Welcome. To|My Life.

[le Dawnz]

Okay, I already flipped out on you about this in a PM. So, check.
Anyway, thanks! -waves hand around mysteriously- All will be revealed in time. Lmao! So true! Although she did get some major migraines the first time it started happened in The Angel Experiment. I totally love Max's mom! She's so cool about everything, but so much like a mom in how she worries and stuff. And Jeb? I don't even know about Jeb. Dude needs to take a chill pill and stay outta trouble! xD You'll see.
I will! I was staring at my document with it all there thinking about the next chapter, and was like, dude! I'm calling this one "Max p.i." as in Magnum p.i. and that Monk p.i. commercial. xD

[le Dawnz]

Title: Welcome To My Life
FanFic: Maximum Ride
Setting: Smack dab in the middle. But written after having read #3.
Chapter: 9- Max p.i.
Other: Yet another boring placeholder in my opinion. But that’s just because I know what comes next. And you don’t. Haha! But don’t worry, you’ll only have to suffer through one or two more chapters before the exciting ‘Baby Geniuses’ music pops up and the suspenseful climax is ready to explode in your face and laugh at you. xD At the moment, I’m listening to Decode by Paramore, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s giving me inspiration for a completely different chapter, so maybe it’ll help me get this one done so I can do that one. xD Hoping. Anyway, not the best, but it's good enough for now.


The warm water sloshed around my face gently, only making it that much harder to concentrate. I let my shoulders relax as I slid farther down into the bathtub, the soapy bubbles slipping around my eyes. After talking it over with the Flock, we’d decided to take my mom up on her offer and pay them a visit. As worried as I was about Mom and Ella’s safety, I admit, it felt good to finally be clean again.

After shoving each of the kids into the shower one by one, I’d filled the tub with hot water and bubbles and commenced relaxing. However, in addition to washing up, I’d meant to think about the newest problem in my highly dramatic, overly problematic life: Jeb.

Just as Mom had said over the phone that night, he wasn’t here. He hadn’t been here in a long time. There was no trace of him anywhere near the house. Mongolia and Total, however, were going completely bonkers. Every little noise from outside set Mongolia off, and Total had become strangely grumpy, growling at anyone if they accidently snuck up on him or got in his way. He would then apologize and claim that something was making him feel uneasy.

So, what had happened to Jeb? Had he simply run? As much as I hated the guy, it wasn’t like him to just run and leave a mess behind. Not anymore anyway. He’d done it once, but – though I hate to admit it – he’d been fairly reliable lately. Ever since Ari had died, he’d been trying his best to help. He hadn’t gone back to the School; there were no more stupid tests. He made riddles out of things, but he didn’t keep things from us anymore. I’d been angry with him for so long that I hadn’t stopped to think about any of that once he’d officially become a “good guy.” It seemed so much easier to just stay angry, rather than deal with all of it. And now thinking about it, I can’t believe how much of a wimp I really am.

Black eyes and bloody knuckles. Those I can deal with. Finding food, sleeping in caves. Pssh. No problem. But all this dealing-with-your-emotions crap. It’s just too hard. But I guess that’s me. Running away from things that are too hard to deal with.

But not anymore. I’d finally learned to deal with my pain. I’d been able to hold myself together and give Fang a funeral without balling my eyes out like last time. I’m fighting. I’m keeping the Flock together, and I just admitted that maybe Jeb isn’t as bad a guy as I thought. I’m learning. And isn’t that what life’s all about?

Jeez. I sound like a fortune cookie.

I sighed, which was stupid because then a bunch of bubbles flew up my nose. “GAH!” I gasped and sat up quickly. My hand curled around the edge of the bath tub as I started coughing violently.

“Max?!” Iggy called anxiously from the other side of the door. “Are you okay?”

I gagged again and took a deep breath. Swallowing a couple of times, I managed to croak out a reply. “I’m fine, Ig.” – cough – “Just swallowed… some bubbles.” I heard him hesitate at the door being deciding I wasn’t in any danger and walking away. I waited until I could hear his light footsteps in the kitchen before slumping back into the tub.

Any other time, Iggy might have laughed at me for accidently choking on some bubble bath. But lately, Iggy has been extremely overprotective of all of us. He’s acting more like himself now, but he’s changed.

I guess I can’t really expect that Fang’s death wouldn’t change all of us at least a little bit. But it’s weird to see Iggy get so worked up about every little sign of danger. It reminds me that he really does take life more seriously than he lets on, and that he does really care for us all more than we know. He’s just worried about losing another member of his family. It can’t be easy, especially for him, when he’s lost so much already.

He lost his first family as an infant. He lost his chance at a normal life. He lost his sight. He lost his parents for a second time when they tried to sell him out. And now he’s lost his brother. He just doesn’t want to lose anything else. Especially not one of us.

I knew just how he felt. I smiled and I made a mental note to give him a hug later.

Now I realized that the water was starting to get cold. I looked down at my fingers and saw that they were getting all prune-y. Yuck. So I pulled the plug in the drain and grabbed a towel. I needed to get back to the problem anyway.

