A New Beginning

16

Hey time to take a break, mister," Liz said from down below, a smile on her face.

Max climbed down as the others put down their tools. Shaking off the dust and paint chips, Michael said, "You know, we'd be done already if we used out powers.”

"That would be low profile," Isabel said.

"Just a thought," Michael said, raising his hands and smiling.

Max quickly scanned the wall. They had almost fin- ished scraping it smooth. As a result, they had made many patches that were bare brick or half a dozen different col- ors. It was already after the lunch rush now. With a break to eat, Max figured they would finish scraping the side and maybe the front by the end of the day.

"How's it going?" Liz said.

"We'll be at it a few days," Max said.

"I think it's nice. Bell really appreciates it," Liz said.

"Well, we appreciate the food," Max said.

"And you want to keep an eye on me," Liz said seriously.

Max shrugged as Michael said, "I would really appreci- ate some food about now.”

Inside, Max saw Jimmy sitting by the window of the nearly empty diner. The boy looked like he hadn't moved since that morning, when Max had seen him last. Jimmy was still looking out with the same forlorn stare. Max felt a stab of guilt at how much he had enjoyed working outside with his friends while Jimmy was inside thinking about his sister and worrying… with very good reason, Max knew.

Suddenly, he knew he had to help Jimmy, and the name- less others in town who were lost or who had lost loved ones. Just two days ago, he had said to Liz that he thought his path in life might be to use his powers to make a difference… to try to help people. Well, in front of Max was a person who needed help as badly as anyone he had ever seen. Helping him might be dangerous… that much, he had learned from Liz's visions and Isabel's dreamwalk. But since he had come out of the pod, his entire life had been dangerous.

Max didn't know if he really could help, but he knew he would try.

As soon as he finished eating with the group at the diner, Kyle headed back for the garage. He didn't want to do any- thing to tick off Dan. He had clearly upset his boss and he didn't want to add to the trouble. Unless he kept this job, they might never get out of Stonewall.

Outside Johnny's, Kyle saw Gomer for the first time that day. The bigger man glanced at Kyle and looked away quickly. Kyle hoped that meant his trouble with Gomer was over. He relaxed a little when Gomer climbed into the garage pickup truck and pulled away.

When Kyle stepped into the garage, he saw Dan at work on an old station wagon. Dan had disappeared after Kyle had given him the photo, and Kyle was relieved to see him back at work. Kyle approached his next repair job… another tune-up… and Dan didn't even look up. Apparently, things were back to normal.

About an hour later, before he was finished with the tune-up, Kyle heard footsteps behind him. Immediately sure that Gomer was looking for trouble, Kyle spun around to find Dan standing behind him.

Relieved, Kyle let out a sigh that was louder than he had anticipated. Dan didn't seem to notice. Then Kyle saw that the older man was holding out something. For a sec- ond, Kyle's brain wouldn't register what it was. Then, it finally did…

Dan was holding out a timing chain.

For a second, Kyle found that his mouth wouldn't work. Fortunately, his hands still did, and he took the heavy chain from Dan.

"I pulled it from the van out back. You can put it in tonight after hours if you want," Dan said, his face as unreadable as ever.

"Thanks, I mean… this is great," Kyle replied.

"It's not free. It'll come out of your pay," Dan said.

"Of course," Kyle said.

"And here's a key for the padlock on the big garage door. Lock up when you're done. Dawn will lock up the office," he said.

"Thanks," Kyle said.

Dan grunted and turned back to head for the office.

Kyle carefully put the chain down. It was a very lucky break for them. He would probably be working late into the night to get it into the engine of their van. Once that was done, he would be able to get it started and really get it running right. If they had to, they could probably be out of Stonewall in a few days or a week at most, depending on how much Dan charged him for the parts he needed.

Kyle used to dread full shifts at the garage in Roswell. Then, he had seen his future ticking away every hour that he worked. Now, his future and the future of his friends depended on his ability with cars. Kyle found himself look- ing forward to the next job. If he finished his cars early, he might be able to pull the engine of the van before dinner. That meant he would have no trouble getting the timing chain in and getting the engine back in the van before bed.

For the first time in… maybe the first time ever, Kyle found himself eager to get back to work.

Just after four thirty, Kyle went to get Max and Michael to help him push the van into a repair bay. Though they have been pleased by Kyle's news, they had left the diner reluctantly and then hurried back.

Kyle understood. There was something odd in the air at Stonewall. And lately, that air seemed to be getting thicker. He was glad the guys were staying close to Isabel, Liz, and Maria. That thought moved his hands even faster. He grabbed the engine lift and wheeled it over to the van. Yes, if he hurried, he could get it out before Liz called to tell him to come down for dinner.

Two hours later, when the shop phone rang, Kyle picked it up and knew it was Liz.

"Dinner bell, Kyle," she said.

Kyle smiled as he said, "I'll be right there.”

Before he headed out, he took a quick inventory of his work. The engine was out of the van, and he'd even pulled the old timing chain… which hadn't broken so much as disintegrated in a number of places.

He nearly trotted out the door. If he ate quickly, he would be able to get the new one in no problem and, if he was lucky, get the engine back in the van before it got too late.

Kyle was the last to arrive. He came in excited and told them about the van.

"I'll need a few days to get the van running well, but I should be able to get it started at least tonight," Kyle said.

Max was pleased that it looked like they would be able to leave town in a week of less.

"I want to thank you kids," Bell said as she brought out the first plates of food. "The place looks great.”

Max smiled and said, "Actually, it looks much worse.”

It did; they had scraped almost the whole outside of the building smooth, but there were now oddly colored patches everywhere. The diner now looked like a mottled mess.

