The Time Traveller

Chapter Nine

"Ha," she laughed, "you know me?"
"Yeah," James said, "and I think you remember me, too."
Her smile disappeared.
"And you know Rome," he continued, "and Anna."
As soon as Anna rolled off his tongue, the woman ran at him. He grabbed her shoulders and threw her down the wide hallway and to the ground. He shoved the plywood out of the way and reached his hand down. He felt Anna grab him, and he pulled.
She came up, weapon in hand, and got to her feet. The woman pushed herself off the ground and she ran towards them.
"I am sick," she hissed, "of dealing with you three. You know how long I thought I had rid the earth of you? 40 years! And now you're standing in front of me...all but one."
"Where is he?" James whispered to Anna, who was standing beside him.
"Outside," she answered, "I told him that's as close as he could come."
James nodded.
"Go stay with him," she told James, "she's no problem."
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Just close my eyes," she sighed, "right? Not like she's her anymore."
James ran down the long hallway to the exit, closing the door behind him.
It was still light outside, despite the dimness inside the warehouse. James squinted as he adjusted to the light.
"James," Rome gasped, standing up and hugging him. "Wait, where Anna? Is she-"
"She's still alive," James told Rome, "she was afraid for you, so she wanted me to go check on you."
"That's nice of her."
"AHHHH!"
They heard a high-pitched scream.
"You stay out here!"
"Why?" Rome protested.
"Just," James paused, "I can't explain it now, I'm sorry, just please wait here."
He didn't wait for and answer before he threw the door open and slammed it shut behind him.
"Wait!" Rome yelled. "You forgot a..." He was apparently already out of earshot. "...weapon."
James ran in, weaponless, to help Anna. He saw her on the ground on the far end of the hallway, the woman getting closer to her. James ran towards them, his shoes echoing on the ground. The woman turned around and saw him. She picked Anna up, knocking the machete out of her hand, and threw her toward James.
"Anna!" He called.
She slid across the ground, stopping at his feet.
"Kill her," she said, her voice raspy. "Do your worst,," she continued, "do what I can't."
James left her bloody on the ground and went over to the woman.
He stopped a few feet from where the woman stood. She turned around to face him.
"James," she smiled, "suddenly you act like you don't know who I am."
"I know who you are." He retorted.
"Then have some respect," she walked towards him, "I may not be the one you always knew, but I'm still me."
"No you're not," he sneered, "the person I knew died a long time ago."
There was a silence among them. Then, she finally spoke up.
"Can't say that you're wrong."

It had been at least 30 minutes of Rome just sitting there, only interrupted once by James, about 10 minutes ago.
He began thinking. The warehouse looked out of place. It was among the sand and was in the middle of nowhere.  All the way around, he saw nothing, yet he was here. It took both Anna and James to overpower them, yet they were still in there. With James getting younger every second, he should be able to overpower them, right?
And if they're smart enough to hold off Anna and James, what else are they smart enough to do? Maybe lead them here on purpose? Rome came to a conclusion.
This was a trap. A trap for him. And he was the only one who could stop it.
He gripped the second machete in his right hand, stood up, and pushed the door open.
He saw both James and Anna lying in the ground and a woman standing over them.
"Anna!" He called. "James!"
He ran towards Anna, since she was closer, and knelt down to her level.
"I need to talk to you," she said, "it can't wait."
She stumbled to her feet while the infected woman was facing James, her back facing them. Rome helped her to a side room. When they got in, Rome closed the door and felt in the dark for a light switch. He felt a cold chain touch the back of his hand. He found it again, pulled it, and a lightbulb flickered to life. It was a small room, no bigger than a broom closet.
"Please make this quick, Anna," Rome told her.
"You need to know something before you fight her. Do you know how you get infected?" Anna asked. Rome shook his head. "An infected coughs on you, scratches you, does anything to an open wound, now you're infected. Only an infected person can spread it."
"Nice," Rome said, "now why do I need to know this?"
Anna slammed him up against the closed door with her forearm to his neck. The force made him drop his weapon. "Because I have a secret."
"Which is?" Asked Rome, almost jokingly, trying to catch his breath.
"That thing out there," she continued, "that's my sister." She paused. "And I got her infected."