Time Spent

by J. David Clarke

  Brandon pointed a finger at him. "They were trying to kill us, because of you!"

  "You're wrong," Carl said. "They were always going to hunt us down, I was just the first to know about it. The real Samuel Juergens, the man I replaced, was a scientific advisor to the government. He would have examined the crash site and interrogated the survivors, put two and two together, and the hunt would have begun. He would have killed me first, so he was the first one I killed."

  Brandon crossed his arms, glowering at him.

  "Judge me if you wish, but I did what I had to do, no more. That's why I ordered you disposed of the way I did, Simon, once the operation was complete. I thought you were no longer a threat, and I didn't want to kill anyone who wasn't a threat."

  Simon looked to Becca, who nodded back.

  "Who's next?" Carl looked around at those remaining. Silence. "No? How about you Tyler? Don't you want to defend me?"

  Tyler's jaw dropped. "Defend you? You poisoned me!"

  "But it wasn't exactly unwelcome, was it? You wanted to die, isn't that right?"

  Tyler stammered. "No, I...I had hurt someone. I killed someone, Marcus...on accident! I only wanted the power to go away."

  "When I led the others to the second lab, you stayed behind. You were going to sacrifice yourself."

  "But I didn't! Max saved me!"

  "You couldn't have known that," Carl said. Inside, he exulted. Max! I knew it.

  Tyler sneered. "Don't try to turn this around on me. We got there too late, but we saw what you had done to Zachary. You caved his entire face in! You bludgeoned him to death!"

  Becca nodded. "Not exactly the actions of a man who didn't want to kill anyone."

  Carl remembered it well. Die this time, you son of a bitch! "Yes, I did. I did it with a wrench." He looked Zachary in the eye. "Zachary drove me crazy."

  "I know you," Zachary said. "You were on the school bus with us."

  Carl wanted badly to cover his face with his hands, but Simon's power held them pinned them to his sides. "Gahh...see what I mean?"

  "He has a point," Becca said.

  "Zachary doesn't remember things like we do," Tyler said. "But most of us don't want to beat him to death for it."

  "He's one of the bad people," said Zachary.

  "Maybe I am, but there are worse people out there, Zachary, trust me." Carl tried to turn to Kevin but couldn't face him, Kevin had moved behind him. "Do you remember what I said to you, before you abandoned me on that mountain? That Zachary was the catalyst for the end of the world?"

  He couldn't see him, but Carl was sure Kevin nodded when he replied. "Yeah, so what?"

  Carl's mind raced. He looked back to Becca and Tyler. "No matter who I killed, Zachary brought them back. I tried to kill him, but he kept coming back. No matter what I did, the end of the world was still there, waiting for us all."

  Something's very wrong, he sent to Becca. You have to listen to me, before it's too late.

  II DON'T THINK SO, ASSHOLE, she sent back with a grin, her green eyes filling his vision, I THINK I HAVE A BETTER IDEAA

  "Zachary," she said. "You tried before to give him your message from God."

  "God gave me a message for the bad people," Zachary confirmed unnecessarily.

  "Last time we stopped you from doing it. I think it's time we fixed that."

  ______________________

  He found himself lost between worlds, tumbling past them head over heels with no way to direct his motion. Carl didn't understand. He had been able to drive the school bus as if it were on a road between realities, but now there was no road, no path for him to run, just a void between universes where no one was meant to tread.

  On he tumbled, falling past ebony fields and vibrant sights. He saw the apes ascend their wooden towers, the alien sky-ships in perpetual invasion, the intelligent yellow energy infusing all life, the mind-speaking telepathic race. Again the secrets of the universe poured into Carl's mind as he saw them, all their histories, their potential futures. Carl's mind reeled, it was too much, too much to grasp at once. "Stop, please. STOP!"

  A hand grasped his, holding him steady, stopping his fall.

  Carl looked up, grateful to whoever had saved him. Red, glowing eyes looked back.

