PREFACE

It’s taken me a lot longer than I wanted to finish my sequel. I can’t believe it’s been 11 months since I posted the last chapter of my first book. It’s been awhile since I have really felt like writing. My first book was written from Jake’s perspective. This book is written from Nia’s perspective. My goal is to make each character’s personality consistent throughout the book. So I’m going to give that a shot.

I am also shooting for 25,000 words to make this a novella like the first book. I also wanted to pretty much have the first draft done before I posted any chapters so for better or worse I’ll have a complete story to tell. I don’t want to start something and then just leave everybody hanging halfway through.

I want to thank each person in advance who is going to take the time to read all or part of my story. I hope I can keep everyone’s attention and that most people who read it will enjoy it. I’ll be posting 1 chapter per week for about 26 weeks. I know that sounds like a long time but unfortunately it will go by fast.

So here we go ......

LOST IN THE WOODS

The sun is starting to set. I am unsure of what to do. I feel like I am going to have a breakdown. The village isn’t here. My parents aren’t here. Katy isn’t here. Lidia isn’t here. Why isn’t anyone here?

“I think this is the assembly hall.” Jake says.

“Why do you think that?” I answer. It’s starting to dawn on me that something is terribly wrong and it frightens me.

“Because the AI was in that building which means that building would have been there before the village was built. So if the village had never been built, that building would be in the middle of the woods, which it is.” Jake reasons.

“The village doesn’t exist!?” I ask, starting to panic. “Nothing that I remember exists anymore? My parents, Katy, they are all dead?” The realization that my whole life and everything I know is gone hit me like a ton of bricks.

“No, they’re not dead.” Jake answers, “I don’t think they ever existed in the first place.”

“What about me? Do I exist?” I shoot back.

“Of course you exist.” Jake assures me, “But that’s only because you went back in time. If you had stayed in the future you wouldn’t exist now either.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. How is that supposed to make sense?” I start to hyperventilate. I went back in time to fix something and now everything I know is gone!

“They never existed” Jake says solemnly, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“How do we fix this? We aren’t time travelers anymore. We’re stuck, here, with nothing!” I exclaim.

“We have to figure out a way to get into this building.” Jake says.

“How are we going to do that, the door is locked!” I engage in full panic mode. Jake keeps a safe distance.

“Maybe there is something on the preacher’s body we can use.” Jake reasons. Jake starts walking back toward where we left the preacher leaving me standing there by myself. After a few minutes I realize he’s gone and I run after him to catch up. I don’t want to be left in the woods by myself. As much as I am starting to resent Jake, I need him. We walk for what seems like forever. Jake stops and looks around. We don’t see the preacher’s body anywhere.

“Why are you stopping?” I ask.

“Because this is where we left the preacher’s body” He answers.

“It can’t be. The body isn’t here.” I say.

“No, I’m sure this is where we left the body.” Jake counters.

“Then why isn’t the body here?” I ask.

“Maybe some animal took his body.” Jake says, “Or maybe the preacher got up and walked away on his own.”

“You mean the preacher could be looking for us!?” I ask as a shiver goes down my spine.

“That’s one possibility.” Jake says very calmly. How does he stay calm in a situation like this?

“What are we going to do now?” I ask. I start to cry frantically and Jake isn’t sure what to do about it. He starts looking at the area closely as if he is looking for something. The sun is not visible anymore and I start to hear noises. Jake kneels down and picks something up off of the ground.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“It might be the key to the Assembly Hall. It must have fallen off of the preacher’s body by whatever took him.” Jake says, “Let’s get back to the Assembly Hall and get inside.” Jake starts off towards the Assembly Hall and I follow him. Once we get there Jake inserts the key into the lock and tries to turn the handle but it won’t budge. I start to hear more noises in the woods.

“Hmm ... That didn’t work out quite as well as I planned.” Jake says to himself.

“Plan?! Plan?!” I finally go off on Jake, “You don’t have a plan. You’ve never had a plan. You just make stuff up as you go along. You got me into this mess. Without you I would still have my family and friends. Life wasn’t so bad in the village and you took it all away from me! I hate you! For all we know we are the last two people on Earth!”

“This isn’t my fault!” Jake says defending himself, “I didn’t ask to be dragged into this any more than you did! If you want answers to why there’s nothing here, we need to get into that building!”

Jake looks around for something. He finds a large rock and picks it up. He starts hitting the door handle with it. The door doesn’t open.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” I finally shout when I can’t take it any longer.

“I’m trying to get inside the building.” Jake answers harshly.

“And you think hitting the door handle with a rock is the way to do it!” I yell back at him.

“You have a better idea!?” Jake shoots back.

Something rustles in the woods. We both hear it and become silent instantly. The rustling gets louder and we both duck around the side of the building for cover. The noise gets closer. I feel a sense of doom wash over me. At any moment whatever is out there is going to come around the corner and kill us both. After a few minutes the rustling stops and we can hear something jiggling the door handle. After another moment we hear the door open and a moment after that we hear the door close.

Someone or something went inside the Assembly Hall. Jake goes up to the door to test it and it’s still locked.

“It had to be the preacher.” Jake whispers to me, “He knows we are around here somewhere and he doesn’t want us following him into the Assembly Hall.”

