AFTERMATH

Title: AFTERMATH
Author: Donna McIntosh
Email: dmcintoshtx@yahoo.com
Fandom: X-Files
Pairing: K/S & M/Sc
Genre: Slash
Rating: NC-17 FRAO
Status: Complete
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Chris Carter – not to me!
Warning: No graphic sex so if you're looking for that you've come to the wrong place.
Summary: It's all over. The aliens won and everyone left alive is struggling for survival.
Beta: Many, many thanks to URSULA for all her help in catching my typos, misspelled words, holes in the story line, punctuation errors, etc; and most of all for the rapid-fire speed with which she did it all!

AFTERMATH (Chapter 1 of 11 chapters)

When the invasion came it caught them all off guard. There had been rumors, hints over the years but no one in a position of power had believed them. It couldn't happen, they all said. We had the most advanced warning systems in the world. No one could sneak up of the US!

They were wrong. They were all wrong. In a matter of ten days it was all over. The aliens simply came down en masse, over taking every seat of power on earth. The struggle was fast and furious, the carnage heavy. Every President, Premier, Prime Minister, every royal family, all Governors, all Generals, all Admirals, every police man in every country were identified and immediately eliminated in the first few days.

Within a week 'internment camps' began to spring up all over. Every military base was first cleared of anyone in uniform, and then used as a camp, the fences around them electrified. People had been rounded up by the truckloads and brought in. Any back talk, any disobedience at all was punished by on the spot execution with what eventually came to be called the 'fire wand'. The situation was dire for human kind.

xxxx

The lowering of the landing gear woke Krycek as it always did. This was not his stop but he needed to be awake and aware to check out whoever boarded the plane. He didn't expect any trouble out of Denver but you never could tell. Two flight attendants were scurrying about whispering to one another. Something was up. They were frightened about something. He could see it in their eyes and their 'controlled panic' movements.
The girls disappeared behind the curtained off area and came out again a few minutes later. One of them made an announcement that there was some trouble at the Denver airport and they were going to have to land at an alternative air port. She quickly disengaged the microphone and slipped out of sight again while the passengers barked their complaints.

The next nearest airport that could handle a plane that size was Boulder, less than thirty minutes away. As the plane banked for the change in direction he saw it -- the flames and smoke. It looked like the entire city of Denver was afire.

He wiggled his fake F.B.I. I.D. card from the heel of his shoe, stuck it in his pocket and made his way up to the cockpit. He showed the card to the flight attendants and insisted on speaking with the pilot. Every one was on edge and one of the flight attendants had obviously been crying.

The cockpit was chaos. Calls were coming in that were garbled, screaming warnings about an invasion. The pilot was sweating and shaking so hard Alex thought he might pass out at any moment; the co pilot staring straight ahead in a state of shock. There was no speaking with them; nothing to be done. They turned to him asking him what they should do. He told them to head for Boulder and they would see what happened then and that the important thing right now was to get the plane on the ground.

He went back to his seat and some time later one of the attendants signaled him to come up front again. As soon as the cockpit door closed behind him the pilot yelled in a shrill voice, "Boulder is ablaze too! What are we supposed to do now?"

"Just find a smooth flat place and land this thing."

"I can't do that! Do you have any idea how heavy this plane is? We need a runway!"

"From what we've seen and from what that radio is saying, there isn't a runway around that isn't in flames. If you want to live and if you want to save the lives of all your passengers I suggest you find a nice field somewhere."

"I can't land this thing in a field!" The pilot shrieked.

"Then I suggest you start praying." Krycek made his way slowly back to his seat. He sat and wondered if this was it for him. He didn't feel any panic; just anger. He had so many things left that he wanted to do. He just couldn't believe his time was up already. The fact that there was an invasion, if indeed that's what it was, didn't surprise him all that much. It had been threatening for decades. People had become complacent, didn't believe it would ever happen, not in their life time. They got lazy.

One of the passengers shouted, "Look, Boulder is on fire! Just like Denver! There's no place to land! We're going to run out of fuel and crash!" Panic set in and everyone was jumping around, going from window to window. There was sobbing, shouting, cursing.

A flight attendant came out and made an announcement. She was clearly distraught, her make-up stained with tears. "May I have your attention please?" A few passengers started shouting questions at her but Krycek stood up and shouted them down.

"Let's hear what she has to say!"

"There seems to be some major – circumstances going on below and we have been advised to land the plane at the first possible opportunity. There seems to be no airports available so we will be attempting a field landing."

