Me: I don't own Maximum Ride, blah blah blah. I own my characters and plot. If you use them, then give me credit. I love all of my 38 reviewers who reviewed for the last chapter. You guys are the ones who keep this story running. Now, are you ready for the Maximum Ride?(Corny joke, I know...sorry)
Chapter 15: Pathless Woods
Shadow's POV
I groaned. I couldn't help it. My arm was burning and everything in my body felt stiff. Someone lifted my head and I felt cool water reach my lips. I sipped the cool drink until the person took it away. I started to protest.
"Nu-uh, you'll get sick if you drink too much," I recognized that voice. I jolted up, my eyes snapping open.
Hunter was sitting against a tree. One side of his face was scraped open and I saw various bruises on his arms and legs. What the hell happened to him?
He had a small smirk on his face, which made me narrow my eyes.
"Where are the others," I said, making my voice as low and menacing as possible. He blinked but seemed unaffected.
"I don't know." Wrong answer buddy.
"How can you not know? We had to get here in some way, shape, or form."
"I guess you really haven't noticed our surroundings yet," was Hunter's curt reply. I glared at him and looked around.
A bunch of trees were surrounding us and a stream was in the distance. The sky barely broke through the trees. I looked back at Hunter. Now I know why Hunter looks like that.
"We were thrown into the forest from the force of the explosion." I said, more of an observation than a question. Hunter nodded.
"I was standing next to you so we were thrown together," he said. I raised my eyebrow.
"You were standing near me?" What? I like my personal space...
"You were standing where we parked our van," he shrugged. I nodded and stood up stiffly, stretching. I caught sight of the burn on my wrist and shuddered. Hunter's eyes widened and he shot to his feet.
"What the hell..." he said. I held up my hand to shut him up.
"I'm fine, just a little...shaky," I almost snorted. Shaky is not the word for it.
"Oh," he limped over. I stared at him.
"What's wrong with your leg?" he shrugged.
"The usual."
"You have a limp?!"
"No, it's just that Itex decided to mess with our lives again. That is whats wrong with my leg," Hunter said with a grim face. There was a moment of silence.
"Well...you know, I was near Max...so should she be close by?" I asked. Hunter looked thoughtful and nodded.
"Lets go." We started to trudge through the forest. "So Shadow..." I tensed, but kept on walking. "What happened to your arm?"
"Accident," I said.
"It doesn't seem like one," he answered. I glared at him.
"Well, it was."
"Fine. Whatever you say." I gritted my teeth.
"You never answered my question," I muttered. He looked at me.
"What ques-oh." He started to concentrate on the ground.
"The one about what type of experiment you are," I said. He bit his lip.
"I know."
"Then tell me. You know what I am. What are you?" He looked at me, his golden eyes serious.
"Ninety-eight percent human," He paused and looked at me, a smile on his face. "And two percent bird. I'm just like you."
Just like you, just like you.
His voice rang in my head even when all went dark.
Max's POV
Oh crap, my freaking head...ow...
"Max," I heard someone rasp. I turned away. "Max wake up." Was that Shadow? Damn, she must've been drinking testosterone or something like that. Her voice was deep for a girl.
"Go away Shadow," I mumbled. "And stop taking pills like that. It's bad. Do you want to grow a-" "Shadow" started chuckling and my eyes shot open.
Fang's face was a few inches from mine, his dark eyes bright with humor. I could practically smell him. And he didn't smell like Axe, thank goodness.
"You mutter the stupidest yet funniest things sometimes Max," he said. I stuck my tongue out at him and propped myself up on my elbows. He backed away from my face quickly.
"What, do I smell?" I asked. He chuckled and stood up. I rolled my eyes. Boys...
"Do you know where the others are?" I piped up after a few moments of silence. Fang shook his head and winced. I immediately locked onto his right arm without meaning to.
His wrist was twisted a bit.
"I'm fine," Fang said curtly, noticing my horrified stare at his arm.