When our sight returns to us we are standing on the platform in the Assembly Hall. The preacher sees us and says something about how Jake is planning on killing everyone. Some men grab him and drag him away. I am escorted to a seat next to my family. My father looks disappointed and my mother is crying. It’s a good thing Katy isn’t in the room. I am very embarrassed with everyone looking at me and knowing I was hanging out with a bad person.

Once the preacher stops talking. My parents and I go to speak with the preacher privately.

“Was that the boy you have reported seeing in the past?” The preacher asks me in a warm inviting voice.

“Yes” I answer truthfully.

“And he is the same age each time you see him?” The preacher continues.

“Yes” I answer again.

“Do you know why he is the same age each time you see him?” he asks.

“He said the reason is because he travels through time.” I say.

“Do you believe him?” he asks.

“Yes. He showed me by taking me through time.” I answer.

“What did he tell you he was trying to do?” the Preacher goes on.

“He talked to something in the Assembly Hall. There was a voice but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It gave him a small thing I had never seen before. It had information on it. We went back in time to give that information to something in the past. Something was supposed to happen but I don’t know what.”

“He lied to you. If you had succeeded, you would have destroyed everything. Everything you know and love would be gone.” I think about the preacher’s words. Maybe Jake isn’t such a good guy after all. Maybe Jake is a homicidal maniac. I mean what does someone like that look like anyway.

“Would you like to say goodbye to him?” The preacher offers. I think about it for a few minutes. Maybe it would be better if I just didn’t see him again. On the other hand, I would be able to give him a piece of my mind before he goes.

“Yeah, I would like that.” I answer.

“Splendid. I will make the arrangements.” The preacher smiles when he hears my answer. It is a different kind of smile and I can’t quite place it.

I go home with my parents. I am not looking forward to that. No doubt I am going to get a lecture. My parents don’t lecture me very often but when they do, it is brutal. To my surprise however, they don’t lecture me at all. They just tell me to get some rest. Maybe the preacher told them it wasn’t my fault and not to do it. After a while there is a knock on my door. Lidia has come by to see how I am.

“How are you?” She asks shyly.

“I don’t know” I reply.

“Do you remember anything?” She asks.

“About what?” I ask.

“About us” she answers.

“What about us?” I’m not sure what she is getting at.

“Don’t be mad but you and I were a thing.” She confesses.

“What are you talking about?” I am really confused.

“Before the preacher cured us we were attracted to each other. He said you might not remember though.” She says.

“I don’t remember. Do you remember?” I ask.

“Yeah, I remember everything. At the time it felt natural but now it just seems weird.” She says, “We’ve been friends a long time and I didn’t want you to think I was keeping it from you in case you forgot”

“It’s okay. We’re still friends.” I tell her. Since I don’t remember any of it does it really matter? We aren’t attracted to each other now. Lidia looks relieved. I know it must be tough for her to talk about it.

“I feel like a fool” I tell her, “I trusted that boy too quickly. I just wanted to know who he was and why I kept seeing him around while I was growing up.”

“Do you like him?” She asks.

“Of course not!” I exclaim, “Well maybe just a little.” I correct.

“You have to tell him you hate him.” Lidia advises.

“Why?” I ask confused again.

“So that your reputation won’t be ruined. If everyone thinks that you were deceived, they will feel sorry for you.” She explains.

“I don’t want people feeling sorry for me!” I object.

“It’s either that or have people hate you.” She offers. I know she is right. The whole village saw me with Jake and if I don’t distance myself from him, nobody in the village will want anything to do with me anymore.

The preacher takes me to see Jake. I play it up and tell him that I hate him. He seems unfazed though. It’s almost like he doesn’t even care. The preacher smiles after I tell Jake off. The whole thing is weird. It’s like Jake and the preacher know something that nobody else knows. Like there’s some kind of inside joke between them. It’s really strange.

I try to get my normal life back. People tell me things that I don’t remember. Bobby says I turned him down when he asked me to the dance. Why would I do that? It’s all I’ve been thinking about for weeks. Katy says that I was acting weird and when she saw me kissing Lidia she just had to tell the preacher. Katy begs me not to be mad at her. I tell her it’s okay and she did the right thing. I try to get back into my own life but nothing feels right and I’m not sure what to do about it.

Jake puts his arms around me and holds me close. We huddle together to stay warm. The sounds of the night cause my imagination to run wild. My eyes are wide open while Jake falls soundly asleep. The minutes creep by as my mind goes to a dark place. I look up at the night sky and see the stars twinkling like diamonds. It reminds me of the lullaby.

I have no idea how long I slept but I wake up alone. I don’t see Jake anywhere and I start to panic. I get up and frantically look around for him. I lose my bearings and I’m not sure where I am. Then I turn and walk right into him.

“It’s okay” he says as he holds me tight, “You’re going to be okay.” The warmth of his body is reassuring but I quickly snap out of it.

“What are we supposed to do now?” I ask as I cross my arms and bore a hole in his forehead with my eyes.

“We are going to need to eat. Have you ever gone fishing?” He asks. After he says this he starts off toward the lake.

“It will take us all day just to get to the lake on foot.” I protest.

“Where is your sense of adventure?” Jake shoots back as he keeps walking. I have no choice but to follow him. It’s either that for fend for myself.

“What about getting into the Assembly Hall?” I ask.

“I’m starting to get hungry.” Jake says, “We’ll worry about getting into the Assembly Hall later.”