"What the hell's a field landing?" Someone yelled.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Krycek said. "Landing in a field."

"You can't land a plane this size in a field. We'll all be killed." Someone yelled.

"We don't exactly have a choice here, Sir. There are no air port runways available."

"What about a highway somewhere?" Someone asked.

"All of the highways seem to be jammed with traffic fleeing the cities."

"Can't we just fly to another air port?"

"Our fuel supply is limited and from the calls we've been receiving, they all seem to be in flames."

"Where's the pilot? Get him out here." Someone yelled.

"I'm right here." The uniformed man stepped out into the aisle to speak. "We are all terribly upset and alarmed, the same as you all are. We don't know what's happening down there. We're getting nothing on the radio but garbled messages about an invasion of some sort."

Someone shrieked and wailed in terror, others began to argue and shout.

"Please, please control yourselves. Remember that I am in this air plane too and I want to live as much as the rest of you do. We have about two hours of fuel left. It has been suggested that we find a field somewhere and attempt a landing. Right now, that's looking like our best choice. If you have any better suggestions, I'd like to hear them."

The crowd was silent except for the sobbing and mumbled curses.

"Very well then – I'm asking that you all prepare yourselves for … a difficult landing. Please put anything away that could become a projectile and injure yourself or others. I promise you, I will give this my best shot." With that he turned and went back into the cockpit.

The flight attendant wiped tears from her eyes and began her well learned and practiced procedure of calming down the passengers and preparing them for a crash landing.

Krycek tightened his seat belt, gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the end. Two hours. They had to find someplace to land this plane or it would be all over for him and everyone else on board. The pilot kept the plane at a dangerously low altitude so they could scan the horizon. About ninety minutes later the flight attendants came through again checking on every one. They had found a field and were ready to attempt a landing. Everyone held their breath and someone started praying; others joined in.

Krycek watched as the plane banked slowly to the left then started its descent. He could see fewer and fewer buildings now and knew they were on the outskirts of town. He hoped there would be some large field out there somewhere long enough to land this plane.

They were over open ground now and he could see it passing beneath them. Here and there a road jammed with cars. He felt the pilot power back and knew they were slowing down. It would all be over with soon. This was a hell of a way to go, he thought. He closed his eyes for a moment then felt the first bump as the tires hit the ground. Out the window he could see what looked like corn plants slapping at the side of the plane. They were going too fast! The ground beneath them was rough and they bounced in their seats, he heard screams and sobs; the screeching of brakes and the smell of burning rubber filled the air. The jostling of the plane caused the oxygen masks to deploy and they dangled like jeering specters in front of every one.

With one final jerk the plane stopped. There was dead silence at first then everyone began with the questions again. The pilot came out of the cockpit followed by the rest of the crew and Krycek unbuckled and joined them.

"What now?" The pilot asked Krycek quietly.

"Now we get our asses off this plane and get ourselves over to those woods." Krycek said after taking a quick look out windows on either side of the plane.

"All right now, ladies and gentlemen. I suggest we all deplane and decide where to go from here." The pilot tried to calm the angry passengers.

"I'm not going out in that corn field!" Someone yelled. "They'll send someone for us. Why don't we just wait in here?"

Krycek held his hands out to quiet every one down. "Did you people not hear him when he said there was some sort of invasion going on? You are not safe here! If they hit all the air ports, don't you think they will be coming after all the planes as well? I, for one, am leaving this spot as soon as the flight attendants get those chutes deployed. I'm not staying around here to be taken prisoner. And if those in charge of the invasion are who I think they are, they won't leave many of you alive, especially those of you in uniform. I strongly advise you to remove them immediately.

Six Army men stood up and pulled off their shirts and tossed their caps out of sight. One of them yelled. "Where are you going? We're going with you!"

"That's the first smart thing I've heard so far. Come on. Anyone else who wants to is welcome to come along. The rest of you, well, good luck."

The door was open and the escape chute was out and down went several passengers. "Come on, come on." Krycek urged. Four young men wearing football jackets went down, two women, two more men, another woman."

"What about you, Captain?" Krycek asked the pilot.

"I can't go unless they all go. My duty is to stay with the passengers." The rest of the crew nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's your choice. But if you stay, I strongly suggest that you get out of those uniforms. Take a seat back there somewhere and act like passengers. If there is anything that identifies you as pilot and crew, burn it. And don't waste any time, do it now." With that, Krycek slid down the chute and into the corn field.