I added the pieces up. Jeb hadn’t been seen or heard from since the day I’d told him off. He couldn’t communicate with me directly through the voice, but was sending me these weird, flashy dreams. They were all similar, though never exactly the same, and they got blurrier and more frantic every night. I think that meant that time was running out. They were pictures of trees, of the School, and of laboratories and sterile rooms that I thought were part of the School. Some of the trees looked like part of the forest around my mom’s house, and the others looked like the trees around the School.

So… he was taken from here. By the scientists at the School. Why? Why not. Mad scientists don’t need motives. But still, they were probably angry with him for abandoning his position and helping us. They’re doing something to block his communication, and time is running out. He must be trapped at the School. So we’ll just have to bust him out. Thus I began to plan our rescue.

The more I analyzed the situation, the more enraged I felt. I yanked a brush through my hair so hard I almost yelped out in pain. The School had taken so much from me. They’d taken my mom away from me and forced me to grow up in a dog crate. They’d stuck needles in me and made me run miles until I couldn’t run anymore. They’d hurt me and my family. And when we’d finally gotten away, they came after us. They’d played us, and they destroyed every part of our lives they got their filthy hands on. They’d taken away Fang, and now they’d taken Jeb. They’d hurt us in so many ways. But they hadn’t taken everything. And they weren’t going to hurt us anymore. Not if I could help it. We were going to do more than rescue Jeb, we were going to get back at them.

We were going to put an end to the School and its criminal reign over our lives.

[Roxie !]

Duuude, that was NOT boring! This was a great chapter! I especially like the part where Max was thinking about how she can deal with all of the physical stuff, but the emotional stuff she has trouble with. That was really in-character.

[le Dawnz]

^^ -sheepish smile- Thanks!

[le Dawnz]

Title: Welcome To My Life
FanFic: Maximum Ride
Setting: Smack dab in the middle. But written after having read #3. You might see references to #4 though.
Chapter: 10- Take Me Away
Other: I love suspense. Especially using it against other people. Especially Roxie. ^^ Muhaha! Ha! I so wish you could all see the summary I wrote to remind myself what’s going on about the next few chapters. I swear I was not on crack when I wrote it! Weird thing is I wrote it while my History teacher was giving (another) lecture. xD But if you read it, it would give everything away. Sorry! Anyway, title was originally Hallelujah, which can come from many places: Paramore(Hallelujah), Fall Out Boy(Hum Hallelujah), Shrek(Hallelujah), or just randomly made up. It’s actually taken from the Shrek one because I was listening to it and thought hey! Perfect name right there! But then I decided it would be a better title for the NEXT chapter, xD. But I ws listening to Take Me Away by Avril Lavigne in the car the other day and thought it sounded a lot like Max’s situation, and since there won’t be to many more uber depressed chapters, I’ll use it for this one! Anywhocheezits, I hope you enjoy! Warning: It may be kinda long.
Edit: D*mn. I might need to split this chapter. Stupid ramblings. But even if I do, I’ll probably post them at the same time so it doesn’t really matter I guess.
Edit v2: Yup. I’m splitting it. But don’t worry, I’m posting one right after the other. But seriously, I SOO wanted to put in parenthesis at the bottom of this chapter (DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNN!) xD Hey! Funny tidbit: I was listening to “Me” by Gaston from Beauty and the Beast while writing the last half of this chapter. lol Just thought it was kinda funny since that is such a ridiculous song and this chapter is so serious.


“Right. So does everyone understand?” I looked around at the determined faces of my Flock sitting around the table in the Martinez’s kitchen. They all nodded, their eyes looking hard and fearless. I wish I was as confident as they looked. I’d almost considered leaving them out of it all together – why risk the only important people left in my life? If I didn’t make it, I knew now that they could go on without – but they wouldn’t hear of it. So here we sat around a map of Death Valley and a rough sketch of the School’s blueprints.

We’d already gone over the plan several times in the past three days. We were constantly training. Practicing battle skills, U & A’s, computer jamming, rewiring…; Iggy and the Gasman were building and testing bombs of all strengths and sizes. We were looking over maps, rehearsing recognizance and applying rendezvous points. We were going to be ready, and we were taking no prisoners.

There was no way of hiding what we were doing from Mom and Ella, despite my protests. The first night I brought this to them, Nudge had asked, “Max? Is Dr. Martinez a part of – ”

“No.” I’d interrupted, not giving her the chance to finish. I thought I’d left no room for argument, but apparently I hadn’t been clear enough.

Iggy began, “Max, your mom could really – ”

“No.”

“Max – ”

“No! I will not have Mom and Ella mixed up in this! I will not let those evil bastards take them away from me! Not now. Not ever.”

Silence followed, and I suddenly felt very angry and very tired.

“But – ” Gazzy interjected.

“No!”

