Gawd, I finally, finally got this document uploaded. It kept giving me an error.

Anyways, I really enjoyed writing this chapter and i tried my best on this. Next chapter will be quite exciting and I hope you think so. I've tried advertising my fanfic some more cus my stories dont get a lot of reviews or anything (i wouldnt complain if I were you Kori) so if you know any other Maximum Ride fans, please do not hesitate to tell them about this story. Even if you hate it, they might not haha. I would really appreciate thanks!

-Happy reading

Chapter 3

There was that moment of awkward silence when no one knows what to do or say. Iggy's body was rigid and hard, the look of anger rose in his light eyes. I knew how he felt. All we ever had was bad luck. Everyone was after us and we weren't safe anywhere anymore. Over and over again, we'd been betrayed, separated, tortured. And to think, just minutes ago, I felt like everything in the world was wonderful.

"How could they do this?" Iggy cried in anguish. "It was bad enough with Erasers after us. Why do they have to make us suffer all the time? Haven't we gone through enough?"

The School was just a bunch of lying, dirty traitors. It's no wonder they would release a new enemy to hunt us down. It was all part of a sick experiment that we all wanted to end.

I stood up. It was time to take charge.

"I know what you mean, Ig," I said with a soft, but stern tone. "But if we want this thing to end, we need to get a hold of ourselves. Whatever the School tries to hit us with, we'll be able to kick their sorry ass, right?"

Iggy didn't budge.

It was Fang's turn. He balled his right hand into a fist and slowly brought it up to Iggy's forehead. Suddenly, he brought it down like a hammer, hitting Iggy so hard he almost fell back.

"That," said Fang. "Was for being a wuss. Now get up. This girl needs a place to rest."

Fang got up and started to lead the younger kids away. I looked back at Iggy, wanting to take him into my arms and hug him. But Fang was right. If we wanted any hope of survival, we couldn't just mope around and feel sorry for ourselves. Iggy was very sensitive, so of course he didn't really think with that logic.

As I began to follow the rest of the group, I heard Iggy get up and say, "Fnick sure has some issues."

I took hold of his shirt sleeve and watched the still unconscious girl rest in his arms. You picking up anything on this girl, Voice? I asked impatiently. Nothing. It was worth a shot

We walked a mile or two until we found a decent place to recharge. It ended up being a small willow tree near the end of the grassy fields, starting to become a forest. We made our way through the many hanging branches to find it's shade. Iggy gently set the girl down onto the roots of the tree.

"Why isn't she awake yet?" Angel asked with concern in her voice.

"Do you think she's in a coma or something?" said Nudge.

"Don't worry, guys," I assured them. "She'll be fine."

I wasn't too sure about that comment actually. Maybe she was in a coma. What would we do if she never woke up? There's no way we could just leave a passed out bird-kid sitting under a tree. I decided to see what we could do to wake her up.

I gingerly kneeled down next to her, examining her injuries. They didn't seem too bad, nothing serious. I calmly put my hand on her shoulder. Sweat started to escape my pores. I felt like I was a surgeon trying to remove a cancerous tumor. The anticipation was killing me. Just as I was about to shake her just a bit, the girl's wings immediately snapped to their full measure.

I fell flat on my back at her maneuver. Everybody jumped in bewilderment as the girl finally opened her eyes. Feathers flew everywhere as she tiredly brushed the tangled hair out of her face.

"What the—," were the first words that came out of her mouth.

I lifted myself up as her hazel eyes scanned the environment. Her hands began to become fists and her body tightened up as if she were surrounded by Erasers. After seeing what potential she had in her muscles, I definitely didn't want her attacking my flock.

"Wait!" I shouted.

The girl's eyes affixed on me and started to grow in amazement as I let my wings loose, revealing my true identity.

My breath was hard and my heartbeat sped up as I took in the situation. Here I was standing across from an avian-hybrid girl, just like me, not knowing whether she was an enemy or ally. And frankly, not really caring. Just seeing another one of us in existence was enough to make me want to throw my arms around them and call them one of my flock. But of course, that wasn't the inscrutable Maximum Ride talking.

"You," I, without warning, began the conversation, making the girl flinch a bit. "You're from the Institute, aren't you? In New York?"

The bird-kid's expression began to soften. Her eyebrows rose suspiciously.

"Yes, I am," she replied. "You're the flock of kids that freed me and the other mutants."

I nodded solemnly. Neither of us let our guard down. Our wings almost exact mirror reflections in their positions.

Fang abruptly raised his hand. "I have a question."

I looked at him with utter disbelief. He was treating this whole thing like it was a joke! I heard Iggy chuckle and shot him another useless glare.

The bird-girl set her gaze upon Fang. I could tell she was quickly looking over every inch of him; she remembered his face. Her body began to loosen up and she waited patiently for his question.

Finally, when he thought it was safe, Fang asked, "What's your name?"

I had to admit, it was an obvious question. But the moment was so tense and still, it seemed wrong to talk out of turn. I focused my eyes on the girl, anticipating for her answer. She straightened up, wings retracted an inch or two.

"Aero," she responded.

"That's a weird name," Nudge blurted out, rudely.

Oh, crap, I thought. I stiffened up, ready for a hostile return from the winged girl. But I was surprised by her answer.

"Well, it's short," she said as if talking to Nudge in a normal conversation. "Short for Aerodynamic."

"Wow!" said Nudge. "That's a cool name! My name's Nudge. But my real name is Mon—"

I gave Nudge such a hard look, it instantly stopped her in her tracks. We couldn't risk giving out personal information in case this girl was working for the other side. There was only one way to figure it out.

Step by cautious step, I started walking towards her. But before I could take more than two full strides, images began flashing in my head from the time we were at the Institute. I saw Aero in a cage, pure fear in her eyes when we were running from Ari, immediate responsibility to take care of the abandoned mutants. Then I thought, Could she really be working for the School?

As the images grew stronger, my head began to throb. Then a rapid pain struck through my brain. By reflex, I clutched my skull and my knees buckled. I heard myself fall to the floor, my arm hitting a root of the tree, but I didn't feel any pain except for the one going on inside my head. It was one of my supernova headaches. Haven't seen them in a while. They were about due back for a visit.

I desperately called out to my Voice. What's going on? Why now?

As usual, no answer.

I couldn't take it anymore. I just wanted to escape for a moment, even be back in that closed off tank. Anything to stop the pain. This time, the headache was running an extra long course.

As I began to black out, all I heard was someone shouting, "Max!" And then, I realized it was Aero's voice.

Oh yeah. cliffhangers pwn yo.

I'm excited. its the end of the chapter I know. But I'm excited cus I got a necklace with 2 wings on it. Like, really cool wings not cheesy ones. If I can, I'll get a pic of them up soon. They are freakin' awesome oh yah X3

-E-Kuririn