from inside.
On the plus side, the worst of the shivers seemed to be
over. And he barely felt the hole in his abdomen that was
causing all his trouble. He had stopped pressing on his
wound, not because he didn't care anymore, but because
his hands would no longer obey his commands.
In the beginning, he had heard noises and seen flashes
of light. That was when he had still been able to lift his
head.
There had been one great moment, when he had seen a
bright ball of something strike the ship and rock it hard. It
had looked like Michael's work. Max and Michael had hurt
them. Good, he thought. Kyle had always had a problem
with bullies, and he sensed that these creatures were the
worst kind. Whatever their motives, whatever their reasons
for coming trillions and trillions of miles, they were just
bullies—like the ones he had seen growing up. But some-
times bullies picked on the wrong kid and got a surprise.
When he heard a loud rumble coming from the ship, he
decided that his friends were giving him that surprise.
He would have smiled if the effort had not been too
great.
He thought of his dad. He wished he could see him
* * *
again, but at least he had been able to say good-bye. It was
more than he had been able to have with his mother. Still,
he let them both go.
Liz, Max, Maria, Michael. One by one, he let his friends
go. Isabel was last and hardest, but he let her go in the end.
Other friends, other times. Girls he had known. Dawn,
who had liked him and had smelled very nice. Vicki
Delaney, with whom he had spent an evening in the back
of a pickup.
He let them all go.
His world became very simple and very small. He had
thought the Middle Path was difficult to walk, that it
would take great effort for him to find it. But now he knew
it was as easy as letting go. In the end, there was only his
breathing. He realized he probably should have stopped
making he effort, but old habits . . .
In the end, life was astonishingly simple.
Small breaths. In. Out.
Soon, he knew he would have to let that go too.
* * *
23
Liz felt her strength come back as she watched the alien
ship. Max had healed her, but she still felt weak.
As the minutes ticked by, she felt her heart thundering
in her chest. I'm sorry about your friend, Jimmy had said.
Was it Max whom Jimmy had seen? Was her vision
coming true, just earlier than she had expected? She had
seen Max fight. He had been brave and had stood strong—
and he had died. Maybe her vision had become mixed
with her dream. Maybe she had just seen this moment.
And I sent him back inside, Liz thought.
The ship shuddered a few times, and there were noises
from within. Could he already be . . . ? No, when he had
died before, she had felt it. If anything happened to him
now, she knew she would feel it. That told her he was still
alive, but for how long?
The ship shook again ... no, it didn't shake; it moved.
Liz was on her feet, blood suddenly pounding in her
veins. The ship had lifted several feet of the ground and
was wobbling in the air. She had seen it move the night
* * *
before. It could move quickly, and any second now, she
knew it could disappear.
Then it might not matter if Max was alive or not. Either
way, he would be gone. And the aliens would have him.
No! her mind screamed.
He had come for her and he and Michael had saved her.
Max had fought in the vision, though it had not been
enough. He had still died. She had stood there helplessly
and watched him die.
She had stood there.
Helpless.
That was what had bothered her about the dream. She
had watched it all, but she was unable to help. Like now.
Except she wasn't helpless, and Max was not fighting
by himself. She threw her hand forward and hit the ship
hard. It was the same force that had blown out the wind-
shield of the van but many, many times stronger, Liz
realized.
The ship shuddered at the impact and drifted across
the field for several seconds.
Then it started moving up.
Ten feet. Twenty.
Then fifty. More.
"No!" Liz screamed, reaching out her hand. She willed
the ship to stop moving.
To her surprise, it did. And then it started drifting back
down to the ground.
The ship made an ugly humming sound, and Liz felt her-
self straining at the effort. The strain wasn't physical, but it
was just as real. Then it was slipping. The ship stopped its
descent maybe twenty feet from the ground.
* * *
Liz concentrated her mind and her will to the task. She
managed to hold the ship.
There was movement in the door. Then on the ramp.
It was Max and Michael, she was sure. But the boys
were struggling. They were each carrying something . . .
someone. They were close, but it was still too high.
With a final burst of effort, she willed the ship down. It
lurched to the ground and touched for just an instant.
But that instant was enough. Max and Michael jumped
clear.
Liz lost her hold on the ship, and it shot into the air
with the same speed it had moved the night before. Except
this time, it was racing straight up.
She quickly lost track of the vessel in the night sky.
"Max!" she screamed, racing toward him.