“Max!” Iggy exclaimed. I glared at him uselessly, but let him go on. “I know where you’re coming from. Believe me, the last thing any of us want to do is put Dr. Martinez and Ella in danger. They might be biologically related only to you, but they’re part of our family too. Dr. Martinez is more of a mom to us than anyone else has ever been, except you. But listen! She was a part of the experiment. She knows all about it. She’s smart, and she’s a vet. She could really help us.” I was glaring at the table now, tracing the tiny lines in the old glossed wood as I thought about what he said.

They waited. They waited for a minute. Then five. Then ten. Finally, I sighed and shoved my chair back from the table, making it squeal against the floor. “Fine.” I said, and then I left the room.

I still didn’t like it, but Iggy was right. I had known right away he was right, but I didn’t want any reason to involve them. So Mom and Ella would be our “home base.” Turns out, she knew where to find some old transistors and radios. We would all be wired back to them, where they would handle anything technical we trusted they could. Nudge had fixed the computer to make it easier for them. They would be documenting our position and talking to us through the mike to help us along.

The night before D-Day, I took a long, hot shower, hoping it would help relax the tension in my shoulders and soothe the aches and pains developing from our consistent training. I fell asleep under the tap as the steamy water poured over me. Unlike the frantic bits and pieces Jeb was sending before, the images that came this time were slow, blurry almost beyond recognition, and pained as one by one they faded in and out of sight. When they finally stopped, I didn’t wake. I was lost in a black abyss where nothing could touch me and I could touch nothing. And then, with a sudden burst of energy, three words appeared before me, like they had on that kid’s computer screen for the first time in the subway tunnel ages and ages ago.

GOODBYE MAXIMUM RIDE

Someone’s fist pounding on the door startled me awake. I gasped, sitting upright so fast my head started spinning. “Max?” my mom’s voice filtered through the door. “Are you still in there?” I wiped the water from my face and stood up slowly.

“Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute.” I called back. The water was cold now. I must have been asleep for a while. Wiping my face again, I realized that I had broken out into a sweat while I was dreaming.

I finished up in the bathroom and slipped into a faded t-shirt and pair of pajama pants I’d borrowed from Ella. They were a little short, but they were just for sleeping in so it didn’t matter. I dragged a brush through my hair and climbed into my sleeping bag in Ella’s room, which Ella, Angel, Nudge and I shared while the boys inhabited the guest bedroom. Mom had offered us her room, but we’d insisted that we were fine sleeping on the floor. It wasn’t as if we weren’t used to it. Better than trees anyway.

When the lights went out and I could hear the gentle snoring of everyone in the house, I thought about Jeb’s final message. Goodbye Maximum Ride. Did that mean he was dying? Or already dead? Maybe he was giving up on hoping we were coming for him.

I’d only just begun to respect him again, to get used to his being around. I didn’t trust him, but that was unlikely to happen no matter how much time we spent together. Whatever the meaning of his goodbye, I knew we were running out of time. This invasion would not come a minute too soon. Now the only thing I had to worry about was being too late.

[le Dawnz]

Title: Welcome To My Life
FanFic: Maximum Ride
Setting: Smack dab in the middle, but written after having read #3. You might see references to #4 though.
Chapter: 11- Supermassive Black Hole
Other: Continued from the last chapter. FINALLY the Baby Geniuses music. (You probably won’t get that unless you’re me.) Gosh I love this song! (Now I’m talking about ‘Me’ from Beauty & the Beast.) All the above applies to this chapter since it was originally gonna be one chapter but got too long so I split it in two. ^_^ So excited for this chapter. So, hope you enjoy (I know I will) and let me know what you think.
Edit Again: Ah! I found the perfect title! Listen to Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, it’s awesome. It plays in the background of the baseball scene in the Twilight movie, and it sounds really cool. I didn’t really pay attention to the lyrics like I usually do, I just thought the music sounded great for what they’re about to do. By the way, the commentary on the Twilight DVD is hilariously random. xD
Last Edit: Ha! I meant to type Okay but I accidently typed Play because my fingers were in the right spot. xD Anyway, okay, this chapter is long and poorly written (in my opinion) because I was in a rush and I’m not that good at the whole action scene thing. But it might sound better if you’re listening to Supermassive Black Hole. But maybe that’s just me. Anyway, so excited it’s finally done because this is sort of the ‘climax’ of the story. I won’t go into detail, but just know that Dr. Martinez and Ella rule, and there are a few surprises including a new (temporary) character! When I thought him up I thought he was just the cutest thing and I felt so bad for him! Opps. I’m giving too much away. xD Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think because your guys opinions mean everything.



Pshhhc! ‘Max…?’ I held a finger to my ear and listened. ‘Everything clear? Over.’ I held down a button and whispered, “Loud and,” ‘You guys are heading up the west side.’ There was another buzzing in my ear and I heard a second voice. ‘20 yards, then you’re grounded. Over.’ I nodded, even though Mom and Ella wouldn’t be able to see it. We flew 20 yards more, just as instructed, and then descended into the trees. If we kept flying, the School would see us coming.

I landed in a tree and crouched down, scanning the area for any sign of danger. I spotted Iggy and the Gasman pinning their backs against a wide sequoia, waiting for my signal. Nudge was kneeling behind an overgrown shrub and Angel in the tree behind me with Total (who had openly refused to let us go without him). She’d opted to leave Celeste behind with Ella.

