Chapter 3

"What's going on?" Kristie wondered as she ran into a crowd outside of school.

Elias craned his neck to look over the crowd. "I'm not sure, but there are cops talking to the principal up front. Stay here; I'll check it out."

"Hmm..." Her eyes trailed along the plain, white building. Nothing seemed out of place. I wonder if something happened during the power outage. A man in a security uniform caught her eye. He had his hat tipped down to cover his face as he looked around.

Their eyes connected, and he turned away to leave.

He looks familiar, but not like our normal security.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Kristie followed him to the back of the building, where it separated into different school grades and their research department. She looked around the cross-section.

"I swear he went this way," she mumbled to herself. "Ah! Hmph—" Someone slammed her against the wall and covered her mouth with their hand as they pressed their firm body up to hers.

It was the security guard she followed.

She tried to push him away to no avail and froze when she recognized him.

No way! This can't be possible.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he whispered to her. "Okay?"

She nodded.

"I'll take my hand off my mouth if you promise not to scream. If you do, I'll have to knock you out. Okay?"

She nodded again. He pulled his hand back, and she took a deep breath.

He looked around again, checking for more people as he thought. "Why did you follow me?"

"Because you were acting suspicious. Can you back away a bit? You're kinda close."

"I'm sorry, but please put up with it for now. I don't know if I can trust you yet."

"Oh... Are you...?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Do you recognize me?"

"From the cryo pod, but how?"

"Cryo pod? That's what that was?" He held onto his head, cringing as memories of his past flickered through his head. Images of war and poverty. Of his time as a soldier. Of being injured. His hand flew to his chest, and he stumbled back a few steps, heaving.

"Are... you okay?"

"I... I was wounded."

"You mean before you were put into the cryo pod?"

"I guess so. I don't remember being put in there." He looked up at the skyscrapers in the distance. "I'm afraid to even ask, but what year is this?"

"2099."

Ring, ring, ring. Her watch went off, and they both jumped.

"Sorry about that." She answered the video call on her watch, making sure her back was to the wall, so he couldn't see the other man.

"Where are you?" Elias glared at her. "I went to check out what was going on, and come back to find you missing. And don't lie and say you went to your classroom; all the buildings are on lockdown right now."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Wish I was better at thinking on my feet.

"So, where are you?"

She looked up at the man with his eyes trained on her and arms crossed as he waited.

"And I can see the building behind you; I know you're outside."

"My stomach started to cramp, so I went to find another bathroom. Speaking of, I haven't found one to use yet. Gotta go. Literally." She hung up the phone call.

"What is that? It looks like a watch." He pointed at the white and blue device attached to her left wrist. "And why didn't you call for help?"

"Because I don't need any. You're not here to hurt me, so it's not like I'm in trouble. I didn't think you'd want anyone else to know about you, even if he is my best friend, and he kinda knows about you."

He raised an eyebrow.

Crap. I need to learn to shut my trap. "I've seen you in the cryo pod, remember? And he was with me when I saw you." A few times, anyway.

"This is insane." He rubbed his face. "If it's the year you said it is, then it's likely everyone I know is dead. My family. My friends. What happened with the war? This is all too much."

"I think we should get you somewhere safer. I don't know how you got out, or what their plans for you would be now, but something tells me we should leave."

"Leave? And go where? I have nowhere to go. I don't know anyone. I have no home. I have nothing. What—" He snapped his mouth shut when she grabbed onto his face with both hands, forcing him to stare into her amber eyes.

"Deep breaths." She breathed slowly as she tried to get him to match hers. "Let's get out of here before you have a breakdown. I'm not sure what AI will do once they notice you; they have eyes everywhere."

"AI? It took over?"

"Pretty much saved the human race decades ago. The world would be an impoverished wasteland by now if it wasn't for it. At least, that's what we're told. It's controlled everything for so long that most of us don't remember what life was like before it." Other than the outsiders.

"That's... insane. How can something humans created take over?"

Kristie shrugged. "Because humans messed up too much and had to rely on it to turn things around. Now, let's go." She took his hand.

"That was totally a lie," Elias grumbled. "What in the world could she be up to?" He let out a long sigh and looked at the growing crowd. "I have a bad feeling about this."