Audra opened her eyes groggily. Had she imagined that voice? She strained to listen, but couldn’t hear anything.

Sighing, she tried to go back to sleep. When she was sleeping, she was in another place. One that didn’t include the cold cell in which she was locked. When she was sleeping, she was with Max. In a world where his wife didn’t exist. And it was only the two of them.

“Audra!”

The voice jolted Audra once again, and she peered into the dark.

“Hello?” she called faintly.

“Audra. It’s me. It’s Ben.”

*****

Ever since they had hurt Anna Lisa the first time, silence was all the resided in the cell. No one had spoken to Max. He was just… there. He was just killing time… perhaps, until they killed him.

But all of a sudden, Max heard a rattle from the far side of his “room.” Unsure of who or what it was, Max stood up, prepared to fight if need be. Maybe he could escape…

“Max,” said an unfamiliar voice in a low tone.

“Do I know you?” Max replied coldly.

“No. But if you listen to me, I can get you, and everyone you care about out of here.”

*****

“Ben?!” Audra asked in shock. “Wha -- What?!”

“Look. I really don’ t have time to explain. But, I can help you.”

“Why do you want to help me?” Audra asked bitterly, remembering how he had dragged her across the airport, called her a different name, and fled from her after she questioned him about it. And now he was here, in this awful place, saying he wanted to help her.

“I know you may not trust me right now -- ”

“MAY not?” she scoffed. “Ben, I -- ”

“Listen Li-- Audra,” he quickly corrected himself. “We really don’t have time for this. We’re running out of time.”

“What do I have to do?” she asked, not catching his mistake.

“Just wait for me. You can’t open the door from in here, but I can.”

“Won’t they find out? Won’t James find out?”

“I’m working the night shift. They won’t know. I’ve already checked it out.”

Audra wanted to look at his face, to look in his eyes to see if he were lying. But it was dark. Should she trust him? Was he just leading her to a trap? Something was telling her he wasn’t, but her gut instinct, as of late, had gotten her into trouble…

“Audra?”

Finally, she spoke. “Why should I trust you?”

Ben paused, and replied sadly. “Because I lost my family this way. And I’m not letting it happen to anyone else.”

Audra didn’t say anything.

“So are you with me?”

*****

“Who are you?” Max asked.

“You don’t know me. But I can help you. You just need to listen to me.”

“Why should I believe anything you say? You hurt my daughter, you hurt me, and I don’t know if you even have my sister here. Why, why, WHY should I trust you?”

“Because your life depends on it. I know this place inside and out. My partner is speaking to Audra. She’s going along with it.”

“Audra?”

“Audra. The woman you bumped into, on the street.”

Max's heart sank so low, he could literally feel it beneath his feet. “What?” It wasn’t Liz? All this time he had thought it was her… But it wasn’t. Why had he felt her? In the next room -- she had felt so close…

“Don’t you remember?” the voice jolted Max. “You and Audra collided -- ”

“No, I KNOW that,” Max said angrily.

“Look, you have to give me an answer. Yes, or no?”

*****

“Audra? Are you with me?”

Audra bit her lip.

“What do you mean, your family?” she asked slowly.

“Audra, I can explain all this to you another time. I just need to get you out of here -- NOW.”

“But I’m not leaving unless I have a good reason to.”

Ben sighed. “Audra, I can’t get into it too much -- ”

“Just tell me.”

“I can tell you my wife was brought here. As well as my children. I never saw them again. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“But it’s just me. I don’t have any family here. How was your situation anything like mine?”

Ben paused. “You’ll figure it out. But not now. Are you coming?”

*****

“Yes or no, Evans?”

Max wasn’t sure what to say. Was it another test? Would they kill him?

“Isabel agreed. And I got Anna Lisa out too.”

“Anna Lisa?!” Max exclaimed.

“Yes. But you have to come with me now.”

“Will I be able to see her?”

“Yes, but not just yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I got them out a day ago. Isabel is finding transportation for all of you. You need to get away from here as soon as possible. And there’s no time like the present.”

Max’s heart was pounding. He would be able to see his daughter. His baby.

“Yes,” he said simply.

“What?”

“If you’re taking me to my daughter, then yes. I’m coming.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

*****

“Audra, you don’t have much time. We need to meet Max in a few minutes.”

“Max?” Audra’s ears perked at the sound of his name.

“Yes. We got Isabel and his daughter out yesterday, and we’re taking you two out now.”

“We?”

“My partner and I.”

“Oh…”

“Well?”

Audra knew that if she could see Max, it would all be alright. Max would make everything okay. She knew it.

Audra took a deep breath, and nodded her head. “Okay.”

*****

The only thing Audra could track of was the sound of Ben’s shoes lightly clicking down the halls. Other than that, there was complete silence. She had placed her hands on the smooth stone of the walls, to keep her balance. How was he able to walk so fast? She took deep breaths, trying to keep up. Other than the sound of her rapidly beating heart, and the rhythmic clicking of Ben’s heels, there was no sound. It was as if the building had no life.

*****

“Why are we here?” Max asked, as he struggled to follow the man in front of him.

“Look -- ” the man said, turning around. Max walked right into him, as there was no light in any part of the building.

“Sorry,” Max said.

“Look Evans,” he began again. “A few things. First of all, watch where you’re going. Second of all, everything about this place is complicated. Once we’re out of here, it’ll be safer to tell you. And lastly, you need to shut up.”

“How do I know you aren’t leading me into a trap?”

