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 Max and Liz stare at the hatched pod.
"What does it mean?" asks Liz.
"There's someone else out there," he says.
"And they live here."
"See if there's anything else here."
Liz looks around the room. It's fairly utilitarian, not many places to hide things. She looks at the table and notices the drawer. She pulls it open and empties the contents on the table. Max comes over and helps sort through the material. They push the pens and pencils out of the way to get to the book underneath. Liz flips it open. It's written in code, like the Destiny Book.
"Damn," says Max. "I wish I understood this."
Liz continues to flip through the pages until she comes to a set of photographs.
"Max," she says, turning them over. "Look, isn't this Atherton?"
"You're right," he says. "Whoever lives here knew Atherton."
"And Nasedo," adds Liz.
Max takes the photographs and quickly shuffles through them. Halfway through, he stops.
"Liz," he says.
"What?"
He shows her the photograph. It's a picture of an two unidentified men, Atherton, and Claudia Parker.
 "Can't you drive any faster?" asks Maria.
"I don't want to be accused of blowing up your engine again," says Michael.
"Do you know where we're going?" asks Isabel.
"I got directions," said Michael.
"They're in trouble," says Maria. "I know it."
"You don't know that," says Isabel.
"Have you tried dreamwalking Max or Liz?" asks Michael.
"I couldn't get through," says Isabel.
"Not a good sign," says Michael.
"Can you say something a little more positive," says Maria. "I'm really scared for them."
"Well, if they're together, you can be sure they have a plan," says Michael.
Maria whacks Michael's arm.
"Hey, quit it!"
"Can you two save that for later?" asks Isabel disgustedly.
Max and Liz lay on the bed, their bodies sore and aching from their ordeal. They fight the urge to sleep, in case the resident cliff dweller returns. But they slowly lose the battle. Liz finally gives in and rests her head on Max's shoulder. Within minutes, she falls asleep. Ten minutes later, Max, too, drifts off into deep sleep. Only then does the resident return to find Max and Liz occupying the bed.
He walks over to them. Neither Max or Liz moves, both overcome by exhaustion. They're quite a sight -- disheveled, their clothes torn and dirty, caked with drying mud. He sees the pendant around Liz's neck, gently lifts the medallion to examine it, then looks from Liz to Max.
He carefully replaces the medallion and sits at the table. He opens the drawer and notices that not everything is as he left it. He looks back at the couple and pulls out the photographs and rearranges their order before replacing them back in the book. He writes a short note, "Take me" on the encrypted book and tapes it to the cover, places it on the table, then gets up and leaves.
Liz wakes and looks at her watch. It's not working. Every muscle in her body aches. It's an effort to move.
"Max," she says," gently touches his chest.
He wakes with a start. He's slightly disoriented.
"Sorry," she says. "We fell asleep. I have no idea what time it is, but we've got to find a way back."
They sit up slowly, then stand, barely able to move.
"I think I need a full body massage," says Liz.
"Maybe later," says Max.
"Is that an offer?"
Max notices the book on the table.
"Someone was here," he says.
"What?"
"Look," he says. Liz then sees the book with the note, "Take Me."
"I feel like I fell down the rabbit hole," she says.
"I guess Alice doesn't live here anymore," says Max, picking up the book.
Michael, Isabel and Maria comb the area of the now dried washout. They wear official search and rescue vests so that the overhead choppers won't mistake them. The official search hasn't begun, but Michael has already commandeered what they needed from the search command post, including a covered jeep. He looks at the map.
"I can't believe there's absolutely no trace of them," says Maria.
"They probably got caught in the middle of the current, so they're probably downstream from here. The choppers didn't pick anything up during the night, so they may not be in the open."
"Or they just missed them," says Isabel.
"It's been light for a couple of hours," says Maria.
"They're somewhere around here," says Michael, pointing to the map.
"Why here?" asks Isabel. "How do you know that?"
"There's higher ground here and maybe some shelter. If they got out of the water ..."
"If?" says Maria.
"... Max and Liz are smart enough to go to higher ground and find a place to wait it out," says Michael, ignoring Maria's trepidation.
"You're right," says Isabel. "Max is a good swimmer. He'd know what to do."
"What about Liz?" asks Michael to Maria.
"Yea, she's good. She has a lifeguard rating from the Y."
"Great," says Michael, "then she won't panic."
"How long before the ground search begins?" says Isabel.
Maria looks at her watch."About now," she says.
"We have to find them first," says Michael.
Maria nods, trying to reassure herself.
"Okay," says Isabel, "which way?"
Max and Liz exit the cliff dwelling. The sun is high and the rain has done nothing to diminish the heat. Below them, the torrent of rushing water had already dwindled to a trickle. Everything appears normal. He takes Liz's hand and they slowly make their way down the small cliff to the flat land and head upstream.
Overhead, choppers report the location of Michael, Isabel and Maria and continue sweeping the area. They follow the gouged land where flash floods recent and past have scarred the land. A few minutes later, the spotter taps the pilot and signals him to lower the chopper. Below, Max and Liz see it and begin waving.
"Command 1, we have a sighting. One male, one female near the latest washout. Here are the coordinates. Team one is approximately three miles west of their location. They appear to be okay. Radio instructions."