The woods were about a hundred yards away and they had barely made it when they heard the trucks pulling up. The aliens climbed on top of the trucks and entered the plane.

"Damn!" Krycek cursed.

A soldier standing beside him asked, "Who do you think they are? What nationality? Look at those faces; I've never seen anything like that before and I've been all over the world."

Before he could answer, two men and one woman were pulled out of the plane, shoved down the chute and two aliens on the ground pointed at them and fired. They immediately burst into flames. Screams could be heard from the plane and the soldiers bristled. "We've got to do something!"

"There's nothing you can do." Krycek said. "Anyone who apposes them is immediately killed."

"You've seen them before?"

"I have. You can believe this or not but they are aliens." Everyone in the trees gasped and watched as one by one the passengers were shoved down the chute and loaded up in the trucks.

"Where do you think they are taking them?" One of the soldiers asked.

"No telling. I just hope they keep their mouths shut and do what they are told and they might get out of this alive."

One of the women with them in the woods began to weep. A flight attendant went to her and tried to comfort her. "You really think they're aliens? Like from Mars or something?" She asked while massaging the weeping woman's shoulders.

"Not from Mars. A lot farther away than that but yes, they are aliens." Krycek answered and wiped the sweat off his upper lip with the back of his hand.

"Well what are we going to do?"

Just then they heard a loud whooosh and the plane went up in flames. The trucks started up and headed off in the direction they came from. They watched them go and saw several people jump from the back of the truck and disappear in the tall corn. The trucks kept on going and soon the jumpers joined the others in the woods.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Everyone crowded around Krycek for answers.

"Damn! I lost my cell phone," someone said.

"Don't anyone use their phones. Transmissions can be easily traced. You'll bring them right down on us." Krycek warned as he paced and tried to figure out what to do.

"We need to find a safe place," Krycek mumbled as he paced.

"Where? Where can we go that they can't find us?" Someone asked.

They stood around muttering, in shock for a while then a voice from the back said, "I know a place."

"Near here?" Krycek asked?

"About … seventy miles or so north west of here. It's in the Williams Fork Mountains. A valley -- very hard to find."

"How did you find it then? If you found it, they'll find it." Someone said.

"My brother is a pilot; flies a small two engine job. We flew over it once and saw it. Saw there was nothing there, no buildings, no signs of life. So we set out one day and hiked up to it. It's a really beautiful little valley, completely circled with mountains, no roads anywhere near it. We had to hike in about fifteen miles, if I remember correctly, from this tiny little town."

"And you say it's miles from any major town?" Krycek asked.

"It's at least fifty or sixty miles from any town of any size. And about fifteen miles from that little town, heck, it might not even be considered a town. It's more like a stop in the road."
"So there would be no roads out to it or anything – no telephone lines, no traffic of any kind?"

"That's right."

"We might just get lucky enough and they won't be looking too hard." Krycek said; satisfied that this was their best bet.

"I just want to go home. Do you really think these … aliens are all over, everywhere?"

"Do you want to risk finding out?" Krycek asked.

"Maybe a few of us could go into town, scout around and see what we find." One of the soldiers said.

"All right. Sounds like a good idea," Krycek agreed then added, "Which direction will you head?"

They all looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"We are ninety minutes due west of Boulder, out in the middle of no where. I suggest we head north west. When we come to a town, a few of us will go in and investigate; see what's happening."

"I think we should head south to Denver." Someone said.

"Denver's in flames. It's already been hit. Looks like they are taking on the bigger cities first. The smaller towns will come next. If we leave now, we just might make it to safety before they get out this far." Krycek said.

"So we're heading north west, where? Out to that hidden valley he was talking about?" One of the men asked.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Krycek asked.

"Yes! I say we send someone into town, contact the authorities and have them send someone out to pick us up."

"Where is town? Which direction?" Krycek asked him.

"Hell, I don't know. Doesn't anyone know?" The man asked the crowd. No one answered.

"OK. I'm tired of this debate. So far, the only suggestion I've heard that I like is the hidden valley. If it truly is hidden, they might just miss it. I think it's our best bet. Do you think you can find it again?" He asked the man who had suggested it.

"Sure. But like I said, it's at least seventy miles or so."

"Then we'd better get started," Krycek said.

"What will we do when we get there? He said there was nothing there." Someone in the crowd asked.

"There are no buildings, no roads, nothing. But there is a river running through it, with some delicious trout; there are woods with game." The man who found the valley said.

"And what will we catch those fish with or kill that game with? I don't see you carrying any fishing poles or carrying a rifle."

