Chapter Two: The Flocks Meet

We stare at the other group and their wings. Their wings aren't as fit as ours are, but I'd bet they could fly with them. I then look at their legs and see feathers on their ankles. They must be for steering, I realize. Even though my Flock doesn't have them, I can tell how they would work. Nudge opens her mouth to talk, but Iggy, who can tell it's coming, puts his hand over her mouth so she can't give us away.

What we don't expect was that the other "Flock" had seen us flying in and could guess where we are. The problem is they did. The next thing I know, the oldest of the other "Flock" is pulling me away from my Flock, who are being pulled away by the others. We try to fight back, but these guys are older, so they are a bit stronger and we can't.

The girl holding me asks, "What's your name? And tell the truth, or I'll have Matthew hurt that boy he's holding." I look to see where she seems to be looking and see that guy named Matthew is holding Fang. I don't want Fang to get hurt so I answer.

"My name is Maximum Ride." And after I said that, the other "Flock" stares at me like I had just hit them with buses. "What? Never heard the name before? Man, you must be old then."

One of the twins say, "But… but… but… The girl holding you is Maximum Ride!" And I turn enough to stare at the girl holding me. She is staring right back at me.

Uh-oh… This might get a little confusing… "Wait. How are you Maximum Ride? I'm Maximum Ride."

The other Max answers, "Let's go inside, and try to figure this out." They let us go, and surround us so we can't get away yet. We follow them onto the porch where the other Max tells the two adults to come inside with us.

I don't say anything because this is their territory, so I let them have the show, which is a first. The other Max does take the show, like she is meant to have it, and knows it. "Okay, who are you guys?"

I take a deep breath and then start. "As I said before, I'm Maximum Ride, but I go by Max. I'm fifteen." I point at Fang. "He's Fang, and he just turned fifteen." I point at Iggy. "He's Iggy. He turns fifteen in a month. He's also blind." I point at Nudge. "She's Nudge. She's twelve. And trust me; DO NOT let her start talking." I point to Gazzy. "He's The Gasman or Gazzy. He's nine next week. His name speaks for itself." I point at Angel. "This is Angel. She just turned seven last week. She and Gazzy are the only blood siblings among us." I point to Total. "And this is Total; he's our talking mutant dog. Angel found him while we were in New York once." I take another breath. "Okay, your turn to introduce us."

The other girl stares at me for a minute and then starts. "I'm Max as well and I'm twenty-one. The boy I showed you earlier is my brother Matthew he's nineteen." She points to the other older boy. "That boy over there is Icarus, but goes by Ic. He's twenty and is also blind like your Iggy." She points to the twins. "He's Peter and she's Wendy. They are twins and both thirteen." She hugs the youngest two close to her. "These are my children. They're twins. He's Ozymandias and she's Frances Jane. He goes by Ozy and she goes by Frannie." She points to the two adults. "They aren't our biological parents but they are our parents. She's Frances Jane, who my daughter is named after, and also goes by Frannie. And the man next to her is Kit." She takes a breath.

I am thinking about how she said those two are her kids, and I have to ask the question in my head, even if it might be rude. "This might be rude to ask, but you said those two you are hugging are your kids, right?"

"Yes, they are." She replies looking a little confused.

"Well… who is the father then?" When I see her look sad, I feel guilty for asking, but I am curious.

"Well, we were in a fight… and they shot him. It was a surprise attack by a hidden rifle. He was shot right in the heart. We couldn't save him." She doesn't look like she is going to cry, but she is noticeably sadder.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine," She replies.

"Who were you fighting? We are always being chased, and seem to want to be killed, so we have been in more fights then I can and want to count."

"We were being chased by," she pauses for a second. "The School." The moment she says that, my entire flock stiffens along with me. The other group notices that, and seems to look at us differently.

Matthew asks us, "Were you created by The School also? We all have memories from there, and they are terrible." None of us can speak, we all just nod. When we nod the youngest four gasp and the older three look a mixture of sad and worried. The two humans are just staring as all of this happens. I think because they can't believe there are more of the bird kids.

Finally, after the house being silent for what felt like a year, Icarus says, "So, why are you guys here?" What's weird is, he seems to be facing Iggy, and then I remember he is blind as well. This is going to be interesting.

Before anyone can stop her, Nudge starts to talk. "Well, we need food, drinks, and a place to stay. Usually when we are moving we find an empty cabin, a cave, or even a clearing in a woods and sleep there. Then we sometimes find food in cabins or we just sneak into the supermarket and buy some food with this Maximum Ride card Max found while in New York. So when we saw this place, we decided to come down because we have been flying for so long and we are sooo hungry, and- humph."

Thank you, Iggy. "Sorry, her talking like that makes my ears bleed," Iggy says to the other group. They all nod their thanks.

The other Max turns to me and says, "Now we know why you said to not get her talking. She can talk her mouth off with no trouble at all."

"Yup, that's why I warned you." Turning to Nudge I say, "Nudge, no more talking your mouth off please."

Turning back to the other group I say, "But what she said is true. We were hungry and didn't know anyone was down here. So, sorry about coming down here without warning, we had no idea you all were here." Maybe that's why the Voice had told me not to come here.

Yes Maximum, this Flock is why I told you not to go down there, but you didn't listen to me, yet again. Maybe next time you will listen, or maybe not. Realize though, that this Flock has been left alone for a long time because they are like you, and fight back whenever the School comes for them.

How nice to know, thanks Voice. I guess I'll try to keep that in mind.

Maximum, your coming might remind the School that they are here, and they might be hunted as well as you. You might want to tell them of the advancements the School has taken because they haven't been here in nine years.

How fun, my Flock is left with the job to tell the older flock about how the School has gotten stronger since they left. Well, since we might be the reason they are hunted again, we might as well.

The other Flock is looking at me. Then the other Max asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

I look at Fang, and he says, "You were talking to the Voice, weren't you?"

"Wow, you are such a good guesser Fang. Oh, that's why she asked, isn't it?" Great, now I have more to explain to this old Flock.

I open my mouth to start telling the older Flock about the Voice in my head when out of nowhere we all hear sounds.

We hear the sound of Erasers coming through the woods, and even a few gunshots. We all freeze because the sounds are close, too close. Then, I look out a window, and see, but no way, it couldn't be, but it is. It's Max II, my clone, and she's hold a gun, pointed right at me. Everyone looks at that window, staring.

Next thing we know, she pulls the trigger. She pulls the trigger on the gun pointed… right at ME!

I got plenty of Hits but not Reviews, so I hope that me posting this will get more people to Review! I'd like 3 reviews before Chapter Three please. Anonymous Reviews are allowed by me, so anyone can review! Please Read and Review.

Edited: 10/10/09