Joel Adrian - A Shattered Future

Catalina was leading.

Mona didn’t much mind, if she didn’t have to look at Tanner Highwall.

“So, uh, in your time, are there any new technologies I should be aware of?” Catalina eyed Mona. “You know, any company or idea worth investing in, amigo?”

She tried to keep the smile from tugging at the edges of her mouth. “Aren’t you in prison, kid? How are you going to invest?”

Catalina stuck a hand out, mocking as if she was offended. “Hey, amigo, you’re from 20 years up. I’ve got 5 years left on my bid, and if I survive this, I hope to cut it down to dos .” She held up two fingers.

Tanner scoffed from the back. “Maybe we oughta focus on getting our asses out of here alive before we talk about selling them to invest in companies.”

Catalina scowled. “Buzzkill.”

“No flying cars or anything,” Mona said, pretending she didn’t hear Tanner, “but the military has some cool augmented-reality tech. Nothing revolutionary in the public eye, though.”

Mona saw Catalina’s face transform from excited to sad. “Darn.”

The clouds had taken the sky overhead and were a sickly gray as they carried on from the road, back towards the cave. They were tired, hungry, and anxious to get back. Mona’s stomach had started to churn with her own anxieties about the situation. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I was thinking,” Tanner said, “that hunter that… killed Naomi.” He struggled through the words. “Awfully convenient.”

Catalina quirked her head back towards him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “So, Mona, what are the odds that was an undercover Time Regulator, eh?”

She kept her focus forward. This isn’t the Tanner you know , she told herself. This isn’t him. “Could be. But the ones we saw had a uniform.”

Mona saw Tanner shake his head out of the corner of her eye. “No way,” he started, “it had to be. They can track the stones, right? The gems? How many other people we seen out here?”

She stopped and considered his words, separate from the pain his voice brought her. “It’s… possible,” she said. “But I doubt it.”

“I’m just ready to get back,” Catalina said. “Back in my cell. Warm in the winter, cold in the summer, my girls in B block are gonna die when they hear about this stuff.”

“What stuff?” Tanner asked, side-stepping a large hole in the dirt. “We didn’t see much. Didn’t do much. Didn’t find squat.”

She turned back, her face pinched. “Are you off your nut, ese? We’re in 2040 right now! The future! How many people can say they’ve been here, amigo?”

“Was hoping we’d at least be able to finish the mission,” Tanner grumbled.

“Far as I’m concerned, we did,” Catalina said. She nudged Mona. “Isn’t that right, old girl?”

Mona turned to the Hispanic woman. “We’ll see. If your President Warren is anything like the one I remember, he’s an ass. Stubborn as hell. Might not take us at our word.”

The group trudged along as specks of water started birthing from the large, overhanging clouds above. They were coming up on a bend. If Mona’s memory served correct, after the bend, they would only be four or five miles out from the cave.

She suspected they wouldn’t see the sun again today. An hour ago, it had been dipping generously into the sky. The evening would be here quick, night even quicker after that. She needed to get all of them in the cave and back to their timeline before night fell.

Three men emerged from the bend, all wearing matching sets of button-down shirts with the hourglass emblem sewn onto them.

Mona, Tanner, and Catalina froze in their tracks. To their left, the steep cliff that fed off into the woods. On the right, they were bordered by the edge of a mountain. And behind them was a straight road. They’d never be able to outrun the Time Regulators.

Mona felt her body tense. The pistol was still in its holster. She took a deep breath, her panicked thoughts racing through her mind like mice.

“We can’t run,” Catalina said.

“We fight.” Tanner pulled his pistol out.

Mona turned to face him. The pain struck her worse than a blow to the side of the head. His face was younger, but still the same. The face she’d been trying this entire time to ignore and avoid. “You kill them, they’ll kill you.”

Tanner shook his head. “They can try. We have to get back. The others don’t know how to use the Requiem. I’ll take these guys out!”

Mona stood firm, shoving her face into Tanner’s. “I’m not losing you again.”

He titled his head, eyes narrowing. “What? Again?”

The Time Regulars advanced quickly on their position, walking forward at a brisk pace. Mona raised her pistol and fired at their feet, careful not to hit them. The shots didn’t cause them to back off.

One of the Time Regulators took the lead from the others, raising a hand. “You’ve caused a great deal of trouble for our organization. You’re all to be taken to cells in a timeline far from here until we come to a punishment.”

Tanner looked the agent up and down. “Yeah? Come get us first.” He leveled his pistol at the regulator.

The Time Regulator frowned. “This doesn’t have to end in a shootout. Come peacefully and we can speak like civilized folk.”

Catalina raised her middle finger to them. “Civilized enough for you, amigo? Get out of our way.”

The Regulators charged forward, intent on seizing them and transporting them away. Mona was out of options. She raised the pistol and fired on them.

Two of the regulators vanished. One was struck in the stomach and collapsed onto the ground.

Before she could think, the other two re-appeared behind them. One tackled Catalina to the ground. The other descended on Mona. Mona started to raise her gun, but the regulator sunk to the ground and spun around, tripping her and causing her to fall. Tanner wrapped his arms around the regulator, but the regulator was quick, throwing his head back and smashing it into Tanner’s face.

Crying out, Tanner fell backwards. Catalina pulled her pistol free and fired four shots of rubber bullets into the regulator’s chest. He stumbled backwards but didn’t go down.

Mona tackled the regulator that was fighting Tanner and pulled her baton free. She smashed it into his face, then again, and again. His nose was bloodied, and he spit out a glob of blood and teeth. He raised a hand to his collar, pulling a chain up from around his neck. It was a small, circular black container. He activated it with a button on the side and disappeared beneath her.

She turned around, searching for him, but he was gone. “Damn!”

Mona spun and smashed the regular that Catalina shot in the back of the head with her baton. She turned to see the man she’d shot with one hand wrapped around Tanner’s wrist, and the other reaching for his own pendant.

“No!” Mona screamed, and she charged forward, grabbing her pistol off the muddy ground. She raised it and fired.

The bullet hit dead on, killing the time regulator. His body crumpled to the side of Tanner.

“You traitor!”

She turned to see the remaining regulator staring at her in horror. He produced a revolver from his own waistband and spun, pointing the gun at Catalina.

They both fired.

Catalina’s rubber bullet connected with the regulator’s hand, causing him to writhe in pain and drop his pistol. His shot lurched itself into her chest, and she fell back into the ground with a gasp.

A second later, and the regulator vanished.

“No, no, no!” Tanner screamed, rushing over to Catalina and cradling her in his body. “Damn it, come on!”