Hello it’s me.
Death waits for no one, the end game.
Episode #4
I’m hanging out in small towns in South Oklahoma laying low
moving every couple day’s waiting for my future self to locate someone that can
get me new I.D. The future me provides lottery
numbers and horse/dog races results so I’m a winner every time, but I’ve been forced
to use my actual I.D. to cash my winnings leaving a trail that’s easy to
follow.
I’m currently staying at a one level ancient Motel built
years and years ago, it’s tiny with just 16 rooms split in two buildings with a
small parking lot between them. My room is
across and two up from the Office with a view of the entrance to the Motel and
the Office area, a sagging car port juts out the front of the Office giving you
a roofed area out of the rain as you check in.
I’m planning to stay at this little Motel another day maybe
two, it’s clean and quiet with little traffic, I think only three other rooms
are occupied. It sits at the edge of
town, makes me think of years ago when these little towns were alive and the highways
were active before the freeways shut everything down.
I’ve got in the habit of looking out the window when I hear a
car pull into the Motel, not so much out of paranoia but out of shear boredom.
Hearing gravel crunch from the pot holes between the hard
top of the highway and the old patched driveway to the Hotel I see a late model
four door come to a stop under the covered entrance. I watch for a moment, nothing out of the
ordinary and I slide back to the single chair, the TV is belching out fake canned
laughter to a brain numbing story line. I’m no longer hearing the TV but
watching a video in my head of the car pulling in under the car port, the sun
hitting the rear of the car lighting up the reflective license plate, that’s
not right. I jump up to the window, the
cars pulling out from under the cover and heads to the highway. The rear plate is an Oregon plate but Oregon
doesn’t have that design, that’s a Washington State design but it says
Oregon? Turning the TV off I fire up the
laptop pulling up Washington State license plate designs, sure enough there it
is, punching in Oregon’s, nope nothing like that on the site. I go back to the window, cars gone but just
short of the covered entrance is an old man shuffling along the little sidewalk,
a very old man by the effort he’s putting in bend over feebly using an equally
old cane. I watch for a minute as he makes
his way past the Office door and along the first room. I haven’t seen him before and I’m sure he
doesn’t belong to any of the three cars parked across the lot, they came in last
night before dinner and just after. Somethings
just not right here, I pull the curtains closed just leaving a small opening where
I can look out without being seen in the window. It’s taken a long time for the old guy to get
past the Office and now between rooms 1 and 2.
He pauses next to a two-person bench and I think he’s going to take a
seat to rest but no, he steps next to the bench and backs up against the
wall. This is very strange, he’s
straight across the parking lot from my window, I pull the drapes tighter. The light fades from the world, my knees go
weak, there’s a good possibility I might pee my pants, this is out of the world. The old man shakes twisting from side to side
and shrinks, head folding down between his sagging shoulders, wrinkled shirt
smoothing out, body melting becoming square and squat, he’s now a garbage can.
My world fades to dark gray, I slide down the wall sitting
with my back against the old concrete, I can’t breathe. I have tears running down my face, I now know
how this nightmare is going to end.
I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here, I either
passed out or slept. The room is dark
and faint light is hitting the curtains above my head casting pale yellow shadows
against the wall over the TV. Do I dare
look out the window? any movement of the drapes could alert the watcher of my
presence. Clearly an observation post,
they must have grown tired of the cat and mouse chase and are now covering
every Hotel/Motel in the greater area. I
hear voices, at least two people talking, laughter, more talking moving from
the Office area towards one of the rooms. I carefully raise and push my face to
the drapes, slowly very slowly and carefully not to move them. Two people casually walking talking heading
to one of the far rooms to my right. Looking
straight across the parking lot the “Not a trash can” sits in low light,
completely natural, age, color, everything perfect except I know the truth.
Options.
As long as I can take a breath, I have options. Breathe.
Slowly walking around the room, I know there has to be something I can
do. The car is out of the question, it
sits in a parking space just right of the window not directly in front of my
room, I parked in that spot so I had a clear view of the Office area, but I can’t
get to it with that thing across from me.
I find a small window in the bathroom, can I fit through it? It’s going to be tight. Would they be watching the rear of the Motel
also, they can’t have enough assets to cover every Hotel/Motel in the area
front and back, it’s going to be a gamble just to get out the window let alone
worry about the back being covered.
I gather my stuff, not much, no use taking the keys or
anything like that. I stuff my laptop in
my little backpack and drop it out the back window. I wait a few minutes, nothing moving that I
can see. The window is old, caulking is
mostly gone and the cement around the window is like chalk, soft nasty, easy to
break away. I take out the entire
casing, I’ve got a much bigger opening now, not going to be fun or easy but I
know I can make it. The landing isn’t
going to be pleasant.
I land with a thump, grab my bag and head for the lights of
town only about a hundred and fifty yards glowing in the distance. Gas station with a grocery store attached,
signage lighting up the entire area. As
I get closer under the lights in shadows “Trailways” Are you kidding me? Is that still a thing? I come up to the side of the building in the
dark, sliding around the side I step through the front door. “Do you still have buses that stop here?” “Sure do, the bus should be here in about ten
minutes, where you going?” “I’m headed
North any chance of that?” “Your in
luck, just pay the driver.”
