Tears fell from my eyes, but I couldn’t look away, as much as I wanted to. People were dying all around me, people who didn’t have to be involved in my struggle. I listened to the anchor’s words.
“Mr. Norris had burn marks across his entire body, suggesting that he was tortured for many hours before his death.”
The picture segued to a shot outside Barstow Community Hospital where a female reporter spoke some more about Patrick’s death.
I sat back on the bed, staring into space. Long after the news was over, I remained where I was, the tears on my face now dry. Just then, the picture on the TV disappeared and the lights went out. A loud rumble filtered into my room, like a bomb going off. I shook and stood up. The lights flickered but went out again. It had started.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I heard commotion outside my door. I ran and opened it to see people running around with fear in their eyes. The rumble returned, and everyone stopped moving and just stared at each other. They resumed their scampering a few seconds later. Most headed for the stairs, but many tripped over each other in the flickering light. I walked back to my room and stood in the center, my mind processing so much. The meteor didn’t just kill people. It also introduced fear. No one knew what he or she was dealing with. God knows what’s going through their minds right now.
Screams bled in through the window. They grew so loud I had to cover my ears. Then the TV came back on. The digital clock said it was 8:05 p.m. The screen showed the destruction around Nevada, where many houses had been flattened, some sucked into the ground. The power continued flickering. The screams grew in volume. I lay on the bed, facing the ceiling, and closed my eyes. I envisioned people getting crushed by houses, trees and cars. I saw images of men, women and children scampering to safety as the ground opened. I cried in the dark, wanting to scream but fighting it.
When I woke up five hours later, the TV picture was still flickering, and there was no sound. But the sound of fear and panic had disappeared, and the lights had stopped flickering. I checked my phone but Michael still hadn’t called. I took a swig from my water bottle and ran a bath. I sat in the tub and stared at the walls, shaking, my mind blank. I dried myself off and returned to the bed, but I spent the rest of the night in the same state, staring into emptiness.
My cell rang for the fifth time in a minute. I squinted in the morning sun and reached for it, but it was too far. I got out of bed and looked at the screen. The number was unknown. I cleared my throat a few times and answered. “Hello.”
“Cynthia?”
I frowned for a second but then remembered. “Hi, Michael.”
“I was worried. I thought something might have happened.”
I glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. “I’m fine. What about you?”
He didn’t answer.
“Michael?”
“How did you really know this was going to happen?”
“I told you.”
He went quiet again. “We need to meet.”
“When?”
“What’re you doing now?”
“Now?”
“Please,” he said. “I’ve been tearing my hair out over everything you told me. If there’s a connection with the aliens from your time, your son and the meteor, we need to find out what it is.”
“So you believe me now?”
“It’s a bit hard not to. There’s a huge crater in the middle of the Nevada desert, and you knew it was going to happen before any of our best scientists.”
I sighed and looked at the ceiling. “Okay then. Where?”
“There’s a café on West Ninth Street called Panini. Can we meet there at one?”
I suddenly panicked. What if they’ve already gotten to him like they did with Willie?
“Cynthia?”
Then again, he’s still my best chance to get Dylan back. “Okay, fine.”
I heard him sigh. “Okay. If I’m late, wait for me. I’ll be there. Also, do you have a hat or something?”
“A hat?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just be there. I’ll shake any tails I might have before I get there.”
“Okay. … Michael.”
“Yes?”
“Cynthia isn’t my real name.”
He sniggered. “I kind of figured. What is it?”
“Rachel … Rachel Harris.”
“Good to meet you, Rachel.”
I giggled like a schoolgirl. “Good to meet you, too, Michael.”
“I’ll see you at one.” He hung up.
I stood there for a moment. Then I shouted, “Yes.” I ran into the bathroom and got into the shower.
The cab dropped me outside a Ralph’s store on West Ninth Street just before one. I wore my pinstripe suit again to blend in with the people I knew would be around. And I did blend in. As I walked the quarter-mile to Panini, the people I passed all had fear in their eyes. They all talked about the meteor, expressing fear for the safety of friends and loved ones.
Workers in nearby shops fixed their gazes on wall-mounted TV screens as a host of pictures of the devastation filled the screens. I quickened my pace. I couldn’t watch any longer. When I entered Panini, a few people glanced at me. I walked to the counter and sat down, trying not to fidget. The TV was on here, too, but the volume was turned down. It showed pictures of houses that had been torn to shreds. Some were half-buried in the ground. It was horrible.
A young waitress with short brown hair and a broad smile approached me. “Coffee, tea?”
I looked toward the entrance. I didn’t see any sign of Michael. “Coffee, please. White, with one sugar.”
“Coming right up.”
I nodded and smiled. The café grew busier as I waited. At almost one-thirty, there was still no sign of Michael. But then I saw him step out of a cab across the street. At least he ditched the limo. He straightened his black suit and crossed the street. He noticed me just before he pushed the door open. I smiled, but he acted like he didn’t know me. I understood what he was doing.
