The Renegade
Chapter 1
I was the last of the flock to wake up to the gold of late morning. I sat up and stretched away my stiff, aching wings. I saw Nudge and Angel sitting near the ledge of the cliff, their legs dangling over it. Fang was sitting hunched over against the wall on the other side from me. He looked up momentarily but then turned back to gaze out the cave's gaping mouth.
I sighed and shook my head. Yet another silent 'Hello' from Fang.
"Max!" Angel sprang up and rushed over to me, hearing the sound of me getting up. It felt so good for me just to hold Angel again. I never wanted to let go again. The warmth of our grasp was disturbed as Iggy and the Gasman came around the corner from where the hawks were, an aggressive tone to their voices.
"I'm telling you I heard something!" Iggy started.
"No, you didn't!" Gazzy argued, rolling his eyes.
"What is it guys?"
"Our Walking Sound Detector is broken." Gazzy swelled enthusiastically. Translation: Iggy was hearing things.
"I swear, I heard something!" Iggy protested, feeling his way to a wall and slouching down next to Fang.
"He's going insane," the Gasman mumbled.
"I heard that!" That's your cue, Peacekeeper. Yep, that name will be up in lights in no time, Maximum Ride: Official Peacekeeper of the Freaky Kids with Wings.
"Okay, Iggy where did you hear… whatever you heard?" I offered.
"It was a weird scraping sound, up above the opening in the cliff." He said and pointed to the top of the cave, slightly to the left. Everyone except Iggy, Gazzy, and me went out on the ledge and stared up the steep wall of rock that made the cave.
"I don't see anything, Iggy. Maybe it was just one of those big hawks landing on the top of the cliff or something. Or maybe it was just your imagination. People imagine things a lot, you know." Nudge reported as Fang returned to his seat on the right side of cave wall.
"Yup," Iggy sighed, turning away from her and Angel. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. The sense he relied on the most had failed him yet again.
When I say again, I mean this used to happen all the time. Iggy was our own personalized walking, talking alarm system and I couldn't tell you how many times I've just about had a heart attack trying to find the invisible Eraser running around our house and on our roof. It always turned out just to be one of Iggy's little mistakes. But then when the real Erasers come he didn't hear anything, or he at least didn't tell anyone about it.
I sighed and mentally beat myself up for those thoughts. He couldn't help it. It was wrong to expect so much from him. My heart ached for him while my mind was storing more and more hate for the whitecoats who had cursed him with this fate.
Nudge soon returned and sat next to Iggy. Upon hearing her coming he sat up and scooted away from her. Angel remained out on the ledge still examining the rocky cliff. I turned back to Nudge and Iggy. She was reaching out to comfort him. Nudge is such a sweet girl. But Iggy was angry and she wasn't making the smartest choice at the moment.
The second Nudge's hand touched Iggy's shoulder he swiveled around and slapped it away. "Go away, Nudge! Just leave me alone."
"Iggy, she was just trying to-"
"Max!" Iggy went pale and pointed toward the ridge of the cliff with his sightless eyes. Just then I heard a sinister, unfamiliar voice.
"Hello, Max."
Author's Note: Suspense! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Okay, just a heads up, some of the chapters won't be in Max's point of view, it's going to pass around to a few different people. Till next chapter! Toodles: )