AFTERMATH

CHAPTER NINE

Walter was sitting in the kitchen peeling potatoes when he heard Alex bellow his name.

"WALTER! WALTER!" He came running through the cafeteria and into the kitchen with a bunch of papers in his hand. He held them up high and yelled, "MULDER!"

Walter dropped the potato he was peeling, the peeler, tipped his chair over and ran to him.

"You found him? Where is he?"

"Massachusetts." He handed Walter the new list the Special Ops runner had just brought in. "Didn't his folks have a home up there?"

"They did." Walter agreed as he scanned for the name. Alex pointed the name out and Walter read, "Mouse Mulder, age 47, occupation, talent scout for a whore house."

"It's him. It's got to be him." Alex was breathless with excitement.

"Mouse Mulder?" Walter questioned.

"Fox – mouse – they're both animals. He was probably feeling like a mouse in a trap and tossed his I.D. just like you did. The age is correct. And look at that occupation."

"That's something every high school boy has said at one time or other. It doesn't mean anything." Walter was doubtful.

"Well he wasn't in high school when he said it to me. We talked once back when we were working together, about what we would be if we weren't agents. That's what he said he wanted to be. A talent scout for a whorehouse. And he said it again at different times at least three or four times."

"It's a long shot."

"Look, the name is Mulder, the age is right, the area is right. Have you ever heard a kid being named 'mouse' and that occupation thing? It's him. I know it is."

"I've never even known another Mulder besides him and his family." Walter rubbed the back of his neck and felt the old tension coming back. "When do we leave?"

"First thing in the morning. It's too late to start out now." He turned to leave then added, "Pack warm. It's snowing again."

The next morning before dawn they sat in the kitchen sipping coffee and debating the pros and cons of motorcycles or a truck. Both had their advantages and disadvantages. It was finally decided on motorcycles. Back east the camps were much closer together which meant more traffic around. The more traffic around the easier it would be for them to get caught. The motorcycles afforded them easier access to difficult places and a speedier get away if spotted.

Their long-johns, leather pants and jackets and helmets protected them from the icy blast of cold but the trek cross country was still miserable. The first night they spent in an old Texaco gas station and found the stash of food that was left there for them. They huddled side by side on the cold floor and got little sleep that night. The second night they stayed in a farm house somewhere in Pennsylvania. It was snowing so hard nothing could be seen so they decided to risk a fire, doubting the smoke could be seen. They brought their motorcycles inside with them as they had always done with their bikes.

The third morning at dawn they were lying on the rooftop of the old motor pool building of the internment camp and scanning the grounds for any signs of life in the fenced in area. They could hear sounds and smell something cooking. "That smells like the usual slop they serve." Walter said. I don't know where they get it or what's in it but it's vile." Soon the barracks doors opened and the prisoners marched over to the mess hall, their breaths puffing clouds of vapor.

"Can you see him?" Walter asked.

"No. I'm going to have to go down there."

"No, it's too dangerous. We're not even sure it's him yet." Walter stopped him with a hand on Alex's arm.

"I'm sure. And you will be too when I bring him out."

"What if you're seen?"

"Then you'll have to bring us both out." He edged back over to the back side of the building. "The snow is in our favor now. They have to walk right passed this building to get back to the barracks. When they do, I'll just step out and join them. I doubt they're doing head counts."

"And then?" Walter asked, nervous as a cat and wishing he could come up with some other idea.

"I go inside with them and start looking. Once I have him I'll signal you from the front window there. That one guard tower looks right into the barracks so I might need a diversion of some kind to get him out of there. Once I get him over to this side we can make it to the back fence the same way we got in here – building by building. Let's just hope the snow keeps up. At least until we get him out of there. Can you come up with a diversion of some kind?"

"Yeah. I'll think of something." Walter assured him.

Walter watched from above as Alex shinnied down the drainpipe and waited against the back of the building until mealtime was over with. They had heard enough times from others who were in camps that prisoners were given exactly fifteen minutes to eat/drink the mixture they were being fed. Alex's teeth were beginning to chatter when the doors of the mess hall opened and they began to file out and march back to the barracks. He stepped out at the end of the line and ambled along like the rest of the group.

