We Have To Go Back - Primeval_Denial Art Prompt Challenge Fic Part I
Title: We Have To Go Back Part 1
Characters/Pairings: Matt/Becker, Connor, Lester, Abby
Word Count: 10,656
Rating: T, 15
Disclaimed: I don't own anything from here except my one OC.
Summary: They stopped New Dawn, but made it even worse instead.
Author's Note: This is my story for primeval_denial 's Art prompt Challenge. I had to split it because LJ said it was too long. *sigh* The picture by deinonychus_1 can be found HERE It's so brilliant! I hope you will enjoy this story and that is makes sense. Ta muchly to fififolle for the beta! Any mistakes and that are all my own!
Spoiler: Sorry! Edited because this does spoil the end of season 5!
The end of another long and weary day had Hilary Becker almost falling through the door and to the floor of his apartment. They had just prevented Philip Burton from destroying the world along with convergence and had somehow managed to get a train back from the Pliocene era with no serious consequences, or rather none that anyone could see.
The celebrations were put on hold as they were all worn out and Becker was immensely thankful for that. He could just about keep himself upright as he stumbled into his apartment and closed the door behind him. His eyes were heavy and sore and so were all his limbs. He stank and, while the thought of a shower was tempting, he couldn’t even bring himself to do that.
Becker was too tired to even get something to eat, though his stomach was rumbling. He didn’t bother turning on the light, he just shuffled towards his bedroom where he collapsed face first against the mattress. He breathed blissful sighs into his pillow and allowed sleep to take over.
He would try and take his boots off later when he had the strength.
Becker didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he was roused by the sound of an intruder. He heard the door to his bedroom open, a slight creak from the hinges and then there were the soft footfalls of someone walking in, trying to be quiet, trying to be stealthy.
Becker could hear breathing, slightly laboured and tired breaths before a sigh of relief, when whoever it was sat down on the end of the bed. Becker was awake now even though fatigue was trying to drag him back into slumber. Whoever this intruder was, they were not going to last long enough to steal or even try to hurt him for Becker still had his knife strapped to his leg. His hand slowly unsheathed it as the person sitting on his bed began to….began to take off their shoes?
The intention of the intruder to be stealthy was rendered absolutely moot when the shoes were dropped loudly onto the floor. It didn’t make sense to Becker why the person would do this, but then it made even less sense when the person lay down beside him, draped their arm and leg over him and soon began to snore.
Becker was confused, but when he turned his head, he sighed.
This didn’t make complete sense to him, but when he smelled the leather of Matt’s jacket, he was certainly no longer worried about being attacked. Becker had no clue as to why or how Matt Anderson was now sleeping next to him, but as fatigue finally began to win him over again, Becker decided he would find out later.
----------
Becker wasn’t aware of the time, but when he woke, the sun was coming through the curtains and was warming him pleasantly back to reality.
It was a lovely feeling at first, especially when he remembered it was his day off, but that contentment turned into alarm when he realised that Matt Anderson was sleeping next to him and Becker was spooning him, this time with his arm and leg draped over the other man’s body.
That alarm and sheer surprise caused him to jerk up from contented semi-consciousness to utter alertness and panic and he scrambled away from Matt, purposely giving him a kick with his boot to wake him up too.
“What the hell, Anderson!” he yelled, kicking him again as he nearly fell off the bed. Becker managed to prevent himself from doing so and got to his feet. “Matt! What are you doing?”
“Becker? S’that you?” Matt’s groggy voice grumbled and moaned before he let out a yawn and stretched out his limbs.
“Yes, it’s me! Who did you expect? The bloody Prince of Wales? This is my home! What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
It was only when Matt turned round and faced him that Becker knew something was seriously wrong and it wasn’t just a simple case of his team leader getting confused with where he lived.
Matt looked like hell. He looked absolutely awful.
His once pristine leather jacket was ripped, as were some of his other clothes and there were bloodied claw marks on Matt’s cheek. This was not how Anderson was when they left the ARC, which meant something had happened to him.
Had he been attacked? Was there another incursion, if so why wasn’t Becker told? Why weren’t they right now calling the ARC and sorting this out? Becker had so many questions going on in his head, but as he observed Matt slowly and painfully get up from the bed, he could tell that this was no ordinary anomaly situation.
“Matt? Are…are you okay? You look like hell.”
“We have to go back.”
“What? What’s going on?”
“We have to go back, Becker,” Matt took off his jacket and then the tattered remains of his shirt. Becker was taken aback when he saw freshly healing claw marks running the length of Matt’s chest. They were very recent injuries, a few days at the most. “We haven’t finished.”
“Mate…what the hell are you going on about? How did this happen? I thought you were all right when we left the ARC.”
“I’m going to have a shower. Then you and I will talk.”
“Talk? You need to treat those wounds! Let me…”
“No! I don’t. I’m fine!”
“You’re not fine! Tell me what the bloody hell has happened!”
Matt completely ignored Becker and his concerns and walked out of the room. Becker moved to follow him, but was startled as Matt began stripping down the rest of his clothes.
“Matt!” It was only when they got to the bathroom that Becker stared in disbelief at the last remains of Matt’s clothes discarded on the floor. He then looked up and saw his friend completely and utterly naked.
Matt was naked and covered in more scars and wounds than Becker could count. Someone or something had slashed him up pretty bad, not just over the years of Matt’s life, but recently too.
Matt looked weak, thinner too, he looked haunted and drained. He was more hunched and rigid in his stature, not laid back or relaxed as he normally was. He was so tense…as if holding back more pain than the scars on his body were showing.
Becker then realised he was starring too long at his friend’s body.
Becker turned round sharply and shielded his eyes. After a few silent moments, he blindly and cautiously made his way over to Matt, grabbing a towel from the rail in the process. He handed his friend the towel, still with his hand firmly covering his eyes. Matt laughed softly and graciously accepted it, holding it over his groin.
“We’ll talk after I’ve washed up,” Matt said “I haven’t had a shower in a number of months and…well…by all means stay, if you want.”
Becker wasn’t about to do that.
When he let his hand drop away, he saw again the many claw marks on his friend’s skin, the numerous tiny scratches and bites that criss-crossed across Matt’s back as well as his arms and legs. Becker couldn’t help but be extremely concerned. What hell had Matt been through to get those wounds?
Becker made Matt turn round and again Becker scrutinised the injuries, his face creasing with empathy as he imagined how painful these must have been. His hand reached out and tentatively touched a red graze across Matt’s collar bone. This wasn’t right.
This wasn’t the Matt Anderson he knew.
