I drop the backpack and raise my fists, getting into the stance drilled into my head during hours and hours of kickboxing and self-defense classes. He reaches for me again, but I sock him in the face, a quick jab with each fist. He stumbles back, stunned, and I throw a front kick straight against his chin as hard as I can. He falls against the display behind him, scattering video games everywhere, and then hits the floor, facedown. He doesn’t move again.
Hmm. Guess he wasn’t so tough after all. Not a fighter, just a disgusting man with a terrible mission. I reach around in his pants, hating every second I have to touch him, until I find his wallet. Bingo.
“Hey!” a security guard yells at me. I pocket the wallet and slip away, and only when I’m out of the store do I realize I left the backpack behind. There’s nothing I could do with it, even if I took it—we already decided not to bring the cure back to the present. At least I got what we came for, and now we can track this guy in the present. Maybe then we can find who he’s working with and shut them all down.
“I got the guy’s wallet,” I tell Ken. “Heading back to the car now.”
“You got it? Nice work. Meet you there soon.”
I walk through the mall at a brisk pace, glancing around me for any security guards or other threats. A kid with red hair is coughing nonstop outside the Disney Store. Is that the first sign of the virus or just a regular cold? The swastika guy had five of those inhaler things. Did he release the virus already in different stores?
I walk a little faster.
As soon as I’m in the parking garage I start sprinting, then once I get inside the car, I tear open the bag Vincent provided until I find the antibacterial gel. I pour that slimy stuff all over my hands, rubbing my fingers together rapidly until it evaporates, and then debate covering the rest of my skin with it too. Only then do I realize my hands are shaking.
All of those people back there are probably going to die. The redheaded kid. The pregnant lady. The family with the two girls. Even the guy with the Dodgers hat. None of them will likely survive the week. And I just…left them there. With a terrorist and a backpack full of death. But what else could I do?
Our best bet is to make sure Ken and I get back safely with this guy’s wallet so we can make sure this day never happens at all. But even though I know that, and I don’t think I was actually infected, I can’t seem to calm down. I’ve been in some seriously scary situations in my life. I’ve had many moments when I thought I was going to die. But all of those things I could see coming and could fight back against. A virus is invisible and deadly silent. It could be inside me now, and I wouldn’t even know it. How can I fight against that?
I force myself to take long breaths until my heart rate slows, then I open up the man’s wallet. It’s dark brown, and the leather’s cracked and worn, like he’s been using it for a long time. Inside I find a driver’s license, a couple credit cards, some money, and a couple receipts. Nothing all that interesting, but at least we have a name and address.
Harrison Weiss of Van Nuys, California—we’re coming for you.
03:44
It takes Ken another twenty-eight minutes to get back to the car. I sit inside it, engine running, staring at the clock until he finally opens the passenger door.
I’m backing out of the parking space before he even has his seat belt on. “What took you so long?”
“Sorry. Got caught by security, but I managed to get away. Told them it was all a misunderstanding, and they finally let me go.” He looks over at me. “You got something?”
“Yeah.” I toss the wallet into his lap, and he opens it up, checking out the contents.
“Hot damn.” He takes out the driver’s license and holds it up. “What happened?”
“I tripped the fire alarm and grabbed his backpack. There were these asthma inhaler things inside that I thought might be the cure. He confronted me, and I punched him, then took his wallet.”
“Wow. You punched a neo-Nazi. Nice job.”
I stretch my hand out with a dark smile. “Definitely the highlight of this trip.”
Ken relaxes back into the seat. “I can’t believe we did it. We really did it.” But then his face drops. “But all those people…”
“I know.” My throat tightens. “I wish we could do more.”
“We’re doing everything we can.”
I nod, but then glance at him. “Do you think we’re infected?”
“No, probably not. How long until the first symptom?”
“A nose bleed at four hours.”
“I guess we’ll know soon enough then.”
We’re quiet for the rest of the drive back to the Aether building, grappling with our thoughts of what we saw and what we still have to do. We were lucky today, but there’s still so much to be done before we can celebrate. And so much we still don’t know.
I park the car, and then we take the elevator down to the basement. Vincent’s truck is gone. He didn’t care whether we got the information we wanted or not, because for him in this timeline, it’s already too late. Presumably he’s on his way to Napa to prepare for the end of the world.
For once, we’re not out of time. In fact, we have another forty-two minutes until the aperture opens. Maybe we could have explored the city or tried to do more, but right now, with the virus being released across the country, Aether’s basement is the safest place for us.
I wonder what our older selves are doing right now and how they prepared for this day. Are they hiding out with a ton of food and water stored away? Are they in a bunker here in LA? Or somewhere out of the city, like on a farm? If our plan fails, I’ll be making those decisions in the upcoming years too.
Ken sits at one of the desks and plays with the phone Vincent gave us, so I slump into a chair and do the same. I pull up a news feed first, but there aren’t any reports about the virus yet. They won’t know about it for a few more days probably, and by then, it will be too late. I run a search on the White Outs and find a Wikipedia page, along with a few news articles on them from the last four years. Unfortunately, there’s very little known about them, including who leads the group or when it was started.
They seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere, using message boards and social media to covertly attract new members and spread propaganda. Two years ago, they caught media attention when one of them shot up a Jewish center in Boston before shooting himself. A year later, another one of their members bombed a mosque in Missouri and was arrested by police. I take note of the attackers’ names, but find little else of use. A search on Harrison Weiss also reveals nothing helpful.
I search for myself next, but don’t find much except a college graduation announcement from a few years ago. My social media profiles are private, and none of my passwords work. The strangest thing is that I’m using my last name in all of them, not Adam’s name as I did in the other timeline. Upon closer inspection, I can’t find a single mention of our wedding or any pictures from it. It should have happened by now. I saw pictures of it in the other future. The two of us on a beach, looking happy and free, ready to begin the rest of our lives together. But in this timeline it never happened.
What changed between us? Was it because of what Adam did? Was I never able to forgive him?
“When we get back, I’m going to ask Paige out,” Ken says.
My head snaps up. Maybe he saw something in his future he didn’t like either. “Oh yeah?”
He leans forward, his brow furrowed. “After what we went through today, knowing how close we were to the end, I don’t want to wait any longer. If we only have ten more years before everything goes to hell, I want to spend them with her.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, assuming she’s interested.”
“It’s about time. Zahra and I were starting to think it would never happen.”
He grins slightly. “Me too. But I’m done making excuses. And you should talk to Adam too.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I scowl, looking away. My situation with Adam i
s totally different.
I check my watch. “It’s almost time. We should stay in the accelerator for a few hours when we get back to make sure we’re not infected.”
Ken groans. “I hate that you’re right.”
“Tell me about it. I’d rather be anywhere but stuck inside Aether.”
We hop to our feet and head inside the accelerator to wait for the aperture to open, leaving everything behind except for the wallet. None of the electronics will work once they go through the aperture anyway.
The golden light appears, ready to take us home. I close my eyes as the future vanishes.
PART V
THE PRESENT
SUNDAY
I open my eyes. If it wasn’t for the accelerator door being closed, I’d still think I was back in the future. But when the door clicks, I yell, “Wait! Don’t open it.”
My voice echoes across the metal walls around me, but the door stays closed. A speaker crackles on around us and Vincent’s voice asks, “Is there a problem?”
“We don’t know if we’ve been infected or not. Since the first symptom shows up after about four hours, we’ll wait in here until then to make sure it’s safe.”
There’s a slight pause. “And if you’re infected?”
I swallow hard. “Then I guess you can send us back to the future. Permanently.”
Ken gives me a miserable look, then sinks to the floor, leaning back against the accelerator’s walls. Settling in for a long wait. “Wish we’d brought a book or something.”
“Or a pillow.”
“What are you doing?” Adam’s voice asks through the speaker.
“Making sure no one in the present gets the virus,” I say.
Adam sighs. “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine.” I slouch against the nearest wall. “Are you?”
“Yeah. Dr. Kapur fixed me up. I should be better after a couple days of antibiotics.”
I relax a little, knowing he’s okay and only a few feet away. Hearing his voice relieves a lot of the tension in my shoulders. I didn’t realize how wrong it felt to be on a mission without him until now. “We’ll be out of here soon, and then we can go home.”
“I’ll be right out here the entire time.”
Vincent’s voice comes back on the speaker. “You can use these four hours to tell us what happened in the future. Did you get what you wanted?”
I hesitate, debating how much to say out loud. Our deal was that we’d keep him in the loop from now on, but I don’t know who’s listening or who I can trust. “We got something.”
“Well, what is it?”
“We found the man who was going to release the virus, and I managed to steal his wallet, but we didn’t learn much more about the terrorist group.” I pull out the wallet and flick through it again. “His name is Harrison Weiss. He lives in Van Nuys, or at least he will in ten years.”
“Got it. We’ll see what we can find. Anything else?” Vincent asks.
“We talked to your future self. You…helped us. Gave us supplies and a new map. Then you said you were heading up to Napa to wait out the storm. Since we told you about the virus, you had plenty of time to prepare.”
There’s a pause before he answers. “Good to know.”
After that, there’s nothing to do but wait and see if we’re dying. I’m so tense that every muscle in my body aches, and I can barely breathe under the tight metal dome that seems to keep getting smaller and smaller. Ken seems a lot more relaxed, lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling. I don’t know how he can be so calm, but then again, waiting has always driven me crazy.
About halfway through the four hours, I get up and start pacing, until Ken tells me to quit it. After that, I sit down again and study Harrison’s wallet for the tenth time, as if some new clue will reveal itself. I play with my unicorn necklace and worry about my relationship with Adam. I think through the news articles on the White Outs, wishing I’d been able to get more info. I mentally list the symptoms of the virus over and over in my head and begin to overanalyze everything. Is that twinge in my neck from sitting funny, or because I’m infected? Ken just coughed. Does that mean he’s sick?