I signaled to them, flicking two fingers forward. Gazzy tapped the back of Iggy’s hand, and they darted forward, staying hidden as much as they could. Nudge followed, then Angel. I jumped out of the tree and paused. Total stopped next to me. “Ready?” he asked. I nodded. Running to catch up, we easily made it to the large clearing we’d identified on a map a good mile away from the School. If Ella and my mom made up our base of operations, this was our safety zone. We had researched enough to know that this secluded area was almost 87% safe.

There was little reception, so we wouldn’t be able to hear much more than crackling over our intercoms until we got closer to the School. But that also meant they wouldn’t be able to track us here. It was hard to reach except for the small opening we had come through. We would have no problem escaping, however, if they managed to find us.

I located the Flock at the east edge of the trees, Iggy and the Gasman bent over their backpacks unloading a bunch of gear. “Will it be ready by the time we’re out?” I asked, my voice so low that anyone without super human hearing wouldn’t be able to hear me. They both nodded, looking up at me solemnly. It killed me sometimes, knowing how brave and somber these kids (emphasis on kids) had to be sometimes. But it also made me proud.

“Alrighty then. We all know the plan. In and out, as fast as possible. If we get separated, get out immediately – no excuses, no detours – and meet back here. Contact Mom and Ella as soon as you’re out so they’ll let the rest of us know. Okay?” They all nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”

Nudge, Angel, and I left Iggy, Gazzy, and Total to the jumbled mess of wires in the clearing and climbed the rocky slope toward our destination. We went silently. Pshhhc! ‘Watch out guys. Something is circling the area. Over.’ I glanced at Angel and Nudge, both nodding to show they heard.

All three of us leapt up a tree, quietly climbing branch after branch until we were well hidden by the leaves. We tried to stay as still as possible so we wouldn’t make noise. We were given the ‘all clear’ about three minutes later.

We continued until we reached the thick line of trees just outside the School’s 10-foot-tall mesh fence. The top was lined with barbed wire, and we could see the box near the only door in the side of the brick building that was powering a strong electric current through the fence. We avoided the yard, creeping around the edge of the forest until we found the metal door we would go through.

“Shut it down.” I murmured. A few seconds later, Mom replied, ‘Good to go.’ Nudge had managed to gain access to the School’s security system undetected and rigged a blow out. Mom and Ella had just disabled about five different security cams, including the one hovering over the door we were about to break into, just by pressing a button.

You can’t damage just the one camera, or it’ll lead them right to you. Just common sense.

I signaled with the classic ‘that-a-way’ gesture and we advanced toward the building we had been trying to escape from all our lives.

Angel and I flattened ourselves against the wall and scanned the surrounding area as Nudge ran her fingers over the number pad. She closed her eyes, and three seconds later she typed in a series of seven numbers. The pad beeped, and then the door clicked and swung open. I gave Nudge a thumbs-up and we darted into the building, quietly closing the door behind us.

We walked quickly down the hall, trying to keep our footsteps as quiet as possible. Most wouldn’t hear us coming, but who knows what kind of mutations that had around here now. We avoided windows. We didn’t need to know what was in the rooms. We knew where we were going, and we couldn’t be caught before we got there or else we would all be doomed.

We reached the ever-familiar door we were searching for. I was grateful now for the tour Ari had provided the last time I was here. I held my fingers to my lips and peeked through the small chicken-wire glass window. It was clear. I motioned for Nudge to do her thing, and in seconds we were in our old “bedroom.” Crates and crates of all sorts of mutated creatures faced us.

We started unlocking their cages one by one. We only left two closed: one containing a very violently looking child with poison-ridden fangs and slits for eyes, and the other a carnivorous fawn who was looking longingly at my arm as if it would like to take a bite out of it. I had no idea what they were thinking when they cooked that one up.

I came to the last cage. A very tiny child was curled in the corner staring at me with huge, widened eyes. His skin had patches of scales all over, and I swore I saw a fin-like tail tucked under him. His fingers and toes were webbed together, and there were little slits in the side of his neck. Gills.

He looked completely dried out, and his face was so thin he could have easily been the poster boy for anorexia. Except he didn’t do this to himself. He was wheezing as he breathed in and out. I could tell that the poor thing wouldn’t live much longer if he didn’t get some water.

I unlocked the cage and held my hand to him. “Don’t worry.” I cooed. “We’re here to help you, not hurt you. Come on and we’ll get you some water.” He recoiled away from my hand, sinking further into the corner of his crate (if that was even possible). His mouth opened and a weird chirping sound came out. Like a dolphin.

“He keeps thinking ‘Water. Water. Yes. Water. People. Scary. No coats. No coats. Safe?’” Angel said, coming to stand beside me.

“Yes, we’ll get you some water for you. It’s okay. It’s safe to come out.” I said, glad he could understand at least part of what I was saying. He chirped again and started crawling toward us. I helped him down and Angel took his hand and said, “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.” A creaking sound came from his throat.

