Future Lost

by Briggs, Elizabeth;

  “You think they took Adam?” I ask. “Why?”

  Zahra snorts. “He’s a healthy nineteen-year-old male. Even if they didn’t know about his science background, they’d force him to join them. But since it’s Adam, I have a feeling there’s more to it than that.”

  “You think the president wants him for something?” Paige asks.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised. The message I intercepted was from the head of the Militia here in LA to the president.”

  I glance between the two of them. “Why would the president want Adam?”

  “Because he knows who Adam is—and when he is from,” Dr. Campbell says. “The president of West America is Vincent Sharp.”

  I blink. “The CEO of Aether Corporation?”

  “Yes. My former boss. He started a cultlike survivalist group up in Napa and somehow took over or destroyed the other militia groups and what remaining military the state had left. Now he controls most of the West Coast.”

  Wow. And I’d thought this future couldn’t get any worse. But what would Vincent want with Adam? Why wouldn’t he return Adam to the aperture to make sure he went back to the present at the scheduled time?

  “The Militia controls an air force base south of the airport,” Zahra says. “I believe that’s where they’re keeping Adam.”

  I check my watch, counting the hours I have left in the future. “How do we get him out of there?”

  Dr. Campbell shakes her head. “We don’t. Their base is highly fortified, and they have a lot more weapons and people than we do. Even if we sent everyone in our refuge to fight them, we’d be outnumbered.”

  “We have to try. And you know I succeed because Adam is there when the Black Friday Virus hits.”

  “Paige is our scout,” Zahra says. “If anyone knows a way in, it’s her.”

  Paige rubs her chin as she considers. “There might be a way, but…”

  “What?” I ask.

  “It’s dangerous. A lot of people might die.” Paige glances at Zahra. “Including us.”

  Zahra sits up straighter. “None of our lives matter as long as Elena and Adam make it back. The timeline will change as soon as they return to the present.”

  “We don’t know that for sure,” Dr. Campbell says.

  Paige slowly nods. “No, she’s right. We know it’s possible to change the future. We’ve seen it happen. We have to believe that Elena and Adam can fix all of this too.”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes.” I clench my fists, filled with resolve. “I won’t let this future happen.”

  02:55

  I’m walking down the street, armed with only a dented baseball bat, in a postapocalyptic future with zombies on the loose. Let’s face it. I’ve had better days.

  It’s okay though, because I have a plan.

  Step one: Find Adam.

  Step two: Get back to the present.

  Step three: Prevent the end of the world.

  Easy, right?

  Paige and Zahra dropped me off on an empty road, and now I’m on my own, trying to get the attention of the Militia. And probably a few Infected at the same time.

  A rattling sound from a nearby abandoned food truck draws my attention. The truck is faded orange and reads Pho Get about It, but the doors have been ripped off and the tires are flat. I grip my bat tighter, wishing I had my gun. Paige has it, since the Militia would only confiscate it from me. If all goes well, I’ll get it back soon.

  A man with long, wild hair comes shambling out from behind the food truck. His glazed eyes fix on me, and then he darts forward. A flicker of fear rises in my stomach, but a burst of adrenaline overpowers it. He reaches for me, baring his teeth. I have no choice but to fight back.

  I swing the bat at the Infected’s head. It connects with a sickening thump, and the guy stumbles but doesn’t go down. I hit him again. Blood goes flying onto my clothes, but I’m dressed like Paige, completely covered by coarse gray cloth except for my eyes and mouth. The clothes offer me protection from the unrelenting sun and wind, along with the Infected.

  The guy drops to the ground, and I hit him one final time with the bat to make sure he won’t get up again. I try not to look too much at his mangled features, at the blood I’ve spilled on the sidewalk, at his brains leaching out of him. My stomach twists at the gore, but I don’t feel guilty. It was him or me, and I’m not dying today.

  Besides, this future is only temporary. Once I change it, everyone will still be alive in this timeline. And I’ll kill however many people it takes to rescue Adam and get us back safely.

