ForcedTogetherpart3

They both had ended up sitting on the ground in shock from what had just transpired in front of them. After ten minutes Michael got up and grabbed Maria�s hand pulling her up next to him.

�Maria, where did Isabel tell you to park the Jetta?� Michael asked the crying girl. She didn�t answer him right away and continued to stare at the fire that was consuming the summer cabin that their friends had spent the last few hours of their lives in.

Michael looked back at the cabin again then turned back to the girl and gripped her by the shoulders. �We�re sitting ducks out here. We have to leave and now� he thought to himself as he started to shake the girl in front of him in an attempt to break her of the trance she seemed to be in.

�Dammit Maria, you need to snap out of it. Where the Hell is your car, we have to leave here now!� He shouted to her.

�Izzy said to park it across the way, they have a garage over there. She said it would be ok to park there so no tree sap or bird poop got on it. I just had it washed the other day and my Mom would get upset if I brought it back dirty.� Maria reasoned, not realizing what she was really saying.

Michael took one last look at the cabin then grabbed Maria�s hand and ran over to the neighbor�s place. He let go of Maria�s hand and looked in the window of the garage and saw the car. Bending down, he grabbed the handle and lifted the door and moved inside, dragging Maria with him.

He went to ask Maria for the keys but figured the keys were inside the cabin. Closing his eyes Michael put his hand down in front of the lock and used his powers to manipulate the tumblers. Sighing in relief he opened the passenger side door and shoved Maria inside before running around and hopping in the driver�s side.

Looking over he saw that Maria was still out of it and reached around her to grab her seat belt, securing Maria in. He new the ride ahead of them was their head start and he couldn�t worry about Maria getting hurt because she wasn�t strapped in while he was racing to beat the clock and get them as far away as possible before they figured out they were up here too.

This was their only leverage, knowing that Pierce was under the assumption they weren�t up here and that he was going to ambush them back in Roswell. Michael sighed and looked over at Maria, she had stopped crying and was staring at him instead. He noticed that her eyes were blank and that even though she was staring at him she really wasn�t registering who he was. This unnerved him and almost caused him to go off the road.

�Maria, are you in there?� Michael asked. He started to get nervous when she didn�t answer him. �Come on Maria answer me. You have to get it together, we�re going to have to work together now.� Still nothing. �Come on, say something!� He finally shouted.

His shouting made Maria jump and then she started to shake uncontrollable. �Oh @#%$, she�s going into shock.� Michael thought. �Great I can�t exactly bring her into a hospital, what am I suppose to do.�

The only thing he could remember from freshmen health class was that when someone went into shock you were suppose to wrap them in blankets to keep warm. �Damn, I don�t have any stupid blankets. How the Hell am I suppose to keep her warm.� He thought.

�@#%$!� he said while pulling over and hopping out of the car and running around to the trunk. �We so don�t have time for this!� He shouted to the early morning sky while using his powers to open the trunk. �Thank God for small miracles.� He thought as he eyed a blanket along with some other supplies they may be able to use.

�I�ll have to look at this stuff more closely later on.� He said to himself as he grabbed the blanket and shut the trunk. He raced back to car, hopping back in. Maria was still staring off in space and Michael shook out the blanket and wrapped it around her, tucking it in behind her shoulders. He noticed that she was still shivering and took off his jacket and wrapped that around her too before turning around and jacking up the heater.

�I hope that helps you Deluca, because I don�t know what else to do for you.� He said as he took off again. They drove for almost close to four hours, with Michael sneaking quick glances of Maria. She had stopped staring in his direction and had started to stare out her own window instead. They had stopped once to filled the gas tank and Michael had gotten some junk food to hold them over for the day.

After a few more hours she had stopped shaking and had snaked one of her hands out from the blanket and turned off the heater. She settled back into her seat and wrapped the blanket and Michael�s jacket tighter while continuing to stare out the window.

It was almost another hour before she spoke. �Michael.� She said in a voice barely above a whisper. He almost didn't hear her at first.

�Yeah.� He answered, sighing quietly in relief that she was coming back to the real world.

�I have to pee.�

�I hate to say it but we�re nowhere near a rest room. You�re going to have to go behind a tree.�

�OK.�

Michael pulled over to the side of the road and helped her get rid of the covers, while she took her seat belt off. She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out some fast food napkins. Michael sat and watched her jog behind several trees. A few minutes later she was back in the car, she turned and offered Michael a weak smile.

He tried to give her a small smile, but couldn�t. Instead he reached behind him and pulled out the bag of food he had gotten earlier. �Here, you should eat something. You haven�t eaten for over twelve hours.� He said while handing her the bag.

�Not hungry.� She said while staring at the bag in her lap. She reached into the glove compartment again and pulled out a handy wipe to clean her hands.

�You have to eat, and you are to hungry I heard your stomach grumbling earlier.� Michael said while pulling back out onto the road.

�You can�t make me eat. I said I�m not hungry!� Maria shouted back.

�Look, I�m not going to argue with you here. We have around four more hours of driving that we can get in before I have to stop for the night. I saw what looked like a pop up tent with a sleeping bag in the trunk. I figured we could move during the day and camp at night for now. I think if we try checking into a motel or something we will just be giving them a lead. So you are going to need your strength and you are going to have to eat.� Michael explained.

