Part 41.
Mulder, Scully and John charged down the path, trying to make as little noise as possible. From what John could see, and that wasn't very much, there had to be at least thirty people crashing through the forest next to them. John gauged that there were about fifteen Red Guns next to them because he could see fifteen lights bouncing through the trees and occasionally on a person. But because he was so far and the light was so horrible, he couldn't trust that number.
Occasionally they would hear the shout, "Move faster!" But that was it. No one spoke to each other. Apparently the prisoners had been ordered to keep silent or were too frightened to speak.
Suddenly a voice boomed, telling everyone to stop. Then there were some rustling sounds and then the sounds started to fade away.
Scully squinted into the darkness and whispered, "What are they doing?"
Mulder shook his head in frustration. "They're taking them deeper into the forest."
"We need to get off this path." John began to push the bushes away so he could get through them. Mulder reached out and grabbed his arm.
"We can't. We can't use our flashlights and we have no chance of finding them in this darkness."
Dammit!" John hissed through his teeth and began to pace. "We have to keep track of them somehow. They go any further east and we've lost them for good."
"Sir, we need to ask you for a favor."
John looked over at Scully and saw that she was whispering on her cell phone. Glancing at Mulder, he could see Mulder was just as clueless as to who Scully was talking to.
"We need you to send a helicopter over the Sierra Mountains, about twenty miles below Lake Tahoe. We need to know if they can identify lights moving through the trees."
Pause.
"Thank you Sir."
Scully clicked off her phone and said, "Skinner is going to contact the LAPD and they will send a helicopter over this area. He is going to tell them to look over any strange behavior in the campgrounds. If there are moving lights that don't resemble the headlights of a vehicle, they'll report them as well."
Mulder nodded, "Good thinking."
John nodded in agreement and blew out a long breathe. "So do we wait?"
"I don't see what else we can do right now." Scully looked at her watch. "It's three forty-five in the morning. Sunrise won't be until after six."
Just then, a tree behind them was almost blown to pieces as shots began to fire.
"Down!" Mulder and Scully dove into the bushes and John jumped behind a tree.
Boots crunching on gravel began to get closer and closer. Scully glanced up at John and he stared at her before he cast his eyes toward the path.
Just then three figures came into view. The agents couldn't see their faces in the darkness but they recognized one of them when he said, "Just an animal."
The other two Red Guns didn't say anything and they stood there for a few minutes. The agents held their breathe and remained frozen in spot.
"Hold fire. We don't need to draw any more suspicion than we already have." The Red Guns began to walk again and then turned into the forest.
Mulder jumped out of the bushes and helped Scully out.
John whispered, "Come on!" and the three agents ran to where the Red Guns had entered the forest.
"There they are!" Mulder began to walk around trees and the other two followed him.
"I can hear the bastard all the way over here!" John glared at Knowle Rohrer's back .
The agents spread out and kept pace with each other as they followed the three flashlights through the dense forest.
All of the sudden they could see light up ahead.
"And there was light at the end of the tunnel." Mulder grinned at his joke as he tried to get a better look at what lay ahead.
The three Red Guns had entered the clearing and walked up to what looked like a large shed. Red Guns guarded the entrances.
Standing at the edge of the forest, the agents counted at least a hundred people sitting on the ground outside the shed. They sat in darkness, the only lights were coming from the shed's open doors.
In the distance, a helicopter could be heard and the agents looked at each other. But the Red Guns ignored it and didn't glance up when it flew over. The helicopter didn't appear to see anything suspicious because it didn't turn on its search lights or come back for another fly over.
Mulder moved farther down and stood behind a bush and peered out. "I don't see Monica. What about you guys?"
John and Scully shook their heads.
John was so scared that is was too late that he wanted to punch something.
Just then Scully grabbed his arm and pointed.
A dark-haired woman stood off to the side of the prisoners. She was covered in blood and seemed to be favoring her right wrist. Two Red Guns were talking to her and she stood expressionless.
