Chapter: 3

"Max. Max."

Fang's voice echoed inside her head, and somehow, it seemed like it was getting louder and louder until her ears were ringing and her head hurt. She pulled up her wings and wrapped them around her like a cocoon, hiding herself from the world. The gesture was absolutely clear.

Leave me alone!

Fang looked at her worriedly and called her again. In answer, she scooted further in the cage, into the shadows. He looked at Angel whose crate was situated right across from his.

Angel, can you pick anything? He asked in his head.

No. her answer was quick. She's blocking her thoughts. Fang, what's going on? She looks scared, and Max is NEVER scared.

Before answering her question, Fang looked at Max again. I don't know Angel. He said soothingly. But I swear everything's going to be fine.

Fang kept staring at Max, everyone did. They had called her, tried to talk with her, told her to tell them what had happened, but she never answered. She never moved, never talked. Just sat their lifelessly. But it was too much to take. Max, like all life had drowned out from her, when she was the one who helped them to live.

Fang shook his head at the thought. Surely Max wasn't lost. She could never be lost. After all, she's the Maximum Ride. And so he tried again.

"Max." He whispered so the others who were sleeping wouldn't wake up. "Max." She didn't even look at him. But he continued to speak. "Max, please just tell me what happened." He begged, for once he didn't care about his pride and begged. "You know everything's going to be fine. We'll be fine, just tell me what happened." He tried to touch her through the bars, but Max flinched away from his hand. He dragged his hand back, surprised by her reaction. "Max, you know I'll always have your back. Max?"

I'll always have your back.

Would he have her back if he knows the truth? Max wondered silently.

Would he?

And the days passed like that. They would come in the morning, take Max away, and would return her by the end of the day. She would come and sit on her usual position. She wouldn't look at anyone, talk to anyone. She would just sit there; her wings wrapped around her, thinking about what might happen next. Fang tried to talk with her for few days, but she never responded, so eventually he had stopped talking too. The others tried though, Nudge had tried to comfort her, Iggy and Gazzy had made jokes about many things and Angel had tried to read her mind.

And nothing had worked.

Just like that, Max was gone. She was right there all the time. Showing that she was still alive. Then again showing that she wasn't there, she wasn't alive.

A week passed.

They tried to make escape plans. But without Max, it was nothing. So eventually they gave up.

And right after that week, Marian Janssen came stomping in the room, stood in front of the crates, and smiled at all of them.

Fang stared at her blankly. What did she want now? Didn't she just screw enough of their lives? And besides, she didn't come here for the whole week. If she had come now, then it meant that she wanted to do another filthy experiment. But again, it was end of the day.

Then what did she want?

And Iggy asked that.

"Gah." He groaned. "I hate your smell. What do you want?"

The Director's smile had faded with the comment, but was bright again with the question. Max looked at her once. Afraid what she might say.

"Well, I've got a very big news for you." She said with so much sweetness in her voice that they all cringed. "I'm sure we all know of our sweetheart Max's present condition…"

"What condition?" Fang growled out the words as the anger built into him.

"Oh!" Marian looked at him with faker-than-ever shock. "She didn't tell you? Max?" She turned towards her and Max cringed. "Oh I did not expect that from you. Aren't they your family? Well whatever. I'll tell them." She looked at him again. "The thing is that, we were running a new experiment on Max, and at least once in her life she had done it right. We wanted to see if she is able to enhance a child in natural ways with another species, so we put her and Omega in a room and we told Omega to do it….."

"What?"

She didn't even look at Fang as she took a few steps forward so she was standing right in front of his crater and continued to talk. "…But she just wouldn't give up so we had to force her to do it, not that we wanted to, and now as a result…." She knelt down so she was in eye level with Fang. "…And as a result Fang, Maximum is now carrying Omega's child."

Yes, that was the truth.

The Maximum Ride was being raped and now was pregnant with omega's child.