A Shattered Future

by Joel Adrian

  Emersyn agreed, but she’d rather it didn’t come to it. They each had a pistol, but he had a rifle, and if he was as friendly as the other hunter, they’d both be blown away if they tried diplomacy first.

  “Maybe we should just scare him off,” she said.

  Bravon shook his head. “No, if we do that, he’ll remember where he left us. We need to hold that cave for as long as it takes Mona, Tanner, and that Mexican girl to get back.”

  “Catalina,” Emersyn said. She turned back to the hunter. “Okay, so do we just knock him out?”

  The Sergeant studied the hunter. He had his back planted against the cave wall near the entrance. The rifle was sitting on the ground, his left hand holding it upright and pressed to his leg. He was on his cell phone with his free hand, scrolling through something.

  “Surprised he can get a signal up here,” Emersyn noted.

  Bravon reached back and pulled his pistol out with a shaking right hand. “He can’t.”

  Sergeant Major Bravon Pearson freed himself from the brush and cocked the pistol. He leveled it at the hunter. “Drop the gun!”

  The hunter’s phone spilled out of his hand, and he jerked in panic. He let the rifle collapse to the ground and held his hands high. “Whoa, whoa! Holy crap! Easy there, mister! I’m just huntin’!”

  Emersyn could see Bravon didn’t buy his story. She kept her spot concealed, though. She didn’t want to give away both of their positions. Not when it might be a much-needed advantage should things go south.

  Bravon lowered one hand to clutch at his wound. “Yeah? What are you hunting up here?”

  The hunter shook his head. “Anythin’, really. I’ve killed deer, rabbit, squirrel . . . you name it.” He eased his hands down to the ground. “My family lives 30 miles north of here, I found these lands about a decade ago with my partner Bobby. We comb ‘em over every weekend, it’s like a . . . bonding, for best friends.”

  “Bull.” Bravon held out his hand, bloody from the wound. “Throw me the phone.”

  The hunter’s face twisted in confusion. “M-my phone? Why do you—”

  Bravon stamped his foot. “Now, damn it!”

  “Okay, okay, all right, mister!” The hunter reached behind him and picked the phone up with one hand. He reached it out as if to toss to Bravon.

  At the last second, he reared his arm back and threw it at Bravon.

  The Sergeant yelped at the phone smacked him in the face. His pistol fired, kicking up dirt to the side. The hunter spun and clutched the rifle.

  Emersyn charged out of the brush and charged the hunter, baton drawn, extended and raised.

  As soon as the hunter got sight of her, he pulled a chain from his neck and pressed on a pendant he wore. A second later, his body vanished.

  Bravon sighed. Emersyn could tell he was just annoyed by the maneuver now.

  “I don’t get it,” he said through wheezing breaths. “They can just . . . disappear. The hell is that?”

  Emersyn lowered her baton. “You got me.” She turned, peering into the mouth of the cave. A familiar chill came over her. Déjà vu struck out and hugged her. “This’ll be a lot worse without lights set up everywhere.”

  Bravon reached into his hip pack and pulled out a tiny flashlight. He thumbed it on. It cast a dull, bluish glow into the cave, hardly illuminating the walls that were 10 feet away. “This’ll have to do.”

  They stepped to the entrance of the cave. The Sergeant cast the light around the innards. It was still damp. Emersyn whiffed a faint burning smell like someone had been cooking and forgotten they left the food in the oven. She covered her nose. “That’s new.”

  Bravon turned to her, groaning in pain. “Let’s just hope it’s no more trouble. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

  They started to trek through the cave. The opening was wide. Bats scurried out of the entrance as they progressed in further. Emersyn stuck a hand out to train along the cool, wet walls, confirming for herself this was real.

  “Feels like a lifetime ago we first entered the cave, doesn’t it?”

  Bravon grunted. “Might as well have been, this being another universe and all.”

  The two pushed onwards. Just as she’d remembered, the walls of the cave started narrowing about 30 feet in. They looked far more ominous in the dim light. She reminded herself that she’d been here before, and that nothing was new.