I looked back up into the crate the little boy had just left and saw something I hadn’t noticed before. There was another kid in there, just like the other. But this one had his eyes closed, and his wheezing as so ragged that I was surprised I hadn’t heard it. This one wouldn’t survive. He was almost dead already. I watched for another minute as his breathing got weaker and weaker until it finally stopped altogether.

I looked away, feeling my heart twist up in my chest. Poor creature. It never had a chance. But after today, the School wouldn’t get the chance to hurt anymore kids. We wouldn’t let them.

“Come on.” I said, my voice hard. Nudge and Angel obeyed, Angel leading the little boy by his hand. He kept stumbled, probably not used to walking around, so I scooped him up and carried him with us. The other escapees had finally realized that they were free and came running out after us.

“No! That way! The door is unlocked. Stay hidden!” The ones who could understand followed my direction, leading the others along with them.

‘Max! Someone’s coming at you from the right!’ I stopped just as a young man in a lab coat turned the corner. He looked up at us in surprise, then saw the scaly child in my arms. He opened his mouth to yell for help when a dazed looked suddenly came over his face.

“You never saw us.” Angel said, her voice sounding strangely convincing.

“I never saw you.” the scientist repeated.

“We were never here. You were just about to go home for the night. But first you were going to go have some coffee in the break room.”

“Coffee.”

Angel smiled and nodded at me. I stared at her for a second, feeling a little scared of the six-year-old. But I shook it off and we walked past the man, still standing there in a daze.

We found the control panel without any problems. As expected, the guys in charge of the control panel must have been called to help with the camera problem we so kindly graced them with.

“Alright, Nudge. What’ve we got?”

She was already at the computer. All she had to do was touch the screen, then her fingers started flying.

‘You have about 5 minutes, Max. We set you up with a distraction.’

“What?” I whispered into the mike, shifting scale-boy in my arms.

‘You’ll see.’

I smiled, realizing where I must have gotten my improvisation skills. Should have thought of it earlier. Jeb was always more of the ‘gotta-have-a-plan’ type.

“We’re in!” Nudge squealed excitedly. “That was kind of hard. I usually only have to see – “

“Good job, Nudge.” I cut her off. I couldn’t begin to understand her when she got into the more descriptive details of her computer hacking habits. “Can you hack into the security cameras from here?”

“Sure, that’s easy!” She typed in a bunch of nonsense and soon the screen was flickering between a bunch of shots of the halls and various rooms. It didn’t take long to find the one I was looking for. I was secretly glad that it wasn’t one of the few we had cut out because trying to hook it up again on only this computer wouldn’t have been as easy. Especially since the source of the blow out was coming from hundreds of miles away.

“Which one is that?” I asked. Nudge typed more and then replied, “Monitor 7.”

“You got that Ella?”

‘Roger.’

The screen started to flicker, and then it was out; buzzing like the static that shows up when you flip to a channel on TV that you don’t have.

We flipped through the rest of the views and found only four still working. Good. “Okay guys. Let’s get what we came for and get out.” I set the little boy down and pulled a baggy from my pocket. Inside the baggy were half a dozen tiny metal cylinders. They were bombs. Really small but fully loaded and totally deadly bombs. I had to admire Iggy and the Gasman’s talents.

We placed them all over the room, hiding them in all the nooks and crannies (what’s a cranny anyway?) we could find. We had two left when we left. We snuck down the hallways, Mom and Ella telling us where everyone was so we could avoid another run in. We reached the main lab where they kept all the plans and components for their insanely cruel experiments. After dumping a glass of water over our dehydrated friend, we left the last two “presents” there.

Now we only had one more stop to make. Figures this place would have isolation cells. They were hidden behind a metal bolted door. Inside there were six cells. They all had super strong doors with the same kind of chicken-wire mesh windows as the door that lead to the room full of dog crates. This was where they kept the ‘out-of-control’ experiments gone wrong.

And Jeb.

He was in the second cell. There was an uncomfortable-looking bed the folded down on its side from the wall. There were no pillows or blankets. The floor was stone and the room was kept at a below freezing temperature. Jeb was on the floor curled in a ball. His eyes were closed and every time he breathed it froze into a cloud in front of his face.

“Jeb!” I stage-whispered. He didn’t wake up. We couldn’t find a keypad or anything that looked like it would open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. We needed Iggy, but he was back in the clearing getting ready for his part in today’s events. I would just have to try to pick the lock myself.

“Hallelujah!” I muttered under my breath when I heard the lock click three minutes later. I grabbed the handle and pulled as hard as I could. I instantly regretted it because I hurt a crack and my shoulder popped out of my socket. I gasped, recoiling my hand and grabbing my shoulder with the other.

“Max!” Nudge and Angel exclaimed. The little boy whimpered and I heard Mom say, ‘What? What’s going on?’

“I’m fine!” I whispered through clenched teeth. I motioned for them to back up, then, still holding my army pinned to my side, I roundhouse kicked the door’s handle. It went flying down the short dead-end hallway. The door creaked open and we were inside in the next second.

