Full Summary: In a shattered world, where there are two kinds of people (those with wings and those without), Max is taken prisoner and forced to cage fight. Forced to fight other prisoners like her, it is only her survival instinct that allows her to go on: That, and the mysterious second-in-command to the ruthless Director, who impossibly seems to want to help.

Rating: M for fairly mild sexual references and a bit of violence. Nothing too smutty or graphic. I only do tasteful sex scenes (I hope).

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Also, the book 'Blood Red Road' by Moira Young inspired this story idea.

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Chapter One: Prisoner

I wake up with silent tears on my face. The dreams – or memories – have been nonstop since I was taken. My mother and father both killed in front of me. Blood everywhere and a scream so shrill that I couldn't speak for two days. Forced into a steel cart with sixteen other prisoners. The bars are strong, and even if you could somehow escape, six guards surround us at all times.

All around me the other prisoners sleep or murmur to themselves. One boy starts to wail for his mother. The other prisoners kick at him.

"Quiet!" a tough looking girl hisses. Her face is covered in dried blood. It is obvious that she is a resistor. "You'll only draw attention to yourself."

But the boy can't help it. He only cries louder.

I wonder if I should help him. Bring him close to me and console him. But I can't feel anything. I'm numb. So I do nothing.

"Shut up," a guard says, jabbing the hilt of his sword through the bars. It connects with the boy's head and he slumps. There is no way to tell if he is merely unconscious or dead. I don't check. I do nothing.

The cart keeps moving. It only stops twice a day for meals. We only get a piece of stale bread. The guards eat their stew in front of us, laughing and jeering. They are a rough mob, with long facial hair and dried blood under their fingernails. Only one of them appears to be clean and civilized. It is obvious he is in charge. He does not speak a word, but the guards always go silent when he is watching. He is the only one I am afraid of.

The guards are restless tonight, and I think I know why. After a week of travelling, we are nearing our destination. I've heard stories about the cities. They are rife with danger. The cities are lawless. The people in charge are powerful and corrupt. They enjoy a range of illegal activities.

"You've been quiet," the tough looking girl with blood on her face whispers to me. She has moved closer to me and I can see her big brown eyes. She is younger than I originally thought: perhaps only a year older than me.

I nod to her. I don't want to be rude to the first person that has spoken to me in days. But I don't feel like using my voice. I'm afraid if I open my mouth, I will only cry.

"I'm Chrissie," she says.

I swallow. I have to get over my irrational fear. I want to speak. I want to have this basic human interaction.

"Max," I reply, my voice hoarse.

"I can tell you're tough. Even if you haven't been resisting like the rest of us. Do you want to live?"

I stare at her. What kind of question is that?

"It's a valid question. If you really wanted to live, you would not have just sat in the corner, silently, for a week. Maybe they've already broken you," she says.

For the first time since my parents died, I feel something. It's anger.

I bare my teeth at her and hiss. My body is filled with heat and I know that I can hurt this girl.

She smiles and I realise what she has done.

"So you do want to live," she says. "Good. We can use as many resistors as we can get."

"We can't escape," I say. I've watched. There are no faults in the guards' routine.

"Not yet. But there will come a time when just one thing goes wrong. At that time, we have to be ready. No hesitations."

I nod to her. She slides back to her original spot and I am left to my thoughts. I thought that I would prefer to be dead than live as a prisoner. But Chrissie has made me realise that I want to live. My parents would want me to live.

I suppress my guilt for not telling Chrissie the entire truth. If the guards knew, they would surely make my life even worse.

I have a secret. And in a world split in two, my secret could get me killed.

I am Winged.

If they knew, I could be tortured, enslaved, raped, burnt, killed. Although, technically, all those things could happen to me anyhow. My kind has been subdued by the Wingless for decades. They hate us. Despise us. Call us inhuman. Burn us at the stake. Personally, I think they are jealous. Who wouldn't want to fly?

They must not learn my secret. Otherwise an even worse fate is in store for me.