“Tell me now,” Becker demanded, meeting Matt’s gaze and seeing the haunted look he got back, “what is going on?”
“It didn’t work, Becker,” Matt said, another small sad smile forming on his face. “We thought we stopped it, but we were wrong. We have to go back and close it. I can explain more later but right now, I would really like a shower.”
“Why are you here, Matt?”
Matt scowled as if confused. “I’m here because I live here.”
“What? No, you don’t! I live here!”
“Live, will live…I get confused with tenses and I really had nowhere else to go.”
“You have your own place!”
Matt shook his head and turned when Becker’s main house phone began to ring. “You’ll want to answer that.”
Becker didn’t move. The phone kept ringing and eventually it went to his answer machine. He knew who it would be.
“Becker! Damn, it’s your answer machine thing. I hate this contraption. It makes me talk like an utter eejit into it…this is recording…right? Mate, are we still going to the pub later on? Give me a call when you get this message? Over?”
Matt’s voice on the other end of the line made Becker grab for the small EMD concealed beneath the sink. He pointed it directly at Matt and powered it up. Matt stood there, completely unfazed or frightened by this and dropped the towel as he raised his hands.
“You’ve come from the future again,” Becker stated, trying to look anywhere except at Matt’s naked form. “Terrific.”
“It’s really not.” Matt shook his head and went to get into the shower but Becker grabbed hold of his shoulder and pulled him away from it. Matt grimaced at that action which caused Becker to immediately soften his grip. When he realised his fingers were caressing at Matt’s shoulder, that he could feel a warm tingling sensation on the tips, he pulled away.
“So…when are you from? What are you doing here?”
“Eight years in the future.” Matt took a step closer to Becker and reached out a hand to touch at his shoulder, but then Becker saw a look of fear and sadness on Matt’s face as he stepped away again, putting on a hard stoic expression. “Becker, I’m here because Connor’s anomalies didn’t close properly. They merged but they didn’t close like we thought they did. The New Dawn anomaly remained. It then grew big enough for predators came through and they did. The predators came and devastated everything and everyone. We need to go back and close the anomaly.”
Oh this was just what they needed.
Becker pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to shake off an impending headache.
“Right…we’ll do it, but why didn’t you contact me at the ARC, or heck, tell Connor or Lester? Why didn’t you tell yourself?”
“I told myself but I don’t think he quite believed what he saw. I never got the opportunity to do anything more, the timing was all wrong because you all went to get the train back. I was tired and hurting…I still am and I needed a place to rest. I wasn’t going to stay at the ARC and well, being as you and I are….” Matt paused for a moment, and his stoic expression broke as his eyes suddenly reddened and his bottom lip trembled, “we’re really good mates, I thought I’d come here.”
“Really good mates, huh?” Becker knew that Matt wasn’t telling him the whole truth and it was greatly unnerving. It was making him feel uncomfortable and Becker had never felt uncomfortable with his friend, even when they argued. “You couldn’t have slept on my sofa?”
“Call me back, Becker,” Matt said letting the towel drop again. Becker had to turn his head to look in any direction except at Matt. “Call Lester too. Tell me to come here…preferably with some clean clothes, and then the three of us can to head back to the factory, or what’s left of it. I’ll explain everything. I promise.”
Becker nodded reluctantly and went to leave but he paused to secure away the EMD. A shower was what Becker really needed right now too, the sweat and grime from the last mission still made his clothes stick to his skin and he stank something rotten.
He would let this Matt from the future have one first. Becker picked up the towel from the floor and placed it on the ledge just by the shower, along with an extra one. Worried that Matt might get water all over his floor, he put down several others as well.
The bathroom quickly filled with steam and as Matt began to wash himself down, groaning a little too much, Becker found himself stunned as he listened and as he watched the silhouette of his friend behind the glass.
Matt was clearly enjoying it too much and certainly Becker being here, listening to him make those sounds. Becker hurriedly picked up Matt’s jeans and the rest of his clothes, but something fell out of the pocket.
He bent down and picked up a key.
It was the spare key to his flat, which-when he checked-was still lying with his own set in the bowl by the front door.
----------
Current Matt Anderson had slammed the phone down as soon as Becker had mentioned the other him having a shower in his apartment. It took only fifteen minutes before Matt turned up, banging on the door.
Becker had steered clear of the bathroom during the time it took Matt to get here, as running water and groans of pleasure continued to sound from behind the door. He just waited and thought about what they would have to do on this new mission, but no sooner had Matt knocked on the door, the future Matt emerged from the bathroom, still looking like hell but a bit more refreshed.
“I didn’t imagine you, then?” Matt said when the two of them came face to face.
Future Matt shook his head. “I’m here and I’m here because I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”
“Why didn’t you contact us all at the ARC? We can help you, with Lester’s backing. Connor can come up with some kind of techno gadget thing…”
“I tried to contact you, remember? You were called out on a mission and frankly I was knackered. I haven’t had a great time in the future, Matt. It’s like our own but worse. I’ve been through things that…” Matt Two held out his arms and showed Matt the extent of his injuries.
“Oh god.”
“I can’t let this happen. We can’t. The Connor from my time came up with some gadgets that can help us.” Future Matt pointed to a tatty rucksack that had definitely once belonged to Temple. “What we need to do isn’t going to be easy. We need some backup, some weapons and Becker. I need you to accompany me…to the future.”
“Am I in any way to be used as bait? I know what your plans are like, Anderson,” Becker asked.
“No!” both of them chorused in perfect unison, and that freaked Becker out a little. He pointed a finger at the two of them and shook his head.
“Don’t! Don’t do that! It’s creepy! And Matt…did you bring some clothes for him? Tell me you did, I don’t want him frolicking in the all-together.”
Matt nodded and threw over a large canvas Tesco bag which had some of his own clothes in it. Future Matt nodded in appreciation, especially when he saw the black leather jacket stuffed in the bottom.
“Becker, you’re the last person I would ever want to put at risk.” Future Matt smiled softly. “But there is no one else I would rather have at my side, there is no one else I would trust with my life. I need you on this.”
Becker smiled back nervously in response. It sounded soppy, especially coming from Matt. If it was his current friend, he would have laughed, knowing Matt would be half joking about it, but this future version was far too sincere. There was sentiment, real sentiment in his voice and a vulnerability that wasn’t like him at all. It was weird.
“Sure. I’ll help. I said I would.”
“Thanks.”
When Future Matt left to get dressed, Becker immediately took out his phone and pressed the speed dial for the ARC. As soon as he had informed Lester about this situation, he was going to have a shower and get ready to resolve this.
Two Matt Andersons was going to be a handful.