Finally our prison sentence is up and, with no signs of a nose bleed, we’re released from the accelerator. I step outside with a relieved sigh, and Adam throws his arms around me. I hug him back carefully, making sure not to touch his wounded side, even though I want to squeeze him tight and never let him go.
“Thank God you’re okay,” he says, touching my cheek.
“I’m fine. And very ready to go home now.”
“Me too.” We break apart, and he nods to Ken. “Glad you’re both okay.”
He clasps Adam on the shoulder. “Told you we’d make it back safely.”
“So you did,” Vincent says. “Congratulations on a successful mission.”
“Did you find anything on Harrison Weiss?” Ken asks.
“Nothing of interest so far. We’ll let you know.”
Beside him stands a woman in all black with her arms crossed, a dark ponytail on her head. Nina.
“What’s she doing here?” I ask.
Vincent gives me an exaggerated look. “She works here.”
Nina returns my look. How long was she out here? Is she the one who shot Adam? She matches the body type, she’d know how to avoid cameras, and I’m pretty sure that’s a gun on her hip. But why would she come after us? Is she trying to get back at Vincent or double-cross him somehow? Or did she visit the future and learn something that made her think the only way to stop what will happen is to kill us?
I catch Dr. Walters’s eye, from where he stands at the back of the room, but he just shakes his head. I make a note to talk to him alone sometime to see what he knows. And why he’s helping Aether.
Dr. Kapur wants to run tests on us, of course, but we can’t get out of Aether fast enough. Ken and I don’t have the virus, and we’ve time traveled enough to know we won’t suffer any other problems, so there’s no reason for us to stay.
Back at the apartment, Adam crashes on the couch with Max on his lap. I pull the brown leather wallet out of my jeans and toss it to him.
“So what really happened there?” Adam asks as he goes through the wallet.
I sink beside him onto the couch, running my hand over Max’s fur. “The truth? It was horrible. Walking around the mall, knowing all the people there were going to die, and there was nothing I could do to stop it, and that by being there I might be a victim too…” I shake my head, unable to go on.
“I can only imagine. But you are doing something to stop it.” He holds up the wallet. “How’d you get this?”
I give Adam a quick rundown of everything that happened, from chasing down the wrong guy, to checking this man’s backpack, then fighting him and taking his wallet. When it’s over, I lean my head against his shoulder. “I was terrified the whole time that I was infected and didn’t know it. I’ve never felt so powerless in my entire life.”
“If you’d gotten infected…I don’t know what I would have done.” He rests his head against mine. “I was so worried about you the entire time you were gone. It took every ounce of willpower not to run after you into the accelerator.”
“I’m glad you stayed behind. It was easier knowing you were safe.”
He runs his fingers through my hair. “I got a taste of what you must have felt when I was missing. You were only gone for minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I couldn’t breathe the entire time. And I was gone for hours.” His hand slides to my cheek, and he turns my face toward him. “I’m so sorry, Elena. If I could go back and undo it all—”
“Then we wouldn’t know about the virus.” I search his eyes, and then my gaze dips to his mouth, so close to mine and so familiar. The urge to kiss him is strong, along with the desire to forgive him and put this past us, but I’m not ready yet. I pull away instead. “How’s your side?”
Disappointment flashes on his face, but then he shrugs. “It hurts,
but I’ll heal.” He flips open the wallet and riffles through it. “There’s not much in here.”
“I know. His phone would have been more useful, but I didn’t find it on him.”
He holds up the driver’s license, examining it closely. “I’m surprised you told Vincent his name.”
“I wasn’t going to, but then I thought, why not? Maybe he can find something we can’t.”
Adam grabs his laptop and searches for the guy’s name online. We scroll through Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts, but none of them look like the guy I confronted. Either he’s really private, or his driver’s license is fake and we’ll never be able to find him.
I’m about to give up, when Adam says, “Hang on. I found something on LinkedIn.”
“People still use that?”
“Yep. A guy with his name works for some pharmaceutical company I’ve never heard of, called Aceso Pharmaceuticals. It’s out in the valley, near where his address is in the future.”
“A pharmaceutical company?” I lean forward to look over his shoulder. “They could be the ones who create the virus. We should head over there tomorrow and check it out.”
Adam’s eyebrow arches us. “And then what?”
“We’ll see if this Harrison Weiss is the same one I met in the future. If it is, we can follow him. See who he’s working for and what they’re doing.” I spread my hands. “Do you have a better idea?”
“Unfortunately, no.” He sighs and closes the laptop. “I just feel like we’re grasping at straws here.”
“Me too. But we have a name and a place where he might work. It’s a start.” I don’t say my next thought out loud—that if we can’t find the right Harrison Weiss, then Ken and I risked our lives in the future for nothing.
MONDAY
I head to class in the morning and try to pretend my life is normal and that I’m not thinking about mysterious shooters, neo-Nazi terrorists, or the upcoming demise of civilization. My grades are going to suffer this semester since staying focused is nearly impossible at the moment. I’ll do the best I can though. I spent most of my life worried I’d never make it to college, and I don’t want to waste this opportunity. Besides, I saw my graduation announcement in the future, so I must get through this somehow.
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