To: Lil Q, no there are no more Maxs in this story. Thanks! Keep guessing but if you really think you are on to it please don't post it on a review. I don't wanna ruin it for others. If you wanna know if you are correct just IM me and I'll let you know. Otherwise please continue to review!
Maximum Ride 35 Old Haunts July 5
(Third Person Pov.)
One by one the members of the Flock landed in the middle of the dusty field. Sand and grit spewed up from beneath their wings and feet as they came to running stops. Some where more graceful than others but eventually all were on the ground and standing bunched together as they stared at the place where for five of them their lives had been forever changed.
For a moment they stood there, glaring stony faced at the gray walls and dirty windows, then Fang stepped forward and began to look around. This set the others into motion and before long they had split up into small groups each exploring different portions of the field.
Arianna pulled Carrie with her and followed Fang as he began to search around the base of the barb wired fence. Iggy took Nikki's hand and together with Mick they walked along the wall of the building. Gazzy trailed behind them a few feet but didn't join them. Instead he wrapped his arm around Alexandria's waist and tugged her forward. Her eyes were wide with suppressed fear.
Nudge found a small patch of grass and helped Ty get comfortable on the ground. His legs had stopped bleeding but he was in too much pain to walk around. So Nudge sat down beside him and he laid his head on her shoulder. Nudge forced a grin but it wasn't long before it turned into a frown once more. Total sat down and laid his head on his paws. His brown eyes flickered back and forth between the groups.
Angel pulled Bryce forward with Jordan and Braden trailing after them as she nudged them towards what looked like a system of cages which opened onto the field. As they came closer Angel suppressed a shiver and Bryce tried to pull her closer but Angel broke away and went to stand in-front of the cages. "Angel...what are these?"
Angel turned to look at Braden and her face was carefully blank. "These were where they kept the Erasers before setting them loose on the mutants. They put them in here because they were too worked up to wait. Then, when the mutants were in the yard, they would open the cage doors and the Erasers would run out."
As she spoke Angel ran her hands over the mangled bars of one of the cages. Several stands of wire and mesh were missing and she winced as she saw blood stained on the metal. With a sickening feeling she backed away and took Braden and Jordan's hands. Both kid's faces were stark white and their eyes were wide. Bryce put his hand on Angel's shoulder and walked away.
Arianna followed Fang as he walked slowly down the chain link fence. She threw him anxious glances every now and then. But he didn't seem to notice. His eyes merely roamed over the holes in the fence. Arianna cast a quick glance at Carrie and saw that she was looking just as shocked and confused as Arianna felt.
Suddenly Arianna ran into something. She let out a cry and back tracked looking up to see Fang's back, his head facing dead ahead. Arianna wondered why he had stopped so suddenly and walked around so that she was standing in-front of him beside Carrie. But Fang didn't even see them. His eyes remained locked on something over her shoulder.
Arianna turned to see what had Fang frozen but what she saw only made her feel even more confused. A couple of feet ahead of them and away from the fence, sitting on a small patch of grass, was a concrete bench. It was incredibly plain and had no back to it. The sides and bottom where crumpling slightly and it was bleached a pure white from the sun. The grass upon which it stood was dry and wrinkled.
Arianna turned back to look at Fang and saw that he was shaking his head. "Fang?" Fang looked down at her in surprise. "Oh, um, nothing Ari. It's nothing." Arianna frowned and said, "That's not true." Fang frowned at her and Arianna glared back. After a moment Fang sighed and said, "It's just...this was where I first met Max."
Across the clearing Iggy paused beside a dirt covered window. He dusted away the grit with his shirt and after he had made a semi-clean circle he peered inside. Iggy's mouth set into a firm line and his eyes narrowed. Inside the room was a metal operating table complete with Velcro restraints and a mouth gag. Beside the table was a cart which had three syringes on it. Two were empty but the third was full containing a bright blue liquid.
The room had cobwebs hanging from the white ceiling tiles and the door stood ajar on crooked hinges. Chains hung from the ceiling and Iggy could see a large mirror in one corner of the room which reflected the table. Iggy knew that it was a one way mirror the scientists used so that they could see what was happening in the lab without actually having to get their hands dirty.
Iggy scowled and turned away so that Nikki and Mick could look. As Mick pulled away after his look he said, "At our Facility the labs looked a lot like these."
"Accept we never saw them like this," Nikki said, rubbing her for-head. "The labs were always spotless, except when blood was spilt and they hadn't cleaned it up yet. They always smelled so..."