“So…you two slept together?” Matt whispered, as Becker waited for the ARC to answer. The insinuation on his friend’s face made him grimace.
“Don’t, Matt. Don’t make jokes about this.”
“So how come he has your future spare front door key?”
“I don’t know!”
“You didn’t take advantage of me…did you? You didn’t do anything to me?”
“Oh for god’s sake, Matt!”
Lester hadn’t been thrilled when Becker told him the news of their new visitor from the future. At first he wanted them all to come to the ARC and do this properly, but both Becker and Matt had managed to convince him to let them handle it their way.
“Very well, but I’m putting all teams on standby. You’ll have backup with you if things do go wrong, which I would prefer they didn’t!”
“They won’t.”
“I trust you two have everything in order. I’m sending Connor to you…from what you’ve told me he needs to at least be consulted on the technical side of things. Keep an open com with him, until he gets there.”
“Will do.”
“Good. Keep me appraised. Don’t destroy the world.”
“We’ll try not to, Lester.”
“That really fills me with confidence, gentlemen.”
With that last snarky reply, the phone was cut dead.
“It’s very technical.”
That was a good start.
Connor was already babbling in Becker’s earpiece, a mixture of guilt and excitement in his voice as he blurted out various things that could have gone wrong with the anomaly he had created. It was difficult to understand what Connor was going on about so when he finally stopped, Becker asked Future Matt for a clearer explanation as they drove to the New Dawn site.
“Basically the two artificial anomalies were not entirely able to close upon merging. The single one left over is almost microscopic, we can’t see it with our own eyes. It doesn’t even register on the anomaly detector. You wouldn’t have found out about it until two years after convergence if I hadn’t come back to tell you, and then again only by pure chance. Greaves and his men came across it when they conducted a scout of that area. We tried to close the anomaly with a conventional locking device but it wasn’t possible, it just wasn’t powerful enough. You’d think something that small would be easy, but it wasn’t the case.
“Somehow, the anomaly increased in power over the passing months and despite all our efforts to shut it down, it grew to the point where it was large enough, just, for predators to come through it. With no way to lock or close the anomaly the predators ravaged our time. The anomaly continued to grow with no apparent means of power. Connor and other the scientists couldn’t fathom why it was doing it and why we couldn’t close it. We knew that eventually we’d be faced with the same problem as you’ve just dealt with. It would destroy the world. It would create the future I was born and raised in.
“Sure enough, within the space of a few years the country was pretty much overrun and the environment was beginning to be affected as well. There was nothing we could do, the bloody predators bred so quickly. So many people died, through the predators and through the government’s and other countries efforts to put a stop to it all. They tried everything short of nuking us, but the predators soon got abroad too. Then the weather and conditions all over the world were altered, because of the anomaly. We struggled to find a solution, Connor tried his best and in the end…he came up with this plan. It’s our last hope.”
Becker had to stop the car. Hearing about the future, the one they’d all contributed to, made it difficult to breathe. So this was what they had done. They had come back from New Dawn thinking everything was all right, that it was fine… but no, they’d only helped in destroying the world.
“This plan,” Matt said to his future self, “what does it entail?”
Future Matt lifted up Future Connor’s rucksack and pulled out two strange looking contraptions that were clearly his inventions.
“Connor came up with these. They are variations on the locking device but much more powerful and in his words ‘fiddly.’ The only thing is that we’ve already tried it on this side of the anomaly and it still doesn’t work, which is why we have to go to the future and try the other side.”
“Ah.”
“And that really won’t be easy. It’s not going to be a case of turn them on and bam it’s closed. We have to use the anomaly to connect two of these devices which will-- ”
“That’ll be really tricky guys!” Connor’s voice practically deafened them. Future Matt nodded in agreement.
“Like he said, it will be tricky. The calibrations have to be precise from both ends otherwise it won’t work and the anomaly will continue to grow.”
Connor started to talk in his ear again, incessantly. The jargon words and the speed with which Connor talked was really quite overwhelming. Becker couldn’t understand any of it.
“I can go if you’d like. I can help him. You don’t have to do this.”
Becker smiled and continued to weapon up. There was no way he was going to let the current Matt endanger himself in the future. If both of the Matts died, there was no way out of this, there wouldn’t be another chance to change the future, at least no easier way.
There would also be no Matt Anderson at all and that didn’t sit well with Becker. In fact, it made his stomach ache at the thought of it.
To lose his best friend was unacceptable, so all he had to do was help Future Matt find the other side of the anomaly and keep him safe until they could lock the anomaly. Then it would be back to the present and down the pub for a good few pints and some pool.
No, it wouldn’t be that simple.
“Erm, just how exactly are you going to get to the future?” asked Matt.
“Yeah…how are we getting there?” Becker asked.
Future Matt dug his hand back into the rucksack and pulled out a device that Connor recognised instantly. Connor gasped and snatched it from Matt’s hand.
“An actual AOD? It works?” Connor choked with astonishment.
“Oh, it works all right. Connor, you made it work when you amalgamated it with my future tech and because of that you and I made some huge progress with restoring the matrix from the artefact.”
“The artefact?” Becker scratched the back of his head absentmindedly. “The thing Lester has as a doorstop for his office?”
“It was thought useless but it wasn’t wiped entirely. Connor and I got to the information stored on it. We succeeded. That AOD will get us to the future…pure and simple.”
“That’s handy,” Becker said.
“Restoring that matrix was not easy…but yeah. It’s handy.”
“I’d love to poke around inside the AOD when you all get back!” Connor did a little jig of joy. “Can I?”
The future Matt nodded his head. “Sure.”
It was at that moment that the team of soldiers turned up, the seven men who would be providing backup. After Future Matt explained the situation to them, he also explained about the small round grenade -like devices he pulled from the bag and about the metallic blue gizmos he clipped onto their uniforms. Becker was greatly interested to learn that these were Matt’s design and at the same time, he was excited too, about the grenades.
“What I’m fixing to your uniforms,” Future Matt attached one of the clasps to Becker’s flak jacket, “will emit a continual sonic frequency, not strong enough to actually stop the predators in their tracks, but enough to slow them down and make them a target. The range isn’t much, but at least it will give you the time to shoot them.”
“Yeah? What about the grenades?” asked Becker, gleefully eyeing the bag.
“The grenades are also a sonic device, of my design. They will stop a large group of predators dead still for about thirty or so minutes.” Matt slipped one of the grenades into Becker’s hand and smiled as Becker prodded and poked it with wonder and curiosity. “I don’t have many, so we have to use them as sparingly as possible.”
