Here's the good stuff that I know some of you have been waiting along time for. Btw, the numerous "..." were intentional. Make sure you scroll down to know why. ;)
Alter-Charlie had agreed to take Walter and Astrid to Boston in secret, knowing that helping them accomplish their mission was the only way to get Walter to let the two of them to leave. And much of what Alter-Charlie said seemed to be truth. Many cities along the eastern section of the country had been damaged in the past several decades from war, but at the same time there was also much rebuilding. In one large section of New England there was a barren scorched land known as the Grey Desert. It use to house many refugee camps but so many of the refugees fell victim to mysterious deaths while in the camps that even the military was too scared to go into the area and find out what the hell was going on. Instead the entire area had been cut off from the country as uninhabitable.
In fact, for years, refugees would travel through the Grey Desert as a shortcut to more civilized areas. But none of them ever made it to the other side. The Grey Desert had now become a place where people would be lost forever.
They arrived at the still abandoned Harvard Campus. The trio went into the basement of the Kresge building. It was both a depressing and also nostalgic sight for Walter.
"I felt their presence," said Walter. "There was a time when I sensed them in this very lab while we were in our own. They couldn't have gotten far."
"When did you sense them?" asked Astrid.
"It was a week ago, don't you remember?"
Astrid couldn't believe it. Was Walter's memory that bad? Did he even have any idea what year this was?
"Found something," said Alter-Charlie. He picked up a dusty yellowed piece of paper that had been folded up. "It's got your name on it."
Walter rushed over to retrieve his note. "Give it here!!!"
He fumbled with the paper too overly excited as he opened it up.
Walter,
Olivia and I are okay. We're heading to New York to see if Nina Sharp --this version of Nina Sharp can help us get back.
You must know that William Bell here was the same man you used to work with. HE HAS NO ALTER. I know you don't want to believe me but it's the truth. He confessed that much before he died. He tried to have us killed and we barely escaped with our lives.
If we can't get any help from Nina then we will return here. Hopefully you will be waiting for us by then. Olivia is not doing so well and I don't know if she'll make it. If you get this, please WAIT FOR US! We're doing everything that we can to get back home to you --and I don't know how to say it---
I miss you, dad.
Hope to see you soon.
Love, Peter 92609
As Astrid took the note to read, Walter began to tear up.
"Walter?"
"We have to stay!" he said. "We have to stay and wait for them!"
"But Walter, didn't you read the date on this letter?"
"I know perfectly well how to read!" said Walter. "They're coming back. They said so!"
Astrid was getting extremely frustrated. Alter-Charlie was about to say something when Astrid stopped him "take it easy on him," she said. "Let's just say that this version of Walter is not all that stable up there."
Alter-Charlie gave her a look that said he got it. And then he asked, "Since there was no record of a Olivia Dunham or Peter Bishop being in New York, are there any other places you think they might be?"
"Just the Westwood Facility. I mean, they did bomb the place."
"I doubt they would still be there," said Alter-Charlie. "We cleaned out that area after Bell died. The land there's been completely flattened by now."
Astrid went over to Walter. "Walter, we can't stay here."
"But…they're coming."
"No. They're not, Walter. Trust me. They would've been back a long time ago…"
"It hasn't been that long…"
Astrid could no longer stand arguing with Walter on this.
"Well, there isn't much I can do anymore for the two of you," said Alter-Charlie. "I'm only stationed here on the East Coast for a few more weeks. I have family out in the country and I'd like to be able to get back to them. So you might wanna consider…"
"You say you have family out there, Agent Francis. I suppose you lack the sympathy of others who are looking for their family like I am. Downright shameful of you, Agent Francis. I have a right mind to…"
Walter stopped in mid-speech. "That's it," he said. He ripped open his book bag that had his research and pulled out an old tattered map.
"I think I know where to look for them."
"But we've looked everywhere, Walter."
"A father's intuition is NEVER wrong, Agent Farnsworth. Now the location is perhaps 3 or 5 hours away from here…" Walter's finger wandered over the New England section of his map. "Or was it over here?"
"Does this guy have any idea what he's talking about?" asked alter-Charlie.
"I don't think it matters now," said Astrid. "When it comes to Peter, you don't dare say 'no' to Walter Bishop."
***
Indeed, they didn't have a choice. Wherever Walter wanted to go, they had to go or otherwise Walter would keep the two of them trapped in this alternate reality.
"This is getting real close to the Grey Desert," said Alter-Charlie. "I hope he knows what he's doing."
"Yeah me too."
"Sorry, this is the furthest I can take you. You're on your own from here."
"It's alright," said Astrid. "Nice to see 'you' again, if you know what I mean."
Walter went up to alter-Charlie and also shook his hand. "Yes, thank you very much Agent Francis but we will do just fine. It is my job to protect this young lady here while we look for my son and I assure you she's in good hands."
Astrid was rolling her eyes inside her own head.