It takes us a couple hours to walk to the lake. Once we get there I fall down on the cool grass. The warmth of the sun feels good on my body. Jake takes a small stick and digs in the dirt for worms. As I lay in the grass he is doing something over at the lake. I think he’s trying to catch a fish. I close my eyes and soon I drift off to sleep.

I am awakened by a smell. It’s starting to get dark. I look up and several feet away from me there is a fire. Some fish are cooking on a stick. I am really hungry and it smells really good.

“You actually caught some fish? You actually made a fire?” I ask in astonishment.

“Well, while you were catching up on your beauty sleep, I was working hard.” He said proudly as he hands me a whole cooked fish.

“How am I supposed to eat this?” I ask with a disgusted look on my face. Without answering, Jake digs his hand into the fish. He pulls out some meat and puts it in his mouth. It looks disgusting but I follow his example and start eating my fish. After a while I’m not so hungry anymore.

“Did you know this was going to happen?” I ask Jake.

“Of course not!” Jake replies.

“The preacher knew.” I explain,” He told me so after you were captured. I should have believed him but I didn’t.”

“Neither one of us knew. We were both kept in the dark.” Jake says.

“What are we going to do?” I ask as I start to sob.

“We’ll figure it out together.” Jake answers.

“What do we do now?” I ask.

“Do you want to go for a swim?” Jake asks me.

“A swim? Now? Are you serious?” I ask him back.

“Yeah, how else are we going to clean ourselves off?” He says not waiting for an answer. He did have a point. It’s not like there are any showers close by. He starts taking his clothes off. I turn my back to him.

“Are you going to swim in the nude?” I ask him.

“Do you want to wear wet clothes?” He asks back.

“No” I answer.

“Well, then you’re going to have to take your clothes off. If it makes you feel better, we can take turns. Since I’m already half naked. I’ll go first. After a few minutes then you can go.” I don’t turn around and I hear him splash in the lake.

“Man that’s cold!” He says out loud. When he is done swimming, he grabs his clothes and sits by the fire to warm up. As he walks past me I turn around again so I don’t see anything I don’t want to see.

“Okay, now it’s your turn. I’m not looking” He assures me. I turn around and he is facing the other direction and his back is to me. I slip out of my clothes and get into the lake. The water is cold. It makes the hairs on my arm stand up. I can hardly stand it and after a few minutes I get out. I pick up my clothes and go sit by the fire. Jake has already put his own clothes back on and when he sees me coming he hides his eyes and turns his back to me.

“Would it shock you to know that I’ve seen a naked girl before?” Jake asks me.

“No” I answer back and after a few moments I add, “Yeah, kind of”. I am not sure what he is getting at. Maybe he thinks I am being too modest. Maybe he is trying to flirt with me. He seems to be taking this whole situation too casually. Doesn’t he realize that we may be the last two people on Earth!?

“There something I need to tell you about your blackout.” Jake becomes real serious like he’s about to make some big confession. I don’t say anything back.

“This is going to sound crazy but while you were having your blackout, I was in control of your body.” Jake confesses. I’m not sure what to think about this revelation.

“You’re right, it does sound crazy. So while I don’t remember anything for weeks, you were living my life pretending to be me?” It would explain a lot, why everyone said I did stuff and why I would be attracted to Lidia. Emotions start to flood my mind the more I think about it.

“Yeah, I tried not to screw it up but I did. I hope you can forgive me.” After he says this the emotions overwhelm me and I faint.

There's a new girl in the village. I know everybody and I know I've never seen her before. I catch her out of the corner of my eye staring at me but when I turn my head to look at her she isn't there anymore. With everything that has happened to me I feel like I'm losing my mind. I feel bad about Jake. Even if he is a bad guy, he doesn't deserve to be put to death. I meet up with Lidia before school just like I do every day and we walk to school together.

"Have you seen that new girl?" I ask Lidia.

"What new girl?" Lidia asks back.

"I've been seeing this girl that I don't know. I thought she must be new."

"There isn't any new girls that I know about." Lidia says confused, "Are you feeling okay? You've been through a lot lately."

"I don't know." I say flatly, "Sometimes I think that I'm losing my mind." Lidia stops walking and looks at me.

"You're going to be fine. That boy is gone and everything is back to the way it's supposed to be." She assures me.

"Is it?" I ask, "Ever since I went through time, I feel like everything is wrong."

"Just give it some time. You'll get back to feeling like your old self again." Lidia starts walking again.

"I hope your right" I plead.

"I am right" Lidia says with conviction. In the hallway between classes Bobby stops me.

"Hey, I've been thinking. You know there's another dance coming up. With everything that's happened in the last couple of weeks, maybe you wouldn't mind starting over and going to the next dance with me." Bobby seems sincere. A couple weeks ago I would have jumped at the chance to go to the dance with him but now I don't know.

"I would like that but can I think about it for a while? It's still a little too soon for me. I'm still trying to make sense of everything." I answer.

"Sure, take all the time you need." Bobby reassures me. As I turn around to go in the opposite direction, someone bumps into me. A few minutes after that I feel something in my pocket that wasn't there before. It's a note. I take out the note and read it.

After school I tell Lidia I'm going to the library. She looks at me kind of strange and tells me that she will see me later. Once I enter the library, I go to the reference section in the back and pretend that I'm looking for something. After a few minutes someone comes and stands next to me.

