MAXIMUM RIDE: The Beginning

Chapter 1

"MAX!" I HEAR FANG CALL, FROM THE other side of the room. "Max! Where are you?"

"Here," I croak. But where is here?

"Oh, Max, you're safe! I thought you were unconscious!"

"Huh?" I say, trying to lean up. My head hits the ceiling, or whatever it was, and I rub my head. My elbow hits the wall, too.

"You fought that labcoat pretty hard," Fang says, and then I remember: I'm at the School. I'm locked in a metal cage, a more secure one, since I busted out of my other one a while back.

The School was an evil place, where so-called 'scientists' tortured us. Us as in mutants. Mistakes. All we're made for is needles.

"Oh, yeah," I say. "I remember."

I hear Fang rustling around in his crate. "You think we'll ever get out?" He whispers, almost inaudible, but I can hear him.

"I don't know." I said honestly, because I didn't really know. We had tried so many times, we as in me and my flock. Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Angel, Nudge, and me. We were quite a team.

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know."

"Roll call!" I said.

I heard more crates rustling around, someone yawning, and then Iggy say, "I'm okay. Well, besides the fact I can't see."

"I'm fine..." Nudge mumbled, and then I heard the Gasman's signature sound. "Aw, Gazzy, come on, man!" Iggy mumbled.
"I'm alright," Angel said, "I think...I think someone's coming..."
We all ducked down in our crates, even though they probably couldn't hear us. "Let's bring out subject one for testing. I think the director would like that!"
I heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to my dog crate, and my whole body instantly went on alert. I started getting ready for a battle, muscles tensing, ready to fight. They unlocked the cage, and I made a break for it.
I lunged at the whitecoat, biting down hard on his wrists, shoving my palms towards his trachea. The breath knocks out of him, and I move on to the second whitecoat. I take him out with one kick to the head, and he's on the ground, wailing. Puny human.
The first whitecoat starts calling for backup, but I kick the walkie talkie out of his hands. He moans on the ground, holding his wrists, looking like a complete fool. I rummage through his pockets for the keys, and find a syringe. Better hold on to that.
I grab the keys and sprint over to Fang's crate, and unlock it. "Come on, we're busting out of here guys!" I said, and then unlocked everyone else's crates. More whitecoats come in, finally noticing what's happening.
"What's going on here?" A large, very muscular whitecoat bellows.
"We're getting out of here, that's what's going on." I said.
"Oh, no you're not. Not through us."
Hmmm. Challenge accepted.
The large whitecoat comes after me first, trying to pin me to a wall. I snap out my wings at the last second (yeah, I have wings) and fly towards the ceiling. "Catch me now, suckers," I said. My flock copies me, and soon were flying towards what we think is the exit.
"Max! We're only trying to help you!"
I know that voice. We all do.
"Max, please! Don't go, please! We need you!"
I stop cold while I'm flying, almost dropping like a rock. I quickly gather myself up, and land slowly on the linoleum floor. My sneakers hit it hard. Not so good for making a break free, but I'll work on it.
"What do you mean, Jeb?"
Fang and the others stay aloft, circling the perimeter of the building. "Max, it's a trap," Fang warned.
"No, it's not," Angel confirms. "He means well." She points to her head. "I know."
"Maximum, if you leave now, you might not get the happy ending you deserve." Jeb said. "Trust me on this."
I narrow my eyes at him. At all of them. "Why should I trust any of you? No matter what Angel says,"
"I know. And I know that deep down inside your heart you trust me." Jeb says, walking closer to me. I am still unsure about him, even though he's always been really nice to us. He never tortured us or ran tests on us or shocked us with collars for dogs when we did something wrong.
"I can't trust anyone right now." I said. "What exactly do you know, Jeb?"
"I know everything there is to know right now. And I know that you can't go. Not yet."
"You can't do that!" Angel cries.
"Do what?" Jeb asks, confused.
Angel rolls her deep sea blue eyes. "I can read minds. I know what you're thinking."
Jeb looks embarrassed. "Angel, it is what I must do."
Okay, I am extremely confused right now. I would never admit it, but I really wanted to ask Angel why she was so secretive sometimes. She could get into someone's head! No secrets were ever kept from her.
"You can't! You just can't!" Angel cried.
I didn't want to, but I had to. "Alright guys. Enough." I said, all leader-like.
Angel lands next to me, and tucks in her white angel wings. "We have to stay. It's part of Jeb's plan." She rubs my shoulder, a reassuring gesture that makes me feel calm.
"Okay, Angel." I said, feeling vulnerable. "We'll stay."
"But-" Gazzy started.
"The decision is made." I heard myself saying. "We are staying for Jeb."
The whitecoats all have perplexed looks on their faces. Angel says, "Okay, that's enough. You guys can go back to what you were doing. We're going to pretend like none of this ever happened, okay, guys?"
"Okay, Angel," they all repeated in monotone.
Angel smiled at me. "It's going to be fine. Trust me."
Who am I to trust, though?