"We can pick those up as we go along." Krycek offered. "I'm heading north west and I'm leaving now. The rest of you can do whatever the hell you want." Krycek turned and started out. First just the guy who suggested the valley walked with him. Eventually they all joined in the trek and headed out.

"He said it was seventy miles. Are we going to have to walk seventy miles? I'll never make it that far." Someone complained.

"Maybe we could find a vehicle of some kind – a bus or a truck?" Someone asked.

"Let's just wait and see what we find when we get to the first town." Krycek said as he led the way through the trees.

They made it five miles before they had to stop and rest. Everyone groaned and threw themselves on the ground. One of the soldiers came up to Krycek. "We'll never make it at this rate. Why don't my buddies and I go on ahead? We're used to trekking through the country side; these people are not."

"I've got a better idea. How about just you and me going. I can see some buildings over that way. There must be some kind of town. Let your buddies stay with the group and watch over them so that they don't do anything stupid."

"Ok. Looks to be at least another five miles ahead. We should be able to make it there and back in an hour or so."

"Uh huh. If we don't run into any trouble. If we do, then your buddies can take the group on west." Krycek said.

The soldier went back to his buddies and told him the plan. There were some raised voices but in the end, it was just Krycek and Staff Sgt. Peterson who made the run. Before they left, Krycek made everyone give him their cell phones. He didn't trust them not to try and make a call.

They made the run through the brush and weeds in good time and walked carefully the last quarter of a mile. The little town was full of aliens all right and they were loading up the people into trucks and hauling them away.

The two of them stayed hidden and watched as every building was gone through and people were dragged out into the street. Anyone who protested was set ablaze immediately. After half a dozen burnings, the townspeople went silently.

Sgt. Peterson trembled where he knelt in the weeds as they watched. Krycek watched with gritted teeth and silently cursed all the powers that be who refused to listen to the warnings they were given. Just when things seemed the worst, the aliens loaded up and moved out; all of them.

"Do you think they all left?" Peterson whispered.

"I don't see any guards. If they did leave, this will be the perfect place to spend the night. It'll be dark soon and we've get to get that group into shelter somewhere."

"Agreed."

"Let's check the town out first and make sure they are all gone. Stay behind me and keep down." Krycek said.

The town had one main street about a mile long and a couple of shorter side streets. They checked out every building. They found several seared bodies but no one alive and no aliens.

"I think it's pretty safe. Let's get on back and bring them up. We can spend the night there in the general store. There should be food and water." Krycek said and they headed back to the group.

It took an hour and a half but they finally got all twenty five people into town and into the General store. They groaned and complained all the way but grew silent as they filed past the charred remains lying in the middle of the road.

Krycek, Peterson and his buddies, got food out and passed it around to everyone. Several said they weren't hungry but Krycek insisted they eat, saying no telling how long it would be before they had food again.

They posted guards at either end of town while the others rested and tried to sleep. Krycek paced the floor and his eyes kept coming to rest on the rack at the front of the store holding six bicycles. If only there were more! When Peterson came in off guard duty, Krycek shared his idea with him.

"It sounds good but there are twenty five of us and only six bicycles."

"There must be some more around, maybe in the back still in boxes or in some of these homes. Why don't we take a walk and see what we can find."

By morning they had a total of fourteen bikes. They assembled some new ones and refurbished the older bikes they found and put off-road tires on all of them.

"We've got to come up with some way to carry some supplies," Krycek said as the last bike was ready.

"One of them belonged to a paper boy. We can carry some food in that one. A couple others have small baskets in front." Peterson offered.

"Yeah, that's good. But we need more. See if you can find front baskets for all the bikes. Every little bit of storage space helps." He tossed an empty tire box into the trash. His eyes caught and held. "What we need is something this size." He lifted up the plastic trash can.

"Why not those?" one of the soldiers said. "There's a whole stack of them over there. If we could find some way to mount them on the back …"

"Good idea." Krycek agreed. "Ok. Get working on it. Bring those over here. See if we can find a way to mount one on either side of the back fender."

Two more hours of work and they had two plastic trashcans mounted securely to the back of each bike.

"What are you going to do with those?" One of the men asked as everyone started to wake up.

"We've got fourteen bikes. Fourteen of you will ride; the rest of us will run along side." Krycek answered.

"I haven't been on a bike in thirty years!" one man scoffed.

"Ok you can run then." Krycek said.

"Now wait a minute. I've got as much right to ride as anyone else does." The man backed off.

