Liz was amazed. Max's actions might have given them the extra time they needed to get away. He might well have just saved their lives, but he still doubted himself. Now he was driving in nearly complete darkness on a narrow forest road. Whether or not he thought he could handle it, Liz had no doubt that all of their lives were resting on his shoulders. And Liz knew she wouldn't want it any other way.

It was almost completely dark when Max made his first turn onto a gravel road that Liz herself had missed. The rain was coming down heavily now, and Liz didn't see how Max was even staying to the road.

Finally, he turned on the headlights… just in time to see the large tree that had fallen across their path. The van came to a jerky stop.

"I'll get it," Max said, reaching for the door.

Liz didn't want to see him go outside again. It was pouring rain, and he was wet enough from his last trip out of the van. If only the tree would just get out of our way, she thought idly, Max wouldn't have to go outside and move it.

Then, by itself, the trunk of the tree slid quickly across their path to the left as the upper branches scraped against the brush and trees in the woods next to them. Liz let out a surprised "Oh," and the tree came to an abrupt stop.

Amazingly, there was just enough room for the van to get by on the right-hand side of the road.

"I didn't do that," Max said.

"Neither did I," Michael said.

"It wasn't me," said Isabel.

"I think it was me," Liz said, turning to see that Max was already looking at her.

He studied her face for a moment and then smiled and said, "Remind me not to get you mad, Parker."

Before she could react, he was on the move again. The van drove slowly, rocking back and forth on the uneven gravel road. Max made two more turns, apparently at random, and then they came to a branch that was lying in front of them.

"Liz?" Max said.

She concentrated and tried to move the branch with her powers, but it just sat there. She shook her head and shrugged.

Max opened his window and leaned out for a moment. He waved his hand, and the branch slid out of their way. He continued driving, and Liz realized they were traveling gradually uphill.

There was also a glow up ahead, in the distance.

"That must be a town, or something," Liz said.

"The Special Unit could be waiting there," Michael said.

"But we have a better chance of getting lost in a bunch of people than we do out here in the open," Kyle said.

Another vote had Max, Liz, Kyle, and Isabel for heading for the town, or whatever it was, with only Michael and Maria for staying away. They headed toward the glow. After that vote, no one spoke for a long time. Liz stopped checking her watch, but she guessed that at least two hours had passed. The whole time, Max kept a hyper-alert stare on the road. He stopped for obstructions, using his powers to move them aside when necessary.

He also made a number of turns when the road they were on ended. They began to see large parcels of land that were only low brush and tree stumps. Well, we're on a logging road, it makes sense, Liz thought.

She tried to occupy herself by experimenting with her own powers to see if she could move anything with her mind, but they wouldn't work. It might be because she could not concentrate, but until the tree on the road she had not been able to summon her powers to move things since Stonewall. There, she had been able to hold the ship with her powers until Max and Michael could escape. After that, those powers had seemed to have deserted her, at least until she had moved the tree. The only ability that appeared with any frequency was her limited future sight… and more often than not, the visions it gave her were frightening.

Behind all of her musings were a single thought that she could not shake: Someone had tracked them. Someone had known who and where they were. It should not

have been possible, but there it was. And that was the most frightening part of all of this. Their future depended on being able to disappear into the country, to become anonymous. They knew the Special Unit would be looking for them, but she had been confident they would never find Liz and her friends.

But they had found them, and less than two weeks into the trip. If that was possible, then how would they keep themselves alive? How would she and Max ever get married? What kind of life would they have, and how long would it last?

And who had called the Special Unit?

Unable to shake those questions, Liz watched rain fall and the forest go by in the dim, almost nonexistent light of the evening. The monotony made it hard to avoid those questions and to think of anything else.

She was relieved when a bright flash of light and loud clap of thunder sounded. For a second, her heart pounded faster and she forgot her worries. Then it was back to the dull monotony of the drive inside the rocking of the van on the old gravel road.

Another boom. Michael counted off in his head, one one-thousand, then the flash. That one was closer, less than a mile, he thought. The lightning was moving closer to them, or they to it. Either way, it pretty much summed up the day for them. It also summed up the trip so far, for that matter.

To his surprise, Michael didn't feel stressed or anxious. He only felt ready. Those two feelings had pretty much defined life in Roswell for him for as long as he could

remember. The funny thing was, now that he was on the ran for his life, he had never felt more at ease.

And he had never had a clearer idea of what he wanted.

He reached out his hand and took Maria's in his. She flinched and pulled it away, turning her head from the window. "What?" she said sharply.

Immediately, the hair on the back of his neck went up. He wanted to bark back at her. The desire to do so was reflex by now, second nature for both of them. A month ago, he would have done it without thinking, but a month ago now seemed as far away as the day he had found his way out of his pod and into the desert.

Ignoring his instinct, he simply reached out and took her hand again. This time she didn't pull it away, but she looked at him suspiciously. He slid closer and gave her a comforting smile. "It's going to be okay," he said.

"Really?" she said.

"Max will lose them. If not, I'll make sure that nothing happens to any of us," he said with confidence. "Don't worry about them, or Liz's dream. I'll keep an eye on you."

"I'm not worried," she said sharply.

For a moment, Michael had no response for that. Then, he said, "We just narrowly escaped the Special Unit who tried to assassinate us on graduation day. Barely escaped the new aliens in Stonewall. Now we're maybe an hour ahead of the Special Unit, who would love to put us in a cell and experiment on us. And you say you're not worried?"

"I can take care of myself," Maria said. Her voice was even, but Michael knew it was only from effort. She was scared… he could see it in her eyes… but he couldn't tell

exactly what she was most scared of. Was she hiding it just from him… or from herself, too?

"Well, whether you want me to or not, I'm going to take care of you. For whatever time we have left, I want to be with you," Michael said.

For a second, she didn't say anything… which was amazing for Maria. Something was going on behind her eyes, something he couldn't quite see. Then a change came over her, and she said, "Is this what this is all about?"

"What?" he said.

"Sex," she replied.

"No, I'm just saying…," Michael said.

"All the things that are going on, and all you can think about is putting the moves on me," Maria said.

"That's not it," Michael said, feeling the blood rush to his face. Why did this always happen between them? Why couldn't they seem to connect, to communicate like Max and Liz did? Why couldn't Maria understand…? "I'm just trying to tell you…," he began.

"I know what you are trying to do… that's the problem. Now why don't you just leave me alone and grow up," she said.

Michael felt his anger rise up, catching in his throat. "Why…," he began, but stopped himself from saying another word from sheer force of will. He wanted to scream in her face. He wanted to shout his frustration.

That's what Hank would do, a voice said inside his head. The voice was right, and that was one of the reasons he held his tongue. He didn't want to share anything with his former foster father, ever. So, his face burning, he slumped back into the seat and slid away from Maria, who was

turned away from him and looking out the window again. It was then that he realized the van was completely silent. Max and Liz were staring straight ahead, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

Of course, they heard every word, he thought. The van was big enough for everyone to fit more or less comfortably, but it wasn't big enough for privacy. No one said a word that everyone else didn't hear.

Perfect, he thought as he stared forward and concentrated on the little that he could see out the front windshield. He saw that the glow they had been following had gotten brighter. Whatever it was, they were getting closer to it.

Just then, the glow disappeared, and it was nearly pitch dark again.