lost in time

The Hamilton Residence

White light hit me with the additional sounds of machines honking and a distinct smell, a smell which I know symbolize with sunshine.

"Beeeeeeeeep"

I opened my eyes in a flash. I was standing in front of a huge vehicle right in the middle of a crowded street.

Two strong arms  gripped me and pulled me to the safety of the sideline.

I blinked around in confusion, Joan connected to my brain analyzing our surroundings. There were people walking and talking around on small box-like objects, their Communication Devices.
I looked up to the sky, a peculiar shade of blue. Very different from the orange tinted sky during the Dawning.

"Different isn't it?" Jared smiled, letting me go from his iron grip.

I looked into his eyes the same peculiar shade of  blue as the sky above and smiled.
I looked at the rest of the pack, The Survivor pack as we call it.

All of us contemplating our situation.

Coffee shops at the sidewalk, people walking around with animals, small children playing with each other, street cars moving in swift  motions, healthy vegetation.

This habitat was buzzing with activity.

"29 September 2015" Chang read from a newspaper, which was kept on a nearby rack.

This was the time before the Sickness.
A time which was peculiar, yet beautiful in it's strangeness.
A time unaware to the danger that lays ahead.
A time which I truly loved.

I took a good look around. I asked Joan to give me a 5-km radius map of the place, my current time and location. In a click, the information was in my cerebrum.

CURRENT TIME: 11:30 GMT
CURRENT LOCATION: 31st Street, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

I took a deep breath. Here it is. Here we can make our subtle changes in time. These subtle changes in time, if not carried out perfectly, could alter the future so widely that even we may cease to exist.

"Okay, first things first," Violet said, breaking my chain of thoughts. "We will need to set up our base camp, for the research work. Chang, I want you to find a suitable place for us while Lucas and I go to get some currency, maps and batteries."

"Maps? But we will have Joan," Chang said.

"I know. But I don't really trust him," said Violet, taking me by surprise.

"Dr. Abraham?" Jared looked at her. "He is the reason we are here," he said plainly.

"That's what scares me," she said. And before we could ask what she meant, she left to do her set of errands with Lucas who whistled away with her.

In the meantime, Chang, Jared and I seated ourselves in one of the coffee shops named 'Keeping Secrets'. Jared mirrored my expression as we saw Chang work on his Indo laptop. It's always a source of fascination, seeing this techno-freak work- the way his eyebrows furrow in concentration and his nose scrunches when he's thinking.

It's always funny, yet fascinating to watch someone do what they love.

After a few minutes of tapping and clicking, Chang pointed to his laptop. "Got it."

"There is this villa owned by Andrew Hamilton, owner of a medical firm called BOLT. It says that he's always ready to help students interested in medical research, and provides them with all equipment- provided that they have a good topic to research on. He has a whole place set up in his basement to carry out such activities, so what's say? It's perfect?"