"It's already been decided." Krycek said and stuffed another bite of sandwich in his mouth.

"What do you mean? What's been decided? Don't we get a vote?"

"Sure you do. Here's what we decided. Fourteen ride bikes and carry supplies. Eleven of us run along side. That eleven is: me, the six soldiers and the four football players." Anyone have any objections?"

"Not me. I love to run." One of the football players said and his friends nodded in agreement.

"OK. That's settled then. You riders, go ahead and pick your bikes. Ride them around the store a little and get used to them. We'll start loading them shortly."

A couple of the women stood and stared at the bikes. Krycek realized they were in dresses and heels riding would be very difficult for them.

"Listen, why don't those of you not dressed for a bike ride, find some jeans and boots and change."

That put a whole new perspective on things for the women and they scavenged through the shelves and racks for suitable clothing. A couple of men in business suits or slacks did too as well as the soldiers who were in their standard GI tan pants and T-shirts after tossing their uniform shirts.

"Excuse me, but what is your name?" The guy who knew about the valley asked Krycek.

"Krycek. Alex Krycek."

"I'm Samuelson; a photographer. That's why I was so interested in that valley. It really is beautiful but it was really cold. Do you think it would be all right if we took some of these warm clothes? Some jackets, coats and sweaters? We're going to need them up there."

"I think that's a great idea." Krycek began going through other items in the store and found a shelf full of large back packs.

"Ok, everyone. I want each of you to take one of these packs and go through the store and find a change of clothes each. Make it warm. And when we leave here, I want everyone wearing one of these coats." He held up a heavy duty cammo coat. "There are a lot of pockets and you're going to need them. These two on the sides, I want you to put a water bottle in each. We'll carry lunch and snacks in the other pockets. Are any of you on any medications?"

They all shook their heads no as they each caught the back pack Peterson tossed them.

"That's good. Ladies, if you need any personal products, there are some over there. Get whatever you can carry in your back pack. Everyone needs a change of clothes, preferably jeans. Men, if you plan on shaving, I suggest you put together a shaving kit. Don't forget toothbrushes and toothpaste. Whatever will make your life more comfortable while we're traveling and whatever you can carry."

"What about food?" Someone asked. "I'd rather carry food than clothes."

"We're carrying food in the baskets attached to the back of the bikes. I'm hoping as we go along to find more bikes for the rest of us so we don't have to run all the way."

Krycek grabbed some extra clothes up for himself along with a shaving kit and tooth brush and paste. Once each had filled their packs they began deciding on what food to take.

"What about a little camp stove? It might come in handy." Samuelson said. "I can carry it in my basket."

"Ok, good. Has anyone seen a first aid kit? We should take one of those." Krycek asked.

"How about some extra tires and a bike repair kit in case of flats?" One of women suggested.

"Good. Grab some. You can carry it in your front basket."

"Flash lights?" Someone asked.

"Yes! Everyone get a flashlight and don't forget to grab as many extra batteries as you can fit in your pockets." Krycek called to them as he continued looking through shelves.

He found a shelf with a box of small manual can openers and told everyone to get one and not to lose it as they would probably be eating a lot of canned goods. He also insisted everyone carry a compass in case anyone got separated from the group they would know how to find the rest of them.

A first aid kit was found and it was loaded into someone's basket then Krycek joined the soldiers who were looking over some hunting rifles.

"What do you think?" Peterson asked Krycek.

"Take them. Don't forget ammunition." He stopped at the knife display and brought out some hunting knives. "These might come in handy too." He pocketed one and nodded for the Army guys to do the same. He then picked out a rifle and stuffed some shells in his pockets. Samuelson came over and took the last rifle and some shells. The foot ball players each took a knife but no one else wanted anything to do with weapons of any kind.

Everyone grabbed sandwiches and snacks and filled their pockets. By mid morning they were off.

Krycek, two soldiers and two football players led the way, one soldier was on either side of the group and watching out for the rear were two soldiers and two foot ball players.

It took them nearly two hours to make it to the next town, twelve more miles covered. The group settled down groaning and complaining in a clump of trees and waited while Krycek and Peterson crept the rest of the way into town. It was about four times larger than the last town but it was just as empty. They did find four more bikes though and stayed there long enough to attach plastic trashcans to the backs of each bike and load them with food and water. They returned to the group and Peterson escorted two others back to town and they brought the other two bikes out.