At the command post, a round of cheers go up as the report airs. The Evans and Parkers hug each other. Valenti breathes a sigh of relief.
"Mark their location with a flare and have Team 1 rendezvous and pick them up."
"Roger, that's a copy."
The chopper drops a colored smoke flare near Max and Liz, plus a small pack. Max gets the pack and opens it. It contains some water, trail mix, and a couple of baseball caps and light jackets. Max hands Liz one of the waters. As she opens it, Max takes one of the baseball caps and puts it on her head, teasingly tugging on the brim a little too hard.
"Thank you very much," says Liz, bunching her free hand and lightly punching his arm.
He grins as he hands her one of the jackets.
"You'd better put this on," he says.
"Max, it's too hot."
"It'll protect you from the sun."
He drapes it over her shoulders.
Michael sees the flare drop.
"There," says Isabel.
"Team 1, this is Chopper 2. We have subjects in sight. We’ve dropped ..."
"I see it!" says Michael into the hand-held radio and guns the jeep in the direction of the flare.
When he gets close, he sees Max and Liz sitting on the desert floor. As the jeep approaches, they turn in his direction and get up.
"Thank God!" says Maria.
Michael pulls up beside them.
"Need a ride?"
When the jeep arrives at the command post, there's a small crowd of rescuers and reporters. Flashes greet Max and Liz as photographers push and shove to get the best picture possible for the local papers. A small official contingent surround Max and Liz and lead them to a nearby field medical tent where a doctor is on hand to check them out.
"You kids got lucky," he says. "Who's first?"
Max points to Liz.
"Okay, young lady, hop on up," says the doctor as the Evans and the Parkers enter the tent, followed by Isabel, Michael and Maria. Nancy Parker goes directly to Liz. The doctor pulls the curtain.
"What's your name?" asks the doctor.
"Liz Parker," she says.
"You must be the mother." Nancy Parker nods.
"What's this?" asks the doctor, pointing to the tear in her jeans.
"Nothing," lies Liz. "I just tore them climbing."
"Any pain anywhere?"
"Not really," she says. "Just sore."
"Let's get that jacket off and have a look."
Liz strips off the jacket and cap. Nancy notices the bruises and scratches on her arms, particularly around her wrists. The doctor pops a thermometer in Liz's mouth and straps on a BP gauge.
"A little high," he says about her BP. "That's to be expected. A good night's rest should take care of that."
He checks her eyes.
"Good," he says.
He turns Liz's wrists over. There are deep fingerprint bruises.
"How did you get these?"
"Oh," says Liz, a little surprised at the impressions. "... probably when Max and I pulled each other out of the water. This branch broke and Max almost fell back in the water."
"You pulled him out?"
"Kind of," says Liz shyly.
"Well, I understand why you're sore. Did you pull any muscles?"
"I don't think so," she says.
He lifts the back of her shirt. There's a large bruise near her kidneys. He touches it and she jumps.
"Pretty sore, huh?"
"Yeah," she says.
He feels around her ribs.
"Having any trouble breathing?"
"No"
"Well, I don't feel anything broken. ...You really are lucky."
"I know," says Liz.
The doctor cleans the scratches, then puts some antibiotic cream over them.
"Mrs. Parker," he says, "Your daughter's fine, a little banged up, a little sunburn, but nothing a little R&R won't cure. Keep an eye on the back and the wrist bruises. Just have your own physician check Liz out thoroughly in the next day or two."
Liz gets off the table and Nancy Parker wraps her daughter in her arms.
"Are you sure you're okay, sweetie?" she asks.
"Yeah, mom, I'm fine."
"You can send in your boyfriend on the way out," he says as he writes down a few notes.
Liz's eyes follow Max as he enters the triage area of the tent. Isabel looks quizzically in her direction and she realizes that Max has already told Isabel about the photograph. She wants to be with her friends, but her mom moves her away from them, toward her dad.
"Your dad and I were so worried," Nancy says.
"I'm sorry," says Liz.
"Are you hungry?" she asks.
Liz nods as she realizes that she hasn't eaten since they left Roswell yesterday.
"Let's get your dad and go home," says Nancy. Liz stops and turns to her mother.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"I just want to make sure Max is okay before we go."
A half-hour later, Max emerges from the tent followed by his parents and Isabel. Isabel smiles as they walk arm and arm. Phillip Evans has his hand on Max's shoulder. Max and Liz spot each other about the same time.
"I'll be right back," says Max.
Liz sits with her folks, munching on a donut and some tea. Maria is also there with her mom.
"Hey, Liz," he says.
"Max," she says. "My folks want to take me home. Are you okay?"
He nods.
"I'm fine. You?"
"Me, too," she says, then whispers, "I was hoping we could meet later, you know, to talk ..."
"I don't know if that's possible," he says, looking back toward his parents. "I'll call you later."
There's disappointment in Liz's smile, but she understands. She has the same problem with her parents who were now talking to Hanson and Valenti. Amy DeLuca was also listening.
"Later," she says and watches Max reluctantly walk toward his parents.
"Something happened, didn't it? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" pleads Maria. "SPILL!"
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