�I�m not doing anything of the kind. Just drop me off at a bus station and you can keep the car. But I�m going home to my Mom. I need to see her, let her know I�m ok. She�ll know what to do, maybe we can go to the sheriff and he can protect us or something.� Maria said while tearing small strips from the brown bag on her lap.

Michael just looked at her in shock. �What the Hell is she talking about.� �You may not be a blonde anymore but your still ditzy! Have you completely lost your mind? You can�t go home! I heard him talking to his superior before you reached me! They know all about you and me and according to Pierce a �car accident will be very acceptable� as in acceptable way to get rid of us!� Michael shouted at her.

Maria just looked at him and her eyes were brimming with tears again. He was getting infuriated with her and this whole situation. �Can you stop your damn crying and actually think for a few minutes! There gone; Max, Izzy and Liz are dead and the FBI is out looking for us. They want to make our deaths look like a car accident and you want to run home to Mommy. What the Hell are you thinking?� He asked.

Michael couldn�t help it and he continued to rant. �Look it�s really simple. You only have two choices; living or dying. Which one do you prefer? And I hate to be the one to tell you, but going home to your Mom would put her in danger. So asked yourself if you are selfish enough to put her life on the line too.�

Maria wiped the last of her tears away and turned and looked at Michael. �God, you are truly heartless.� She hissed in disgust. �Don�t you even care about the others, about their parents. What about your parents? Don�t you want to see them and let them know your ok? Probable not, their just some stupid humans, right? And how dare you imply I�m willing to put my Mom�s life in danger because I�m too selfish to care. What the Hell are we suppose to do? Go camping for the rest of our lives. I rather take my chances back home.� She shouted back.

Maria found herself flung forward when Michael slammed his foot on the brakes. �Do you think you�re the only one hurting here!� he screamed at her. �I lost my brother and sister today! They were my only family! Not that pig the state decided was fit enough to be a foster father!� He shot back. �I�m sorry for their parents, I know that the Evans loved Max and Izzy. I�m sure Liz�s parents were devoted to her too, but I�m not going to go back to Roswell. I can�t, no make that we can�t!� He finished with a shout.

He was so angry that she thought so little of him. Maybe there was more to it than meets the eye. �Our lives are in danger, and maybe you and your mother would be able to work something out, something that includes turning me in?� He said while staring her in the eyes. Would she do that, save her own skin at his expense.

Michael was still staring in Maria�s eyes and didn�t see her hand until it was to late. She slapped him across the face so hard his head snapped to the opposite side. �Who the @#%$ do you think you are? I would never turn in another human being or whatever the @#%$ you are to those sick bastards!� she snared back at him.

Michael just level his gaze back to her and searched her face for any indication that she was lying to him. �None.� He said to himself, she isn�t going to trade his life for hers. �Fine then we�re in agreement, we travel during the day and set up camp at night.� He said while turning his attention back to the steering wheel and pulling back onto the road.

Maria didn�t say anything, she just sat back in her seat and pulled out a package of Hostess Cup Cakes and Ring Dings and started munching on them. They continued on in silence. After her meal Maria found her eyes were getting heavy and let herself fall asleep.

Michael looked over and saw that she had nodded off and sighed in relief. He couldn�t take anymore talking and was glad to have the silence. He continued to drive into the mountains until it started to turn to dusk. Keeping his eyes open he saw a side road that appeared not to be travel too much.

He drove on and took a couple of small side roads until he came to a small clearing but was still covered by the tall trees surrounding it. �We should be pretty safe here.� He said to himself as he parked the car. He turned and saw that Maria was starting to wake up.

�Were are we?� She asked.

�Colorado. We were pretty close so I just kept going in that direction. I�m sure the FBI will start looking for us here. We should be able to buy some extra time and stay a few steps ahead of them the longer we don�t check into a motel or something. Look why don�t we set up the tent and get our stuff. We can take some time to figure out were we go from here.� Michael said as he got out of the car.

Maria just looked at the empty driver�s seat and opened the door and joined him at the trunk. She watched as Michael concentrated and opened the trunk. Sure enough there was a small pop up tent and one extra wide sleeping bag as well as a few Coleman lamps and a small table top propane stove.

Michael bent over and grabbed the tent and carried it over to a clearing near a patch of trees. He checked the ground and kicked aside a few rocks. He looked up to see that Maria was pulling out the rest of the supplies.

It only took Michael ten minutes to set the tent up and he helped Maria put their thing inside. Maria smiled and showed him that they were really lucky, there was an air mattress under the tent. At least now they wouldn�t have to sleep on the ground.

Maria settled down on a log and watch as Michael started to build a small fire. It was still light out, but the sun was quickly disappearing and he remembered that he wanted to look at a map or something to get his bearing and to figure out were they would go next.

�Do you have a map in your car?�

�Yeah, my mom has an atlas, I think it�s in the back of the car, probable under the driver�s seat.�

�Fine, do you think you could gather a few more sticks or something to keep the fire going and I�ll grab that.� Michael said as he started to get up.

�Yeah sure.� She answered and getting up herself. She started to walk in the opposite direction as Michael when he called out to her.

�Don�t go far, just around the camp site ok. I don�t want to have to try and find you in the dark out in these woods.� He explained.

Maria snorted and said �Yeah, like you would care enough to come looking.�

He was going to say something back to her, but decided to let it go. It had been a long day and they were both on edge. In the past twenty four hours their worlds had been blown apart, now it was up to them to try and rebuild them and to stay alive.

TBC