When Scully touched down in Portland, she didn't think her anxiety could get any worse. Normally, she was a composed person, but right now Mulder's life was in danger and she felt out of control; that tended change things.

She put the coordinates of the town Mulder was in in her rental cars GPS and took off in that direction, not fully sure if she was ready for what she might find. But she tried not to think of that.

The 4 hour drive there was pure torture. She tried playing music to distract take her mind off of things, but it didn't seem to do the trick. Her stomach did a flip when she saw a road mark saying the town was only 3 more miles ahead. The sun was just peaking above the horizon; she had flown and driven through the night.

Like Mulder, the first thing she noticed as she pulled into the town was that it wasn't much of a town as it only had one gas station, restaurant, and hotel. It was definitely not a tourist destination.

She pulled into the gas station, remembering Mulder's voicemail, and knowing that that was where he was when he was taken. She also knew that she couldn't present herself as an F.B.I. agent, so she made sure to dress in casual civilian attire and to present herself as a tourist who was just touring the great state of Oregon.

As she pulled into the gas station, she felt a spasm of anxiety as she saw an old woman through the window of the gas station store. That has to be the old woman that Mulder was talking about. Cautiously, Scully got out of her car and walked into the store, trying to act as normal and touristy as possible.

The old woman smiled at Scully when she saw her walk in. Mulder was right, this lady does seem creepy.

"Hello, dear!" The old woman exclaimed. "What can I do for you?"

"Hi," Scully returned with a friendly smile, "I was just driving through and I was wondering if I could get a fill up of gas?"

"Oh sure, honey, how much would you like?"

"Um, 20 dollars should be fine." She held out a 20 dollar bill.

The old lady took her money and put it in the till. "You know, it's funny."

Scully instantly felt nervous, but maintained her cool exterior. "Oh?"

"Our town is so small, we never see anyone come through these parts. But all of a sudden we get two visitors in two days! Seems like an awfully weird coincidence."

Scully didn't know how, but she thought the woman's smile had turned extra creepy and sinister.

"Oh, well, that is a coincidence. I don't know about your other visitor, but I'm just doing a tour of Oregon. I've always heard such great things, so I decided to road trip across the state."

"That's nice, dear. I don't think this other fellow was planning on doing that. But I didn't ask him too many questions. Your pump is ready dear."

The old woman smiled and gestured towards Scully's car.

"Thank you. I think I might buy a snack or two for the way home too."

The woman laughed and gestured toward their bare shelves, "We don't have much, I hope you find something you like."

Scully weaved in between the small aisles but she couldn't see any signs that a struggle took place. Once she was convinced there was no evidence to be found, she grabbed a couple candy bars and set them on the counter.

The old woman took Scully's money for the snacks, and Scully decided to take this as another opportunity to get some answers out of the old woman.

"Just out of curiosity, how many residents do you have in this town?" She hoped that she sounded genuinely interested.

"Oh, not many." The woman bought it. "There's only 15 of us, 20 including children. We all live about 10 miles outside of town. You just take the main road straight and turn right and it takes you right there. It's a quiet little town we live in, not too exciting for someone like yourself I'm sure."

Scully smiled. "Hmm, yes, well it sounds lovely all the same. Thank you."

She headed out the door, pumped her gas, and set off to find Mulder.


As soon as the old woman saw Scully drive away, she picked up the phone and dialed in a flurry of numbers. Jud? I think there's another one snooping around here. Another fed? Yes, another fed you idiot. Do you want me to take care of them? No, it's okay. I sent her in the wrong direction. Her? Yes. She seems like a nice girl, so there's no need to harm her. Whatever you say, Ma. Ma, you think we should get rid of the other fed now? No, we proceed with everything as planned. This girl can't get in our way now. And Jud? Don't get too carried away with him. We wouldn't want to cut the fun short would we? Okay, ma. Jud? Gather everyone in the meeting place. I'll see you soon.


Mulder spent his first night since being kidnapped chained to a bed and, as appealing as that would normally sound to him, he was starting to get a little tired of it. For one, he kept losing feeling in his hands and feet, and he had to constantly change positions to keep his muscles from aching too bad. Also, the wounds from the taser hurt like hell and nothing he could do seemed to alleviate the pain. Needless to say, he didn't sleep at all that night. He was startled to see sunlight streaming through the lone window in his bedroom; it was morning. A part of him felt disappointed that he hadn't been rescued yet. He knew Scully had to have gotten his message. However, another more realistic side of him knew that Scully would take every precaution while trying to rescue him and he knew that would probably take time.

I just have to make it a little bit longer.