Alter-Charlie dropped them in an area that was somewhere in the range that Walter wanted to begin his search. Thankfully Astrid and Walter had weeks of rations, a special tent, protective wear and guns. But it was still going to be a difficult and heinous journey…
…especially with Walter Bishop around.
A few days into their journey, they came across an aging compound of factories and shacks and fences.
Astrid wanted to get closer to the place in the hopes of finding information. But Walter demanded that they headed through the forest.
"Why in the world would we want to get further AWAY from civilization?"
"I know my boy, dear Abby. He wouldn't mingle with such ruffians in a place like this."
"You sure about that?"
"Into the forest we go!" cheered Walter.
Despite the fact that Walter had his compass, GPS, and maps handy, Astrid did not trust what he was doing. None of this made any sense to her and it almost seemed like Walter was relying strictly on feeling… Never a good sign.
Over the course of days, turning into weeks, rations were running out and no progress was being made. Astrid was only semi-prepared for the idea that this would be a long-term hike for the two of them into unknown country. They climbed at least several large hills looking over the barren gray landscape. The sun never shined where they were and the only signs of civilization they would encounter was nothing than flattened rubble.
Soon, they could encounter fields of skeletons and corpses.
"Walter," said Astrid. "I think we're getting too deep into the Grey Desert."
"Nonsense, Atari. There's no such thing as a desert in New England."
Astrid paused when she heard something. It was very quick but it almost sounded like a faint scream or screech.
"I wonder—"
"SHH!" Astrid put a hand over Walter's mouth. After an intense minute there was silence again. She let go of Walter's mouth and he said "I wonder when we're having lunch."
A short while later, Astrid and Walter would stumble upon a rabbit.
"Would you mind if I kill it, Walter? We need to eat if we're gonna keep looking."
Walter looked around and then said "well, I don't see Gene here so I'm sure we can keep this between you and me. Our little secret."
Astrid pointed her gun at the rabbit. She closed her eyes when she fired.
"Damn," she muttered the gunshot was loud and it echoed through the barren wasteland. Someone could've heard them.
The two waited in silence again. Luckily, she got the rabbit in that one shot.
After Walter tested the rabbit for any sort of Fringe-like chemical warfare…which he did which just about every tree they had encountered…Walter cooked the rabbit and the two sat down to their most decent meal in a very long time.
"There was once a week when I had to eat nothing but rabbits," said Walter. "Belly and I were doing an experiment on the muscle mass of various rabbits. When injected with a certain chemical, be it steroids or plain canola oil, we had to determine what would be the best kind of chemical to give to domestic rabbits in order to…"
Astrid was yawning and getting sleepy, even though it was still daytime. The dark skies made her incredibly sleepy though. A few rays would pierce their way through the clouds as they did now but only for a few hours a day.
Her senses became incredibly sharp since the two of them began wandering through the country.
'CRACK'
She immediately got up and pulled out her gun. "Put that fire out!" she ordered Walter. She got closer and closer to the direction she heard the crack. Soon she could hear what seemed like wheezing.
Walter followed her.
A few more paces later and they stopped.
"Who's there?"
The figure did not respond.
"Come out now or I shoot!"
The figure seemed to quickly respond to the threat and approached them.
Walter and Astrid stared into a small pair of very frightened green eyes.
They belonged to a boy…a very little boy. He shook as he stood facing the two adults, absolutely terrified. His form was both skinny and pale as a ghost only to be thickened by the winter gear that we wore. He then quickly took off his oversized black beanie to reveal a mess of dirty blonde hair.
Walter, in the same matter looked at the boy the same way he was looking at him…like two ghosts staring into each other.
Astrid lowered her gun and tucked it away. "Hey". Her voice changed to a sweeter tone. "It's okay. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I'm sorry."
The boy did not respond. He only looked at the pair very blankly.
"Are your parents around?"
The boy still said nothing.
"What's your name?"
Still nothing.
"Oh come on. Now I know you have a name."
The boy sucked in his lips and then pushed them out.
"R-r-r-robbie."
Walter then broke from his trance and approached the boy. "Oh as in Robert. Delightful name…same as my father's. But enough about me. You will be of great assistance to us."
"I doubt it, Walter," said Astrid. "He's just a kid. There's got to be other people around."
Walter addressed the boy again. "I am looking for two individuals. One of them is a man, a younger rather dashing version of myself, I might add. The other is his lady friend but between you and me I think it's a little more than that. Now I have pictures somewhere in my pockets. Assistance, please?"
"Excuse him." Astrid said Robbie. "We didn't really introduce ourselves. That man over there is Walter and my name is Astrid…and we could really use your…"
The boy's eyed had suddenly widened to saucers. He took several steps backwards.
"Robbie, what's wrong?"
For no explainable reason whatsoever, Robbie turned and dashed away.
"Hey! Come back!" cried Astrid. She ran after the boy only to quickly find it hopeless.
Robbie had completely disappeared.
"Great."
The air was getting colder all of the sudden and then a small rainfall began. Astrid grabbed Walter and dragged him back to their camp. "We better just stay in the tent for now."