The door was closed and locked behind them and the guard walked off to the front of the facility and inside another building.

Inside the men were each going to their bunks; a few were bitching about the slop they were just fed. Most of them just pulled their blanket closer around them and tried to sleep.

Alex walked slowly among them, searching each face. Suddenly there he was, standing right in front of him. Mulder, wrapped with the blanket up over his head, shrugged passed him and headed for the barrel in the front of the room set in one corner for bathroom purposes and threw up in it. He coughed and gagged and Alex watched. None of the others took any notice.

He made his way up behind Mulder and whispered to him, "Mulder, it's me, Krycek. Skinner's outside. We've come to get you out of here."

Mulder looked up slowly, wiping the corner of his mouth on his blanket. Recognition lit his eyes and he cast a quick glance around the room to see if anyone noticed the stranger among them. None seem to have.

"There's no way out of this place."

"Yes there is. I have a map and we have a couple of motorcycles hidden." Alex assured him.

"Where would we go? All the roads are watched.

"We have a place, a safe place with plenty of food and water and heat."

"There's no place left like that on earth." Mulder said and turned back to the reeking barrel and heaved again.

"Skinner is waiting for us. He's outside in the snow. We brought warm clothes for you. Long johns, leather pants and jacket. We've got food and water. Come on. Let's get out of this stinking place."

"Skinner's out there? Why didn't he come in then? I would have believed him."

"Skinner broke his leg last year. He had to have surgery on it. He gets around fine now but he's still not as strong as he was."

"Is Scully out there too?"

"No. We haven't found her yet but we're still looking. We have people out all over the country bringing back lists from these camps. If they have her, we'll find her."

"Why should I believe you?" He reached up with both hands and dug at Alex's forehead to see if the face was a false one.

"I'm not one of them, Mulder. I promise you that. You know how I knew that 'Mouse Mulder' was you? – When I read your occupation – 'talent scout for a whorehouse'. Remember we sat in your apartment eating pizza and talked about what we'd like to do if we weren't agents."

Mulder stared at him for a long time then said, "The door is locked, the windows are nailed tight. How do you propose to get out of here?"

"With this?" Alex held up his trusty pick he had taken out of his wallet and had at the ready when he saw it was a simple door lock that held them.

"What about the guard tower?"

"I'm supposed to signal Skinner when I have you and he is going to create a diversion of some kind. When that happens we walk out of here."

Mulder stared at him. "Go ahead. Signal. Let's just see if you can pull this little miracle off."

Alex went to the window and first had to wipe the frost from the pane then waved at Skinner.

Skinner across the way saw the signal and made his way over to the electrical box on the side of the main building. He had to pry the door open with his knife but once it was open, he threw the main switch and the entire complex went dark. He hurried back to his place behind the motor pool building and waited less than a minute before Mulder and Alex appeared around the corner.

Skinner embraced the half-frozen Mulder and Alex busied himself pulling a leather jacket out of his pack. Skinner opened his and came out with some leather pants. They got Mulder dressed and they started their way to the back of the complex. They got two buildings back when the lights came back on.

"Shit!" Mulder moaned. "They'll burn us."

"No. They won't come back this far. We watched this place for hours and not a soul came back here. Alex assured him.

"They can't see our foot prints, it's snowing too hard." Skinner added.

"Maybe we could run for it? How far are your motorcycles?" Mulder asked.

"Not all that far but we have to get through that fence first and across a couple of fields to get to them."

Mulder doubled over and threw up again.

"How long you been throwing up?" Skinner asked.

"Forever." Mulder answered weakly.

"Come on. Let's go before he gets any sicker." Alex said and he and Walter both took one of Mulder's arms and ran him the rest of the way to the fence.

They waited while Alex twisted the wires to his connections, shutting off the power to the small area where the fence had been cut. Walter slipped through first then he pulled while Alex pushed Mulder through. Alex crawled through then secured the opening again, removed his clips allowing the power to surge through.

