Max (Maximum Ride 5)

I opened the front door slowly. There was a wide, charred circle around the house, littered with 'bot bits and smoking electronics. "See if there are any salvageable weapons," I directed. The Ari dobblyganga doppergung dobblemunger look-alike was lying on the ground, mostly in one piece. Mostly human, with a 'bot substructure. Again, ew.

I walked over to him, and it was pretty awful. I can destroy a hundred 'bots and still whistle cheerfully, but this poor mess on the ground seemed as much a victim as we were. Some crucial parts of him were missing, but his eyes blinked as I approached. This close, he still looked a ton like Ari, but I could tell it wasn't a perfect copy.

Then I remembered that this creature had been prepared to exterminate my family, and that my own mother had been kidnapped, and that the flock had been hiding in the dark wondering if they were about to die.

"So," I said, leaning down a bit, "how's Mr. Chu, that scamp?"

His head twitched, and the light behind his eyes went out.

"Tell him hi for me!" I said, then looked at the flock. "Pack light. We're moving out."

25

THE PHONE RANG just as we reentered the dark house. I stared at it.

"Regular corded phone. Not connected to the electrical system," Iggy clarified, somehow knowing what we were all wondering.

I grabbed it. "What?"

"Max—good, you're there," said John Abate. "We've got some details about Valencia's disappearance, but I don't want to discuss them on the phone. We've been tipped that your house might be under surveillance."

"Um, not so much," I said, thinking of the mess outside.

"To be on the safe side, we're sending a car for you. It should be there in about an hour."

"It'll be dawn then," I said, suddenly feeling exhausted and headachy and newly upset about my mom. "Better make it an armored one."

26

THE SIGHT OF dawn breaking over the horizon, slowly dispelling the darkness with tendrils of pink and cream, literally the start of a brand-new day—you know how that fills people with joy and hope and a will to somehow go on?

Those people are nuts.

Our dawn showcased a football field of destruction: charred earth, shattered cacti, a blackened spew of twisted metal and melted wires, plus the mangled wreck of some poor sap who had been created to be a weapon in someone else's war.

We were all waiting in the living room when the armored Hummer arrived in a cloud of dust. Angel and Gazzy were asleep. Nudge was sitting, unusually quiet, her chin resting in her hands. Iggy and Total were snoring on the other couch.

I was purposely not looking at Fang. After making some progress, so to speak, with whatever was happening between us, I felt all my protective shields firmly locked in place again. I couldn't believe how vulnerable I'd allowed myself to be. It had been a mistake.

Fang was going to kill me when I told him. Yeah, I was looking forward to that.

When the car arrived, I checked it out from behind a curtain. Dr. John Abate stepped out of it, looking anxiously at the evidence of the fight. I opened the front door of the house.

"Hi," I said. I'd met him several times, and he seemed okay. I knew he was one of my mom's best friends, and his face showed the worry he was feeling.

His face relaxed, and he came over. "They got the worst of it, huh?" he asked, gesturing to the piles of remains.

"Always do," I said tiredly.

"Max!"

>

I froze at the new voice. Yes. To make my evening of horror complete, Dr. Brigid Dwyer stepped out of the Hummer and hurried over to me with a big smile, her red hair flashing.

I allowed myself to be hugged.

"I'm so, so sorry about your mom," she said sincerely. "We'll get her back—I promise."