Chapter 3
Liz and Max fight the current just enough to keep their heads above water, they let the water take them further downstream. Max is barely able to keep his head up, but he can't give up now. He is out of that nightmare and with Liz. That is all that matters. Liz see that the river is getting shallower and she reaches for Max as they are finally able to stand up. As they climb out of the water, Max collapses on the ground.
"Can you make it? Please Max we have to keep going." Liz begs.
"I can. I promise. Which way?" Max says, exhausted and still shivering, but no longer willing to give up. He reaches and grabs Liz's hand.
"This way. I think I see somewhere we can hide." Liz says as she pulls Max back to his feet.
They make their way down the side of the embankment and Liz sees that there is a junk yard of sorts on the side of the river. She starts to climb the embankment and helps Max as much as she can.
"We have to hide." Liz says as they enter the junk yard. She sees a delivery truck on its side, and hopes it will be safe enough for now. "Come on Max, Let's go in here." Liz says as she pulls Max towards it. " I think we will be safe in here. They don't know how far down the river we got" Liz helps Max sit down. He is still shivering and is white as a ghost. The shivering is getting worse. Liz squats down and rubs his arms, but knows that she has to find something to get him warm. A fire is out of the question, so she has to come up with something else. Liz starts to stand to see what she can find. Max grabs her hand like it is the only thing keeping him here.
"Wait, don't leave me. Please" Max begs, with every bit of strength he has.
"I'm not. I promise, I just have to find something, some blankets, something to get you dried off and warm. I'm not losing you after what you went through." Liz reassures Max.
"OK, just be careful" Max concedes.
Liz slips back out of the truck and crosses the yard carefully. She sees a truck and looks in the window. She sees a couple of blankets. She opens the door carefully and grabs them. As she climbs back into the van, she sees more blankets in the van. She grabs all of them and lays a couple on the floor of the van and lays the others for them to cover themselves with. She turns to reach for Max as she squats down in front of him.
"Max you have to get out of this wet clothes." Liz starts to say, just as Max reaches up and grabs her. He pulls her down quickly and kisses her. Liz is kissing him back when she sees flashes from Max, flashes of some of the things that happened to Max. She sees the tank they keeping dunking him in filled with ice, she sees that electro shock treatments they made him endure, she sees the pictures of her bloodied face that they kept showing him, she hears his screams and cries, she feels his fear that he would never see her or anyone else that he loved again, she feels his pain, she sees them cutting his chest open and him beg for them to stop. She feels and sees it all. Every last painful and terrifying memory. She gasps from the shock of it all. Max bows his head in shame. He just knows that Liz will never look at him the same way again. She has to be ashamed and disgusted with him, he just knows it. But Liz feels nothing even close.
"Oh Max..." Liz whispers as she throws her arms around his neck, not understanding how she could be holding him after he had been through all of that.