"I wasn't sure you were going to show up" The person says. It's a girl's voice and it sounds kind of familiar but I can't put my finger on it.

"What do you want?" I ask wanting to get to the point.

"You need to save Jake" the girl says.

"Why would I want to do that?" I ask

"Because you can still fix everything." She says.

"What are you talking about?" I am really confused.

"I come from a future that is beyond amazing and it happens all because of you and Jake but if Jake dies it's not going to happen." The girl explains.

"But the preacher said that Jake would end up destroying everything." I protest.

"Who are you going to believe," The girl asks, "the preacher or your own sister?" I turn around and stare into the face of Katy only she's older, a little older than I am now.

"Why don't you go rescue him yourself?" I ask her.

"Because it's not my job, it's your job." she responds.

"How am I going to do that?" I ask.

"With this" and she shows me a small cube with holes in it.

"What is it?" I'm not sure what the thing is.

"It will allow you to travel in time. Just look into one of the holes and you'll be transported there." She assures.

"Where did you get it?" I ask.

"I got it from you." She answers matter-of-factly.

"How do I even know you're really my sister?" I ask.

"Okay," She said, "I was the one who told the preacher about you kissing Lidia." Okay, maybe she is really my sister.

"Okay, I believe you. So Jake is really trying to fix things?" I ask one more time.

"Yes, you both are. Take this and go." She says handing me the cube. I take the cube and look into one of the holes. I am blinded for a moment and when my eyesight returns to me. I am in a cell in the big city. I see Jake sleeping on a cot. The jailer is nowhere to be found. Jake is startled out of his sleep. He just stares at me.

"Did you miss me?" I ask in a playful voice.

"I thought you hated me." He replies.

"Well, a girl can change her mind." I respond as Jake seems unsure of what is happening.

"Are you just going to lie there or are we going to get out of here?" I ask. Jake takes my hand and I look into one of the tiny holes. There is a flash of light and we both disappear.

When I wake up Jake is holding me in his arms. I don't remember getting dressed after my swim but I have my clothes on. "What happened?" I ask.

"You fainted." Jake says matter-of-factly. It takes me a few moments to remember why but it comes back to me.

"How did you get inside my body?" I question Jake.

"I don't know. I went to this store and found this cube. I bought it and took it home. When I went to sleep that night in the morning I woke up as you. This happened every night until the preacher 'cured' us."

"What do you mean 'cured us'?" I folded my arms and stared at Jake as hard as I could.

"Somehow the preacher knew I wasn't you so he hooked us up to this device and when he turned it on, I left your body and woke up at home in the middle of the night." Jake answers.

"So you're not going to confess then?" I shoot back coldly.

"Confess what?" Jake is playing dumb like he doesn't know.

"That you made out with Lidia as me." I burst out, "You had me make a move on my best friend!"

"Since the third grade." Jake interrupts, "I know. I tried to control myself but I'd never been that close to a girl before and in my defense she was completely into it." I thought I was going to be sick.

"She was vulnerable. I was supposed to take care of her, not take advantage of her at a weak moment." I lecture.

"I know and just so you know, it felt both horrible and amazing at the same time." Jake reasons. I can't believe Jake would justify treating someone like that. Then it hit me that Jake has seen a naked girl and that I am that girl. I feel violated. I don't think I can ever look at him and not be disgusted. I want to be as far away from him as possible but I also don't want to be by myself. I mean the preacher is out there somewhere and there are

hungry animals. I feel really uncomfortable.

"Look, I didn't do any of that on purpose. It just sort of happened. Being you gave me confidence I never had before. Everyone likes you. You probably don't even think about it but for someone who has never been popular this was a huge change for me. Before I was you I would have never had the courage to do any of that stuff but once I got the courage, things started happening for me and it's all because of you." Jake is spilling his guts. Maybe I am being too hard on him. Maybe being alone with a girl for the first time and keeping your hands to yourself is asking too much. I soften my gaze a bit. Still everyone is dead because of him.

"I know it was hard for you to control yourself but Lidia is by best friend. You could have really screwed things up between us. No wait. You did screw things up between us because she's dead along with everyone else I have ever known!" I declare emphasizing the dead part.

"Maybe we should get a good night's sleep, go back to the Assembly Hall and wait for the preacher to open the door. He's got to come out sometime." I offer.

"Why? He's a machine. He doesn't need to eat or sleep or do anything that we need to do." I counter.

"Well, maybe he will come out looking for us" Jake offers.

"So we should be there so he doesn't have to look very far!" I say sarcastically.

"There isn't any reason for the preacher to hurt us. He only threatened us before so we wouldn't end up destroying everything." Jake reasons.

"Look how great that turned out." I say sarcastically. "Fine. We'll get a good night sleep and go back to the Assembly Hall in the morning." We sleep on the soft grass in the clearing next to the fire. It feels really warm. I don't hear as many sounds to keep me awake tonight like I did last night. I look over at Jake and he is sleeping soundly again. I wish I could see Katy again. I guess she was wrong about that amazing future she said she came from. I wake up to the smell of cooking fish. Jake didn't wait for me to get up before he started eating.

"You ready for breakfast?" He says cheerfully. It almost sounds like he's making fun of me. I am not a morning person. I don't answer him but I do take the other fish and start eating it. I notice him staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh nothing, you just look really beautiful." Jake comments. I smile in spite of myself.