The group begged to stop for a few hours rest but Krycek insisted that they push on. They had only covered thirty miles so far and had at least another forty to go. Two more hours ride and they had to stop. They were all exhausted. They rested on some rocks and ate lunch. A couple of them dozed off.

Krycek sat munching on his trail mix, astonished at his luck at surviving the plane landing. Every instinct told him to run but there was just something about this group he had found himself saddled with. He couldn't leave them to be slaughtered. The six soldiers were capable enough but obviously inexperienced in any dire situations. The four football players were still in their teens but even though they were obviously scared to death, they kept their heads and did what they were told without complaining. The seven women were all more than willing to let the men make the decisions. A few were weepy but they all kept up and helped one another along. It was a motley crew all right and at any other time he would have bolted and left them in the dust. But this time, everything was different. If he left then, they would scatter and end up captured or dead.

"How far do you think we've come?" Samuelson sat down beside Krycek and asked.

"Somewhere in the neighborhood of between thirty five or forty miles." Krycek said as he nibbled on an energy bar.

"You really think we can drag this entire group another thirty or forty miles?" Samuelson asked Krycek.

"I didn't think they'd make it this far. And besides, it's not like they have much of a choice. Where would they go? I doubt any of them would want to be left behind. We're moving slowly but steadily. We've got another couple of hours in us before we have to find a place for the night. Maybe we'll get lucky and find an abandoned house or something."

"Some of them look like they're really hurting. I don't know if you'll get another couple hours out of them."

"They'll ride or they'll spend the night out here alone." Krycek said.

"Given that choice, I think they'll ride." Samuelson agreed.

His suggestion of another few hours ride was met with protests but when faced with the prospect of spending the night out there in the middle of nowhere, they agreed to go on.
Another two hours and they could go no further. They collapsed on the ground in pain and exhaustion. It was only mid afternoon but they were clearly incapable of moving another inch. Every mile had taken them to higher altitudes and the temperature was dropping.

"I'm going to scout around and see if I can find some shelter," Krycek said.

"I'll do the same, over this way," Peterson said and the two of them took off in opposite directions.

Thirty minutes later they were both back. They had found a place. Just as Krycek had hoped -- an abandoned farm house. Nothing else around for miles that they could see from the hill it was perched on. It would be safe for the night.

The group got back up wearily and mounted up again and headed for the farm house just the other side of the hill they had stopped on, less than a mile away. They pulled their bikes up the back steps and into a small parlor, just managing to get them all in.

They filled the house, falling on any chair, couch, or cushion they could find. The women were given the bedrooms and the men lay down any where they could, using their packs as pillows. Krycek roused them all and encouraged everyone to eat something before they fell asleep as once it was dark there would be no lights allowed. The place must remain appearing to be deserted.

Krycek ate the second sandwich that he had stashed in his coat pocket, found an un-occupied corner and lay down for sleep. Two football players and two soldiers stood first guard and switched off two hours later. Krycek took third watch after sleeping four hours.

By dawn Krycek and Peterson talked it over and decided the only way they were going to get the group moving again was if they had some hot coffee and a good meal. They found a box of oatmeal and Krycek started the water boiling on the old gas stove.

Slowly, one by one they began to awaken and roused up with the smell of coffee brewing. Soon everyone was scraping their plates clean and asking for more. He cooked up the rest of the box and every bit of it was eaten; along with two loaves of bread they found in the pantry and a jar of home made strawberry jam.

A cold wind was blowing and it dropped the temperature into the low forties. The group groaned and complained and whined but once they realized that they had traveled over forty miles and their journey was more than half over with, they perked up a little.

Off they started and they made pretty good time for the first two hours. They were traveling roughly five miles an hour but had to make more and more stops as aching muscles refused to work and leg cramps slowed them down. Krycek kept them going with a promise that if they could keep up their speed they would be safely in the valley by night fall.

Along the way they had managed to pick up enough bikes so that they were now all riding now and carrying supplies of food and water. They hit a tiny town in late afternoon and Samuelson, all excited, exclaimed, "This is it! This is the little town I was telling you about. We hiked in from here. About fifteen more miles and we're there."

The group was all excited about reaching safety but still a little apprehensive about what they would find when they got there.

"So do we just bypass the town and head out for the valley or do you want to go in and have a look around the town first?" Sgt. Peterson asked Krycek.

"I think we need to check out the town first. A couple of us go in ahead, have a look around, and if it's clear we all go in. We're going to need more than food and water in the valley. Maybe we can find some tents, camping equipment and such."

