“I’m going with you. Start climbing.” He turns to watch his father.
“You two start up,” Jo says. “Reece and I will follow behind.”
Evan nods.
Dr. Whittaker extends his free hand. “Evan, I beg you. Don’t make me do this.”
I’m on the hood, and Evan climbs up next to me. “Don’t make you do what?” Evan turns to face him. “Are you really going to shoot me?”
His father’s chin trembles. “No, but I’ll shoot her.”
Evan shakes with rage and pushes me behind him. “The hell you will. You’ll have to shoot me first.”
“Evan,” Dr. Whittaker cries. “Please.”
“Do you want me to shoot him?” Jo asks. Her arm is extended, her weapon pointed at Dr. Whittaker’s chest.
Evan hesitates. “No.” He looks like he’s about to cry. “Not yet.” He takes a deep breath and lowers his voice. “We’ll need to try to climb up together so I can shield you. Stay with me.” His voice breaks.
I nod, and bite my cheek to keep from losing control of my emotions. I need to keep it together, but fear steals my motor skills. I have trouble grabbing the top of the truck and slip down the windshield.
A gunshot rings out.
“Dad!” Evan screams. He frantically grabs my outstretched hand and pulls me up. “Are you okay?”
I nod.
“Now?” Jo shouts.
Horror covers Evan’s face. Jo is asking permission to kill his father. Evan has to make a choice—his dad or me—and he won’t be able to live with either. He grabs a fistful of my sleeve and drags me over the top of the roof, covering the side of my body with his own.
“Evan.”
His eyes are wild and desperate. “He’s really going to shoot you, Julia.”
I wish I knew the right decision. Make Evan stay behind so he doesn’t have to live with condoning his father’s death, or force him to live the rest of his life without me. But I realize it’s not my choice at all. It’s his. He’s the one who has to deal with the consequences.
He crouches and pulls me to a sitting position, his back to his father. “We have to get Jo and Reece up here and hope he doesn’t shoot one of us.”
A squad of soldiers is streaming toward us from the front of the building.
“Oh, shit,” Jo groans. She and Reece climb onto the hood, Jo shielding Reece’s body from Dr. Whittaker with her own.
Evan pulls the radio out of his pocket.
Dr. Whittaker moves around the back of the truck, his gun pointed toward us, and shoots. Evan pulls me to a crouch.
“Dad! Stop!”
I glance to the hood to check on Jo and Reece’s progress, but they’re gone.
“Jo!” I spot her and Reece rounding the truck, going after Dr. Whittaker.
The soldiers are fifty feet away. Evan takes my hand. “We have to go, Julia.” He turns the knob and flips switches.
“Jo!” I scream. “Reece! Get up here!” I spin around to the hood to see if they’re close, but I gasp.
Dr. Whittaker has climbed onto the hood of the truck. He stands only feet away, his gun pointed at me.
The air begins to swirl.
Evan reaches a hand across my chest. “Dad, I beg you don’t—”
A gunshot rings out, the loud pop of an old survivalist revolver, and Evan slams me down to the top of the truck roof. Dr. Whittaker falls to the ground, revealing Jo at the front of the truck, lowering her gun.
I climb to my feet.
“Come on!” Evan shouts. He reaches a hand toward them as Reece hops onto the hood and pulls Jo up with him. The wind of the vortex pushes against them. “Damnit!” Evan shouts, holding up the box. “I’m going to turn it off so we can get Reece and Jo.”
If Evan turns it off, we’ll all be doomed.
Reece looks behind him at the approaching soldiers, then back at us. “Go!”
“Not without you!” Evan shouts over the wind.
“Go! Remember the damn angels!” Reece yells into the wind, then hops off the truck, dragging Jo behind it with him. He looks up at us with a cocky grin. “Somebody has to save your asses.”
I search out Jo’s face, the ripples in the air distort everything around us. I cling to Evan’s shirt as he wraps his arms around my back.
The last thing I see is Jo’s face, her smile and the love in her eyes.
And then we’re gone.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I’m on my back in a parking lot, staring into a street light that blinks awake in the dusky evening.
Evan.
I can’t see him from where I’m lying. I should be used to this sensation, the feeling of having every cell in my body ripped apart and reassembled. But I’m not. Every time is the same as the first, painful and terrifying. At this moment, I concentrate on living. I fight to inflate my lungs with air.
I hear a gasp and relief washes through me. Evan has taken his first breath.
“Did you see that?” someone shouts.
An audience gathers around us, and I’m still immobile. I have to breathe. I have to find Evan. We have to get out of here.
“Julia.”
I’d close my eyes in relief, but I’m still paralyzed.
Evan’s face comes into view and panic floods his eyes. “Breathe, Jules. Come on, you can do it.”
I focus every bit of energy on expanding my chest, and the cool evening air fills my lungs. I gasp and begin to cough.
“They just appeared out of nowhere!”
“Are you okay?” he whispers, clutching my hand in his.
A goose-egged-size lump is still growing on the back of my head. I’ll never see my family again. But I’m blessed with this boy who would do anything for me, give up everything for me. “Yeah.”