  She noticed a blood trail behind Bravon, leaking onto the floor. “Hey, Sergeant, are you—”

  “I’m fine,” he interrupted. “Let’s just get this damn Requiem found so I can sleep.”

  They pushed on. The walls of the cave closed in, and just like before, they were sideways, pushing their way through the crevice towards their destination.

  Bravon cried out in pain as he squeezed himself through the final wedge. Emersyn knew the tight confines and jagged edges had to be antagonizing his wound. He pushed free of the tight space, and she followed.

  Panting, Bravon raised the flashlight to illuminate their surroundings. Everything looked the same, except there was no waterfall. The pool was an intimidating hole that fed into the ground.

  Emersyn felt a spasm of anxiety bounce in her chest. Why wouldn’t there be water? It struck her as strange, and felt out of place.

  Bravon collapsed to the ground, leaning back up against the rough wall of the cave. He clutched the flashlight in his hand, face drenched in sweat, and blood leaking from his wound.

  Emersyn moved to the other side of him and sat down. “Sarge?”

  He was struggling to catch shallow breaths. “Not doing so well here.” He coughed, barely able to bring a fist up to catch the light mist of blood that sprang from his mouth.

  She reached a hand over and placed it on his shoulder. “Hang in there, sir.” The anxiety stirred in her stomach. The quicker Mona got here, the better. “We’re almost through this. Once she’s back, we’ll get you back, get a doctor, it’ll all be okay.”

  He shifted his position, trying to stifle the cry of pain that slipped through. The flashlight clattered to the ground, spinning and illuminating the wall on the right side of the cave.

  “Y-you know what I regret most?” Bravon asked. “Not making sure Tracey knew I loved her each and every day. Her mother and I, we . . . we were in love, once. Long time ago. Just went our separate ways. She got Tracey, and I got every other weekend. Then I started focusing on the service . . . just let it consume me.”

  Emersyn frowned, rubbing the Sergeant’s shoulder. This isn’t it. You’re not dying here. “She’s lucky to have a dad like you.”

  He scoffed. “I wasn’t there. I was going to try to be after I retired. I was so close. But . . . can’t change what’s happened, or what’s happening.” He stopped to cough again. It was a deep, guttural cough. “Please, look her up when you get back. Tracey Pearson. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Make sure, just . . . make sure she knows her dad died trying to save the world for her.”

  “Don’t—” Emersyn stopped herself. She could tell the last thing she could say that would comfort him would be another encouraging round of telling him to hang on. She clutched his shoulder. “I will, sir. It’s been an honor.”

  He turned to her, his eyes glazed and struggling to stay open. “You’re a hell of a soldier.”

  Emersyn shook her head. “No, I’m not her. I’m not Mona.”

  “Not her!” he reaffirmed. “You. You’re a hell of a soldier, Private.”

  She almost chuckled at the words, but the seriousness on the Sergeant’s face stopped her. He truly believed what he was saying. She felt a streak of confidence rip through her for a brief second. As much as she hated her current circumstance and it scared her straight, having someone commend her for her efforts made her feel better.

  Sergeant Major Bravon Pearson fell asleep after a few more moments. Emersyn had been overtaken with shock, but she found relief after holding her head up to his face and hearing the shallow, wheezing breaths he was sucking in.
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  Emersyn took the pistol from his holster. She snatched the light off the floor and cast it around the cave. She made her way to where the pool of water had stood previously in the other dimension. Now it was just a pit, and a bottomless one as far as Emersyn could tell.

  The Requiem and activator were both still in the same place, though as she approached it, the faint burning smell grew stronger. Once she was on top of it she had to cover her nose because of how strong it was. She didn’t know if it was the gem, the activator, or both, but something felt off about how the stink was lingering this long in the air.

  Emersyn heard a ‘whoosh’ behind her, and her heart sank to the floor.

  She reached for her pistol.

  “Don’t bother,” a man with a thick Russian accent said. “Mine’s already aimed at you.”

  She slowly turned around. The Russian man wore a tank-top with the hourglass emblem splotched across the upper right shoulder. His left shoulder was covered in gauze and bandages. He had messy hair and a closely-cut goatee.

