Disclaimer: I don't own Boy Meets World.


Chapter 8

"We can't keep hiding out in this cave or running forever," Alan said quietly. Neither Amy nor John argued with that. They stood just outside the cave entrance so they could still keep an eye on the kids while having a private conversation, which the cave's acoustics made near impossible when inside it. "If we do, it's only a matter of time before we run into them or drive ourselves crazy."

"Not that I'm disagreeing with you, because I'm not, but what other options do we even have?" Amy asked. "At least this buys us some time and we're safe."

"But for how long?"

Amy shook her head and shrugged.

John stared past him into the cave. Alan looked back to follow his stare. Nothing seemed to be wrong. The kids were all there and accounted for, all sitting huddled together talking or playing another game or something. He turned back to his wife and his friend. John's gaze had turned thoughtful.

"What about Dani's suggestion—about finding the boat and using the radio? It could work," John said.

He had thought about that, but there were so many things that could go wrong. If he were honest with himself, that idea terrified him, but Amy was right. They didn't have many options.

"What if we get caught? What then? Because you know that could happen if we go through with that idea," Amy said.

He saw his own fear mirrored in her eyes. He looked down. "That could happen no matter what we do."

"It's a risk. We all know that," John said. "But if we pull this off, we can get help and get off this island. Then the people looking for us won't be a problem anymore. If we stay here, this is our lives from now on. I, for one, would rather take the risk."

He nodded in response before he even realized he agreed with John. Alan didn't like the idea at all, but it was the best option they had.

"We don't even know that they are still looking for her. From what I understand, the last they saw of Dani, she went over a waterfall. For all we know, they've given up and just assumed she's . . . gone," Amy said.

He wanted to believe that was the case. He really did. With as determined as they seemed to find her when they were searching downriver, though, they were bound to realize she was still alive when they couldn't find a body. "We also don't know that they're not," he said finally. The silence dragged on after that. He knew if his wife had any more arguments, they would have come out by then. "We should go talk to the kids."

He didn't wait for a response before turning to go back in the cave. Topanga was the first to look up at them. Her expression turned from amused to worried as soon as she did. It wasn't long before he and the other adults had the kids' full attention.

"We're going to look for the Wilsons' boat," he said. The expressions that greeted that news ranged from excited to scared. Dani's was unreadable.

"I thought you said that was too dangerous—that we might run into . . . them," Topanga said.

"It is and we might, but we run that risk no matter what we do." Alan resisted the urge to rub his eyes. He had to stay strong in front of the kids for their sake.

"When do we leave?" Eric asked.

He looked over at Amy and John briefly before looking back to the kids. "We haven't talked about that yet. We may not even all be going." He looked over at Dani and made sure to catch her gaze. "And you going by yourself is not even close to being an option." She looked away after a few moments. Everyone but John seemed to look between him and Dani in confusion. He ignored those looks. No one else needed to know.

"It would probably be better if only a few of us go," John said. Alan caught his glance over at Dani and figured it had something to do with their chat a couple nights ago. "I'll go."

"So will I," Alan said. He gave a slight shake of his head when it looked like Eric was about to volunteer. He was counting on him staying here to help out. "Amy, could you stay here with the kids?"

"No," she said.

"What?"

"You heard me." She had a challenging look in her eyes. "We've stuck together this long, and it is my opinion we should keep it that way."

"Honey, we can't all keep staying here."

"I'm not arguing that anymore. I'm saying we should all go—at least until we find the boat. You two can go off on your own then, if you think that's best, but until then . . . we're all going."

"I'm with mom on that one," Eric said.

All the kids nodded.

"We'd be better off traveling through the woods rather than on the beach, anyways," Dani said. "The beach is too open. They'd spot us a mile away if they're out that way. If we stay close to the edge of the forest, we'd still be able to see where the boat is and we'd have a better chance of hiding if necessary."

"Uh, yeah . . . what she said," Eric said.

Alan swallowed down the fear that threatened to bubble up. He almost wished he had seen combat when in the Navy. Better yet, too bad he wasn't the Navy Seal he used to tease Eric he had been. At least then he'd be better prepared to handle this. "Okay," he said. "We'll all go, but just until we find it."