  ______________________

  "No, son, you're moving too fast, now calm down." Davis took the pneumatic tool away from him. "Like this, look." With precision, he placed it over each nut and bolt on the chassis, pulling the trigger and tightening each one, then moving on to the next. "There, there, there, one, then two, then three, like that." He moved all the way around the vehicle, tightening each bolt one at a time, until the entire chassis was finished. "You find a rhythm, see."

  Carl nodded. "It's just hard, because the other cars are piling up."

  Davis looked him in the eye. "Yep, that's bad, you don't want that. But you can't think about it or you gon' make mistakes, you hear? You gon' make a lot of 'em. You worry about you. You just worry about you, that's all."

  Carl took back the tool, which was connected by hoses to a post behind him. "Okay."

  He pressed the green button, rolling the completed vehicle to the next station. When a new vehicle was in place, he pressed the red button, stopping the line.

  Carl walked around the vehicle, tightening the first few bolts. But cars behind him were still piling up, and other workers were giving him impatient looks. Carl sped up, running to the next spot.

  "Naw, Carl, you doin' it again!" Davis moved to stop him as he was coming back around the front of the vehicle. Carl's foot caught something and he tumbled forward, knocking Davis off his feet. The tool left his hands and swung loose, striking the green button.

  "AAAAGHH!" Davis screamed. He had caught himself to stop his fall by placing his hand on the line, and now the vehicle had rolled forward, crushing it. Carl hit the alarm button, stopping the line and bringing men running from every direction.

  "You can't blame yourself, son," said the General Manager, later, in his office. "Accidents happen. You can't know how things are going to happen, things just happen. But you can't blame yourself. The important thing is Mr. Davis is going to be fine, they think he'll be back right as rain in a few weeks. I want you to take the rest of the day off and we'll see where you fit on the line tomorrow."

  "Yes, sir."

  The GM opened the door, and Carl saw his father waiting for him outside.

  Carl stared down at his feet as his father put his arm around him.

  "You drive the kid home, Frank. Don't let him drive today."

  "I sure will," Carl's father replied. He put an arm around him and ushered him away. "You okay, son?"

  "Not really," Carl answered.

  After they got in the car, Carl could no longer hold back the tears. He felt them stream down his face, hot and salty tasting as he sucked them through his lips with each heaving sob.

  "Oh my God, Carl, at least wait 'til we're out of the lot so none of the boys see."

  "It's all my fault, Dad. It's all my fault."

  "God damn right it is," Frank Macklin said. "Davis is a good man. You're god damn right it's your fault."

  Carl's cheeks flushed. He didn't know why he had expected his father to say something comforting like the manager had. He should have known better. He sat in silence, sobbing quietly to himself.

  "God damn right, and don't you forget it."

  ______________________

  During the night, Carl had torn free the lining from his lab coat pockets and used that to keep the dust out of his nostrils and mouth. The boulders had provided protection from the razor sharp shards in the storm, and his warren, such as it was, had provided him just enough shelter to survive.

  Carl emerged the next morning, caked with dirt, his coat in tatters, but alive. He had just enough strength to begin his morning dig for water and food.

  As the light of the first sun struck him, Carl knew a tiny ray of hope as well. A path to victory had to lie ahead, and he would find
it. One day after another, he would pick his way through the dangers ahead and find the road home. He was going to survive.

  ______________________

  Carl sighed as Zachary approached. He had no choice this time. "Very well, Zachary. Do it."

  Zachary stood in front of him. He reached a hand forth, placing it on Carl's forehead.

  "Carl, come say good bye to your brother."

  "No." Carl lay on his bed, facing the wall. He refused to turn to face her.

  His mother, Linda Macklin, placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's leaving, Carl. He's going off to the war."

  "He BROKE my PLANE!" Carl tightened his arms around himself.

  "Son..." She rubbed his arm. "I know that seems important, but you don't want to not say good bye. What if..." She choked up and could not get the words out. "It's war..."

  "NO."

  She let out a long breath. "All right, Carl. All right."

  She stood and went into Terrence's bedroom. "He won't come."

