The Children Who Time Lost (45 page)

“Let me see,” Michael said.

I gave him the binoculars. After almost a minute of twisting around to get a good angle, he lowered the binoculars and grimaced.

“What?” I said. “What is it?”

“The woman.”

My eyes narrowed. “You know her, too?”

“I more than know her. I’m one of her biggest contributors. When you said Carrie Nicholas, it didn’t click. Her name is Carrie, but her surname is Mickelson here. She’s one of the biggest philanthropists in the world. She’s got a place in L.A. I pump millions into her charities.” He paused and stared at the wall, as if for the first time understanding the magnitude of what we were dealing with. He faced me again. “This is bad. I mean, really bad. That woman is powerful. She sometimes has lunch at the white house with the president himself.”

He dropped the binoculars to the floor and placed his fist under his chin. I picked up the binoculars and looked through them again. I saw Carrie facing Lorenzo and everyone else in the room. It looked like she was shouting at them. Jarrod and the mayor stood behind her, quiet.

After almost three minutes of ranting, Carrie walked over to the three men bound on the floor. She caressed their hair for a moment and then stood aside. Jarrod stepped forward and did the same, and so did the mayor.

“What’s going on now?” Michael said.

“They’re standing over those guys who are tied up.” I kept my eyes glued to Carrie and watched her every move.

Jarrod and the mayor returned to her side. Then Carrie’s mouth expanded and a black organism shot out of it. I gasped and dropped the binoculars.

“She’s one of them.”

Michael picked the binoculars up and looked. I saw him grimace at whatever he was seeing. I grabbed the binoculars, and three Shriniks greeted me. Carrie, Jarrod and the mayor had disappeared from view. One of the Shriniks—I couldn’t tell male and female apart—approached one of the bound men and studied him. The man struggled and wriggled. Then a number of organisms on the Shrinik’s body slithered on the ground and climbed onto the man’s body. I knew the bound men couldn’t change, but if they were rogue travelers like Curtis had said, they were Shriniks, too. Could the organisms from other Shriniks even harm them? The prisoner thrashed, struggling to break free. The Shrinik knelt and wrapped its large hands around the man’s face. More and more organisms covered the man’s body, crawling under his clothes, some forcing their way through his nose and mouth. I winced and gritted my teeth, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. The man shook and rolled around on the floor. But then all movement stopped and he lay motionless.

The Shrinik eyed the body for a while before expanding its mouth, which fit over the corpse’s head. Then it gulped the man whole. I dropped the binoculars again and bit my fingernails. Michael grabbed them and looked.

“My God,” he said.

“What is it?” Manuel said through the earpiece.

“They’re swallowing one of the men.”

“Really?” Mandy said. “That’s horrible.”

I just lay on my stomach, staring at the wall. I had seen a Shrinik do this before, but this was obviously some sort of execution of a rogue traveler, one of their own. But I was also a rogue traveler in their eyes, and so was anyone helping me. Back in 2043, they’d just wanted to stop me from talking, but now I was a full-blown criminal. Under their justice system, I had committed an unspeakable crime. Was this the fate that awaited me? All of us? Would they swallow each of us alive, like a python would do to its prey?

“These people are sick,” Michael said. “They’re doing the same to the other one. This is just wrong.”

“Hang in there, guys,” Curtis said through the earpiece. “It’s an execution. There’s nothing you can do for them. This is actually a good thing. Three less rogue travelers to interfere with your planet’s fate.”

Curtis made a good point, and I, too, saw how this was beneficial to all of us, but seeing it brought back too many memories of the Shrinik that had swallowed Warren, whose only crimes were probably uncovering things he shouldn’t have and talking to me. That the Shriniks could do that added to my doubts that the Time Travel Committee had Earth’s best interests at heart.

Michael turned way, and we just lay there in silence.

“Guys,” Curtis said through the earpiece. We didn’t answer. “Guys!”

“We’re here,” Michael said. I could hear a little fear in his voice for the first time.

“What’s happening now?” Curtis said.