“They’re….they’re really cool,” Becker sighed.
“I’m glad you approve, mate, but there are a lot of predators around when the storms are still. We don’t have enough. I couldn’t make enough to keep them all at bay. When the storms occur, you’ll be able to breathe but the air is still toxic. We have masks for that. Some predators have adapted to the air and have been known to come out in storms. The grenades won’t be helpful when the storms are on, nothing will. We will just have to leg it.”
“You designed these things?” Connor asked, taking one of the clips and peering at the little blue glow it emitted. “Awesome! You’ve got to tell me about them!”
Becker handed Connor his future rucksack who then began to root around inside like it was Christmas. He pulled out a couple of things that looked like locking devices, but much more complicated. He was utterly fascinated. Future Matt then took a few minutes to explain to Connor what each of them did, and which ones Connor needed to operate. It didn’t take long for Connor to take it all in.
“I don’t see how I didn’t think of these things sooner! It’s all so clear to me now!” he geeked happily, clapping his hands. “Can I come along? What if something goes wrong with the equipment? I could help patch…”
“Connor, it's best you stay behind, because if we don’t succeed….”
“Gotcha.” Connor sulked slightly.
“Are you sure I can’t come along?” asked Matt.
“Having one of you around is bad enough, I don’t need two of you yelling at me.” Becker snatched up one of the gas masks from the back of his team’s truck. “Let’s get this over and done with, gentlemen, let’s go and save the world… again.”
“I’ve located another anomaly…a natural one, on the AOD,” said Future Matt. “It’s not a biggie but it will lead us to where we have to go.”
He pressed several pads on the device in his hand and as an anomaly opened up, he secured a rucksack to his back and joined the others for one last final check of their equipment and supplies.
“Guys…” Future Matt looked at each and every one of the soldiers with great admiration and appreciation. “While I’m grateful for you doing this, where you’re going is unlike anywhere you’ve been before. What you’ve got to do will be more than you’ve ever trained for. Good luck.”
Becker slipped the gas mask onto his head, took one last look at Connor and Matt and stepped through.
Becker emerged just in time to see one of his men suddenly dragged away screaming by a predator. The others were already firing, but through the thick yellow poisonous dust storm, they couldn’t see much, only shadows and faint outlines of their colleague being ripped apart by the creatures.
Becker barked orders to them to keep a defensive formation, but after a few more seconds it was clear that there were no other predators around. Becker tried to calm his men down, Watson was gone, there was nothing they could do except see the rest of this mission through.
“Matt! Where do we go?” he yelled above the howling winds.
“We have to get to one of the nearby shelters and wait out this storm! We can’t do anything in this.”
Becker saw a blinking light on the device in Matt’s hand and then several beeps barely registered in his ears. Matt began to lead the way and Becker and the six remaining men followed on afterwards.
“Welcome everyone, to my home, sweet home.”
Becker didn’t envy him one bit. He couldn’t even begin to fathom living day to day in this, with the threat of the storms, predators and other creatures in this desolate hellhole. He marvelled as to how Matt, both of them, had survived through this.
This really was hell. He’d lost one man already and they hadn’t even begun.
What had he got himself and the others into?
The shelter hidden underground wasn’t quite what Becker had expected. He thought it would be very enclosed, like the escape tunnels POWs dug during the war. He expected it to be a small claustrophobic place, muddy and cold, but it wasn’t quite.
Matt took them all down a relatively sturdy ladder and closed the hatch behind him, locking it firmly. He fumbled about a bit and soon a bright neon light illuminated a large room-sized cavern, with three wide tunnels leading further off. Despite the white light, the place was still dismal and dreary. The floor was nothing but a mixture of wet and dry mud and there was a chill lingering in the air, along with the smell of sulphur. The walls were dull dark concrete and lined with metallic shelves, each stacked with various containers and vials with ominous hazard warning labels.
There were no personal items, in fact there was nothing to indicate that anything could be personal in a place like this. There were no signs of any families or anyone having lived here, but Matt had said this was very much like where he had been brought up.
No one should have to live this. Ever.
Becker heard the rest of his men talking in low hushed tones about Watson. He approached them and did his best to console them, as a captain should for his men. Andrews, the youngest of the team, was clearly shaken and in shock, so Becker gently clasped a hand on his shoulder and smiled as sincerely as he could.
This mission had not started out well, they all needed some assurance.
“I know it was a shock. I know you’re reeling right now about losing Watson, feeling uncertain and scared, I am too. We’ve lost a good man and a great friend, but millions of lives depend upon us carrying out this mission. We’ll carry out our jobs like we’ve always done. We’ll watch each other’s backs and we will get through this. Understand?”
“Yes sir!”
Andrews nodded nervously.
“Good. We’ll make our move when the storm breaks, so save your strength. Get some rest.”
“Yes, sir.” Andrews replied. Becker broadened his smile and patted the young man on the back before he turned away and stood next to Matt.
“When will the storm break?”
Matt shrugged his shoulders.
“Could be hours or minutes.”
“So we wait in the meantime?”
“Pretty much, but if your men want to check out the stores,” Matt pointed to the rows and rows of shelves that lined the tunnel walls, “there might be something you can take back. Further on down the tunnels there might be some food left, or the treatment room could have some medical supplies. Each network of tunnels has their own layout, a medical treatment room, water processing facility… This shelter has been abandoned for the time being, judging by the looks of things, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back. Take whatever you think might be useful, but don’t take too much.”
Without it being suggested further, all six of the men walked away and began searching through the vials and containers. Jones and Barnes walked like protective guards around Andrews, as if they were afraid he would be too vulnerable to be by himself.
Becker on the other hand took it upon himself to look at the locking device and sonic grenades they had brought along. He sank down to his knees, scooped up the rucksack from the floor and peered inside. Becker didn’t have a clue except for the grenades. He picked out a device that looked like something out of one of Connor’s favourite science fiction shows.
“That’s going to help us find the anomaly here,” Matt said as he sat down on the floor next to Becker. “Once we do, we can use the new locking device to connect with the other in the past. Once the two LDs are connected, we should be able to lock it properly.”
“What if we can’t?”
“I have a back-up plan.”
“A back-up plan? Is it one you’re going to tell me about…at all?”
“Not right now. It’s a pretty typical one as so far as backup plans go.”
“Am I going to like it?”
“Let’s just say I’m really hoping we don’t have to use the back-up plan.”
“Me too.” Becker slipped off his knees and onto his bottom, sighing heavily as he attempted to wipe his face free of dirt and grime. He then placed the contraption back into Connor’s rucksack and then lowered his voice, making sure the others couldn’t overhear. “So…why did you sleep with me?”
