by Jason Ayres
He had no idea when or where he was headed, but before he went he flicked on the TV again. It would be useful to know the exact time of his departure, as at least then he would have a reference point when he reached the other end.
He didn’t even need the clock on the TV display. As soon as it came on, he could see there was a large fireworks display taking place over the Thames. It could mean only one thing – London was celebrating New Year. It must be just after midnight on January 1st, meaning Josh had been asleep for around eight hours.
He was wide awake now, and knew there was no way he would be getting any more sleep tonight, not now he knew the tachyometer was potentially working again. He was eager to get going and couldn’t afford to wait. There was no guarantee that the device would continue working in its current damaged state.
Switching off the TV, he put on his coat and backpack, checking he had all his belongings with him, before getting ready to activate the tachyometer. He pressed the button and stepped forward, hoping that a bubble would be there.
Thankfully, it was, but unfortunately for Josh, he had neglected to follow one of his prime rules and now found himself in a rather sticky situation.
Usually he carried out his jumps in the lab or in certain locations around Oxford where he could be sure he wouldn’t encounter anyone. This time, eager to get going, he had quite neglected to think about the consequences of jumping in the hotel room. The relief he felt at discovering that the tachyometer still worked quickly vanished when he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.
The bed was now occupied by a young couple in the throes of some seriously energetic sex.
The woman, who was on her back, saw him first. The look on her face quickly contorted from one of ecstasy to one of shock. A split second later came the scream.
“What the fuck?” exclaimed the man as she pushed him off. He quickly turned around and spotted this stranger who had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
That was more than enough for Josh to spring into action. He had no intention of trying to talk himself out of this one; he just needed to get away.
Running across the room, he wrenched open the door, with the man in hot pursuit. Running down the corridor, Josh could hear him shouting all sorts of obscenities at him, but he hadn’t pursued him beyond the door of the room. Since he was stark bollock naked, that was probably why – his modesty had precluded him from running down the corridor with his tackle hanging out.
This was a temporary reprise for Josh but he wasn’t safe yet. Hitting the end of the corridor, he ignored the lifts and raced down the stairs. The couple were bound to be calling reception to inform them there was a pervert on the loose, and he knew the lift doors directly faced the front desk.
Finally reaching the bottom after running down three flights, he ignored the signs to the left directing him to the lobby and instead turned right, seeking another exit. There was bound to be one somewhere here, there always was at the bottom of the stairs.
Sure enough, just round to the right of the stairs he found a fire exit with double doors. Hitting the horizontal opening bar, he was straight out and into the car park, nearly going arse over tit into the freshly fallen snow outside.
Brilliant – that was all he needed. There must have been a good couple of inches settling on the ground, with more falling all around him. Thank goodness he had brought the parka: he was going to need it. But where was he to go now? There was no sign that the alarm had been raised, but he really ought to get off the premises as quickly as possible.
He remembered that there was a Tesco superstore about a mile up the road from the hotel that had always been open 24 hours a day, at least as long as he could remember. Hopefully it would be open and he hadn’t had the bad luck to arrive on Christmas Day when it would be shut. Leaving the hotel car park, he began what was to become a long and weary trek along the side of the ring road.
It was almost devoid of traffic, suggesting it was very late at night. Then in the distance he saw a police car approaching, lights ablaze and siren wailing. To avoid being spotted, he had no choice but to throw himself behind a bush, getting covered in more snow in the process.
The occupants didn’t see him, passing by and on towards the hotel. Watching from a safe distance, he saw them turn in, no doubt summoned as a result of his actions. Once the police car was out of sight, he resumed his long trudge. Rounding a turn in the road, he was encouraged to see the bright lights of the superstore in the distance. That suggested it was indeed open.
It seemed to take forever to get there, but finally he made his way in through the front doors. He had never been in a superstore at this time of night and it was eerily quiet, with more night workers around than shoppers.
He didn’t know exactly what time of night it was, having no idea where or when the tachyometer had sent him. He didn’t know the date either, but was guessing he hadn’t travelled far in time – it was still winter, after all, and the large Christmas tree just inside the front doors was a dead giveaway.
He instinctively looked at his watch, before remembering that it had been well and truly fried. He couldn’t see any clocks either. He would just have to ask someone. Wandering past the fruit and veg aisles, further into the store, he approached a chubby, young chap who was restocking the bread aisle.
“Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?” he asked. “The battery’s gone in my watch.”
This should be a reasonable question to ask a person from this era. Batteries were old hat in his Josh’s time, but they had been commonplace in the 20s.
“Sure,” said the man. “It’s a quarter to two.”
Josh was tempted to ask the date, too, but stopped short. Experience had taught him that wandering around in the past asking that particular question could attract strange looks, especially if he also asked what year it was.
The last thing he wanted to do now was attract unwarranted attention after what had just happened in the hotel room. Expressing his thanks, he wandered further towards the far end of the store where the café was.
