How To Go Back in Time Book One: Chapter Seventeen

I was the first one to arrive at the station. Didn’t matter all that much, anyway. I had stayed up
all night and got zero sleep. Fuck, what did he say? Time travel had caused all of this, supposedly. I
wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. But the solution was simple, like he said. I just had to survive.
The more I looked back on my life, the more I saw the cycle of how things die. Birth, death, and
then a rebirth. Cycles within cycles within cycles. Nothing was ever permanent and nothing was
forever. Everything must die, and that means that this must die as well.
I’d blink and wake up seven years from now. Sitting in Mexico with a Pina Colada in hand, and
a hot mistress by my side. I’d then think back to how I thought I’d never survive this and realize, “Oh
wait, I actually did.”
Maybe the Mexico part wouldn’t happen. But it’d be damn close.
Suddenly, two cars pulled up to the station. Rosa stuck her hand out the window and motioned
for me to get in. “You ready?” She asked.
“Yeah, I am.” I said, choking. “She said she’d be there at eleven. Just stay hidden, please. She
wants to meet me alone.”
“Got it. You sure you can handle it?”
“If anything happens, you guys’ll be right there. So, I’m not worried about anything.”
“You’re resilient.”
“I guess I am.”
We careened down the mountain path, and forked on a right down the highway. Reaching sixty
miles-per-hour, we suddenly turned down an exit. Further down and everything turned to desolate
plains. Away from any people. And just up ahead, was the same old gas station.
We parked away from the gas station. Right on this little dirt road that had bushes blocking the
view. “Stay here. I’m gonna walk down.”
Paul nodded. “We have a good sight line of you here. Why’d she want to meet you alone?”
“Because I’m the one who baited her here.”
I walked down and saw a silhouette standing at one of the pumps. And then I felt the hot spike
of adrenaline and walked even faster. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I might’ve been walking into a death
trap for all I knew. Actually, I probably was.
“Hello Irwin.” She said, sticking her hand out and waving.”
“Hello Gretchen. Nice day we’re having, huh?”
“Well, I’m not from here so it’s not a nice day. It’s actually really a rather horrible day—you’re
making me talk. Don’t do that. What are you here to do, Mr. Sander?”
That name again. I blinked. “I want you to explain it all to me.”
“You want me to confess? Now why’d I do that?”
“You said it yourself. You have limited time remaining here, so why not tell?”
She reached her hands into the sky and suddenly dropped to her knees. Like a robot
malfunctioning. I could almost see the wires spark. “The truth is that I don’t know. Where I come from,
we believe in anger and violence. Strength. Power. But I do not know yet why I exist. I don’t know
what it’s all for.”
“Where do you come from?”
“A place very different from this. A place you couldn’t even fathom.”
“He said something about this. The other Irwin.”
She looked up. “He did?”
“Yeah. He caused… whatever this is.”
I reached for the handcuffs. She didn’t move a muscle as I began reading her rights. I placed
them around her wrists, and clicked one arm into place. Then, she kicked me in my knee and I fell to
the ground with a yelp.
She stood up, the handcuffs dangling. I grabbed the gun and fired. My aim was messy, and the
flash blinded me, but I heard her wince. She kicked me again, same knee.
I opened my eyes for a just a second and saw blood dripping down the side of her head. I
must’ve grazed her. Looked bad, though.
“Irwin, forgive me for saying this, but you are a very dumb individual. Why’d you think this
would work? I’m not even the only one. What about Justin? You didn’t think about that, huh?”