  Frank, her husband, turned from his place by the window. "By God, I'll make him-"

  "No, Dad." Terrence stood, slinging his duffel over his shoulder. "It's okay. He's mad because I broke the wheel off his toy plane. Let him sulk, he'll get over it."

  "It's not right," Frank said. "Little snot."

  "Frank..." Linda said.

  "Well, it's not. It's just not." Frank faced the window, trying to hide how close he was to tears.

  Terrence took a last look around. "It's time to go." He reached into his pocket and withdrew the plane, its wheel freshly glued in place, and set it down on the bookshelf.

  Carl's eyes opened, fresh tears spilling from them.

  "I know this..." Carl searched Zachary's face. "What is the point of this? I know this?"

  "Same thing happened to me," Becca said wearily. "When Zachary touched me, I saw things I already knew."

  "I never said good bye." Carl looked down. "I didn't say good bye, and my brother...he died. He died thinking I never forgave him."

  "He's with God now," Zachary said.

  Carl looked up at him. "That can't be all, it doesn't make sense. Do it again, Zachary. Do it again."

  Zachary reached out and touched his hand to Carl's head.

  Terrence Macklin's boots slipped through the wet grass as he crept, keeping his eyes fixed on the Sergeant just ahead. Night in the bush was absolutely dark, but the full moon above shone a pale light down upon them, enabling him to make out a few of the other men in his platoon.

  Suddenly, pinpoints of light popped in the tree line, and the quiet night exploded in a cacophony of gunfire.

  There was no cover. Terrence raised his rifle and opened fire, targeting the points of light. He saw two men go down. The Sergeant was calling for them to bug out, but Terrence didn't retreat.

  He kept his rifle up and fired into the night. Bullets whizzed past him, splashing in the puddles and throwing up splatters of muddy water.

  One light disappeared, then another.

  All of a sudden, a woman stood before him.

  Terrence lowered his rifle and gaped slack-jawed at the vision that had appeared. Framed in the moonlight was a tall woman with flowing red hair, clad in a crimson dress that flapped around her legs, clinging to her thighs. Her eyes glowed red in the darkness.

  "Who..." Terrence stammered, "What...?"

  The woman was gone. Terrence heard a popping sound, and felt something, like a bee sting inside his helmet. Blood washed into his eyes, and the world went red.

  He fell into the wet mud, face first, and stagnant water flooded his mouth.

  Carl's eyes snapped open, and he sucked air in heaving gasps, as if he were drowning. "That's it!" he shouted.

  "What?" Brandon asked.

  The break in time as well as space, she's used it. He looked around at each of them, except Kevin, searching their histories. She's invaded our pasts. She knows everything about us, has made some of it happen! "That's it! THAT'S THE MESSAGE!"

  ______________________

  In the end, she deposited him back where he started, the shallow place dug in the side of the mountain. Carl tried to look at her but the red light was too powerful, it hurt his eyes to look at it for too long. She was not human, despite her shape, that much he knew. The beautiful form, red flowing hair, these were a disguise. Only her red eyes gave a hint at who or what she truly was. He saw a long, cruel history in those eyes. Carl tried to look into her past, but it was so long and filled with so much anguish that he had to look away before he reached the beginning. She was ancient. She was powerful, or perhaps more than that, perhaps she WAS POWER ITSELF. Carl wasn't sure.

  "Please," he begged, "don't leave me here. Please."

  She smiled upon him. "DO NOT DESPAIR. I WILL SEND MY EMISSARY WHEN THE TIME COMES."

  "The...time? When? I won't make it here."

  "THE END IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK."

  The light receded, the red woman vanished, and the portal closed. Carl huddled in his shelter, staring into the sky.

  There, in the dirt, with the cold wind stinging his face, he awaited salvation.

  ______________________

  "What is it?" Simon asked. "What was the message?"

  "We're out of time," Carl said. "You have to listen to me, we're almost out of time!"

  "Heather said the red woman was killing us in the future," Simon said. "Is that what you mean?"

