Disclaimer: just went and checked… still aint mine. BAH!
Summary: it's the end of the world… so who's going to save it and how? This chapter is going to be long but it'll be the third to last chapter. The lead up to the mega twist; that is next chapter. If you thought letting Maggie die, or bringing Emily and William back was a twist, nuh uh. This one is gonna be better… I hope. So this is the lead up to the destruction of the aliens, I can't destroy the world. Important: read the authors note!
A/note: this ones like 'all things'; important stuff first; told from mulder's point of view, then we go back and see how we got there, from scully's point of view. Then next chapter is the aftermath. The final chapter will be like a 'many years later' kind of thing. I want to finish this story because I have an interesting idea, but don't have the time to start it. I'll do my best not to rush these 3 chapters though. Yeah, enjoy!
WARNING: not for the emotionally unstable, I cried when I wrote the first bit. Don't be deterred, remember the promise I made to you guys earlier? If not, read the chapter summary in chapter one.
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12:00 pm
22 December- 2012
Waddān, Libya
The walls around them rumble like thunder. They could hear the screeching of the creatures closing in on them from all sides, they didn't have much time. They were tired and bloody, their magazines almost spent from simply getting there. The core ran the full height of the massive hive ship, with a gap in the middle. It was amazing to look at up close; the flowing energy was almost hypnotic. It looked like a continuous stream of shining blue gel, but at the same time it was like it didn't take a physical form.
They didn't plan on the core being this huge; they wondered whether the vaccine would work at all. Mulder pulled a pistol out of the holster on his side, the one containing a single dart that held the vaccine. He took aim at the core that sat 30 feet down below; the gap in the structure was about 12 feet tall, so he had a good chance of hitting it.
He took aim and fired. His aim was good and the dart went straight in the gap. The walls shook violently and the fluid energy turned sickly brown colour. Everyone watched expectantly; as if waiting for it to explode. But it didn't, it slowly turned back to its former shining blue.
"DAMMIT!" Mulder yelled against the steadying rumble.
Doggett, who had been standing near the entrance of the tunnel with William, looked over his shoulder; "it didn't work?! What happened?"
Mulder couldn't answer. Last time, it had worked. It made them leave, and though they had planned on entirely destroying the bastards; making them leave again would have been an agreeable alternative. Mulder looked at Reyes as she held a nearly unconscious skinner around her shoulders. Emily was on the other side of him holding what has left of his arm around her own, now blood stained shoulder. Mulder turned now to scully, who stood by his side; her rifle resting against her thigh. He could see her mind working. He could always feel when she was thinking, and he could see it now too.
"Scully?" She looked at him, her face free of expression.
"One of us has to go in there…"
Mulder shook his head slightly "what are you talking about?"
"One of us who has immunity has to infect the core. It's the only way…"
Now he understood; she meant literally infecting the core with a foreign body. His eyes darted from side to side as he considered who had this immunity. It was going to be either her, or William.
Tears threatened to erupt from his weary eyes; "no... Scully… no, I'm not losing you or William."
She took the rifle sling off her blood soaked shoulder and threw it to the ground. "You won't lose William, Mulder. I could never live with myself for letting our son go again."
He couldn't stop them; the tears flowed down his face. He shook his head at her. "Scully, I can't let you do it. There has to be another way…"
"There isn't. This is it Mulder." she looked at his glistening eyes. She walked up to him and wiped the tears of his cheeks. "We'll meet again… I promise."
He shuddered a breath when she touched his face. "I want to believe that more than anything… I can't go on with out you scully; not after I just found you." He put his own hand over hers, feeling the cool metal of her ring touching his hand.
She took it and put both hands behind her neck. "We'll be together again…" She took off her necklace. She clapped it into his hand "whatever it takes, we will be together again."
He knew her. She was stubborn as anything, and when she decided to do something, not even he could dissuade her. "I believe you."
Mulder picked up scully's rifle and slung it over his other shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her quickly, but affectionately. This was the last time he would get to kiss her; he wished he had more time.