Now they just needed to figure out when. Though Dani's idea of leaving in the middle of the night probably had more to do with her need to sneak away from the group than anything else, it seemed like a good idea in theory. Chances were those others wouldn't be walking around when it was dark, so there was less chance they would run into them. Even if they were out and about then, the dark would help to hide him and his family. That unfortunately went both ways, though. The others could find them before he and his family even realized they were coming. Then add in the fact that the dark would make finding the boat while staying hidden behind the tree line a lot more difficult.

There weren't any good options. That's what it really came down to.

Both Alan and John went to sleep early that evening and got up in the middle of the night to go out for a food and water run. They weren't as familiar with this part of the island, so it was slow going. It also didn't help that they chose to leave the flashlight, flares, and anything else that could help them see better in the dark behind. The last thing they wanted to do was attract unwanted attention. The unfamiliar chirps, howls, and other noises from nocturnal animals made for an eerie trip. Alan tried to push all his hopefully unwarranted fears brought on by his teenage obsession with horror movies away. Nature sounds aside, the two men travelled in silence.

Time seemed to lose all meaning while they wandered around. He couldn't help his mind wandering back to those first few days they spent here. This trek was eerily reminiscent of that. The only difference was that they were slightly more confident they would find what they needed. They had a few weeks' experience with living out in the wild to aid them now.

In the end, they did manage to find some water they were able to bottle and some berries and greens they knew were safe.

The trip back took a little longer, as they had to search for the clues they left themselves to help them find their way.

The sun was just beginning to rise by the time they made it back to the cave. They boiled all the water and rebottled it, packed most of the food away for their trip, then woke everyone else up to begin their search.

The nervous energy was palpable that morning. Alan did his best to hide his own worries about what they were getting ready to do and tried to give the kids something he hoped would pass as a reassuring smile.

Too soon, they were all packed up and ready to go. Alan led the group with Amy by his side. Cory and Topanga followed close behind. Every time he looked back, the couple was clinging to one another as much as they could while walking. Shawn, Morgan, and Dani followed behind them, with both of the older kids seemingly watching Morgan and Shawn sticking close by and keeping an eye on Dani, probably afraid she would run off again like she did the day of the waterfall incident. John and Eric both brought up the rear.

Alan kept his eyes and ears open and alert to everything around him. He hoped John was doing the same. The two of them had decided to split between the front and the back of the group in the hopes they'd be better prepared if something happened—better able to protect the kids if it came down to that.

Though pretty easy and almost natural at first, as the day wore on, Alan found his concentration level slipping. They were traveling at a slow, careful pace in hopes of not drawing attention and not tiring as easily. They'd be able to cover more ground before they had to take any breaks that way, but there was something about it that was hypnotizing. He was lulled into an almost false sense of security and indifference. He constantly fought against that feeling.

They all walked on in silence, too afraid they'd alert the others they were there if they even so much as whispered.

They managed to reach the edge of the forest sometime late in the morning or early afternoon, if he guessed how to tell time from the sun right. They stayed a short distance away from the tree line to avoid being seen by anyone on the beach, while still close enough to be able to see if there were any shipwrecked boats around.

"Hey, you okay?" Shawn whispered. After the silence they had been traveling in, that quiet question seemed alarmingly loud, given their situation.

"Uh . . . yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Dani said. She sounded distracted.

Alan looked behind him to see what was going on. Shawn was giving Dani a skeptical look, while Dani seemed to frantically be looking at everything around her. He looked ahead again. He really hoped she would open up to someone soon. The nerves were getting to all of them, but she obviously had other issues that were making it even worse.

They traveled on for a while longer at their slow, steady pace, before he could finally make out some white object on the beach. He squinted his eyes to try to see better. A smile spread on his face. They found it. He walked a little faster, still careful to make as little noise as possible.

"Wait," Dani's harsh whisper broke through the near silence.

He stopped and turned towards her. Everyone else did the same. She looked worried about something.

"Maybe we should wait till the middle of the night to finish this," she continued. "We know where it is now. It's not like it's going anywhere. There's less chance of anyone catching us then."