"No you're not," I countered.
"Yes I am." We glared at each other. Stupid, stubborn, bull headed...
"Listen F-Nick," I said in a reasoning tone. I remembered to call him by his fake name. "How about I'll see what I can do with your arm and you get to...I dunno."
"Get one question," he said. "I get to ask one question and one question only." My eyes narrowed.
"No."
"Fine," Fang said, moving his arm away from me. I stood up and put my hands on my hips.
"Nick, be reasonable," I said.
"I am. I'm reasoning with you. You tell me one thing, I'll let you treat my arm."
"I'm trying to help you."
"I don't need help." We started the glaring contest again. Then...
"Fa-Nick!" I refused to lose in the glaring contest, but Fang succumbed because it was his Leader that called him. I looked over Fang's shoulder.
Hunter was leaning against the tree, his face sweaty. In his arms was Shadow, limp, dirty, and unconscious. I immediately went on the defensive.
"Put. Her. Down." I snarled. He blinked but didn't falter.
"It's okay, I've got her," he said. I glared at him.
"I'm surprised you haven't crapped your pants yet with the glare she's giving you," Fang said from behind me. Hunter shot him a ha-ha-very-funny look.
"Really Max," Hunter assured me. "I got her." I continued to glare at him, but relaxed a bit.
"We have to find the others," Fang reminded us. I blinked. Angel...Nudge...Cass...Chris...Ella.
"Yeah, lets go," I said, already walking ahead of them. They followed, to my surprise. I thought they'd be all 'No, we're the Fallen, we pawn ALL!' or something like that. What, I can't be a bit cynical sometimes?
"Um...Nick, your wrist is twisted," Hunter said.
"I know that," Fang said, sounding a bit irritated.
"Don't you want it fixed?" Hunter asked. Fang shrugged and winced.
"Max, do you mind, my arms are full at the moment," Hunter asked.
"I already offered. But F-Nick over here refused," I said, stumbling over his name again.
"Fnick?" Hunter said questionably.
"Hey, you called him that before," I argued.
"Yeah, but-"
"Max," Fang said. I looked over at him. "Call me Fang." I nodded.
"RUN DAMMIT!" Shadow yelled. I whirled around and saw Hunter trying to keep his grip on her as she thrashed in his arms.
Her eyes were still closed though.
"NO, get out of here Iggy! Take the others and run, we'll hold them off!" she hollered. I saw Hunter and Fang exchange a look.
"Put her down," I ordered. Slowly, Hunter lowered her to the ground into a comfortable position. She continued to thrash around.
"U AND A NOW! GO!" She bellowed. Hunter started to shake her.
"It's okay," he said, calmly. "It's just a dream, wake up."
"Oh no, ANGEL!" Shadow wailed, making me blink. I never ever heard her like that. I joined in with the process off shaking her.
"Shadow, Angel should be-" I started.
"Max, you should get the others," Hunter said. I looked at him and his eyes were intent on Shadow. "Don't worry, we'll be fine, go." I gave them one last look and straightened up.
"Fang, come with me," I said, as I started to walk away.
"GET MAX AND FANG!" she screeched, making me freeze in place. I turned slowly around to look at her.
"No...no...she can't be dead...no, it's his fault. ALL HIS!...wait...MOVE!" she yelled. That's when she sat straight up, and screamed, clutching her stomach. The scream was strangled as if she had been hit in the neck with something.
"Ow..." she whispered. Hunter put his arm around her and I blinked. I think he was getting a little too close to her.
"Shadow?" he said softly. She looked at him, her eyes clouded. In the next second, she was on her feet.
"Did you get shot?" she asked. I exchanged a confused look with Fang.
"What?!" Hunter said, confused, stnding up also.
"I said...wait...we're not at the house anymore, are we?" she said.
"What house?" he asked slowly. She blinked a few times. I stared at her. She looked different...
"Shadow," I said going over.
"Yeah Max," She said.
