| “Let’s go then.” Max piped up. The three of them began walking back towards where they had set up camp. Piper held the latex glove as far away from her body as possible. Jeff stayed in the lead, trying to keep his cool. He may have been able to handle hundreds of snakes but finding the finger of his best friend was another thing. They walked together in silence back to the camp. Jeff quickly grabbed his cellular phone from his tent and handed it to Piper. She dialed her own phone number and waited.“Mulder.” A voice finally said after at least ten rings. “Mulder, it’s Piper.” Piper said, her voice somewhat shaky from her lack of warmth. “Piper, what time is it?” Mulder asked, himself groggy due to lack of sleep. “I…I don’t know but I…we need you.” Piper exclaimed. “Okay, slow down. Who’s we?” Mulder questioned. “Me and Max and Jeff.” Piper answered. “What kind of trouble can you get into at a hospital?” “Well, we’re not actually at the hospital.” “Where are you, Piper?” “We’re in the Warren Woods.” Mulder tried not to get too upset. “And what is Max doing out of the hospital?” “Look, it’s a long story and I don’t feel like getting into it right now. All I know is that we have another dead body and that we need your help.” “Okay, where are you in the woods?” “We’re a bit off the main path. Just look for my sister’s crashed car.” “Why do I not like the sound of that?” Piper ignored him. “One of us will be out there to meet you.” Piper hung up and handed the phone back to Jeff. “Are they coming?” Max asked. “Yeah.” Piper answered. She put the latex glove down on a tree stump. “I’m going to go out to the path to wait for them. You guys stay here and watch that thing with your life.” “I don’t think it’s going anywhere, Piper.” Max joked. “You never know what’s going on out here.” Piper responded. She walked away towards the main road. As she sat down next to her sister’s totaled car she realized how tired she really was. She buried her head in her hands and waited. Chapter 7 Warren Woods 6:14 AM Piper looked up as she heard the car coming down the road. She stood and waited as the car stopped right in front of her sister’s. Mulder and Scully quickly scrambled out and looked at Suzanne’s car. Piper realized how bad of shape it was really in now that the sun had come out. “What happened, Piper and why are you so wet?” Scully asked. “I’d rather explain the whole story later. For now you just need to come and take a look at what we found.” Piper said as she began walking back into the woods. Mulder and Scully followed. Piper walked to the spot where they had set up camp. Max was sitting on the ground near the stump where the latex glove was. Jeff popped his head out his tent as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He emerged from the tent. “So what is it that’s going on?” Mulder asked. Jeff, Piper, and Max all eyed the latex glove. Scully noticed their glances. She took out a pair of her own latex gloves from her pocket and snapped them on. She bent over and picked up the latex glove from the stump. She looked inside and then looked over at Mulder. He walked over to her and peered inside the glove. “Where’d you find this?” Scully asked, placing the glove back on the stump. “In the river.” Max answered. “So that would explain why you’re both soaked.” Mulder said. “But it doesn’t explain what you were doing in the river to begin with.” “It happened again.” Max said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. “What did?” Scully questioned. “The possession…the trance…whatever you want to call it. It happened last night while Piper and I were sleeping. Piper found me in the river.” Max explained. “Okay, why don’t you start from the beginning.” Mulder suggested. “Well, we were sleeping in the tent…” Piper began. “No, how about you start by telling us what Max is doing out of the hospital.” Mulder commanded. So, they did. They told Mulder and Scully everything. They explained everything that had led them up to that one moment. Piper explained how she helped Max escape and how she totaled her sister’s car. Max explained how they had lied to both Rick and Jeff. Piper told them about what happened in the tent and how she found Max and then how she found the finger and the possible leg. By the time they had finished talking, Mulder, Scully, and Jeff were stunned. “There’s something going on out here.” Piper said. “Something having to do with what we found on that website. Something having to do with that building.” “Piper, let’s not jump to conclusions.” Scully responded. “I’m not jumping to conclusions!” Piper shouted. “All I’m saying is that we have to do something or more people are going to die and who knows what’s going to happen to Max if this keeps up. She already got bitten by a snake and we almost got hypothermia from the water.” “Piper, it’s in the middle of the summer. I don’t think you can get hypothermia in Rhode Island in the middle of the summer.” Mulder commented. “Fine, maybe not hypothermia but the water was still cold!” Piper yelled. “We’re not getting anywhere by arguing.” Max said. “Let’s just go see if we can find…the rest of Rick.” “We’re not even positive if this is Rick or not.” Jeff added in, not wiling to admit that his friend was dead. “Yeah, well it’s a good bet since we haven’t seen him since last night.” Piper said. “She has got a point.” Mulder responded. “Let’s just go to the river.” Scully said, hoping to prevent any further arguments. The five of them began walking towards the river with Piper and Max in the lead. “Here it is.” Piper said pointing to the dam once they had arrived. This time she had chosen to take the path by foot instead of into the cold waters. Fortunately it had stopped raining but the water still remained cold. “This is where you found the finger?” Mulder asked, kneeling down on the banks of the river. He dipped his right hand in the water and began to search around. “Yeah. It was dark so we really didn’t get to see much but I felt the finger on the dam.” Piper explained. “What about the leg?” Jeff questioned nervously. “You said you found a leg.” “I said that I thought I had found a leg. I felt something brush up against me under the water and I thought that it could possibly be a leg.” Piper responded. “But you’re not positive?” Scully asked. “No. Like I said, it was dark. I don’t think either Max nor I were very sure of anything.” “Yeah, well I’m pretty sure we’ve got a dead body around here somewhere.” Mulder said. “What makes you so sure?” Scully wondered. She had worked with Mulder for so long that she could sense there was something up. He pulled his hand out of the water. Clutched between his fingers was a human toe. “This is what makes me so sure.” Mulder said. “Lovely.” Max commented. Jeff turned around, unable to handle the things he was seeing. “Let’s get a team out here to drag the lake.” Scully suggested. “Good idea.” Mulder said, pulling a plastic bag marked ‘evidence’ out of his pocket. He dropped the toe inside and pocketed it. “Well, anyone for breakfast?” Piper joked. Jeff began walking back to the campsite. The rest of them followed somewhat farther behind. “You know, none of this makes sense.” Max said. “What do you mean?” Mulder asked. “Think about it. First you would think that somehow the animals were killing these people because they were ticked off that their homes were being destroyed. But then you throw the whole government testing facility in the loop and is messes everything up.” Max explained. |