Horace and Manda took turns driving. There was a small tiff over this at first, since Manda was reluctant to give the wheel over. I had lingering suspicions that being the driver gave her a kind of “captain of the ship” feeling, and handing over the reigns to someone else was clearly hard for her. But by the time it started to get dark she was rubbing her eyes and yawning, and Horace finally convinced her to let him drive.

We didn’t stop anywhere until the neon clock on the dashboard read 10:30pm, and then Horace only pulled us over for a few minutes while he filled the tank with gas from one of the cans. It was just me and Manda in the car for little bit then, because Jai insisted on going out to stand beside Horace and keep a look out.

Manda’s usual log sawing was absent this time. Her breaths were deep and even, and she had her face turned towards the driver’s seat, her lashes dark against her pale cheeks. There were dark circles under her eyes.  Even asleep she looked exhausted.

 This was the first time I’d seen her look peaceful since I’d met her. I felt a stab of guilt. I hadn’t reserved judgement on her. I’d been thinking how horrible she was, aggressive and scary, but now she didn’t look scary at all. She looked tired, and small. She was doing all of this for me…or, at least, some part of me that was buried deep down somewhere. Lady Time.

I shook my head, still staring at her.

It still seemed impossible. It wouldn’t surprise me if some majestic looking woman popped out of the bushes and cried, “Here I am. I’m Lady Time! Where were you guys?”

Oops, a case of mistaken identity.

Horace slid back into the driver’s seat, and I jerked my gaze away from Manda’s face. He filled the car with the smell of gasoline, and I wrinkled my nose as Jai slid onto the seat beside me. Both of the men tried to close their doors as quietly as they could, eyeing Manda while they did.

“It’s about time,” Horace whispered. “She’s going to run herself into the ground.”

“She’ll try.” Jai clicked his seatbelt into place and gave me a smile. “Alright, Kali? Didn’t want to get out and stretch your legs?”

I glanced out the window at the shadowy forest we were driving through. “Maybe when we stop next.”

“It’s creepy looking, right?” Jai traced one finger over the glass, peering out at the dark silhouettes of trees. “But it’s actually safer than the city. The suckers tend to stay closer to their…”He trailed off, and I finished the sentence for him. “Food?”

“Yeah,” he said. “That.”

What he said was true, of course, so it was almost sad to see the forest dwindle away as we continued driving. We began seeing the signs of another city, and soon we were driving through a rural neighbourhood. The houses here weren’t in shambles. They were still battered and run down, but appeared untouched by flame or scavengers.

I was pressing my forehead against the window, both hands clutching the hourglass in my lap, when the vision hit me. It wasn’t like last time. There was no illusion of falling into dreams. There was no gentle prelude of drifting away. My vision blurred, snapped to black and suddenly I was gone.

The motion of the jeep slows. Gravel pops and cracks under the tires as Manda steers us into the parking lot in front of a low, dark building. She tells us she’s going to stretch her legs, to check if there’s any ammo left in the old gun store. She and Horace argue briefly. He doesn’t want her to go inside the building. She snaps back that it’s obviously abandoned, and she traded half her ammo for the damn windshield and needs more. Horace gives up the argument and we all get out of the jeep.

“Stay here,” Horace tells me firmly. “Jai, stay with her.”

“I’ll come,” I argue. “I can bring the hourglass just in case.”

He doesn’t bother to fight me about it, maybe he’s had enough arguing with Manda already. Jai stays to guard the vehicle, and I trail after Manda and Horace, one hand poised to turn the hourglass over as we approach the shop.

It looks empty.

Manda kicks the door open, holding her handgun up near her face, ready to shoot anything that moves in the darkness beyond. Nothing does.

We creep inside, making the dusty wooden floorboards creak and whine. Most of the walls are bare, and the glass case at the front is broken. There’s nothing inside. Even the register has been smashed open and emptied.

Manda grumbles. She’s about to step in further when someone from behind the counter cries, “Don’t move!”

Her gun whips up, an automatic reaction it would seem. In the next second I recognize the long metal barrel resting on the counter as belonging to a shotgun. A pair of dark eyes peer at us.

There’s an ear shattering “crack” that thunders around the store. Something punches me in the chest.

My back hits the doorframe and the room is blurry, tipping sideways. I can't breath. I’m falling. 

Warmth is gathering on my front. I can feel it leaching into my t-shirt. The rest of me is cold as I stare at the cobwebs on the ceiling, confused.

Manda is screaming my name over and over.

I don’t feel pain. I feel hollow, like my guts are gone.

“Kali?” Jai’s voice brought me back to reality, and I sat up so fast it made me dizzy.

“Holy shit.” I was gasping, trying to catch my breath. My hands searched frantically over my stomach, trying to find the gaping wound. There was no liquid warmth though, and no hole in my middle.

“Kali, it was just a vision.” Jai gripped my arm gently, pushing me back against the seat. “Try to relax. Can you tell me what it was?”

I stared down at myself, wide eyed. My hands were shaking. “I got shot.”

Manda was turned around in her seat, wide awake now. “Tell us everything, Kali, all the little details. Don’t leave anything out.”

In spite of being completely freaked out, I still noticed that this was the first time she’d called me Kali, instead of “kid” or, god forbid, Shirley Temple. I took a deep, shaky breath and tried to explain what I’d just seen.

Once I was finished my muddled, stammered explanation the guardians were silent. There was only the sound of the tires on the pavement, and the whine of the engine as Horace accelerated.

“Well I’m not stopping,” he said. “It can’t happen if we don’t stop at that place.”

“Right.” Jai smoothed one finger over his chin. “The vision was surrounding Kali, so if we change it, the fallout shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Fallout?” I repeated.

“When the universe course corrects itself,” Manda said. “We call it the fallout. Whatever happens after that.”

“But if I died…”

“You can’t die,” Jai said, hastily. “I mean, did you die in the vision?”

“No, I woke up after I got shot.” I hesitated. “So that means, I wouldn’t have died, it just would have…I dunno, hurt a lot?”

“We’d have to find you a new body somehow.” Manda gestured at me casually, like she was talking about going shopping for a new swim suite or something. “Because that one would have hole in it. We don’t have time for that.”

My stomach churned. “What? So…I’d just be walking around with a big hole in my stomach? And I’d be alive?”

“You’re the spirit of Time.” Manda reached back and poked me in the leg. “But this is still human flesh.”

I could feel my lips peeling back in a disgusted snarl. “This isn’t just flesh. It’s me…”

“Well don’t get attached to it, you’ll only have about sixty more years with it.”

“What the hell…”

“Okay, Manda. That’s enough.” Jai gave her a stern look, and Manda turned around in her seat.

Jai reached out one hand, placing it on my knee. I didn’t pull away like I had with Manda. His dark eyes studied my face. “You okay? I know the vision must have upset you.”

I nodded. “Yeah. But…I guess as long as we don’t stop at that gun store, it should be fine, right?”

“Right.”

His voice was confident, but I’m pretty sure his smile was forced.