Max (Maximum Ride 5)

Good. Now they had a name, at least in my head.

I was very tired. And I went to sleep.

14

I TOLD YOU she was not to be killed!"

The harsh, strongly accented voice filtered into my drowsy ears. The next thing I was aware of was the pain in my wing. It hurt so much that I wanted to cry. Or at least whimper loudly.

"It is not dead," said an M-Geek. I loved that name. "It is… limp."

These things had been given quite the vocab.

"She's bloody."

"We shot it to get it out of the sky."

Okay, so it wasn't lilting poetry, but it was leagues ahead of chess-playing computers.

As much fun as it was to listen to them talking about me like I wasn't there, I decided time was a-wasting. I opened my eyes and coughed.

I was on a blanket on a floor. The floor was shifting subtly in a way I immediately recognized: I was on a boat. I got to my feet, trying to keep from shrieking in pain.

Standing before me was an Asian man, a couple inches shorter than me, but then I'm weirdly tall. He was stocky and wore glasses and the kind of plain, navy Chinese jacket you see in old movies. Thick black hair was brushed back severely from his face.

"Maximum Ride," he said, not holding out his hand. "I am Mr. Chu."

"What do you want, Mr. Chu?" Might as well cut right to the chase.

"I want to explain to you that you must immediately sever your ties to the Coalition to Stop the Madness," the man said, looking intently into my eyes.

That couldn't be all. "And?" I prompted.

"You do not know what they are really up to," he went on. "They are just using you to promote their own agenda."

"They're paying us in doughnuts," I felt compelled to point out.

"I represent a group of very powerful, very wealthy businessmen from around the world," said Mr. Chu.

"Of course you do," I said soothingly, trying to look for an exit without being too obvious.

"We are the only ones who really know what is going on."

"Of course you are."

There was a tiny skylight. Could I—oh. Max no fly. Bummer.

"There is an apocalypse coming," said Mr. Chu, seeming to grow more and more agitated.

"You're not the first person who's told me that."

"It is true! My group will survive the apocalypse. We are the only ones who will not become extinct after the world leaders succeed in their quest to destroy one another."

"Kinda makes you wish you were a world leader yourself, huh," I said sympathetically.

Smack!

My lightning-fast reflexes had let me whip my head to one side as he lunged forward, but he still gave me a good clip on the cheek. Slowly I straightened, feeling my cheek burn, my rage growing.