He remembered the first time he had kissed her. Even though it technically wasn't her, he still believed, on some level that it was her. 'In case we never meet again…' he had said. Those words rang as true now as they did then. His memory flashed through every other time he had kissed her.
He rested his fore head on hers and closed his eyes, as they had done so many times before; "I love you more than anything in the world."
She held his face in her soft hands; "I love you too… now go."
The screeching of the creatures intensified. They were close now.
"I'll stay with her whilst you guys get out of here." Doggett said as he changed the magazine on his rifle. Mulder nodded and walked backwards down the tunnel, trying to take in the last image of his wife that he could. Emily, William, skinner and Reyes went to follow him.
"Wait!" Monica yelled. She lowered skinner to the ground and ran back to Doggett. She stood and pulled his head close to hers. She whispered something to him. He smiled quickly before planting a kiss on her lips. They broke apart and Monica ran back, resuming her place under skinner.
Mulder looked over his shoulder one last time at Doggett and his beloved Scully. Then they ran down the tunnel, William in the lead with his hands in front of him, all too afraid to look back.
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10 hours earlier
They arrived in Tripoli at two in the morning. A lot of people were leaving Libya and Tunisia. Something was spooking people, unexplainable weather and strange animal behaviour. They took two four wheel drives, boys in one car, girls in the other; and drove along the dusty and deserted roads to a small sandy town called Waddān. They understood why people had left. People often said that some rain clouds look 'black', when in actual fact, they are simply a dark shade of grey; but the clouds that blanketed these skies were dark, like charcoal. They were angry and violent, threatening anything that came under them. They seemed to touch the desert horizon.
The arrived in Waddān just after six, when the sun was supposed to have risen, but still hadn't. Who knows, maybe it had, but if that were true, the light was not penetrating the cloud cover.
These roads weren't unfamiliar to them. They had travelled here a few times in the year gone, learning the landscape and moving weapons into an armoury they had bought down there. They stopped at an inn, they knew the owner as Ahmed; he let them use the vault in his basement as an armoury, for a price. He and his family had fled a few days before, after everyone else to ensure no one would break in.
They decided to move out at 9; leaving a few hours to wonder around, prepare the weapons and vehicles, go over any last details. They weren't sure exactly where to find the hive ship, but they did know they were close. They went into the foyer of the inn.
"I reckon I preferred the snow to all this heat and sand." Doggett said as he ruffled his hair and took off his sunglasses. Monica flopped down onto one of the couches and groaned. "You okay Monica?" john asked as he sat done next to her.
She went to speak but stopped herself. She smiled and rubbed his back. "I'm fine, it's just the climate, that's all."
Scully and Emily wandered in and simultaneously dropped their backpacks. William snuck out form behind them with a nearly empty bottle of Pepsi in his hand. Poor kid. Mulder and skinner followed close behind and headed straight to the basement. Doggett got off the couch and joined them.
Now that the couch was once again free; Monica wasted no time in flipping her feet up and draping one hand over her eyes and the other over her stomach. Scully watched her and frowned, and then her frown disappeared when she understood Monica's behaviour.
"Hey guys, why you don't head to the bar and get some bottles of water whilst I talk to Monica…"
The younger one followed their mother's instructions and left. Once they were gone, scully went and sat on the couch next to Monica.
"There's something you're not telling me Monica…"
Monica took her arm away from her face and put it over her stomach with the other. "Is it that obvious?"
"I'm a doctor… of course it's obvious."
Monica pulled herself up on the couch till she was sitting. "I didn't expect this to happen. I thought I was too old, or he was."
"Does john know?"
"No. It would have been a distraction. We just got married and with this whole colonisation-end of the world crap; the last thing he needs is to worry about me." She folded her arms across her chest.
Dana put one hand on Monica's shoulder. "You're gonna have to tell him, and we might not have much time to enjoy it."
They shared a glance and Monica nodded in agreement. They were interrupted by the return of Emily and William; carrying some bottles of water and soft drinks.
