Isabel was trapped in this small room with barely any light- the light bulb had flickered on and off for a while before finally giving up. The remaining light filtered in through her window from the hallway. The light didn't do much though- it was just as weak as the other one was. She felt sick- she didn't know where she was, but she knew it was bad. She wasn't alone though because she had seen Alex in the cell across from her while there was some decent light left. She felt good to know that she wasn't by herself. This place fit perfectly with the nightmares she had after she watching the Alien Autopsy documentary. She shivered from the thought. She figured that Max, Maria and Liz must be nearby too. At least Alex wasn't hurt- that was a good sign wasn't it? The truth was that she was terrified- she just wasn't prepared to let anyone see it... at least not now.
Deep inside she kept thinking if Max was alive. We're they hurting him? Were they experimenting him? Were they cutting him up? The thought was agonizing. She had failed her brother by letting him be captured once and here she was failing him again...the person she cared most about in the world.
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"What am I doing here? What do you want with me? I'm useless! Don't you understand? Why don't you just let me go home and... and I promise not to uh tell anyone about this place huh? It'll just be our little secret," said Maria out loud even though she doubted anyone was actually listening to her. Who was she kidding? She wasn't going to get out of here that easily. They had already killed Liz and Max. What was stopping them from killing Alex, Isabel and her? She sat on the floor dejectedly. She felt more hot tears roll down her face. Why couldn't she have seen this coming? Why didn't she save them?
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Liz hit the floor with her fist. "How could this have happened? How could I have let this happen?" hot tears stung her face. Max had managed to heal most of her before she- "before I killed him!" she yelled. This was too much. She had to get out of here. Maria and Alex couldn't be dead...could they? No, of course not! He was just lying to you. They weren't dead. They couldn't be...
She couldn't think about this. It was killing her inside. Her best friends...there was hope wasn't there? But hope doesn't last too long when you know you're responsible for what's going on.
She heard a slight thud coming from the back of her cell. She made her way to it- she wasn't imagining. Someone was pounding the wall. She wiped her face and began hitting the wall back trying to communicate with whomever was on the other side. After two minutes or so she knew that the person on the other side had heard her. She was glad- her knuckles were scratched, but she didn't care. She was going to find Isabel, Alex, Maria and even...Max alive.
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Alex was sprawled on the floor counting the cracks on the floor. "Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight" he sat up in frustration, "Grr, this is impossible!" He glanced over to Isabel's cell but it was still too dark to see her. At least he knew she was okay for the time being. He knew he should be scared to death but how could he when he had been here for over thee hours without any sign of life in this dump except for him and Isabel. He was so frustrated. At least when the light bulb was working he was communicating with her but now he was stuck here all along. And the problem was that being here all alone caused his mind to wander back to Liz and Max. He couldn't do that- it was pure torture. "Maybe this is what they do to all the people- alien and human. They lock them up for a day or two so that they go a little insane from the seclusion and then they're more than eager to go with they enemy. Note to self- when I get back, start writing a list for the Top Ten Ways to Drive a Teen Boy Locked up in a Cell Mad!"
"This is it! We're here," whispered Michael as he helped Tess out of the Jeep. She wasn't chickening out yet- at least not in front of Michael. He was scared enough.
He recognized the place- knew exactly where it was. How could they have been so stupid as to bring them back here? It just didn't make sense. If they were smart why didn't they just take them to another facility? When he and Tess had driven up here, both knew instantly that Max and Isabel were nearby- the alien thing again.
They made their way over to the hill that overlooked the facility. Daylight had already spread throughout the desert so the two had to be extremely careful not to be seen or caught. The place looked deserted- not a person in sight. There was a fence about 12 feet high that ran the course of the facility- "Good thing I wore sneakers" mouthed Tess. There was a power generator near an entrance to the facility. She could count two security cameras and pointed them out to Michael. He nodded and blew them up with his powers. It made a little popping sound. Where were the guards? After double-checking that no one was outside they made their way to the facility. Hastily they climbed the fence and were inside the perimeter.
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Max had just finished creating a small hole between his cell and that of Liz's. These walls were made up of very strong material and it had taken several minutes for him to open them up. He had to do it at the bottom of the wall so that if a guard walked by, he wouldn't be able the hole. He would just see Max or Liz lying on the floor as if they were asleep. Through the hole, they were able to talk to each other.
"I was so scared. I thought I had killed you."
"Don't think like that. I'm fine and I'm going to figure out a way to get us out of here, I promise."
"God, this is all my fault. I feel horrible. I delivered all of you here. I should have been able to prevent this...all of this. It's just that he made me so scared. He was going to kill everyone even my family if I said a word. I couldn't let that happen! I was so scared! I brought this upon all of you. I'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself, please! I need you to be strong."
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"Get up." ordered a guard as he woke Isabel up. Slowly she got up and followed him outside the room. Through the window, Alex saw the guard bring her outside the cell and saw another guard walking towards them with a gurney. He got up hoping that what he thought was going to happen wouldn't be true.
"What's this for?" asked Isabel nervously.
"Shut up and get on," the guard said.