Despite thinking the same thing before, now that they were so close, he couldn't wait. He just wanted to get this over with so they could all get out of there. Not wanting to dismiss her concerns for nothing, though, he walked to the edge of the forest and looked around the beach by them and over by the boat. "There's no one here but us." He turned back to her.

"How do you know they're not hidden out of sight, just like us?"

Alan shared a look with his wife. That worry had crossed his mind as well, but it was nothing but paranoia. If those people had started looking for Dani again already, wouldn't they be moving and actually searching? Hiding out and waiting to see if she stumbled across them seemed a little counterproductive. He could understand her fear of running into them again—she had every right to be afraid—but now wasn't the time to change their minds about this.

"Honey," Amy began in a gentle, consoling tone aimed at Dani, "we're not going to let them get you."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I just think going for it right now would be a big mistake," Dani said.

Alan and Amy shared another concerned look.

Dani ran a hand through her hair and seemed to be going through an internal struggle about something. This lasted a matter of seconds before she looked over at Cory and Shawn. "You wanted to know how I knew where to find Morgan and all that other stuff I seemed to know before you guys? Well . . . ." For one rare unguarded moment, a look of complete insecurity crossed her face before she buried it behind an emotionless mask. She looked around at all of them, making eye contact unwaveringly. "I have unusually accurate instincts. They haven't led me wrong yet—I usually end up in more trouble when I ignore them—and right now, they're screaming at me that something isn't right here."

He didn't know what to think about that one.

"I thought you said your bad feeling before was just because you weren't dealing well with everything," Topanga said.

"Yeah, well I lied."

"For all we know, you could have been telling us the truth before and lying now because you're scared. I'm scared too, but more than anything, I want to go home. Besides, this was your idea."

Dani looked away from Topanga and met Alan's gaze head on. "I'm not suggesting we give up on the plan, just that we delay it."

Alan looked over at John and then his wife. "Honey, can you stay with the kids? John and I can keep going from here."

Amy looked over at Dani before looking back at him. "Good idea."

He was hoping she wouldn't fight him on this. He waited for John to catch up to him before turning to continue on. They didn't make it very far.

"If you're so sure it's safe to go right now—that nothing bad will happen—then let me go instead," Dani said. There was a steely edge to her voice. Alan could definitely understand where John got his 'G.I. Jane' nickname for her. "I mean, if we're the only ones here, what difference would it make who goes?"

Alan turned to face her. From the corner of his eye, he could see John do the same. "What difference it makes is that there's still a chance something bad could happen now, just like there would be any time we try this. You're staying here, and that's final," he said. He looked over towards Shawn, who stepped a little closer to Dani gave him a small nod. He and John left without another word.

Alan did his best to ignore the paranoia Dani's concerns made worse. Bad feelings were usually just that. She was scared like the rest of them. This was how it was coming out for her. That had to be all it was.

It didn't take long for them to get to the edge of the forest near the boat. He and John paused for the briefest of moments before leaving the relative comfort and hidden protection of the forest. There was very little land they had to cover before reaching it. The boat was almost fully beached, and the tree line on this part of the island drifted closer and closer to the water. It seemed to be a steady diagonal line until a short distance beyond the boat, where the forest formed an arc out to meet the ocean.

They boarded the small speedboat in no time. Alan made a beeline for the cockpit while John acted as lookout.

He found a radio by all of the various gauges on the dashboard. Thank God. He picked up the microphone and turned the dials to turn it on and hopefully find an active channel.

Please let this work.

He held the speaker button down. "This is Alan Matthews. My family and I went down in a plane crash several weeks ago and are stranded on an island somewhere off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Does anyone copy? Over." He felt a little ridiculous. Maybe he watched one too many army movies . . . or maybe some of his Navy basic training was coming back.

All that greeted the transmission was static. He adjusted the tuner dial and tried again.

"Uh, Alan," John said, with a hint of panic in his voice. "We've got company."

Alan looked up. He recognized the Wilsons and the men they came across in the woods before amongst a few others. All of them, except the Wilsons, were armed. The man leading the group was looking directly at him and John.