John leaned into the bush for a closer look and whispered to himself, "Monica…."
Part 42.
Monica stood still as she listened to Terrance Fisher and a nameless Red Gun talk to her.
Well, only half listened. Like hell was she going to force innocent people to walk to their deaths. Apparently the Red Guns had been building a 'death vault' out in Arizona and were going to begin mass murdering. Monica shivered at the thought.
The nameless Red Gun then grabbed her left arm and hauled her into the shed. The light was so bright she was blinded for a few seconds and blinked rapidly to focus on her surroundings. There was a metal table set up in the corner and two Red Guns were leaning on it as they talked.
Monica was marched to the table and, as she neared it, the two Red Guns jumped up and stood up straight and still as Terrance nodded to them and pushed Monica down into one of the chairs.
"Watch her." With that, Terrance turned around and went back outside. The two Red Guns relaxed and ignored her as they resumed talking. Monica never gave them a second thought as she scanned the room. There were about twenty Red Guns in the rather large shed. Way too many Red Guns to make an escape plan.
Agent Ryan walked in just then and headed toward her.
When he got right up to her chair, he kneeled down and 'her guards' moved away.
Looking into her eyes he said, "Don't forget what I said out there. You don't cooperate, your death won't be gentle. You help us and I guarantee you're death, when the time comes, will be quick and painless."
Monica glared and said softly, "I don't believe you."
"You don't think I'm capable of making your last days a living hell? Let me remind you that I am running this operation."
"I thought Knowle Rohrer was the mastermind?"
"He's useless. I'm in charge and these men will do what I say. I know how to be leader and one of the rules to being successful is doing things for yourself."
"So you were the one who broke into my apartment and wrote that little message and stole my files? Isn't that a little pathetic? Since you were my 'partner' and knew my every move. That must have been a piece of cake. Were you the one who called me in DC?"
Agent Ryan gave her a chilly smile and Monica looked away in disgust.
"Like I said, I've been studying you for awhile now. I knew what it would take to get you here."
"Why didn't you just drag me here in the first place? Why all the mystery?"
"More fun this way." Agent Ryan got up and Monica stared at his back. More fun?
Just as he lad left the shed, he reentered it again. There seemed to be some commotion and a few Red Guns were gathering by the door and were drawing guns from their holsters.
Straining to hear what they were saying, Monica scooted her chair toward them.
Knowle Rohrer entered and Monica didn't need to strain any more because he was almost shouting. "The vehicle appears to be empty. It's parked approximately ten miles due west.
Vehicle? Could it be? Monica had to get outside.
Before she could come up with some excuse, Monica was hauled out of the chair by a Red Gun and forced to move towards the doors.
Once outside, Monica scanned the trees. She couldn't see anything! It was still pitch dark and the light spilling out from the shed was hurting her eyes. She told herself to calm down and, still being held by the Red Gun, she adjusted her eyes and concentrated.
Nothing.
She was turned around and put in the back of the line of prisoners who were being gathered by the side of the shed. It was then when she saw a pair of brown eyes.
Mulder?
A figure was crouched behind a bush and staring at her. Monica almost cried out before being dragged down a trail that led away from the shed. Red Guns were running everywhere, barking out orders.
What to do? Monica felt panicked. Mulder…was John here? Did she have hope?
Just then she locked eyes with piercing blue eyes.
John.
He was standing behind a tree almost right in front of her.
"John?" Monica whispered and tears began to fall down her cheeks. He had found her.
The Red Gun stopped and Monica felt something strange happen inside herself.
Something began to cloud before her eyes and take over her thoughts. What was happening? Words began to come out of her mouth.
"All of you! Stay calm. You will be led to a place of peace. A place of power. You must follow your orders at once."
Oh God? Had she just said that? Her mouth…but not her words. Monica turned around and looked at Agent Ryan in horror. He smiled and said, "I always knew you would be a natural."
"Noooooooooooooooo! " Monica screamed and began to run. Agent Ryan was shocked.
