Liberty had done her best to fight Lizard, but his strength was too much for her. He had dragged her from the car and through the desert to a small village hidden within the valleys. She watched as Cassie and Faye had been pulled out of the car by the other two mutants. The first the one she had seen in the car window and the other a large man with a facial deformity. Austin, however, was nowhere to be seen. Had they already taken him?

She ached all over, from the crash and from the desert floor she was dragged across. They had been chained up in a basement of some kind in the middle of this village. Faye was still unconscious in the corner of the room whilst Cassie continued to weep to herself. There was still no sign of Austin.

They had been rough with them, making sure the shackles around the wrists were tight and also low enough to the ground so they couldn't stand comfortably. She tried to console Cassie but there was no hope, she was deaf to her in her panic.

She could hear footsteps above them, walking up and down the wooden flooring, dust falling as they did so. There was a foul smell in there, like blood and rotting meat, it almost made her want to gag. She had to be optimistic though, perhaps these people were just protecting their property, maybe they had taken a wrong turn and gone onto private property. Though it seemed odd that the gas man didn't say anything to them when they stopped there, Jeb was his name she thought.

The door flung open upstairs, and a heavy-footed older male came down to them. He wore an oversized trench coat and had a long greying beard. Behind him came a large woman who wore an obvious black wig on her head, they both wore a stern expression.

They centred on her, being the only one really capable of speaking. 'What is your name girl.' The man spoke first, deep in voice.

'Liberty.' She forced out, inwardly wondering if she should have given them her real identity. The two looked between one another, the woman coming forward, bending down to her level, and brushing a hair out of her face.

'You banged ya head up really good Liberty, gonna have to clean ya up.' The woman was soft spoken but remained stern in her expression.

'Thank you…um…my friend… she hasn't regained consciousness yet…' Liberty motioned towards Faye's limp body in the corner of the room, shaking her bloodied blonde hair out of the woman's grasp.

'She'll be alright honey, just a bang to the head, like yours.' The woman headed over to Faye, as the man remained where he stood, gazing at her with a quizzical expression.

'Where are we?' Liberty tried speaking to the man, but he remained silent.

'Ya in the Test Village sweetheart. This be our home and ya trespassed. We don't take kindly to strangers in our land.' The woman came back over her, a displeased look on her face.

'We never meant to; I swear! We thought it would get us to California quicker, I'm so sorry, please let us go!' her voice broke at the end, tears threatening to fall.

'I'm 'fraid that won't be possible Liberty. You belong to us now; it be up to us what happens to you three now.' There was an almost sympathetic look on the woman's face.

'Austin…' Cassie squeaked from behind them all, getting everyone's attention. She continued to cry heavily, forcing the words out.

'You said three, where's Austin!' her voice was louder this time, shouting almost as she demanded to know where her boyfriend was.

They looked between themselves at her statement. 'You said there was only three!' The woman spoke in a raised whisper to the man.

'That's what Liz told me.' He looked displeased at the woman before turning and storming up the basement stairs, the woman following behind.

Cassie cried after them, calling Austin's name. They didn't know, which meant that Austin was still out there somewhere. They had hope.