Trapped

Less than an hour after they had decided to go back to the Badlands, a car was ready to leave the colony with food, guns, medicine and everything they would need for their journey. Lucas carried Alexandra in his arms to the vehicle and gently placed her on the back seat. He looked at her intensely. Her pale face was covered by sweat, only colored by the red of her hot cheeks. Her temperature had been stabilized but she still had fever. She was delirious because of the fever, occasionally letting small moans of pain escape. He allowed his hand to caress her cheek and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. He sighed sadly at her sight. She looked so miserable that it was hurting him.

"I gave her some painkillers. Give her two pills every 4 hours and she should not suffer," Dr Shannon told Alice.

"Thank you," Alice said warmly.

"You're welcome. Take care."

"We will," Alice said, certainty in her tone. Dr Shannon stepped to Lucas and lightly squeezed his hand.

"Take care of our girl," she smiled friendly. "Save her and bring her back home."

"I'll do it," he comforted her.

"I believe in you. We all believe in you," she felt the need to add. Lucas didn't reply. He didn't know what he could say anyway. Dr Shannon was clearly showing him how much she cared for him. Maybe he should have thanked her, instead he forced a grateful smile and walked to his father.

"Thomas, drive them safely," Taylor commanded the soldier as he sat on the driver seat.

"Yes sir," he nodded. Taylor turned to his son who was standing next to the car.

"Protect her," Taylor said, embracing his son. "And be careful," he whispered to his ear "I'll see you soon." Lucas stepped back from his father embrace. His father stared at him a moment and they didn't need to talk. They both knew they had an agreement. Lucas held his gaze, then, without a word he sat in the car and shut the door.

"Let's go," Lucas ordered firmly to Thomas.

The vehicle left Terra Nova under everybody's stare. Dr Shannon was really worried. Taylor came and put his hand on her shoulder.

"She's gonna be ok Doc," he said, trying to reassure her as much as he was trying to convince himself.

After their departure, Alice looked at Charles and smiled to him. He gave her a wide grin and they started to laugh. Lucas, who was in the front next to Thomas, turned his head to them.

"What?"

"It's not even funny," Charles said, shaking his head. "It was too easy."

"I told you they would let you go if her life was in danger," Thomas said, laughing. "Taylor is so predictable."

"Indeed my dear Thomas, you did a good job!" Charles stated. Thomas grinned in satisfaction. His spy's work was at last over. He was back with his employers and would soon be thanked for his job. It had not been easy for him to live in Terra Nova, he didn't like people and having to support the other soldiers had almost been like a torture for him.

"You were not supposed to take her," Lucas said angrily. "You should have told me." Lucas didn't bother act like he was surprised that Thomas was the spy. He had found out Thomas was the traitor in the colony the day before, when he had surprised him while he was taking bottles of water and replacing them with another liquid. Yet, he had not known what his plan was until he had seen Alexandra collapse.

"I guess we didn't trust you enough," Charles answered simply. "I told you you just had to wait for our signal. You did a good job by the way. Nice brave act to propose you to lead us to the Badlands. Very touching!"

"You poisoned your own daughter to get out of Terra Nova, that was not a smart move," Lucas growled through gritted teeth.

"We both know it was the best solution. It was not dangerous and she's gonna be ok. Why do you care anyway? Since when do you care for the others?"

"I don't, except when it can bring problems."

"Oh come on Lucas. Do you think we don't know about your relationship with our daughter?"

"Relationship?" Lucas asked doubtfully, arching his eyebrows.

"Do you really think Mira never told us you had a crush on our daughter?" Charles chuckled, amused by Lucas' reaction.

"A crush?" He scoffed darkly. "I just needed her, I used her. I didn't even know who she was when I found her. I just used her to get closer with my father."

"Sure," Charles mocked, tightening his eyes on Lucas. "And you have no feelings for her because she was just a pawn in your game, wasn't she?"

"She was my cover. My dear father loves her as his own," he spat with disgust. "It was the best way to reach him."

"Until you couldn't stop yourself from going back to that little spy of yours."

"My spy?"

"Do you really think I would not know? I'm hurt, you underestimate me that much. Have you forgotten that we have eyes and ears everywhere?" His statement made Thomas chuckle evilly.

"You're talking about Skye?" He huffed. "Just another way to fulfill my plan."

"You seduced my daughter, slept with her, got her pregnant, shot her and got rid of the baby, you came back to her and she welcomed you back, then you kissed another girl, hurting her again. I wonder what that makes you?" Lucas clenched his jaw, madness getting to him. They really knew everything. Lucas had almost forgotten how smart they were and how they were good actors. "A bastard maybe?"

"A genius," Lucas replied coldly. "A genius always two steps ahead of the others. A genius who is always focused on his goal. A genius who created the key you need to open the portal."

"No regrets?"

"Do you really know me?" Lucas chuckled darkly. "I don't care about the others, I'm selfish and proud of it. Some might say I'm a waste of space, a lost case. I'd rather say I know what I want and will do what it costs to have it."

"Just like us."

"Yet you brought your lovely daughter with you," Lucas taunted.

"Do you really think we were gonna leave her behind?"

"Like you care. You left her many times already. What was once more?" He said sarcastically.