The only chance they had of getting away was if they ran the opposite direction from where the others were coming from. That was a slim chance at best and they'd be leading them right back to Amy and the kids. Alan could feel his breathing quicken as panic started to settle in. He looked over at John to find him looking as scared as he felt himself. Alan looked back to the approaching group. If he and John had to meet them, he didn't want to be trapped on this boat when they did. He dropped the microphone and climbed out, clasping John's shoulder briefly as he passed him. The younger man followed suit.

From behind them, the radio crackled to life. A voice came through. He couldn't make out what it said, but he didn't need to. He closed his eyes a moment. Damn it.

The two men stood side by side and waited. Alan's gaze landed on the Wilsons. He set his jaw. These were the people that ruined his life—that were still ruining his life, along with all of these others. It's because of them that he and his family were in this mess. He stood a little straighter. He may be scared out of his mind, but he would be damned if he gave any of them the satisfaction of seeing that.

The leader of the group looked to be slightly taller than him, with dark hair in what appeared to be a buzz cut and grey eyes. He vaguely recognized him from the other day. He was dressed in grey cargo pants and a dirty white t-shirt, with its sleeves cut off to show his muscular arms. He held his gun almost casually at his side. He stopped a short distance away from the two men while the others all gathered around him.

He seemed to look them over before squinting and looking up at the sky. "The sun's a bitch, isn't it?" He gestured up towards it with his gun. Alan's eyes followed the gun. In his peripheral vision, he caught the faintest hint of a smirk on the man's face. He apparently had noticed Alan's preoccupation—probably intended it. With a struggle, Alan shifted his gaze back to the man's face. "Such a beautiful place, but you can hardly enjoy it because of the heat. 'Tis a shame, that." He wiped his gun-hand across his brow. Alan's eyes focused on the gun again. The man's smirk grew. "Now, as I understand it, you have a young girl stuck here with you, who is supposedly pretty special from what I hear. You two gentlemen wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? Like maybe where she is?"

Alan couldn't have answered even if he wanted to. His mouth suddenly felt like it was made out of sandpaper.

"No?" The man mocked. "Pity."

There was a loud bang. Alan jumped.

The leader stood before him still, gun raised and pointed at Alan's chest, the man's finger on the trigger. Smoke tendrils rose up from the barrel.

Alan stood there in shock. It took a moment for what just happened to sink in. Why didn't he feel anything? Shouldn't there be pain? Maybe he was in shock. He knew he was in shock, but he should still feel something, right? He was just shot.

He swallowed hard.

He was just shot.

He slowly looked down, afraid of what he would see.

There was no blood—no wound from the bullet like there should have been. He raised his hands up to pat his chest, not believing what his eyes were seeing. Everything was normal. He was okay. How was he okay?

The man had fired the gun before Alan even realized it was aimed at him. What if he was wrong? What if the gun hadn't been aimed at him? The leader could have fired off a shot before pointing it at him.

John . . . .

He frantically glanced over at his friend. The younger man just looked really confused. He wasn't hurt either—just shocked.

More frantic looking around proved it was just the two of them, the Wilsons, and those others there.

Alan looked back at the man he thought had shot him. The other man looked surprised for a moment before a huge grin suddenly spread across his face. Somehow that wasn't a reassuring sight.

The man took a few quick strides over towards the boat. Alan and John took a few frantic steps back. That man bent down and ran his free hand over the side of the boat. He seemed to stall over one spot before moving his search down to the sand. Alan tried to see what had him so fascinated. His eyes widened when he saw it. He could just make out a small dent in the side of the ship. The other man pulled the bullet up out of the sand.

"Now tell me," the leader began, "how does a bullet change trajectory in midair like that—like . . . like magic?"

He couldn't really be suggesting . . . .

"She's close," Ellie Wilson said. If it were possible, her smile was even more demented than the leader's. "Dani," she yelled. "Get out here, you freak. We know you're there."

Alan resisted the urge to look back where he last saw his family. He hoped Dani listened to him and stayed put—or in the likely case she tried to come out here, the others held her back.

The leader advanced on him and John, raising his gun as he did. "We've got your friends here," he yelled. "It would be a shame if something happened to them."

"You're wasting your time." Alan cleared his throat to try to push his panic down. He went on with a stronger, clearer voice. "She's not here. It's just the two of us." He gestured to him and John.