PART TWO
Characters/Pairings: Matt/Becker, Connor, Lester, Abby
Word Count: 10,656
Rating: T, 15
Disclaimed: I don't own anything from here except my one OC.
Summary: They stopped New Dawn, but made it even worse instead.
Author's Note: This is my story for primeval_denial 's Art prompt Challenge. I had to split it because LJ said it was too long. *sigh* The picture by deinonychus_1 can be found HERE It's so brilliant! I hope you will enjoy this story and that is makes sense. Ta muchly to fififolle for the beta! Any mistakes and that are all my own!
Spoiler: Sorry! Edited because this does spoil the end of season 5!
The end of another long and weary day had Hilary Becker almost falling through the door and to the floor of his apartment. They had just prevented Philip Burton from destroying the world along with convergence and had somehow managed to get a train back from the Pliocene era with no serious consequences, or rather none that anyone could see.
The celebrations were put on hold as they were all worn out and Becker was immensely thankful for that. He could just about keep himself upright as he stumbled into his apartment and closed the door behind him. His eyes were heavy and sore and so were all his limbs. He stank and, while the thought of a shower was tempting, he couldn’t even bring himself to do that.
Becker was too tired to even get something to eat, though his stomach was rumbling. He didn’t bother turning on the light, he just shuffled towards his bedroom where he collapsed face first against the mattress. He breathed blissful sighs into his pillow and allowed sleep to take over.
He would try and take his boots off later when he had the strength.
Becker didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he was roused by the sound of an intruder. He heard the door to his bedroom open, a slight creak from the hinges and then there were the soft footfalls of someone walking in, trying to be quiet, trying to be stealthy.
Becker could hear breathing, slightly laboured and tired breaths before a sigh of relief, when whoever it was sat down on the end of the bed. Becker was awake now even though fatigue was trying to drag him back into slumber. Whoever this intruder was, they were not going to last long enough to steal or even try to hurt him for Becker still had his knife strapped to his leg. His hand slowly unsheathed it as the person sitting on his bed began to….began to take off their shoes?
The intention of the intruder to be stealthy was rendered absolutely moot when the shoes were dropped loudly onto the floor. It didn’t make sense to Becker why the person would do this, but then it made even less sense when the person lay down beside him, draped their arm and leg over him and soon began to snore.
Becker was confused, but when he turned his head, he sighed.
This didn’t make complete sense to him, but when he smelled the leather of Matt’s jacket, he was certainly no longer worried about being attacked. Becker had no clue as to why or how Matt Anderson was now sleeping next to him, but as fatigue finally began to win him over again, Becker decided he would find out later.
----------
Becker wasn’t aware of the time, but when he woke, the sun was coming through the curtains and was warming him pleasantly back to reality.
It was a lovely feeling at first, especially when he remembered it was his day off, but that contentment turned into alarm when he realised that Matt Anderson was sleeping next to him and Becker was spooning him, this time with his arm and leg draped over the other man’s body.
That alarm and sheer surprise caused him to jerk up from contented semi-consciousness to utter alertness and panic and he scrambled away from Matt, purposely giving him a kick with his boot to wake him up too.
“What the hell, Anderson!” he yelled, kicking him again as he nearly fell off the bed. Becker managed to prevent himself from doing so and got to his feet. “Matt! What are you doing?”
“Becker? S’that you?” Matt’s groggy voice grumbled and moaned before he let out a yawn and stretched out his limbs.
“Yes, it’s me! Who did you expect? The bloody Prince of Wales? This is my home! What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
It was only when Matt turned round and faced him that Becker knew something was seriously wrong and it wasn’t just a simple case of his team leader getting confused with where he lived.
Matt looked like hell. He looked absolutely awful.
His once pristine leather jacket was ripped, as were some of his other clothes and there were bloodied claw marks on Matt’s cheek. This was not how Anderson was when they left the ARC, which meant something had happened to him.
Had he been attacked? Was there another incursion, if so why wasn’t Becker told? Why weren’t they right now calling the ARC and sorting this out? Becker had so many questions going on in his head, but as he observed Matt slowly and painfully get up from the bed, he could tell that this was no ordinary anomaly situation.
“Matt? Are…are you okay? You look like hell.”
“We have to go back.”
“What? What’s going on?”
“We have to go back, Becker,” Matt took off his jacket and then the tattered remains of his shirt. Becker was taken aback when he saw freshly healing claw marks running the length of Matt’s chest. They were very recent injuries, a few days at the most. “We haven’t finished.”
“Mate…what the hell are you going on about? How did this happen? I thought you were all right when we left the ARC.”
“I’m going to have a shower. Then you and I will talk.”
“Talk? You need to treat those wounds! Let me…”
“No! I don’t. I’m fine!”
“You’re not fine! Tell me what the bloody hell has happened!”
Matt completely ignored Becker and his concerns and walked out of the room. Becker moved to follow him, but was startled as Matt began stripping down the rest of his clothes.
“Matt!” It was only when they got to the bathroom that Becker stared in disbelief at the last remains of Matt’s clothes discarded on the floor. He then looked up and saw his friend completely and utterly naked.
Matt was naked and covered in more scars and wounds than Becker could count. Someone or something had slashed him up pretty bad, not just over the years of Matt’s life, but recently too.
Matt looked weak, thinner too, he looked haunted and drained. He was more hunched and rigid in his stature, not laid back or relaxed as he normally was. He was so tense…as if holding back more pain than the scars on his body were showing.
Becker then realised he was starring too long at his friend’s body.
Becker turned round sharply and shielded his eyes. After a few silent moments, he blindly and cautiously made his way over to Matt, grabbing a towel from the rail in the process. He handed his friend the towel, still with his hand firmly covering his eyes. Matt laughed softly and graciously accepted it, holding it over his groin.
“We’ll talk after I’ve washed up,” Matt said “I haven’t had a shower in a number of months and…well…by all means stay, if you want.”
Becker wasn’t about to do that.
When he let his hand drop away, he saw again the many claw marks on his friend’s skin, the numerous tiny scratches and bites that criss-crossed across Matt’s back as well as his arms and legs. Becker couldn’t help but be extremely concerned. What hell had Matt been through to get those wounds?
Becker made Matt turn round and again Becker scrutinised the injuries, his face creasing with empathy as he imagined how painful these must have been. His hand reached out and tentatively touched a red graze across Matt’s collar bone. This wasn’t right.
This wasn’t the Matt Anderson he knew.
“Tell me now,” Becker demanded, meeting Matt’s gaze and seeing the haunted look he got back, “what is going on?”
