Liz and Serena walked briskly toward the alley. Liz noticed the scaffolding that Serena installed remained in place, a possible indication that no extensive search of the area already took place.
"Remind me at some point to come pack up the rest of my gear," Serena remarked, "it'll save me the trouble and the money to replace it."
Liz giggled. She recognized Serena's attempt to break some of the tension of searching for dead bodies with humor and it worked.
"So this is a glimpse at your silly side," Liz said.
"No time like the present," Serena remarked with a slight shrug.
As they stepped inside the alley, Liz could already detect a hint of the same foul smell she noticed the previous day. Upon turning the corner toward the back alley, the smell grew stronger, though not overpowering. It didn't smell like an animal or person would, but it also didn't smell like typical garbage. Liz couldn't associate it with anything familiar. She started to feel nauseous, more from the anticipation of what gruesome sight they may find than the unpleasant odor.
Despite leading a life of action and adventure, most of the ugly scenes Liz experienced were via her visions since her and Max almost always managed to thwart disaster. In a vision, Liz felt more along for the ride with less sense of control than her current, real life circumstances. She elected to venture into the alley, knowing full well what she would likely discover. Liz could choose where to look, giving her an element of control to the exact timing of when a reveal she didn't want to make could take place.
Two square wooden pallets were propped against the wall to the right of the dumpster and none of the stray trash or flattened boxes they hid under were still there.
"Well," Serena started with a sigh, "the dumpster is the logical place to start. Shall we?"
Liz followed Serena's lead and walked up to the dumpster. The two black lids were both closed and the smell intensified as they approached. Serena pulled out her phone, activated its flashlight and then reached up and opened one of the lids.
"See anything?" Liz asked.
Serena stepped away and allowed the lid to slam back shut.
"It looks like it's been emptied since we were last here," Serena reported.
"They clearly didn't collect everything," Liz complained.
"I'm not sure most garbage men would be that discerning," Serena reasoned, "and whoever brought these pallets out may have just assumed the smell came from a full dumpster."
"If the boys' bodies are here, then where do you think they are?" Liz asked.
Serena took a moment to study the dumpster and surrounding area before responding.
"The dumpster isn't flush against the wall," Serena noted. "Here, help me push it out."
Liz and Serena went to the right side of the dumpster nearest where they entered the alley and swung that side of the dumpster out toward the alley. Liz noticed the smell intensified even more as the dumpster slid out. After getting enough of an opening, they stopped and peered at the gap they created between the back of the dumpster and the alley wall.
"And here they are," Serena announced grimly.
Liz observed three bodies that looked like they were covered in the same goo that engulfed Michael when he got sick on the Indian reservation in high school. The bodies were stacked horizontally on the back of the dumpster and appeared stuck to them.
"We better call the police right away," Serena suggested.
This went against Liz and Max's usual instinct. "Why?"
"Because I've learned that it's a lot easier to explain your fingerprints at a crime scene you discovered rather than wait for police to find them and then question what they're doing there."
Liz couldn't argue with that logic. The goo confirmed her theory that one of the four bullies that chased after Zan days earlier was a shapeshifting alien in disguise. The shapeshifter killed the other three and shapeshifted from a teen jock into an elderly homeless man with Liz in pursuit. Since Liz only saw a bright white light, the shapeshifter yelled "Los visitantes" ("the visitors" in Spanish) to imply some kind of abduction. While having time to think this over could've caused Liz to question it, the ruse worked to effectively prevent her from easily piecing together what exactly happened.
"Liz," a voice called out from behind them, "what are you do… Ew, what the heck is that?!"
Liz turned around to spot Hannah, the girl who often works the charming, old-fashioned ice cream stand. As soon as she turned, Liz also heard police sirens in the distance.
"Hannah?" Liz reacted with surprise. "What are you doing back here?"
"I saw y'all walking down here and wondered what y'all were up to," Hannah explained in her thick southern accent. "What is that stuff?"
"You shouldn't be back here," Liz told Hannah tenderly, like how a big sister would talk to her younger sibling.
Liz suddenly sensed Serena stepped in right behind her.
"Liz," Serena said softly into her right ear, though not quite as discreet as a whisper, "do you notice those sirens are getting louder? They must be coming this way. Do you know what that means?"
Liz pivoted to face Serena.