"Of course, I've always been a huge fan of yelling at trees, so by all means keep going," John said. His usual sarcastic tone sounded strained.

The leader didn't look amused. Not taking his eyes off of them, he gestured his head back at his men behind him. "Search the area." All but the Wilsons and a few others scattered.

The seconds ticked by slowly while they waited. Alan didn't dare take his eyes off of their main captor. All traces of his smirk or other signs of amusement were gone, leaving behind the hard features of what he knew to be a dangerous man. The leader looked straight past him and John, presumably keeping his eyes out for his men and anyone they found.

He still hoped his family could get away somehow, but he knew it was a long shot. There weren't many places around to hide.

A triumphant gleam lit up in the leader's eyes suddenly that sent a jolt of fear through Alan's stomach even worse than when the gun went off before. He looked behind him to find those others bringing his family over. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. This couldn't be happening. It was a nightmare. A living, breathing nightmare that had suddenly become very real, and he couldn't escape from it.

His eyes locked with Amy's for a moment. He couldn't stare long before he had to look away. He swallowed hard. She shouldn't be here. Neither should the kids.

Amy clung to Morgan, shielding her from the others. Cory and Topanga mirrored her actions with each other. Eric and Shawn both stayed protectively by Dani. All of them looked terrified, except for Dani, whose expression remained carefully blank. The others were around them with their guns out and ready, herding his family along like they were cattle. A burst of anger flared through his fear at the sight.

It didn't take long for the group to reach them. They were even closer to here than he remembered.

The leader shifted his full attention over to the newly arrived group. "So which one of you is Dani?"

Everyone visibly tensed. Eric and Shawn attempted to keep Dani behind them, but she shouldered her way through and shrugged off any attempts they made to stop her.

Dani moved to stand in the middle ground between Amy and the rest of the kids and the leader, her posture stiff and eyes darting around before focusing in on the leader. Her blank expression was replaced by an all-out glare. "Congratulations. You've got your damn prize. Now, what the hell do you want?"

"From what I hear, you've got a gift—a special . . . talent, so to speak—that my friends and I need. You see, we've been searching for something we just can't get to. If what I've heard about you is true, you might just be able to pull it off—and from that little demonstration earlier . . . ." He gestured vaguely over towards Alan, the boat, and the bullet he dropped back in the sand. "I'm betting it is."

"What demonstration?"

"I tried to shoot that man." He gestured towards Alan again. "But the bullet missed him entirely and hit the side of the boat instead. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Dani raised an eyebrow. "Well, apparently you're a bad shot—so bad it's almost impressive, and not in a good way."

Alan's jaw nearly dropped in shock. What was she doing? This man already proved he was trigger-happy, and his gun-hand started fidgeting worryingly at her insult.

"Impressive indeed, since a shot like that from where I was standing is impossible," the man said.

"And you think I know something about how it happened? I was in the woods the entire time. What could I possibly know about it?"

"Maybe I can jog your memory." The man aimed his gun straight at Dani.

She raised her hands in a placating gesture. "I don't know what you want me to say. I don't know anything about any of this. There's nothing special about me. If it weren't for the Wilson's ruining it, I'd have a pretty boring life."

"Wrong answer." The man fired his gun at her feet. Sand sprayed up where it hit not even an inch away from her.

Alan jumped. He saw Amy pull Morgan even closer and hide their daughter's face in her shirt.

"Next time I won't miss." He brought the gun back up to point at her again. "Answer the question."

The glare never left Dani's face. If anything, it just intensified. She stared back at the man, this time keeping her mouth shut.

Alan's heart pounded in his chest. The leader seemed to be growing more and more impatient as the silence dragged on.

"Still no answer?" The leader mocked. "Going once . . . going twice . . . ." His finger started to tighten on the trigger.

Alan's heart leapt up in his throat.

The leader suddenly pulled his finger off the trigger and lowered it. "I guess I should have realized threatening a girl crazy enough to jump off a waterfall was pointless."

Alan let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"But are you so willing to risk his life?"

From beside him, Alan heard John let out a soft 'no' in protest. He looked over to see who the leader was aiming at now.

Shawn stood still, face pale and eyes wide, staring at the barrel.