CAMPSITE VAUGHAN
NEAR SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VIRGINIA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th, 2010
0300
"Okay, everyone in the van. Come on, move it, people. We've got to get to the ranger station. No—Jeff, you can go to the bathroom there, it's just six miles up the road. Come on, now!"
The boys hurried from their tents to the van, talking quietly amongst themselves. They were in their pajamas, some of them barefoot because no one told them to put their shoes on. Nine boys climbed into the van, buckled their seatbelts, and stared at Scully in the driver's seat, hoping for an explanation.
They were about to take off when they heard the unmistakable shrill sound of a safety whistle.
Scully's stomach plummeted. Oh, God, she thought. Please, Mulder, not again. Please watch over him, God. I don't think he can take much more.
She put the van in 'drive' and peeled out of the campground, speeding all the way to the ranger station.
INTO THE WOODS
NEAR SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VIRGINIA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th, 2010
0305
"Uncle Mulder! Uncle Mulder, oh God…this is bad, this is really bad…"
Mulder's vision was clearing, and he could see Matt kneeling over him, tears streaming down the boy's face. "Hey, Matt, it's okay," he said, his voice sounding a bit weak. He tried to sit up.
It was then that the pain hit him. He gasped and fell back onto the ground, his hand immediately coming up to the source of the pain at his side. He ended up clamping his hand over Matt's. The boy was already trying to staunch the blood flow.
"What happened?" Mulder asked, his voice strained. This wasn't good, but this wasn't nearly as bad as Matt probably thought it was. He hurt, that was for damn sure, but he didn't feel the familiar symptoms of being seriously shot. He was no longer dizzy. He didn't feel like his head was swimming. He could think clearly. The pain wasn't as intense as it could have been. He was convinced whatever had happened, he was going to be okay in a few minutes when he got his bearings.
"You…you fired on that thing, and I think your bullet must've bounced back off of it and hit you, and…now you're really hurt and I don't know what to do…Uncle Mulder, please don't die!" Matt cried.
"Hey, hey, shhh, it's okay Matty. Calm down, it's okay—I'm gonna be okay. It's not that bad. I think it was just a graze. Here, I'm gonna sit up. It's gonna be okay, just calm down." The cylinder was still behind them, and Mulder glanced at Peter over by the tree. His eyes were closed and he was motionless. The boy had passed out at the sight of Mulder going down, no doubt.
The agent grunted at the movement, the pain bringing him right back to that torture room where he was held. He couldn't afford those thoughts right now, he told himself. He had to stay focused. Matt was hysterical and needed to see that he was going to be okay.
He took a look at his own wound at his left side. It wasn't a graze, but it had missed all the vital organs. He figured he had a few hours before he passed out from the gunshot, and surely the rescue team would be here by then. He thought after Matt blew the whistle, Scully would've heard it and gone to the ranger station to bring backup. He could afford to expend a little energy now.
"Help me up, okay?" Mulder asked Matt, and Matt sniffed, extended his hand, and helped Mulder to his feet. He was wobbly for a moment, but got his bearings and took a look at the cylinder. "Okay, so shooting it's out," he said in jest, but Matt didn't laugh. The boy could see the sweat on Mulder's forehead and knew his uncle was hurt. He was nearly scared stiff.
"Matt, I need your head in the game. If we're gonna get Joel out of there, I need to know what you saw when I shot it. What happened?"
"Well…it kinda…" Matt looked back at the vessel for a moment, trying to clear his head and think. "It like shifted, so you could see its insides."
Mulder nodded eagerly. "What did you see? What was inside? Did you see Joel?"
Matt shook his head. "No, I couldn't see it for that long. But it stopped making that noise."
"I noticed that," Mulder commented, and walked slowly over to the cylinder.
"Be careful!" Matt implored him.
"It's okay, Matt, I'm not going to touch it. I just want to look at it…"
When Mulder got closer, it started whirring again and he stepped back as quickly as he could. His movements were slow and painful, and he gripped his side and bent over slightly. Matt was at his side immediately, giving him some support.
The cylinder started rising in the air again, and Mulder realized that it could take off with Joel and there was nothing he could do about it. His heartbeat quickened and he remembered the faces of the innocents he had killed with the Bari Trasadi.
Suddenly, as the cylinder reached a height of about ten feet in the air, it stopped and the whirring increased in frequency. The light got brighter, so bright that Matt and Mulder had to cover their eyes. Three bright beams shot out of the thing, two of which were aimed directly at Peter and Mulder.
RANGER STATION/ RESCUE HELICOPTER
NEAR SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VIRGINIA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th, 2010
0315
"—Listen to Ranger Halburg, get some sleep if you can. When we get back, we'll have your friends and Agent Mulder with us," Scully finished her instructions for the kids.
