by Sean McMahon
‘You don't just get to choose just because it’s convenient,’ said Fearne. ‘You can't wash away the fact you killed him with just words, Malcolm.’
‘That is not–’
‘You can’t be buying this crap-fest?’ said Fearne, cutting Malcolm off and opening up the question to Hal and Kara. ‘What the actual hell are we thinking, trusting this...this…Dark Lord of bullshit. He’s literally killed all of us once already!’
‘So have you,’ said Hal. ‘But we trust you.’
Fearne’s jaw dropped, unable to formulate a response, and an awkward silence filled what felt like the entirety of the Pentney Lakes. All that was missing was an awkward cough or a tumble weed.
Kara settled on the former.
‘Fearne, I'm sorry,’ began Hal, trying to pull the words back into his mouth, but finding that there was no room for them and his foot. ‘I didn’t mean it to come out like tha–’
‘Fuck you, Hal,’ she said simply, her words more cutting and absolute than anything the Malcolm of their shared past had at his disposal.
She stormed off, utterly done with the lot of them.
‘Too much?’ said Hal, seeking reassurance from Kara.
‘I mean, I don’t want to undersell it…’ said Kara, before pulling herself up.
‘It felt like too much,’ sighed Hal.
‘Let’s just say, if “much” was a liquid …you just drowned everyone in a ten-mile radius,’ said Kara, heading off after Fearne to try and fix what was slowly evolving into an irreparable disaster.
Watching the two girls leave, Malcolm stood up and stretched.
‘And where the hell are you going?’ said Hal, realising that their team of four had left him flying solo.
‘To check the perimeter. There’s no telling where I am right now. Or when he will strike.’
“Great,” thought Hal. “Just perfect.”
*
Kara caught up with Fearne just in time to catch her wiping the cheeks of her face.
‘Fearne,’ said Kara. ‘He didn't mean for it to come out like that. We're all at a loss for what to do right now, and Malcolm may just be our only hope.’ That sounded familiar to Kara, and she suspected she’d just made a reference that Hal would have picked up on. She loved that about him, not that she'd ever tell him that. Or say it out loud to anyone. Ever.
‘This isn't about me!’ she shouted, before reining her emotions back in. ‘I just...we fell for his act before. And look where it got us. No good can come from working with this guy, Kara. I’m telling you, as soon as he gets what he wants, at best he's going to bail on us. Hard. At worst? He’s going to get us all killed. You know that, right? Peter was just the start.’
Kara gave that some thought, choosing her next words carefully.
‘I really don't think that's true, Fearne. At this point, he has just as much to lose as we do. He needs us more than we need him.’ Kara could sense Fearne was a millisecond away from producing a counter-argument, so she continued onwards before she had the chance. ‘That said, I hear you. I’m listening. If Malcolm so much as hints at a hidden agenda, I'll drop him. The three of us will take him down. And he won't see it coming if he thinks we trust him. So, work with me on this okay? We…can’t do this without you. We need you. And I…need my friend.’
Fearne went quiet, unpacking Kara’s words, scanning the sincerity on her friend’s face.
Kara's eyes burned with conviction, and Fearne realised that was good enough for her.
‘Okay,’ she decided. ‘We'll do this your way. Just...promise me you and Hal won’t get sucked in by all his lies? That you’ll be careful.’
Kara snorted playfully.
‘Hal and I are never careful,’ she said, shooting Fearne a wink. ‘We can't help ourselves, to be honest. We're basically time-pirates.’
Fearne rolled her eyes.
‘You're starting to sound like him. You know that, right?’
‘I know this,’ said Kara, and they shared a warm smile.
They both felt it; a fleeting moment where it felt like the old days. Where their lives were filled with far more mundane distractions, like paying bills and trying to avoid clip-boarders on the high street that were trying to induct them into surveys that no one on earth actually read the results from.
‘Come on, let's get back, okay?’ said Kara, whilst the warmth of their shared solidarity still lingered. ‘We need to get a plan together, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving Hal and Malcolm alone.’