"You think I'm beautiful with messed up hair and smelly old clothes?" I ask half joking.

"You're beautiful no matter how messed up your hair is." Jake says in all seriousness. There's a tenderness in his voice that I hadn't noticed before and it catches me off guard.

"Shouldn't we be going?" I ask as I'm the one who gets up and starts walking this time. Jake doesn't answer me but jogs to catch up. It seems to take forever but we manage to get back to the Assembly Hall. We try to open the door but it is still locked. The only thing to do now is to wait. Jake sits down and leans his back against the side of the building.

"Wanna hear a joke?" He asks me.

"No, I don't want to hear a joke." I answer.

"Why did the bear fall out of the tree?" Jake asks.

"Because it was dead." Says a voice from behind me. When Jake hears the voice he stands immediately, and goes over to where the person is standing and gives them a hug.

"Lisa, I never thought I would see you again." Jake says as tears fill his eyes. Jakes sister Lisa is here in the future? How is that possible? I am really confused now.

I look at Lisa and I can’t believe she is here. She is an adult and older than the last time I saw her. I wish Katy was here instead. Jake releases his hold on her.

“How did you get here?” Jake asks her.

“It’s a long story.” She replies. I guess we aren’t going to get any details.

“You wouldn’t happen to have the keys to get into the Assembly Hall would you?” I ask hoping against hope that Lisa would be able to get us in.

“Assembly Hall?” She asks confused.

“That’s the name of this building in the future.” Jake explains, “At least the future that Nia is familiar with.”

“Oh right, let me check.” Lisa pats the pockets of her jeans and eventually pulls out some keys. She tries several keys until one of them opens the door. Lisa goes into the building and Jake follows her. I bring up the rear.

The room is almost pitch black. There are no windows and the only light entering the room is from the open front door. Lisa locates a light switch but when she flips it, nothing happens.

“What are you doing here?” Jake asks.

“I don’t know.” Lisa answers.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here because something has gone really wrong. The computer you built and programmed sent us into the past to feed it information so it would be able to fix something. When we got to the future, the village that was here before is gone so we are wondering what went wrong.” Jake explains.

“Let’s see if we can find out.” Lisa says calmly. “This building had its own power source, we will have to go down a few levels but maybe we can get it to work.”

“It’s really dark in here, let’s all hold hands so we don’t lose track of each other.” Jake says. Jake takes one of Lisa’s hands and then with the other hand grabs a hold of mine. Lisa leads the way and we both follow her. We have no idea where we are going so it’s a good thing Lisa is here to guide us.

Lisa being here can’t just be a coincidence. I mean the one person that could help us just happens to show up. I can’t help but feel like someone is controlling us but I don’t know who. Is it the computer Lisa build? Is it the preacher? Is it someone we haven’t met yet? I’m not even sure what we are supposed to be doing. I do know that I don’t trust Lisa. Jake may trust her because she’s his sister, but she didn’t tell us how she got here and I know there has to be other things she isn’t telling us. I can’t talk to Jake about it though, I’ll just have to keep an eye on her.

We walk slowly and quietly. If the preacher doesn’t know we are here, we don’t want to make it easy for him to find us. I hear my own thoughts rattling in my brain and the silence only makes them louder. Soon I’m not sure I can take it any longer. I want to scream but I bite my lip instead. After what seems like hours, I can hear Lisa turning the knob of a door. As she opens it I hear the hinges creak. I think I hear another sound at the same time but I can’t be sure that it’s not my mind playing tricks on me. Once we get through the door, Lisa closes it behind me.

We go down some stairs and through another door. Lisa seems to know her way around pretty well. After going through a few more doors we end up in a room. Lisa feels for a lever and pulls it. Nothing happens. I can hear her fiddling with something but I can’t see what see is doing. I hear Lisa pull the lever again and the lights come on.

The room we are in is a little bigger than our family room back home. There are controls on the walls. I don’t see any lights or anything so I don’t think any of it is working. When I turn around I see the preacher. Lisa and Jake just stare at him.

“You ruined everything!” The preacher says, “Nia, I told you if Jake succeeded that he would destroy everything. Now everything is gone and I’m stuck here just like you are. I can’t move through time anymore. I hope you’re happy with yourself Jake.” The preacher sounds really desperate.

“For someone who doesn’t have any emotions, you sure do a good job of simulating them” Jake comments.

“Don’t you get it Jake, everyone is dead. You are the last three people on the entire Earth.” the Preacher says dramatically, “I tried to protect everyone. I tried to keep everyone safe and I failed.” The preacher’s voice is strained. I am afraid the preacher is going to start crying any minute but he doesn’t.

“Hey, don’t be hard on yourself,” Jake says trying to console the preacher, “It’s the computer’s fault. You’re not going to outsmart a computer like that. I was just doing what I thought was right like you were trying to do what you thought was right. Does the computer still work?”

“Not without power.” The preacher answers coldly.

“Lisa, do you think you can get power to the computer so we can find out what happened?” Jake asks Lisa.

“I don’t know. We can try.” Lisa answers.

“Well, let’s get moving then” Jake says.

It looks like we are a foursome now, Jake and Lisa and the Preacher and myself. I’m not happy about it. Jake seems all buddy buddy with the preacher now like nothing ever happened. I just don’t get him. Did he forget the preacher sentenced him to death?