"No! Are you crazy? I demand that you let me and my friends go!" she exclaimed trying to regain her composure.
"Aw for crying out loud! I don't have time for this!" The guard grabbed her and threw her onto the gurney. The other one strapped her arms and legs down. They gagged her ignoring her shouts.
"Isabel!!!" yelled Alex as she watched her disappear down two metal doors, "No!!"
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"What do they want with us? Why would the Skin deliver all of us back here?" asked Liz.
"I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. And the fact that he seems to be acting alone makes it all the more confusing.
She began crying, "Max, there's something I need to tell you."
Knowing what she was about to tell him, "Listen to me Liz! Don't believe it! Everything that guard said was a-" Just then, Max felt someone grab hold of his shirt and pull him up, "What the?"
"Max!" yelled Liz as she saw two guards grab hold of Max and pin him to the wall. He fought back trying to throw them off. One reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cloth. He held it over Max's face. Within seconds Max had stopped struggling. The guards dragged him out of the room, placed him on a gurney and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.
"Max!!!!!"
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"Stand behind those crates," Michael said as he took his position near the generator. He took a deep breath and concentrated all his energy on it. By blowing it up, power all over the compound would be out. Since there were no windows in the compound and electricity provided the only source of light inside, the two would have a better chance of not getting spotted. Since aliens naturally see better in darkness, he and Tess could make their way through the compound with less difficulty and find the others quickly. Within seconds, he heard the dying motor of the generator sputter and give up. The whir of electricity came to a halt. He looked over at Tess and they ran over to the big, metal door. She pressed her palms against it and unlocked it. She opened the door and the two of them made their way down the corridor.
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"Aah!" exclaimed Maria in surprise as the lights one by one turned off. "Oh, this is getting better by the minute! Now I have to be stuck here in the dark!" she muttered. A guard down the hall was yelling into his radio. "Who turned the lights off?" he asked angrily. Cursing, she heard his footsteps disappear down the corridor. "Whatever," Maria said as she sat back in the darkness.
"Maria? Hey is that you?" asked a voice Maria knew all to well.
In a hushed voice she answered back. "Michael? I'm over here- hurry!" she had never been so happy to hear his voice before. It was pitch dark but she could sense him nearby. She tapped the window to let him know where she was.
"Maria?" asked Tess.
"Tess? You're here too? Thank God! Where are you?"
"Doesn't matter, you wouldn't be able to see her anyway."
"Just get me out of here, Michael!" She heard her door unlock and open.
Michael turned on a flashlight and handed it to her. "I'm so glad to see you!" she whispered as she hugged him in relief.
"Same here," he said.
"Okay, you two- we still have four other people still stuck in here that we need to rescue before we can get all lovey-dovey and stuff," Tess reminded them.
Maria looked down at the floor. "Max and Liz," she forced herself to look them in the eyes, " they're dead." No one said a word.
Deep inside she kept thinking if Max was alive. We're they hurting him? Were they experimenting him? Were they cutting him up? The thought was agonizing. She had failed her brother by letting him be captured once and here she was failing him again...the person she cared most about in the world.
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"What am I doing here? What do you want with me? I'm useless! Don't you understand? Why don't you just let me go home and... and I promise not to uh tell anyone about this place huh? It'll just be our little secret," said Maria out loud even though she doubted anyone was actually listening to her. Who was she kidding? She wasn't going to get out of here that easily. They had already killed Liz and Max. What was stopping them from killing Alex, Isabel and her? She sat on the floor dejectedly. She felt more hot tears roll down her face. Why couldn't she have seen this coming? Why didn't she save them?
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Liz hit the floor with her fist. "How could this have happened? How could I have let this happen?" hot tears stung her face. Max had managed to heal most of her before she- "before I killed him!" she yelled. This was too much. She had to get out of here. Maria and Alex couldn't be dead...could they? No, of course not! He was just lying to you. They weren't dead. They couldn't be...
She couldn't think about this. It was killing her inside. Her best friends...there was hope wasn't there? But hope doesn't last too long when you know you're responsible for what's going on.
She heard a slight thud coming from the back of her cell. She made her way to it- she wasn't imagining. Someone was pounding the wall. She wiped her face and began hitting the wall back trying to communicate with whomever was on the other side. After two minutes or so she knew that the person on the other side had heard her. She was glad- her knuckles were scratched, but she didn't care. She was going to find Isabel, Alex, Maria and even...Max alive.
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Alex was sprawled on the floor counting the cracks on the floor. "Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight" he sat up in frustration, "Grr, this is impossible!" He glanced over to Isabel's cell but it was still too dark to see her. At least he knew she was okay for the time being. He knew he should be scared to death but how could he when he had been here for over thee hours without any sign of life in this dump except for him and Isabel. He was so frustrated. At least when the light bulb was working he was communicating with her but now he was stuck here all along. And the problem was that being here all alone caused his mind to wander back to Liz and Max. He couldn't do that- it was pure torture. "Maybe this is what they do to all the people- alien and human. They lock them up for a day or two so that they go a little insane from the seclusion and then they're more than eager to go with they enemy. Note to self- when I get back, start writing a list for the Top Ten Ways to Drive a Teen Boy Locked up in a Cell Mad!"
