Kevin Ryan - A New Beginning

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.

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.