So it was agreed. Krycek, Peterson and McConnel went in first and had a look around. The place was deserted but the aliens had been there. There were charred remains of bodies here and there.

Once all were in town, they found the small grocery store/general store/post office/gas station and brought their bikes around back and into the back store room to keep them out of sight.

"Remember, no lights. Don't turn anything on, don't try and use the phone if you find one. Any electronic transmission of any kind can easily be traced and bring them right to us."

"Do you think anyone is looking for us?" One of the women asked.

"I doubt it. I think anyone left alive out there is worried about just one thing right now and that's survival. And as for the aliens, I think they have their hands full right now rounding up everyone they can easily find. They will probably start sending out patrols later. We'll have to be sure and keep an eye out for them." Krycek said.

"They'll be easy enough to spot with those ugly faces. And they all looked alike, did you notice that?" Someone said.

"Yeah, each one uglier than the other." Someone answered.

"Ok. Here's what we have to decide now. Do we want to try and make it into the valley by tonight with about another three hours ride? It should stay light that long. Or do we want to stay here the night and risk them coming back and being captured?" Krycek asked the group.

"Which do you think is the best option?" Sgt. McConnel asked.

"If it was just me, I'd go on for the valley. But after we get to the valley, we still need to set up a camp of some sort."

"Let's wait till morning, I'm exhausted." Someone said and others muttered in agreement. Some wanted to go ahead to the valley.

Peterson came up with a suggestion. "Why don't some of us go on ahead and check the valley out. It's only fifteen miles. We should be able to make it there and back before dark."

"All right. I like that idea. No sense in dragging everyone up there if it isn't suitable. For all we know it could be flooded or something."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that." Samuelson said. "This place was my idea and I'm going to feel really guilty if we've come all this way for nothing."

"OK, Peterson. Take a couple of men with you. Samuelson, can you make the trip? It would be really helpful if you could show them the pass." Krycek asked.

"Sure. I can make it. And with just a few of us, we can travel a lot faster." Samuelson agreed.

So four of them took off towards the mountain while the rest of the group found places to lie down and moaned and massaged their sore muscles.

Krycek made the rounds and spoke to each of them to make sure they were all right then went on a surveying trip around the store to see what he could find. Plenty of food still in the coolers so he reached in and pulled out sandwiches and tossed everyone one. He found a pistol in the drawer under the cash register and tucked it in the back waist band of his jeans and pocketed the box of bullets that were with it. His own SIG Sauer had been in his luggage and went up in flames with the air plane. He missed it but this pistol would do until he could come up with something better.

He decided to take a walk and see what else he could find in town. He took the four football players with him after swearing them to follow his orders to the letter. They all agreed and set out. There wasn't much in the small town but there was a Western Auto and a small five and dime.

The Western Auto proved to be a God send. Inside they found several tents; two large, two room tents and several smaller ones. The boys lamented that they would be too heavy to carry on the bikes but Krycek suggested that if they took them out of the boxes, some could carry the canvas while others carried the poles and it would lighten the load considerably. They liked that idea and two of the boys hefted the large tent boxes on their shoulders while the others each carried three or four of the smaller ones. They made it back to the group, deposited their load and started out again. This time, two of the women joined them. Back to the Western Auto they went and loaded up on camping gear including: another camp stove with extra propane canisters, two large coffee pots, half a dozen camp sets of dishes, cups, tableware, a couple axes and shovels, a sledge hammer, and lanterns. They had to make several trips back and forth and others of the group joined them. They also found sleeping bags, bug spray, insect repellant and fishing gear.

"There's no way in hell we can carry all this stuff on the bikes." Someone complained. It was Harry the Taxi driver again. "What does he think we are anyway, pack mules?"

"Oh shut up and stop complaining, Harry. You're alive aren't you? Would you rather be a charred hulk somewhere?" One of the woman said.

"Just relax, everyone. There's nothing that says we have to take this all in one trip. And everything here will be needed for our survival. What would you have us leave behind? The food? The sleeping bags? Have you ever slept on the bare ground before? The temperature is hovering around forty. Once darkness falls, so will the temperature. What about the tents? Should we leave those? What about if it rains or snows? That could happen at any time of the year at this altitude." Krycek said. "We need everything we've gathered and much, much more if we're to survive. Once we get the main group settled in the valley, we'll keep coming back until we get what we need."

They heard a noise then and one of the football players that was on guard came running in. "The bikers are back from the valley. They'll be here shortly." He announced then went back out to his watch.

They all stood anxiously and waited for Peterson and his group. They came in out of breath and smiling from ear to ear. Samuelson made the announcement.