“Jeb, wake up!” Nudge said, shaking him.

“Max, how are we going to get him out if you’re hurt?” Angel asked. I thought for a second.

“Don’t worry. I can do it. Nudge can you help? Angel, you take this guy. Okay. Help me get him up on his feet. Good. Okay. Okay. I got him. Nudge you’re gonna have to hold his legs up. Okay, you got him?” Nudge nodded, grabbing hold of Jeb’s legs with both arms. He was hung over my good shoulder, my arm around his waist. “Let’s get out of here.”

It was a slow and painful process, trying to find out way out with Jeb weighing us down. All of a sudden, the lights went out. After about 3 Mississippi seconds they came back on with a whirring sound.

Psscht! ‘Surprise.’ Mom said. And then we heard loud, panicked voices shouting from behind the doors around us. This must have been the distraction she had been talking about.

We were out the door and into the trees in a flash.

After about half-a-mile Jeb stopped shivering and slept more soundly. We still couldn’t wake him though. The little kid was staring all around in amazement. It occurred to me that he probably hadn’t ever seen the outside. We finally reached the clearing, having to go around to avoid falling down the slope with Jeb in tow.

“Iggy, Gazzy, are you ready?” I asked as Nudge and I set Jeb down on the ground.

“All set, Max.”

“Just one last wire. There.”

They looked up at me expectantly. I glanced around at the Flock, all of them looking at me now. Even our new friend was staring at me from where he was hiding behind my leg. It was finally time to put an end to the School. The moment we had waited for for as long as we could remember. “So, who wants the pleasure?” I asked. Nobody spoke up. “Okay. Where’s the – ”

“I’ll do it.” Iggy said, holding up a small square remote with a button in the center that served as the detonator.

“Alright. Counting down: Three…” The others joined in “Two… one…” Iggy pressed the button. And then everything was silent. Until…

‘Max, someone is headed right for you guys!’

We heard a crashing sound from the trees and something dark stumbled into the clearing, showering dirt from the rocky slope. We froze as the figure coughed and looked up, his hand holding tightly to his heavily bandaged side. His feet were bare, his black pants were tinged brown with dirt, and he didn’t have a shirt. But most of his upper body was covered in a bandage wrap that was stained with red. When he looked up and brushed the black hair from his face, his dark eyes met mine.

Just then there was a loud KABOOM from behind us. We all ducked our heads as the waves of energy came surging into the clearing. When the air cleared we all looked back up at in intruder. I think my heart must have stopped. Still unbelieving I whispered in an exhale,

“Fang…”

[/size]

[le Dawnz]

Bump! Author's Note: At the end of this chapter I really reeeally wanted to put "DUN DUN DUN!!!" xD

[Roxie !]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!??!?!
IS?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!

...That's all I have to say. -faints-
I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S ALIVE!!!!! How?!??!

[le Dawnz]

You didn't think I could kill him just like that did you?!?!? xDD ^.^

[le Dawnz]

Okay, I know, I'm sorry! I leave y'all with OMG FANG'S ALIVE and then forget to update. But I'm working on it now! Hopefully it'll be done within the next few days.

[le Dawnz]

Title: Welcome To My Life
FanFic: Maximum Ride
Setting: Smack dab in the middle, but written after having read #3. You might see references to #4 though.
Chapter: 12- Part 1: Sound the Bugle
Other: First off, this chapter’s gonna be way too damn long, so I’m splitting it up. So it’s still the same chapter, but it’ll posted in parts. This is part one. Okay, the original inspiration for this chapter came from Hallelujah from the movie Shrek. (Plus, you know, HALLELUJAH HE’S ALIVE!!!! OMG!!!!) Not to mention other songs that include Hallelujah in the title (including but probably not limited to Hallelujah by Paramore and Hum Hallelujah by Fall Out Boy… both amazingly awesome bands). But then, omg, I was listening to Sound the Bugle by Bryan Adams from the Spirit Soundtrack (God that movie makes me cry every time!) and it started giving me MORE ideas on how to approach this. And I was like -gasp- so perfect! But then I was stuck. Title = Hallelujah? Or Sound the Bugle? Well, I just decided (just now, seriously) it’s gonna be Sound the Bugle, because it totally applies, and I can use Hallelujah for the next chapter because that’s when you’ll see the flock’s reactions and of course they’re ecstatic. (OMG FANG’S ALIVE!!!) xD So yeah. And oh, I listened to Gravity by Sara Barellies while writing this as well. It’s an awesome song, look it up! It’ll probably end up inspiring later chapters. Expect some serious tension in later chapters. ^^ I also was listing to What if I Told You by Jason Walker, which is an awesome song, totally perfect if we wanted to make some angsty plots. Oh! And Footprints in the Sand by Leona Lewis! Such an amazing song. And of course, What I Wouldn’t Give. Anywho, this is a look back on what Fang went through when he ‘died’. Enjoy! =)



He was floating, a cool abysmal darkness enveloping him like a blanket. He felt so heavy; every inch of his body was paralyzed by the weight that dragged him down. Or maybe it was pushing him up. He couldn’t tell. Even his eyelids were too heavy to open, though he tried to fight the heaviness away.