“It didn’t work, Becker,” Matt said, another small sad smile forming on his face. “We thought we stopped it, but we were wrong. We have to go back and close it. I can explain more later but right now, I would really like a shower.”
“Why are you here, Matt?”
Matt scowled as if confused. “I’m here because I live here.”
“What? No, you don’t! I live here!”
“Live, will live…I get confused with tenses and I really had nowhere else to go.”
“You have your own place!”
Matt shook his head and turned when Becker’s main house phone began to ring. “You’ll want to answer that.”
Becker didn’t move. The phone kept ringing and eventually it went to his answer machine. He knew who it would be.
“Becker! Damn, it’s your answer machine thing. I hate this contraption. It makes me talk like an utter eejit into it…this is recording…right? Mate, are we still going to the pub later on? Give me a call when you get this message? Over?”
Matt’s voice on the other end of the line made Becker grab for the small EMD concealed beneath the sink. He pointed it directly at Matt and powered it up. Matt stood there, completely unfazed or frightened by this and dropped the towel as he raised his hands.
“You’ve come from the future again,” Becker stated, trying to look anywhere except at Matt’s naked form. “Terrific.”
“It’s really not.” Matt shook his head and went to get into the shower but Becker grabbed hold of his shoulder and pulled him away from it. Matt grimaced at that action which caused Becker to immediately soften his grip. When he realised his fingers were caressing at Matt’s shoulder, that he could feel a warm tingling sensation on the tips, he pulled away.
“So…when are you from? What are you doing here?”
“Eight years in the future.” Matt took a step closer to Becker and reached out a hand to touch at his shoulder, but then Becker saw a look of fear and sadness on Matt’s face as he stepped away again, putting on a hard stoic expression. “Becker, I’m here because Connor’s anomalies didn’t close properly. They merged but they didn’t close like we thought they did. The New Dawn anomaly remained. It then grew big enough for predators came through and they did. The predators came and devastated everything and everyone. We need to go back and close the anomaly.”
Oh this was just what they needed.
Becker pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to shake off an impending headache.
“Right…we’ll do it, but why didn’t you contact me at the ARC, or heck, tell Connor or Lester? Why didn’t you tell yourself?”
“I told myself but I don’t think he quite believed what he saw. I never got the opportunity to do anything more, the timing was all wrong because you all went to get the train back. I was tired and hurting…I still am and I needed a place to rest. I wasn’t going to stay at the ARC and well, being as you and I are….” Matt paused for a moment, and his stoic expression broke as his eyes suddenly reddened and his bottom lip trembled, “we’re really good mates, I thought I’d come here.”
“Really good mates, huh?” Becker knew that Matt wasn’t telling him the whole truth and it was greatly unnerving. It was making him feel uncomfortable and Becker had never felt uncomfortable with his friend, even when they argued. “You couldn’t have slept on my sofa?”
“Call me back, Becker,” Matt said letting the towel drop again. Becker had to turn his head to look in any direction except at Matt. “Call Lester too. Tell me to come here…preferably with some clean clothes, and then the three of us can to head back to the factory, or what’s left of it. I’ll explain everything. I promise.”
Becker nodded reluctantly and went to leave but he paused to secure away the EMD. A shower was what Becker really needed right now too, the sweat and grime from the last mission still made his clothes stick to his skin and he stank something rotten.
He would let this Matt from the future have one first. Becker picked up the towel from the floor and placed it on the ledge just by the shower, along with an extra one. Worried that Matt might get water all over his floor, he put down several others as well.
The bathroom quickly filled with steam and as Matt began to wash himself down, groaning a little too much, Becker found himself stunned as he listened and as he watched the silhouette of his friend behind the glass.
Matt was clearly enjoying it too much and certainly Becker being here, listening to him make those sounds. Becker hurriedly picked up Matt’s jeans and the rest of his clothes, but something fell out of the pocket.
He bent down and picked up a key.
It was the spare key to his flat, which-when he checked-was still lying with his own set in the bowl by the front door.
----------
Current Matt Anderson had slammed the phone down as soon as Becker had mentioned the other him having a shower in his apartment. It took only fifteen minutes before Matt turned up, banging on the door.
Becker had steered clear of the bathroom during the time it took Matt to get here, as running water and groans of pleasure continued to sound from behind the door. He just waited and thought about what they would have to do on this new mission, but no sooner had Matt knocked on the door, the future Matt emerged from the bathroom, still looking like hell but a bit more refreshed.
“I didn’t imagine you, then?” Matt said when the two of them came face to face.
Future Matt shook his head. “I’m here and I’m here because I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”
“Why didn’t you contact us all at the ARC? We can help you, with Lester’s backing. Connor can come up with some kind of techno gadget thing…”
“I tried to contact you, remember? You were called out on a mission and frankly I was knackered. I haven’t had a great time in the future, Matt. It’s like our own but worse. I’ve been through things that…” Matt Two held out his arms and showed Matt the extent of his injuries.
“Oh god.”
“I can’t let this happen. We can’t. The Connor from my time came up with some gadgets that can help us.” Future Matt pointed to a tatty rucksack that had definitely once belonged to Temple. “What we need to do isn’t going to be easy. We need some backup, some weapons and Becker. I need you to accompany me…to the future.”
“Am I in any way to be used as bait? I know what your plans are like, Anderson,” Becker asked.
“No!” both of them chorused in perfect unison, and that freaked Becker out a little. He pointed a finger at the two of them and shook his head.
“Don’t! Don’t do that! It’s creepy! And Matt…did you bring some clothes for him? Tell me you did, I don’t want him frolicking in the all-together.”
Matt nodded and threw over a large canvas Tesco bag which had some of his own clothes in it. Future Matt nodded in appreciation, especially when he saw the black leather jacket stuffed in the bottom.
“Becker, you’re the last person I would ever want to put at risk.” Future Matt smiled softly. “But there is no one else I would rather have at my side, there is no one else I would trust with my life. I need you on this.”
Becker smiled back nervously in response. It sounded soppy, especially coming from Matt. If it was his current friend, he would have laughed, knowing Matt would be half joking about it, but this future version was far too sincere. There was sentiment, real sentiment in his voice and a vulnerability that wasn’t like him at all. It was weird.
“Sure. I’ll help. I said I would.”
“Thanks.”
When Future Matt left to get dressed, Becker immediately took out his phone and pressed the speed dial for the ARC. As soon as he had informed Lester about this situation, he was going to have a shower and get ready to resolve this.
Two Matt Andersons was going to be a handful.
