A/N: Well, it's been a while; sorry 'bout that guys. I jinxed myself titling last chapter Murphy's Law…8 days before my trip to New York to see JP at the Symphony Orchestra Space I received an e-mail that there was a scheduling conflict and JP was cancelled. The trip was nice in and of itself—just me and my mom—but I'm anxiously awaiting the next chance I get to see him!

So what did you all think of Nevermore? IMO it was amazing. I loved every sentence. But no spoilers in this story ;)

Without further ado-

Disclaimer: I'm not James Patterson this is purely fan-based.

Chapter Fifteen: Implements of Destruction

Max POV

"Maximum."

"Hello? I know you can hear me, can you respond, Sweetheart?"

My eyes fluttered open in a fog; I was in a different white room with crisp, hard white sheets and my ankles fastened to the bed with padded cuffs.

On the roll-around night table beside me was a picture accompanying a note:

Tilting the picture to face me I nearly screamed in shock at the image within the thin plastic frame…

Fang.

But, this wasn't a mug-shot, or a Kodak moment…this was Fang in a coffin.

I slammed the picture face-down onto the table and numbly reached for the note:

Max,

I'm so sorry to have to prove it to you this way, but I had no other choice. I will be in shortly to check your vitals and such. I will be bringing a visitor so be on your best behavior.

-J.

My best behavior?

This was it. Who the hell does Jeb think he is?

"Hello, Max, glad to see you've awaken."

The intercom was loud and obnoxious with Jeb's voice belting out of it on the other end of the room.

I picked up the picture frame and chucked it with all my might at the intercom.

"Bite me, Jeb."

He wants to play this game then, huh?

"Now, Max, understand that if you act like that when I or your visitor are present we will be forced to put you out in the yard as punishment. The Lupine-hybrids would love to get some exercise on such a nice spring day."

"What do you mean spring?!"

"For the safety of you and those around you, Max, you have been in a drug-induced coma for quite a few months now. The reaction you presented after receiving the news of the death of Fang was deemed highly dangerous and that you must be controlled. In order to convince the council otherwise we were forced to put you into a coma."

"Where's Dylan, Jeb?"

The vacuum seal of the door that looked like part of the wall opened up to reveal Jeb and another figure standing in the doorway.

"What's up Max? Long time no see." Dylan flipped his blonde locks away from his face as he stepped around Jeb to enter my room.

I glared at him with all the hatred in the world in my eyes, "You're gonna die, pretty boy."

Fang POV

It's been months of the same routine over and over again.

One minute I wake up and Dylan is on the other side of the room, heart monitor beeping away and me this close to him, but unable to do anything.

Then other times I wake up with no one in the room.

I don't know what's real anymore and what isn't. Reality and whatever these weird hallucinations are all meshing together and becoming one.

I don't know if I'm in here alone or if Dylan is over there too.

I'm told that Max perished because of an accidental firing of the pistol on Dylan's behalf.

But I don't remember the pistol being shot more than once….or did it?

This is just what the white-coats want: me confused. With confusion they hold fear. And with fear they hold the balance between reality and fiction for me right now.

Iggy POV

Gun powder? Check. Pipe bombs? Check. Spare wire cutters? Check. Food provisions? Check. Hand grenades? Check. Implements of destruction? All accounted for.

I don't know what Max is always griping about, preparing the Flock for an all out rescue mission/invasion isn't that hard.

"Iggy, did you pack Max and Fang and Dylan food as well?" Angel reminded me softly.

Yeah. That too. Enough food for all members of the Flock? Almost a full check.

Shortly after Max, Fang, and Dylan all went missing at the same time we were ambushed and the house destroyed by crazy, blood-thirsty Erasers. We've since been on the run and popping in and out of small towns across the west coast to get knick-knack trinkets and basically anything we can make a weapon out of.

We know the School has them all—big surprise huh?—but we are about 99% certain that it's not at headquarters. We've been there too many times, it's too cliché, predictable, too much of a well-known lay-out of the floor plans.

Nudge was able to hack into the e-mail of a minor nurse at the School and uncover some helpful tips that hint to the new branch of the school to being somewhere in the New Mexico range. They're trying to pull an Area 51 by making a giant under-cover, super secret, no admittance to tourists, government-run facility in the middle of the desert in a vain attempt to not draw attention to themselves.

Unluckily for them—luckily for us—we have a freakishly talented and extremely stealthy hacker in our little group.

I rationed out the last of the food and stuffed it into my bag—Gasman had all the explosives.

"Okay guys, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we're doing rescue."

Fang POV

The red light in the corner of the room lit up and made a god-awful buzzing noise early the next morning; I was finally being let out of the room to stretch my wings in the over-sized cage outside.

I didn't mind though, it gave me a chance to check the season and see if I really had been in here as long as I thought I was, as well as formatting an escape plan.

My shackles that were attached to my ankles to the bedposts released remotely from a control tower somewhere near my room and I was able to stand.

When the suction of the door gave way, four large guards were on call to escort me out.

En route I memorized the number of steps to take to each emergency exit. In order to use the doors, an employee badge was required to scan.

But that was going to be easy to obtain.

A swift, hard shove in my back by the burly guards and I was out on the 'playground' with all the other mutant experiments. The air was crisp and clean, definitely spring. All that was visible for miles upon miles was open desert. A gust of wind would come through and spray sand everywhere.

This was going to be a great day.

A/N: Sorry it can't be longer but I'm about to fall asleep at my keyboard right now and I really wanted to get this update out there. Next chapter's gonna be a doozy!

Thanks for reading! Reviews=love ;D

~hawkstar2