"Touché!" Charles smiled. "But we needed her," he said casually.

"I really can't see why," Lucas said truthfully.

"I thought you were a genius," he mocked.

"She's no use for us. She's too weak. No offense."

"That's where you're wrong. She's brilliant, I need her on our side. I need her talent."

"What talent?" He quipped. "Her brilliant limitless gift of forgiveness?" He said harshly.

"Something more… Unique."

"And that would be?"

"Haven't you notice how easy it is for her to remember everything she sees? Even the simplest things?" Lucas froze at his question and thought about it. Actually, only now, he was realizing that Alexandra seemed to remember a lot of things. She used to know where things were, what people had said or done, but Lucas had never really thought about it though. He had thought that most of the girls were like her. He had been stupid to underestimate her like that. Of course, he had always known she was special, that she had something else.

"Maybe," he just said, waiting for Charles to continue.

"She has a gift, an authentic perfect photographic memory," Charles beamed proudly.

"Since when?" He asked doubtfully. "She has shown no sign of such a talent."

"That is only because you have not really looked at her. She can remember everything she wants since she was 3. She's a genius too in a way." Lucas arched his eyebrows in doubt. "Haven't you noticed how difficult is it for her to lie?" Lucas didn't reply, he knew already too much how a bad liar she was. "It's only because her brain is thinking about everything connected to the question. Her memory is made of thousands and thousands of drawers that she can open whenever she wants. It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Depends on how you use it I guess."

"Exactly. That's where I intervene," he said arrogantly. "She needs to be used in good hands."

"Like yours," Lucas smirked.

"Like mine."

"How did you find out she had this... Gift?"

"Well, that's an interesting question. Once, she disappeared. We lost her in the crowd, she was only 3. We went looking for her for hours, we called the police, and they started to search for her. At the end of the day, the police officer told us we should go back home, that they would call us if they found anything. When we arrived at home, she was there, sitting in front of the house, calmly waiting for us. She had walked 3 kilometers by foot, knowing exactly where she had to go."

"We're here," Thomas suddenly said, stopping the vehicle.

"Where are we?" Lucas asked, looking around him. "What are we doing now?"

"Another vehicle is waiting for us," Charles said, opening the door and getting out. "We don't want your father to track us down, do we?"

"We're not going to the Badlands, are we?" Lucas asked, already knowing the answer.

"Back to your genius side, aren't you?" Charles mocked. "We're going to Sleepy Brake. Our camp is already there, waiting for us." Thomas opened the door and helped Alice to get out. Alexandra was still unconscious, lying on the last back seat. Thomas took her in his arms to transport her in the other car. Lucas stopped himself from carrying her, keeping to his story, showing how he didn't care about her. Yet, he waited for her to be safe in the other vehicle before speaking again.

"I'll drive," he stated, getting in the new vehicle knowing exactly where they were going.

"Good," Charles smiled. "Thomas, call the camp and tell them we'll be there tomorrow night."

Once Alice, Charles, Thomas, Lucas and Alexandra were gone, Taylor ran to the lab and found Damon.

"Is it working?" He asked eagerly.

"Yes sir," Damon replied, his eyes locked on a plex. "They are heading north."

"Go and pack the bags. Get the soldiers ready to leave in 30 minutes. I'll go and tell Jim about the plan." Taylor was ready to leave and noticed Damon had not moved.

"Lieutenant?"

"Commander?" Damon held up his head from the plex, surprised. He had thought Taylor was gone.

"We are going to get her back," Taylor said firmly. "We are going to take them down and she'll be fine."

"Yes sir," Damon nodded. But deep down Damon was not sure of their plan anymore. When they had discovered that Thomas was the spy, everything had made sense: why Thomas had always wanted to be OTG with Alexandra, why he had been captured by the sixers to prove he was not one of them, why he had insisted on doing the training session after Alexandra had been enrolled… They had checked every security camera and had found nothing abnormal on him. Actually Thomas was too normal. Damon had been sent to Thomas' house but had not found proof of his guiltiness. Yet, they were sure he was hiding something. When he had asked to go with Charles and Alice without real reasons, the doubt had been replaced by certainty. Lucas' reaction at the infirmary had confirmed their suspicion. He had given a rapid glance to his father, a slight nod, almost imperceptible, to alert his father. Taylor had immediately understood. The fact that Alexandra's parents had been ready to poison their daughter to leave Terra Nova and that they were the only ones who knew the cure had made him realize how far they were ready to go to succeed and how clever they were. And he didn't like it. He was scared for Alexandra's safety. He had wanted to go with them and protect her but Taylor had ordered him to stay with him. Damon knew that Lucas would do anything to protect Alexandra, but he also knew that Lucas had a role to play and it would not be easy for him to keep the trust he had earned from Alice and Charles and defend Alexandra at the same time.

Taylor hoped his plan would work. But what he hoped even more was that once their mission was over that Alexandra would forgive them for their lies. She was the type of girl who forgave easily, but it would be a lot to ask her to forgive their betrayal this time.


Tricky situation… Everyone has their own secret plan. Who's gonna succeed? The good guys or the bad guys? Maybe none of them? I'll let you guess!