Maximum Ride and the Maze Runner collide! Hope ya'll like it. ;) Give me some feedback by pushing that little button at the bottom of the page marked 'Review'. It will make all of your wishes come true! Oh, here is the dang disclaimer. James Paterson and James Dashner own everything and I own nothing… except for a candy bar! Merry Christmas and happy New Year! ~ShadowPrayers

Max's POV

I awoke in complete darkness. Uneasiness filled me as I stood up and stumbled blindly through the dark. My outstretched hands met a chilly, metal wall. Keeping one hand on the wall, I rounded the room once, twice, three times. It was completely enclosed. There was no way out. A memory tickled the back of my mind, but it danced away as soon as I tried to grasp it.

I sunk to the ground. I had been in this sort of situation before. I couldn't recall much more than that. I just needed to keep a cool head and get my bearings. What did I do when I was in a situation like this? I collided with a mental barrier that had no nooks or crannies into which I could slip. Maybe I need to start with something simpler… like my name. Max. Okay, something a wee bit harder. Where am I?

Maximum, you must not remember until the appropriate time. I've helped you for a very long time, and I will continue to do so whether you like it or not. You used to refer to me as The Voice, and you may do so now if you wish. You have wings, Max. You must not tell anyone about these wings- no matter what.

I have what? I slipped my hand inside my baggy tee shirt and felt my back. My fingers brushed soft, downy feathers, and I suddenly felt the nerves, muscles, and tendons that linked my wings to my back and made them usable. A voice in your head doesn't make you panic, but the fact that you have wings does? I purposefully taunted myself. I have wings, no biggie.

I have dealt with much worse. I can deal with t his even if my memories are gone. I can deal with anything. I am Max, Maximum… I don't even know my freaking last name! I am Maximum… I climbed to my feet and screamed partly in fury and partly in frustration. I curled my hand into a fist and slammed it into the wall.

A loud bang made me land on my butt… hard. I had not realized that the room had even been moving until it was at a standstill. What level of hell was I on now? Creak! Groan! I jerked my head up. Perhaps the roof was going to cave in on me.

A brilliant white light appeared in a long strip overhead. I winced and shielded my eyes. My eyes adjusted to the light quickly and I got a good look at my surroundings for the first time. I was in a room about as big as a half bath or large walk-in closet.

A vague image of a public bathroom came to mind. It looked like any other public restroom in America. Ugh, I was going to get sick of my memories eluding me… fast. The floor and walls were dull grey. It was nothing much to look at really. I turned my head back to the ceiling. The crevice in it gradually grew larger and larger until the glorious sky was visible. I desperately wanted to flip my wings out and fly far, far away!

A brunette boy was suddenly staring down at me. He looked agitated, shocked, and slightly worried. "Oh, it's another shucking girl!" he exclaimed with a slight scowl. I searched my limited knowledge for the meaning of 'shucking'. There was a word that sounded like shuck, but it started with an f. I wondered if the meanings were the same.

"Really, I'm a girl?" I asked with a hint of bewilderment. "I thought I was a rock."

"You won't be laughing if we leave your shank butt down there overnight," the boy warned, but threw a rope down. I shimmied up the rope and collapsed onto the grass. Ah, freedom! It never tasted so sweet. Well, I guess I honestly wouldn't know what freedom tastes like since I cannot remember anything!

I stood up and looked around a very large clearing. It was at least five- maybe six- football fields long and twice as wide. About thirty boys who all appeared to be under eighteen crowded in front of me. Some of them were pushing and shoving themselves to the front of the crowd to see me.

I turned a little and saw a wall that had to be at least a few miles tall. A huge archway was just a little to my right. Thank God! I hated being closed in more than anything. I noticed the wall curved almost imperceptibly to make a big fence with assumably four of those archways. Hmm, where did they lead?

"What's your name, Greenie?"

"Max," I stated. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the Glade," the boy said.

"And you are?"

"Alby. Now stop asking questions, Greenie," he ordered. "We know less than you do."

"My name is M-A-X. What does that spell? Max," I said each syllable slowly as if he were too slow to comprehend. He looked taken aback by my attitude. Good. I had a feeling that I had been mouthy before my memories were erased. If whoever erased my memories was hoping that my mouth would change they had been wrong. For that, I was glad. I wanted to make whoever erased my memories as angry as possible.

This satisfaction did not change the fact that I was confused and wanted answers. Alby obviously was not going to give them to me.

"Listen up shuck face, and listen good! I don't care if you're a girl! I don't care if you're a Greenie!" his tanned face was growing red and anger blazed in his eyes. He was screaming as he stalked closer to me. "We've all been in your position, and I don't expect to treat you any different! You here?" his face was mere centimeters from my own, and his hot breath was foul.

"Eck, would a breath mint kill you?" was my smart-aleck reply. He swung his palm towards my face, and I easily caught it. I released it just as quickly. "Didn't your Mama ever tell you it's impolite to hit a girl?" I asked.

"You'll find the rules a little different here," he growled curtly.

"Then don't I need to know the rules?" I returned and just like that, the tension between us melted. His eyes melted to a soft grey and he actually smiled.

"I'm Newt," a boy with long, shaggy blonde hair smiled at me. His eyes were the prettiest blue and his tan skin was actually unblemished. The audience that had begun to accumulate around moi disbanded and Newt called the youngest-looking kid over.

He could only be eleven maybe, just maybe twelve. His name was Chuck. He was adorable with big blue eyes and floppy blonde hair. He reminded me of someone… but whom? "Show the Gre-Max around with Thomas," Newt instructed. Hmm, he was afraid of me. That's good. I cannot let myself be ordered around by a bunch of sissy boys.

