Until Time Stands Still

by Scott, Lona

  ***************

  The sound of a branch snapping woke Mykel. His eyes shot open and he immediately searched for his weapon, laying alongside him. As gently as he could, he moved Isabelle away from him and began to crawl out of their hidey hole.

  He relaxed when he heard the sound of Graham’s laughter coming from his left.

  “What’s so damn funny?” Mykel said, standing up. “Be quiet, you’ll wake Isabelle.”

  “Look!” Graham pointed at their shelter. “I’m guessing she did that part.” Mykel looked where he was pointing and burst out laughing. She had piled so many rocks and mud and leaves against their shelter it was all the way up the entire side, instead of just along the bottom like the side he had done. He chuckled. “Well, at least we stayed warm.” He said.

  “I can see that. Go put some damn clothes on man.” Graham said, punching him in the arm. “And wake up your woman. We have to go.”

  “Did you catch him?” Mykel asked, ducking his head into the shelter and grabbing his pants.

  “He’s a ghost.” Graham said, shrugging. “I tracked him half the bloody night, but he’s disappeared. I hiked all around in the freezing cold while you were busy with…other things.” He raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Getting a head start on the program huh?”

  Mykel made an obscene gesture in his direction.

  Isabelle woke when Mykel crawled into the tent for his pants, but she didn’t move. She was exhausted and still sleepy. He had woken her once sometime in the predawn hours and taken her again, desperate to feel her, to have her. She blushed at the memory of it, the way he had demanded release after release from her, the way she told him she loved it. No one had ever made her feel so desired, or special. Her husband never made her feel a fraction of what she had just experienced with Mykel. Their lovemaking had been fairly perfunctory and, quite frankly, boring. She frowned. She hadn’t thought of Lewis in hours. She wondered if he was worried about her at all, or if he had called the police. Or if he was so used to ignoring her, that he never even noticed she was missing. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to be found anymore. The only thing she knew was she didn’t want to be married to him. Now that she knew what she could have, she wasn’t going to settle for less. More awake, she almost called out to Mykel, but she realized he was talking to someone. She frowned, recognizing they were talking about her.

  “We have to get back to the jump, Mykel.” Graham said. “We should have reported back to the General hours ago. Besides, we don’t even know if Jacob made it through surgery yet. He was pretty damn critical last time I saw him.”

  “I can’t just disappear on her, especially not knowing if that hit man will come back for her. I have to stay here until I know she’s safe.”

  “The whole fucking point of this was to take her back with us. She will be safe on the base, in our time.” Graham said. “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

  Mykel glared at him. “Jumping through time to a place she doesn’t even know exists yet? The way we live, what those doctors would put her through. I can take pain. I have, and I will, and rightly so too. But I couldn't take the idea of her in pain, to make her go through with it, that would be too much for me to bare.” He confessed.

  “You’ve got it bad man. Real bad.” Graham said.

  “What am I supposed to do, Graham?” He shrugged. “I fell in love with that woman the moment I saw her. Cheesy as that may sound.”

  “The cheesiest.” Graham agreed.

  “As much as it would kill me, rip out my fucking heart, it would be better to leave her here, in her own time. She doesn’t deserve the life I would give her; and I can’t leave her here, until the hit man is dead.”

  Isabelle dressed as quickly and quietly as she could, completely shocked at what she was hearing. She was so utterly confused, and hurt. She had just spent a beautiful night with a man who had no intention of being with her. He wanted to go back to his home, and leave her. She still wasn’t exactly sure where his home was. Or rather, when. She wasn’t sure what to make of that part of their conversation. Wherever he was from sounded like a horrible place, and suddenly she wasn’t entirely sure he was all that sane.

  She slipped out of their shelter and stood up slowly. “Do you want to explain to me exactly what the hell all that means?” She asked, stalking over to Mykel. “Where exactly are you from? And more importantly, when? And what do you think you are doing making choices about my life for me?”

  The two men turned to stare at her. She was barefoot, dressed in her old dirty jeans, and apparently, no bra, her blouse dirty and torn. And she was livid.

  “Miss, calm down.” Graham said, soothingly.

  “Don’t you tell me to calm down, Army man!” She stamped her foot. “I have a right to know!”

  “Marines.” Graham said. “NOT Army.”

  Mykel couldn’t help but chuckle. She was adorable when she was mad.

  “Don’t you laugh at me!” She hissed, standing nose to nose with him “Not after what we had last night.” She cried, “Just tell me the truth, Mykel, right now!”