He pulls me to my feet. “We have to get out of here.”
I’m still unsteady from the travel, but the growing crowd is incentive to force myself to move. We’re surrounded by a bunch of people who saw us appear out of nowhere. They’re going to ask a million questions.
We push through the crowd and run across the half-full parking lot. As I try to get my bearings, I see a massive building on our right. Maybe I’ve been in Evan’s world too long, because I’m surprised to realize it’s a shopping mall.
When we get to the other side of the building away from the crowd, we fall into each other’s arms. “We did it,” I say in disbelief. “But Jo. And Reece.” I’m not sure how much more grief I can endure.
“I know.” His breath tickles my hair against my cheek.
“Your dad...I’m sorry.”
His voice chokes. “Me too.”
“What’s going to happen to them, Evan?”
He grins, and I’m surprised it’s genuine. “It’s Reece and Jo we’re talking about. They probably hopped into that truck and ran down most of the United Regions army.”
I smile, but it’s forced. “Jo. She’s alone.” My voice breaks.
Brushing my hair off my cheek, he places a gentle kiss on my lips. “But she’s not alone. She has Reece.”
I laugh through my tears. “They’ll make quite the duo. I’m not sure the United Regions will survive the two of them.” My laughter falls away, and I search Evan’s eyes. “Can we go back for them?”
He sighs and looks devastated. “We have the box, but we don’t have a fuel source. We’ll have to find one somewhere.”
The first rays of hope flood my heart since we landed in this universe. “So we make a new one.”
“It may be more difficult than you think.”
“So we keep trying until we get it.”
“God, you’re a stubborn thing.” Evan takes my hand and starts walking across the parking lot, away from the crowd. “You know they’d kill us if we risked going back to check on them.”
“All the more reason to go back.” Will Evan regret leaving everything behind to be with me? I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his mouth to mine. “It’s you and me here. Are you o
kay with that?”
His lips are soft as he places gentle kisses at the corner of my mouth. “Here or there. It doesn’t matter as long as I’m with you.” He pulls away and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“There’s a universe to discover. Let’s get started.”
Epilogue
The Many Worlds theory purports that with every decision, with every choice, two actions are actually taken: The one you perceive and the one that splits off. According to this theory there are an infinite number of universes.
An infinite number of possibilities.
From HERE, the night Evan and Reece took Julia to the road to send her back to Springfield:
Evan sprints into the road, looking toward the trucks. A sharp wind blows and the dead wood in the forest creaks.
The road glows in a ghoulish green light, then fades.
“It’s down!” Evan shouts and I bolt down the hill toward him, my chest so tight from fear I can hardly breathe.
As I reach the road, I’m amazed this is working so well, that it could be this easy. And then I see them. About twenty uniformed men run out from behind the trucks. Evan sees them, too.
“What are we going to do?” I ask as Evan takes my hand, and we run to the portal.
His eyes harden. “We go on with the plan.”
“We can’t leave him like this, Evan. We can’t,” I cry as soldiers rush the guardhouse, trying to break down the door. Several others run toward us.
He looks at the building then back to me as we stop. His face is so hard it looks like it’s chiseled out of granite. “I know.”
There’s an electrical zap and a hum. A green glow surrounds us and disappears. Relief washes over Evan’s face. “Reece put the field back in place. You’re safe now.” He looks into my eyes, but he’s acting strange. There’s something he’s not telling me.
My breath comes in quick pants as I try to figure out what it is.
He pulls out the box he used to cross over before. “This box can’t leave this spot while it’s turned on. If it does, it could permanently damage both worlds.” His eyes burn into mine. “Do you understand?”
I nod, wondering why he’s telling me this.
He flips some switches, then his eyes penetrate mine. “Once the field is on, anything in the field can go out but nothing can come in.” The meaning of his words sink in and my legs tremble. He holds me up, bringing my body to his chest. He takes a deep breath and releases it in a ragged sigh. “I love you, Julia. God, I love you more than I could ever love anyone. Ever.” He takes a breath and casts a glance toward Reece. “But I love him too.”
I know. I know before he says it. I’m screaming, but it’s only in my head. The night only holds the hum of the field and the shouts of the guards.
The air undulates as the ground shakes.
He kisses me, full of love and false promise.
“No, no, no.” I try to say as he kisses me goodbye. We can’t have gotten this close, this far, to lose each other. “Let me stay. I’ll help you. Please, Evan. Please!” I’m begging, but I don’t care. I have no shame, only a gaping wound where my soul is supposed to be.
“It’s too dangerous for you here. You need to go home. I’ll try to figure out a way to keep them from following you. So you’ll be safe.”
Which means he can’t find me either. “No! I’d rather be in danger than lose you. Please.”
The air ripples and I can’t see anything around us.
“No matter where we both are, I’ll always love you.” He kisses my forehead and drops his arms. He turns and dives out through the waves of air. I lose sight of him and I don’t understand why the ground is still shaking, why the air is sucking the breath out of me.
The box.
Where’s the freaking box?
I look all over the ground. Where did he put it? Where is it?
