"Catch your breath, hit the wall, scream out loud as you start to crawl back into your cage, the only place, where they will leave you alone." –from 'Simon' by Lifehouse

Early the next morning, right after John and Monica's shift started, the mean little kid with his kickball showed up.

John was outside using the outhouse.

Monica felt the van before she saw it. It turned its lights off right before leaving the highway and turning into the driveway.

"Mulder, Scully, safe room!" she yelled down a pipe whose other end was inches away from Mulder's head."

"I hear you!" he yelled back. He and Scully hadn't been sleeping. They had been...they hadn't been sleeping."

...

In their almost daily drills it was less than a minute before everyone was locked safely in the safe room. Anyone outside when a car approached ran into the woods to the other tunnel entrance into the safe room. John did exactly that when he heard the van pull in.

...

Mulder and Scully pushed aside the bookcase, dialed a combination on a switch hidden behind a secret panel, and pushed the secret door in, entering the safe room

...

Shit. The latch to the door that would lead Reyes out of the attic and into the service stairs that led to the basement was stuck. This had happened once in a drill, and they'd been meaning to oil it, but hadn't. Shit. If she wasn't in the safe room in less than one minute Mulder and Scully would shut and lock the door from the inside. They had all agreed on it. It was better for one person to get caught than all of them. After fifty seconds of pulling on the door vainly, she resorted to plan b: pull out her gun and pray.

...

After sixty-five seconds, Mulder heard the car pull up. He and Scully pulled the book-case back into place and pushed the door shut, barring it from the inside. A bell rang, meaning that someone was in the tunnel that led to the forest. Scully aimed her gun at the tunnel.

...

Reyes squatted in a corner with her gun pointed at the hatch. She shot the first man to come through, but the bullet only singed his ear. Three more men followed, all with guns aimed at her.

Her weapon hit the floor with a defeated thud and she held her hands out just in front of her face and above her head.

...

"Where's Monica?" John hissed as he took a step out of the tunnel and into the safe room.

Scully lowered her gun. "She didn't make it," she whispered.

"What?! Did you wait a whole minute?"

"More than," Mulder responded.

"No. We can't just let them have her! Let me out there. We've got guns. Let's go!" Doggett was making for the door.

Mulder stepped between him and his destination. "Doggett, be reasonable. They know we've got guns. They have more. Many more. I promise. Would she want you to get caught too? They're not going to kill her. They want us all, especially me. They'll try to use her to lure us in or lead them to us. And the odds of three of us getting one back are much better than the odds of two of us getting two back. You're not going anywhere."

Doggett knew Mulder was right. But he was terrified, and he masked it with rage. "When did we all become so fucking passive? Cowering in here when we should be out there defending ourselves..."

"John," Scully reached out and placed her hand on his arm, "Calm down and lower your voice. We'll get her back. I promise." With the last sentence she squeezed his upper arm a bit.