"I thought I told you guys to get bottles of water?"
"We did mum." William said as a handed two water bottles to her and Monica. Emily put her arm full on the reception desk.
"And I'm guessing those are yours?" scully said, gesturing towards the three bottles of Pepsi in Williams arms.
"Yup." William replied simply before flopping down onto the other couch.
"13 years old and already has a caffeine addiction…" a voice said from the other side of the room. The boys were back and they were packing heat. Each were carrying rifles, pistols, holsters, knives and a belt that had grenades clipped onto them. They looked like modern day Rambo's in their attire.
The wives mutually agreed that the boys looked pretty hot when they were all macho.
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They had spent the next few hours in the bar. They joked and turned on the old juke box machine and danced around without a care in the world. It was a relief from the months of travelling and investigation they had done. It was just a time to enjoy good company and smile for maybe the last time.
They all silently understood that they may not all make it out alive. The risks were incredible and it still hadn't sunk in that this was the day they were due to die. But here they were; seven brave people who searched for the truth and fought the future. Once again they were forced to chase the monsters in the dark, but they prayed to who ever would hear that it would be the last time.
Everybody geared up in boots and lightweight body armour. The main plan was to force their way in through one of the access tunnels and push their way to the centre to the core. They had acquired a vaccine from a laboratory in England and kept it under lock and key. It was put in a dart, like a tranquilizer that is used on elephants. Mulder put the pistol containing the precious vaccine in his holster and tucked it inside his black utility vest.
Emily and William didn't need any large weapons. They had their own. On the insistence of both of their parents they too wore protective vests and stowed a combat knife in each of their black boots, just in case. The rest of them sported a semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm. The men carried flash and frag grenades whilst the woman kept hold of the spare ammunition.
They all migrated to the roof of the three storey building to look out over the desert. Lightning flash end struck the dusty ground many miles out. It seemed to hit the same spot over and over again.
"I'll put money down that that's were they are…" Mulder said as he stood behind scully, looking over the top of her head.
"I'll second that. Should we get going?" Skinner asked as he slung his rifle over his right shoulder. His question wasn't directed at anyone specifically, they all looked at one another.
"Lets do this…" Emily spoke as she stared out at the violent storm that was intensifying with every strike. Her eyes were distant and expressionless, a deep blue that looked like a dark ocean. She was determined to be angry, she wanted to let every bit of frustration and hate she had been harbouring vent in one bit bang. Now was that time, and she'd be damned if she was going to let it pass.
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They walked away from the inn and down the road to a warehouse. Ahmed had left two vehicles in there for them, of course, at price. They were like dune buggies, wide jeeps designed for travelling across arid terrain. Doggett jumped in the driver's seat of one, he was soon joined by Emily and Mulder after they put their backpacks and rifles in the back.
Skinner went in the other with William, who insisted on the front seat; and Monica and scully sat in the back. Now that scully knew about Monica's condition, she elected to do exactly what john would have done if he knew; never let her out of her sight. For the fun of it, they burned some rubber as they tore out of the warehouse like mad teenage hooligans.
The buggies were trailed by an enormous amount of sand they flicked up. The two vehicles pushed through the terrain towards the centre of the storm. It was dangerous to be out there; the clouds were thick and terrifying and the lightning had yet to calm. None of which succeeded in deterring them in the least.
As they got closer to the centre of the violent storm, they saw a black shiny surface in the distance dunes. It stretched as far as they could see in either direction. It took nearly ten minutes to get close to the large object resting halfway under the red sandy landscape. They skidded along the dunes to stop. They exited their vehicles and slipped on sunglasses. It wasn't in any way bright outside; it was the wind that blew sand into their eyes that was the problem.
"Well would you look at that…" Mulder mumbled.
"It must run for miles across!" skinner added as he looked left and right, trying to see the ends of the structure.