I pat my body and find a lump in each of the sides of my jacket. He slipped the box into my left pocket while he kissed me. I tug on it, but it gets caught on the edge of the seam. I pull frantically until it jerks out, and I stare at the knobs and switches. “How do I turn it off?” I scream, but the waves suck all sound away.
I can’t go. I can’t leave him. What am I going to do?
I hurl the box to the ground and run, pushing against hurricane-force winds.
A flash of light fills the space around me and there’s nothing.
***
A rock digs into my cheek as I regain consciousness, sprawled on the asphalt road. It takes me several moments before my body cooperates so that I can sit up and realize what’s happened.
“Evan?” I scream into the night.
The trees answer with rustling leaves.
I’m back in my universe. Alone. Everything fades to black as I pass out again.
***
It’s hard to bring my mind back to this place. I’m torn between two worlds. Here and There. My body lives in this world, but my heart has been ripped out and left on the other side. I find that I no longer miss Monica. Now I ache for Evan.
My mother is relieved I’m back, but she and the police press for answers. Where have I been for a week? Why was I passed out in the road? What was the broken black box that was found beside me? I refuse to answer, saying I don’t remember.
My mother watches me closely now that the depression of months past has returned.
Two weeks goes by and I’m a ghost, barely existing. The house is suffocating, and I clamor to get out. When my mother says she’s going to the store for milk, I offer to go instead. Stunned, she hands me the car keys with a wary look.
I find it easier to drive than I expected. I park in the grocery store parking lot, pulling the front of my coat closed to keep out the cold wind. Grabbing a cart, I head inside when I see him.
He’s standing in the bakery section looking at the cakes.
I’m frozen. Evan.
A woman bumps me from behind. I’m blocking the entrance so I move to the side, letting people pass as I watch him in fascination and wonder. It’s not him, not my Evan, but as he bends over and checks out the pies in the case, I pretend that he is.
He stands and turns my direction.
I hold my breath, my stomach twisting.
Evan looks right at me and I wait for him to acknowledge my presence, but a woman behind the counter hands him a cake. He flashes the baker a dazzling smile, then heads for the doors. He brushes past me, so close. So agonizingly close. I have to know. I have to speak to him.
“Evan?”
He pauses, confusion on his face.
My heart stops mid-beat. I’m incapable of speech. Seconds tick by.
Recognition flickers in his eyes, then his upper lip curls in contempt and annoyance. “You have a lot of nerve talking to me, you bitch. You’re lucky the police didn’t press charges as an accessory to kidnapping.” He shoves past me, out the door.
This boy looks like the one who loved me. He’s nothing like him, yet his words rip my heart out of my chest and shred it to pieces.
I’m alone. Again.
It’s too much. It’s all too much and tears burn my eyes for the first time since I’ve come back. I leave the cart and run to the car. I’ll stop somewhere else for milk. I need to leave this place, somewhere far from the shell of the boy who loved me.
When I get to the car I can’t find the keys in my purse. The shiny glint catches my eye. They’re still in the ignition. Inside the locked car.
I lean my back against the driver’s door and release my pent-up tears. I’m ready to give up. Give up on milk, driving, school. Life. The loneliness is too much to bear. But I can only fix one problem at a time. I contemplate my options.
I’ll call her mother to come get me.
The phone is buried in my purse. I dig for it, dropping the bag on the pavement. The contents spill everywhere, items rolling under the car. I begin to scoop them up when a pair of hands comes into view, picking up an ink pen and handing it to me.
; “Do you make a habit of dropping your possessions all over the ground or do I just have great timing?”
I look up and see Reece through my tear-blurred vision. I remember the afternoon outside the library, when he helped me pick up my books. It seems like a lifetime ago.
His eyes widen. “Hey? Are you okay? Did someone try to rob you?” He sounds protective and stands, looking around for the perpetrator.
I rise, leaving half of my stuff on the ground. “No, I’m just having a really bad day.”
“You seem to have a lot of those.”
“You have no idea…”
He relaxes and leans against the car next to mine. “Is Mrs. Dingleberry giving you a hard time?”
I laugh, the first time in over three weeks. “No, Mrs. Humperdinkle has been really nice.” Going back to school hasn’t been easy, but she’s made the transition smoother.
We’re silent while he watches me. “I like your laugh. You should laugh more.” He’s close, only feet away, and I notice that his eyes are green, although not strikingly so. Not like the boy in another universe. Faint freckles dot this Reece’s nose and cheeks.
The corners of my mouth lift into a smile. “I haven’t had a reason to laugh…until you showed up today.”
His bravado slides off, like water down a drain spout. A genuine smile lights up his face, and he reminds me of someone I knew, in another place.
My breath catches.
“I’d like to be around to hear you laugh more often.” He looks down and seems shy before he glances up through his shaggy bangs.
My mouth lifts into a half grin. “Oh, yeah?” I have no idea where my coyness comes from, but I don’t question it.
“Are you… um… do you still have a boyfriend?”
My smile fades. “No, not anymore.”
Reece’s face lights up then he tempers his excitement. “Would you like to go to a movie with me sometime?”
I fight back my tears. Something deep inside makes me think I could maybe love this boy one day. “Sure. On one condition.”
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