X5

Introduction

It was cold. It was so cold that his hands were aching and that his teeth were chattering, and he couldn't feel his feet. Mulder walked slowly hiding behind as many trees as he could in the dense forest, and dodging any light or space which might let him be seen. The facility must be further on somewhere, it had to be close.

He'd been prepared when he'd been told by the lone gunmen that there was evidence of alien activity in Russia and he knew that he shouldn't have left Washington without giving any notice, but nothing was going to stop him. They had told him that they had been told by an insider that there was a Russian Government facility in South Russia holding evidence of extra-terrestrials and that it was hiding it in a secret location out of the public eye. They had also told him that it was heavily guarded, and had advised him not to go alone, but Mulder had refused. He wondered what Scully was doing and felt a stab of guilt when he realised how confused she was going to be to find him gone. Why hadn't he told her that he was going? Mulder slipped behind a tree and slid down to the ground. He put a hand into his coat and brought out his mobile phone and saw that he had a huge number of missed calls. He kicked himself for being so inconsiderate, but also knew that it was important that she didn't get too involved as it would risk her life, he was risking enough of his already. Mulder turned the phoned off ignoring Scully's calls and put it back into the coat. He should really get rid of it; if he got caught he would be searched. He wondered why he hadn't thrown it in his drawer along with his badge and wallet.

Moving further along into the forest Mulder saw that the trees were clearing and he took a deep breath and looked around him carefully, scanning the trees for any movement. They moved slowly with the wind and Mulder felt a sense of eeriness around him, he noticed that it was starting to get foggy, and the trees looked disfigured. Mulder stared at the trees and they seemed to be coming closer to him, and they started to move together in one movement. Their branches were leering towards him as if in a deep nightmare, and they seemed to almost touch him and they wanted him, they wanted to grab him… Mulder blinked and rubbed his eyes, then opened them again to see that the trees were dormant, and back to normal. He frowned with confusion and brought his hands up to his mouth and blew on them, trying to warm them up. He was so cold now that he couldn't feel his legs, and it was difficult to walk on numb feet. He stumbled forward and made it to the clearing. Suddenly he found himself looking out to a dense space. Mulder sighed and his breath came out in large wafts of moist steam and floated up into the air. The fog was getting heavier and after a few minutes the steam wasn't visible anymore as it merged within it. Mulder scanned the open space and looked down to see the outline of some large buildings. He also saw something moving, like a large truck. He realised that it was a long way down and taking a step back in shock, his eyes adjusted to show him that he was standing on the edge of a cliff with a sharp edge. Mulder looked around him again and saw that he couldn't see more than a few feet behind him. The fog seemed to be getting thicker nearer him than down at the bottom of the cliff. Mulder looked down at the buildings again and squinted as he tried to see anything else, and he saw a large wall surrounding them, it was very large and it must have been about two miles across. Mulder took a deep breath and lowered himself down to the ground and edged over to the ledge. He had found the facility, now all he had to do is get to it.

Mulder put his legs over the edge and reached into his backpack and found the large pair of army binoculars he had packed. He pulled them up to his eyes and squinted in the fog of which its moisture was stinging his eyes. He could see a little more in them, but not a lot, as the fog was starting to get even worse. Mulder looked around himself checking he wasn't being watched for the last time, and then put his binoculars back in his backpack. He reached into his coat as he remembered his phone and took it out. Mulder felt the cold creeping into his bones, and he started to shiver more violently than before. He congratulated himself that at least it wasn't snowing, but he had seen snow on top of the mountains as he had started to walk earlier. He looked up to see the mountains now and saw that he couldn't see them. Mulder stared at his phone for a moment sensing that it was his last chance of rescue if he needed it and contact with the FBI if he got into trouble. But he knew how much he would be hurt if they found out who he was, and he couldn't risk anything. Mulder sighed and shivered as he held the phone in his gloved hand. He switched it on for a moment and stared at the weak signal, as a last beacon on hope. His eyes were tired and they started to water with the cold wind blowing against them. Suddenly the phone started to ring and he jumped at the sound, nearly dropping the phone. Mulder stared at the screen and read 'Scully'. He felt his stomach tie up in knots as he read her name and felt a little warmer by the recognition of her. But he couldn't answer, not now. She had to wait. Mulder fought the urge to pick up the phone and hung the call up, then switched off his phone and threw it out in front of him and watched it disappear into the fog and down to the bottom.

He turned onto his front on the freezing ground and started to back down the cliff, digging his feet into holes where he found them. His fingers were so numb that he nearly lost his grip as he grabbed a large tuft of grass and ground. He clung onto it as hard as he could manage and began to shift himself down the side of the cliff, as carefully as he could.