"We never called them," Liz reinforced aloud, not matching Serena's soft, subtle volume, "they must've been called to the general store. We need to go check on Max and the others."
Liz took a couple steps toward the edge of the alley and toward Hannah with Serena right behind her.
"C'mon, Hannah, we need to…"
Liz and Serena stopped abruptly. In a move Liz never saw coming, Hannah reached behind her, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at them.
"Not so fast, Liz," Hannah cautioned, her southern accent completely gone.
"Hannah, what is this?! What are you doing?" Liz asked in stunned disbelief.
"You seem to know something about what all happened back here," Hannah explained, "and so we can't just let you run off without giving us some answers."
"We?!" Liz asked, again not expecting Hannah to pull out a gun or be affiliated with anyone, "Who is we?"
As if on cue, two unmarked black vans came screeching into the alley. One came from behind Hannah and the other came from the other side of the alley.
"The Special Unit," Hannah declared.
"You're with the Special Unit?!" Liz asked, this time with layers of both surprise and disappointment. "But you're so young."
"And that's why you never suspected a thing," Hannah explained with a prideful smile.
As the black vans squealed to a halt, two male agents in black suits, white dress shirts and black neckties emerged from the van behind Hannah. Liz and Serena instinctively turned back the other way, but the second van behind them produced four men in black suits. Two detained each of them.
"No, Hannah, please don't do this," Liz pleaded as she unsuccessfully struggled to break free of them.
Out of the corner of her eye Liz caught Serena slip her right arm free from one of the agent's grip. Serena swiftly thrust her elbow up and smacked the agent in his nose, causing him to release her fully and stumble backward. The other agent who'd secured her left arm pulled out a gun and whacked her on the back of her head, causing her to collapse to the ground unconscious.
"Serena!" Liz screamed, beginning to cry, "Leave her alone!"
"Don't worry Liz," Hannah said, "we know all about Serena, and she's of little interest to us. We're only here for you."
A wave of panic swept over Liz. She knew how terrible the Special Unit and Agent Pierce treated Max back in high school. Did they know she had powers, too? What new tests and procedures could they have developed in 20 years? What degree of torture would they unleash upon her to get information about anything she knew or the locations of Max and the other hybrids? Liz began to do everything in her power to squirm free of the agents who detained her.
"No, no," Liz shouted, "you can't do this. Let me go!"
Liz saw Hannah make eye contact with the agent who whacked Serena and nod at him. He approached Liz and reached up for her. She felt a prick on the side of her neck. Within seconds, she stopped resisting as she felt an artificial paralysis begin to set in. The agents dragged her back to the van they'd stepped out of. Liz could offer no physical resistance. As Liz's eyelids grew heavy, she saw Hannah and the two agents that popped out of the other van retreat back to it. With all the Special Unit agents and Liz going into the vans, one of the last things Liz saw was Serena's body sprawled out unconscious on the pavement. Then, everything went dark.
When Liz woke up, she felt extremely groggy and her neck felt sore and stiff. She sat in a metal chair at a small, square, metal table. Her arms were crossed on the table and her head rested in her arms as she came to.
Liz wearily looked around. She was in a small, windowless room with dark, gray walls. A single overhead light dangled down in the center of the room and the table. It dimly lit the table where she sat and the walls almost looked black with such little illumination.
Liz turned to her right to see a door behind her in the corner of the room. She noted a camera above the door positioned at the table. She looked all around her and noticed cameras in each of the four corners of the room.
Liz wanted to leap up and charge for the door, even though it was likely locked, but she still felt loopy from the drug. She didn't think she could muster the strength to get up yet. Instead she tried to sit up but then slouched back into the chair because she felt lightheaded.
Then, the door opened and an older man walked in. He wore black slacks and a white dress shirt with the first button at the top of collar undone and the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms. His fairly short hair was all white and combed neatly to the side. He carried a glass of water and placed it next to Liz on the table.
The clang of the glass on the metal table made Liz's ears ring and head throb, even though he didn't slam the glass down forcefully. She figured this was another side effect of the drug she was injected with in the alley.
Next, the man walked back along the table and took a seat directly across from her. For the first time, Liz noticed that he also carried a legal pad and pen in his other hand. He placed those on the table in front of him, then looked up and made eye contact with Liz.
"Good evening, Ms. Evans," the man said in a calm, soft-spoken tone, "welcome to the Special Unit. Let's begin, shall we?"