As they departed, retracing their steps back to Fir Lodge, Future Malcolm stepped out from behind a nearby fir tree, having heard everything they had said to each other.
He growled to himself, the cogs turning in his mind, realising that he would need to expedite his plans.
They were so close now, and there was too much at stake to allow Fearne to foil his meticulously-orchestrated calculations.
She would need to be dealt with, before she derailed his only chance of escaping this wretched place.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Jurassic Dark
168th Restart – Friday, August 24th, 2018, 8:09pm
As the sun set on yet another Friday, they remained within the confines of Fir Lodge, watching the shadows that ran across the hedges surrounding their perimeter for any signs of movement, all of them on edge.
With the exception of Malcolm, that is, who seemed entirely unperturbed by their very real concerns.
It made the three Restarters immensely uncomfortable that he wasn’t showing even the remotest display of worry. His singular reason for which being that if his past-self decided to strike, he would remember the decision being made. Fearne pointed out how well that theory had borne fruit following what had happened to Peter.
‘You know,’ said Hal, determined to lighten the mood, ‘I thought there’d be more dinosaurs in your dinosaur park.’
‘I don’t follow,’ said Malcolm.
‘It just makes no sense. ‘There’s been no sign of the T-Rex. What’s his next play?’
They all felt it. Each and every one of them, except Malcolm apparently.
It was as if the well-lit Fir Lodge was a life-raft, and they were being circled by a shark they knew was there, waiting for the monster to strike and finish them off for good, but unable to predict exactly when, or from what side.
‘I’ve been thinking about what happened,’ said Kara, a thought occurring to her. ‘I thought you said there was only one knife?’ she said, referring to the knife Peter had attempted to retrieve, and the knife Malcolm’s darker-self had used to kill their friend.
‘Clearly,’ drawled Malcolm, ‘he has found another.’
‘And you just conveniently forgot that part?’ asked Fearne, challenging him.
‘Apparently, the past is far more fluid than any of us could have accounted for,’ contested Malcolm.
‘Yeah, sound theory,’ said Hal. ‘Except there's one problem with that, John Connor; if he found a second knife that means you found a second knife. A fact that has to be nestled safely in your own damn memories.’
‘I don't know what you want me to say,’ said Malcolm with notable tiredness.
He wasn’t used to engaging in so much conversation. He would talk at his victims all the time, but all of this two-way communication was leaving him more than a little exhausted. ‘There is one knife, the knife I died with. I know not of the second, nor its origin.’
They sat there quietly, as the trees rustled under a soft evening breeze, anticipation that would have caused their combined muscles to tense, were they in-phase with the mortal realm.
As the small talk eventually crumbled beneath the oppressive weight of the phantom that stalked them, each of the rag-tag bunch of time travelling renegades shared an unspoken sense of relief that they didn’t need to sleep whilst in their current form.
In fact, what was once a disconcerting side-effect of Restarting had now become something of a huge advantage. For one thing, they didn’t ne
ed to assign shifts, or take it in turns to keep watch. For another, the fog remained mercifully at bay, thanks to them being so early on in their newly-inhabited restart chain. The downside was that the four of them were burdened by their heightened senses, and as the lights within and around Fir Lodge flickered off in staggered patterns, they were left with only each other and their own thoughts for company.
Fearne had broken away from the group, resting her chin on her knees and locking her arms around her legs, staring relentlessly at Malcolm, who pretended not to notice. Just far enough to remain excluded, but just close enough to be able to rally if the situation took the dark turn they all knew it would, sooner or later.
But as sooner was replaced by the tenacity of later, and a new dawn took hold on a very familiar Saturday, it became clear that the shark of the past was regrouping. Their unexpected presence had thrown a considerable number of spanners in the works, and each of the Restarters now represented a multitude of variables that would need to be studied and observed, before they could be eliminated.
Kara was the first to speak, her voice a hoarse croak after remaining silent for so long.