It was amazing, for lack of a more descriptive word. It was black, metallic and slightly domed. Vents of steam shot from everywhere, in intervals then easing for a few minutes then shooting a new jet of hot gas. Sand had piled up over parts of it, subtly hiding its top. The edge was about 3 metres above the ground, and that was on a low point. The ground shook steadily, like a rough vibration.
"Okay, everyone wait here…" Doggett said as he ran to one of the buggies and drove it around till it stopped flush with one of the edges. He swung his rifle around himself till it sat on his back and climbed onto the roof of the buggy. With a bit of effort, thanks to his vest, he climbed onto the edge of the hive ship.
"Come on, let's get a move on!" he yelled to them as he stood near the edge, gesturing them up to join him.
The girls hopped up onto the buggy; Emily went first, followed by Monica and then scully. Scully wanted to keep the kids and Monica in the middle of the group, for safety's sake. John and the girls helped skinner and William up. Mulder didn't need much help; he could reach as it was and climbed up almost entirely by himself.
"Lets get as close to the middle as we can before we go in. This heat isn't incubating them, it's accelerating their growth;" Mulder cocked his rifle; "meaning there is a lot of those little suckers in there."
They walked for about twenty minutes away from the edge, avoiding jets of randomly timed steam and doing all they could to avoid the lightning that was striking the surface. It seemed to focus on one point, which they could only guess was the centre. Oddly though, the electricity wasn't conducting to them as the walked on the gently shaking surface.
The 'centre'; or at least the strike point was still a good mile ahead, but they chose not to get too close.
"Do you hear that?" William asked as he stopped in front of an open vent. He jumped back when a jet of steam shot out and up into the dark atmosphere.
"Careful William!" scully said as she walked back towards him. The rest of the group followed her.
The steam stopped and William got closer to the vent, turning his ear towards it to listen in. "can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Mulder said as he stared at the watch on his wrist. "I reckon we go through this tunnel. But we wait till just after the next vent before we go in." He watched the rest of the group now surround the dormant vent. "Guys?"
He walked up to them and squeezed between Monica and William. Very faintly he could hear the sounds of muffled screeches. Like the one he heard in Antarctica, but these were more multiplied. The vent shook a hissing filled the small tunnel; "stand back!" Mulder yelled as another shot of steam vented out of the tunnel. Everyone took a few steps back.
The steam subsided again.
"How much time do we have?" Doggett asked as he and Mulder approached the now clear vent.
"About three minutes, but its not long, we'll be fine." Mulder said as he lowered himself into the vent. It was still hot from the steam, but not totally unbearable. Doggett was next, and then Monica, Emily, William, scully and skinner took tail end Charlie. It was awkward moving through the tunnel with the rifles, but they made it to the inner opening in tact.
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Mulder poked his head and rifle through the opening. As quickly as he could he surveyed the room and flipped his rifle from left to right, and then left again. "Clear!" He wriggled back into the tunnel to turn around. In one swift movement; he slid feet first into the large empty tunnel. He could hear the loud screeches of the creatures in the distance. The tunnel was familiar, not filed along the walls with giant alien icicles, but a long humid tunnel with a rounded walkway. He continued sweeping his rifle along the length of the tunnel. Doggett jumped out from behind him, pausing momentarily to take in the surroundings. He too raised his rifle and looked warily down the tunnels.
The rest of them slid out the vent quickly, scully; almost landing on top of William. It was horrible to be back here. The smell and the sounds made her body tense up. Although, when she was here last time, it was because Mulder had come across the world to save her. She relaxed at the idea that he was still here to save her.
"Okay, are we ready to move? Weapons ready?" Skinner said as he moved to the back of the group. Everyone checked their hand guns and rifles and rearranged themselves. Mulder and William at the front, scully and Monica in the middle, and Emily stood between Doggett and skinner at the back. They always chose this formation. Keeping one of the kids one each end and the girls in the middle.
"We're gonna head left first. From memory that will lead we in the direction of were all that lightning was hitting. Everyone ready?" He got no objection. He raised his rifle to his shoulder; "then let's go." He said determinedly.
