The Winged Legacy: A Maximum Ride Fan Fiction

Chapter 9

In a dark, enclosed room, telling time proves to be difficult, so a day could be an hour or a month could be a minute. Deeply I yearned to see the world beyond these walls, to see how the world was continuing without the six of us. I wanted to be part of that world again so badly. What was I missing? What was I losing the chance to do? Just the mere thought of the Whitecoats depriving me of a proper life infuriated me.

Whitecoats. It seemed like a suitable name for them. They weren't doctors of course; they didn't provide a thread of help to us, didn't reassure us of our condition. All they did to keep us alive was bring us in dinner (don't get excited) and take us out to pee every now and then in a couple of restrooms down the hall. At least they were polite enough to mind our privacy.

Still doesn't make up for the rest.

The only thing I was sure about was that I had been there long enough to adjust to this crappy lifestyle, one that I hoped no other human being would ever have to endure. Meanwhile my faith was dwindling, along with the others. Everything began to morph to a dull color until I woke from a restless sleep (I can't really say when it was) by one of the whitecoats, a man with short brown hair and glasses on an angular face. He had a bushy mustache. Maybe I could use that for a nickname...

"Hello there," he said. "My name is Jeb. Jeb Batchelder. I'm here to break you guys out."

That got my attention.

I lifted my head up. "Come again?"

"I'm Jeb. I'm going to break you kids out. But I need your full cooperation."

Maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe it was one of the drugs they injected into me, but I just smiled lazily and lay my head back in my arms. "Yeah right. You're one of them."

"Not precisely," he muttered. A few seconds later I heard a soft click of metal. I opened my eyes to see my cage door swing open. I began to sit up as the others watched restlessly. "Go on," he nodded encouragingly. "Step out."

Slowly, I crawled out on my hands and knees, until I felt the wide berth of air around me, and then stood up, giving a sigh as I stretched my aching limps. I looked at Jeb, who was moving to Jared's cage. "For your sake, you better hope you're not lying," I muttered impatiently.

"No worries," he said as he opened Jared's cage, who came to stand beside me, waiting. "Megan, is it?" Jeb asked as he move to Tanya's cage. She bounced up and down in excitement.

"No way," Ian muttered, his gray eyes staring ahead in amazement. "Jeb Batchelder, just like from the Maximum Ride series!" Jeb gave a smile and released Ian from his cage. Ian stuck a hand out to feel for bars then scrambled out and jumped up. "This is awesome!"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Really? We haven't even made it out of the freaking building."

"Yeah, but it's just like the books! Whitecoats, Erasers-"

"Mutant bird kids," Tanya whispered, then glanced back nervously at her wings.

"That's a piece of fiction!" I retorted just as Cassie and Andrew emerged.

Jeb gave a small laugh. "Oh, come now, Megan. Don't deny what could be truth!"

He crept over to the door and cracked it open. I went to stand beside him as he peered out into that infernal hallway. "So what's your plan?" I asked. "How do you plan to escape from Alcatraz?"

"It's nighttime," he whispered back. "They place too few night guards on duty. And no one is allowed to work overtime in the Holding section, at least not after midnight." He swung the door open wider. "Follow me. Quickly now!"

Jeb slinked into the hallway with me on his heels, the others close behind. We came to an intersection, and he held a hand for us to wait. Sure enough, a night guard was standing watch. Jeb turned back to us. "Two at a time now. Wait for me to signal."

"Just like in books!" Ian whispered excitedly. Tanya shushed him.

"Yes, now Cassie and I will go first. Again, wait for the signal," Jeb explained. He grasped Cassie's hand and peered around the corner once again before dashing across, Cassie trotting to keep up. I silently waited for him to continue running with her, to abandon us, helpless in this sterile labyrinth.

Luckily he did stop once he reached the other side, flattening himself and Cassie against the wall. He looked at the night guard again and beckoned us over. This time Jared and Tanya went, and then me and Ian. I held onto Ian's arm and lead him across the hallway to the others. There we regrouped and Jeb led us further into the maze.

Eventually our soft footsteps led us to a loading dock. Jeb took his card attached to a lanyard and swiped it through the lock. It beeped and the light turned blue before he opened the door. We filed outside, to a real outside. I inhaled the dry, hot air and crept on, until Jeb showed us to a windowless white van parked in the shadows.

A white van.

"Oh no," Tanya stopped in her tracks and glared at Jeb. "Do you really expect a bunch of kids to pile into a white van? We've been taught stranger danger!"

"Tanya!" Andrew urged from the rear of the van. He waved urgently.

"Andrew!" I whispered/yelled and hurried up to him. The doors to the trunk were wide open, waiting for us to climb in. I hesitated.

"Kids, we don't have a lot of time to negotiate proper escaping techniques," Jeb said to the others who were stuck in place, undecided. He opened up the driver's side and climbed in. I gestured for the others to get in, and we did, though it was a tight fit. Cassie had to sit on Jared's lap while Ian was squished between me and Andrew.

The window separating the trunk from the front slide open. A feminine face poked out. She had long dark hair tied back into a pony tail, a warm coloring to her skin, and large brown eyes. "Hello children!" she whispered cheerily. "I'm Dr. Ramirez. Hang in there, we'll have you to safety soon!"

She shut the window.

"Dr. ...Martinez?" Ian muttered, confused. "Couldn't be..."

"Start learning to believe," Jared muttered as the van rumbled forward.