The Time Traveller

Chapter Eight

James woke up on the floor. It was concrete, cold, and cloaked in darkness. The only source of light came from above, and it was a square cutout probably about 4 feet above him if he were to stand. The hole in the roof was partially covered from the top by a piece of plywood.
He looked around, for a door, a window, something. There want anything. Did they just throw him in here?
Probably.
"You better thank me for this, Rome," James said out loud, standing up, "and be thankful I know how to get out."
"He thinks we're stupid," he heard from above, "that we don't know what they're doing, that we can't comprehend much. That we can't even speak...do you believe that?" He heard two voices laugh.
The plywood suddenly moved to the left, exposing the full square hole of light. No sooner did James adjust to the light did an infected jump down the hole. She stood up from her crouched position.
The woman stepped closer to James, squinting at him. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, making his eyes itch. "You're not a chronovator," she tilted her head, "are you?"
"No," James answered, "I don't happen to be. Now I suggest you let me out before this gets messy."
"But you know what they are," she continued as if she didn't hear the latter part of what James said. "you've heard of them before. Interesting. Any of your friends one?"
"Not to my knowledge," James lied through his teeth.
"Oh," the woman said, convinced, "that's unfortunate. That means you have no use to us anymore."
She swung at James, but he caught her fist inches from his face. The woman was caught of guard, and James shoved her back into the ground. She fell on the concrete with a thud.
She got to her feet with a smile. "Someone is a little stronger than we initially thought," she walked towards him, "seeing as we beat you to a pulp about 8 hours ago."
8? James thought, shouldn't it be less than that?
"You know what's closer than you initially thought?" He asked.
The infected narrowed her eyes again, just as they heard a crash from above them. The infected looked up, confused, and James smiled.
"By the way," he started, "you are dumber than you look."
She looked down at him and ran to him, her hands out in front of her. James, who was caught off guard, got knocked off balance and crashed on the hard concrete. The air got knocked out of him. He pushed himself up to sitting position and pushed her to the ground with his feet. He stumbled up, still trying to catch his breath, he room spinning around him.
He heard screams from above, each different, each getting closer to them.
"They found you," the woman said, "how?"
James laughed. "Next time, you might wanna send some of your smarter ones after us," he told her, "ones that won't leave a trail."
"Sorry," she said, "I thought the intelligence was quite matched."
Suddenly, James saw the plywood move and heard it clatter above him.
He saw the hair first. Then, the face. It was Anna.
"James!" She yelled, sticking her hand down into the hole.
He grabbed it and she hoisted him up. Then, he felt a weight on his left ankle. Nails dug into his calf, then the back of his thigh, then his back. He looked over and saw the infected woman crawling out of the basement room. She rolled onto the floor and got up faster than Anna could pull James up onto the floor.
The woman wrestled Anna for the grip on James' hand, but Anna quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled him sideways up onto the floor.
Anna leaned back and got her machete from the ground again, but it wasn't fast enough. The woman had already gotten to her feet, picked Anna up by her shirt, and threw her down into the hole, and shut it up with the plywood. James stood, but he was weaponless. Lot of good the rescue mission did.
"Anna!" He yelled, not taking his eyes off the woman, "you okay?"
It took her a second to answer. "I'm good," her answer was muffled. "Don't worry about me, just got body slammed on concrete. I'm okay."
James suddenly relaxed, studying the woman's face. "As many times as I've seen you," he started, "and I never realized."
"What are you talking about?" She sneered.
There was a silence before he answered.
"I know you."