  It was the same Russian man who’d fought them before, and who’d taken Joey Del Core.

  The revolver he held was trained on Emersyn. He studied her face for a moment, cracking a half-smile. “You attacked me before. Assaulting Time Regulators is . . . frowned upon”

  Emersyn felt the beads of sweat forming atop her forehead. “You came at us,” she said quietly. “You provoked us.”

  “You’re meddling in government affairs. Technology you’re not supposed to have yet.” He moved to stand in front of the narrow slit that led to the entrance. “You and your group are a menace. The Regulators are fixers. We correct people like you. Those who think they’re above the law.”

  She frowned, stepping toward him. “It shouldn’t be illegal to prevent nuclear warfare!”

  The Russian man smirked, his arrogance permeating from his flesh. “You’ve no right to meddle in another universe other than your own. You think you’re helping, but you’re not. We’ve studied it.” He raised the pistol. “Kneel, surrender, and I can promise you cooperation. You fight, and I’ve been authorized to end this threat once and for all. You’ve already gotten people killed, let’s not add to that list.”

  “Where’s Joey Del Core?”

  The Russian tilted his head. “The big man? We’ve got him. You’d do wise to follow him.”

  Emersyn shook her head. “You’d do wise to return him.” She watched him as he circled around her, approaching the Requiem. “He’s on a mission. We’re all on a mission sanctioned by the US Government.”

  “Your US Government,” he pointed out as he reached down, picking the Requiem up. “Not this time line’s.” He held the requiem in its hand. Where it had been shining a brilliant red light before activation, it was casting the dimmest trace of red light now. It looked like a regular, diamond-shaped red gem. “Can you hear it?” he asked, pointing to the walls.

  When everything fell silent, she heard a low hum. It was faint, and she had to focus on her hearing to even detect it, but it was there.

  “It’s energy,” he continued. “Activates this thing.” He held the Requiem up. “Dangerous stuff. You and your crew are fools to think you can come here and stop something from happening. Do you really think if you go warn your president 20 years ago in your timeline that it’s going to help?” He lowered his gun and sighed. “You could be the ones that cause the damn war!”

  “Don’t move.”

  Emersyn turned to see Tanner Highwall aiming his pistol through the narrow crevice. He forced his body through, keeping his aim taut. The Russian shifted his position, clutching the Requiem in one hand and aiming his pistol at Tanner in the other.

  Mona started to squeeze through, but the Russian fired a shot at the ground. The crack of the gun reverberated off the cave walls, stunning Emersyn. The bullet kicked up gravel at Mona’s feet.

  “You come through there, you die! Everyone stay still!” the Russian barked.

  “Drop the gun, or I drop you,” Tanner said. He knelt, keeping the gun aimed at the Russian, using his free hand to check Bravon’s pulse. “I’ve been through too much shit today. Don’t add to this.”

  The Russian lurched forward, wrapping his arm around Emersyn, trying to take her as a human shield while still clutching the Requiem.

  “No!” Mona screamed, still behind the narrow opening.

  Emersyn threw herself back, and the Russian man lost his footing. The two tripped backwards over the lip of the pool, spilling down into the pit where the water once was.

  Emersyn screamed as she tumbled down into the pit of darkness.

  Chapter 12

  Mona rushed to the edge of the pool, dropping to her knees and casting her gaze into the darkness. She couldn’t see anything. The scream from her younger self had drowned out into the abyss several seconds ago.

  She reached a hand over and grabbed the tiny flashlight that Emersyn had dropped. She cast the beam into the endless pool of black, but it did little to chip away at the darkness. It was an empty, hollow pit that seemed to have no end.

  “No!” Mona screamed, clutching the light so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

  Tanner pulled her back from the edge, clutching her. He pulled her several feet away while tears started dripping from her eyes.

  “It’s okay, listen.” Tanner wrapped his hands around her face, looking into her eyes. “We don’t know what’s at the bottom of that well. She could be fine.”

