It had been maybe two days at the most since the girls had arrived, and things weren't getting any better. Lizard had beaten the hell out of Alison twice and threatened Sarah uncountable times. He seemed to favor Sarah over Alison, probably because she didn't try to start anything or argue. Alison, however, decided to yell at him and even tried punching him once, which nearly resulted in a broken arm. After that she didn't really fight back.

It was dark outside and Sarah was curled up on the old couch with her sister underneath a blanket. Lizard was inside, watching them closely. Suddenly his radio became alive with static, and the chilling voice they had heard before – the one that belonged to Goggle – rang through the room. "Car comin' through. Two people; man an' a woman. You wan' 'er?" the eerie voice asked.

"No. Kill 'em both," Lizard replied, sounding annoyed.

"Can't do it alone," Goggle said, getting irritated. Lizard grumbled and got up.

"You two try leavin' and you'll wish you were never born, got it?" The girls nodded and he clicked his walkie talkie on, "I'll be there in a few." He walked out the door, leaving the two frightened girls alone. After about an hour, the girls had gotten very tired, but they couldn't sleep yet, not with the chance of getting killed by some mutant, or Lizard. Alison was glad he was gone, while Sarah was almost kind of wishing he stayed. At least when he was there they knew that they weren't going to be eaten by some other much more evil mutant…

There was a knock on the door.

Sarah and Alison huddled together under the covers, hoping that it was just Lizard, but they both knew it wasn't. Why would Lizard be knocking on his own door? The door swung open, letting a gust of warm summer air inside. Who ever it was, it definitely wasn't Lizard. Their footsteps were heavy as they walked through the house, not even noticing the girls. "Lizard?" he called out; his voice was barely understandable and he sounded almost childish. He called a few more times before leaving, slamming the door behind him. They waited a while before revealing themselves and looking around. The only thing different about the room was… the bloody ax that was sitting at the doorway. They began to panic and suddenly the door was flung open once again to reveal Lizard looking tired. The girls hid under the covers again, hoping to avoid being seen so that he would just leave them alone. He stopped and looked at his feet to see the ax. He suddenly began looking around, picking up the ax as he walked.

"Pluto?" he yelled angrily. He looked around before noticing the girls under the blankets. He put the ax down and scowled, "Anybody come in here?"

Sarah nodded. Lizard made a face and walked to the door, putting the ax outside. He sat on his bed and sighed. Sarah could tell he was tired and probably needed sleep, which would give them the perfect opportunity to run. If there wasn't anybody outside, that is. The girls waited until he fell asleep before getting up and walking to the door quietly. Sarah creaked the door open just a bit to see outside. Nobody was out in the open so she motioned for Alison to come along. Suddenly Alison was pushed against the wall, Lizard's hand around her neck.

"Thinking of running, are ya?" he growled.

"Let us leave!" Alison squeaked.

"Go ahead," he said as he released her, "I want to see how far you make it before somebody else finds ya." Alison stared at him, incredibly afraid. Sarah looked up and frowned. She knew that what he was saying made sense; if they left they would probably just end up worse. Of course, for the rest of the night Lizard never once took his eyes off the girls. He was intent on keeping them a secret; he knew if anybody found them they would just kill them and then he would be in hell for keeping them, he was sure. His Papa always got angry at him if he tried to keep an intended victim.

Eventually Alison fell asleep, but Sarah stayed up, watching Lizard. She was guessing he wouldn't kill them tonight; they had already been there for two nights now and he hadn't tried anything. He began to doze off in his chair. "You look tired," Sarah said quietly when he opened his eyes. Sarah knew she wouldn't be able to fight him if she had to like her sister could, so she did the next best thing and tried to get on his good side. From the time she had spent here, she could tell that he liked her more than he liked her sister, which was kind of relieving but worrying at the same time. If Alison did something wrong, what if he just decided to kill her?

Lizard looked at Sarah questioningly. "Sorry," she said quietly, though she wasn't sure of what she was sorry for. She curled up and went to sleep. Just before darkness took over her, she heard the door open, but before she could react she was fast asleep. She woke up because there was yelling.

"Don't touch 'er!" she heard Lizard yell, followed by a thump that sounded like a fist hitting something soft, followed by a few more thumps and grumbling.

She opened her eyes and looked around. There was a large man backing away from Lizard, who looked very angry. Alison was huddled up in blankets looking afraid.

The tall man covered his deformed face with his hands, trying to protect himself. "No, Lizard!" he said frantically as Lizard grabbed him and threw him to the ground.

"Get out!" Lizard yelled. Sarah was surprised at how protective he was of them. Alison pulled the blankets up farther as if protecting herself with them and Sarah watched as the large man stood up and ran out the door. Lizard slammed it shut and turned to Alison, who was shaking. "He touch you?" he asked angrily. Alison shook her head and Lizard sat down on his bed. They all eventually fell asleep.

The next day was interesting. Sarah woke up early, earlier than Lizard had, and got up. She looked around the house, investigating. She didn't really find much; his spike chain, a pistol and a bat, along with a few random items and clothes. She turned around to go back and bumped into Lizard. Her eyes widened and she stuttered.

"I… uh…"

"You what?" Lizard asked, slightly annoyed. Sarah looked back; Alison was still fast asleep. Her sister would not be able to save her if needed.

"I was just looking around…" she said quietly. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back into the bedroom where Alison was sleeping.

"You or yer stupid sister try leavin' here an' yer gonna hope ta God I find ya 'fore ya get too far, ya hear me?" he growled, and Sarah nodded quickly. With that he left, slamming the door behind him. The next few days Alison was nearly silent towards Lizard, having given up on fighting and arguing, and Sarah had tried speaking to him quite a few times, but only once or twice really got an answer out of him. Lizard hadn't been particularly kind to either of them and hope of leaving or even living much longer was quickly disappearing.

Today was different though. Alison had been looking out the window, staring at the endless sand and rough terrain, as well as the small patch of long grassy vegetation when a man came into view. He was dragging a young woman, probably only 20 years old behind him. She was bruised, bloody and naked. Alison had to look away and cover her mouth to keep herself from vomiting. She waited until the man was long gone before she ran out of the house, tears in her eyes. She needed to get out of this hell. Maybe she was really dead, and this was hell, the thought to herself. Her vision was blurry from tears and she was suddenly grabbed from behind. She spun around with her arms in front of her face, ready to protect herself when she saw Lizard standing there. He didn't look angry or irritated. He just stood there, an unreadable look on his face. He brought his hand up and she flinched, but he didn't hit her. He wiped the tears off of her face and brought her inside, and she wondered what had brought on the sudden change of heart. That night he slept on the couch, the girls sleeping in the bed, much more comfortable than the cramped little sofa.

Suddenly their chances looked just a little bit brighter.