Max, Fang, and Nudge start flying to Death Valley, California to rescue Angel. Max is unsure whether The School also wants Angel’s brother, Gazzy, as much as her. Iggy’s blindness is too much of a liability in unfamiliar territory. Max tells him he doesn’t get a choice in the matter: Iggy and Gazzy are staying home. Iggy expresses his concerns about going after Angel (guns, helicopters, etc.).

In a sealed envelope are plans and maps of The School. The flock starts going through the papers that Jeb left behind. Iggy is currently blind because they tried to improve his night vision. This is the place that doesn’t want the flock seen because it would expose the horrible genetic experiments they are doing on children. They start brainstorming about where Angel is being taken, but the answer is obvious: The School. The rest of the flock returns home and start bickering with one another in frustration. She ends up hanging on to the landing skid as they take off, but is unable to hold on when Ari points a rifle at her, saying that his group is the good guys. Max tries to get Angel back when the Erasers switch from car to helicopter. Fang smashes the windshield with a tree branch, but then the passengers pull out guns. Iggy hears an engine and they fly after it. The Erasers take Angel and leave the rest.

He recognizes Max, but it takes her a minute to realize who he is. Ari (Jeb’s seven year old son) is one of the Erasers. The bird kids are stronger than the average human, but the Erasers strength is greater than theirs. They are ambushed by Erasers and are outnumbered and overtaken. Gazzy uses his ability to sound like anyone to mock Max’s cooking. She is also a mind reader that likes enclosed spaces. Fang (14) is just a few months younger than Max and is very quiet. Iggy (14) is tall and blind, but a better cook then the others.

Gasman (8) has digestive problems and is actually blood related to Angel. Max has taken over the responsibility of watching over the other five bird kids. Jeb Batchelder had taken care of them at first, but he disappeared and they assume that he is dead. Max (the oldest) and her family of bird kids live alone in a house on a cliff.

She flies into the sun to prevent the Erasers from shooting her out of the sky. She lets herself fall off and down before opening her wings. Max is running through the woods being chased by Erasers when she comes to a cliff. They grew up in The School (a science lab they consider a prison) which was guarded by vicious Erasers (part human, part wolf men that can transform into beastly creatures). Max and her family (Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel) are only 98% human.

The angel experiment book