Thanks everyone for your last reviews! Special thank you to Lexi! Your big comment made my day! I'm glad you like my story and I'm happy to see that you think you can "see" what I want you to see. So thanks. Ok, so here we go again! Chapter 46 for your pleasure!
The girl from nowhere
It was a normal morning in Terra Nova. Taylor was up in his office, carefully watching the people he had to protect. People were chatting in the market, walking around, enjoying this sunny and warm day. Life was back to normal… as normal as it could be. The last year had been hard. Losing the only way to go to the future had not helped to lighten the mood of the Terra Novans, but they had found a way to survive this. They didn't have a choice anyway.
For a year now, Taylor had struggled to keep his colony safe and sound, in peace. One year living in fear; fear of being attacked, fear of losing control of Terra Nova. Taylor had already lost so much, he couldn't lose his colony, not after Alexandra had gone, not after his son had gone. Taylor sighed at the memory of his son's departure. Lucas had not been able to live in Terra Nova after what had happened a year ago. He had lost his temper too many times. He had become uncontrollable. Taylor had not tried to stop his son when Lucas had told him he was leaving. Even if it had hurt him, he had known it was the best solution for both of them.
A huge crack, followed by the appearance of a big blue light in the sky, brought Taylor back to reality. It made that peaceful morning turn into panic from everywhere. A portal had just popped out from nowhere. It was a few clicks away from the gates, in the air.
"Everybody in their house, NOW!" he yelled as he ran inside to grab his guns. "Damon! Jim! Gather every soldier and get to the gate!" Damon and Jim nodded and started to tell everyone.
"Mark! Protect the civilians. Make sure they're all safe in their houses," Jim commanded him.
"Yes sir," Mark replied and walked away to execute his duty. Taylor, Damon, Jim and the soldiers ran outside the gates and hid themselves around the portal, waiting for what was coming. Taylor expected the worst to come, but he was ready to fight for Terra Nova, his Terra Nova. They didn't wait too long before they saw somebody falling from the portal, followed by another one who fell on the other person, rolling on the ground easily and standing up quickly. It was a girl with long braided dark blond hair, wearing a blue blouse, a pair of blue jeans and brown boots. The girl ran back under the portal which was still open in the air, grabbed a gun from the dead body she had jumped onto and started to shoot where she had just arrived. Suddenly, a deafening noise came out from nowhere. The girl stopped shooting and ran away from the portal, just before a helicopter crashed down. The explosion threw her away, making the ground tremor. As the rest of the helicopter was burning on the ground, the girl stood up, brushing her trousers as she walked back to it, gun still in her hand. That's when Taylor decided to show up.
"Hands up! Hands up! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!" They all yelled at her. The girl stopped, her back turned to them. She seemed to hesitate and then slowly raised her hands up. Taylor noticed some rope was tied around each of her wrists, that was when he realized she also had a big brown watch which was too big for her right wrist. She dropped her gun, hands in the air, staying still.
"Now you turn around, slowly, no sudden movements," Taylor commanded. She obeyed and turned, a tiny and unsure smile on her face.
"Commander Taylor, Lieutenant Keagan, Sheriff Shannon, glad to see you too."
"Alex…" Taylor mumbled. He wasn't sure when he had first realized who she was, even if hope had crossed his mind, but when she had turned back to him, saying his name, he knew she was back, Alexandra had found her way back to Terra Nova. He lowered his gun in shock and mumbled to everyone to do the same. He stared at her. Her skin was paler and she had lost some weight, but she seemed fit and muscled. She seemed almost healthy.
Once the initial shock passed, Damon ran to her, disbelief on his face, and wrapped her tightly in his arms. She stiffened at his touch and didn't move. She was not used to this kind of contact anymore and it seemed too awkward for her. She kept her arms straight along her body while Damon was rocking her gently, whispering her name at her ear like a secret, something rare he had eventually discovered. Her eyes were staring at the ground, unable to say something to make him stop. Damon tilted back his head and saw how confused she was. Alexandra did not know what to say or what to do. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her mouth was dry and her throat tight. It required a lot of effort for her to get to swallow her saliva. She didn't want to be there, in his arms, it didn't feel normal, it didn't feel right. Not after the year she had just passed. Not after what had happened the last time she had seen him. But despite everything, she didn't want to hurt his feeling and she knew she would just have to bite the bullet and go with it. She forced a smile, but Damon did not seem convinced. Probably because her smile looked more like a grimace that a sincere grin. Smiling was not something that was easy for her anymore.
"Alex?" He whispered in distress, unable to say something else. Damon had dreamt of her coming back and now she was there and he realized he had not expected this kind of scenario. And what if she didn't want to be friendly anymore? What if she had changed? What if she had changes so much that she was not the same girl he knew? What if she blamed him for what had happened? What if she hated him for having abandoned her? They stared at each other in silence, uncomfortable.
"It's been a long time, huh?" she managed to say with a hoarse voice. At the sound of her own shaky and tired voice, mixed with Damon's anxious and sad face, she felt her eyes starting to prickle. She quickly looked down and concentrated on stopping the tears from coming. As she felt it was not working very well, she took a deep breath and buried her face in his chest. Never mind if she didn't want to be that close with him, it was more important to hide her tears than to hurt her own feelings. She didn't want them to interpret those tears as proof of sadness or joy. It was just a lack of sleep and a big disappointment to be there that was making her cry, or so she wanted to believe. Damon tightened his embrace, relieved to feel her close again. She seemed to relax in his arms but he eventually let her go when he heard Taylor coming to them. Alexandra stepped back and stiffened at the sight of Taylor. Yes, she was definitely not ready to talk to them, him even less. She had thought about every possibility, about a lot of plans, but she had never prepared herself for coming back here and facing them again.