They hauled Mulder to his feet and they ran. Mulder made it through the first field then collapsed. Walter picked him up, slung him over his shoulder and they took off again.

"Are you going to be able to hold on?" Walter asked as he climbed on his motorcycle.

Alex helped Mulder climb on behind Walter then pulled out his duct tape. He wound it round and round Mulder and Skinner while Mulder weakly protested, "I can hold on. Let's just get going."

Alex took the time to tape Mulder's legs to the bike too to keep them safe. What he hadn't told Mulder was that their first stop was at least an hour's ride in the freezing snow.

They started their motors and off they went into the fields beyond, far away from the camp and any highways. Mulder was able to hold on for a while but soon one hand slipped free and then the other. Skinner checked to make sure the tape was secure and kept on going.

By the time they reached the deserted farm house, Mulder was unconscious. They rolled their bikes into the house. Alex sliced through the tape holding Mulder and Skinner carried him over to the couch. They covered him with blankets and while Walter started a fire in the fire place, Alex heated some soup using a small camp stove that had been hidden there for them to use.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Skinner asked as they tried to feed Mulder some of the warm soup.

"I don't know. It could just be a reaction to whatever they put in that stuff they're being fed. Did it make you sick when you had it?"

"No. It was vile but I never threw it up. A few others did though from time to time."

"It could be anything. We've got to get him warm and get some of this in him."

Walter helped and between the two of them they managed to get a few swallows down Mulder. They both massaged his arms and legs and tried to get some warmth back into him. Another few swallows and he seemed to revive a bit.

"What's that?" Mulder mumbled.

"It's soup, Mulder, drink!" Walter ordered.

Mulder seemed to hear and he drank. Before long the fire was blazing and the room was warming up a bit but still he shivered. Walter went into a back room and pulled a mattress off a bed and dragged it over in front of the fire. They got Mulder down on it and both of them lay down beside him on either side, their feet towards the fire. They covered with blankets and got up from time to time to add more fire wood but mostly they slept; each with an arm around Mulder holding him close; warming him.

Walter woke up first. The fire had gone out and the room was cold again. He piled on more wood then set about making some coffee. Mulder and Alex both stirred at the first scent of the delicious aroma.

"Did you get any sleep?" Alex asked as he accepted the steaming cup from Walter.

"Yeah some, once I got warmed up. Mulder, how are you doing?" He asked as he handed him a cup.

"Coffee? I didn't know there was any left in the world!" He sipped carefully. "I'm fine. Where are we?" He was leaning against the hearth, still very weak.

"Still in Massachusetts but out in the countryside, away from any cities or patrols."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get back on the road." Mulder suggested.

"We're not going any where in this weather. We won't be able to see anything to follow our map." Walter said.

Alex and Mulder went to the window and saw the storm was still raging outside. Mulder sighed and went back to the fire.

"Is that oat meal?" Alex asked as Walter stood stirring several packets of oats into some boiling water.

"Uh huh. As long as we have to stay put for a while, we may as well eat something besides those energy bars and trail mix."

"Sounds good to me. How about it Mulder? Think you could handle some oatmeal?"

"You really have food?" Mulder turned away from the fire.

"We do." Walter answered. "It'll be ready in a few minutes."

"So you just happened to know where this place was and that it would have coffee and oat meal?" Mulder glared at Alex. "What makes you think this place is safer than any other. They'll find us. They find everybody."

"This is not the safe place I was telling you about. This is just a stop along the way."

"Along the way to where?" Mulder asked.

"To Colorado." Alex answered.

"What's in Colorado?"

"Home." Walter answered as he handed him a warm bowl of oatmeal.

Mulder smelled it first, suspiciously, and then took a tiny bite. Satisfied that it was the real thing, he finished the bowl off in less than a minute.


They stayed in the house all that day, the three of them on the mattress in front of the fire as the temperatures dipped dangerously low during the night. By morning, the storm had passed. They ate another good breakfast of oatmeal and coffee and got ready to leave.

"We should take the rest of that food with us. No telling when we'll be able to find more." Mulder said.