“So…you two slept together?” Matt whispered, as Becker waited for the ARC to answer. The insinuation on his friend’s face made him grimace.
“Don’t, Matt. Don’t make jokes about this.”
“So how come he has your future spare front door key?”
“I don’t know!”
“You didn’t take advantage of me…did you? You didn’t do anything to me?”
“Oh for god’s sake, Matt!”
Lester hadn’t been thrilled when Becker told him the news of their new visitor from the future. At first he wanted them all to come to the ARC and do this properly, but both Becker and Matt had managed to convince him to let them handle it their way.
“Very well, but I’m putting all teams on standby. You’ll have backup with you if things do go wrong, which I would prefer they didn’t!”
“They won’t.”
“I trust you two have everything in order. I’m sending Connor to you…from what you’ve told me he needs to at least be consulted on the technical side of things. Keep an open com with him, until he gets there.”
“Will do.”
“Good. Keep me appraised. Don’t destroy the world.”
“We’ll try not to, Lester.”
“That really fills me with confidence, gentlemen.”
With that last snarky reply, the phone was cut dead.
“It’s very technical.”
That was a good start.
Connor was already babbling in Becker’s earpiece, a mixture of guilt and excitement in his voice as he blurted out various things that could have gone wrong with the anomaly he had created. It was difficult to understand what Connor was going on about so when he finally stopped, Becker asked Future Matt for a clearer explanation as they drove to the New Dawn site.
“Basically the two artificial anomalies were not entirely able to close upon merging. The single one left over is almost microscopic, we can’t see it with our own eyes. It doesn’t even register on the anomaly detector. You wouldn’t have found out about it until two years after convergence if I hadn’t come back to tell you, and then again only by pure chance. Greaves and his men came across it when they conducted a scout of that area. We tried to close the anomaly with a conventional locking device but it wasn’t possible, it just wasn’t powerful enough. You’d think something that small would be easy, but it wasn’t the case.
“Somehow, the anomaly increased in power over the passing months and despite all our efforts to shut it down, it grew to the point where it was large enough, just, for predators to come through it. With no way to lock or close the anomaly the predators ravaged our time. The anomaly continued to grow with no apparent means of power. Connor and other the scientists couldn’t fathom why it was doing it and why we couldn’t close it. We knew that eventually we’d be faced with the same problem as you’ve just dealt with. It would destroy the world. It would create the future I was born and raised in.
“Sure enough, within the space of a few years the country was pretty much overrun and the environment was beginning to be affected as well. There was nothing we could do, the bloody predators bred so quickly. So many people died, through the predators and through the government’s and other countries efforts to put a stop to it all. They tried everything short of nuking us, but the predators soon got abroad too. Then the weather and conditions all over the world were altered, because of the anomaly. We struggled to find a solution, Connor tried his best and in the end…he came up with this plan. It’s our last hope.”
Becker had to stop the car. Hearing about the future, the one they’d all contributed to, made it difficult to breathe. So this was what they had done. They had come back from New Dawn thinking everything was all right, that it was fine… but no, they’d only helped in destroying the world.
“This plan,” Matt said to his future self, “what does it entail?”
Future Matt lifted up Future Connor’s rucksack and pulled out two strange looking contraptions that were clearly his inventions.
“Connor came up with these. They are variations on the locking device but much more powerful and in his words ‘fiddly.’ The only thing is that we’ve already tried it on this side of the anomaly and it still doesn’t work, which is why we have to go to the future and try the other side.”
“Ah.”
“And that really won’t be easy. It’s not going to be a case of turn them on and bam it’s closed. We have to use the anomaly to connect two of these devices which will-- ”
“That’ll be really tricky guys!” Connor’s voice practically deafened them. Future Matt nodded in agreement.
“Like he said, it will be tricky. The calibrations have to be precise from both ends otherwise it won’t work and the anomaly will continue to grow.”
Connor started to talk in his ear again, incessantly. The jargon words and the speed with which Connor talked was really quite overwhelming. Becker couldn’t understand any of it.
“I can go if you’d like. I can help him. You don’t have to do this.”
Becker smiled and continued to weapon up. There was no way he was going to let the current Matt endanger himself in the future. If both of the Matts died, there was no way out of this, there wouldn’t be another chance to change the future, at least no easier way.
There would also be no Matt Anderson at all and that didn’t sit well with Becker. In fact, it made his stomach ache at the thought of it.
To lose his best friend was unacceptable, so all he had to do was help Future Matt find the other side of the anomaly and keep him safe until they could lock the anomaly. Then it would be back to the present and down the pub for a good few pints and some pool.
No, it wouldn’t be that simple.
“Erm, just how exactly are you going to get to the future?” asked Matt.
“Yeah…how are we getting there?” Becker asked.
Future Matt dug his hand back into the rucksack and pulled out a device that Connor recognised instantly. Connor gasped and snatched it from Matt’s hand.
“An actual AOD? It works?” Connor choked with astonishment.
“Oh, it works all right. Connor, you made it work when you amalgamated it with my future tech and because of that you and I made some huge progress with restoring the matrix from the artefact.”
“The artefact?” Becker scratched the back of his head absentmindedly. “The thing Lester has as a doorstop for his office?”
“It was thought useless but it wasn’t wiped entirely. Connor and I got to the information stored on it. We succeeded. That AOD will get us to the future…pure and simple.”
“That’s handy,” Becker said.
“Restoring that matrix was not easy…but yeah. It’s handy.”
“I’d love to poke around inside the AOD when you all get back!” Connor did a little jig of joy. “Can I?”
The future Matt nodded his head. “Sure.”
It was at that moment that the team of soldiers turned up, the seven men who would be providing backup. After Future Matt explained the situation to them, he also explained about the small round grenade -like devices he pulled from the bag and about the metallic blue gizmos he clipped onto their uniforms. Becker was greatly interested to learn that these were Matt’s design and at the same time, he was excited too, about the grenades.
“What I’m fixing to your uniforms,” Future Matt attached one of the clasps to Becker’s flak jacket, “will emit a continual sonic frequency, not strong enough to actually stop the predators in their tracks, but enough to slow them down and make them a target. The range isn’t much, but at least it will give you the time to shoot them.”
“Yeah? What about the grenades?” asked Becker, gleefully eyeing the bag.
“The grenades are also a sonic device, of my design. They will stop a large group of predators dead still for about thirty or so minutes.” Matt slipped one of the grenades into Becker’s hand and smiled as Becker prodded and poked it with wonder and curiosity. “I don’t have many, so we have to use them as sparingly as possible.”
“They’re….they’re really cool,” Becker sighed.
