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 NOTE: This story picks up from the story as we know it at the end of Departure. An innocent trip to Albuquerque turns into more than Max and Liz bargain for.
 The air hangs thick with heat, a standing 109 degrees, the hottest day of a record two-week heat wave. An old '70s pink Chevelle convertible kicks up a trail of dust as it moves along the old road to Albuquerque. At the wheel, Max shifts it into high gear to see what she can do. By his side, Liz tries to find a radio station that isn't playing country western.
"Where did you say you got this?" asks Liz.
Max steals a quick look at Liz. She looks incredibly sexy in her tight jeans and thin tank top.
"Don't you like it?" he asks.
"No, no," she says, flashing a smile, "It's great." And she means it.
Max's heart skips a beat to see that smile again. He smiles back. It's the first time they've been on an actual date in a long time. A dinner and a concert in Albuquerque seems like a simple, easy thing to do, a chance for them to talk and maybe sort a few things out -- something normal for a change.
For Liz, it's the same. There's no crisis hanging over their head, so it's a chance to cut loose, have fun and relax. She soaks in the heat like a warm bath. This feels right, she thinks and leans back in the seat.
"I'm going to fix it up a little," says Max, "put in a new radio and a CD player, repaint it, maybe blue."
"Why?" asks Liz, teasingly, "You look good in pink."
He pulls the car off the road as she laughs.
"What are you ..." she begins to ask, but before she can complete the sentence, Max turns off the engine, turns to her and covers her lips with his own.
In the distance, there's a flash of lightening. Neither Liz nor Max hears the crack of thunder.
Maria and Michael try to cool down at Michael's apartment. His air conditioner's on the fritz. He's set up an old fan on the bedside table with a pan of water and ice cubes in front of it.
"I can't believe Max and Liz are driving to Albuquerque in this weather," says Maria. "Hand me another ice cube."
Michael grabs a cube from the tray and hands it to Maria. They're stripped down to their underwear to keep cool as they lay on the bed. Michael is rereading the translation.
"What ARE you looking for?" asks Maria.
"I don't know," he says, "something."
"Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all."
"I don't believe that."
"All that stuff about alien abduction, it's too creepy."
"I keep thinking about Grandpa Dupree's diary."
"Speaking about the diary," says Maria, turning on her side toward Michael, "why didn't you read it when you were in Tucson?"
"I don't know," he says. "I keep wondering myself."
"It's so unlike you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing."
"You meant something."
"Well, it's not like you've above clipping diaries," says Maria.
By the time Liz and Max see the wall of water, it's too late. It washes over the car in a torrent, flipping the car on its side and dumping them into the now roaring arroyo. Max struggles to see Liz but he can't see her as the water pushes him downstream. A moment later, he sees her head, face down. He swims toward her and grabs her as she comes to.
"Put your arms around my neck," he says, which she does, coughing up some water she's inhaled.
As they drift further from the road, Max tries to guide them away from the debris following them downstream, but not always successfully. Small objects and water pummel their bodies. They have to get out or drown. Up ahead Max sees the bottom of a cliff. He begins swimming to the side, thinking they might be able to get to higher ground. Liz quickly swallows her fear as her eyes dart from side to side and quickly assesses the situation. She realizes what Max intends to do.
As they near the bottom of the cliff, she frantically searches for something they might be able to grab. She sees a couple of scrub brush and grabs for one. She misses and tries for the next one. She lets out a little scream as it tears at her hand.
"Use both hands," says Max as she feels him push her from behind. She scrambles out of the water and turns to see Max swiftly coming behind her, but as he grabs it, his weight tears it loose and he begins to slide back into the mud and water. She rushes to the edge and grabs his hand with one hand, then the other and feels herself sliding back toward the water under Max's weight.
"Let go!" says Max.
"No," screams Liz. "I can't let you go!" Liz digs in her heels, feels them take hold. Every muscle strains in her body and she finds the strength to pull Max up to safety. He scrambles to safety and they both collapse on a flat rock to catch their breath.
After a few minutes, Liz feels her right leg begin to throb and thinks she's pulled a muscle. She sits up and sees a piece of wood sticking out of her leg.
"Max," she says, grabbing her leg.
Max sits up and sees it.
"I have to pull this out," he says.
She nods, feeling a bit nauseous.
He pulls it out while Liz suppresses the urge to scream. Blood spurts out and Max quickly puts his hand over the wound and heals it.
"Thanks," she says. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," he replies. "You?"
Liz nods.
"We need to find some shelter," says Max as sheets of rain begin to fall. They climb higher until they see an opening in the cliff wall.
Liz steps inside, Max close behind her.
Max creates a light with his hands.
"This looks like an old cliff dwelling," says Liz. "My grandmother had pictures of places like this."
There's bits of broken pottery on the ground.
"We should be safe here until the rain stops," says Max. "The water won't come up this high."
"Do you have any idea where we are?"
"No," says Max.
"Not exactly Chez Pierre," says Liz wryly.
"Liz, I'm sorry."
"Why," she says. "It's not your fault."
"I shouldn't have stopped."
"Max, you can't blame yourself every time something goes wrong."
"It's not exactly the day I had planned for us."
Liz smiles.
"We don't seem to get a break, do we?" she says.
Max frowns.
Liz wraps her arms around Max's waist.
"Max," she says, kissing him on the lips reassuringly, "there's no place I'd rather be than with you."
Michael's frustration begins to show.
"Why don't you just forget about it for now?" asks Maria.
"I can't," says Michael.
"Well, I can think of something that will make you forget," she says as she takes the translation from Michael's hands and throws it on the floor.
Max and Liz sit at the opening of the dwelling. Heavy rain continues to pour.
"Are you cold?" he asks Liz.
"A little," she says, her wet clothes clinging revealingly to her body.
"I can make us a fire," he says. It looks like we'll be here 'til morning."
She nods.
"Maybe there's something inside we can use."
"I can heat some stones," he says.
Max lights the interior of the dwelling and they begin to search for suitable stones. They gather a small pile together and Max heats them until they produce a warm red glow. They sit opposite each other. Max watches Liz as she leans close to the fire. Beyond her, he sees the entrance or is it? He has a flash.
"Max, are you all right?" asks Liz.
He looks around the surroundings and gets up.
"Max, what's wrong?"
He begins to walk further into the interior of the dwelling.
Liz gets up to follow.
"Max?"
Finally, he stops at another opening on the far side.
"I've seen this place before," says Max.
"Max, what do you mean? The crash site was at Pohlman ranch, wasn't it?"
He goes to the right the opening and lights it with his hand. There is writing.
"OMG," she Liz.
The orb symbol glows before them.
"I remember where I've seen this," he says.
Liz looks at him quizzically.
"Your grandmother," he says, "the night she died."
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