"No. We have food in our packs and there will be other stops along the way." Alex said.

"It might be gone. Someone might have found it. We need to take what's left."

"No." Walter backed Alex up. "We leave it for the next team that comes through here. We have enough to make it to our next stop."

Mulder looked at them both like they were crazy. "And what if it's all gone when we get to the next stop? Have you thought of that?"

"Mulder, this is all planned out. There is food placed for us in secret locations all along the way. Just like this was." Walter tucked the little camp stove back in its box and returned it to its hiding place in the wall behind some books on a shelf.

"It could all be a trick to lure us out into the open?"

"Why would they do that? I doubt they even know you're gone. They seldom do any head counts from what we're told. If they wanted to kill you, they would have. And they have no way of knowing we are even here." Walter said.

"All this … just doesn't feel right to me. I don't trust him," he said nodding to Alex, "and I'm shocked that you do." He said to Skinner.

Alex just shook his head and put his helmet on, strapping it snug.

"A lot of things have changed, Mulder." Walter said.

"Yeah, and a lot of things have stayed the same. Have you ever thought that he might be in it with them? You know you can't trust him."

"He gave me the same story about this safe place with plenty of food and water and I doubted it too. But he took me there. He got me out of a camp just like the one you were in. My leg was broken and I had pneumonia. He saved my life. It's a beautiful place, Mulder, and you will be safe there."

"I don't want to go to Colorado. I want to go home. Can you take me back there -- to my Dad's place on the Vineyard?"

"No. It's not safe." Alex said.

"He's right, Mulder. It's not safe. Come on. We got a couple of days hard riding ahead of us." Walter said.

"And if I don't want to go to this place of yours?"

"Then you're free to go where ever you choose and next time we see your name on a list of prisoners, we'll just pass you by and take someone who wants to live free." Alex said and started up his motor cycle.

"You trust him?" Mulder asked.

"I do." Walter said and handed Mulder a helmet and strapped one on himself.

Mulder put the helmet on reluctantly and climbed on behind Walter.

"Are you sure you can hold on? If you get to feeling the least bit weak or faint, let me know and I'll stop."

"I'm fine. Let's just get to this place of yours."


They followed the map back, cross country, never going near a road of any kind. There were some rough spots but not too many. The father south they got the warmer it became and by their evening stop they were no longer in temperatures below zero. They spent that evening in the basement of a house that had been burned out. They kicked aside some of the burned embers and found the door leading down.

Alex had his flash light on and scanned the tiny room. It was a storm cellar and looked as though no one had been in there in years but when they tried the spot that was marked on their map, the shelf unit swung forward exposing another room behind. They went inside and pulled the shelf closed behind them.

Walter lit the battery operated lamp and the tiny room proved to be a treasure to them. There were sleeping bags, cases and cases of food, water, and gasoline in five gallon cans and a small battery operated micro-wave oven.

"Whew! They out did themselves with this place!" Alex whistled. "I'll have to remember to thank them next time I see them."

"If you have friends around here that did this, they are probably in a camp somewhere by now."

Walter and Alex exchanged exasperated glances.

"What would you like for dinner? Pick something. There's plastic bowls, spoons, and everything." Walter said.

"Any pizza?" Mulder asked scanning the labels on the boxes.

"Don't see any. How about some pasta?" Alex held up a can of Chef Boy-R-Dee spaghetti.

"That'll do." Mulder answered and caught the can as it was tossed.

Walter produced a can opener and opened the can for him and dumped the pasta into a bowl and put it in the microwave. They ate their food in silence then opened out their sleeping bags and crawled inside – Walter and Alex both bringing their bags up next to Mulder's much to his protest.

"Is this really necessary?" He complained.

"You need the body warmth, Mulder." Walter insisted before turning the lamp off.

Mulder moved over as close to Walter as he could get but Alex just moved over next to him. Mulder whispered to Walter, "I'm OK with being next to you but I don't trust him."

"Relax, Mulder. Do what you're told for the next few days and we'll get you to our safe place. It's really wonderful and it's safe."

"And there's food and water there? A lot of it?"

