A/N Okay I'm sorry that the last chapter was sad, even I was upset when I killed Sky off. But the good news is that I'm going to start introducing the flock in this chapter. And soon this story will end. I'm sorry but its true. Thanks for all of your awesome reviews.

Chapter 16

I stared at the computer screen blankly, seeing the data on Chase. Stamped across his record and a quick snap of his face, in big red letters read RETIRED.

No matter what way you spun it, retired, exterminated, decommissioned, it was still death. Murder no matter what way you played with the words.

I didn't regret sneaking out though, I could hear the footsteps pounding down the corridor. I needed to know for definite if they were telling the truth about Chase. I had skimmed through all the files found footage of when they had destroyed the caves, the few experiments who survived were terminated or put into something called the Genesis Programme. They were as good as dead if the information I'd read about the programme was true. My sister, Sky, dead. My brother, Chase, dead. My friends, dead. My hopes and dreams dead along with them.

So when the Wing Beaters broke into the computer room where I was with Chase's picture flashing on the screen with the with the big red letters across it, they laughed. I was huddled up staring at the image of my brother. Knowing it was the last time I'd see his face.

"Looks like she's realised she's all alone in this world. Maybe we should send her with her family?" One of the Wing Beaters chuckled.

Cruel hands dragged me from the room and down the hall to where cages were kept. I was pulled through a door to another metal room, only this one had vehicles and trucks being loaded and unloaded with medical equipment and experiments, somewhere in cages and others were following like sheep. What was going on?

As I was marched to a row of cages full of experiments who looked like they were on their last legs I remembered something Sky and Chase had said to me. Never give up. Keep fighting till the very end. It's what gives us power over our own life. We wont let them win by taking away our fighting spirit.

That was what they had said to me ever since the scientists threw me into their containment unit, they never expected me to live beyond a few months, but I had fought. Sky and Chase had fought, till the bitter and bloody end. And so would I, for them, for my friends, for myself, for my freedom.

With that sudden decision in mind I started struggling, I kicked the Wing Beater in front of me, I bit the arm holding me, I scratched my nails across the face as one of them tried to snap his teeth at me. I got hit and scratched and thrown into the wall, but I managed to get enough room so I could take a shaky running leap in the air. I flapped my wings, grateful for my fast healing ability, my wings strained and ached as I rose higher into the air. I flapped so I could get higher and further away from them. I managed to get onto one of the metal beams running across the ceiling, the shouts were increasingly louder. I clung to the metal beam and balanced myself out so I could stand and grin down at them all. The guards were clamouring around trying to egg me down with taunts. Instead I stiffened my upper lip and flipped them my middle finger. I'd seen one of the Wing Beaters do it to the scientist, the scientists reaction it didn't mean anything nice and it really annoyed the hell out of them. That was proven true when The people/monsters below started trying to scale the walls shouting threats about ripping me to shreds.

I laughed and started throwing taunts myself until one of the Wing Beaters with leather wings tackled me down to the ground where I was knocked unconscious by fuming guards. I was till laughing and grinning as they beat me into submission.

O woke to the sound of rumbling metal. The floor beneath where my head lay seemed to be rumbling. Dimly I thought if they were doing bomb testing and hopefully if it had gone wrong and a whole lot of them were dead. But when I opened my eyes all I saw were flashing lights. I was in a cage and the flashing lights were strobe lights passing in and out of the bars. I had only been in a cage a few times before, and I knew straight away I'd always hate it and never get use to it.

I was being rolled by a scientist who looked dweeby with wire rim glasses. I crouched down on my hands and knees and started throwing myself at the cage, causing the dweeby guy to squeak in fright and let go of the cage. He called for help and two burly men came out to drag the cage to the room he pointed at. The guards didn't look like Wing Beaters, they looked like a lupine experiment only, more feral and beastly. I wasn't at the Arena anymore, this place even smelt different.

I snapped out of my thoughts as the beasts threw my cage into a room full of others, sending me heads over heels with the tumbling crate. I managed to find my tongue by the time I'd stopped rolling.

"HEY! Where the hell am I? Where are you going? Let me out or I'll kick the hell out of you with one wing tied behind my back! HEY!"

They didn't listen or pay attention just closed the door so my only light was the dim flickering over head light that swung slightly in a draft.

I carried on banging my fists and ramming my body against the bars. Shouting wordless curses at apparently no one. Something stirring in the cage next to me stopped me as I swung my gaze towards it.

"You shouldn't make any noise. They don't like it, they'll send in one of the Erasers and you'll either get hurt ore die. Either its better to just be quiet." The person who spoke was a boy with dark black hair, even darker wings, lightly brown skin and bottomless eyes. He was around the same age as me I guess.

"I'll do what I like, they aren't going to stop me. And if I die, that'll only happen when I say so. That's my power not there's. and what the heck is a Eraser? And who are you?" I demanded in a no nonsense voice that Sky used to use on me.

"I haven't got a name, and Erasers are the things that brought you in here." He turned his back to me and sat with a stiff back, trying to ignore me.

"Haven't got a name? Then make one. I did. I'm Maximum Ride, Max for short." I said grinning to myself at the memory of when Chase and Sky helped me figure out a name.

The dark boy shrugged his shoulders.

"You're weird. You barely talk yet you spoke a minute ago. You're a pain in the bum, I'm not going to talk to you anymore."

I turned my head away from the strange quiet dark boy. But out of the corner of my eye I could see one side of his mouth lift up.

A/N Next chapter will be up by nest week and we will be seeing more of the flock. I also need to find out how to give them there names so any suggestions are more than welcome.