  Sweat drips down my neck, but with the cloth wrapped around my head, I can’t wipe it away. I pull out the canteen in my backpack and take a long sip before washing the blood off my gloved hands. Then I continue down the road.

  “Halt!” a male voice yells.

  “Who’s there?” I call out, trying to make my voice sound helpless and scared.

  “Put your weapon down. We’re not going to hurt you.”

  I slowly drop my bloodstained bat to the ground and raise my hands in surrender. Two men in tan military-esque uniforms emerge from the shadows of a ruined building up ahead. Both of them are holding assault rifles, although they’re not pointing them at me.

  “Oh, thank God,” I say, clutching my chest. “I thought I would never find any other survivors.”

  “Are you all right?” one of them asks. He’s about my age and blond, the kind of guy who looks like he’d be the high school quarterback, if such a thing still existed.

  I slowly nod. “I’m okay. Just thirsty. And hungry. I’ve been wandering around for a long time.”

  “How did you get out here by yourself?” he asks.

  I recite the story Paige gave me, keeping my eyes downcast. “I lived in a refuge in Phoenix, but it got overrun by Infected. We heard there was a group of survivors here so we headed west, but I’m the only one of my group who made it. My food ran out yesterday, and I’ve been so scared.”

  “Come with us,” the other guy says. He has dark hair and greedy eyes that look me up and down. “We’ll take good care of you.”

  He creeps me out, and my first instinct is to put my kickboxing training to good use on him, but I shove that feeling down. I have to get inside the base however I can, even if it means acting like the helpless victim. “Thank you.”

  They gesture for me to go ahead of them, but as soon as I take a step forward, my arms are yanked behind me. I let out a yelp and try to struggle, but the gun pointed at my head makes me freeze. “What are you doing?” I ask.

  My backpack is yanked off me, and metal handcuffs are snapped onto my wrists behind my back. The dark-haired guy says, “We’ve been looking for you.”

  Oh shit. I should have guessed Vincent would be expecting me, especially if the Militia has Adam. Maybe these guys will take me to him or give me a hint where he is, so I can rescue him. Hell, maybe Vincent will help us get back to the present.

  “Come along quietly, and you won’t get hurt,” says the first guy. There’s no point in fighting them, not when they’re taking me where I need to go, although the handcuffs biting into my skin make me nervous. If Vincent was going to help me, this seems an odd way of going about it. I’ll have to keep my guard up.

  The quarterback leads the way down the street, while the other one nudges me with his gun to keep me walking. Both men keep their weapons ready, their eyes peeled for any Infected hiding in the decaying buildings around us.

  After a few blocks, we come upon a high brick wall with sentries posted along the top every few feet. We stop at a reinforced metal door along the side of it, which the first guy unlocks with three different keys. The door opens with a screech, and then we pass through a short area before we come to another wall with a second door. This one has two armed guards outside it. Damn, these people are serious about their security. Which makes my task even harder.

  The quarterback hands one of the gate guards my backpack. He opens it and goes through it, checkin
g out my supplies, such as my camping lantern and my granola bars. Paige went through it all, making sure there would be nothing they would want or find suspicious. Then Zahra added something extra.

  “What’s this?” the guard asks. He pulls out an old, beat-up iPhone with a cracked screen.

  “It’s an old cell phone,” the dark-haired soldier says. “Really old. From before the Black Friday Virus.”

  “A cell phone?” He laughs. “Not much use for those now.”

  He shrugs and shoves it back in the backpack, then hands it back to the soldier. The door is opened for us. My shoulders slump in relief.

  Once we’re inside the second wall, the military base looks a lot like a college campus. White rectangular buildings form a square around a courtyard with grass, palm trees, an outdoor eating area filled with people having an early dinner, and even a jungle gym with kids climbing on it. Everything is clean and well-kept, and other than the armed men in tan uniforms patrolling the place, it’s hard to believe this is the same nightmare of a future.