A creak pulled Mulder's attention toward the bedroom door. He was surprisingly relieved as he saw the oldest son, Jud, come through the door and not his crazy old witch mother, whose name he hadn't discovered yet.

"Hey, good morning, Jud!" He said his name with an over the top redneck accent. "You come to wake me up for breakfast?"

Mulder knew this kind of talk was drawing unnecessary attention to himself, but he couldn't help himself. Plus, he felt like it was a way for him to cope.

Apparently Jud didn't feel the same way. Mulder felt a wave of panic as Jud stomped over to Mulder but, to his surprise, he unchained his hands and feet. Only to roughly toss him onto his stomach and handcuff his hands behind his back.

I knew there had to be a catch. Mulder thought grimly to himself.

Jud grabbed Mulder by the hair and yanked him to his feet so they were face to face. Mulder didn't make a sound, even though it wasn't the most pleasant thing he'd experienced; he decided to not give Jud the satisfaction. It wasn't until he stood face to face with Jud, that Mulder realized he was dressed only in his boxers. For some reason, this realization made Mulder feel queasy, his lack of clothing made him feel dehumanized and vulnerable. He was sure that was completely intentional on his kidnappers part.

Jud pulled a gun from his waistband and waved it toward the door. "Let's go."

Mulder obliged. "Where are we goin', Uncle Jud?" He said in his redneck voice. He felt a burst of pain as Jud slammed the butt of his gun into Mulder's right side, on his ribs, as hard as he could. A groan escaped from Mulder's lips as he collapsed to the floor on his knees and he leaned on the door frame, breathing hard. He was beginning to hate this guy more than the old woman.

Jud grabbed Mulder by the hair and yanked him to his feet.

Again, with the hair. Mulder painfully thought to himself.

"Keep moving." Jud pushed the gun against Mulder's back.

They walked through a hall, a small kitchen, then out a back door into the cool Oregon air. As they stepped outside, Mulder instantly felt goosebumps all over his skin.

As they walked, he noticed they were in a village of some sort. There were about 10 houses all aligned in a large circle with a giant firepit and benches in the center. They walked past that to a large barn-like building which was right outside of the village and, when they walked in, Mulder was surprised to see about 15 people waiting inside, all sitting in a large half circle; a single chair sat in the center. Mulder was roughly guided to the chair and was shoved down into it. He felt his handcuffs being undone and then re-applied around the chair so he couldn't run. He watched as Jud took an empty seat and he felt his hair stand on end as a hush fell over the building. All eyes were on him and none of them looked friendly.

Suddenly, the barn doors opened and the old woman walked through and stood directly in front of Mulder, all eyes were on her now.

Mulder glanced nervously around, his panic level was quickly rising.

The old woman cleared her throat and spoke. "People. You know why we are gathered here today. 5 years ago, my youngest son, Jim, was shot and killed by a federal agent of our government. He did not deserve what happened to him, and I know that we all have had a gaping hole in our hearts since that day. A gaping hole that could only be filled by justice. Now, we never found the name of the man who killed Jim, but, a strange coincidence has come upon us. Another federal agent has come into our presence. Here to serve in the place of Jim's killer. Here to suffer the punishments for the killer's crime. It has been 5 long years of suffering for us. 5 long years of waiting for justice. I know that you would all like to see this man die as punishment for Jim's crime, but I have a better idea, if you all agree to it. I propose that this man work for us for 5 years to make up for the 5 years we have been without Jim, and then he may suffer the ultimate consequence for Jim's death: his own death."

At her final words, the people in the barn cheered in agreement and she turned to face Mulder, her signature smile on display again.

It finally occurred to Mulder that he had a voice to speak up with.

He tried to cut off the cheering, "Wait, wait, WAIT! Why is it right that I die for your son's murder? I haven't done anything wrong! Don't you people see that making me a slave and then killing me is murder too and is wrong?"

He guessed his plea didn't work because everyone started jeering at him.

He stuttered, "Th...there will be people looking for me. The F.B.I. knows where I am, they'll find me."

The old woman's smile fell and her gaze turned cold. She knelt so she was eye to eye with Mulder and her voice turned to a whisper. "Will they? I'll let you believe that for know. But just know that you are here to stay. There is no way out."

Mulder was in full panic mode now. He didn't believe her, but at the same time, he doubted himself. Was she right somehow?

She stood and turned to face the small crowd of people, throwing her arms in the air. "Let the initiation ceremony begin!"

And with that Mulder felt his handcuffs drop and several pairs of hands grabbed him as they dragged out of the barn and into the woods.