Ten minutes on the head the old dirty bus pulls into the service
station right up to the front doors. No
one gets off and the driver does the three steps down and lights a cigarette. I
step out of the grocery store up tight against the bus. “How far North are you going?” “I go to Lamar and then another bus goes West
from there to Pueblo, then North towards Colorado Springs on.”
“I’ll take it to Lamar.”
“Great $22 cash.”
Me, driver and four others make for lots of room on the
bus. Before we get out in the open Country,
I make a fast phone call to my future self and catch him up on what I’ve seen.
The bus ride was uneventful and I catch the Western running
bus from Lamar to Pueblo. The bus stops
at nearly every little town along the way, you get enough time to use the
bathroom, get something to snack on or a gas station hotdog and back on the bus
just to stop ten minutes later repeating all night long. I stayed on the bus hidden from sight until I
had to get off for bathroom breaks.
I get a text as we go through another small town that looks
just like the last two hundred little towns along the route. I get name, address and hours for a fake
paper guy in Colorado Springs, same one guy my future self-used 25 years in the
future, just different town and a much younger guy in my time zone. End of message: get your I.D. and disappear.
Colorado Springs.
The bus drops you off just about in the center of the
city. I ask around and find a discrete
hostel, most cliental is college kids or foreign tourist vying for very cheap
places to stay for just one night on their travels. All I can do is hope that “they” haven’t
thought this far down from Hotel/Motels.
I haven’t slept in nearly two days now and I know I’m not thinking
clearly and missing everything going on around me, I could walk right into a
shooting gallery and never see it coming.
I’ve got to hole up for a while.
I hit my hard bunk in the early afternoon and sleep regardless
of noise or movement until midmorning the following day. My head hurt and I feel like I have a nasty
hangover, the front desk just happens to have Tylenol for sale in little one-time
servings, Oh lucky me. Desk gives me
directions to a crappy all you can eat place a few blocks away, food sucks but I
ate enough to call it my last meal, not funny but I’m starting to think that
way.
It's just after noon and figuring my guy probably has somewhat
normal hours, so lunch between noon and one. I time my arrival out to be in his
Office at 1pm.
I take an Uber ride and even the driver makes a couple
comments about the shitty side of town and under his breath I hear “What a
shithole.” as we pull into a strip mall that has never seen better days. Number six sits towards the end of the
building against a huge brick wall of the next larger building. The cars in the parking lot may or may not be
drivable, they look like they’ve been sitting here for a long while. Garbage is piled up by the wind in the corner
two feet deep and seems to be moving on its own.
Have you ever walked up to a door with a pull handle and
thought to yourself I should be wearing rubber gloves? Well, I was, the dust and dirt made the clear
glass of the door impossible to see though.
I pulled on the door and thought it was locked to begin with but it
screamed out of its dirt crusted tracks and swung open hitting me in the face
with hot barf smelling air. I nearly
gagged.
I stood at the counter, finally I called out. “Hello, anyone
home?”
“Give me a fucking second OKAY, I’ll be right out!” Yelled
from someplace behind the magic curtain.
Oh, this is going to be fun.
Out from the back comes a guy that hasn’t shaved in days,
dirty shirt half tucked in, greasy wavy hair that just won’t put up with a comb;
like the shitty mall this guy has never seen better times.
“Hi, I need some help” I croak, still wanting to barf
especially after getting a whiff of his non-washed scent.
“You better have cash, that’s all I take. What do you need?” he says showing brown teeth.
“I need the new life packet, Social Security Card, Drivers
License and whatever else you have.”
“Two thousand.” He says
with a grin.
“No, that’s 2048 prices, I’m thinking more like, one
thousand and while I wait.” I’m grinding my teeth.
“Fifteen hundred and two hours.” Big frown on his face like
I just stole his lunch money.
“Fine.” I hand him the information I want on the I.D. I’ve got to get out of here. Ugh.
Pictures on one of the oldest cameras I’ve seen outside of a
museum, my signature on a white card.
“Two hours, be back at four or your going to miss me, I have
other business today.” He turns and disappears.
“Ummmm…… that’s two and a half hours.” I say to no one.
“Fuck off.” from
behind the magic curtain.
4pm.
I’ve been standing across the street for a good half hour
watching the garbage blow in slow spiraling circles along the front of the
crusty shit smelling strip mall, not one person has come or gone. It almost looks like the other businesses are
closed up tight.
Time to make the donuts.
I pulled on the door but this time held my breath as long as
I could, it’s hard not to gasp when the stench hits you full face but you have
to breathe even if it’s totally toxic.
With the scream of the door, he comes out from the back area. Some how it looks like he’s cleaned up a
little and the shirt isn’t the same as two and a half hours ago.
“I got your stuff done.”
He throws it on the filthy counter, as it slides dust jumps in the air.
