I won't bore you the details of the long flight back to Dr. Martinez's house, but the flock sure seemed to perk up. Nudge was talking non-stop about chocolate chip cookies and whether Ella was going to be there. Iggy and Gazzy were definitely up to no good as they were flying slightly further back and talking in hushed tones. Angel was rummaging around in my brain for about ten minutes before I discovered her and put up my guard but I think she had found a few things by then, things I don't like to remember. The deep stuff that you keep really close to your heart, things like Max and I kissing in the cave and our breaking up arguments, also things they did to me and not the others at the school. Angel looked really upset until Nudge blasted her brain with a chocolate chip cookie mind-blowing conversation, well one-sided conversation. Max must have heard some of it because she smiled sometimes as she lay in my arms. It was so good to have her back, I'd missed her like a wing or maybe both, it hurt really bad.
As we were nearing the house Nudge started shrieking and Iggy forced a hand over her mouth to which the rest of us breathed a sigh of relief. We landed in the trees right beside their house. Max was still out of it but somehow she seemed really alive, maybe because all that's been in my head was a memory of her lying out completely cold, presumed dead after the attack. That image broke my heart. We walked up to Max's mom's front door and rang the bell. Dr. Martinez answered it.
'Oh, Max, my darling, what the hell happened?' she cried taking Max out of my arms and cradling her like she was a baby, the rest of us awkwardly followed her into the other room, where Ella was watching TV.
'We found her falling off the top of the Empire State Building,' Iggy whispered.
'Now is not the time for jokes,' Dr. Martinez hissed sternly.
'He's not joking,' Angel said defensively.
'What so you're saying you found her falling to her death from the top of the Empire State Building?' Ella said disbelievingly.
'That is correct,' another voice said. Jeb. I looked up at him coldly, he sighed.
'Her brain…exploded and she fell!' Jeb said in a matter-of-factly way.
'Give her to me; I'll sort her out, 'he pushed.
'No,' Gazzy shouted stepping in front of Max's limp body. 'Dr. Martinez can sort it out.'
'Give her to me; you don't know what's wrong with her!' Jeb hissed pushing Gazzy out of the way and grabbing Max's body and raking her outside, he slammed the front door behind him. As soon as I heard that, I jumped to my feet to follow him, the rest of the flock followed. We ran out of the door, with Ella and Dr. Martinez close behind.
'Where is he?' Iggy said. 'I can't hear his footsteps.'
'I can't see him, it's like he's disappeared, maybe we should find some tracks and follow them, where's he taken Max, oh not again, just when we get her back and poof she's gone again…' My hand was firmly clamped over her mouth.
'U and A!' I whispered, launching myself into the air, the others close behind.
In the distance I could see a helicopter flying away. Now would be a great time to discover I had Max's supersonic speed. I flew as fast as I could towards the helicopter, the others were trying to go fast too and we were catching up. As we neared it we could see that a rope was hanging down and…Jeb and Max were being hoisted up. Just as we came within 100 metres of the helicopter, it flew off, leaving us in its wake. We came to a stop; there was no way we could catch up with it. Angel burst into tears beside me. Gazzy did too. Nudge had forgotten to flap and dropped a few feet before Iggy swooped down to catch her. I could do nothing except flap my wings and watch until the helicopter disappeared. Iggy put a hand on my shoulder, I shrugged him off. Taking one last look at the horizon hoping to see Max surging towards us, I turned and headed back to Dr. Martinez's in silence.
There was only one place Jeb could have taken her.
The School.
Hey Guys, in case you're wondering all this is between the first and second chapter, it's just to fill you in!
Also very important notice, MR4 is going to be called:
Maximum Ride: The Last Global Warming Warning
Out: April '08
Updates will be coming faster now, sorry for the delays lately!!!!
Please review!!
Thanks!!