She...she pushed it, the power, away? This wasn't suppose to happen! He raced after her, which wasn't hard because she had barely taken a step when something snapped in her chest and she screamed in agony as she collapsed.
John watched Monica fall and almost lunged out to catch her when Mulder's arm reached out and yanked John back behind the tree.
"Don't be stupid!"
John shrugged off his arm and crouched behind the tree. He wished so badly that he could just save her right then. But he knew that he'd never get her out alive. He had to wait.
John watched in horror as he saw Agent Ryan lean over and pick up Monica, who was still unconscious. He then began to walk with her in his arms as the march continued on.
Scully was a few feet away, staring as the Red Guns marched by with their prisoners.
She couldn't believe how many Red Guns there were. It seemed so odd that these Red Guns would want to march their prisoners, almost like Hitler. And where were they going? She looked over at John and Mulder in bewilderment. They were still staring at the backs of the last Red Guns walking down the trail. She could see their minds calculating their next move.
John closed his eyes as Mulder walked over to Scully. My God, Monica looked so weak and there was so much blood! And her voice was weak and raspy….as if she had been strangled. He wanted so bad to knock that fucking Red Gun aside and pick up Monica and carry her away from this hell. To soothe her hurts and comfort her. To tell her how much she means to him and…
"John." John opened his eyes at Scully's voice and walked over to them. Taking a deep breath he said, "Okay. So I guess we can officially say we're outnumbered here."
Mulder scanned the area and replied, "Looks like it. At least it won't be very hard to follow them. What I'm wondering is, how are they going to keep their little march secret when the sun comes up," Mulder checked his watch, "in almost two hours?"
"I don't think they have to worry about it." Scully walked down the path some and turned to look back at them. "This manipulation that they have control of…what if you're right? If they can get that many people to come willingly and then proceed to become prisoners, then they can obviously manipulate the minds of any witnesses that they come across."
"Now hold up." John stopped dead in his tracks and looked over at them. "Those people did not look like they were enjoying that march down this trail. They know they are prisoners. Just look at their faces! You saying they're still being manipulated?"
"Maybe it's only for a short amount of time that this 'control' works. So they have a weakness. Their power doesn't last."
Scully looked up at Mulder and wasn't quite sure of what to make of what he had just said. "So then we need to take advantage of this, and soon. Monica doesn't look like she will be able to go much farther. It's amazing she's still alive." Remembering John, she reached out and grasped his hand and squeezed it before letting go.
Aware she was trying to ease his agony, he gave her a strained smile. "Okay, so we follow them a bit? See where they might be going?"
"Looks like that's all we can do for now." All three began to walk down the trail at a fast pace and when they heard voices drifting from down the trail, they jumped into the trees and tried to wind their way around trees and bushes as they kept an eye on the last of the
Red Guns and prisoners.
Suddenly they heard a commotion come barreling down the trail behind them. John turned around, and through the trees, he could see a Red Gun jogging down the path.
"Well I'll be damned." John edged up to the trees beside the trail and stared at the Red Gun.
Making up his mind, John leaped out from behind the trees and knocked the Red Gun down. They rolled on the ground and struggled. Mulder and Scully ran out of the forest and stopped just in time to see John stab the Red Gun in the neck with a needle.
Dropping the body, John stood up. He was breathing hard and looked up to see Mulder and Scully gaping at him.
Mulder reached out and grasped the needle. "Where did you get this?"
"I…I don't remember. Wait, it was left in front of my motel room yesterday morning."
Scully glared at him. "And you didn't think to tell us?"
"Well…if I had known…I mean…damn, I'm sorry. It just slipped my mind until a moment ago, when I remembered that I had slipped it into my pocket."
John looked down at the body. "I think I have an idea."
Twirling the needle, Mulder looked from John to Scully and nodded. "I see where you're going with this Dog Man. But let's think about this for a moment. Someone's helping us. And it makes me really wonder who the driver of that Mercedes is."