Maximum Ride Chapters 107 & 108

We begin the latest chapter with everyone still in the tree. With all the time they spend up a tree, I’m starting to wonder if Jimmy didn’t write this in a tree house. ‘Kids like tree houses, right?’ ‘Um, sure.’ ‘Hmm, so you’re saying that I should write this while in one. You know, to really get inside the characters.’ ‘That’s pretty flimsy, Jim. By that logic, you might as well eat roasted squab to understand birds.’ ‘Good idea, Bob. That’s why you’re my agent.’

Angel sits there cooing at her teddy bear while everyone else talks about who the “director” is. Um, guys? Did anyone else notice that Angel used her burgeoning mind powers to get back a toy? Anyone think that might be a bad sign? No? It’s just me then? Okay, as long as you’re cool with it Max. Max comments on the view of the buildings though and then they go get groceries.

Nudge and I went to a local grocery store, then schlepped three heavy bags of groceries back to the others. It was breezy up in our aerie, but private and safe. We watched the last of the sun go down and ate. My head was aching, but not too badly.

Yup, everything is fine. The sunset it beautiful, the air is nice, you can hear the crickets chirping and Angel is learning that it’s okay to use your inborn powers on the weak for personal gain. Am I the only one that has a huge problem with this?

Ok, even if we pretend that Ari is evil, even though there’s no reason to believe it, what Angel did is not cool. What’s worse is that because Max is ignoring it, she’s offering tacit approval of Angel’s actions. Thus Angel is learning that she can use her powers as she pleases because no one has explained that, maybe, there are some situations where it’s okay but it should be limited to life or death. Max and Jimmy are making a monster and I’d bet it’ll never be addressed. But the “erasers” will be.

How were the Erasers tracking us so easily? I looked hard at my left wrist, as if staring at it would make my chip float to the surface of my skin. I myself could be a beacon without knowing it, without being able to do a thing about it—except leave the flock and strike out on my own. The Erasers were tracking us but not killing us. Why had Ari stopped them today?

Oh, gee whiz, Max. How are they doing that? Time to call Scooby and the gang because we’ve got a certified mystery on our hands. Max briefly wonders what’s happening to Angel but then the voice tells her to stop worrying about it. Then it tells her it’s time to sleep and learn. Max asks what but then she falls asleep.

The next chapter has Max, unsurprisingly, waking up. Though this time the other kids are offering her breakfast and newspapers. Which means that someone took her money out of her pocket while she was sleeping. Or Maybe Angel forced Max to hand ove the debit card and pin. Max nibbles on food and looks at a newspaper.

Up to now, our main survival strategy had been to stay inconspicuous, to hide as much as possible. I guess having our pictures plastered on the front page of the New York Post under the huge, screaming headline “Miracle or Illusion? Superhumans or Genetic Freaks?” blew that strategy out of the water.

Ok, there’s so much wrong there it hurts. Newspapers wouldn’t use that headline. See, just by asking if they’re superhumans or genetic freaks, the newspaper is offering assumptions that aren’t supported by evidence. Secondly, how do they have a picture of Max and the rest? Was Peter Parker taking some updated glamour shots nearby when they caused that ruckus?

Sure, there might have been some people with their cell phones ready but even the best cell camera would offer a pretty blurry shot of kids flying around. Unless they were flying really slowly and stopping to pose. Which I wouldn’t put past them.

Fang explains, in few words, that they saw them while they were getting food. Max calls Fang “Tanto” for the way he talks and complains about him not using full sentences. Which makes perfect sense because the Lone Ranger hasn’t been popular since the introduction of rock and roll and TV. So of course Max would reference a show that her grandparents might have enjoyed.

Max says that the might not be able to go to the “institute” for awhile. I was about to panic when Gasman suggested they wear disguises, like “glasses and funny noses” says Angel. Why of course! Surely, the “institute’s” security forces won’t be able to see past a mop wig and a pair of stolen glasses. It’s so brilliant, it borders on criminal genius.