There was a dull pain throbbing in his chest and abdomen. It had been sharper before, but was now faded, as if it were healing faster than was normal, even for him. Am I dead? he wondered. He hoped not. If this was death, then he would be in for a long, boring eternity. But if he was dead, why was he still in pain? Wasn’t pain suppose to go away when you died? The he realized he wasn’t dead.

He was dying.

Then he remembered. He was suddenly back in the helicopter. Two Flyboys were on his arms as he thrashed around trying to kick and pull and gauge his way free from their iron grip. He hesitated suddenly, his breathing uneven and a sheen of sweat coating his face. This tactic worked better than he could have hoped. Confused by his sudden surrender, the Flyboys loosened their hold. Swinging his legs out from under him, Fang slammed both feet against the back of one of the robots’ neck. He crumpled instantly. Using his free arm, he grabbed the incapacitated Flyboy as he fell and swung him hard into the other, an angry cry cause by exertion escaping his throat, momentarily strengthening him. Both dogs went down. That’s when he heard it. “Fang!” Max?

BANG!












He’d expected pain. The flyboy had shot him hadn’t he? It didn’t seem very plausible that a robot programmed to kill would miss at such close range. And yet he felt no pain. Fang’s body jerked as the goon shot his gun a second time. He could feel himself falling because the air whistled past his ear as he did. Everything was moving so slowly. He didn’t hear the Whitecoat’s angry shout. At last, the gripping pain he’d been waiting for crawled sluggishly out from where ever it had been hiding, spreading slowly, hot like flames, throughout his chest and stomach.

His wings hit the ground first, and then his back and broad shoulders, and finally his head jolted against the metal floor with a deafening clang. The pain started ebbing away, as slowly as it had crept up. He couldn’t move. Despite everything, he felt oddly at peace. He felt panicked for a moment, but then it slipped away. He couldn’t hold on to it. He wanted to fight, but he couldn’t. Was this how it felt to die? His eyes focus on something, or someone, standing behind the scientist wanna-be who shouted something Fang couldn’t hear.

Max?

The Whitecoat stepped away to reveal Max doubled over with a hand curled into a fist braced against her stomach and the other over her mouth. The incredible pain in her eyes was like a stake through his heart. Run Max… urged her silently. Why are you just standing there? Fly back to the Flock! But something wasn’t right. He could see through her. Was he hallucinating? He didn’t have time to think about it because his vision started fading. Everything was slipping away, and he felt cold. Soon, Max was all he could see, and then she faded away as well, and everything was black. Max…

***

He didn’t know how long he laid, unmoving, in the darkness. He fought now, his fingers twitching now and again and his eyelids finally peeling back a crack so he could stare into the abyss surrounding him. But his struggles were useless. He soon grew tired, and heavier still, but he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t die. The Flock needed him. Max needed him… and he needed her. She would never know just how much he needed her.

He stopped fighting, his body relaxing. He let his eyes close, and Max’s face appeared. She had that look on her face. The one that he loved. The one that she always had when she ruffled the Gasman’s hair or subtly pushed something closer to Iggy’s hand, and sometimes when she looked at Fang. And then she slipped away.

This time when he tried to open his eyes, they did so easily. All the heaviness was unexpectedly gone. As he stared into the black void, he saw a tiny speck of light. It was growing rapidly, engulfing the darkness until it blinded Fang. He squeezed his eyes tight against the brightness, a warm breeze wafting through his hair. After a moment, he opened one into a little slit, peering out from behind his eyelashes.

It was dark again, but not completely this time. He could see the outline of a counter with cabinets over it. Opening his eyes wide, he glanced around, unsure of what he was looking at. His eyes stopped when he saw a figure standing alone in the corner of the room.

Max! He tried to reach out for her, but then she was gone. As he reached his arm out anyway, the pain returned, shooting up from his chest into his arms and neck and head as the pain in his stomach spread through his back and legs. He clenched his hand into a fist, resisting the urge to cry out. He then grasped where exactly he was.

Now he could feel the cold metal beneath him against his bare back, and see the syringes and beakers and other devices on a rolling table nearby. He smelled the familiar antiseptic and sterilized surfaces, his gut turning over and over as he drew in quiet, slightly panicked breaths of the foul stench.

Fang rolled himself off the gurney and did what Max had always claimed he did best: ignored the pain. His vision instantly blurred, the room spinning. He closed his eyes, lines creasing his forehead as he fought the dizziness. When it passed, he crawled forward and crouched behind the door. There were no windows, making the room darker, but when his eyes adjusted his night-vision kicked in.

He gripped the doorknob, turning it slowly, careful not to make any noise or sudden movements. It opened just a crack, and Fang glanced around the empty hallway. Pressing his ear to the crack, he listened for voices or footsteps. He heard neither. Cautiously, he slipped through the door and closed it behind it, the door clicking as the lock was set back in place.