When she reached them, Max and Michael looked
okay. In fact, they looked great. They were both carrying
the weight of a person on their backs, but they were stand-
ing strong. Max smiled at her, and she led the boys back to
where Dawn and Bell were lying. Max and Michael put the
two others next to them.
"Jessica," Liz said. "Oh, my God, you found her." Liz
felt tears streaming down her face as she threw her arms
around Max.
"Turns out they're only tough when they're picking on
girls," Michael said.
"Liz, the ship was moving. It was leaving. Did you ... ?"
Max said.
Liz nodded.
"Remind me not to make you mad, Parker," Max said,
and kissed her.
* * *
"I guess jimmy was wrong," Michael said.
I'm sorry about your friend.
Thank God, Liz thought.
"The others?" Liz said.
"Maria and Isabel are fine, they're back at the diner,"
Michael said.
"Kyle was with us, but. . . ," Max said.
"He got into it with one of the aliens, but Kyle got him.
He got banged up but said he was okay," Michael said.
Liz felt her stomach fall. There was something wrong,
she could feel it. "Kyle!" she shouted.
Nothing.
Then Liz and Michael repeated it, calling for their friend.
"Come on," Max said, running with Michael right
behind him. Liz followed for a few seconds, then she saw
the figure lying on the ground.
"Kyle," Max shouted.
Kyle didn't respond. In fact, he wasn't moving at all.
As Liz got closer she saw the dark pool on the ground
next to him. His hands were resting on his stomach, and
he was completely still.
Max's hands were glowing as he leaped the last few feet
to their friend. Then he was on he knees.
"Oh my God," Liz said. "No, please."
Kyle was still. His chest was not moving. . . .
Max touched Kyle with one hand on his head and one
on his stomach. Both hands were glowing brightly.
He was standing strong. Max was fighting for Kyle. It
was costing Max something, Liz realized. He was fighting
with everything he had. The pool around Kyle was starting
to disappear, but the effort was etched across Max's face.
* * *
He was still fighting, but Liz knew that not even Max
could win all of his battles. In her vision she had seen him
lose in his final battle. And she knew that sometimes
defeat was not a measure of how much you put into a
fight.
Some battles were just lost before they began. . . .
But not this one.
Kyle coughed and sputtered . . . and breathed.
He coughed again, and then Max was helping him sit up.
"He got me good, Max," Kyle said, feeling his stomach.
"I thought I was ..."
"We thought you were too," Michael said. "Good to
have you back."
"You fixed me," Kyle said, looking at Max. "Thanks. I
mean, thanks again."
Max nodded, and both guys looked away from each
other, embarrassed by what they were feeling. By what all
of us are feeling, Liz thought.
Kyle looked around. "Where is he?" he asked. A few
feet away, smoke rose from the ground. They investigated
and saw a puddle of goo there.
"What did you do to him?" Michael said.
Kyle smiled. "It's called a hit and wrap."
Michael glanced back at what was left of the alien and
said, "Cool."
"We should get back. We found Dawn and Bell, Kyle.
Jessica, and one other too," Max said.
A few seconds later, Max was looking over the girls.
Jessica looked pretty bad, so he healed her first, then the
others.
Michael stayed next to him the whole time and then
* * *
looked at him and said, "Max, I say this as a friend, but
you look like hell."
He did, Liz realized. Max was covered in sweat and felt
cold to Liz's touch. The fight and then healing them all had
taken a toll.
"Liz, get him back to the garage. Kyle and I will take
care of them," Michael said.
Max turned to Michael and said, "Michael. . ."
"Trust me, Maxwell," he said.
Max nodded, and Liz put his arm around her shoulder.
They started walking to town.
Michael still felt the rush from their fight with the aliens.
During the battle, he had felt strong, alive. And as he had
struck out at each of them, he had felt a moment of satisfac-
tion, but that didn't bother him now. Whoever they were,
the creatures were like . . . pure malice. They were killing
women, but not before they terrified and tortured them.
It was kind of like what Agent Pierce had done to his
best friend in a cold, white room. The aliens saw people as
lab rats. Well, today the lab rats had fought back. There
was justice there, and Michael knew he would sleep with-
out trouble tonight. But first, he had some things to take
care of.
"Wait here, I’ll carry them one at a time to the van,"
Michael said.
Kyle had nodded and had not asked any questions.
