Quote #6: Boycott sham-poo. Demand the REAL poo.

Max POV

After a couple hours of flying, we ended up in Kentucky. We landed in a corn field out in the middle of nowhere. The other flock still didn't trust us enough entirely, and we didn't trust them a lot either. When everyone was going to bed, someone from my flock was on watch and someone from the other flock was on watch. Travis and I had the first watch. Once I got everyone in my flock asleep, I went on full alert.

I couldn't think about the problems going on in my life at that moment; like Hawk's chip or the fact that we had another flock to find. I couldn't start small-talk with Travis. I had to listen to everything. I had to watch everything. Every slightest movement, every small sound, I knew about it. Staying on guard meant noticing everything around you.

I stretched out my wings and leaned back on a couple of corn stalks. Nothing was moving in hearing distance, so I closed my eyes for a second.

"You know," Travis' voice broke through the silence, "sleeping on the job is bad." I opened my eyes and looked at him. His green eyes were practically glowing in the darkness.

"I wasn't sleeping. I was resting my eyes. And we shouldn't be talking. Someone could be watching us and we wouldn't even know because we were babbling away." I stood up and looked around, checking to see if any people were near-by. The coast was clear.

The breath coming out of our mouths was starting to look like steam. It was probably late fall right now. I'd ask my mom when we got to Arizona. The hairs on my arms were starting to stand up from the cold. Goosebumps covered my skin from head to toe. I did my best not to shiver and sound like a cold little girl. I have been to Antarctica! I shouldn't be cold. This is simple Kentucky fall weather.

After an hour of me shivering and trying to keep watch, Nudge and Janie told me they were on the next shift. Jacob, one of the twins, was on the other flock's watch. Trying to keep warm, I snuggled up next to Fang and wrapped my arms around him. At my touch, he woke up. His dark eyes looked at me, ready for anything to come at him. Seeing that I was just settling in, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his warm embrace. I relaxed my muscles and enjoyed his body heat. After minutes, I fell asleep, hoping it would be a calm night.

But a dream was going to ruin that wish.

"Maximum Ride." Said Dylan. We were in the middle of the corn field. Alone. The flock was gone. I had to take deep breaths and remind myself that it was just a dream. Dylan couldn't have done anything to them. We were alone in the other dream I had too. It's just the fact that he is talking to only me.

"What the hell do you want from me and why do you keep on appearing in my dreams?" I narrowed my eyes at him. My hatred for him was growing. Rapidly.

He started walking and stopped, inches away from me. "I am perfect for you, Max." He whispered in my ear.

I pushed him away, a scowl on my face, "Bullshit. You disgust me. Things that revolt people don't go well with them. I'm just saying." I backed away from him. He was way too close for comfort. "Just tell me what you are doing in my dreams and how you are getting into them." I crossed my arms and stared him down. I wasn't willing to share head space with more people. I already had me and the Voice. Dylan wasn't a welcome visitor.

"It doesn't matter how I'm here. I'm just telling you that you can change it all. We can fight together. You can just get rid of the flock and you can stay with me. We will be praised by the stupid whitecoats for capturing all of the flocks! We can be together." What a nutjob. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing in his face.

I shook my head, "There are a million reasons why I wouldn't do that! I hate you, I love my flock, I am loyal to the other flocks, I hate Itex, I love Fang. I can keep going on all day. Dylan, I won't ever ditch my flock. Do you hear me?" I was glaring at him, fuming. He was psychotic if he thought that his little scenario was reasonable! I wouldn't ever dare turn my back on my flock again. The last time they kicked me out and I left, it ended in disaster.

"Get out of my head. Now." I tapped my foot and looked away from it. Oops, I mean him.

"As you wish, Max. You made the wrong choice. I'm coming after you… You and your friends better watch it." And then everything went black.

I woke up and tried not to jolt. Waking up Fang would set off alarms for everyone. I tried falling back asleep, but it was nearly impossible. I was awake, and I had a new message from Dylan: Watch out. I knew falling asleep was out of the question, so instead, I kept close to Fang and enjoyed his warmth.

Maybe I could get a few more hours of this.

Jeb Batchelder POV

I looked at the giant TV that was mounted on the wall in front of me. On it was a map of the world. Two red dots were on the map. There should have been four, but there were only two. One of the dots was in Kentucky. It belonged to Experiment 01996. The leader of her flock. The other dot was in the lower part of Italy. Experiment 02198. The leader of his flock. There were supposed to be two more dots on that screen. One for Experiment 01256. Leader of his flock. And another dot for Experiment 01990. Also known as Maximum Ride. Leader of her flock.

I know that Max had her chip removed, but Experiment 01256 was a mystery. I was there when they were putting the chip into his calf. It was well hidden. How could he have known about the chip? How could he have gotten it out? Or maybe he was dead. I would have to find out soon. The next time Dylan got back to the main Itex Cor, I would have to ask him if he knew anything about the experiment's mystery.

I got up from the main lab, a giant room swarming with my fellow scientists… if that's what you're willing to call them. I walked out of the lab with many waves from the scientists. I walked down a series of hallways and finally ended up at a large metal door. I pulled out my ID card and swiped it in the key lock. The door opened and closed behind me. Inside of the room was my lab materials laid out. A metal table sat in the center of the lab. I walked across the room to another door. I swiped the ID card in the other door's key lock and it swung open before me. I looked ahead and put on a brilliant smile. I had to make the people in here think I was friendly.

Dog cages were bunched up in the room. Inside of them were my experiments. Itex was on the idea that robots were the greatest step scientists could take, but I still think that humans were the best things earth had to offer. Because I had been with Itex for so long, I got special permission to keep on experimenting with humans. But Itex was getting afraid of the human hybrid experiments. They thought the hybrids were going to attack and destroy Itex. For good. That means I had to get rid of the human hybrids I was experimenting on.

I sighed and pulled a syringe out of my lab coat. Then I pulled out a small vile of red liquid. It was the venom taken from a Nepenthes rafflesiana, a deadly plant found in Asia. I stuck the syringe's needle into the vile and sucked the venom out of it. The syringe was fully loaded. I had five experiments in the crates. The amount of venom in my needle could kill ten adult elephants. It could most definitely kill five children.

I walked up to one of the crates and smiled at the girl that was inside of it. She was a human-avian hybrid, just like Max. She was the same age as Max too. No guilt, Jeb. Don't feel any guilt. I thought.

"Hi, sweetie. Can I see your arm please? It won't hurt a bit." I gave her a big smile as she raised her eyebrows at me. My smile faltered as she rolled her brown eyes and laughed at me.

"As if. You have to get a new job, big boy. Not many women go after the creepy scientist type." She pushed against the back of the crate, as if that would help her get out.

"Just give me your arm. I can do this by force." She looked me in the eyes and then groaned. She reminded me so much of Maximum. She was probably starving and dehydrated, but she stayed strong for the people in the room.

"What can it do to us?" The experiment asked with precaution.

"Nothing horrible. I promise." It's not horrible because it gets them out of this hell. I tried to reassure myself. The experiment looked at me for a little bit, and then nodded. She held out her arm and winced as the needle penetrated her arm. I injected some of the liquid and pulled out the needle. Immediately, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back in the crate. She was dead practically before I pulled the syringe out.

Getting the others to take the shot was going to have to be by force, because they saw what the liquid did to their friend. In the end, I needed a bunch of other scientists to hold down the experiments and let me inject the venom in them. When it was all over, I threw out the syringe and walked away.

Maybe the guilt for killing these kids today would be drowned out for the worry about Experiment 01256's chip mystery.