As Astrid was rubbing her arms trying to stay warm, Walter was getting antsy. "Now that we have a full stomach of rabbit, we should consider continuing our search."
"You're crazy, Walter."
"How so?"
"You lead us into a strange place where there's no sign of life except for a little kid who was probably a ghost! Forgive me if I don't consider THAT crazy!"
"Now Ast—"
"It's Astrid! And I've had enough Walter! I don't care how powerful or insistent you are, but we can't do this anymore! We're nearly out of food and we're lost in the middle of nowhere! We have to accept things, Walter…" Astrid was about ready to break down. "I wanna go home."
Walter's face turned sour. "Shame that you should give up on your dear friends when they haven't been gone very long."
"Walter…they have been gone for very long. I mean jeez! What year do you think this is?!"
"Why 2009, of course."
Astrid froze. Seriously? After all this time, Walter thought it was…had he really lost it.
"You have no idea, do you?"
"An idea of what?"
Astrid placed her hands on Walter's shoulders and forced him to look at her. "Walter…it's NOT 2009. It hasn't been 2009 for a very…long…time."
"So it's 2010?"
Astrid shook her head. "Longer than that."
"December 2010?"
"Walter…," said Astrid. "It's Twenty-Fifteen."
"Twenty-Fifteen…military time…that would make it 8:15 in the evening."
"I mean, it's the YEAR 2015."
For a brief moment, it all began coming back to Walter. He had been so distraught from the separation of his son that time never moved for him. He was still living in the very moment he watched his son disappear from him. It was all he ever thought about this whole time.
"Peter and Olivia have been gone for over six years."
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Robbie knew he was in big trouble…now far worse than anything home had to offer. He should've kept his mouth shut but he was scared to NOT listen to the strangers.
He was desperately trying to find his way home but sure enough, he was now completely lost.
He could only blame himself.
As the rain came, Robbie noticed a strange metal shelter standing amongst some old piles of bricks and stone. It was an old car but he had never seen one before. He got into the back seat and curled himself in beneath…listening to the pattering of raindrops striking his metal shelter as he cried.
The rain had only lasted 5 minutes yet Robbie remained where he was.
Soon there were footsteps and a voice that sounded very urgent and desperate.
"Robbie?"
The boy could only assume whom that voice belonged to.
"Robbie, where are you?"
The voice was female. Even when she sounded very upset as she was now, she still carried a soothing tone in her call…one that Robbie had been deeply attached to.
"Robbie, please!"
When Robbie realized that the woman calling out for him was about to cry, he cautiously peeked his head out of the car. The woman turned to see Robbie stepping out and facing her.
"…Hi, mom."
His mother instantly dropped her cane and ran to her son wrapping her frail pale arms around her very tightly. "Oh…thank god, you're alright."
"You came to look for me?" he asked.
She smiled. "Of course I did…I'm your mother!"
"I'm sorry I ran away. Are you mad at me?"
Weakly, the mother shook her head and smile. "No…it doesn't matter anymore. I'm just glad I found you. I was so scared when I heard that gunshot."
Robbie began to shake. "I heard it, too."
"Did you see anyone?" his mother asked. "Did you talk to anyone?"
The boy looked down and shook his head, too scared to be truthful to his mom. It was a cardinal rule that he was not to approach or speak to strangers by himself and he broke both rules.
The strangers even knew his name now.
"I wanna go home now, mom."
Robbie looked up. His mother had been sickly looking for as long as he could remember. Her features were a bit lifeless compared to his own. Yet beyond it all, she still had a warm gentle smile it was one of the few things that brought him any sort of comfort in his scary young life.
"Okay," she said. Robbie ran over and picked up his mother's cane to give back to her. She had difficulty navigating her frail legs through the rocky ground but assured her son she was fine.
Neither of them were even sure if they could get back to their home. They were in the Grey Desert after all. This was the farthest away from home either of them had ever traveled.
But the mother was confident and determined to get her son back to safety, even in her poor fragile state. She didn't mind limping through miles of nothingness and silence as long as her son remained by her side. She would even keep on hand on her cane while holding Robbie's hand in the other.
"Mom…" Robbie asked. "Why do we hide?"
"Because…" she explained. "It's very dangerous out here."
"Are there really other people out here?"
"Likely," she said. "But we can't trust any of them."
"Why not?"
"Because people are struggling to survive and when they're struggling, some people will do very bad things to others."
Robbie still didn't understand. "But why can't they look out for each other?"
"They might look after their families," she explained. "But not people they don't know…It wasn't always like this."
"Really?"
"Yes." His mother smiled. "Long before you were born, I used to be someone who looked after other people. They weren't my family…but they were someone else's. So I did everything I could to keep them safe."
"What would they call you?" he asked her, curious like he always was.
"Many things… Some of them would call me a hero…or a savior…or even their angel…" She smiled as she tucked the mess of her frizzled blonde hair behind her. "But to the people I would work with…they would just call me Agent Dunham."