"It's as perfect as I remembered!"

Everyone started chattering excitedly.

"What do you think?" Krycek asked Peterson.

"I agree with Samuelson. It's perfect."

"Very well then. I think everyone should get some sleep and we'll head out at dawn."

"Is it OK if we take some things that we need?" One of the women asked.

"Sure, take whatever you want, whatever you can carry. Just remember that we have a lot of extra stuff we need to take too."

The group milled around the store a bit, filling their pockets and packs with whatever they thought they might need. Long after every one else was asleep, Krycek, Peterson and the other soldiers sat up talking.

"You really think we can pull this off?" One of the soldiers asked Krycek.

"You mean keep them all alive? Yeah, we can do that -- at least for a while. We'll have to see just how secure the valley is after we get there. It's going to take several trips back and forth into town to get supplies. And every trip we take exposes us to the chance of getting caught. We're going to have to keep our guard up every minute."

"I think the trips into town should just be us seven and maybe the ball players." Peterson suggested. "We can bring back whatever is needed and we're a lot younger and faster than the others."

"Us seven for sure, the boys and maybe a couple of women -- two of them, what were their names, Maddie and …"

"Marcia," one of them said.

"Yes, Marcia and Maddie both seem to be in pretty good shape and have done very little complaining along the way. The more we take with us, the more we can bring back." Krycek said.

"I don't know. Those boys are so young and inexperienced. They could get into trouble."

"They could if left alone. When we get into town we can split up and each one of us can take one of them with us and keep an eye on them. They seem pretty good at following orders."

"True. Ok. It's my turn for guard duty," Miller said and stood up.

"We all need to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day." Krycek said and went off and found a place to lie down and went immediately to sleep.

The next morning was a blur of last minute activity. Everyone was getting loaded up. Krycek found a bale of twine and was tying everyone's sleeping bag on the bottom of their back packs. Harry was the one to complain again. "I can't carry one more ounce." He said.

"OK. That's fine with me. If you want to sleep on the ground, that's your decision." Krycek said and went on to fastening a sleeping bag to the next person.

"Now I didn't say that," Harry said. "I'm just not as strong as the rest of you. I'm forty eight years old and sit on my ass all day driving a cab. I just can't carry all this stuff and ride a loaded bike too."

"It's your decision, Harry. We're each on our own out here and we have to take care of ourselves." Krycek said as he secured another sleeping bag to one of the women's back pack.

"Couldn't one of the others carry it for me?" Harry whined.

"Which one, Harry; one of the women, or one of the guys carrying the tents, tools and extra supplies along with all their own things?" Peterson said as he duct taped the extra camp stove to his basket.

The heaviest loads went to the strongest. That was the six soldiers and the four football players. They had the tents. The largest ones taken out of their boxes and the canvas draped across the baskets which had been reinforced to carry the extra weight.
Others had the tent poles duct taped across their handlebars. Several had taken lanterns out of the boxes and hung the wire handles over their handlebars carrying one on each side to keep their load level. Alex had the tools taped securely across his handlebars as well as two of the small tents across the back fender, atop the plastic waste baskets filled with food.

"Ok, Ok. I get the point." Harry turned around and allowed Krycek to tie a sleeping bag to his back pack.

"It's not that heavy, Harry and when you're sitting on the bike, most of the weight will rest on the load behind you." Krycek reassured him.

It was mid morning before they got on the trail. Three had gone out ahead to make sure the trail was still clear. They were miles away from any roads so they were relatively safe.

The first two hours of the trip was fairly easy but the closer they got to the mountain, the rockier and steeper the trail became. The last few hundred yards they got down and walked their bikes the rest of the way.

When they all about ready to pass out from the effort, Samuelson pronounced that they were there. "Here?" someone asked. "I don't see any valley."

"It's just beyond these rocks. It's an easy climb, just like walking up stairs." He hopped off his bike and started up a pile of large boulders.

"You expect us to climb a mountain?" One of the women gasped.

"No." Krycek assured them. "Let me go take a look." He hopped off his bike and followed Samuelson up the mountain, surprised himself how easy the climb was. About a hundred feet up and he was at the top looking down into the valley. It was everything Samuelson said it was. They made a quick climb down the other side, to make sure it was just as easy. It was. They hurried back over the pile of rocks and Krycek spoke to the group.

"Well we're here and it's everything they said it was. It's the perfect spot. These boulders are wide and an easy climb. Come on, take a look."