"More than enough. Get some sleep now."


The next night they spent in the back of an old feed store in a tiny little no-name town in Missouri. Their fourth day took them into Colorado and the last leg of the trip.

"So we're into Colorado now. Where's this Shangri-la you've been talking about?" Mulder asked as they stopped for lunch.

"We've still got a ways to go yet but we should get there just before dark." Alex said.

"It's there, Mulder. I've been living there the last year." Walter assured him.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Mulder said.

"If you don't like it, you can always leave." Alex offered. "I'll see to it that you have a motorcycle, food and water. You can go any where you want to then."

"Good. Because I'm going to go find Scully."

"Mulder it's been almost three years now. Have you seen or heard anything at all from her?"

"How could I? All communications are down. She's out there somewhere and I'm going to find her."

"We've been watching all the lists and her name hasn't shown up yet." Alex said. "If and when it does, we'll go get her."

"So what's this place like? How big is it? You said there are others there; how many? Who runs the place and who makes the rules?" Mulder asked.

"I don't know exactly how big it is, Mulder. Several thousand acres, I'd guess. We are a little over two hundred people now and so far, we haven't had to make any rules. Everyone is just so happy to be free and safe from the aliens that they all pitch in and do whatever needs to be done."

"Who runs it?"

"We all do. We discuss what needs to be done and we find a way to do it. It's pretty basic really."

"And it's been there three years and you think the aliens don't know about it? You're kidding yourselves if you think you're safe. There's no place safe -- no place!"

"It wasn't there three years ago when they came. We've built it ourselves. It's in a hidden valley surrounded by mountains. We blew up the only entrance to the valley and made a secret entrance through an old mine shaft."

"And you don't think they could follow the trail there?"

"They haven't in three years." Alex finished the conversation by donning his helmet and sitting on his motorcycle, ready to leave.

"They could find it if they looked," Mulder insisted.

"Do you have a better suggestion, Mulder? Some place else where we could all go and be safe? If you have, I'd like to hear about it."

Mulder said nothing and climbed on the motorcycle behind Walter.


The sun had gone down and it was getting colder the higher they got up into the hills. Soon they had slowed and were walking their motorcycles.

"Why are we stopping? It's almost dark. We should keep on going." Mulder said.

"We're here." Walter replied.

"Here? In this pile of rocks?"

"Uh huh." Walter smiled as Alex got off his bike and pulled the brush back that was hiding the doorway to the mine. Walter drove on inside and waited while Alex concealed the opening and joined them. Minutes later they emerged into the valley.

They stopped for a moment to gaze out over the valley at dusk. It was a beautiful sight. The tall craggy mountains surrounded the valley like sentinels guarding their flock, the lower hills covered with majestic pine trees, the village lit up like a scattering of jewels along the far side of a picturesque river and great flat fields directly in front of them.

"I did a puzzle like this once." Mulder said.

Alex secured the inner doorway and they followed the path down the small rise, along side the snow covered fields, across the log bridge and they were met by a crowd of people all calling out their welcome to Mulder and welcome back to Alex and Walter. Mulder was dumbstruck.

"Just in time for dinner!" someone yelled and at that exact moment Walter's stomach growled.

"So what will it be first, Mulder, dinner, a hot shower, a bed with clean sheets, blankets, and a pillow?" Mulder didn't answer. They climbed down from their bikes and stretched. Someone took the bikes for them and the three of them entered the cafeteria.

A steaming hot tray of food was placed in front of each of them and they ate voraciously and sipped at hot coffee.

"How's your food, Mulder?" Alex asked.

"Human," he answered.

After dinner, Dr. Kim checked him over and declared that he was well enough except that he was drastically underweight. Walter took him over to the barracks and got him a bunk while Alex went over to the supply hut and picked up some clothes for him. He was then shown the showers that had been newly installed at the back of each barracks building and left him to clean up.

Walter and Alex stood around talking with others about their trip and waited for Mulder to finish. When he didn't come out, they checked on him and found him sound asleep in his assigned bunk. They decided to call it a night then and each went to his barracks.