Tanner

"Maximum Ride will be in position in two days time." I spoke, smirking at the large flat screen in front of me. On the screen was a very powerful man, his dark gray hair slicked back, and brown eyes tame for now.

"Excellent. She will soon be the next generation of experiment W-01. You have done great, Tanner. Much better than your sorry excuse for a brother."

"Thank you, Sir." I nodded in appreciation, though felt a little pang in my chest at the thought of my little brother, dead.

"And remember Tanner, if you fail, you will be joining Omega in hell."

"Yes, Sir." I mumbled, feeling myself beginning to lose control. "Goodbye." I pressed the button, ending the video chat, and sucked in a shaky breath. Fang would pay for what he did to my brother, Max would pay too. They all would.

**Line Break**

"Max! Did you find him?" I asked, concern pouring into my voice as she walked back towards my village, one arm slung around Iggy's waist.

"Does it look like I found him?" She snarled, causing me to blink in surprise of her cruelty towards me. Yesterday she had been joking around about making out with me!

"I'm sorry," I finally said. "Why don't I get you guys a place to sleep for tonight?"

"No! We have to find him! Lupo! Ari!" Max shouted, looking around. The two slipped out of a hut, causing Iggy to raise an eyebrow, and jogged over.

"What's up, little sis?" Ari asked.

"We have to leave. Now. Fang could be in serious danger-"

"Max, you can't go. It's already getting dark. And when it gets dark... the beasts come out." My voice wavered just at the thought of the creatures that could rip my head off with one wrong move.

"Beasts?" Max snorted. "You think I'm afraid of animals? Ha!"

"No, Max, you don't get it. These aren't animals. These... things are vicious monsters! They'll tear you to sheds before you can scream." I insisted quietly, glancing up at the setting sun. Dark oranges and bright reds melted down the sky, dripping to below the horizon.

"Well if you think that you obviously don't understand who I am-" Max was cut off by a ferocious roar coming from deep in the forest, yet only about two miles away.

"We have to get inside. Now!" I urged, nodding towards a couple huts. "Those two are empty." Max still looked reluctant, too stubborn to understand she'd be killed.

"Uh Max, I think I'd listen to Tanner," Ari whispered in her ear, just loud enough for me to hear. Just at the edge of the forest, to glowing yellow eyes blinked at us.

"Everybody inside!" I yelled and anyone who was dumb enough to still be out besides the four quickly went to their shelter, along with me. I practically dived into my hut, just in time to.

A large animal, about the size of a t-rex, stood up tall on all fours, it's claws each a foot long, it's teeth poking out from under its lip, glinting in the sunset. The midnight black fur shimmered as it growled. It's golden eyes turned to the four still outside of their hut, tail wagging back and forth. It's short snout had a dark blue nose at the end, and it's pointed ears twitched as Max spoke.

"We should get inside." With that, all four sprinted to the two huts I pointed to, all of them getting into the left one. The animal bounded after them until they disappeared from sight. I quickly ran down the steps made of dirt and through the underground tunnels we had all built to still stay in contact with each other at night. I hurried through them, coming up the steps into the hut they were in. All of them jumped when they noticed me.

"I warned you." I muttered.

"What is that thing?" Ari asked, dumbstruck.

"A beast of some sort." I answered, leaning against the wall. "They only attack prey they can see. And since you're in here, they can't see you."

"Oh, okay, that's legit," Iggy spoke casually, though he looked the most distraught of them all.

"Yeah, we don't have to worry about them now since we're inside, so Max, can you come with me? We need to discuss this whole 'Fang' issue." I offered, heading back for the stairs.

"Sure, I'll be back later, guys." She waved at her friends before following me down the stairs and back through the tunnels to my hut. I snickered to myself, surprised at how naive she really was.

When we got back to my hut I took a seat at one of the wooden chairs, as did Max. We sat in silence for a moment before she finally opened her mouth to speak. "Look, something took Fang, and we need to get him back. They went South and there's some sorta shield there and that's all I know. We're heading out first thing in the morning."

Well this was absolutely perfect! We were a day ahead of schedule. As long as I made sure she kept to that schedule not only would the Boss be pleased, he might even reward me. However, since we were alone, I was curious. "Why are you so willing to potentially kill yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're gonna get you and your baby killed for one guy." I shrugged as if this was just my thought process, not something I actually knew.

"You know Tanner, a few months ago I would've thought the same thing. It's crazy to risk so much for one person. But when you love someone, like really love someone, you learn it's not so crazy, in fact, it's kind of second nature. You say you don't want love now, but once you get it, you'll never get enough of it. I have to go now, my brother's probably going into overprotective mode." With that, Max stood and left, leaving me to think. Was killing Fang and her really worth it?7

**Line Break**

I watched as Max threw some more fruit into her waterproof pack, a look of concentration set on her face. "You know, you can change your mind," I offered. "Stay here and leave him."

"The thing about it is, I can't." Max told me, dropping another banana in the bag before zipping it up.

"Yeah, we all love Fang too much to let the whitecoats have him- and if anybody tells him I said that I will break your jaw." Ari added. Iggy chuckled while Max and Lupo smirked.

"I always knew you approved of him." Max said and kissed Ari's cheek. I watched as he shoved her playfully, wishing my own brother was around.

"So are you coming back?" I asked, popping a blueberry into my mouth casually.

"Nah. After we get Fangaroo were gone." Max decided, tossing the backpack to Iggy before walking up to me. "Thanks for not letting us get mauled by wild animals." She held out her hand for me to shake and I took it.

"No problem." I want to be the one to do that.

"Well, bye." She waved awkwardly before walking away from me, my village, and my last chance to save her from ultimate death. I watched as she, Ari, Iggy, and Lupo disappeared into the trees before heading back to my hut and traveling down one set of stairs, then a hidden set and turning the flat screen on, connecting to the video chat.

"Maximum Ride has just left the Village, Operation Wings is now underway."

I don't own MR

Hope you like. Review for more. Need cover ideas. Not speaking in full sentences right now. Half Asleep.

Soar on

VR