"This is it! We're here," whispered Michael as he helped Tess out of the Jeep. She wasn't chickening out yet- at least not in front of Michael. He was scared enough.
He recognized the place- knew exactly where it was. How could they have been so stupid as to bring them back here? It just didn't make sense. If they were smart why didn't they just take them to another facility? When he and Tess had driven up here, both knew instantly that Max and Isabel were nearby- the alien thing again.
They made their way over to the hill that overlooked the facility. Daylight had already spread throughout the desert so the two had to be extremely careful not to be seen or caught. The place looked deserted- not a person in sight. There was a fence about 12 feet high that ran the course of the facility- "Good thing I wore sneakers" mouthed Tess. There was a power generator near an entrance to the facility. She could count two security cameras and pointed them out to Michael. He nodded and blew them up with his powers. It made a little popping sound. Where were the guards? After double-checking that no one was outside they made their way to the facility. Hastily they climbed the fence and were inside the perimeter.
********************************************************
Max had just finished creating a small hole between his cell and that of Liz's. These walls were made up of very strong material and it had taken several minutes for him to open them up. He had to do it at the bottom of the wall so that if a guard walked by, he wouldn't be able the hole. He would just see Max or Liz lying on the floor as if they were asleep. Through the hole, they were able to talk to each other.
"I was so scared. I thought I had killed you."
"Don't think like that. I'm fine and I'm going to figure out a way to get us out of here, I promise."
"God, this is all my fault. I feel horrible. I delivered all of you here. I should have been able to prevent this...all of this. It's just that he made me so scared. He was going to kill everyone even my family if I said a word. I couldn't let that happen! I was so scared! I brought this upon all of you. I'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself, please! I need you to be strong."
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"Get up." ordered a guard as he woke Isabel up. Slowly she got up and followed him outside the room. Through the window, Alex saw the guard bring her outside the cell and saw another guard walking towards them with a gurney. He got up hoping that what he thought was going to happen wouldn't be true.
"What's this for?" asked Isabel nervously.
"Shut up and get on," the guard said.
"No! Are you crazy? I demand that you let me and my friends go!" she exclaimed trying to regain her composure.
"Aw for crying out loud! I don't have time for this!" The guard grabbed her and threw her onto the gurney. The other one strapped her arms and legs down. They gagged her ignoring her shouts.
"Isabel!!!" yelled Alex as she watched her disappear down two metal doors, "No!!"
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"What do they want with us? Why would the Skin deliver all of us back here?" asked Liz.
"I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. And the fact that he seems to be acting alone makes it all the more confusing.
She began crying, "Max, there's something I need to tell you."
Knowing what she was about to tell him, "Listen to me Liz! Don't believe it! Everything that guard said was a-" Just then, Max felt someone grab hold of his shirt and pull him up, "What the?"
"Max!" yelled Liz as she saw two guards grab hold of Max and pin him to the wall. He fought back trying to throw them off. One reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cloth. He held it over Max's face. Within seconds Max had stopped struggling. The guards dragged him out of the room, placed him on a gurney and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.
"Max!!!!!"
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"Stand behind those crates," Michael said as he took his position near the generator. He took a deep breath and concentrated all his energy on it. By blowing it up, power all over the compound would be out. Since there were no windows in the compound and electricity provided the only source of light inside, the two would have a better chance of not getting spotted. Since aliens naturally see better in darkness, he and Tess could make their way through the compound with less difficulty and find the others quickly. Within seconds, he heard the dying motor of the generator sputter and give up. The whir of electricity came to a halt. He looked over at Tess and they ran over to the big, metal door. She pressed her palms against it and unlocked it. She opened the door and the two of them made their way down the corridor.
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"Aah!" exclaimed Maria in surprise as the lights one by one turned off. "Oh, this is getting better by the minute! Now I have to be stuck here in the dark!" she muttered. A guard down the hall was yelling into his radio. "Who turned the lights off?" he asked angrily. Cursing, she heard his footsteps disappear down the corridor. "Whatever," Maria said as she sat back in the darkness.
"Maria? Hey is that you?" asked a voice Maria knew all to well.
In a hushed voice she answered back. "Michael? I'm over here- hurry!" she had never been so happy to hear his voice before. It was pitch dark but she could sense him nearby. She tapped the window to let him know where she was.
"Maria?" asked Tess.
"Tess? You're here too? Thank God! Where are you?"
"Doesn't matter, you wouldn't be able to see her anyway."
"Just get me out of here, Michael!" She heard her door unlock and open.
Michael turned on a flashlight and handed it to her. "I'm so glad to see you!" she whispered as she hugged him in relief.
"Same here," he said.
"Okay, you two- we still have four other people still stuck in here that we need to rescue before we can get all lovey-dovey and stuff," Tess reminded them.
Maria looked down at the floor. "Max and Liz," she forced herself to look them in the eyes, " they're dead." No one said a word.