  I’m taken inside one of the buildings, but instead of going up, we go down. Deep under the ground, to a hidden network of tunnels that seem to stretch under the entire base, judging from the map posted next to the stairwell. I only get a brief glimpse as we pass by, but that’s all I need. It’s stored in my brain forever now.

  I’m hauled into a room with three prison cells, and I’m starting to think I’m in serious trouble. The quarterback removes my handcuffs, and I’m tempted to fight my way out of here, but I can’t. Not yet. I have to be smart about this, to see what they want and find out where Adam is before I make my escape. He has to be here somewhere, and I’m not leaving without him. I’ll burn this whole base down to rescue him if I have to.

  The dark-haired guy gives me a hard push forward, and I stumble into one of the cells. The bars slam shut behind me. “Wait here,” he says.

  I’m tempted to spit at him, but I don’t. The two men leave the room with my backpack, but another guard stands near the door, watching the prison cells with a bored gaze. Iron bars separate me from him, and my fingers wrap around them as I take in my surroundings. The cell next to me is empty, but the far one has an older man in it, though he appears to be asleep. My own cell is sparse, with only a small cot and a dirty toilet.

  I sit on the edge of the cot and check my watch, rubbing my thumb over the smooth surface. It was my mother’s once, before she was murdered by my father, and it’s the only thing I have left of her. This watch has given me comfort in even the darkest of times, and I need that comfort now more than ever, because I only have two hours to rescue Adam and get back to the aperture. Our window to the present will be open for only sixty seconds, and if we miss it, I don’t know if Vincent will open another one for us.

  Nothing I can do but wait. I lie on my side, away from the iron bars caging me in, to face the wall. There’s writing on it, graffiti from people who were stuck here before me, and I trace my fingers along it. Down, down, down, to something drawn in black ink by my elbow. Something small and angular. Something that looks a lot like the tattoo on my arm of an origami unicorn and the necklace Adam gave me. I press my hand against the drawing, then grab the unicorn pendant hanging from my neck, feeling hope for the first time in hours.

  Adam was here.

  03:38

  My eyes snap open at the sound of footsteps approaching. I’ve been dozing for the last thirty minutes, regaining my strength, but now I sit up quickly. The man outside my cell is handsome, black, and has a shaved head and ripped arms. I’ve never met him before, but there’s something familiar about his intelligent brown eyes, the determined slant of his eyebrows, and the fullness of his lips.

  “Elena.” He sounds relieved as he unlocks the door and opens it wide. “You’re here.”

  The other guard is gone, I notice. It’s just the two of us in here, besides the sleeping man. “Do I know you?”

  “Yeah. Sort of.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m Chris’s son. Michael.”

  Of course he is. I’ve never met him in any other future, but the resemblance to Chris is strong, though I see some of his mother in him too. He must be about thirty now.

  I get to my feet. “Sorry. Last time I saw you, you weren’t even crawling yet.”

  His head tilts as he examines me. “Last time I saw you, you were a lot older.”

  “Fair enough. What are you doing here?” He’s wearing the same uniform as the other men, so he must be part of the Militia. He has a lot more bling on his collar than the other soldiers, so he’s probably a higher rank too. I can’t imagine why. He should be with Paige and Zahra, not here, working for Vincent.

  “Waiting for you.” He tosses my backpack to me. “Come on. I’ll take you to Adam.” He leads me out of the cell, no handcuffs this time. Things are definitely looking up, although I’m not entirely sure I can trust Chris’s son. Paige told me I helped raise Michael after his parents died, but a lot must have happened since then. Including my own death.

  “Is Adam okay?” I ask.

  “He’s fine. He’ll be happy to see you though.”

  A long exhale rushes out of me, as if I’ve been holding it in all day, waiting to hear if Adam was okay. Now I can finally breathe again, knowing he’s safe.

  Michael leads me through the underground tunnels, past closed doors and other hallways. Other soldiers pass us by and salute him. All men, I notice. Where are the women?

  We turn more corners as Michael leads me deeper into the underground maze. I sense we’re getting closer to Adam, and I walk a little too fast, trying to race ahead.

