A New Beginning

by Kevin Ryan

  Max glanced down at Isabel and Michael. They were

  working steadily. Maybe the work would take Isabel's

  mind off things.

  Reminding himself to ask Bell if they could borrow a

  radio, Max got back to work.

  * * *

  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 ab
le

  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.

  * * *

  17

  When Kyle approached the garage he was glad to see that

  there was no sign of Gomer's pickup. He was also sur-

  prised to see movement through the office window. He

  caught a flash of blond hair. Dawn.

  He entered the garage quietly through the large door.

  Kyle hadn't seen her enter the shop area since he had

  started at Johnny's. With any luck she would just go

  whenever she was done.

  Back at the van, he was glad he had already rigged up

  the engine on the lift. He was getting tired after the long

  day. And he was slowing down after eating, as well. Max

  had said they were in this for the long haul. There was no

  point in staying up all night to work on the van.

  He would have a long enough day tomorrow.

  Well, if he pushed a little, he could wrap up the work

  in maybe an hour. He would have the engine set and

  bolted into place by then. He could take care of the finish-

  ing work tomorrow.

  About an hour later, he tightened the last bolt on the

  * * *

  last engine mount. Then he decided to clean up and join

  the others.

  As he closed up the engine compartment, he realized

  there was something different about the air. It smelled . . .

  Cool hands reached around and touched his face, then

  covered his eyes.

  The air smelled nice.

  It was Dawn. "Guess who?" she asked, laughing.

  He placed his hands on hers and held them there for a

  long moment. Then he gently pulled them away. Without

  thinking, he realized that he was smiling. "I don't know—

  Dan," he teased as he turned around.

  Her eyes flared in mock anger for a second, then she

  smiled.

  "Oh, it's you," he said.

  "Yes, it's me," she said. Then she just looked at him silently.