The lab was a lonely place as Scully threw herself back into work. She'd squirreled herself away in one of the smaller offices, determined not to become distracted by the presence of others. Back to square one with progress of the antivirus, time was running short. There had been reports coming in of higher numbers of infected areas. It was spreading, and fast.

Scully preferred to keep clear of such rumours. More deaths lay all the more heavily on her conscience and did no favours for her work.

She removed her glasses, laying them on the desk as she threw another pile of paperwork into the 'unhelpful' basket. Mulder had scavenged every x-file document related to the black oil, the colonists and the project they had on record. There had to be something that would stand out, something that she'd missed or overlooked; something that would help them to win the war and beat the virus.

She lay back in her chair taking in a deep breath. Her hand found its way to the cross on her neck. She fiddled with the small golden artefact that hung loose on its chain. It had been so long since she'd spoken to him. True to her customary form, she'd distanced herself from her faith when things had turned bad. It was her defence mechanism, her default when times got tough.

"Please" She whispered to the emptiness of the lab, "Give me a sign… anything that can help us"

She waited, praying for a response that would not come.

….

William cycled along the desolate streets. The front doors of a couple of the houses had large untidy crosses spray-painted in red. A small girl peered at him through the downstairs window in the big house on the corner. The girl had been in Alex's year at school, he'd remembered her from one of the birthday parties. She looked despondently from behind the silk curtains at him.

Will kept peddling as her eyes followed him the rest of the way down the street. He rolled over a page of the newspaper with his front wheel, the headline 'Outbreak of unknown origin' staring back at him.

As he pulled up towards the school gates he recognised the backpack of one of his friends loitering by the bus stop, the large yellow smiley face patch grinning at him from the other side of the road.

"Hey" He yelled swinging his leg off of the bike and rushing over.

Bobby jumped in shock, flicking the cigarette bud quickly onto the floor before turning around.

"Will?" He muttered in confusion, "Jesus, Will, they said you were dead, your whole family was bludgeoned to death…"

Bobby pulled him into a hug, "What the hell happened, man?"

"I took Alex and ran"

"Where have you been?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Will shook his head, he barely believed it himself.

"But, why didn't you go to the cops?"

"It's a long story, one I wouldn't know how to begin to explain"

Bobby raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, "It probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've heard recently"

The skateboard rolled from under Bobby's legs. William's skateboard, as he recognised it.

Bobby looked mortified, "When you disappeared, you left it at my place, I was just…"

"Don't worry about it" Will dismissed. At least his trusty skateboard had been put to use in his absence.

"What's happening here?" Will asked, remembering the red marked front doors.

"People are getting sick, they don't know why" Bobby scooped up the board in a swift movement, "Come on, I'll show you…"

They passed through the school gates, as far in as the crowd control men would allow. Ambulances parked in lines side by side, and the entrance to the building had been draped with biohazard curtains. Cars were abandoned in the near vicinity, and military personnel patrolled the outskirts, ushering people into orderly fashions.

"They closed the school a couple of days ago" Bobby explained, "A refugee centre opened up in the town hall to deal with the sick but it got overwhelmed, that's when they took over the school gymnasium too"

Will shook his head in disbelief, "There's so many of them…"

There were at least a handful of infected people that Will recognised; school friends, local tradesmen, even teachers all queuing waiting to be seen to by a doctor that would be able to do nothing for them.

"My Mom is in there…" Bobby muttered under his breath, "She got sick yesterday. I told her to stay home, it doesn't seem these places can do much to help… but she didn't want to stay at the house… said she was worried she'd infect me and my sister"

Will felt overwhelmingly guilty, "I didn't… I didn't think it would spread so quickly. Half the town's got to be in there… I thought we'd have more time"

"You know what this is?" Bobby interrogated, pulling his beanie out of his eyes.

A security man approached them, "You boys sick?"

The two shook their heads in unison.

"Then get the hell outta here, less you want that to change, don't you know this thing is outta control!"

The boys obliged promptly, double stepping until they'd passed the school gates once more.

"Hold up" Bobby pulled his face in close to Will's, "You're telling me you know what this thing is? You know what's happening to these people; what caused it?"

Another ambulance sped past them, its sirens blaring as it went.

"Yes" Will nodded, "I know what's going on, but you're not going to like the truth…"

"I'm all ears, dude"

"Good. It still sounds crazy to me, so it's going to be insane for someone who wasn't there"

A deafening sounds encased them, causing both Bobby and Will to throw their hands over their ears. It was a brutal reminder of the chaos back at the base. They were close, the aliens, sinisterly watching their victims with a cruel pleasure as one by one humanity began to fall.