"Do you know the way?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes," she replied curtly, not even stopping to look at him.

Eddie gave a smile and stopped. "Ok, well, it's to your left, not right." She stopped and stood there, as if contemplating if he was telling the truth. Finally, Liz looked at him, and Eddie let his face go slack.

She's so beautiful, he thought. He took in all of her features: long, dark hair, deep brown eyes, high cheekbones, slim figure, and pouty lips. Eddie also noticed all the emotions playing across her face. Anger, loneliness, heart-ache, and fear.

"I don't need your help...I need-"

"Him?" he asked, cutting her off.

Liz just looked at him, letting tears fill up her eyes. She glanced away quickly.

"Liz?!!"

Liz and Eddie both looked up to see another teenage boy running up to them. He raced right past Eddie and over to Liz, engulfing her in a tight embrace. Eddie watched as she waited a beat, before timidly returning the hug.

"Kyle, what are you doing here?" Liz asked, her voice displaying all of her shock.

The boy, Kyle, pulled back and looked her over. "Looking for you! Where have you been?"

Liz shrugged and finally answered. "I was...I was at the site. Then Eddie came and got me."

"Eddie? Who's Eddie?" he asked.

Eddie eyed the boy, finally walking a few feet closer. "That would be me."

Kyle suddenly looked up and eyed him. Eddie gave a smile as the boy moved in between himself and Liz.

"Eddie who?"

Liz, rolling her eyes, sighed. "Kyle? Put the macho act back in the bag. Eddie's a friend."

"Oh, am I?" Eddie asked..

"I'm considering it," she replied, giving him a look. Eddie shook his head and returned to his staring contest with the other teenager. The boy looked oddly familiar, but not enough to place a full memory.

"Liz...can I talk to you? Alone?" he asked, finally looking away.

"Sure, Kyle," she replied, wearily, letting him pull her a few feet away.

Kyle...Eddie suddenly had something to go on. Liz mentioned a Kyle earlier, saying he was part of everything. Eddie watched, openly, as the two talked, their heads close together. The boy kept looking over at him, as if daring him to step up. Eddie kept staring, making it clear that he was not backing down. Suddenly, Kyle looked back at Liz and said something, causing Liz to gasp.

Eddie was about to walk over and find out what was going on when Kyle put his hands on Liz's shoulders, trying to comfort her. Shaking his head, Eddie couldn't help and wonder how close they really were.

***

Jim Valenti hung up the phone and cursed, wondering where the hell his son was. He could hear Ms. Evans behind him, pouring some coffee. He sighed and looked back at her, noticing how her hands were trembling. She's worried sick about her kids, he thought. Does she know why they left?

"Here you go, sheriff," Diane said, handing over the coffee.

"I appreciate this. It's been a rough morning."

"No problem at all." She sat down at the table, folding her hands tightly over her lap. "I'm sure you think I'm overreacting, but something isn't right."

Jim sat down across from her. She was right on the mark; something WASN'T right. "I don't think that. Just explain what happened," he said calmly.

"Well, the kids weren't coming down for breakfast after I called them, so I went to check up on them--but they weren't there. Then my husband pointed out that our son's, Max's, jeep was gone. But I'd been up since 5:30, so I think I would've seen them leave. Anyway, I found Isabel's school notebook and then noticed that all of her school work and purse were still here. And so was all of Max's stuff."

Valenti listened to her talk, wondering if she knew about Liz and the others. "I'm sure we can solve all of this--" But he never got to finish his sentence, for his cell phone started to ring again, as the doorbell rung on the house at the same time.

"Excuse me," Diane Evans said, going to get the door.

Jim nodded, waiting till she was out of ear shot to answer his phone. "Sheriff."

"Jim, thank god I got a hold of you. The station is a madhouse."

"Amy?" he asked, recognizing the voice.

"Yeah, It's me. We have a problem."

Already knowing the answer, Valenti asked, "What kind of problem?"

"Sheriff!" Ms. Evans voice rung in the air, making Jim sigh.

"Amy, can we talk later? I'm at the Evans house, and it's important."

"Jim--so is this!" Amy said, her voice carying annoyance.

"Amy I'm sorry-"

"Sheriff, we have a situation," Deputy Hanson said, coming into the room.

"Hanson?!" Jim rubbed his brow and focused back in on Amy. "I'll call you back." And then he hung up.

"Sir, sorry to interrupt, but we have a few more missing kids," Hanson said, pulling off his hat.

"What?!" Diane asked, walking back into the room at that exact moment. "Who's missing?"

Valenti tried to motion for his deputy to keep quiet, but he wasn't quick enough. "Maria DeLuca and Alex Whitman."

