Time And Alternate Dimension In Space - Part 13

Writers Block - The Getaway (Part 3)*

The water wasn’t nearly as cold as the ‘air’ on the life-raft. When Jenni asked Erick why he didn’t love her, he didn’t know how to respond. Was she being serious? She seemed genuine and sincere but how could he trust her after all she had done back in Milwaukee. In the past few hours odd things were happening and Erick was only now beginning to realize it along with Jenni. Back on the boat she asked if he noticed anything unusual. There was no time to reply however as the ship suddenly began to sink and they were put into a life-raft. Since then, not much was said. Erick’s attitude was cold and for the most part he ignored her. Probably not the best way to react considering the circumstances. He decided to swallow his pride and give her the benefit of the doubt.

“You said you noticed odd stuff happening?”

Jenni turned from watching the open sea to look at Erick. He could tell right away something different about her. Her eyes were not as piercing as usual; also her demeanor was calmer. “You haven’t?” She replied back, almost challenging him to say he hadn’t.

“Well, you’re not trying to throw me off the raft, I guess that’s odd.” He laughed to himself, hoping it would ease the situation. It didn't.

“What did I ever do to make you hate me so?”

“Plenty,” Erick explained. “Are you really trying to tell me you don’t remember all the horrible things you’ve said to me, all the lies you’ve told? Just because you didn’t get your way?”

“I would never.” She seemed very sincere once more. “Maybe in some alternate reality I might have, but not me, not who I am right now.”

Many strange things happened to Erick recently. So many in fact, it was hard for him to dismiss what Jenni was saying. “Maybe there is something strange going on. To be honest, I was starting to think the same thing before you mentioned it. I was looking around for my girlfriend Vicki and couldn’t remember if she were on the trip with me or not.”

Jenni winced inside at the mention of Erick’s girlfriend. “I had a sudden weird feeling I was on an airplane and you were telling me about some creature you saw on the wing outside.”

Erick had to admit, it was something he would do. He closed his eyes and tried to think back. “I had a daydream like that when I was reading my book. We were in the airport and a loud squeal came from the intercom system.”

“Yes, that sounds familiar though I can’t recall when it happened.” Jenni and Erick looked at each other with new-found wonder as they tried to piece together the strange events taking place. Suddenly the lifeboat rocked as the waves suddenly picked up. Looking around, Erick saw land about half a mile away, he hadn’t noticed it earlier.

“Jenni, I see land!” Erick pointed in the direction. “Grab those paddles, let’s make our way there.” Once they reached the shore, Jenni sat down in the sand and began crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He rushed over to comfort her.

“I haven’t seen any other life rafts.” She explained. “Are we the only ones who made it?”

“For the moment, I’m not sure if anyone else was on the boat with us. Come on, we need to figure out where we are and if there's civilization.” Erick offered his hand to pull Jenni up.

Accepting Erick’s help, Jenni suddenly gave him a hug. “I’m sorry for whatever I might have ever done to you, in any reality.” She tried to hold back her tears but suddenly had to let go. “We’ve known each other since grade school, how could I have become so bitter?”

“I don’t know. But you changed for the worse when your family moved to Florida for those many years.” Her eyes widened.

“We never moved to Florida. My dad was offered a job but he never accepted it.” The two exchanged looks as they started to realize what the difference between them was.

“For the record, I like you better than my Jenni. We dated for a few years after you moved back, but you were far too different and I had changed also.”

Jenni nodded in understanding. “Maybe now isn't the time to dwell on that. Let’s see if we can find something down the beach. Perhaps we’ll find an opening in the tree line.” The two began walking, as they continued a hum was suddenly audible.

“Do you hear that?” Erick asked. Jenni nodded.

“I wonder what that is.”

“I think it’s coming from this direction. Let’s check it out.” Erick started running towards the sound, getting closer to the trees, Jenni followed. Several yards before he reached the trees however, a man came running out of the jungle.

“Get out! Save yourselves! We’ve got to get away!”

(To Be Concluded)


Next - Sliders; No Time To Slide - Part 3)

*This is part 13 of the 20 part 'Time And Alternate Dimension In Space'.
A Doctor Who, Quantum leap, Writers Block, Sliders & Legion of Super Heroes crossover.