had told him was true, the battle going on around him was one that would benefit from his help. Too bad he couldn't find it in himself to move.

He'd been so good at getting around before his month with sight. Now he could barely figure out how big the bed he was lying on was. How was he supposed to manage himself in a fight? Might as well just surrender.

Then a memory of Virginia popped into his mind. He remembered sitting on the curb, moping about how useless he was. What was it that Max had said to him?

"Iggy, I need you. I love you. I need all of you, all five of you, to feel whole myself. Now get up, before I kill you."

He smiled. She'd always known just what to say, that Maximum Ride. And she'd almost always been right, too. He was being selfish and useless again, and if she could, she would probably give him a similar speech now.

Iggy closed his eyes, ignoring the nagging voice that was telling him it didn't matter because he was blind anyway, and took a deep breath. He focused on the beeping of the machines around him, trying to tune out the larger noises. It didn't work completely, but he managed it enough to make everything seem a little less chaotic.

Slowly, carefully feeling the bed underneath him, he slid his legs around and over the side. As he was doing so, he felt something fly over his head, almost hitting him. Whatever it was, it sounded heavy. It also made him remember where he was, and, relying entirely on instinct, he dropped off the bed and crouched next to it.

He suddenly realized that was what he'd always done. Why bother thinking about it if you knew that your instincts were good enough to do it for you? No wonder he was finding it so hard to figure everything out. The point was really that he didn't need to figure it out.

He was about to get up and dash into battle when all of the sounds of battle suddenly stopped. He heard a man's voice say, "No, you don't need to do that." The tone of voice was warning, but the man also sounded rather scared.

There was no reply, only a very loud bang.

Then Iggy heard Fang yell Max's name.

A/N: O_o What could possibly have happened?…Oh, wait, I know the answer to that, don't I? Heh heh.

Anyway, sorry the chapter's so short, and so late. I had some trouble working out the many glitches in its timing and whatnot. But you probably don't want my excuses, do you? I, however, would love your reviews.

And yes, I do happen to like Shinedown. The "sound of madness" thing wasn't just a coincidence. =P