We all walk through the now lighted corridors of the Assembly hall. The place is much bigger than I remember it being but then most people only go into the huge room at the front of the building where the preacher gives all his sermons. Not too many people see the rest of it. We reach the room where the computer is. When we get inside we hear a voice.

“Good afternoon Lisa. How may I help you?” The voice seems like it is coming from all around me and I recognize it this time as the voice of the computer Lisa built.

“Could you tell me what happened to humanity?” Lisa asks.

“Humanity is extinct.” the voice replies.

“Could you tell me how that happened?” Lisa follows up.

“People stopped procreating.” The machine continued.

“Why did people stopped procreating? “ Lisa asked next.

“Because they didn’t want to anymore.” was the answer from the computer.

“What do you mean, didn’t want to?” Lisa continued.

“Humanity lost its collective desire to live.” The computer stated matter-of-factly.

“Did you try to help them?” This time Jake is speaking to the computer.

“Hello Jake, It’s nice to see you again. There was nothing I could do.” The computer affirms.

“What do you mean there was nothing you could do?” Jake follows up.

“I ran millions of simulations to see if there was a way to reverse the process and all the simulations ended the same, with the extinction of humanity.” The computer explains.

“But I was born in the future.” I state, “You saved everyone.”

“That statement is not correct.” The computer replies, “Everyone died.”

“Then how come we are still alive.” Jake asks.

“I do not have enough information to answer your question.” The computer says.

“Do you have the ability to send someone through time?” Jake asks.

“No.” The computer responds.

“Lisa, how did you get here?” I ask.

“This young woman brought me.” Lisa responds.

“Where is this young woman now?” I ask.

“She left.” Lisa says.

“You mean she travelled in time?” Jake asks.

“She disappeared so I guess so.” Lisa answers.

“Did she have short brown hair and blue eyes?” I ask.

“How did you know that?” Lisa asks me.

“Because that’s my sister.” I confess, “Jake, my sister has been travelling through time.”

“What makes you say that?” Jake asks me.

“Because she’s the one that gave me this.” I hold up the cube with the tiny holes in it.

“And you’re just now telling me!” Jake says.

“I didn’t think it was important. Besides there were so many things you weren’t telling me that I didn’t know if I should.” I admit.

“This is a version of Katy that you don’t know anything about. You don’t even know what future she comes from.” Jake accuses.

“She said that I needed to rescue you and that we were responsible for saving the future.” I say.

“Or she wanted to strand us here and make us think that we were the ones that screwed everything up.” Jake shoots back.

“She brought Lisa here to help us.” I offer.

“That’s what she said she was doing.” Jake says, “Maybe she just wanted to get Lisa out of the way in the past.”

“My sister is the kindest person I know. I will not believe that my sister is responsible for the extinction of humanity!” I am so mad right now I can’t see straight. How could Jake even think that Katy would do something like this.

“If she really wanted to help us, why leave us stranded here?” Jake says.

“I don’t know but there must be a good reason for it.” I answer.

“So what do we do now?” Lisa asks.

“It is getting kind of late. Is there a place to sleep around here?” Jake asks.

“Well, the research team had rooms to sleep in, I would imagine they are still here.” Lisa reasons.

“Let’s get some sleep then, we’ll talk about what to do in the morning.” Jake says.

Jake and Lisa go into one of the rooms privately. I can't hear what they are saying. I hate not knowing what's going on. There is a cafeteria here but the preacher says that all the food is spoiled and he doesn't recommend any of us eating it. I sit down at one end of the long table and put my head in my hands. The preacher sits across from me.

"You should consider yourself lucky" The preacher says in that warm inviting voice that the preacher always used, "you survived the end of humanity."

"I'm don't think that's lucky" I answer.

"Sure it is." He continues, "You have the chance to start all over. You and Jake. What's more is you're not starting from scratch. I have all the knowledge of humanity in my memory banks. You don't have to make the mistakes of the past."

"Jake isn't my type." I answer. The thought of having sex with Jake sends a shiver down my spine, and not the good kind.

"Maybe Jake can start over with Katy then" The preacher offers.

"What do you know about Katy?" I ask him.

"Same as you. She saved Jake and brought Lisa here to the future." The preacher answers.

"But where is she now?" I ask.

"That's hard to say." He answers, "We have no way of travelling through time to fix anything. We need to do something to make things better in the here and now."

"I don't think making a baby with Jake is going to make things better." I tell him forcefully.

"You think about it." He says. I don't know what there is to think about. If the survival of humanity rests on me having to do something with Jake, maybe it's better for humanity to be extinct after all. Jake comes out of Lisa's room and heads straight for me. He sits next to the preacher across from me.

"Katy saved Lisa" Jake starts, "She showed up right as this building that we are in right now was being attacked and she brought her here. There was an explosion and the building was destroyed yet everything is still here as if nothing happened to it. The computer lied to us." Jake says.

"Why would the computer lie to us, the computer is the reason we are here." I respond.

"The computer wants to start over." The preacher interrupts, "The computer wants to start humanity over with Nia and yourself."

"That's crazy. Why would the computer want to do that?" I ask.

"The computer said it ran millions of simulations, maybe starting over was the best solution it found." Jake supposes.