I turned and faced the counter. I smelled his aftershave when he sat in the chair beside mine.
“Coffee, please. Black,” he said to the waitress.
I didn’t speak. For all I knew, people were watching us, which was probably why he hadn’t acknowledged me. After his coffee came, I heard him sip it. Then I felt his eyes watching me.
“So, what do you think of this place?”
I glanced right and caught the gaze of his deep blue eyes. “It’s nice.”
He smiled. “Sorry I was late. I couldn’t tell whether I had a tail or not, so I just drove around for a while, changing cabs as many times as I could.”
I nodded. “So what do we do now?”
He leaned closer to me. “First we wait a few days for things to calm down, and then we go to where the meteor hit. Afterward, I’ll call some of my contacts and see what I can find out.”
“No. No outsiders. We can’t trust anyone.”
He shook his head in frustration. “Alone, I can’t do that much to help you. If we’re going to find your son, first we need to find out what these aliens are up to, and for that we’ll need access to my resources.”
I faced the counter and stretched my neck back, but I saw something out of place. A man by the door was watching us and doing a bad job of hiding it. He had a short brown jacket and scruffy hair. His beard looked like it hadn’t been shaved in weeks.
“So what do you think?” Michael said.
I looked at him, bewildered. “Huh?”
“About getting some of my people on the case?”
I nodded. “Whatever.”
He frowned. “Whatever? What’s with the attitude?”
“I think you were followed,” I said.
He shifted in his seat.
“Don’t turn around,” I said. He stopped moving.
“By the door, a man in a brown jacket. He keeps looking over here.” I guessed they were there for me, maybe working for Lorenzo. But
that meant they knew I was working with Michael.
Michael got up and walked toward the bathroom. The man watched Michael every step of the way, but Michael didn’t acknowledge him. I’d hoped they knew each other, but they obviously didn’t. After Michael disappeared from view, I stared at the TV but occasionally glanced at the man. He wasn’t looking at me but down the corridor leading to the bathroom. Oh my God. He might actually be here for Michael.
I stood and walked toward the bathroom. The man turned and stared at me. I gave him a thin smile and kept walking down the corridor. Then I waited outside the restrooms. I didn’t hear any footsteps behind me. I pushed the men’s room door open and met the confused eyes of a young black man in his twenties, washing his hands.
“Hi,” I said in a high-pitched voice.
The man scurried out and shut the door. I looked toward the stall. All were open except one in the middle. “Michael?”
I heard movement. “Rachel?”
“Yes.”
The door opened and Michael stepped out. “What’re you doing in here?”
“I think that man’s after you. After you left, he didn’t look at me. He just stared down the corridor.”
Michael paced around the toilet.
“Do you know him?” I said.
“I’ve never seen him in my life.”
“Okay, but we can’t stay. If he’s one of the aliens or working with them, the rest won’t be far behind.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
He walked out and I followed. I stared at the floor until we reached the door. The man had his hand in his right jacket pocket. I shuddered when I saw a bulge.
“I think he’s got a gun,” I said to Michael.
He didn’t answer but kept walking. We walked up the street in silence. I looked back and the man was following us. I prodded Michael. “He’s coming.”
Michael looked back for a second. “We’ve got to keep going.”
“Where’s your driver?”
“I shook him, too.”
I started to panic. We were unprotected and no one knew where Michael was. This isn’t good.
Michael took an abrupt left onto South Hope Street. I walked alongside him. We took a right onto West Eight Street a few minutes later, and I saw the man jogging after us. I squeezed Michael’s hand.
“I know, I know. Just keep going.”
We continued on but didn’t run. I kept looking back. The man drew closer. We took another right, and just then Michael ran down an alley to our left. I struggled to keep up but pushed myself as hard as I could.
When we reached the middle of the alley, Michael turned and faced me. “Wait here and don’t move. Let him come to you.”
He backed into a shaded area and stopped by a large door. He pointed down the path the man would come from and tightened his face. I saw the man approaching. He stopped when he met my gaze and took slow steps forward. My legs quivered. I wanted to look at Michael, but doing so would have given away his position. The man continued toward me, and he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small pistol. I shuddered when he pointed it at me.
When he reached me, his eyes were filled with anger and hate. “Where is he?” he demanded.
I just gave him a blank stare. He moved closer and raised the gun toward my head. “Michael Galloway—where is he?”
“I … I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me, lady, or I swear—”
“Put the gun down,” Michael said from the shadows. Then I heard him cock a gun.
The man grimaced and grunted.
“I said put it down.” Michael stood beside me, his gun trained on the man. He held his hand out, and the man put his gun in it.
Michael kept the gun pointed at the man while he studied him. He had a hard face to go with his thick beard, with bags under his eyes. His clothes were ragged but looked like they had once been of the highest quality. Either way, he didn’t look like any of the others who had been hunting us.
“Who are you?” Michael asked.
The man just stared at him.