"Be careful," Trevor told her, and she gave him a reassuring smile as she turned and left the kids in the ranger station. She entered the tiny surveillance chopper, put her headset on, and asked the pilot, "Is this gonna have enough room for four extra people?"
"We can squeeze six in if we have to," the man said with a heavy Louisiana accent. Scully absently wondered how he had ended up in these parts. "People can always sit on each other's laps."
This was the best they could do on such short notice, so she wasn't going to complain. But she couldn't help but wonder what would happen should one of the boys or Mulder be injured.
They lifted off into the air, and they both immediately noticed the bright glowing light emanating from the trees. "What the hell?" the pilot muttered.
Scully ordered, "There—that's it. That's where they'll be."
"How do you know? We don't even know what that is," the pilot argued.
"It's an unexplained glowing object in the woods—trust me, my partner will have found it," Scully said dryly, and when he didn't respond, she yelled, "Go!"
"Okay, okay, we'll start lookin' there, I guess. Sheesh. Yankees." With that, he unpredictably hit a button on the control panel and the '80s song Danger Zone started playing at top volume.
INTO THE WOODS
NEAR SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VIRGINIA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th, 2010
0315
It was like something out of the Twilight Zone, or Star Trek. Mulder was enveloped in a bright white light, and he suddenly felt at peace. The pain was gone from his side, and he felt intense awe and wonder at what was going on around him. Whoever was behind the beam, he believed strongly, was more than friendly. They were downright benevolent.
Matt had a similar experience, as did Peter. And while this was going on, and all of them were mesmerized by the great white light, Joel was lowered out of the cylinder and placed gently in a sitting position on the ground below. The four of them simultaneously heard a woman's voice speak in their heads.
We mean you no harm. Go in peace, it said, and then just as soon as it started, it was gone. The lights retracted from the cylinder whilst it whirred even louder now. It ascended into the sky, and took off at top speed.
Mulder and Matt looked at each other, a dumbfounded expression on their faces. Matt's eyes fell to Mulder's side and his own hands, where there was no longer any blood. Mulder's shirt wasn't even torn—there was no wound at all.
They didn't have time to reflect on what had happened, though, because Joel and Peter both stood up, dazed expressions on their faces. And they could hear the sound of a chopper getting closer.
RANGER STATION
NEAR SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VIRGINIA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th, 2010
0400
"You didn't get any pictures?"
"How big was it? Was it like Avatar?"
"Did you see any aliens?"
"What was it like inside? Did you go inside?"
A slew of questions flew at them as soon as they stepped off the crowded helicopter. Nine boys gathered around the tiny ranger station landing pad, and demanded answers. Meanwhile three Ranger Jeeps left the station to find the bodies Mulder had reported in.
When Scully had arrived at the UFO site and Matt gave her the entire story in one sentence, she had insisted upon examining Mulder. Somehow, and she had no idea how, the bullet wound was completely gone. The only marks on his torso were the scars that remained from the summer, and Mulder had happily declared it 'the most pleasant gunshot wound ever.'
Joel hadn't said much since the helicopter had landed at the site, and didn't speak at all during the ride back. Peter was similarly silent.
When they were back inside the ranger station, Scully took Joel into an office and began to take his statement.
Mulder listened from outside, the thin walls easily transmitting the sound of the boy's voice.
"The first thing I remember is the bright light…I had to walk toward it. I just…had to," he implored.
Mulder saw Matt coming and stood up. Before walking away from the door, he heard Joel state, "They weren't evil. It wasn't like the movies. They were nice…they said I had a special kind of blood. They said they just wanted to take my blood and then they'd let me go."
"Uncle Mulder," Matt said, "what's the plan for the camping trip?"
Mulder chuckled. Matt was so much like Scully. Things happened, he dealt with them, and then he moved on. "I think we might postpone it until we figure out what happened to those two hikers we found."
He seemed visibly disappointed at the news. "But…maybe we should just move to another camp site."
"Listen, sport, you've gotten next to no sleep tonight. How are you going to go on a science hike tomorrow with just two hours of sleep?"
Matt shrugged, but he clearly understood the logic.
"Listen, if the school doesn't give you another Friday off, I'll pick you up one Friday night and the two of us can go out camping closer to DC. That way we won't have a long drive and you'll be back for school on Monday."
The boy grinned. "That sounds like a great plan."
Mulder nodded. "So are you doing okay? I'm sorry I scared you back there."
He shrugged. "I'm fine," he said immediately.
Oooh, yes. Mini-Scully. Mulder clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a friendly shake. "You did a great job, Matt. You were a real survivalist. I wouldn't have changed anything if I was in your place."
Matt beamed at the praise.
"Why don't you go tell your friends that we'll head back to the campsite soon and pack everything up. Tell them they can sleep on the way back."
"Okay," Matt said, and turned to walk away. Before he got too far, he added, "Thanks, Uncle Mulder."
Mulder smiled at the boy, and watched him go to his friends.