The steady rumbling of the ship was almost nauseating. They jogged steadily down the tunnel towards the centre, the sounds of the entities got louder as they went.
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Less than ten minute from the point at which they started were they met by the creatures that roamed the tunnels. There were four of them, and they knew the humans were there before they did. They were quick in their attack, their sharp teeth and claws primed to kill. Luckily, William was quicker. He raised his hands and the creatures stopped abruptly. Mulder wasted no time in putting a few bullets through their heads. The creatures fell to the ground limply. The sounds of the gun firing would certainly have attracted attention.
They continued down the tunnel at a quicker pace. They came to a two way intersection. They stood and looked down both tunnels; "shit, which way do we go?" Doggett yelled.
"Doesn't matter, I think they both lead to the core." He turned around to the group that all watched him; "but I think we shou-" his eyes widened and he quickly shouldered his rifle; "sir! Look out!"
Skinner turned around and only got a glimpse as one of the creatures lunged out of nowhere and took a swing at his head. He raised his arm to defend himself and the creature's razor sharp claws clipped his arm below the shoulder, almost severing the limb entirely.
Doggett took the creature down with a few shots to the chest. It hit the ground before skinner did. Blood stained the floor around him as he cried out in agony. His arm hung of his shoulder by a few bits of bloody flesh. Scully took off her backpack and dove to his side. His body shook with blood loss and shock. Scully pulled a few bandages out of her backpack. She took one look at skinners arm and shuddered;
"Scully, what's the hold up?! Just fix it so we can keep moving before they surround us!" Mulder yelled as he looked down the two tunnels.
"Murder! I can't save this arm! It's too badly damaged!" Mulder looked at her. He turned white at the sight of skinner and the meaning of her implication.
"Do it…" he screwed up his face and looked back down the tunnel through the scope of his gun.
"Monica... I need you to hold him down." Monica looked green but nodded. Skinner was to close to passing out to notice or care. Monica knelt down and leaned onto skinners chest. Scully removed the combat knife from her boot.
In one quick cut, his arm was separated from the reminder of his shoulder. Skinner managed to scream in pain again. Scully moved quickly in bandaging the end of his arm and wrapping it in fabric to slow the blood flow. It only took a few minutes before she was putting the backpack on and hauling a semi conscious skinner to his buckling feet.
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The creatures had certainly heard skinners screams. They crept down the corridor after the humans quickly, stopping momentarily to take in the stained floor. It enraged them, drove them, and turned them savage. They followed the trail of blood down the tunnels. They could smell the sweat on the back of the human's necks; how sweet the scent was.
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They came to an end of the tunnel. They stood on a ledge and peered over the edge into the lengths of the ship. It was huge, bigger than the one in Antarctica; it was taller, but the centre was not as wide. It was actually comparatively very small. They could here the sounds of many creatures in the tunnel behind them.
"Em, come take over for me." Scully beckoned Emily to her. Emily came and swapped with scully, taking hold of the shoulder of skinners blooding and severed arm. He was pale and wobbling, but still standing none the less. William move to the back with john and scully moved up from with Mulder.
She looked at the towering structure in the middle. It was almost entirely made from the black metal that surrounded the; except for a gap, where scully could see energy flowing. It was almost beautiful, in an end-of-the-world-gonna-kill-us-all kind of way. The gap wasn't far away and she was sure Mulder could hit it. But she had a horrible feeling in her gut that the vaccine might not be enough.
Mulder took no time in taking out his concealed pistol containing the vaccine. He took aim and fired. The dart flew swiftly through the air and into the streaming energy core. 'Yes! Good aim honey!' scully though triumphantly.
The fluid gel-like substance turned a horrible brown and the structure shook more violently. 'Take that assholes!' scully thought as she signed. Her joy went as soon as it came, the gel turned blue again and the shaking subsided. She arched her eyebrows in shock. I didn't work.