His body was making him acutely aware that he was hungry, thirsty and needed the toilet. He wasn’t going to satisfy the first two of those needs in the café, as it was closed at night. Fortunately the toilets were next door and mercifully unoccupied. Although he only needed a wee, he went straight into a cubicle, locked the door and sat down.
For the first time since he had arrived, disturbing the couple in the hotel room, he felt safe. Perhaps he could stay here for a while and think things through. It wasn’t as if there was anywhere else he could go at 2am in the middle of a blizzard. There was nothing to stop him wandering around the store, but that might look a little odd if he did it for too long.
He still didn’t know the date, but that wouldn’t be difficult. He would just do what he usually did, look at a newspaper. There was bound to be a stand selling papers somewhere close to the store entrance.
As for food and drink, he was surrounded by it, though it wasn’t as if he could just help himself to food and start eating it as he wandered around the store. It might be acceptable behaviour to give a toddler something to eat to keep it quiet before presenting the wrapper at the checkout, but a grown man stuffing his face in the aisles would probably result in ejection from the store.
Despite the urgent rumbles from his belly, he would just have to stay put for the moment while he figured out some sort of plan. But plans weren’t easy to make when you didn’t know when or where you were.
Pulling the tachyometer out of the bag, it was clear he was not going to be heading off anywhere again anytime soon. The charging light was once again stuck stubbornly on red. How long would it be before it charged itself up this time? It must have been at least twelve hours before, possibly a lot more. He couldn’t be sure because he had been asleep when it had turned green.
If it did go green again he needed to ensure he got himself somewhere safe before he attempted another jump. He didn’t want any repetitio
n of what had just occurred in the travel tavern. He certainly wasn’t going to do it while he was sitting on the toilet, imagining the havoc that might ensue if the cubicle was occupied at the end of the jump.
Going by last time, he decided to work on the assumption that he would be stuck for a minimum of twelve hours and work around that. His first priority had to be to get some food. He couldn’t spend the night sitting on a toilet trying to ignore his pangs of hunger.
He would get what he needed, brave the cold and eat it outside the shop and then think about what to do once he had some food inside him. Maybe the energy from eating would give his brain a boost to help him come up with some more ideas. Even if it didn’t, he knew his stomach would certainly appreciate it.
Heading back out into the store, he went straight to the chilled aisle, looking for some highly calorific snacks. He had always hated going supermarket shopping with Alice. She had always frowned on his unhealthy eating habits, tut-tutting if he even so much as looked at the sausages on the hot deli counter. She seemed to be on a mission every time they went to steer him away from all his favourite foods towards the fruit and veg section.
There were no such restrictions tonight. Forget healthy eating, this was all about survival. Edmund Hillary hadn’t climbed Everest on lettuce and cucumber. Pausing only to pick up a basket, he was practically salivating as he spotted the sign above aisle 4 that read “Cold Meats, Pies and Savouries”.
It was cold in this aisle, almost as cold as outside, but he was warmed by the sight of the delicious treats in front of him.
The first thing to go in the basket was a six-pack of Melton Mowbray mini-pork pies. Packs of mini-Scotch eggs and chipolata sausages quickly followed. Josh had always enjoyed this sort of food. It reminded him of the parties he used to go to when he was a kid. Finger buffet food such as this was the perfect choice, given his current circumstances. Anything requiring a knife and fork would be seriously impractical during his upcoming sub-zero picnic outside in the snow.
A quick whizz around a few more aisles added a six-pack of crisps, some chocolate and a few fizzy drinks. They weren’t chilled but he could always stick them in a snowdrift for five minutes. He couldn’t bear warm pop.
He was sorely tempted to grab himself a bottle of Malbec as well, but decided against it. He needed to keep a clear head in the current situation. Besides, he had enough to carry as it was. Hopefully he could find some room to squeeze some into his backpack. What he didn’t eat right away he would take with him to see him through the next few hours.
Not wanting to get drawn into any unnecessary conversation, he ignored the one checkout that was open and went straight for the self-service tills. Once he was through, paying with his antiquated cash, he headed for the front door. Just before he reached it, he passed customer service, at last noticing a clock behind the counter that informed him it was now quarter to three. He had been holed up in the toilets for nearly an hour.
He also noticed the newspaper stand nearby, reminding him to check out the date.
There were very few newspapers on the rack, which he assumed meant this morning’s hadn’t arrived yet. These would almost certainly be left over from the previous day and the dates on all of them read 27th December 2024. So if it was early morning on the 28th now, then he must have travelled back in time by around four days on his latest jump.
He quickly scanned the headlines, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. He still had no idea if he was travelling within his own universe, an exact copy, or another universe altogether.
As far as he could see, everything was as it should be. He couldn’t recall the minutiae of all the news stories of this time period, but there was nothing on the front pages that leapt out at him as not being right.