"Alright, girl?" Taylor asked in a casual tone, almost in a fatherly way. Alexandra stepped again away from them, feeling like a stranger with them. Taylor didn't know how to behave. He could see Alexandra wanted to stay distant from him and it was hurting him. Yet, he was not going to push her too much. He didn't want to do anything wrong, not now that she was back.
"Better than them I guess," she said sarcastically, looking at the helicopter still in flames. "People shouldn't underestimate girls." Then, without waiting any longer, she grabbed the gun that she had dropped on the ground and left them, walking back to the shell. Taylor and Damon didn't move, staring at her as she rambled in the scraps. She kicked something on the burnt grass with her foot and kneeled down. She found her knife on the body she had fell onto before and cut the rest of ropes that were tied on her wrist.
"I told you I would have it back," she said wryly to the dead body. Her guns were burnt and useless. She sighed in frustration. There was nothing useful in there anymore. She looked at Taylor and Damon from her spot and froze. What was she going to do now? She knew she couldn't stay in the ashes forever and unless she discovered that she had the super magical power to disappear, she would be obliged to return with them. Her only way out was to take charge of the situation. She had to keep control of the situation even if it was not the case at all. She took a deep breath and walked back to them.
"I'm done here," she said as she passed them, heading to the colony. Taylor and Damon exchanged a confused look and followed her. "Jim," she nodded as he walked next to her.
"Alex," he nodded in response. He was clearly happy to see her, yet she could see how worried he was. People started to gather at the gate and stared at her as she came in. Alexandra was disturbed to see how people had managed to carry on after her departure. They were not in need like she had thought they would be. They all looked healthy and happy.
"So this is real!" An excited voice said through the crowd. Alexandra turned her head, just in time to see Dr Shannon wrapping her in her arms eagerly. "You're alive," she murmured in relief.
"Obviously." Alexandra didn't know what to say. Why did people think she was dead?
"Come on, I'm gonna give you a check up."
"No," she said firmly, stepping out of her arms. Dr Shannon made a strange face. "I'm alright," she tried to reassure her.
"Let her breathe," Jim said to his wife. His voice was firm but gentle. Dr Shannon looked at her husband and it seemed like they had had an invisible talk. She nodded in agreement and smiled to Alexandra.
"I'll see you later."
"Sure," Alexandra managed to say. Alexandra could see Josh, Maddy and Zoe a few meters away, smiling shyly to her. She had forgotten them. She would have to deal with them too. There were so many people to handle. It was going to be hard.
"I'm sure we've got plenty of things to discuss. Let's go back inside," Taylor said, one of his arms going behind Alexandra to lead her to the headquarters. She quickened her pace to avoid his touch on her back and it didn't stay unnoticed by Taylor. "Reynolds!" Taylor called.
"Yes sir?"
"I need you to deliver an important message," Taylor told him.
"I'll tell him sir," Mark replied, knowing perfectly what the message was and who the recipient was.
"Good," Taylor replied before joining Jim and Damon who were following Alexandra inside the headquarters.
Lucas had spent the last months scratching his head again and again, trying to solve the equation. He hadn't found a solution to create a new portal and he was mad about it. And even if he had succeeded, there was no way he could find her, he had no idea when they were gone. Her father had trapped him, letting him think they would go back to 2149, but actually they could have been anywhere.
Being away from Terra Nova had helped him to focus on his work. Back there, he had lost his temper, he couldn't stand to be with his father, with Skye… Skye, he even had frightened her the day he nearly punched her. Josh and Jim had stopped him. He couldn't help but feel guilty about what had happened to Alex, and he couldn't stop blaming Skye and his father for that. Skye had made her go to the Badlands, away from him, and his father's plan had made her get abducted by her father and taken away from him again. He had known his father's plan to use Alexandra as bait was wrong from the beginning. Alexandra had wanted him to make amends with his father. He had been weak enough to accept his father's idea. He wouldn't make the same mistake again. Never.
He had never realized before how much Alexandra meant to him. She knew how to ease his rage. Without her, he was wild again. At first, he had found comfort with Skye. He was so distressed and she seemed to understand him at the time. She was sad too. Josh had left her and had stopped talking to her, ignoring her. They had ended up together to comfort each other. Not like lovers, more like siblings. But she didn't know how to be with him. She had never known. The only person who had known was gone.
A noise from outside brought him back to reality. He quickly grabbed his gun and hid. Someone was inside his jungle lab, walking his way. When the footsteps came closer to him, he jumped out from his hiding place, pointing his gun to whoever it was.
"Hey, Lucas it's me," Mark said, surprise and scare audible in his voice. "It's Mark, put your gun down!"
"Mark? What the hell are you doing here?" He hissed.
"It's your father, he asked me to come here and to bring you back to Terra Nova right away."
"Aaah," he smiled. "The old man can't stop trying, can he?"
"It's really important this time," he paused. "She's back." Lucas's eyes widened. "Alex is back."
"Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair, where the winds hit heavy on the borderline, remember me to one who lives there. She once was a true love of mine. Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm, when the rivers freeze and summer ends, please see if she's wearing a coat so warm, to keep her from the howlin' winds. Please see for me if her hair hangs long, iIf it rolls and flows all down her breast. Please see for me if her hair hangs long, that's the way I remember her best. I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all. Many times I've often prayed, in the darkness of my night, In the brightness of my day." Girl from the north coutry - The Lions