"DAMMIT!" Mulder yelled next to her. Scully ignored Doggett as she stared into the energy core. It wasn't enough. It had worked, but it wasn't enough. They could go back now, there was no second choice.
A thought struck her, but she didn't want to face the reality of it. If she or William entered the core, it might be enough to infect the ship and destroy it. It would certainly kill them. But if it worked, one life was certainly no great price to pay. She knew who the only logical choice was and she mused on how to tell them.
"Scully?" Mulder said, pulling her slightly from her thoughts. Now was the time to tell him.
"One of us has to go in there…" she replied blankly.
Mulder shook his head in confusion; "what are you talking about?"
'Mulder, I love you; but sometimes you can be a bit stupid…' she thought as she looked at him. She sighed; "One of us who has immunity has to infect the core. It's the only way…"
She watched his eyes as she saw the gears working in his head. Okay, so maybe he wasn't so stupid, because he seemed to understand what she had said. Her heart almost broke then and there as she saw tears glisten in his gorgeous hazel eyes. Oh god, she would miss those beautiful eyes of his.
"No... Scully… no, I'm not losing you or William." He replied, shaking his head in denial.
Of course you're not going to lose William, I'd never let you lose him. She knew what she had to do. She pulled the rifle sling and dropped the weapon on the ground near her feet. She took a breath and swallowed; "You won't lose William, Mulder. I could never live with myself for letting our son go again." But I would happily die knowing you three are alive and well, she mentally added.
Tears now flowed down his sweat covered cheeks. Damn, her heart just broke in her chest. "Scully, I can't let you do it. There has to be another way…"
He whispered desperately.
'so do i…' she thought. She really did. She wished it had worked and they could walk away and live together happily ever after. But maybe it was never meant to be. "There isn't. This is it Mulder." She walked up to him, one painful step at a time. She didn't want to see him cry, not now. She brushed her thumb along his cheek and wiped away his tears. You have to be strong Mulder… ""We'll meet again… I promise."
She couldn't explain it, but she felt as though something in her past may allow her to keep her promise on some level or another. She prayed that that were true. She needed him to be strong, for himself, for their children, for the world. But mostly for her.
"I want to believe that more than anything… I can't go on with out you scully; not after I just found you." He put his hand over hers where it rested on his cheek. She felt his wedding band cool her hot skin. She knew what he meant; he had found his soul mate in her, and she in him. She was sure he could go on. He may never love again, but he would be alive, and that, she could live with, or at least die happily knowing.
She needed to reassure him. She took her hand from his and removed her necklace. That one small item had ventured to the edge of death with her many times over. Now it was time to give its luck to him. She took his hand and put the cross necklace it; "we'll be together again…" she closed his hand around her cross; "what ever it takes; we will be together again." She believed it. She wanted to believe, more than her belief in aliens, her belief in never giving up, or her belief in god. More than anything, she wanted Mulder to believe it too.
"I believe you…" Mulder said with his heart on his tongue. He knew scully wanted him to do this; she wouldn't let it be any other way. He picked up her rifle and put it one shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her. She felt years of love and passion conveyed in that one brief kiss. She felt a thousand apologies and a thousand tears shared. Her mind flashed through every look, every touch, every unspoken word and every happiness they had shared. If only she had more time.
He leaned his head down on hers, silently saying goodbye. "I love you more than anything in the world." He whispered. She believed him with all her heart and soul. She felt the exact same way about him.
She cupped his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes; "I love you too…" she swallowed again. "Now go"
When he pulled away and lost contact, she felt part of herself die. She stood near the edge and looked at her Emily and William, her children. William was going to grow up to be exactly like Mulder; goofy, smart and brilliant. She then looked at Emily; she would be brave, logical and passionate. She felt her heart rip into tiny piece when the realised she would never see then grow up.
"I'll stay with her whilst you guys get out of here…" she heard Doggett say. He was a brave man, no doubt about it. The rest went to leave but Monica came back to john to tell him something. Scully had no doubt about what Monica had said, although she picked a hell of a time to tell him. Monica ran back to Emily and skinner.