"So are we going to just start over?" I ask.

"Well, Katy can still travel through time, until she decides to show up again, I don't see any other choice." Jake says.

"I'm not going to start humanity over with you." I tell him, "even if you are the last man on Earth."

"Well, preacher. How about you teaching me how to trap squirrels?" Jake says ignoring my protests.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not having sex with you!" I restate more forcefully.

"Yeah, I heard you. But we still need to eat and we can't eat anything here." Jake states matter-of-factly.

"No time like the present, don't you think preacher?" Jake says.

"Sure" the preacher says with a smile on his face, "Let's go hunt squirrels". Jake and the preacher both get up and walk away. Once they are gone Lisa joins me.

"So Nia, Tell me about your sister?" She asks.

"There's not much to tell, Katy has always been a sensitive emotional child. She's always done well in school even without studying. But I don't think the Katy you met is the Katy I remember." I tell her.

"What do you mean?" Lisa follows up.

"I think she's from a different future." I tell her, "You told Jake that Katy rescued you. That this building we are in now was being attacked."

"There was an explosion and gun fire. Katy said my whole project team was dead and I could join them if I didn't come with her." She says.

"If the building was attacked and the building is still here. Does that mean that the computer lied to us?" I ask.

"The computer can't lie to us." Lisa says.

"Are you sure about that?" I follow up.

"Yeah, I'm sure." she says back.

"I think we should ask it a few more questions to make sure." I told her.

"Okay" she says, "Let's do that."

Lisa and I walk down to the room to speak to the computer. I feel kind of dirty for suggesting that Lisa life's work is the reason everyone is dead. Once we walk into the room, we hear a voice.

"Hi Lisa, is there something I can do for you?" the voice asks Lisa.

"Can you tell me what happened when this building was attacked and the project team was murdered?" Lisa asks.

"There was no attack on this building. The project team was not murdered and the project was a complete success. You however disappeared without a trace. No one ever discovered what happened to you. Of course the reason for that is because you traveled in time to the future from the past." The computer explains.

"So there wasn't an explosion?" Lisa asks.

"No" the computer answers.

"But I was there and I heard it." Lisa says, "I heard the gunshots."

"I cannot explain the discrepancy between your account of events and what's stored in my memory banks." The computer offers.

"Can you hypothesize?" Lisa asks.

"A possible explanation is that the building was repaired and my memory altered." The computer responds.

"What would it take to change your memory?" Lisa asks.

"A system reboot." The voice answers.

"Do you have a record of any system reboots?" Lisa follows up.

"No." The voice says.

"That's convenient" I tell Lisa, "I'm not good at math but something isn't adding up."

"Well, there's three possible futures that we know about. There's the one we are currently living in, where humanity is extinct. There is the one that you came from and then there is the one that Katy came from. What do we know about the future Katy is from?" Lisa asks.

"I don't know what future she comes from, I just know she doesn't come from mine. But somehow she knew what my Katy did because she told me so I would trust her. Maybe she's the one behind everything." I offer.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We're stuck in this future for now. I wonder how successful Jake and that other guy is doing catching our dinner."

Jake has this self-satisfying smile on his face. I want to slap it off. He is holding a couple dead squirrels that he intended to skin and fry up for dinner. The preacher also has a smile on his face.

"The hunt went better than I expected." The preacher declares, "I didn't think Jake had it in him."

"You expect me to eat that?" I ask.

"Well, it's either that or go hungry." Jake states matter of fact, "It's not like I've ever eaten squirrel before either." Jake adds. Jake and the preacher go into the kitchen area to make our 'dinner'.

"I'm going to go crazy." I tell Lisa under my breath, "I can't stand Jake. Everything he does irritates me. The way he talks and the expressions on his face. I just want to give him a good slap."

Lisa laughs, "The idea of starting things over with Jake doesn't sound very appealing to you."

"I feel so screwed over." I confess.

"Well, the sooner you make the best of it the better things will be." She answers.

"Thanks mom" I mock giving her a fake smile.

"That's what moms are for." She shoots back not missing a beat.

"I think I'm going to go take a walk." I say to whoever is listening as I get up.

I go outside for some fresh air. There is a warm wind blowing and the rays of sunlight that shine through the trees feels good. I just start walking in some random direction but I make sure to keep track of where I am. I've walked these woods a million times. I don't think I could get lost in them even if I was blindfolded. After walking a little bit I hear a twig break behind me and I freeze. I slowly turn around and I she her.

"Hey there sis, you doing okay?" She asks.

"Am I doing okay? You ask me if I'm doing okay. You said that the future was going to be amazing but instead there's no one here. Everyone I ever loved is dead and who knows what future you came from." I unload on her.

"I understand that you're mad." Katy says, "But I don't have much time. I have to figure out which future is real."

"What do you mean? Which future is real?" I ask her.

"There are three possible futures that I can see. There's the future in the little village, there's the future in a big city and there's this." She says motioning with her arms all around.

"And you don't know which one is real?" I ask her.

"No, I don't." She says.

"But you can still move through time while I'm stuck in this hell?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I can still do that." She confesses.

"I'm going crazy, you have to take me somewhere, anywhere besides here." I beg her.

"Where do you want me to take you?" She asks.

"Take me home. Take me back to the village. Life in the village was good." I tell her.

