All Along the Watchtower



'It's too dark' her mind thought as she raced through the woods 'has it

always been this dark?' She looked back as she ran expecting to see the

others, but she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. She

stopped, she couldn't leave without them. Her bare feet were torn from the

rough 'path' she had taken, 'When did my shoes fall off' she wondered. A

large gash across her stomach bled profusely and her head was killing her,

but if she left them here she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"Max? Maria? Isabel? ANYONE?!" she questioned of the darkness, but only a

quiet rustling answered her. 'Could that be one of them?' She wondered she

took a step closer to the rustling.
"Hello?" 'It could be anything calm down' she demanded of her rapidly

beating heart. She had never understood the fear that someone could hear

her heart beating before, but now it sounded like a drum.

"Is that..." she stopped herself feeling a sudden overwhelming fear creep

across her body. 'I should have kept quiet, there is no good thing that

rustles leaves at night' she scolded herself. She started to run again back

to where she came from but the thing lunged at her, it was a person. 'Or

not' she thought. It grabbed her feet tearing at her ankles and causing her

to fall on her face, she managed to get up and run back, in her confusion

and in the darkness she tripped again falling over something cold and wet.

Suddenly the light from the building she had narrowly escaped came back on.

She turned around in hopes of seeing what she tripped over. She looked down

to see Alex's motionless figure beneath her legs, he was covered in blood

and his eyes stared at the stars as if captivated by them.

"Alex?! Alex! No! Wake up please please please!" His eyes stayed frozen and

his body stiff on the ground. She shook him disturbed by how unreal he

felt, like wood, and when she touched his face it felt like ice. 'How long

has he been lying like this?' Suddenly strong arms grabbed her and lifted

her away from him.

"No! No we have to help him he's..." she screamed at the figure holding her.

She spun around to see a horrified Max holding her arms.

"Oh god!" he gasped seeing Alex, "Liz... Liz we have to go!" he stumbled over

his words his voice cracking; it no longer held the authority and strength

that had made him the leader.

"It was so cold..." she shuddered at her use of the word it for Alex, the

thought that Alex was gone rippled through her leaving her shaking. Max

spun her around and pulled her away from the body.

"We can't leave him here like this" her voice barely above a whisper. But

before she could stop him Max had lifted her to her feet and was leading

her back into the woods by her wrist. They ran her following him blindly

until they were deep enough in the woods and then they sunk into the

darkness.

"You can heal him Max! You have to"

"Liz you said it yourself, it... he's cold, it's too late" His voice sounded

defeated, Liz began to stand up but Max pulled her back down.

"What are you doing Liz? We can't go back there it's not safe."

"I have to go back for him Max, he would've gone back for me!" Tears

streaming down her cheeks now.

"Liz..." Max tried to reason with her.

"And I'm not so sure that it's any safer here" she said softly, touching

her now bleeding ankle.

"What do you mean?" he searched her face.

"I mean that something has been following us since the second we entered

these woods." She said looking off in the direction of the thing that had

chased her.

"Please Max I can't just leave him here, let these woods become his grave.

He deserves better then that."

"Liz there is nothing I can do" he choked the words out as if they had been

gagging him.

"How long was he lying there" Liz's voice now distant and emotionless.

"All I know is that he never made it inside." He stared at the ground now.

"I should have been watching him; I should have made sure..."

"Liz this is not your fault and we do not have time for this" He lifted her

up again.

"What about the others?" her face blank.

"Michael and Maria were a head of me, Tess should still be keeping watch,

and Isabel..."

"Does she know," She said cutting him off "about Alex?"

"No, now please Liz we have to get out of here before..."

"Before we die too" her features twisted in a strange sad smile.

"Yes." He said before grabbing her arm again and dragging her behind him as

he ran. When they reached the road the trees no longer obstructing the soft

moonlight Liz caught a glimpse of Tess sitting in the Jeep.

"Max, Liz! Come on we have to go!" Tess whispered so only they could hear

her from across the road.

"The others?" Max questioned

"Michael, Isabel and Maria took the Jetta twenty minutes ago, what took you

guys so long?" Max opened his mouth about to speak but Liz beat him to it

"Alex is dead." Liz stated bluntly

"What?" Tess gasped in horror.

"We have to get out of here first, come on" Max pushed Liz into the Jeep

and turned the ignition. "I'll tell you and the others everything when we

get to the Pod chamber." He said before peeling away from their parking

space in the dark cold woods.

They drove in silence, Tess staring at her hands, Max never looking up

from the road ahead of him, and Liz staring into the darkness surrounding

her. The headlights a dim reminder that they were going somewhere, that

they did have some sort of goal aside from wasting time. When they finally

pulled up next to Maria's Jetta in the shadowy desert a disconcerting

feeling settled over them. They entered the pod chamber to find four scared

faces, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Kyle all confused and frightened

searching for answers. Isabel spoke up first the concern in her voice

overwhelming.

"Where's Alex?"