I don't own Maximum Ride. I do own all my characters.


Cat's POV:

Okay, driving in France. Weird. Just plain weird. Tiny little cars, people riding bikes in your way. It was annoying as all hell. Not to mention Salem practically hanging out the window to point to things she'd only seen on the internet and telling me all the history behind it while I'm trying to drive.

Taz however thought it was hilarious every time I'd get so frustrated I'd have to brake hard.

"Bounjour? Get out of the way!" I said to the cyclist who was idling at a green light. "Salem, watch Taz. He's not in a carseat remember."

"Hey Cat! Did you know you're old enough to drink in this country?" Salem said plopping down. She looked out the window. "Hey! I think I see Angel! Wait, no... That's just a regular kid."

"Forget the Flock. We gave them the address. If they're coming at all they'll know where to find us," I said. We were so close. I could practically see the building on the hillside and there was a freakin' traffic jam! I could just imagine what I would say to the rest of the pride.

"Sorry I wasn't here to save you from the mad scientists sooner, guys. Traffic was horrible!" I took a moment to hit my head repeatedly on the steering wheel until traffic started moving. Finally! I sighed with relief and pressed down on the gas. It was a short drive to my surprise.

Finally Itron came into view. There was a large iron gate around it with an electronic keypad on the outside. I braked and let Salem lean over to simply touch it. With an approved beep the doors opened. It was all so... simple. Suddenly I braked. Too simple for me to not be paranoid.

"What's going on?" Salem asked.

"We're walking from here on out," I said. Salem had Taz in her lap. She handed him to me and I strapped him in the baby carrier on my back. "Kay, Taz. You're covering the rear."

"Dah," Taz agreed. Salem walked beside me as we followed the rest of the row next to the hows of trees that surrounded the place.

"So... Are we just going to walk up to the front door and knock? Sneak in through the side door?" Salem asked. I looked at her and smiled. I patted her head.

"Don't worry, Sale. I got a plan," I lied.


Eric's POV:

Jason and the other Eraser pushed me into the testing room which was just big and wide like an auditorium. I spun around just before Jason could leave.

"Hey!" I shouted. He stopped just long enough to look over his shoulder. "How can you do this? How can she do this?" Jason shrugged.

"Some things we're just meant for. You have to stop running away from it Eric," Jason said. With that he shut the door behind him. The lock activated and I was alone in the huge room. A voice came over the intercom.

"Team report," said the voice. I think it was the bird kid.

"Alpha, present."

"Beta, present."

"Charlie, present." I looked up at the ceiling as if the voices had come from God. The third voice. It sounded like a little kid. It sounded like...

The lights turned off. I couldn't see anything.

"Search and destroy." The doors opened and three silhouettes slinked into the darkness with me. I extended my claws and peered through the blackness trying to see the killers. Erasers? No. They were too quiet. Any normal Eraser would be taunting and growling by now. All I could hear with sensitive ears was controlled breathing and the padding of feet.

I did a three sixty and started to walk around. I wish I wasn't alone right now. I wish the pride was here. I wished Layla was here. Even if she did set me up. That was forgiveable. But the way she just watched me leave? That wasn't.

Meanwhile here I was being hunted in pure darkness. A roar erupted in the room. My hands instinctively shot over my ears. At that same moment I was tackled to the side, dragged to the ground. I was lucky enough to get knee the person in a soft place. From that point I could estimate where the face was. I elbowed them and rolled out from underneath them.

"Knock it off," I said hoping these people in the darkness could be talked to. "I don't want to fight. You don't have to do this." I heard the soft scuffle of feet in one direction. I moved to face that direction. Then was tackled by an immense weight behind me. I fell down on the concrete floor roughly and busted my chin in the process. Then suddenly the room flashed red. I could see.

The light blinked on and off. The person on top of me flipped me around. That's when I saw who it was. The huge, unshaven, almost caveman-like person with more strength than one person in one body should possess.

"Tarzan?" I question. Tarzan pulled back a punch not even responding to me. I held up my hands. "Tarzan! Hey man, its me! It's Eric!"

"Drop the target," bird kids yelled over the intercom. Tarzan let go of my shirt and let me drop roughly on the floor. He stepped back and stood between his two accomplices. Hunter and Kitten? What the hell was going on?

"You," I hissed at Hunter. "You're in their heads. You're making them do this!" Hunter didn't even blinked. The lights continued to flash red. It didn't even look like Hunter was there anymore.

"Team! We have an intrusion. Search and destroy," said the bird kid. All three of them moved from their stances at attention and jogged toward the door. The alarms could be heard from outside. Cat and Salem were here. But they had no idea they were about to be attacked by the same hostages we intended to rescue. I wiped my bloody chin on my chin. Up above there were cameras surrounding the room.

Then there was a window for the bird kids to look in. I stopped and looked up at them as they whispered to each other.

"Hey!" I shouted at them. None of them seemed to be listening. "HEY!"

CLICK

My ears perked. What was that?

CLICK

I looked in the room again. There were bird kids standing around talking. Did they not hear the clicks?

"Fire in the hole!" shouted someone completely unfamiliar to me. But one of you might recognize them.


Cat's POV:

Digging under the fence to sneak in? Not one of my best ideas. Stupid motion sensors. Salem was handing Taz to me under the fence when we heard the alarms go off.

"Great," I muttered. "Either Eric's in trouble or we are."

"Or both," Salem said.

"Uh oh," Taz agreed. Smart baby. I took Salem's hand and helped her through the hole we'd dug. Salem brushed off her pants and took off her ski mask. Then the ground vibrated. We all heard the sound that came inside.

It was a very muffled BOOM!

An explosion. We all turned our heads in that direction and looked at one another.

"What was that?" Salem asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"What do we do now?" Salem asked shaking out her black hair. I sighed.

"Well. We might as well barge in at this point," I muttered. "Where will be the easiest way to get into the building electronically speaking?" Salem shrugged.

"I don't know. A side door or something. Maybe something that's reserved for employees," she said. I ruffled her hair.

"Good thinking, Sale. Alright stay on your toes and hit the ground if you hear any gunshots. Those guards were armed," I said. Salem trotted close as soon as I mentioned weapons. As we snuck around the side of the building I couldn't help but think about how stupid I'd been. I was bringing a baby and a twelve year old to a fight. My fourteen year old was working as a spy right under their big hairy noses and I had no partner to tell me if my plans were stupid or not.

Did I have a choice? Would I have been better off doing this alone? No. I needed Salem for her powers. I even needed Taz who seemed to be suspiciously good at alerting us whenever something bad was going to happen. Suddenly Taz started to cry. I cringed as we were only a few steps away from the door.

"Taz!" I whispered. I took off the baby carrier. "Taz, no is not the time!" Salem sighed.

"Here. Let me take him," she said. I handed Taz to her. It didn't console him. That's when I was suddenly struck by a runaway freight train. Or at least that's what it felt like. Really it was Tarzan who'd somehow snuck up behind and tackled me at full speed.

Luckily my claws caught into his jumpsuit and I brought him down with me.

Then our fight paused as I suddenly realized that this was Tarzan. Tarzan was right here! Right with me! I was so stunned and relieved I didn't care if he'd just thrown me to ground with as much force as a semi.

"Tarzan?" I breathed looking up at him. He blinked. Then he raised his arm to pull back a punch. Suddenly it dawned on me. He was attacking. I gasped and held up my hands defensively. "Tarzan! No!"


More to come very soon. I promise! I'm working on it right now!

And for those who are curious this is my website sort of. The link won't come up on fanfiction so here it is in word form.

http://winged516(dot)tripod(dot)com