That was just as well. Michael had a lot to do and didn't
want to waste any time. Once they were all safe in the van,
he said to Kyle, "Wait with them, I'm going to get us some
transportation."
* * *
"You're going to steal a car, aren't you?" Kyle said.
"I'm just going to borrow something," Michael said.
Kyle nodded. "Just make sure it's big enough for all of
them. And try to keep it low profile."
"You bet," Michael said. Then he ran off into the night,
toward town.
Kyle was surprised when he saw the headlights less than
twenty minutes later. Michael had made good time. Town
was at least a mile away.
When the car came closer, Kyle realized there was
something wrong with it. The dimensions were off, and
the taillights were too far back.
What the. .. ? he thought.
A minute later, the bus was close enough that Kyle saw why.
That's low profile? he thought, shaking his head.
The large, bright yellow vehicle bounced slowly
through the field and came to a stop next to the van.
Michael jumped out and said, "Come on, let's get moving."
"You realize that's a school bus, right?" Kyle said, taking
Dawn in his arms and stepping toward it.
"Yeah," Michael said, picking up Jessica.
"Very subtle," Kyle noted.
"It's a long story," Michael said.
Once the unconscious girls were in the bus, they
quickly went back for the other two. Michael threw the
bus into gear and headed into town.
waiting. Maria was awake and she didn't look happy.
When he stepped out of the bus, she ran up to him and
* * *
slapped him hard across the face. Then she hugged him
tighdy and kissed him.
Women, Michael thought as he returned the kiss.
"Max and Liz were here. They told us what happened.
Max woke Maria up. Dan is still out," Isabel said.
Then she went to Kyle and said, "Are you okay?"
Kyle nodded.
Michael ran back into the bus and came out carrying Bell.
He put her inside, laying her down next to her husband.
"Are you just going to leave them here?" Isabel said.
He shrugged. "Unless you want to wait with them and
explain what happened tonight."
Then he softened his tone and said, "Look, they'll be
together when they wake up. Can't be helped."
"You two go back to the garage. We will be right there,"
Michael said.
"What are you going to do?" Isabel asked.
"Don't worry, I have everything under control," he said.
Maria looked up at the school bus and said, "I can see
that."
"What?" he said, annoyed.
"A school bus, Michael?" she asked.
Immediately, he felt the blood rushing to his face.
"Look, I needed something big enough to—" He stopped
himself, shaking his head, and said, "Oh, forget it. I'll see
you later."
A few minutes later Michael laid Jessica and the other
women down on benches in front of the Laundromat.
"Why not leave them in the diner? They'd be safe
there," Kyle said.
"It would raise too many questions," Michael said. This
* * *
way would also raise questions, but that couldn't be
helped. When they were a few feet away, Michael picked
up a rock and threw it straight at one of the Laundromat's
front window. It shattered, and a loud alarm sounded.
A few seconds later, Michael and Kyle were inside the
studio, where the others were waiting. Max was sleeping
next to Liz, who was awake and looking only at him.
A glance at the clock gave Michael a surprise. "It's only
eleven thirty," he said aloud. How could that be? Had that
whole thing played out in only a few hours? Michael told
the others what he and Kyle had done. They could hear
commotion in the town. Then sirens.
"What are they going to make of tonight?" Isabel said.
"I don't know, but there won't be anything to connect
us to any of it," Michael said. That was important. The
town would likely be crawling with state police tomorrow.
"Gome on, Space Boy, let's get some sleep," Maria said.
Michael got onto the floor next to her. She pulled him
closer, and Michael didn't question it.
What's the point? It will probably all change tomorrow, he
thought.
Maria turned around and pulled him tightly against
her. Michael stared at the back of her head as he held her.
Well, it might all change tomorrow, but it was pretty
good right now.
* * *
24
Someone was shaking him. Michael shrugged them off.
They shook him again.
"What?!" Michael said, not even opening his eyes.
"Come on. You can walk us to work," Maria's voice said.
That opened his eyes. Maria was glaring down at him.
Of course she is, he thought.
"You have got to be kidding me," Michael said.
"We should," Max said.
Michael looked up and saw his best friend looking
down at him. Max looked better. Almost like himself . . .
almost. His eyes were a bit sunken, but he looked better
than he had last night.
"We don't even know if the diner will be open, but we
should not change our routine. We don't want any extra
attention," Max said.
Michael nodded. Max was right. The others were all up
already. Michael showered quickly, and they were all out
the door in minutes.