Chris pulls on the front door handle, but it’s locked. “The doors are glass. If we find something to break them, we can pull off the boards.”
“Hang on.” Trent pulls some little metal sticks out of his backpack. “Lockpicks!”
That’s a weird thing for Aether to put in our backpacks. I narrow my eyes. “How did you know those were in there?”
“I got bored and went through my bag while we were searching the place. There’s all sorts of stuff inside—food, water, and these lockpicks. You probably got them too.”
I kneel down and unzip my backpack. Inside, I find granola bars, an apple, a sandwich, and a full water bottle. There’s also a wallet full of more cash than I’ve ever had at one time before, a blank notebook, a map of Los Angeles, and a compass, which I don’t know how to use.
While Trent starts working on the door, I check the remaining pockets on my backpack. No lockpicks, but one has a first aid kit, which I really hope we won’t need. I also find a handful of condoms. Guess they wanted to prepare us for everything.
Another pocket has a gun.
I freeze, staring at the black metal. I’ve never held a gun before. I can’t tell if it’s loaded, but I don’t see any bullets in my bag, so I assume it is. Is the safety on? I have no idea. Sure, my tattoos make me look tough and I’ve been in plenty of fights, but I’ve always tried to stay out of trouble as much as I could. I thought Aether knew that. Why would they pack a gun for me? Did they expect us to run into trouble?
I raise my eyes to study the others, who are all going through their own backpacks. Do they have weapons too?
Is the gun in my backpack to protect the group—or to protect me from the group?
I zip the backpack closed before anyone sees the gun. If the others have weapons, they aren’t announcing that to the group. And if they don’t, it’s probably better that no one knows about mine. I just hope it doesn’t go off in my backpack by accident or something.
Trent unlocks the front door with his lockpicks and pushes it open. “Wait!” Adam yells, but it’s too late.
A cool breeze rushes through the open door, along with a dash of hazy sunshine. I don’t realize how musty and old the air in the building is until I get that first taste of fresh air. I breathe it in, and when none of us falls over dead, I figure we’re safe.
We gather around the door, peering outside, afraid to take that first step. The sky is cloudy, with tiny drops of moisture in the air that hint of rain to come. The fence around the research facility has barbed wire and is covered in “No Trespassing” signs that weren’t there before. Beyond the fence I see buildings and signs instead of rocks and dirt. Aether’s facility is no longer in the middle of nowhere.
On the other side of the fence, a car drives past—at least I think it’s a car. It’s black but shaped like a sideways egg, sleek and shiny, with dark-tinted windows. It’s hard to tell what part is the front or the back, but it has four wheels, so I assume it’s a car. It zips past us and is gone.
“What was that?” Trent asks.
“Wow, cars have changed a lot in ten years,” Adam says.
That’s when it finally hits me. This is real. All the clues add up to one inevitable truth. “We’re in the future,” I whisper.
“Hell yeah!” Chris shouts, pumping his fist. “The future, baby!”
“I can’t believe it,” Zoe whispers, wrapping her arms around herself.
The future. It’s so big, so unknown, so amazing…yet oddly familiar too. I want to see more. And now that we know for certain where we are, we can do what we came for—find technology for Aether. “We should look around. Find some stores or something.”
“Finally, someone’s talking some sense around here,” Chris says. He strides toward the fence, and Trent and Zoe follow him. I start to go too, until I see Adam hanging back, his hands shoved in his pockets.
“Come on,” I say. “There’s nothing we can do here.”
“I know. I just can’t shake the feeling that we missed something.” He looks up at the building and I follow his gaze. Every window is dark and empty.