  “Alright, fine. You want truth, here it is! You scare me. Everything about the two of us, together, terrifies me, and I’m not a man that gets scared easily, babe. I’ve been all over history, and I’ve lived in the future. It’s hell, sweetheart, and I don’t want that for you. Here now, with you, is the best place I’ve ever seen, because of you…Your smile, your eyes. The way you touch me makes me fucking insane for you. The way your voice makes me shiver and the ache I get when you’re upset. You make me feel things I'm not supposed to. I’ve survived a lot of shit, and I’ve lived through it all. I’ve met a lot of people, lost even more. I’ve built up walls. Damn thick ones, Isabelle. And in one night, you’ve turned them all to rubble!” He shouted. “I've done a lot of bad things in my life, hurt a lot of people. It'll probably take me quite a few life times to make up for it. But loving you, protecting and caring for you? That gives me hope that just maybe I can succeed at anything! Be a better man for you. You make me feel super human, woman. And now…now, when you look at me like that, I feel like I’m about to lose the best damn thing I’ve found in this entire world. I don’t want to lose you. Ever. I don’t know how I’m going to survive it, and that scares me more than anything I’ve ever done, because I can’t stop myself from falling in love with you!” His eyes filled with unshed tears, burned into hers, daring her to speak.

  “Woah.” Graham breathed, backing away from the two of them.

  “Say something!” He demanded.

  She stared at him stunned. “You’re really from the future?” She squeaked.

  “I tell you I’m head over heels, without a doubt, completely bared my soul, in love with you, and all you heard was ‘I’m from the future?’” He growled.

  “I’m not sure what you want me to say.” She said slowly. “It’s kind of a lot to process, you know.”

  “Tell me I have a chance with you, even if you don’t love me yet. I know you will, if you give us a chance. Give me a chance.”

  “How can I do that when you’re planning on leaving me? When you are going home…to…how far in the future are you from, anyway?” She asked.

  “About a hundred years.” Graham piped up quietly. He was leaning against a tree, munching on one of the horrid food rations.

  “You could come with me.” He said, desperate. “It won’t be easy, living in my world, but I swear I will do whatever I have to, to keep you happy and safe. You've managed to do the impossible. You woke up my heart and have me saying all this fluffy stuff. You have wormed your way into my heart and now I find myself unwilling to let you go. I'm going to fight for you. Sooner or later you will realize that you love me as much as I do you. You’ll realize you are just as much afraid of losing me as I am of losing you. I can wait for that day, to hear those words, for as long as I have to, as long as you just come with me.” He held his hand out to her. “Please?”

  She swallowed hard, and g
lancing at Graham, who was watching the whole exchange with rapt attention, grinning like a fool. She looked back up at Mykel, who towered over her, waiting with his hand held out, as if he already knew she would take it.

  What did she have to lose really? A crappy marriage? A bookstore? Her friends? She hadn’t seen her parents in years anyway. Was any of it more important to her than the man who risked his life, his very existence, to save her? She wasn’t sure yet, if she loved him. Maybe what she felt was nothing more than hero worship because he rescued her. She definitely felt butterflies in her stomach when he looked at her. When he touched her, they fluttered alive and she burned for him in a way she never had for anyone. She never did like when people would feel butterflies in their stomachs and call it love. She didn’t think love was like that at all. Butterflies are so unpredictable, here one moment, gone the next, and that's not what she felt when she thought about him. What she felt would never just disappear. She knew without a doubt that she would always care for him, no matter what. He was special to her. She liked him, sure, in a way. But she didn’t think she was in love with him. Not like he wanted her to be, at least, not yet. She knew that the only way she could give that a chance is if she went with him. And yet…she just couldn’t do it. It was ludicrous, the idea of going into the future with a man she barely knew. “I can’t go with you.” She let out a shaky breath.

  Chapter Six

  “What?” Mykel was stunned. He stared at her. She was slowly backing away from him. “No.” He reached for her. She held up her hand to stop him.

  “Mykel, this is crazy. I can’t just uproot my life and go with you to some strange place.” She was shaking her head at him, backing away. “It’s not like going across the country or moving to a new state. It’s the future…so far into the future that everyone I’ve ever known will be dead. In a place you don’t even want to go back to? I just can’t do that.”

  He felt like raging at the world, and at her. He thought for sure she would go with him. After the night they shared together, anyway. “I’m crazy about you.” Mykel said, desperately. “Please…come with me.”

  “I can’t do that.” She said. Her heart thudded in her chest. She could see the utter devastation and disappointment cross his face, before he settled a mask of coolness over his features. His face became completely blank and unreadable.

  “What do you have here that is better than what we shared?” He asked coolly. “You aren’t in love with your husband, and he clearly wants you dead. So…”

  “What makes you so sure I don’t love him?” She asked, shocked.

  “Because darlin’, you gave yourself to me last night. Very willingly, I might add. A woman in love with her husband doesn’t cheat on him. So what reason do you have to stay here?”

  She bristled at his words. “Insulting me isn’t going to get you want you want. I wouldn’t go with you if you were the last man on Earth!” She huffed. With that, she turned and stalked off into the woods.

  She didn’t get ten steps before shot rang out. The bark of the tree she had just been standing in front of exploded in a shower of wood splinters. She screamed and dove on the ground, covering her head.