"Alex Whitman? My daughter used to date him!" Ms. Evans explained, looking at the sheriff for help.

Sighing, Jim nodded. "I'm aware--"

"And isn't Maria DeLuca the Parker girl's friend?" Hanson asked.

"What's Liz have to do with this?"

"She's also gone--"

"Hanson!" The sheriff had to stop this. Ms. Evans didn't need all this information. Deputy Hanson seemed taken back by the outburst, but just nodded.

"Sheriff, what aren't you telling? Alex and Liz both dated my children," Ms. Evans said, her voice holding concern.

"I'm aware of the situation," Jim said, trying to remain calm.

"Then help me out here," Diane said, her voice getting a little high. "Both of my children and their exes come up missing. Not to mention their friends? Is there anyone else we should know about?"

Jim was about to deny any more but, AGAIN, Deputy Hanson butted in. "Actually, Sir, we may have more," he admitted. "I took the liberty to call the school to see if anyone else is missing, and Kyle never showed up."

"I know exactly where Kyle is," he responed quickly. Which was only half false: Jim only had a kinda exactly idea where he was. Which was sketchy at best.

"Oh..." Hanson said, seeming embarrassed. "Well, I thought I'd check it out."

Ms. Evans, who was figiteding with her fingers, said, "This is getting out of hand."

"I agree," Jim said.

"Um, all together we have 7 kids missing--not counting Kyle," Hanson added.

Valenti could tell that both of them were upset, and there was no way he could get free to go look in the spot he thought they might be. Not knowing how to explain all of this, Jim took a deep breath and spoke up.

***

Liz couldn't believe what Kyle was telling her. Everyone was calling the sheriff and saying their kids were missing. "Even yours," he added.

Liz pulled back, shocked that her parents would think she'd run away. "What?!"

Kyle put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her. "We all kinda did--you just disappeared."

"I was at the pod chamber--"

"I know--now," Kyle added. "But we were all worried sick."

Liz nodded. "Ok...so, what about Ms. Evans?"

Kyle took a deep breath. "She called dad. She doesn't know yet."

Liz looked at the ground, her hands at her side. Poor Ms. Evans... she had to do something. "We should tell her."

"What?!"

Liz looked up at Kyle, her voice getting louder. "We need to tell Ms. Evans."

"WHAT?!"

This is time, it wasn't Kyle; it was Alex and Maria. They both came running up, their faces flushed and red.

"Oh my god, Liz!" Maria cried, throwing her arms around Liz.

"Where have you been?!" Alex demanded, taking his turn to embrace her. He held her at arms length, looking her over. "I was supposed to watch over you!! And after only a few hours, I've already lost you!!"

"Watch over me?" Liz asked, confused at all the attention.

"It was assumed. Max wanted me to--you know, keep ya safe," Alex explained. "Which I failed to do," he added.

"We failed," Maria amended. She then focused her attention back on Liz and said, "Now, where were you?!"

Liz was about to speak, but never got a chance. "And what stuff about telling Ms. Evans?" Maria added.

"Yeah, it took ya forever to tell me," Alex said.

"And even longer for me," Kyle threw in.

"We didn't exactly tell you, you saw it," Liz said, trying to get into the conversation. "And you guys didn't fail--I was perfectly safe this morning."

"So, where were you?" Maria asked.

"With Max...I went to the cave with him--the one with their pods."

"But that was over 5 hours ago," Maria pointed out.

Liz nodded. "I know...I was kinda in a trance until...until Eddie came and got me--"

"Eddie?" Alex asked, interrupting Liz. "Eddie who?"

"My words exactly," Kyle said, shrugging.

Liz looked over and saw Eddie was still watching them, his eyes right on her. "That's Eddie," she said, pointing.

Alex and Maria both looked, just then noticing him. "Eddie...River Dog's friend?" Maria asked, looking him up and down.

"He knows River Dog?" Kyle asked.

"He's kinda cute," Maria added.

"I don't like this--what all does he know?" Alex asked.

Liz sighed and wanted to pull her hair out. This was too much. Everyone was firing questions off at her. "Just stop!"

All three teenagers stopped and looked at her. "Ok, Eddie is a friend of River Dog; No, I don't think he's cute, and he knows quite a good bit."

"Ok...um, well, what does he know?" Maria asked.

Liz sat down on a tree stump and slumped over, placing her head in her hands. "I'm not sure...he knew where the pods were--that's how he found me; I was still there. And he knew Max and others left."

"Is that all?" Alex asked, kneeling in front of her.

Liz looked up at him and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know anything anymore!"