  "Yes, YES!" Carl looked around frantically. "You have to do something quickly, you have to let me see him before it's too late."

  "See who?" Becca asked.

  "MAX," Carl shouted. "Please, you have to show me Max right now."

  Becca looked back at Tyler, who looked doubtful.

  "Please!"

  Becca appeared to consult Max telepathically. She then faced Carl again. "He says only if you answer his question first."

  "What? Ask it, quickly!"

  Becca listened. "He wants to know about the three school buses in the hangar. Where do they come from?"

  "The first one is ours, the other two come from other realities, they're alternate reality versions of our bus."

  Becca listened again. "So, the second and third school buses had the other students, the ones Zachary brought back, and Kevin took home."

  "They were aboard the second bus."

  "We already know about them," Kevin said from behind Carl. "This is pointless."

  Becca raised a hand. "No, I know what he's getting at. Tiffany and Brock both said a woman had spoken to them, told them she would be coming."

  Mia interjected, "Amber said that too! She said the woman told her it would all end!"

  Carl nodded. "She never meant to pull us through that rift. She meant to pull them through, use them to widen the crack she made for her own purposes. We were unexpected."

  Kevin finally moved to face him. "This is all conjecture."

  "They all died in the crash," Carl continued. "That's why the world didn't end the very first time the rift opened. She lost her pawns."

  "But if they all died," Becca said, "why didn't we?"

  Carl raised an eyebrow. "You don't...you don't know?"

  "Know what?" she asked.

  "You did die." He looked around at them. "You all drowned, except Kevin, who vanished, and Zachary." He faced Zachary, looking into his past. "Zachary went back in after you, one after another, bringing you back."

  Brandon turned to Zachary. "Is that true?"

  Zachary shrugged. "I don't remember. I remember God spoke to me, he told me I had to stop the bad people from bringing the end times."

  Carl laughed. He couldn't help it, it just welled up inside him and burst out. He laughed and laughed, unable to stop. "And that's...that's exactly what you did!"

  Becca's brow furrowed. "He's thinking Zachary stopped him from killing us, and if he had killed us we'd have no chance of stopping her."

  "Just so," Carl said, the laughter subsiding.

  "This is getting us nowhere," Kev
in said.

  "Please," Carl said, looking at Becca. "Please you have to show me Max."

  Becca shook her head. "What about the third bus? Max wants to know about the third bus."

  "The third bus was empty. There was no one on board."

  Becca looked in the direction of the invisible dog and nodded. The air shimmered in front of Carl, and a German shepherd appeared before him, his teeth bared. After a moment, the dog faded away again. That moment was all it took. Carl's mind absorbed Max's past, analyzed his powers, and added him to his calculations of possible futures. Carl peered forward again, laying out the alternate futures before him. There it was, the path he sought.

  Carl lowered his head. "Thank you. Thank you."

  "How does that help you?" Becca asked.

  You have to listen to me, Becca, he sent, because we're almost out of time. She will be here soon, and she's already done so much.

  WWHAT HAS SHE DONEE

  She's invaded our pasts, changed our histories, made us who we are. She's given us flaws so deep we may not have the strength to hold against her. But more, she's gathered us together, to use us to do what she can't do alone.

  WWHAT? HOWW

  She sent her Emissary, Carl sent, to bring us together for the end. She said the end is closer than you think.

  Becca looked up, startled. BBUT...THAT'S WHAT KEVIN SAIDD

  Becca, I asked Kevin if he remembered me saying Zachary was the catalyst, and he said yes.

  SSOO?

  I never said that. I said HE was the catalyst. And when I mentioned tracking Kevin down... his parents were killed, but he didn't bat an eye about it or mention them at all.

  Becca didn't respond.

  I don't know who or what that is...but IT'S NOT KEVIN.

  CHAPTER TEN

  "I don't want to goooooo!"

  Kevin tried to slide the glass door closed but his father put a hand against it, holding it open.

  "Just for a little while," Brian Lloyd said. "Just go out for a little while and then you can come back in."