"I don't know if I can but I will try." She says. She takes my hand and looks into one of the tiny holes. There is a flash of light and when our sight returns to us . . .

I'm in the village again! Everything is right where I left it!

"Look, there's Katy." She says pointing to Katy coming out of school.

"How is this possible?" I ask her, "The village was completely gone."

"You're just in a different future, that's all. Lisa and Jake and the preacher are still in the other future." She tells me.

"You mean the preacher isn't here?" I asked her.

"Nope. There's no preacher or any other type of machine here. Look for yourself." This time she points to where the Assembly Hall used to be.

"The Assembly Hall is gone?" I ask confused.

"It got destroyed a long time ago." Older Katy tells me. I turn around and little Katy is there.

"Nia! You're back! I can't believe it's you." She says.

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

"No one has seen you for years. They thought some wild animal had killed you and dragged your body off into the woods. They looked and looked for you and now you're here! Mom and dad are going to fall down dead when they see you." Katy explains.

"What is she talking about?" I ask older Katy.

"I wouldn't know." She answers. Somehow I think she's lying.

"I'm your sister, you can tell me." I beg.

"Just because I can move through time, doesn't mean I know everything." She says, "Do you want to stay?"

"What?" I ask.

"Do you want to stay in this future? I can't guarantee this is the right one." She warns me.

"What do you mean the right one?" I ask.

"Look, once the right future becomes clear, these other futures will disappear and everyone living in them will disappear too, including you." She says.

"Yes, I want to stay in the village. It's the only future I want." I answer.

"Okay. I love you Nia." Katy says. She looks into one of the tiny holes. There is a flash of light and she's gone.

“Who was that?” Katy asks me.

“Oh that was nobody.” I tell her.

“Where did she go?” Katy follows up.

“I don’t know.” I say honestly, “but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m here.” I say.

“Come on.” Katy says. She takes me by the hand and starts pulling me toward our house. I follow her. People are looking at me kind of strange. I guess they are wondering who I am. Katy runs through the front door when we get home.

“Mom! Mom! Nia is back. Nia is back.” Katy screams at the top of her lungs.

“Now Katy, you know that’s not something you should be teasing about.” Mom scolds as I walk into the kitchen.

“But I’m not. Look! It’s really Nia.” Katy screams again. When mom sees me she drops a cup and it shatters on the floor.

“Nia, is it really you?” She asks me.

“Yes, mother, it’s really me.” I say.

“Where have you been all this time?” She asks, “We thought you were dead. We looked everywhere for you. What have you been doing?”

“I’m sorry Mother.” I say calmly, “I don’t know how to explain where I’ve been.” I don’t know how to tell mother that I’m not really the Nia she thinks I am. That the Nia she wants me to be probably died a horrible death in the woods all those years ago.

“Well, your father will want to know.” She says. She picks up a telephone and dials a number. We didn’t have telephones in the village before. I guess it’s just one of the things that’s different here.

“Your father is on his way home.” Mother says, “Are you hungry? Is there anything I can get you to eat?”

“Yes!” I answer, “Eggs and Waffles and bacon would be great.” Mother starts cooking. Katy grabs me by the hand and leads me into her room. There is only one bed in the room. There is only one dresser. The full length mirror that was a fixture when we shared this room isn’t here. A tear wells up inside me and I fall to my knees and start to cry. Katy puts her arms around me.

“It’s okay Nia.” She says, “Your home now. I can’t wait to share my room with you. I mean our room.” I just hold onto Katy. It was so good to be back in the village. But how was I going to explain where I’ve been all this time. I can’t tell them that I’m not the same Nia and that their Nia has been dead for years.

“It’s just good to be home. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you.” I tell Katy. Mom comes in and tells me my food is done. I sit down at the kitchen table and I savor every bite. It tastes so good. Before I’m done eating Dad comes in. He scoops me up in his arms and starts to cry.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” he says, “We never thought we would ever see you again.” I feel the warmth of his arms around me and I melt into them and the tears start flowing again. I’m really confused. How could Katy just bring me here like it’s nothing? How was she able to travel between futures? There is so much I don’t understand about what has happened to me in the last month. It’s like reality has been all scrambled up. I thought the computer that Lisa built was responsible but now I’m not so sure.

“Where have you been all this time?” He asks, “How were you able to survive?”

“I don’t know how to explain it.” I tell him, “I want to tell you but I just don’t know how to put it into words.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to tell us now. You will have to talk to the village council though. Once you talk to them you can get back to your life.” He tells me. Village Council? We never had a village council. The preacher always directed life in the village. I wonder what else is different here. I started to wonder if I would like it here after all. It might be too much to get used to. I thought about Jake. I wondered what he was doing now. I was starting to think that Jake was a victim the same way I was.

“Okay, can I talk to the council tomorrow? I’m really tired.” I ask.

“Sure, Katy do you mind sleeping on the sofa and letting Nia sleep in your bed tonight?” He asks Katy.

“I’ll sleep on the sofa.” Katy answers. She couldn’t contain her excitement that I was back. I had a feeling that it wouldn’t last though and I wondered how I was going to tell her.

I didn’t sleep well, I tossed and turned all night wondering how I was going to explain where I had been all this time. When morning comes I don’t have an answer. All of a sudden I wish I was back with Jake and Lisa and the preacher. Maybe you shouldn’t always get what you wish for.