Michael glanced at me with a deflated look. I picked up the binoculars from the floor and looked through the walls again. Carrie was back, as were Jarrod and the mayor, but the three bound men were gone.

“They swallowed them,” I said with disgust.

“What are they doing now?” Curtis said.

Carrie walked up to Lorenzo and spoke to him. Lorenzo walked past her and headed toward the cage.

“I think they’re taking the journal now.”

“Okay,” Curtis said. “Get ready to move. … Doug, how are you doing?” Nothing came back. “Doug!”

We heard sniffling and heavy breathing. “Sh—she’s … gone.” He sniffled again.

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“I’m all in now, guys,” He said in a firmer voice. “What’s the plan?”

“All right, let’s do this,” Manuel said enthusiastically.

“What do you see now?” Curtis said.

I looked through the binoculars again, and this time Carrie was holding a thick brown journal. She just stood there staring at it as if it were gold. Then she put it into her handbag and nodded at Lorenzo. Moments later, they all headed for the exit.

“They’re leaving,” I said. “Carrie has the journal.”

“Hold tight,” Curtis said. “Let them go. … Doug!”

Nothing came back for a moment. “Yes. I’m here.” Doug sounded like himself again.

“Can you see the red light flashing on the ceiling?” Curtis said.

“Yes, I see it.”

“When we’re set, shoot that and the door will open.”

“Got it.”

We stood up and waited. Michael held on tight to his Glock. Just then, something banged against our door. I looked at Michael and shuddered. Our door trembled again, and then I heard a snarl. I raised my gun and took a step back. Michael reached into the bag and pulled out an M4 and stood beside me.

“What’s the matter?” Curtis said.

“I think there’s a Shrinik outside,” Michael whispered.

The thud against our door came again … and again. It happened every couple of seconds. Light from outside crept in through a small hole. The door was caving in.

Michael used the binoculars to look outside. “There’re three of them,” he said. “We can’t take them all.”

“I’m coming to you,” Doug said. We heard him cock a gun, and then there was the sound of automatic gunfire, followed by heavy breathing.

“Curtis, Manuel,” I said, “you okay?”

We heard shuffling but no words. Then the gunfire returned.

“They’re everywhere,” Manuel screamed. The explosions returned. It sounded as if a hundred assault rifles were being fired at the same time. Michael screamed Curtis’, Manuel’s and Mandy’s names, but there was no response. Then everything went dead.

“Manuel! Curtis! Mandy!” Michael screamed again, but nothing came back.

He grimaced and squeezed his knuckles. A crack appeared at the bottom of the door, and one of the Shriniks’ organisms slithered into view, its red eyes looking straight at me. I edged back and fired multiple rounds at it, taking its head off, green ooze splashing everywhere. But more tried to fit in through the hole, and the pounding on our door didn’t stop. I kept firing and Michael joined me. Our bullets sent many of the organisms to their deaths. Then I heard Doug’s voice coming through.

“Michael. Michael,” he said.

“We’re here,” Michael said.

“What’s going on outside?”

“They’re under attack.” Michael fired again when a Shrinik stuck its arms in through another hole, this time around the middle of the door. “We’re not gonna make it. Get out if you can.”

A Shrinik poked its head through the middle hole and snarled. I drew my Glock and released a number of shots to its head, but it just laughed with its reptilian face. I grabbed the rucksack from Michael’s back and pulled a shotgun out. The Shrinik lost its grin. I cocked it and fired. Pieces of the Shrinik’s face were blown off, and it dropped to the ground along with its disgusting green blood. The Shrinik disappeared from sight, but we could hear it shrieking in pain outside. Michael slowly turned toward me with wide eyes. Then he smiled. I lowered the shotgun and wiped sweat from my face.

“Doug,” Michael said, but nothing came back. He reached into the rucksack again and grabbed another shotgun. “We’re on our own,” he said to me.

Just then the hole in the middle of the door expanded, shaking us from our brief moment of escape. Michael and I pointed our shotguns at the door and waited. Then I fired. Further chunks of the door flew off and loud shrieks came from outside. I fired again and again and Michael joined me. The hole through the door was enough to see through. Two Shriniks were against the opposite wall. The last one was on the floor. Michael raised his right leg and kicked at the door a few times. He fired a few more shots until the door flew off its hinges.