“It’s a little late to be having second thoughts, isn’t it?” the man questioned.

When Max didn’t answer, the man turned on his heel, and continued down the corridor.

*****

“Audra, are you okay?” Ben asked, the first words he had spoken to her since they had left the cell.

“How big is this place?” Audra asked, slightly out of breath.

“It’s big,” he chuckled sadly.

As Audra regained some of her energy, she asked, “Why did we stop?”

“Well, we were supposed to meet up with the other two here. Clancy’s probably a bit behind schedule. That, or Max took awhile to be convinced.”

“Well, I don’t know if I still am. I just wanted to get out of that cell.”

“Understood,” Ben said quietly. “Well, all I can say is, I will try to get you out of here.”

“Try?” Audra said, panicked. “I thought you said we WOULD get out. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Ben said. “It’s just -- it’s not as easy as I thought.”

“Why?”

“Well, I thought it was going to be nobody but me and Clancy working tonight.”

“And?”

“And, I was wrong.”

“How wrong were you?”

Silence.

“Ben? Tell me.”

“It’s James. He’s here.”

*****

“Alright. They’ve got to be around here somewhere,” Clancy said to Max.

“What do you mean, ‘he’s here’?” Max heard a scared feminine voice ask. His first instinct was that it was Liz. His heart was lifted at the mere thought. But the man had told him otherwise. Her name was Audra. Not Liz.

“Look Audra, I didn’t know. But, while we were walking here, I thought I saw something. And, I think it’s him.”

“What did you see? Does he know that we’re out? What -- What’s -- What’s going on?” Audra was becoming more frantic by the minute.

“Audra, you have to breathe. This is why we have to work quick, okay? You need to be quiet, fast, and you have to listen to me. You HAVE to listen to me.”

“Thomas -- ” Clancy began.

“Good,” breathed Ben. “Clancy -- we need to get moving.” Ben pulled out a tiny flashlight which emitted a small beam of light. He pointed it at the three faces looking at him.

Pulling Clancy aside, Ben spoke in a low tone, but Max was able to hear. “Clancy -- we have a problem. Conway is here. And I think he knows. We need to get out -- fast.”

“What do you mean, he knows?” Max said.

Audra’s mood picked up so much just by hearing his voice. That voice which she had heard so long ago. The one she thought she’d never hear again.

“Nothing,” Ben answered quickly. “Let’s go.”

Ben started to move away, and then turned around. Pointing his flashlight, he said, “Oh, before I forget -- Audra, this is Max. Max, this is Audra. Okay. Let’s go.”

Audra stole a quick glance at Max. Their eyes met through the dim light. She smiled faintly at him. Max wanted to kiss her right then and there. But, considering she wasn’t really who he wished she was, he couldn’t do much about it.

He motioned for her to move forward, and she smiled gratefully. She was glad that he was behind her. She needed his presence near her. Why, she still couldn’t understand. He seemed more familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it.

The group of four quickly moved through more of the maze that was the hallways of the building. Ben was moving at a rapid pace, and while Clancy could easily keep up, Audra had a harder time. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten, and she had no energy.

Suddenly, Ben stopped. Audra collided into Clancy, who was in front of her, and Max walked into her as well, his hands lightly touching her waist. “Sorry,” he breathed into her hair. Audra felt faint at his touch. She turned her face up to his, and even though she couldn’t see his face clearly, she could feel his eyes on her. They were searching her face -- for what?

“Audra!” Ben’s voice hissed, as if he had been calling her for some time.

“What?” she asked, turning her head around quickly.

“Concentrate. You and Max need to memorize the route out of here. Listen to me.”

Max tried as hard as he could to remember what Ben was telling him. It was important. If he wanted to get out alive, he needed to know. But, all he could think about was Audra, and her remarkable resemblance to Liz. It was so close. He would never have known if Clancy hadn’t told him.

“Got it?” Max heard Ben’s voice.

“I think so,” Audra said carefully.

“Max?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. You two go ahead. You should be okay. We’ll back you up.”

"You're leaving us?" Audra asked.

"We have to. It's for the better. We'll catch up with you later -- don't worry. We need to take care of something."

When Ben saw that Max and Audra hadn’t moved yet, he said, “Go! You need to leave -- now.”

*****

Max could sense that Audra was still scared. Out of duty, he took her hand and led her down the hall. Out of duty, of course. Nothing else.

Audra was going crazy. Here he was -- the man of her dreams, being her knight in shining armor. It was completely corny -- she knew. And she didn’t like playing the part of the damsel in distress. But she would give up all of women’s lib just for the touch of his palm on hers -- the feel of his thumb, gently rubbing her hand as if reassuring her of her safety.

The pair continued on for what seemed like hours. Why had it felt like days since she had been approached by Ben? She still wasn’t sure if this was a trap or not. But, if it was, she was glad she could be near someone like Max. Nothing had happened yet -- maybe everything would be okay…

As soon as Audra began to feel comfortable, she heard some muffled shouts. Stopping, she looked up at where Max was. “What was that?” she asked fearfully.

“I don’t know,” he replied warily. “Let’s go. We’re almost there.”

Max and Audra quickened their speed, travelling as fast as they could go without being too noisy. Audra had committed the escape route to heart -- but she couldn’t help but feel terrified. Max hadn’t let go of her hand, and now, she was really glad he hadn’t.

Max suddenly stopped moving, and leaned against the wall. Audra leaned back next to him.

"Max? What's wrong?"

As if on cue, Audra heard a loud thump. It was followed by two distinct sounds.