Fang couldn’t remember much of what happened after that. He remembered trying to stay small and hidden. He remembered when he finally made it outside, an alarm went off. And then he ran.

He ran and ran and ran as far as he could run, and then he ran some more. He didn’t stop until he hit a paved road across from a strip mall. He hesitated in the middle of the street when someone laid on their car horn. Loudly.

He turned to see a silver car speeding toward him and dove into the safety of the trees just in time to avoid being hit. As the car drove past, the driver shouted something obscene out the window. “Back at ya.” Fang rasped, his voice coming out in a broken whisper. He stood with his back against a tree, trying to catch his breath. Unfortunately, each breath he took caused the throbbing pain in his chest to intensify.

He looked down to find most of his upper body covered in bandages. The white fabric was disturbed by two distinct red spots forming, one just above his waist and the other above where he knew his heart should be. Consequently, his heart was beating rapidly, fluttering nearly as fast as a mouse’s would. He peered around the trunk of the tree at the strip mall across the highway.

He knew it would be a bad idea to walk into any of the little establishments. Someone would freak out just at the sight of his condition. Police would be called, as would an ambulance he was sure. He couldn’t go to a hospital, for obvious reasons. Just look at what happened last time. He couldn’t answer the questions that would surely come.

He couldn’t tell them who his parents were. He couldn’t tell them where he lived. He couldn’t tell them what had happened to him. And he wouldn’t tell them about the Flock.

He had to find them. He needed to find a phone. He needed to figure out where the hell he was.

Peering around the tree again, his eyes skimmed the collection of buildings for a pay phone. There was one on the side of the wall of the very last building. But he would need money. Hence the term “pay phone.” He dug in his pockets looking for change, but any money he might have had had been removed when he’d been…

He had been about to say dead. But that wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.

When he’d been incapacitated. Still, he hoped that maybe someone had dropped a quarter near the phone. He reached up to wipe the sheet of sweat from his forehead, flinching away from the stab of pain caused by lifting his arm over his head. He tried to stretch his wings out, playing with the idea of using the to cover up the fact that he was half-naked. But as he did so, the stiffness in his wings made grind his teeth. It made it clear that he wouldn’t be able to just fly out of here. For the time being, he was grounded.

He crept from tree to tree, edging closer to the road while staying hidden. He’d only have one shot at making it to the phone without being seen, so he’d have to be quick. Unfortunately, the exertion of his escape was beginning to catch up with him, and he was starting to get drowsy as well as a little woozy. But he needed to find the flock first. He needed to find her…

He darted across the street and around the corner of the building as fast as he could. He flattened himself to the wall for a few heartbeats, waiting for a door to open or someone to scream. When nothing happened he knew he’d successfully remained unseen. He turned to the pay phone, about to check the slot for change when he saw the hand written white sign taped over the box.

Out of Order.

His heart dropped into his stomach. Realizing he wasn’t going to be able to get a hold of the Flock, and that he couldn’t stay here if he didn’t want to be notice, he spun around and sprinted into the trees behind the strip mall.

This patch of trees wasn’t thick. He soon came out behind another strip mall with a beach across from it. This one didn’t have a pay phone.

He breathing was getting rough again and the spots of red on his bandages were growing the more he ran. He had to lie down. Staying at the edge of the trees, he pushed on, looking for some place safe to rest. Every few minutes he was stagger, exhaustion taking its toll. The Flock probably thought he was dead. What would they do? What would he do if he couldn’t find a way to get a hold of them?

No. he thought. He’d find them. But first, he needed to rest.

He hadn’t realized it but he’d stumbled out of the line of trees and in front of a dilapidated brick building. It looked abandoned. Pushing through the wooden door, which was hanging from its hinges, he examined the building. It was bleak and empty except for garbage and debris. He roamed from room to room, just to be safe. Upstairs there was a small room with a couple boxes thrown around, their contents spilling out. One of them had an old blanket riddle with holes tossed over it. He picked up the blanket carefully, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. But the box only held old, mostly broken, computer parts. He had a feeling that someone had once used the building to trade or sell stolen goods, but it looked safe enough now. He balled the blanket up to make a pillow and sat on the floor. He thought about hiding himself in a corner, but it made him feel confined, so he settled down in the middle of the floor.

Fang had only meant to rest for a little while, but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was fast asleep, one of his dark wings draped lightly over his bare torso to keep himself warm.

[Roxie !]

YESSSSS!!! FINALLY, AN UPDATE =D =D =D This made my life. Seriously. I was so grumpy until I saw you posted this xDDD. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGGGGGG!!!!!! Omg I'm soooo glad he's alive. I don't know why I actually thought you would kill him off. 'CAUSE THEN THERE WOULD BE NO FAX. AND THAT WOULD BE BAD. Aww, he's such a trooper, and I love how his first thoughts are about getting back to Max(okay, and the Flock, but shh). Fang=Amazing. It was so awesome getting a chapter from his point of view!! Now all we need is a FAX REUNIOOOOONNNNN!!!!

-dies-

ahem. Anyway. AWESOME chapter. Update soooooooooooooooooon!!!