I notice two things, his voice is different, his teeth are
white.
I turn on my heels to flee the two steps for the door, it’s
blocked from the outside by two large men.
I turn and nearly step into him.
“I’ve got something for you.” He jams a huge knife in my chest.
“What?” Is all I
could get out as the world dimmed and blacked out.
Phone ringing.
Me #2: “Hello, did you get the I.D?”
“Hello Mr. Ryan, or should I call you Mr. Spencer, isn’t that
the new name? It’s time for you to come home.”
The voice said. “Your younger
self seems to have run out of air.”
Me #2: “You’ve killed him?”
“It would seem so; where are you? We can make this fast and
nearly painless.” The voice was getting
deeper the laugh chilled my spine.
Me #2: “You’ll be hearing from me.” I threw the phone in a garbage can.
The final solution.
The plane touched down in LAX with a scream from the tires,
arrival 10:00am, it was 10:05am. Taxi towards
downtown but pulling up short at a nice Western Hotel ten minutes from the old
Office.
Powering up the brand-new laptop with all the new features,
time to do some safe cracking. For a
numbers guy it took way longer than I thought, they’d really worked over the
security package since my run for my life. Funny thing was I was the lead on
the security package in the very beginning and left a backdoor only I knew how
to find. It was a slow go working
through all the chains and coding but it was still there and I told security to
allow my old I.D. access at all hours or days.
It was now Friday at just before 4pm, so if any alert coming in, the
Office was closing down for the weekend in just a half hour and with the lackadaisical
security they’d hired I wasn’t very worried about anyone noticing a late card
access coming in until at least Monday or Tuesday.
I had an expensive dinner at one of the down town restaurants,
only one glass of wine.
I walked to one of the not so used entrances to the building
and tried my card. Green light and I was
in. If they’d been tipped off, I’d make
it ten feet before I met my maker.
Walking to the elevator things were looking good. I hit floor eleven, one short. I’d walk up the last using the stairs.
Just cracking the door from the stairs I peaked down the
hallway, empty. The labs were one floor
above on fourteen. The only access to
fourteen was from the interior of twelve.
I’m sure there are going to be people in the lab, they can’t run this
big of a operation 24/7 without it. I keyed
my way through the front door and picked up a lab coat, mask and a hair net from
the store room. Two minutes in the blower,
into the vacuum, up the stairs to fourteen and the lab.
Wow things have changed.
Two long rows of super computers have been added, in the distance large
tubes that looked a lot like the transporter room in Star Trek. When I made a run for it, we were just opening
up the project to a new A.I. program.
Looks like my number sequence sure took off.
I stepped behind one row of computers and laid my briefcase
on the floor, popping the lid I filled my pockets with mini incendiaries that
would blow into massive fire balls. Next
stop was the fire suppression station that was wide open, anyone could just
walk up and put their hands all over it.
I turned it to test, standby, placed a grenade behind the front
panel. I placed grenades all over the
floor. No one even gave me a look, I
guess they thought they were indestructible? Sure, I was covered from head to toe with clothing
to keep any hair or dust from ruining the equipment but the lack of real
security was amazing. No one spoke to
each other and heads were buried in computer screens. I had nothing to do, everything was placed
and timers set. I walked up to a tech and
asked how the new tubes were used and operated.
She gave me a full run down on how to set them and run them. Said they had a busy day and it finally had
slowed down so all the tubes were set in idle ready for the next job. She left me and headed to her computer
station.
The screen was all just normal stuff I’d programed before, setting
the date/time was straight forward with the exception that you’d be going back
in time, that was a new concept to me but they’d proven over the last weeks it
was working fine, even the earlier bugs we’d seen had been worked out. They could send anything back in time, I
wonder how far back?
One last thing before I go, the main frame where all the programs
were held, needed some hardware. I
placed two charges and returned to the tubes.
I had exactly five minutes, if my timing was off, I’d go up
in smoke with the rest of the two floors.
I hope I haven’t missed anything; this was a one-way ticket; I won’t be
able to return and if I’ve missed anything, they’d rebuild and we’d be under
the gun again. My only concern was duplicates
of my initial work, I’d kept it under lock and key and when I was force to run,
I hit the button to delete part of the codes.
I was the only programmer on that part of the project, it was my baby
and I didn’t let anyone touch it. I made it, I thought it up and hoped no one
else could remake it, even A.I.
Time to go.
It was short work to program in the time/date; hit the
button and the five second delay would give enough time to get in the
tube. I hit the button and ran inside
the tube.
My last thought was “Beam me up Scotty.”
The landing was soft, I just popped into being in a strange
place 25 years, a few weeks and couple days in the past. Turning around in a circle I remembered
exactly where I was, my house was just around the corner from here. Looking at my watch it was 5:00am. I had a few minutes to walk around the corner
and meet myself.
Ringing the door bell on my own front door I saw me walking
with that look on my face wondering who in the world would be ringing my door
at 5am in the morning.
Hello it’s me.
From the Ramblings.
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