"It's ok, babe," Maria said, placing her arms around Liz's shoulders.

"I just want him back," Liz whispered. "I want him back and all of this to go away."

"I know you do; we all do."

Alex, still down in front of her, placed his hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze. "Hey...we're gonna get through this, ok?"

Liz nodded, rubbing her face.

"Um...I don't know if this is a good time to bring it up, but our parents are kinda freaking out on us," Kyle said, finally speaking up.

"I almost forgot about that," Maria said, pulling back. "We are SO late for school."

"Actually--they all think we ran away," Kyle added.

"But your dad knows you're with us, right?" Alex asked.

"I guess--but Liz is still missing."

Liz, standing up, sighed. "This is way out of hand. Your dad, our parents, the Evans; we need to fix it."

Maria suddenly looked at Liz. "By telling them?"

"No--"

"But you said you wanted to tell," Kyle pointed out.

"I said I wanted to tell Ms. Evans," Liz amended. "She deserves to know."

Alex, standing behind them all, finally walked up. "I think Liz is right."

"What?! Guys--we can't tell anyone!" Maria exclaimed.

"Yeah," Kyle added, "I thought that was the drill."

"It is, or was--but this is different," Liz explained. "She has every right to know what happened to her kids."

"What about their dad? Are you gonna tell him too?" Maria was getting upset now.

"Mr. Evans is kinda...I'm not sure how he'd re-act," Alex said suddenly.

"But Ms. Evans would understand," Liz added.

"No! You guys, we can't do this. Everyone is not here to agree!"

Liz walked up to Maria and tried to calm her down. "Maria, if this was different, and it was you that had to leave, wouldn't you want your mom to know you were ok and alive?"

Maria looked at Alex for help and tried to gain some control. "Yes--no--yes...Just--just can't we tell 'em that? They're ok and alive? That's all?"

"Maria--"

"No Liz!" Maria pulled away and sighed. "Ok? Michael would be against this, and I'm not gonna do something he wouldn't want done."

Kyle, sensing this was about to get out of hand, stepped up. "Maybe we should talk about this later."

"No...we're talking about this now," Maria said, placing a hand up to Kyle. "And we're not doing it."

"Maria--you are not being fair!" Liz exclaimed.

"Michael--"

"This isn't just about Michael! It's about Isabel and Max too," Liz added.

"Isabel would want this," Alex said, his voice low.

"And I think Max would too."

Maria looked at them both, then shook her head. "Whatever--do what you want. But I want nothing to do with it."

"Maria..." Liz tried, but she wouldn't answer, she just walked away.

"Ok...what was that about?" Eddie asked, finally walking over to the group.

Liz looked at him and sighed, never answering.

***

Michael sighed, pulling on his sunglasses to keep the sun out. It was near noon, and everyone but him and Max were asleep; and at the moment, Max was much company. He was just sitting there, staring out the window.

"Hey...you wanna tell me more about your dream?" Michael asked, trying to start a conversation.

"No." And that was it. Michael sighed and tried to see where Max was coming from. He was sad about leaving too; just one thought about Maria and he wanted to spin the car back around, but he was gonna be strong.

"I know it's hard...but we're gonna deal. We need to be strong," Michael added.

Max shifted in his seat, scooting down to rest his head along the glass. "I am."

Gee, that tells me alot, Michael thought. "Listen...you wanna tell me what happened with Liz?"

Max waited a beat, then sighed. "She still loves me," he said softly. "After all we've been through...and she still loves me. And the night I find out is the same night I have to leave."

Michael could understand that. Him and Maria played the 'I love you-I love you not' game quite a few times. "Yeah...Maria too."

Max looked up at him and nodded. "I saw you smelling her cedar oil."

Michael reached into his pocket and wrapped his hands around the bottle. "She gave it to me."

"Liz gave me her class ring...and said she'd wait for me," Max added, his voice getting really soft.

Michael looked at his face in the mirror. Liz said she'd wait? "Wow...she did?" Max nodded again, but kept silent. Michael knew that was big. Maria said she loved him, but didn't say anything about waiting. He would like it, but who knew if they'd ever see each other again? And how long it would be.

"You um...do you think..." he tried to get it out, but, for some reason, Michael's lips wouldn't voice his question.

"That Maria'll wait?" Max asked. Michael nodded, feeling his face get red. "Yeah...I do." Max even gave Michael a smile.

"Thanks, man."

"For what? I was telling the truth; no thanks in that," Max stated.

Michael suddenly felt his guilt rise even more. Max was a good guy with a broken heart. He had every right to wish one on everyone else around him. But here he was, trying to cheer someone else up. "I'm sure you'll get to be with Liz again."