"Good that! Thomas!" Chuck bellowed. "I'm Chuck and that shuck face is Thomas," he indicated a brunette boy with dark green eyes and a rail thin figure. He seemed to be fifteen maybe sixteen.

"Are we showing the Greenie around? Whoa, another shucking girl?" Thomas sounded shocked.

"A- don't call me Greenie if you want to live another day. B- Thank God there are more girls than me."

"Actually, there's only one other girl. She arrived in The Box in a coma," Thomas helpfully supplied.

"What's The Box?" I asked with a tinge of frustration. I hated being so, so oblivious!

"The thing you arrived in. It delivers food and supplies weekly and a new Glader monthly," he explained as a boy came running towards us. His brow was coated with sweat.

"Who's he?"

"A runner named Minho. They explore the maze that surrounds us, trying to find a way out," Chuck said eagerly. He was anxious to please. "It's almost nightfall, no wonder he was in such a rush. I'd hate to be stuck out there all night."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll explain later," Thomas shrugged. "Just don't get caught out in the maze at night. Actually, we aren't allowed to be out in the maze at all if we're not a runner." When has that ever stopped me? The thought came to me so naturally I almost did not recognize it for what it was. It was a piece of me. A piece of my past! I struggled to look normal as I did a happy dance in my head. Finally, I was making some progress!

"So what's up with the weird words?" I asked casually.

"It's a kind of language we've developed I guess," Chuck shrugged. "You'll catch on… eventually."

"Yah, I was the Greenbean before you and that other girl showed up. It is complicated, but you will get the hang of it. That big building is the main house," Thomas pointed to the biggest building in The Glade. "We sleep right over there," Thomas pointed to a clearing where a bunch of boys were already sitting down, talking and laughing raucously. "Chuck and I will show you where to get breakfast in the morning. Good luck, Shank."

"I swear…," my threat died off as he loped off with Chuck, laughing at something the kid said. I rolled my eyes, a thousand questions bursting in my head. Why couldn't we go out in the 'Maze' at night? What did we do when it rained? Why were my memories gone? What was the point of this maze?

It was about twilight by then. I heard a loud groan and stifled a scream. What was going on? The Gladers barely glanced up as the walls began to shift. A dozen boys darted through the archways, sweat glistening on their brows. I remembered Chuck telling me they were Runners.

The shifting stone slowly covered the archway, trapping us in the Glade. Was this a nightly occurrence? My breath came in short gasps at the thought of being closed in. I couldn't handle it. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to fly far, far away.

All the boys (except for the Runners who had raced into a small building) were going to lay down in the expanse of grass Thomas had pointed out. As long as those archways were closed, I wouldn't be getting any sleep. I began to walk towards the forest, trying to calm down. It wasn't working.

As the trees enveloped me a felt a sigh escape my lips. The forest was familiar, comforting in a way. The only problem was my wings were itching to be let loose. The Voice told me not to show/tell anyone about my wings. It didn't specify that I couldn't fly or let them loose every occasionally.

I was pretty sure that it meant no wing action… at all. Hmm… should I listen to it? Probably. Was I going to listen to it? Probably not. Two red dots glowed for a millisecond in the trees. What in the world was that?

My ears picked up a voice whispering softly. It sounded like Alby. "That note that other shucking girl came with said there would be no more shucking newbies. What's up with that?" he sounded irritated.

"I don't know," this sounded like Newt. "Maybe The Creators are playing a mind game with us?"

"Or maybe something unexpected happened. Maybe they weren't expecting to send this Greenie in," he said eerily.

"That could be it…"

"Did you hear something?" Alby asked, and his voice drifted closer. I made a split second decision and unfurled my wings, forgetting two very important things. One: I've never flown before. Two: My baggy tee did not have slits in it. The fabric ripped and fluttered to the ground.

I frantically flapped my wings, but I wasn't getting anywhere. I gritted my teeth, my heart beating a mile per second. Those boys would not see me in my bra! I slipped my toes into nearly invinsible crevices on the tree and painstakingly pulled myself onto the lowest branch of the tree.

There was still a chance they would spot me. I grabbed the next branch and yanked myself up. I folded my wings tightly against my back and pressed myself against the tree's trunk, praying to God they wouldn't see me.

Newt and Alby walked beneath me, talking quietly about jobs I could do. When they were long gone I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe the Voice had had a point… These wings were more trouble than they were worth. I sighed, ready to face my next problem. How was I going to get another shirt?

I was not going back to the Glade in my bra. No boy was ever going to see me in my bra. I was too dignified for that. I climbed to the very top of the tree, and decided to give myself a little flying lesson. I could probably fly high enough that I wouldn't be seen, get into the Main House, get a shirt, and get out. If I fell at any point… well let's not think about that.

The wind was chilly against my barren skin way up here. I shivered and took a deep breath. Jump! I leapt from the tree and plummeted to the ground. At the last minute my wings caught a draft and I let a whoop of exhilaration. The beady red lights watched me, as if they were judging me. I forgot to flap my wings and dropped through the air again. I caught myself, heart pounding. Note: Don't forget to flap. It was time to get some clothes.

What do you think? Push the Review button and I'll continue the story! ;)

Iggy: Want to hear a joke?

Me: Sure!

Iggy: What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?

Me: Uh…Do I want to know?

Iggy: Anyone can roast beef, but who can pea soup?

Anyways review? Please?