  Mona’s heart hammered in her chest. She’d lost her younger self, and now she was being forced to stare into Tanner’s eyes. All the suppressed pain was firing through every ounce of her.

  “I’m going to check on Sarge,” Tanner continued. “But then you and I are going to figure out how to get down there. W-we can find a rope, or throw something down there and measure how long it takes to hit something, or—”

  Mona raised a hand, silencing him. “No.” She eased herself back, sitting on her rear. “We can’t risk our lives. You, me, him,” she said, pointing back at Bravon, “we’re all that’s left.”

  Tanner resolved to stand and pace the area of the cave they were in, casting the dim light on each of the walls as he passed them. Mona could see him searching for something, anything that would help. But this wasn’t the other universe, they didn’t have work lights or crews or tools or bodies. It was just the three of them stuck in a damp, empty cave.

  “Earlier, before, you said you didn’t want to lose me again.”

  Mona closed her eyes and exhaled. Tanner bringing up those words was the last thing she wanted to discuss. “Can we—”

  “No.” He turned to face her, shining the blue light into her face. “We’re almost done here. We might not get another chance. All due respect, ma’am, you’ve had it out for me since you first got here. Ever since . . . Naomi died.” He cleared his throat. “Least you owe me is some answers.”

  She shrugged. “I-I misspoke.”

  He scowled. She could see, even in the dim light, that he didn’t buy it for a second. “Don’t lie to me. We’re soldiers. We might be from different worlds, you might be older than me, or I might be a higher rank than you, who cares. This is two people having a conversation. Just don’t lie to me.”

  Mona ran a hand through her greasy, frizzy hair. She tried to think of how to form the words, but they weren’t coming to her, not like she thought they would. “I . . .” She stopped and frowned. Come on, it was always so easy to tell Tanner when he was yours. But this isn’t your Tanner. “You exist, in this timeline, my timeline.”

  His face lightened a bit. “I’d certainly hope so. That’s good news.”

  She motioned to him. “You’re a soldier. I joined the army.”

  Tanner nodded his head along. “Okay, gotcha. So, we knew each other. Did we serve in the same platoon? Train at the same base?”

  Mona frowned. This was the part that pained her to explain. “You always . . . you trained me. My platoon. We, uh . . . I always
had a . . . I always liked you . . .” She kept her gaze dead ahead, not daring to look Tanner in the eye.

  “So, we got together or something?”

  She hung her head in shame. “Yes. Once, after boot camp. We always stayed in touch. Then the bombs it, and you actually re-initiated it with me. Said it didn’t matter anymore.”

  Tanner watched her, attention full and focused. She could see his stare out of the corner of her eye. “You said lose me . . . so I died, then?”

  Mona fought back the tears, but they broke free and ran down her face. It had been so long since she cried or let herself feel any kind of emotional pain. “You died protecting us. Our group. Raiders, bandits came, robbed us and killed you.”

  The cave fell silent, except for the occasional sob from Mona. She tried to compose herself, but it was like a flood overcame her. She couldn’t have held back even if she wanted to. Tanner walked to her and knelt, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said. “I might not be him, but it all sounds pretty like me.”

  Mona reached a hand out and clutched his wrist. She knew it wasn’t him, but damn if it didn’t fool her. “I’m so sorry,” she managed through a sob.

  He rubbed her shoulder. “You got nothin’ to be sorry about.” He tilted her head up, and she looked into his eyes, the same eyes she’d been avoiding every second since she first saw his younger self. “Listen, we’re going to get out of this. We’re going to rescue Emersyn, we’re going back, and it’s okay.”

  “You still sound just like him,” she said, slowing her sobs. She reached a dirty hand up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “You never lost that perseverance. That drive.”

  Tanner smiled. “Well, that’s good to know, isn’t it?”

  There was a growl that came from beneath the ground. They both turned towards the well. The walls of the cave and the ground started shaking. It was gentle at first, but seconds later the entire structure was rocking back and forth violently.

  “Oh, crap,” Tanner said, looking up as dust and bits of rock started to fall. “What the hell is going on?” He backed up to protect Bravon.