Future Lost

22

Vincent looks at him for the first time. “Major Duncan. You’ve been a loyal soldier all these years, but somehow I’m not surprised to hear you take their side. Too much of your father in you, perhaps.” He waves his hand. “You’re dismissed.”

Michael stiffens but doesn’t back down. “Keeping them here isn’t right, sir. If we help them get back to the present, there’s still a chance they can change all this.”

Vincent gestures at the guards behind him. “Get him out of here. Maybe a few hours in lockup will remind him how important our work here is.”

Two of the guards reach for Michael, who starts to step back. “Sir—”

One of the guards grabs his arms and yanks them back, while another slaps handcuffs on him. I debate trying to intervene, but there are two additional guards hovering on either side of the room. Michael doesn’t fight back, and all Adam and I can do is watch while they drag him out of the room. He gives us one last stoic look as the door shuts.

04:01

“I suggest you start working,” Vincent says. “The sooner you finish the vaccine, the sooner you can return home.”

He spins on his heel and walks out of the room, with a short nod to the two soldiers he left behind. They watch us with bored expressions from either side of the door, making sure we can’t escape.

Adam glances over the microscope and lab equipment in front of him. He looks exhausted. Vincent wants us to make a vaccine, and while I understand his motives, Adam says it’s impossible—and we don’t have time to waste.

I pull Adam into a hug and whisper in his ear. “We’re going to get out of here. Just follow my lead.” He gives me a slight squeeze to show me he understands before we break apart.

“Get to work,” one of the soldiers snaps.

Adam turns back to his microscope, while I begin a slow inspection of the room, searching for another way out or for anything to use as a weapon. Paige and Zahra must surely be wondering what’s taking me so long, though they’ll wait until they get a signal from me before doing anything. But I need to take care of the guards first.

They’re both heavily armed and a lot bigger than I am, but I doubt they’ll kill me or Adam. Vincent wants to keep us alive for now. Regardless, I need to be quick and use the element of surprise because I’ll only get one shot at this.

I lean against the counter near Adam, like I’m checking out what he’s working on, then push one of the nearby beakers over the edge, making it look like an accident. The glass beaker hits the floor and shatters loudly, making one of the guards swear.

“Oh God, I’m sorry. I’m a little shaken up.” I bend down to clean up the sharp pieces of glass, but one of the guards rushes forward.

“Leave it,” he orders.

He’s too late though, because I’ve already grabbed a large, sharp piece of glass. As I straighten up, he grabs my arm, yanking me away from the mess. Without hesitation, I jerk my hand up and stab the glass into his neck. His eyes widen, and blood begins to gush out of his throat, but I can’t stop to think about what I’m doing. I grab the gun at his hip, just as his partner yells something at me. I line up my target, exhale, and shoot the man between his eyes. The loud shot fills the room and then is immediately replaced by heavy silence while Adam stares at me like he’s never seen me before.

“Jesus,” he says, his face pale. “You killed them.”

“It was us or them, and I’m always choosing us.” I search the guards, taking their keys and weapons, including a large knife. I can only hope that this lab is sealed and no one heard the gunshot, but either way, we need to hurry before more soldiers arrive.

“Yeah, but…” He’s staring at the guy I stabbed in the neck, whose blood has made a thick puddle on the floor. “Damn.”

I swallow the sourness in the back of my throat at the sight of the dead man’s face and hand Adam one of the guns, then shove the other in the back of my pants. “You’ve seen me kill people before.”

He glances at the gun in his hand like it might come alive and bite him. “Those were in self-defense.”

“And this wasn’t?”

He opens his mouth like he might argue with me, but then he notices something. “Your hand.”

I look down at it. Blood rushes out of a deep cut, which begins to throb now that I’ve noticed it. I must have sliced it open on the glass when I stabbed the first guard.

Adam grabs the knife from me and cuts off a clean piece of the guard’s shirt, then carefully wraps it around my hand. I can feel his shock and disapproval even while he bandages me with quick, confident movements.

“None of the deaths matter,” I say. “Once we change the future, none of this will exist anymore.”

“They matter. Yes, if we stop the virus, these guards will be alive and won’t remember any of this.” He finishes up, and his deep-blue eyes slowly rise to meet mine. “But you’ll remember.”

The truth of his words shakes me, but I can’t stop to think about that now. I’ll do whatever it takes to get us back to the present. Once we’re there, after we stop this future from happening, then I can deal with what I’ve done.

Hopefully I’ll have some humanity left when that time comes.

“We need to hurry.” I unzip my backpack and pull out the iPhone that the guard at the gate examined. I switch it on, then text a message to Zahra: Ready.

“Does that actually work?” Adam asks.

“Sort of. Zahra’s got it rigged so it can send messages to her.”

The phone vibrates, showing a new message. Incoming.