The Time Traveller

Chapter Four

As the sun rose, they woke up for the second time, getting about 6 hours of sleep without any disruptions, which, by James' words, was a rarity. He had also given Rome a machete just like his, but with less blood. That was the only thing they carried.
Rome, as time went on, got more and more used to the heat of the sun. It didn't help much that he was dressed for winter, which was only appropriate back home.
"So where will we go once we get to the border?" Rome asked, breaking the silence.
"Uh, well," James started, "time portals are strange. You don't decide when, just where. With the one that you came through, it goes a little farther than we need. The portal that we're heading to is almost just right. A week and two days before what's supposed to happen will happen."
"You mean..."
"The infected guy going from America to South America, then coming back with the disease. If he never goes, he'll never infect anyone in America."
"So we kill him?" Rome asked.
"Not exactly my plan," James explained, "I planned to lead him a different way. Canada. New Mexico, maybe."
Rome sighed.
"AHHHHH!"
They heard a scream ahead of them. Both Rome and James looked at each other and took off running towards the sound. They came upon a woman laying on the ground, looking more aggravated than afraid. A crippled man stood over her. She attempted to crawl away from him, but he could walk even faster.
James quickly came up on him, machete in hand, and sliced his head off. As the headless body thudded on the ground, the woman looked up at James, breathing hard. He held out his arm, she took it with her bloody hand, and he helped her stand, noticeably keeping her weight off of her left leg.
"Thanks," she patted him on the back, "if I hadn't dropped my weapon I would've done it myself. The name's Anna. You guys?"
"I'm Rome," he introduced himself, "and my buddy is James."
"Rome," she asked, "like the city?"
"Yeah," he sighed, "if I had a penny for every time I've heard that I could have bought the titanic."
James came back holding a hammer in his left hand and his machete in his right. He handed it, handle side towards her. She snatched it out of his hand.
"See you around, boys." She called, walking the way they came. "Don't expect to cross each other again."
Rome looked down at the guy on the ground. On his neck and both sides of his face, there were red and dark purple veins.
"See any of them," James said from behind him, "with those purple veins...kill 'em. No matter who they are. They aren't them anymore."
Rome sighed, then nodded.

After about 4 hours of walking, the sun high in the sky, Rome finally spoke up. "I gotta sit down," he told James.
He sat down on the hard ground, and James sat next to him. His legs felt like they had a weight lifted off of them.
"Hey," James said, "take this." He slid a folded up piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Rome. "In case we get separated."
"Oh," he took the paper in confusion, "okay. Why do you say that?"
"Just take it," he answered immediately. "It'll help."
Rome shoved it in his back pocket, still folded up, and they both got to their feet. They had walked about 3 out of the 8 miles they were supposed to walk that day. The days were getting progressively hotter, and James was getting younger. It was a strange thing to watch. An 80 year old man with cancer and about as much breath as he had hair to a man with a full head of white hair, a scraggly grey beard, and the stamina of a race horse.
Suddenly, a gust of wind started blowing, then picked up to where it was so strong that it was physically pushing them back.
"Run!" James yelled over the sound of the wind in Rome's ears. They both took off against the wind. The dust was stirred up, and rocks and debris hit their faces as they ran into the wind.
"A storm!" James called, looking behind him. "Look at the clouds!" He pointed to the sky. There, coming closer and closer, was a dark cloud, followed by thunder and rain. Lightning cracked the ground in the distance, from somewhere not too far behind them.