Joel Adrian - A Shattered Future

“That was a rifle,” Mona said.

Emersyn started to run off, but Mona grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the ground. “Shh! Stop.”

They both held still, the only thing audible was Emersyn’s rapid breaths.

“Quietly, we need to sneak back there. The surprise is all we have.”

Emersyn nodded at Mona and followed her in a crouch back towards the clearing.

They slowly made their return, obscured by the dense bushes and foliage. Mona led the way, picking spots to step that wouldn’t crackle underbrush or snap twigs. Once they were back in view of the clearing, she held up a fist, and Emersyn stopped.

She adjusted her head to peer through a small bush. Emersyn could smell the faint gunsmoke on the wind.

There was a voice of an older man. “Now, someone wanna tell me what’s really going on?!”

Emersyn recognized it. It was the older hunter who’d come upon them.

Mona crept around to another bush, and reached a hand under several of the branches, pushing them aside gently. She sucked in a breath and waited. Emersyn couldn’t see what was going on, but she could hear the hunter pacing.

Mona darted out from the bushes in a charge.

Jerking her head up, Emersyn watched as Mona tackled the hunter from behind. The rifle flung from his hands. She wrapped an arm around his throat and her legs around his abdomen. He gasped for air, trying to break free of her vicelike grip.

The hunter reached up and grabbed a handful of Mona’s hair, yanking on it. Mona screamed in pain. The hunter jerked his hand down, ripping the hair from her head. She roared and tightened the grip as his face grew purple. The eyes were bulging out of his face, a vein throbbing on his forehead as he fought for life.

He gurgled, and a second later, the life left his body as his eyes shut and he went limp.

Mona kept the hold on for several more seconds. She eventually let the body ease from her grip, gasping for a breath of her own.

Taking short, quick breaths, Emersyn revealed herself from the bushes. She glanced around. Naomi was laying in a pool of blood just a few feet from Bravon Pearson.

Emersyn raised a hand to her mouth in horror, falling backwards onto her rear. “Oh, God.”

Mona turned to see the body. Her expression didn’t change. She looked to the rifle the hunter had used, then to Catalina, who was cowering against a tree.

“The hell happened?” Mona asked, annoyed. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

Tears welled in Catalina’s eyes. “I-It happened so quickly, I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry.”

Getting up, Emersyn made her way to Catalina and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Catalina closed her eyes and started to sob.

“We’re down a soldier,” Mona said. She pointed at Bravon. “Maybe two.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Emersyn said. She couldn’t believe her future self could be so cold and ruthless. “These are people’s lives. These are human beings. Not resources.”

Mona’s face formed a pinched expression. “Right now, we need trained soldiers to keep us alive. Some hunter, a random hunter, just took out one of us!”

Tanner stirred from the ground. “Oh, Christ, what kind of time-jump-hangover is this?” He groaned as he sat up, eyes glazed over. He turned to face the group, cracking Mona and Emersyn a smile. “Good to see you two, too. Or, since you’re both the same, nice to see you, Emersyn. What’s going…” His eyes fell on the two bodies. His smile lowered into a muted frown.

He crawled over to Naomi, shaking his head. “No, no, no, shit, no!” he cried. He cradled her in his arms, lifting her body up. Her eyes were left open in shock, but the life was gone from her body.

Emersyn watched as he looked at the hunter, piecing together what happened in his mind. Tears spilled from his eyes. His breaths were sharp and quick like he couldn’t get enough air. “Come back, Naomi. Naomi please, come back to me.” A trail of spittle fell from his mouth as his words broke into a sob. “Damn it!”

Joey Del Core was still against the tree, sleeping, snoring. How he hadn’t woken up during the commotion was beyond Emersyn.

“We need to establish a plan.” Mona picked the hunting rifle up, and pulled the bolt back, ejecting the spent bullet casing. “This was never going to work, I was stupid for thinking it was.” She kneeled, surveying the scene. “Let’s just focus on getting back to the cave, getting you guys back to your time. You’ve got enough information, you can warn them.”

“Just shut up!” Catalina cried, her voice fraught with fear and anger. “You’re not helping.”

Mona eyed the young Hispanic girl but stayed her words.

Standing, Emersyn moved over to Tanner and rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Though he didn’t respond, Emersyn rubbed his shoulder and did her best to comfort him. She was the furthest thing from a good shoulder to cry on but seeing him so torn up with nobody comforting him made her feel less of a human.

Silence befell the entire group again for the next hour. The sun had started to descend in the sky, afternoon creeping upon them.

“Seeing this stuff really racks my brain,” Catalina said.

She and Emersyn were sitting under a tree, about thirty feet away from the clearing. The grass was taller, and the tree was gnarled and bending the further it grew up. It provided them relief from the sun, but they were both too shocked to talk.

Emersyn half-nodded, but she wasn’t paying attention. Her thoughts were fixated on Mona. 24 hours ago, she’d been fascinated by the woman and wanted to learn about her future. Now, seeing how cold and ruthless she was, she couldn’t fathom ever becoming so distant.

“The time travel stuff scares me more,” Catalina continued, not looking to see whether Emersyn was listening or not. “When I grew up, I-I saw lots of death. Gangs on my street. My brother got shot in a gang war.”

Her words brought Emersyn back to reality. She turned to face Catalina, looking over the feeble young girl. The tattoos running up and down her arms felt sharply contrasting with her shaky personality.

“I’m sorry,” Emersyn managed in a voice barely above a whisper. She needed to get death off her mind. She motioned to Catalina’s ink-lined arms. “What are they for?”

Catalina held her arms out. A smile cracked at her face. “To escape.” She pointed at one, a sword against a shield. “This one’s my attack and defense, reminds me to stay strong no matter what.” On the opposite arm, she pointed at a snake wrapped around a syringe. “This is my past. Haunts me every day. But since I put this on myself, I know I can never go back there. I could never face myself.”

“I . .” Emersyn wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t want to apologize again, this time for the woman’s past, but praising it felt wrong.

“It’s okay,” Catalina said. She turned and looked up at Emersyn with her dark, full eyes. “I’m not ashamed of where I used to be. I have to acknowledge it. That’s how I move forward. Can’t run from your past.” She shook her head. “It took me years in prison to learn that.”

“That where you got the tattoos?”

She pointed to a few. “Just these. The rest were done when I was out. Which was a lot… I was in and out for stupid shit. Larceny, robbery, aggravated assault…”

Emersyn quirked an eyebrow. This time she didn’t stay her tongue. “Assault? Someone like you?”

Chuckling, Catalina turned to face the ground. “Don’t let my size intimidate you, homie. I can put up a hell of a fight. I don’t stay down.”

Emersyn admired the young girl’s honesty and determination. Between the two of them, she seemed far likelier to become a soldier, even with her small frame taken into consideration.