  “No!” Mykel shouted, closing the distance between them in an instant. “Run…Go, Go, Go!” He pulled her to her feet and ran, gun drawn. The tree crashed to the ground right where she had been.

  “Where is he?” Graham hollered, his own rifle tracking the woods.

  “I don’t know!” Mykel yelled. “Let’s get to the extraction point!” He grabbed her hand and weaved them through the trees at top speed. Another gunshot split the air and Mykel felt the heat of the round graze his arm. He flinched and sped up. They had to get out of range of the sniper as fast as they could.

  Isabelle pitched forward as he dragged her along with him, and tripped over an exposed root system. She fell hard, scraping her knees and twisting her ankle. Mykel scooped her up and ran. “Graham, cover my six!”

  “You got it!” He was right behind them.

  The three of them moved quickly down a slope, and into a small clearing. “Shit.” Graham said. “We got no cover!”

  “We gotta run for it.” Mykel said. “I don’t think we have time to set up any trip wires either.”

  “Nope.” Graham said, tracking the woods behind them, looking for any sign of the sniper. There was only the stillness. The first shot had scared all the birds into flight. All they could hear was a slight breeze playing through the trees.

  “Can you walk?” He looked down at Isabelle, still in his arms.

  “My feet are all cut up.” She said. “And my ankle is twisted.”

  “Alright.” Mykel shifted her in his arms a bit. “Let’s move.”

  They dashed across the clearing, Graham bringing up the rear, and trying to block Mykel’s back from the line of fire of the sniper, wherever he was behind them. They barely made it to the opposite tree line when another shot rang out from a different direction. The bullet bit into Mykel’s thigh, and he pitched forward and fell to his knees, dropping Isabelle, who screamed and hit the ground with a thud. Graham turned in that direction and sprayed rounds into the tree line.

  “Run, Isabelle! Go!” Mykel shouted. “He’s trying to get to you. Run for your life and don’t stop. We will catch up.”

  “I can’t just leave you here.” She gasped, putting her hand over the wound in his thigh.

  He shoved her hand away. “GO!” He roared. “Go to the bridge of the river. We’ll meet you on the other side of it. Hide somewhere, and don’t come out until me or Graham comes for you.”

  “But what if you guys both die?”

  “This isn’t my first fire fight. I’ll live.” He said. “GO!” She turned and ran as fast as she could, limping a bit on her bad foot.

  “How you doing, pal?” Graham yelled, still shooting.

  “I need a pressure bandage.” He grunted. “Then I’ll be good to go.”

  “You sure?” Graham asked. He stopped shooting long enough to toss him a bandage and shove another magazine into his gun.

  “I’ll be fine!” The hit man wasn’t shooting back, luckily, but they were basically sitting ducks in the clearing with no cover. “We have to get out of this clearing. NOW!” Mykel grabbed his rifle and used it to help prop himself up on his feet. He put a little pressure on his leg. His leg buckled.

  “I’m gonna need your help.” He confessed, catching himself before he fell.

  “Let’s go.” Graham turned and slipped his arm around Mykel. Together they made their way further into the trees and down another slope. Mykel bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming with every step.

  “Come on buddy, we’re almost there.” Graham said. “We gotta go save your girl. Dude, I sure hope she’s worth all this.”

  “She is.” He said firmly. “She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to marry that woman.”

  They finally made it to the bridge. When Isabelle saw them, she came out from her hiding spot behind a large tree. She ran toward them and helped Graham carry Mykel into the trees.

  “Ok…this is close enough.” Graham said. “We’ve got to go.”

  “Look, I know you don’t want to do this.” Mykel said, looking at Isabelle. “I’m sorry…but you really don’t have a choice now. If you stay here, you will die.”

  She nodded. “I know.” She said simply. “I’m not happy about it, but I’ll go with you.”

  Graham walked up behind her and plunged the nanites into her neck.

  **************

  Being pulled through time is something she could only describe as completely terrifying, similar to the feeling of being on the world’s most twisty roller coaster and being electrocuted at the same time. When she came back to her senses, she found herself lying on a hard surface, shaking like a leaf, every nerve super sensitive. She felt like vomiting.

  “I don’t think we allowed the nanites enough time to work, Graham.” Mykel said.

  “Well, let�
��s get her into the decontamination shower and you to the infirmary.”

  “No.” Mykel said, stubbornly. “The scalding hot water on her skin right now will feel like daggers. I won’t do that to her.”

  “She has to…”

  “I know. She will. Just not right this second.” Mykel snapped.

  “Watch it.” Graham warned. “I’ve had enough of your insubordination lately. You’re antics is what got us into this mess. We all could have died today.”

  “Fine.” Mykel said. He crouched over her protectively. “Just go do whatever you have to do. I’ll take care of her.”

  Graham sighed, and dropped his equipment into the decontamination chute. He hit the medical alert button on the wall. Immediately a siren blared. “I’ll shower and report to the General. You gonna be ok?”