Scully watched as Mulder and her children moved away form her. She savoured the last looks they gave her before the ran down the tunnel.
And then… they were gone.
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Scully turned back to face the core. This was it. She was finally going to die.
A thought, no, a memory flashed through her mind. A memory that brought hope to her. She remembered back to 1997, back to when she worked on the X Files as a special agent. The memory brought upon a realisation. Maybe she could keep her promise to Mulder after all. She turned to john;
"John, go. I'll be fine. Go help them get out." She said against the screeching of the approaching creatures. After a moment of gazing; he nodded and bolted down the tunnel.
She smiled and looked at the core. She took a few steps back and ran forwards, throwing herself into the open space and through the gap. She smiled as she hit the flowing energy core.
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Mulder jogged down the steaming tunnel; tears flowing down his cheeks. He heard steps behind him in the tunnel. He turned;
"wait up!" Doggett yelled as he caught up to them.
"YOU LEFT HER THERE ALONE?!" Mulder yelled as he advanced on Doggett. Just before he was ready to take a swing, the entire ship began to shake violently, almost knocking them all over.
"she told me to help you get out!" Doggett yelled loudly. Mulder was partly furious and partly broken. It was obvious that scully had made it. He knew that she was dead.
"we don't have much time! We've got about eight minutes till this thing goes!" He yelled.
Mulder was angry beyond reason and he knew it. "Emily?! Can you support skinner?" Emily nodded and moved away form skinner, he floated in the air at waist height and she moved next to him. Monica stood on his other side and drew her 9mm. Doggett moved to the back of the group. "William, clear us a pathway." Mulder said seriously at his son. William looked forwards and held both hands in front of him. "Lets go!" Mulder roared.
The trip back was quick. They were met by many creatures along the way, but Mulder's anger and Williams powers help them bulldoze their way through. They sprinted the whole way and made it to an open vent in about three minutes.
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It only took about another minute to get to the surface. Everybody ran on adrenaline and hate. The ship was venting a lot of steam and was rumbling more now, and the weather had gotten worse. They only had about less than five minutes. William ran up to the top of a pile of sand and raised his arms above his head. He looked to the sky.
"William! What are you doing?!" Mulder yelled. William didn't reply. A few seconds pass when Mulder saw a large object flying towards them at a very great speed. It hit the sand in front of them. Goddamn… it was one of the buggies.
Scully had once told his that William summoned a piece of alien metal to his crib when he was an infant. Apparently, he's now moved on up to vehicles too.
No questions were asked as they all climbed into the vehicle. Mulder hit the accelerator and drove quickly along the shaky surface. He did his best to avoid the air vents and shrinking dunes. With in two minute they wee near the edge; but they will happen when one travels at 190 km/h. They slowed down and drove straight off the edge.
Only when they were in the air did Mulder realise how stupid that stunt was. They hit the dunes with a crash, but kept going. They managed to get about a kilometre away before….
The ship exploded in a huge thunderous boom, the centre was the first to go and the explosion cascaded out to the edge in a ripple. They hid behind a large sand dune and held onto each other; blocking their ears. The sound wave was incredible. Even through their hands the sound was deafening. But the sound was blocked out by the crunching Mulder felt in his chest.
She was gone….
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Two days later
Christmas eve- 2012
Waddān, Libya
It was hot out in the sun, the sand burned and the wind was cutting. It was painful to move as consciousness arrived.
Thoughts plagued every aching limb; but one single realisation made life a lot better. 'I'm alive.'
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Ah, cliff-hangers… evil aren't they? This was a long and possibly rushed chapter, but there was a lot to cover. This story has only two short chapters left. Please excuse my spelling errors. They aint intentional. Oh, yeah… please don't bomb my house! Me and scully made a promise and we're gonna keep it.
If you want a sneak peek, think back to season five. 'Tithonus' was an important episode in this mega twist…
REVIEW, REIVEW, REIVEW! Did you cry too…?