Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018

Chapter 19 - The Return

Disclaimer: The following chapter is the non-edited draft of what was written during NaNoWriMo 2018. My apologies in advance for plot holes and other inconsistencies.

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After the shocking discovery that Marie's father had been the last person to access the shelter, and therefore a suspect in the death of the residents, both Marie and Lincoln had been exhausted. They agreed that before they did anything else, they needed rest. Marie remembered where the sleeping quarters were that had been used before the shelter had been closed and before long, they both fell asleep.

A solid eight hours of fitful sleep later, Lincoln woke up to find the bed Marie had laid down in empty. He got to his feet and looked around. The room they had picked to sleep in was one of several in the temporary use dorms that had been used during the time of the design and prepping of the shelter. There were hundreds of other rooms like it, ten bunks to a room. It wasn't comfortable or private, but it was all that would have been needed to sleep between shifts. It fit Lincoln's and Marie's purposes well.

Lincoln picked up his jacket and checked the restroom. Marie wasn't in there and it showed no signs of being used recently. He exited the sleeping quarters and entered a shared common area, where he was greeted by the smell of coffee. H

He saw Marie by a stove inside a kitchen area.

"You actually found coffee?" he said as he approached.

Marie jumped and shrieked and then turned with a laugh. "Lincoln! You scared me half to death!"

Lincoln laughed. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd hear me."

"Well, I didn't," Marie said and slapped his arm. "Here, have a cup of coffee."

Lincoln took the mug from her and sat down at one of the tables. "Did you get any rest of have you been looking for coffee the whole time?"

"To be honest, I really couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about all those...people. They never even had a chance."

"Yeah, it's terrible," Lincoln said and took a sip of his coffee. "The more disturbing part is that someone faked your father's credentials, somehow."

"Maybe not," Marie said after a short pause. "I went down to his cry-pod. It was empty."

Lincoln looked up. "Empty? Empty, as if he got out before the others died or empty because his body was removed?"

"I can't even be sure he was actually in it in the first place," Marie said.

"Why would he not? Wasn't that the plan all along, that he'd be here?"

Marie nodded. "Sure, but with me not there, who knows what actually happened? Maybe he was trapped on the outside looking for me?"

"Looking for you? Why would he be looking for you?"

Marie looked at Lincoln for several seconds. "Isn't that obvious? I was supposed to come here with him before the doors closed. Instead, I disappeared and ended up in some distant future. If I wasn't there, he'd be looking for me."

Lincoln looked down on the coffee in his mug. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible when she put it that way. If he hadn't forgotten the portal key, Marie wouldn't be here and not only would her father be alive, but likely also all the other inhabitants of the shelter.

"Marie, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"No, of course you didn't. You just meant to kill him, didn't you?" she said and gave him an icy glare.