| “That’s true but besides the point. Let’s just get out of here. Those guys are giving me the creeps.” Piper said. Scully laughed to herself and began driving down the road. The car made strange noises as they drove and Scully dared not to go over fifteen miles an hour. The strange men followed them until they had reached Piper’s house. Piper and Scully walked through Piper’s house, being careful not to get mud everywhere. Suzanne would have a fit if she came home to a muddy house. Piper went up the stairs to her room and took a shower up there. After calling a diving team to drag the lake, Scully took one in the downstairs bathroom. A half hour later, Piper walked down the stairs to see Scully sitting on the couch with her hair in a towel. Mulder stood in front of her. “Don’t you dare sit on the couch.” Piper warned him. He still hadn’t showered and had mud caked all over his body. “I wouldn’t think of it.” Mulder said. “The team’s just started dragging the river. They’ve found the leg that Piper thought she felt as well as a few other body parts. They’re trying to be identified now.” Scully explained. “Ten to one their Rick’s.” Piper commented, taking a seat next to Scully. “Were Max’s parents at the hospital when you brought her back?” “Yeah, they were pretty mad.” Mulder answered. “I would be too.” Scully added in. “That doesn’t surprise me.” Mulder mumbled. Scully roller her eyes at him. “Okay, before World War III breaks out in my living room, let’s talk about what’s going to happen next.” Piper said. “What do you mean, happening next?” Mulder questioned. “Well, you’ve got three dead bodies and no proof. We know that the government has something to do with it but we also know that they’ll never admit to it.” Piper said. “Something tells me that if the CDC is involved, the murders will just be covered up.” Mulder commented. “Right, but how do we get them before they have the chance to do that?” Piper wondered. “We secure the evidence.” Scully replied. “How?” Piper asked. “By making sure that you two guys stick to your story. By making sure that we get someone to search the building in the middle of the woods. By making sure that the bodies aren’t put into the wrong hands.” Scully answered. “Yeah, well it’s too late for that.” Mulder said. “Who knows who’s searching that river for Rick’s body. They could be a government organization of their own.” The three of them paused and stared at each other. The idea had never occurred to them until now. The whole thing was going to be covered up as soon as possible. Mulder didn’t wait for anyone to respond before he quickly walked out of the room. He came back a few minutes later dressed and somewhat clean. “Let’s go.” He said before the three of them left Piper’s house. Chapter 8 July 6, 2001 8:09 AM Scully ran a brush through her wet hair. She quickly threw it into a ponytail and then placed the brush on the dashboard. Mulder was driving, trying not to speed too much. Piper sat in the back trying to tie her right sneaker. They had left in a hurry, afraid of what they would find when they got to the park. Mulder pulled into the entrance of the park where two men stopped them. They looked like the two previous men, dressed all in black with no emotion. “You’ll have to turn around.” One said. “We’re FBI.” Mulder explained. “Turn around now.” The second one said, stepping up to the car. Mulder looked at Scully and sighed. Instead of turning into the nearby parking lot and turning around, he placed pressure on the gas and sped away. The two men seemed stunned as the car sped away, down the road. Mulder continued to drive down the road until Piper spoke up. “What is that?” She questioned, pointing towards the woods. “That’s smoke.” Scully answered. Mulder quickly stopped the car. The three of them quickly exited the car and ran into the woods. “I smell fire.” Mulder commented as they ran. Piper stopped suddenly. “They’re burning the place.” Mulder and Scully stopped with her and peered through the trees. They walked closer to the building but it was hardly even a building anymore. The entire thing was engulfed in flames. “We’re too late.” Mulder murmured. “Come on.” Scully said, running towards the river. Piper and Mulder followed. Two paramedics walked towards them, pushing a gurney with a body bag on top. Piper, Mulder, and Scully stopped. They watched the paramedics pass before walking to the banks of the river. A man turned and stared at them. He was tall like the other men but not as dark looking. He had on a simple suit with a beige trench coat. He wore the same style sunglasses even though it was anything but sunny. “Did you find anything?” Mulder questioned. “Just a man who drown.” The man answered simply. “Drown?” Piper asked, surprised. “That man was ripped to shreds! I had his finger!” “You must be mistaken. This man fell into the river and drown.” The man replied. “Bull…” Piper began. “Piper.” Scully said sternly. “May I see the body?” She asked. “No ma’am. No one sees the body except for qualified government officials.” The man answered. “That doesn’t surprise me.” Piper said quietly to herself. “I’m a medical doctor with the FBI.” Scully protested. “I’m sorry, Ms., only qualified members of our team may view the body.” The man responded. “How do you explain the other deaths?” Mulder asked. “Animal attacks, sir.” He answered. “Well no crap.” Piper said. “Obviously they were animal attacks but the average squirrel does not kill someone! And no one found any snakes! How do you explain that?” The man made no attempt to answer. “How do you explain what happened to my friend?” “We have no report of any unusual events taking place.” The man answered. “Why’s the building on fire?” Mulder wondered. “Just an old storage place, sir. The construction workers are building it so that they have more room to expand.” The man responded. “Construction workers my butt!” Piper yelled. The man took off his sunglasses and looked down at Piper. He had icy, blue eyes that gave Piper a chill. “If you’ll excuse me. I think you’ve wasted enough of my time.” He said. He walked away. “They just covered the whole thing up.” Scully said as soon as the man was out of hearing range. “Yeah, and they’re getting away with it.” Mulder commented. “What happens now?” Piper asked, knowing they had been defeated. All the evidence was gone or in the hands of the wrong person. “Now it will go down in the official report that the first two men died from some kind of animal attack and that the third man drown. I’m sure it will be written that they had no known connection to each other.” Scully answered. “Yeah, except for the fact that each of them had something to do with the expansion of the park.” Piper said. “Rick didn’t.” Mulder reminded her. “No, not really but the animals thought he did.” Piper replied. “What do you mean?” Scully asked. “I mean that through whatever test that the government did on them, the animals obviously thought someone was coming to take away their homes and to ultimately kill then. So, they killed whoever got in their way. Rick was a naturalist and was going to test the woods but the animals didn’t know that. They saw a man bringing unknown equipment and knowledge into their woods so they killed him.” Piper explained. “Why do you think all that stuff happened to Max?” Mulder questioned. “I don’t know. Maybe it happened randomly. Maybe they were trying to fight the tests or the drugs that were in their system and they thought Max would help them. But, I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure.” Piper said. “So now what?” “Now we go talk to Max and pray that this whole thing is over.” Mulder replied. The three of them began to walk out of the forest. They stopped for a moment to watch the building burn before continuing on. |