"Are you-"
"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" I heard someone roar. Immediately, Shadow and I went into a fighter's stance. Chris, Ella, and Cass ran in. Chris jumped on Hunter's back and started yanking his hair. Cass and Ella tackled Fang and they all tumbled onto the ground.
"I told you before and I'll tell you now," Shadow said. "They need a leash." I chuckled and looked at her. She was back to her normal self.
"SAVE THE LEADER!" Another person yelled.
"Oh great," I muttered. As soon as those words left my lips, Iggy was at Fang's side, trying to get Ella and Cass away from him. Lies had tackled Chris, knocking Hunter and Chris to the ground.
"WHAT THE-" As soon as Shadow said that, Ghost had knocked her to the ground. I jumped back when he went for me.
"MAX!" I heard a familiar little girl voice call. I looked in that direction.
Ari was carrying my baby, who had a broken leg.
"ANGEL!" I screamed, thus making everyone freeze. I ran over and carefully took Angel from Ari, carefully not jostling her leg around.
"MAX? SHADOW? ANGEL?" Nudge called from somewhere in the forest.
"We're over here," Shadow called, getting up from the ground and kicking Ghost for good measure. He snarled at her and she growled.
"Shadow," Angel said. She had a worried look on her face. Shadow looked at Angel.
"What is it Ang?" she said. Nudge and the Gasman broke into the clearing, shooting each other angry looks.
"That really happened," Angel said. "I've had the exact same dreams Shadow. That really happened." Shadow's eyes widened a bit, translating into her being dumbfounded.
"Max," she said turning to me. Her big blue eyes were innocent and scared looking. "I think we're getting our memories back." Everyone in the clearing froze.
"Wait," Hunter said. "You guys don't remember anything from your past?" I turned to him. "We don't either." Shadow and I exchanged a look.
"You guys don't remember anything...like us," I said slowly. I saw Shadow wince from the corner of me eye.
"Just like you guys," Hunter said. From over his shoulder, Chris mouthed the word 'Jeb'. That was enough to snap me out of our temporary truce.
"Well...that's another story for another time," I said quickly. Already, Shadow was behind Chris and Cass, while Nudge was behind Ella. "See ya later!"
That's when we ran.
"WAIT!" I heard someone call. Too late for that. I threw Angel into the air, where she started flying. Shadow grabbed Chris and they were in the air in less than a second. I grabbed Cass by her waist and took off into the air. I saw Nudge hanging strong with Ella in the air.
"My goodness, now I know who's been stealing cookies from the cookie jar," Nudge grunted.
"C'mon Nudge, we all know that it's Max who does that," Chris said. I glared at her while the others laughed.
"Shadow. Drop her," I said.
"Yes ma'am," Shadow said, saluting me with one hand.
"Don't you dare," Chris growled. Shadow chuckled but didn't loosen her grip on Chris.
"Speaking of cookies...I'm hungry. Ma-ax, can we go to McDonalds or something. Oh wait, scratch that. McDonalds is...ugh. How about Wendys? We haven't been there for so long and the baked potatoes there taste so good! My stomach rumbles-"
"NUDGE!" I called.
She quieted and muttered a sheepish "Sorry."
"I think we should go back home for now, alright people," I said. I got various answers of "yes" and we surged west, towards our house.
I flew next to Shadow. Her eyes were oddly concentrated onto what was ahead of us.
"What was your dream about?" I asked.
"Tell you later," she muttered. "Don't want the others to worry."
I opened my mouth to object but then Ella and Nudge started arguing about who was going to watch what when they get home. I sighed and surged over to break up their fight.
"Home sweet home!" Chris yelled. I sighed and landed, putting down Cass softly and catching Angel as she landed. We tucked our wings in and Shadow dug through her pocket, getting the key out and opening the door.
We walked in and saw Jeb sitting at the kitchen table staring at us grimly.
"We need to talk," he said.
"I couldn't agree more," I said evenly.
Me: And what will happen? Review and find out!