The sun is rising and light is warming us in our cage. The dead earth stretches before us, but on the horizon stretches a wall made of stone. We have reached our destination. None of us knows what awaits us.

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The streets are busy, full of people trading their wares and travelling towards the city centre. Some people stop to stare at us. Others are obviously used to the sight of prisoner carts. I make eye contact with the city folk. They are the first to look away.

We are headed towards a giant structure in the middle of the city. It is an arena, that much I can tell.

When we reach the middle of the arena, we stop. There is a large cage right in front of us. The guards unlock and open the cart door and we are ushered out. All weapons are kept at the ready. I haven't used my legs for so long I fear they don't work.

I manage to keep my feet and look around the arena. There is a trapdoor in the ground that is guarded by two guards.

The guards fling the trapdoor open and we are led down a set of stone stairs. There is only artificial light where we are going. One boy takes one look at the stairs and makes a run for it. He doesn't make it four steps before the guards are on him. They drag him kicking and screaming down the stairs.

Once we are underground, we are told to form a line. An ugly woman looks each one of us over. The small and weak prisoners are ushered into one group while the strong prisoners form another. I am one of the strong.

The other group is to be sold as slaves, or worse. Our group, however, has a different purpose.

"I take it you all saw the cage in the arena?" the woman asks us. She is tall and muscular. "Today you will fight. You will only win if the other person yields, goes unconscious, or dies. If you lose three fights, you will find yourself at the crowd's mercy. If you continuously win, however, you may find that you will go onto bigger and better things. But you are always at the crowd, and the king's, mercy. Do not forget that." She looks at the guards. "Take them to their cells."

The girls are herded into a cell on one side of a corridor while the boys are herded into the other. We can see each other from across the corridor. There are already about thirty girls in our cell. They stare at us, bloody and broken. They do not rise from their positions. They do not speak a word.

I make myself as comfortable as possible against the bars, away from everyone else. Chrissie sits a few feet away from me and gives me a nod. Then we wait.

It is some time before the guards appear in the corridor. Two men walk down the middle. The first is fat and covered in gold. He smiles at us, but it is not comforting. The second man stands just behind him. He is dressed entirely in black, with black hair to match. It is obvious that the fat man is in charge, but I find that I am far more intimidated by the second man.

His eyes land on me and I feel a jolt in my stomach. His eyes are deep and it almost feels like he can see into my soul. It is at that moment that I realise that he is incredibly handsome. I know without a doubt that he is dangerous. Deadly. I am afraid.

"Fresh meat, listen up!" the fat man yells. "I am the Director. I direct your misery. How you live and how you die is up to me. To please me, you need only please my crowd. They pay handsomely to see you fight, after all. If you please me, you may find that you will be rewarded. If not… well, that is another matter." The Director smiles at us, revealing his yellow teeth. "Who would like to fight today?"

No one says a word.

He laughs. "Don't be shy, my pretties. I will simply have to choose." He pretends to consider. "I want the girls first today." He points at four of us, including Chrissie and me. We all arrived together this morning. "Guards, get them ready." We are quiet as the Director leaves, the dark man behind him.

"Who was that?" I ask the girl next to me. She glances at me and follows my gaze.

"That is the Director's second-in-command. His name is Fang."

She leaves the rest unsaid. It is obvious that everyone is terrified of the dark man. Of Fang.

I don't get a chance to think about it much further, because we are being led out of the cells and upwards. There is a knife at my neck as we emerge from underground. I can hear a crowd roaring, but I am momentarily blinded by the sunlight. I get the impression of a massive crowd.

I am pushed into the cage with a dark skinned girl. I don't know her name. I don't think I want to.

We stare at each other across the cage.

"What happens if we don't fight?" she asks. I don't know the answer.

"We get to kill you," a guard replies from the sidelines.

The crowd is deafening.

"What are you waiting for?" The Director's voice is booming. "Don't be shy!"

I clench my jaw and wait. The girl across from me straightens. It is apparent that we must fight.

And I am determined to win.