"Well… you'll get there," she said.

"We will prime and paint the front tomorrow first thing, then we'll move on to the rest," he said.

"Fine, fine," she said as she headed back to get more plates.

When the food was all out, Bell came out and said, "Would you girls mind locking up? I have to go see my sister." She shook her head and muttered, "My good-for-nothing brother-in-law…”

"Sure," Liz said.

"Whatever you do, girls, don't marry a good-for-nothing lazy bum named Rex," Bell said.

"We'll remember that," Maria said.

Less than a minute later, Bell was leaving with Sam in tow. She stopped by Jimmy's table and said, "Come on, Jimmy. We'll take you home.”

Jimmy looked up, his eyes rimmed in red, and said, "What if she comes?”

"She'll know how late it is and know to go home. Come on. You need some sleep so you can come in tomorrow," Bell said.

"Okay," Jimmy said. And he headed for the door.

Then he turned and walked over to Liz. "I'm sorry about your friend," he said, quickly glancing over at the table. Was he looking at Max? "My what?" Liz said.

"Sorry," he said, and turned to leave.

Liz stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Which friend?" she asked.

Jimmy shrugged. Then he turned to go.

Bell came over and took him by the arm. "Don't mind Jimmy. He says the strangest things.”

An odd look crossed Bell's face. Liz wondered how much Bell knew about Jimmy's ability. Then Bell was all business again as she led Jimmy out the door with Sam in tow.

As soon as the door closed, Liz turned to Max and said, "Oh, my God!”

Max knew what she was thinking, but he shook his head. "It'll be okay.”

"No it won't," Liz said, raising her voice.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, or to any of us," Max said with more certainty than he felt.

"Jimmy has never been wrong. He has some version of what I have. He sees things before they happen," Liz said.

"Liz," Maria said, putting her hand on Liz's, "you pre- dicted the assassination attempt on yourself and our alien friends here twelve days in advance. Jimmy predicted spills in a diner. If you predicted one every day, you'd be right one hundred percent of the time.”

"No, he has the same gift. Or something like it," Liz said.

"I'll be careful," Max said.

"Maybe we should talk about getting out of here," Liz said. Then she turned to Kyle. "If we had to go, could the van get us to the next town tomorrow?”

Kyle was silent for a moment, and Max spoke before he could respond. "No," Max said. "We're going to stay and help these people.”

"But Max, you are in danger," Liz said. He knew how badly Liz wanted to help out here. But she was also con- cerned for him and the two desires were now at war inside her.

"We're going to help Jimmy. And we don't know any- thing about what Jimmy saw. Maybe he saw me get… hurt leaving town," Max said.

"But most likely, he saw you facing whoever it is that is hurting people in this town. The monster from Isabel's dream," Liz said.

"We're out here to make a difference. You said it your- self," Max said, and before Liz spoke, he added, "If the danger was to you, what would you do?”

Liz nodded. Then she turned to Michael. "You'll keep him out of trouble?”

Michael didn't smile or joke; he just nodded and said, "Yes.”

"I thought you were the one who didn't want to take any chances in this town," Liz said.

Max nodded. He thought about his own sister and his friends. "I changed my mind," he said finally.

"We still don't know if there is anything we can do," Michael said.

Isabel shook her head, "I haven't been able to contact her again. She may be awake or drugged, or out of it, or…”

"I don't think so. I saw Jimmy go to her funeral and she hasn't… turned up yet. But I think we're running out of time," Liz said.

"Another vision?" Max said.

"A feeling," Liz said.

"I don't know what else we can do, besides keeping our eyes open," Michael said.

"Then I guess we keep our eyes open," Max said.

"Are we even going to consider the possibility that… well, what Gomer said," Maria said.

"That the girls were taken by aliens?" Michael said.

"Isabel did see a monster in the dream," Maria said.

"And you said that monsters were metaphors," Michael replied.

"I know, I'm just saying that we should consider the possibility," she said.

"I don't think so," Liz said. "What are the odds of us running into aliens out here?”

"Isabel?" Maria said.

Isabel shook her head and said, "I don't know. The dream was awful, but that monster was like no alien we've ever seen. It just doesn't seem likely.”

"I agree," Max said. "We're dealing with a psycho or maybe a small group, but we have no reason to think any- thing else. Either way, we do the only thing we can and keep our eyes open.”

"I read a thriller about a kidnapping in Texas," Liz said. "The kidnappers are caught something like ninety-five percent of the time.”

That got Max's attention. "That's good," he said.

Liz nodded. "The problem is that eight-five percent of the time, the victims don't make it.”

Another spell of silence descended on the table.

"If I stay up late, I might be able to patch the van up so that we can make a quick getaway tomorrow," Kyle said.

"No," Max said. "We're in this for the long haul and we're going to need the van in good shape. Do it right and take the time you need. We'll leave when we're ready and can get far away from here. Besides…”

Max turned to Michael, smiled, and said, "When it starts to go down in the street…”

"We don't leave until it's finished," Michael replied.

Max heard a sharp intake of breath and then, Smack! "Ow," Michael said, rubbing his shoulder where Maria had struck him.

"This is not a gangster movie!" Maria said. "And it's just as well. They tend to end badly, Mr. Sonny Corleone.”

"It was just a joke," Michael said.

"Not a very funny one," Maria said.

Kyle rose, explaining, "I'd better get back. I want to at least get the engine back into the van.”

"Be careful," Max said.

"Always," Kyle said as he left the diner.

Everyone remained silent. Kyle wondered if they were all thinking the same thing he was: that there wasn't much time left before…

He wasn't sure what was coming, but he was certain that it was coming quickly. Like Liz said, it was a feeling.