"Antiseptic?" Iggy asked. Nikki and Mick nodded, stepping back so that Gazzy and Alexandria, who had just reached them, could have a look.
Iggy turned and looked out over the field, taking in the sides of the buildings and the decay which they had undergone. From the air several portions of the roof had caved in and now, on the ground, he could see that walls were collapsing all around. "I never thought I'd get to see the place that took my eyes away ever again," Iggy said. He saw the others flinch slightly and gaze at him in sympathy but Iggy didn't want to see that. So he glanced around again then turned to Gazzy and said, "It looks like our bomb did a hell of a number on this place Gasman."
A corner of Gazzy's mouth lifted into a smile and he grinned. "You mean you did this?" Nikki asked. Both guys turned to look at her and Iggy said, "When Angel was first kidnapped by Ari they brought her back here. Max didn't want me to come because I wouldn't know my way around and she didn't want Gazzy to come because he was so young. So she took Fang and Nudge with her and headed here. But then they got separated when Max went to play superman and save her future half-sister and it took a while for them to find each other. By then Fang and Nudge had found that cave where we met up a few days ago and when Max showed back up we were with them waiting. Huh," Iggy paused and a smile curved his and Gazzy's lips.
"Max wasn't too happy with us but she couldn't send us home so we stuck together and came after Angel. But we were ambushed in a restaurant and after a out of this world ride through hell courtesy of Max's driving skills the Erasers caught up to us. Gazzy and I were able to escape but Max, Nudge and Fang were captured."
Iggy paused, licking his lips and Gazzy picked up where he'd left off. "So we went back to the hawk cave and got the hawks to follow us to the School. When we got there we saw that Ari was attacking Max's cage and had busted it up so much that Max could escape. She opened the others cages and we led the hawks down in a big feather butt kicking! They really tore up the white coats and let us get into the air with everyone including Angel. Then when we were high enough Iggy and I dropped a bomb on the School."
Gazzy turned and slapped a high five with Iggy but their enthusiasm vanished a few seconds later when they remembered where exactly they were. "So that's why this place looks so beat up." Mick muttered. Gazzy nodded and Iggy said, "That, and the fact that it's been abandoned since then. We bombed it about eleven years ago. That was a while before...well before we thought Max had died."
Iggy bowed his head and so did Gazzy. Alexandria grabbed his hand comfortingly and Nikki did the same for Iggy. Both boys turned and grinned at their companions. Mick folded his arms over his chest and glared at the dilapidated wall.
"I think everyone's gathering around Ty and Nudge now," Alexandria said, gesturing towards where the two mocha colored bird kids sat on the ground. Total was lounging in Nudge's lap sleeping. Angel and Bryce were leading Braden and Jordan over to them and on the other side of the clearing Carrie and Arianna were heading that way too. "Okay let's go," Iggy said.
He turned and led the way across the field until they stood in-front of Nudge and Ty who were shading their eyes so that they could see them against the hot glare of the afternoon sun. Iggy blinked in surprise, he hadn't realized how quickly time had passed.
"Where's Fang?" Angel asked. She was looking around at the faces in-front of her and frowning. Then her head snapped up and she glanced over the top of Carrie's shoulders. Everyone followed her gaze and saw that Fang was sitting on a concrete bench near the barb wire topped fence.
"What's he doing?" Jordan asked. She looked at Angel in confusion but before Angel could reply Arianna said, "He said it was where he first met Max. He's been sitting there for a long time." Arianna cast a worried glance over her shoulder and looked to the older Flock members for help. But they merely looked at Fang with saddened expressions. Total whimpered and his ears drooped slightly.
Then their frowns turned into grins as their eyes locked with something high over head. The rest of the Flock turned to see what they had and smiles curved their own lips.
Fang stared at the spot next to him on the dilapidated concrete bench. Gently he rubbed his hand over the crumpled seat. In his head he replayed one of his happier memories. It was before he'd been set free of the School by Jeb. It was actually a couple of years before that. And even though it had been torture Fang knew he wouldn't have had it any other way. Because right there, on that very bench so many years ago, Fang had been first introduced to the girl he would one day come to love. The one girl who he knew without a doubt would be willing to lay her life on the line for him and he the same to her. The one girl who loved him just as much as he loved her. The one girl who would never betray him. On that bench in that dusty field Fang had first met Maximum Ride.
The next chapter is a flashback that is very, very important. It's in Fang's Pov. and shows how he and Max first met. But, I ask for 305 reviews for it. I know you guys are out there. Please take time to review. To those of you who do, thanks and please continue! :)