Michael scowled and extended the gun. “I asked you a question.”
“Doug,” the man said in a deep voice. “Doug Pratt.”
“Why are you after me?”
Doug scowled at Michael but didn’t answer. Michael took a step forward and put the gun to his temple. “I’ll ask you again. Why are you after me?”
“You’d better kill me,” Doug said, “or I’ll kill you if I get another chance.”
“But why?” I asked.
Doug faced the ground. “That’s my business.” He gave Michael another steely stare. “You destroyed my life. I lost my wife because of you, and with the things you’re going to do, I can’t let you live, so you’d better kill me.”
Michael looked at him, bemused, and so did I.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What did he do?”
Doug looked at the ground again and shut his eyes for a moment. I took a step toward him, but Michael held me back. Doug opened his eyes and looked at us. “I’m not from here. I’m from the future. The year 2022.”
I frowned at Doug and scratched my head. Michael paced around Doug and me, clearly unsure of what to say.
“I know it sounds crazy, but—”
“No, it’s not,” I said. “I’m from the future, too.”
Doug thrust his head forward and struggled to speak. “You’re from the future. What year?”
“2043.”
He looked at me in astonishment, but then his face hardened. “Of course—it’s started. You’re one of them, which is why you’re with him.”
One of them? Does he know? “One of who?”
“You’re a Shrinik.”
“A what?”
He laughed. “You know what I’m talking about.”
I gave him a blank stare.
“Humans who mutate into giant creatures with faces like lizards. You know!”
My heart almost stopped. Someone else knew the secret. But actually, this was something more. He had a name for them. I was just about to speak when we heard police sirens behind us. Michael put both guns away and turned around. Two officers walked down the alley to meet us. I just hoped Doug wouldn’t cause a scene.
“Hello, officers,” Michael said. “Anything the matter?”
The taller of the two officers walked ahead of the other one. “We’ve had a call about suspicious behavior here. Can you tell me what you’re all doing here?”
“I’m just having a conversation with some friends,” Michael said.
The other officer sniggered. “Friends, you say. Odd place for a chitchat.”
“I don’t like your tone, officer. I’ve told you there’s nothing going on here.”
The officer walked up to Michael and grabbed him by the collar. “So you want to give me attitude, mister? How about we see how much attitude you have left when I take you down to the station.”
I backed away. Doug did the same.
“You’re making a very big mistake, officers,” Michael said.
The man went through Michael’s back pocket and pulled a wallet out. “Oh, yeah? And why is that the—” He looked at Michael’s face and then back at his driver’s license. “Mr. Galloway?”
Michael stared at him with stone eyes. The taller officer took the wallet and looked at it, too. Then he passed it back to Michael. “I’m sorry, sir. We didn’t know.”
Michael glared at them. “That’s fine. Now, can we go?”
“Of course, sir,” the taller officer said.
Michael nodded at Doug and me. I’d known he had influence, but I didn’t know it extended to law enforcement. We walked down the alley and waited for the officers to drive away. When they did, Michael grabbed Doug’s shoulder angrily, but I grabbed Michael’s other arm and shook my head, and he released Doug.
“Why did you call those things Shriniks?” I said.
He laughed. “You can stop pretending. You think
I believe that neither of you knows what I’m talking about?”
Michael pushed Doug against a wall. “You’re going to tell me everything. What you think I’ve done and why you’re here.”
“You don’t even know yet, do you?”
Michael shook his head.
“You’ve already done it, but things are about to get worse, which is why I have to kill you.”
“I’ve got the gun.”
“Then you’d better use it.”
“Enough,” I shouted. I saw people at the end of the alley stop and stare. I lowered my voice. “Look, you mentioned before about losing your wife because of Michael. Why not start with that? What did you mean?”
Michael released Doug and backed away, his gun still raised. Doug looked at me and relaxed again. “If you’re really from the future, you know all about the infertility problem, right?”
“Yes, I do.” I nodded at Michael. “I’ve told him all about it as well.”
“Well, my wife was one of the first winners of the Lotto. She went to collect our baby but never returned.”
I frowned at him for a moment, and then it hit me. Of course—that was why the year 2022 sounded so familiar. It was the year the Lotto winners and their children never came back. “No way. Your wife was one of the winners of the children who time lost.”
He nodded. “I’d always thought she was dead, but someone came to see me two days ago. He told me things.”
Michael lowered his gun. “About what?”
“The aliens you obviously know about. They’re a race called Shriniks from the planet Adononis.”
Neither Michael nor I spoke. If I hadn’t seen the aliens for myself, I probably would have laughed at him.
“I know,” Doug said. “Crazy, right?” He cleared his throat. “They look human, just like you and me, but they also mutate into giant green creatures.”
“Whenever they want?” I said.
“Yes,” Doug said. “But they also change whenever they have sex or go to the bathroom.” He laughed. “Don’t ask me why. It’s just a Shrinik thing, I guess.”
The Children Who Time Lost Page 22