‘We can’t stay here,’ she said, standing and stretching, despite her out-of-phase muscles being incapable of seizing up.
‘I agree,’ said Malcolm. ‘We would do well to find a new location from which to operate, one that my past-self cannot foresee or predict.’
Fearne snorted, continuing to burn her stare into the back of Malcolm’s head. ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here for when Peter returns.’
The remaining two Restarters and Malcolm shared a concerned glance.
‘I can see you glancing at each other,’ said Fearne. ‘You could at least try to hide the fact that you think I’m crazy.’
‘We don’t think you’re crazy, Fearne,’ said Hal in a tone that he hoped she would find soothing as opposed to patronising. ‘It’s just…we can’t go on like this. Waiting for The Big Bad to make his move. He’s got us in a Schrodinger’s box here.’
‘That was…well executed,’ said Malcolm, actually showing an expression of impressed respect.
‘And you’d know all about that wouldn’t you,’ snapped Fearne. ‘Execution, I mean.’
Fearne stared at the three of them.
“Team Malcolm,” she thought, with a bitterness that forced itself upon her to the point where she thought she might be sick.
Fearne wondered how two of her closest friends, people she trusted, could be so blind. Be so drawn in by the man’s deceptions. She felt truly alone. Like she’d lost whatever measly shred of control she had over the world around her.
If they couldn’t see it, it would be up to her to protect them. She would bide her time until Malcolm least expected it, waiting for her window of opportunity. And upon the first glimpse of that window, she would force it open and strike, ending his miserable excuse for a life.
‘Fine,’ said Fearne, standing and walking towards the weary time travellers that were under the killer’s thrall, adopting a light-hearted tone that she hoped would illicit the impression she was on-board with them. ‘Where do we go from here?’
Hal hummed a tune, unable to help himself.
‘I swear to God,’ said Fearne, ‘if that’s a Star Wars reference or some shit, I’m going to slap you, Hal.’
‘Of course not!’
‘Well come on then,’ said Fearne taking charge and storming off, shouting her last thoughts on the matter over her shoulder. ‘Let’s go find us a place to figure crap out.’
‘Was it Star Wars?’ asked Kara.
‘Buffy. Once More with Feeling.’
‘Urgh,’ grimaced Kara, walking away from him and catching up to Fearne. ‘Sorry I asked.’
‘What the hell’s wrong with Buffy?’ replied Hal, running to catch up with them.
Malcolm groaned, his social anxiety flaring at their bickering, making him wonder if it would just be easier to kill them all now and be done with it.
Without warning, far earlier than expected, a swirling wind engulfed them, shattering the sleepy backdrop with its intensity.
‘Now what,’ barked Fearne, struggling to be heard over the thunderous bombardment.
‘Malcolm, what’s happening?’ shouted Kara.
‘I think–’ began Malcolm, rudely cut-off in his assumption as they were all vaporised.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Fight Club
169th Restart – Friday, August 24th, 2018, 12:01pm
As their bodies reconstructed themselves into a brand-new restart, Kara realised what must have happened.
‘Oh c’mon, Evil Malcolm crossed the boundary line?’
‘What’s the point in that?’ said Hal, equally confused.
At best, it served as little more than a mild inconvenience.
‘Right? What a pric–’ but Kara’s cursing was halted, as Hal interjected.
‘Hang on. Might as well wait a minute for Fearne.’
In truth he just couldn’t be arsed to have the same conversation twice.
As he counted away the fifty-or-so seconds, Fearne re-materialised with a crackle and a snap, a few feet away from them in what was clearly her designated spot of re-entry.
‘What’s hap–’
‘Dark Malcolm. Triggered a restart, we think,’ said Kara, helpfully bringing Fearne up to speed.
‘Why?’
‘Because he can I ’spose,’ reasoned Hal. ‘A show of power, maybe?’
‘Or, more likely,’ said Kara, trying to think like the thorn in their side would have, ‘he just didn’t want us having the chance to change anything. At least, nothing that could stick.’