  He unlocks a door labeled Lab 3, but steps back before opening it. “Go on. I’ll get you two some water while you catch up.”

  When I open the door, all I see is Adam. He’s sitting on a stool, his back hunched over the counter in front of him. I rush forward, and he jumps to his feet with a muffled cry, then grabs me in a full embrace. I wrap my arms around him tightly and feel his chest rising and falling, a reminder he’s alive and safe and here.

  “I never thought I’d see you again,” he says, his face buried in my hair.

  “I’ll always find you, no matter where you are in time.”

  Our mouths seek each other out, and we kiss like it’s the first time—or the last. Soft and hesitant at first, a brush of the lips to make sure this is all really happening, and then deeper, devouring each other with desperation and need. I cling to Adam as if he might vanish between my fingertips if I let him go. But then I pull away, just enough to look up at him.

  “How could you?” I manage to get out. I’m torn between relief and anger, conflicted between yelling at him or kissing him again.

  “I’m so sorry, Elena.”

  Maybe he is, but sorry isn’t enough. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust him again, and no matter how much I love him, I can’t be with him if I don’t trust him.

  “What were you thinking?” I can’t hide the rage in my voice, and he visibly flinches. “Coming to the future on your own? Without telling me?”

  “I was going to tell you everything when I got back, I swear. I just didn’t want you to worry.” He drops his head. “I thought I could fix things. It was supposed to be a quick trip, in and out of the future in no time. I’d talk to my older self, figure out the issue with the cure, and be back before you knew it with the answer. But as soon as I got here, I realized I’d made a huge mistake.”

  I drag my hands across my face. I’m still upset with him, but our time is running out here, and we can’t have this argument now. “When we get back to the present, we need to have a serious talk.”

  He draws in a shaky breath and nods. In the past year, I’ve learned to read Adam well, and I see regret and exhaustion written all over his features, although the more I study him, the more concerned I become. He has dark circles under his eyes, and his glasses are nowhere to be seen. He’s wearing a gray work shirt I’ve never seen before, and his jeans have a ne
w tear through the knee. His hair is longer than when I last saw him, and he looks like he hasn’t shaved in days. But most startling of all is the brand-new scar along his jaw.

  I raise a hesitant finger to the scar. “How long have you been in the future?”

  He turns his head away, brushing off my touch. “Seventy-three days.”

  “My God,” I whisper. I thought the accelerator was only off by a few hours, possibly even a day or two, but he’s been in this future for months. “Have you been in this base the entire time?”

  “Yeah. The Militia arrived within minutes of me stepping out of Aether. It was long enough for me to get attacked by Infected though.” His fingers graze the scar on his chin. “I was relieved to see the Militia at first. Now I just want to go home.”

  “Why are they keeping you here?”

  “They want me to develop a vaccine or a cure for the Infected. They won’t let me leave until I do.” He gestures to the counter beside us, where he was using a microscope when I walked in. For the first time, I drag my eyes off Adam and examine the room we’re in. It’s a lot like his lab in the present, with science equipment scattered around the room, although on a smaller scale. No windows, and the only door out is reinforced. The room is completely sealed, probably to prevent contaminants from getting in or out.

  “Why you?” I ask.

  “Because I’m the one who caused all this. I’m the one who’s responsible for the end of the world.”

  “What do you mean? I thought a neo-Nazi terrorist group released the virus as some sort of ethnic-cleansing bullshit.”

  “They did. But I’m the one who made it. The virus that wiped out the world was genicote. They turned my cure for cancer into a biological weapon.”

  “Like in the other timelines,” I say. “First Aether, then Pharmateka, and now this White Outs group.”

  “Yes, but they did it much faster and made it even worse. Something I did caused that, whether it was making the cure earlier from the sample we got from Jeremy or coming here now. I’m not sure.” He gazes across the laboratory with haunted eyes. “It’s my fault the world is going to end. And I have to be the one who stops it.”