We charged out, but just then a Shrinik leaped forward. I dropped to the floor and fired at the Shrinik, but it kept coming. I saw Michael on the floor beside me. He released numerous rounds from the M4 at the Shrinik, sending more of its green blood everywhere. I fired again, and this time it flew to the ground in a heap. A few feet away, the other two were still reeling in pain. An explosion just above my head made me gasp. I turned and saw flashing white light. More gunfire. Then three humans turned the corner, firing in all directions. I crawled back into the room we’d just left for cover.

Michael spun around and dived in after me. He let out a shot before he landed on the floor, sending one of the men crashing to the floor, dead. But Michael rolled around in pain. I held his head and saw blood running down the left side, where he must have banged it. I could hear the men still approaching us, shooting at the same time.

The AN-94 shook in my trembling hands. I saw more and more pieces of the wall falling from the rapid gunfire coming from the remaining two men. The Shriniks had also regained their composure and stared at us with menace. More organisms appeared around their bodies, replacing the ones that had disintegrated. I raised my gun and started shooting, but the Shriniks kept charging forward. I stopped firing and picked up the shotgun. The creatures were now about three feet away. I released shell after shell, sending each one back a few yards.

“Michael,” I screamed as I kept firing.

I felt movement beneath me, and then Michael was back on his feet. The Shrinik with some of its face missing charged forward at that moment, but Michael fired at its head, taking more chunks off. Only parts of the left side of the creature’s face were left, but it was still coming. The gunfire hadn’t stopped either. Then I heard another kind of explosion. One much louder than I’d heard before. It sounded like Doug’s future gun.
It must be him.
The newer gunshots kept coming. I looked out and saw the Shriniks falling over themselves as the bullets hit their bodies.

Then the one with most of its head blown off lost the rest of it after a bright white light struck it, making it explode into multiple pieces. Scores of its green blood flew everywhere, some onto my cheeks. I grimaced and wiped it off. The other Shriniks kept backing away toward the human shooters as the loud shots continued coming.

When I inched out farther, a bullet just missed my head. Michael pulled me back in and held me down. I could still hear the Shriniks, but it sounded like they had retreated even farther. I wondered where Doug was, as I couldn’t hear his bullets anymore. Then the gunfire from the humans to the right of the corridor returned, drawing nearer with each passing minute. Michael grimaced and rose to his knees with difficulty. The shooters must have been only seconds away. I heard the footsteps getting closer and closer. I lifted the AN-94 again, waiting. But just then I heard machine-gun fire coming from our left. I heard the men coming for us grunt before falling to their deaths.

Doug charged into view holding the AN-94 he’d taken from the weapons bag and, in his other hand, the small alien pistol.

“You guys okay?” he said.

I nodded and glanced at Michael, who was still massaging his injured head.

“Thanks, pal,” Michael said.

“Don’t mention it,” Doug said.

We heard a roar and loud hissing from the direction of the ceiling.

“Come on,” Doug said.

Michael nodded and rose to his feet, the rucksack around his back again. I stood up, too, the AN-94 in my right hand, the shotgun in my left. We stepped out to find the headless Shrinik lay beside the three dead men. Red and green blood smeared the floor and the walls. We called out to the rest of our party outside but heard nothing. Then we looked in both directions.

“We can’t go right,” I said. “The two Shriniks just now went that way.”

Doug nodded and edged in front of us. We all took short steps toward where Doug had just come from, all our guns raised. The floor vibrated for a moment, followed by hundreds of simultaneous howls. We stopped cold.

“What was that?” I said.

Doug raised his hands and stood there. The vibrations grew louder and louder, like an approaching stampede. Then snarls and screams joined the howls.

“Guys,” I said. None of them moved or acknowledged me. “
Guys
!”

A horde of Shriniks turned the corner ahead and charged straight for us. We all spun around and bolted down the corridor.