Hal gave it some thought. It made perfect sense. The Dark Restarter was outnumbered, with no way of knowing how far in Hal and Kara both were restart wise. He may have been a force to be reckoned with, but they had beaten him before. What they lacked in physical ability they more than made up for in time-travel shenanigan-smarts. It stood to reason he wouldn’t risk allowing them to beat him from the time-travel angle.
‘Maybe it was a one off?’ suggested Fearne. ‘So many of us being here, maybe it caused time to wig out or something.’
‘That’s not how Restarting works,’ said Hal.
‘Oh, I forgot you were the expert,’ Fearne replied like a speeding bullet, a direct shot to his ego that was so sour and laced with subtext it was borderline alcoholic.
‘You want a flask for all that sass you’re carting around? I just meant–’
‘Can you two cut this shit out?’ said Kara, finally losing her cool. ‘I’m trying to think, and it’s like I’m babysitting the world’s worst toddlers.’
That shut them up. Kara rarely, if ever, spoke to anyone like that.
‘Thank you,’ she said, breathing in deeply through her nose, finally able to organise her thoughts. ‘Okay, let’s wait for Future Boy to get here, maybe he’ll have some new memories of what went down. Or at least of what his new agenda might be. Or, old agenda. Whatever. You get me.’
‘I get you,’ said Hal.
‘Kiss ass,’ muttered Fearne.
*
‘He’s just stalling,’ said Malcolm.
They had settled on an open expanse of land that was lush with grass in the winter, yet currently barren thanks to the weeks of summer sun that had been beating down upon it, the outskirts surrounded by a thick barrier of dense fir trees.
Their new choice of locale was simple, but effective; far enough away from not only Fir Lodge, but both Kevin’s and the Restart Point. The open space also granted them adequate room for Malcolm to train them in the ways of, as Hal had described it, “The Path of The Dark Ninja.”
It had taken them an hour to find it, making it just under two hours since Malcolm had returned to them, and both he and Kara were engaging in a sparring session. Fearne and Hal, meanwhile, were spectating from the side-lines and showing clear signs of boredom.
‘Stalling for what?’
asked Fearne, who was lying flat on her stomach, idly allowing her legs to sway behind her, chin resting on her hands, whilst Hal was being a little more creative.
Having placed two now-empty water bottles, two energy drink cans and his rubber flamingo on the log Kara had called dibs on as “her seat”, he was taking practice shots with his wannabe Colt Python. The sound of compressed air being channelled through the pistol did little to give away their position, thanks to him having the foresight to remove the caps that generated the impressive sound of banging. As Hal took another three steps closer to his targets, cursing under his breath having missed all three, he gave it another go, as Malcolm spoke.
‘I remember needing time to get my bearings,’ said Malcolm, his memories slowly contradicting his own past thanks to the arrival of the four of them. Or so he claimed. ‘Though my past-self has yet to settle on a definitive course of action to thwart you–’
‘Nobody says thwart anymore, Malc’,’ said Hal.
‘Would you rather I said kill?’ a crease beneath his eyes indicating a smile was threatening to show itself.
‘Thwart is fine,’ Hal conceded, before allowing the hint of his own smile to get lost amidst an eye-roll, turning his attention back to missing yet more targets in his make-shift shooting range.
‘My point being, we can probably expect more impromptu restarts whilst he makes his decision on how to deal with you. Once he’s settled down, we can devise a plan to stop him. For good,’ added Malcolm, bookending his thoughts with a wax seal of conviction.
‘What’s next?’ said Kara, returning her attention back to Malcolm’s training, feeling like they were going over old ground with the current sparring arrangements.
The exact same ground as it turned out. Malcolm had been oddly regimental about making her repeat the same moves, over and over again.
Malcolm hesitated, as if unsure on how to word his next sentence.
‘Very well. I wish to teach you…one move in particular,’ he said finally. ‘Attempt to stab me.’
‘With what?’ said Kara, more than a little bemused by the proposition.