“I’m glad you approve, mate, but there are a lot of predators around when the storms are still. We don’t have enough. I couldn’t make enough to keep them all at bay. When the storms occur, you’ll be able to breathe but the air is still toxic. We have masks for that. Some predators have adapted to the air and have been known to come out in storms. The grenades won’t be helpful when the storms are on, nothing will. We will just have to leg it.”
“You designed these things?” Connor asked, taking one of the clips and peering at the little blue glow it emitted. “Awesome! You’ve got to tell me about them!”
Becker handed Connor his future rucksack who then began to root around inside like it was Christmas. He pulled out a couple of things that looked like locking devices, but much more complicated. He was utterly fascinated. Future Matt then took a few minutes to explain to Connor what each of them did, and which ones Connor needed to operate. It didn’t take long for Connor to take it all in.
“I don’t see how I didn’t think of these things sooner! It’s all so clear to me now!” he geeked happily, clapping his hands. “Can I come along? What if something goes wrong with the equipment? I could help patch…”
“Connor, it's best you stay behind, because if we don’t succeed….”
“Gotcha.” Connor sulked slightly.
“Are you sure I can’t come along?” asked Matt.
“Having one of you around is bad enough, I don’t need two of you yelling at me.” Becker snatched up one of the gas masks from the back of his team’s truck. “Let’s get this over and done with, gentlemen, let’s go and save the world… again.”
“I’ve located another anomaly…a natural one, on the AOD,” said Future Matt. “It’s not a biggie but it will lead us to where we have to go.”
He pressed several pads on the device in his hand and as an anomaly opened up, he secured a rucksack to his back and joined the others for one last final check of their equipment and supplies.
“Guys…” Future Matt looked at each and every one of the soldiers with great admiration and appreciation. “While I’m grateful for you doing this, where you’re going is unlike anywhere you’ve been before. What you’ve got to do will be more than you’ve ever trained for. Good luck.”
Becker slipped the gas mask onto his head, took one last look at Connor and Matt and stepped through.
Becker emerged just in time to see one of his men suddenly dragged away screaming by a predator. The others were already firing, but through the thick yellow poisonous dust storm, they couldn’t see much, only shadows and faint outlines of their colleague being ripped apart by the creatures.
Becker barked orders to them to keep a defensive formation, but after a few more seconds it was clear that there were no other predators around. Becker tried to calm his men down, Watson was gone, there was nothing they could do except see the rest of this mission through.
“Matt! Where do we go?” he yelled above the howling winds.
“We have to get to one of the nearby shelters and wait out this storm! We can’t do anything in this.”
Becker saw a blinking light on the device in Matt’s hand and then several beeps barely registered in his ears. Matt began to lead the way and Becker and the six remaining men followed on afterwards.
“Welcome everyone, to my home, sweet home.”
Becker didn’t envy him one bit. He couldn’t even begin to fathom living day to day in this, with the threat of the storms, predators and other creatures in this desolate hellhole. He marvelled as to how Matt, both of them, had survived through this.
This really was hell. He’d lost one man already and they hadn’t even begun.
What had he got himself and the others into?
The shelter hidden underground wasn’t quite what Becker had expected. He thought it would be very enclosed, like the escape tunnels POWs dug during the war. He expected it to be a small claustrophobic place, muddy and cold, but it wasn’t quite.
Matt took them all down a relatively sturdy ladder and closed the hatch behind him, locking it firmly. He fumbled about a bit and soon a bright neon light illuminated a large room-sized cavern, with three wide tunnels leading further off. Despite the white light, the place was still dismal and dreary. The floor was nothing but a mixture of wet and dry mud and there was a chill lingering in the air, along with the smell of sulphur. The walls were dull dark concrete and lined with metallic shelves, each stacked with various containers and vials with ominous hazard warning labels.
There were no personal items, in fact there was nothing to indicate that anything could be personal in a place like this. There were no signs of any families or anyone having lived here, but Matt had said this was very much like where he had been brought up.
No one should have to live this. Ever.
Becker heard the rest of his men talking in low hushed tones about Watson. He approached them and did his best to console them, as a captain should for his men. Andrews, the youngest of the team, was clearly shaken and in shock, so Becker gently clasped a hand on his shoulder and smiled as sincerely as he could.
This mission had not started out well, they all needed some assurance.
“I know it was a shock. I know you’re reeling right now about losing Watson, feeling uncertain and scared, I am too. We’ve lost a good man and a great friend, but millions of lives depend upon us carrying out this mission. We’ll carry out our jobs like we’ve always done. We’ll watch each other’s backs and we will get through this. Understand?”
“Yes sir!”
Andrews nodded nervously.
“Good. We’ll make our move when the storm breaks, so save your strength. Get some rest.”
“Yes, sir.” Andrews replied. Becker broadened his smile and patted the young man on the back before he turned away and stood next to Matt.
“When will the storm break?”
Matt shrugged his shoulders.
“Could be hours or minutes.”
“So we wait in the meantime?”
“Pretty much, but if your men want to check out the stores,” Matt pointed to the rows and rows of shelves that lined the tunnel walls, “there might be something you can take back. Further on down the tunnels there might be some food left, or the treatment room could have some medical supplies. Each network of tunnels has their own layout, a medical treatment room, water processing facility… This shelter has been abandoned for the time being, judging by the looks of things, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back. Take whatever you think might be useful, but don’t take too much.”
Without it being suggested further, all six of the men walked away and began searching through the vials and containers. Jones and Barnes walked like protective guards around Andrews, as if they were afraid he would be too vulnerable to be by himself.
Becker on the other hand took it upon himself to look at the locking device and sonic grenades they had brought along. He sank down to his knees, scooped up the rucksack from the floor and peered inside. Becker didn’t have a clue except for the grenades. He picked out a device that looked like something out of one of Connor’s favourite science fiction shows.
“That’s going to help us find the anomaly here,” Matt said as he sat down on the floor next to Becker. “Once we do, we can use the new locking device to connect with the other in the past. Once the two LDs are connected, we should be able to lock it properly.”
“What if we can’t?”
“I have a back-up plan.”
“A back-up plan? Is it one you’re going to tell me about…at all?”
“Not right now. It’s a pretty typical one as so far as backup plans go.”
“Am I going to like it?”
“Let’s just say I’m really hoping we don’t have to use the back-up plan.”
“Me too.” Becker slipped off his knees and onto his bottom, sighing heavily as he attempted to wipe his face free of dirt and grime. He then placed the contraption back into Connor’s rucksack and then lowered his voice, making sure the others couldn’t overhear. “So…why did you sleep with me?”
PART TWO