The more highbrow papers were leading with some story about yet another Scottish Independence Referendum, so nothing unusual there. The red-top tabloids were screaming about an indiscretion by some long-forgotten soap star, whilst the Daily Express led with “Coldest Winter in 100 Years to Cripple Britain”.
“Yeah, you’re about five years too early for that one,” murmured Josh. Weather scare stories were a staple of that paper: he had lost count of the number of heatwave summers and new ice ages they had predicted.
A quick look at the sports pages showed nothing unusual either. The football league tables were exactly as they should have been. If he was in a different universe, it was remarkably similar to the one he had grown up in.
Apart from his brief spell in the cold meat aisle, he had warmed up considerably during the hour or so he had spent in the shop, but as soon as he got outside the freezing air sliced through him again. The snow was continuing unabated.
He made for a small bus shelter a few yards along from the entrance to the store. At least this would offer a modicum of shelter against the elements. Inside, he sat down on the freezing cold iron bar that laughably passed for seat, wondering if he might end up sticking to it. There was glass all around and above him, but the front of the shelter was open, causing gusts of wind to whip in, blowing powdery snowflakes all around him.
Opening his bag, he took out the pack of pork pies and ripped open the wrapper, stuffing the first one into his mouth almost whole, just as Barry had done with his biscuit at the hospital. Savouring how good it felt as the meat, jelly and pastry swirled around his mouth, he quickly reached for another. Ravenous as he was, he had devoured three of them before turning his attention to the Scotch eggs.
As he ate, he pondered what to do next. He couldn’t stay in the bus shelter all night: he would freeze. There was no way he could walk anywhere else in the current weather conditions, and the tachyometer was out of action until further notice.
Casting his eye up at the electronic scrolling board inside the shelter, he saw that the next bus would not be until 7am. That was assuming it was even running. He could see the snow settling on the roads outside and knew from experience what chaos that would cause.
Hopefully it wouldn’t get that bad. He had been in the future, four days from now and there hadn’t been a trace of snow on the ground then, so this couldn’t have been that severe. Snowfalls during this period, before the asteroid strike, rarely were.
As long as the buses were running, he would be just fine. He could get back into the centre of Oxford and that would open up more options. All he had to do was find some way to get through the next four hours until the bus came.
He looked out of the side of the bus shelter at the bright, inviting lights of the store. He really had only one viable option at the moment – he had to go back inside.
“More shopping it is, then!” he proclaimed, and headed back into the store. It was a huge Tesco, one of their flagship stores selling practically everything, but even he was going to struggle to fill four hours in it – wasn’t he?
As things turned out, it wasn’t half as bad as he had expected. He started off by grabbing a trolley and popping a few random items in it, figuring this would make him look like a genuine shopper, rather than some vagrant seeking shelter for the night. Then he headed for the non-foods area at the far end of the store.
There was a certain retro quality in wandering around a supermarket from thirty years ago. Heading for the games section, he marvelled at the range of PS5 games, reminiscing about some of the old classics he had played in his younger years. There were no brain control implants then. Most of it had been done using a handheld controller.
In the electronics section, he laughed at the clunky holographic TVs that had become popular around this time. One of them was switched on, showing a demo of a man and a woman from some ancient talent show dancing in front of it. He marvelled at how lame the fizzy and ill-defined shapes in front of him looked. Fortunately, the technology had improved a lot since then.
Further on he found some old vacuum cleaners of the type people used to push around. What a hassle that must have been in the days before robots. It was a similar story along most of th
e aisle, which was like visiting a museum. He noticed that the toasters had dials with numbers on the front, something that had long since disappeared since voice activation had become ubiquitous.
Elsewhere in the store, some things had changed remarkably little. Toilet paper was still toilet paper, even in his time. A robot hadn’t yet been developed that wiped your arse for you, at least to his knowledge, but doubtless someone, somewhere, was working on it.
The hours didn’t drag anywhere near as much as he had feared. Finishing his third lap of the store, he noted on the clock behind the desk at customer services that it was approaching 7am. No one had bothered him at all during his lonely vigil around the store. His tactic of popping an item into his trolley every few minutes seemed to have done the trick. The trolley was now full and needed to be got rid of.
Abandoning it down the deserted booze aisle, he headed back to the front of the store, noticing that the morning papers had arrived. A few early birds were already in store, picking up papers and snacks, so he decided to join them, grabbing a copy of the i paper, paying for it at the automatic checkouts and heading outside.
Although it was still dark, the snow had stopped and he could see traffic moving freely on the ring road. It seemed the gritting machines must have done their job properly for once. He was also pleased to see a bus with ‘City Centre’ marked on the front turning into the car park. At last he would be on his way.
As the bus trundled down Headington Hill, he again contemplated his situation. What should he do next? Wait for the tachyometer to charge and then jump again? The last leap had sent him four days back in time, so what about the next one?
Was there any way he could get a message to the future to tell Alice where he was? Could he find her in this time period? Or could he find his own younger self, and get him to come back on a rescue mission, just as he had done before in the helicopter?