4.14 Off Balance

Once the world stopped shaking Emmaline gathered her feet beneath her. Where was she? She wondered looking around her. The air had a stale dead smell to it. The stench hung in the air cloying drenching her in sweat. Where was everyone? She appeared to be in the middle of a deserted street in an abandoned downtown district. There should be people shopping. Working. An angry motorist blasting his horn at the dazed girl standing in the middle of the street. Something. Anything.

Nothing but silence greeted her ears. Sweltering heat and this overpowering stench of decay. Dead. The place was dead. Gulping she swallowed the scream that threatened to escape.

"Where the hell are we?" a man's voice demanded shattering the silence.

"Andrew," she cried turning and running towards her brother.

Andrew opened his arms to catch her as she threw herself into his arms. "How did you get here?" he asked stroking her long pink hair.

"I...I don't know," she sobbed into his shoulder unable to stop the tears "one minute I was standing in our garage and the next I'm here." Pulling away from him she wiped her pale green eyes dry, hiccuping as she brought herself under control. "How did you get here?" she asked looking towards Charlie who seemed to be standing guard. "Are we in danger?" she asked keeping her voice low suddenly aware how exposed they were in the deserted street. What if there were people hiding within these abandoned buildings? How many eyes were watching them? Her mind went to every zombie movie she had ever seen and shivered.

"I don't know," Charlie said keeping his eyes and ears alert, darting from one direction to another. "I'd feel better if there were something around but us."

Nodding she helped Andrew up from where she had knocked him down. That was when she saw it, half hidden by the over turned trash can. A body. Motionless. Dead. Her breath caught in her throat as she pointed in it's direction.

Andrew followed her trembling pointing finger, moving in it's direction. He stopped as a hand fell on his shoulder. "Don't" Charlie instructed in his ear "we don't know what happened. It could be a trap."

Holding a hand over her nose Emmaline said "that explains why it smells so bad around here."

Nodding Andrew moved to put an arm around her. "That's not the only body either," he said as he pointed at other mutilated corpses dotting the sidewalks. "What could have happened that people haven't buried their dead?"

"I don't know," Charlie murmured his voice tense. A shadow fell over them as clouds blocked out the sun.

"We're not alone," Emmaline cringed behind her brother "something just moved inside that building."

Andrew pointed towards another building where a figure stood obscured by ragged curtains. "There's something over there too," he moved closer to Charlie keeping a firm hold on his sister.

"We need to find someplace to hide," Charlie said to no one in particular. "Stay here," he told them as he approached the inert body on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Andrew hissed.

Ignoring him Charlie picked up the large metal pipe that was peaking out from beneath the body. It wasn't much of a weapon. It hadn't helped the poor sap who had it before him but it was more than they had before.

"Charlie," Andrew and Emmaline called out to him panic causing their voices to rise. He ran back to them heart racing he put his back against Andrew's wishing he had another pipe he could give him to protect himself.

"Shouldn't we run?" Emmaline asked crushed between the two men.

"No" they both shouted at her as multiple mutants that once might have been humans surrounded them.

***

"Dad what should I do?" Michelle cried falling to her knees "I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

Kneeling beside his daughter Chase pulled her close "I know sweetie but right now we have to concentrate on fixing it."

Connie rolled her eyes "what's the big deal? All we have to do is get Grandpa to bring them back." Looking around the room at the upset adults and her sobbing sister she shrugged "it's easy peasy."

"It's never easy," Jennifer snapped at the young girl "time is a fragile thing. One change can wipe out an entire family forever." She covered her face in her hands, shoulders shaking "I thought by sharing my past you would have learned from my mistakes."

"Mom," Connie sighed making a face that showed her annoyance at what she thought were mere theatrics "we weren't changing anything. We were just sending Emmaline to the future."

"That's not the point," Chase told her helping Michelle up. Putting an arm around her to help steady her he continued "whether you intended to or not the future changed. The entire future is in flux, rewriting itself as we speak."

Crossing her arms Connie turned away unwilling to admit her mistake. Even if they messed things up she still believed Grandpa could fix it. He was the time keeper after all. That's his job.

"You don't get it do you?" Michelle asked confronting her sister "we destroyed the future. It can't be fixed..."

"Of course it can," she scoffed "grandpa can do anything." Her faith in Emits ability was undaunted by what her twin said.

"What if we sent them so far into the future where Oasis Landing no longer exists?" Michelle demanded "you know grandpa told us about an explosion that destroyed Oasis Landing." Connie nodded eyes growing larger as she recalled what Emit had told them.

"Grandpa was trying to keep that from happening by bringing Uncle Caleb here," Connie's voice began to fade as she began to realize what they had done.

Gripping her sisters wrist Michelle squeezed hard "by sending Andrew and Charlie into the future we destroyed Grandpa's work. Uncle Caleb was brought here to balance our dimension with all the others. Andrew isn't here to produce the next generation required to keep the balance. He might have died wherever we sent him..."

Understanding brightened the girls dark brown eyes "what do we do?" she cried. Both girls turned to their father for an answer.

Chase looked around the room finding everyone looking to him for answers he didn't have. How could he tell them he didn't know? That he was as lost as they were. The only person who might know couldn't be trusted. Before he could voice any of his unsettling thoughts a bright light filled the garage. A form of a man appeared within, friend or foe they were about to find out.

***

The creatures merged upon the small group of frightened young people. One or two creatures stopped to sniff the air. Others growled showing sharp pointed fangs whose mouths were surrounded by dried blood. Charlie readied his makeshift weapon expecting to be attacked at any moment.

The loathsome creatures circled them. Two jumped ahead of the pack sniffing at Andrew ignoring the others. Leaning as far back as he could from the fowl breath as they breathed on him. Andrew whispered "what do I do?" fear making his voice crack. At the sound of his voice the creatures growled showing more teeth. Their fetid breath washing over Andrew making his eyes water as he tried to hold his breath.

The creature closest to him grabbed his arm pulling him away from the rest. Struggling Andrew cried out trying to free himself. The more he struggle the more the creatures claws dug into his skin.

"Let go of him" Charlie screamed swinging his pipe at anything that moved or got close enough for him to hit. The scrunching sound as the metal smashed into the creatures head made Charlie cringe. He didn't have time to think about it though. He had to keep the creatures from taking Andrew. He heard Emmaline scream as the creatures closed in on her. Several shots rang through the air. Four creatures lay silent on the pavement. One or two writhed in pain from their wounds. The others scattered. All except the one who was intent on dragging Andrew off with them. Charging at the creature Charlie swung at it desperate to protect the love of his life.

"I think it's dead," a deep voice said behind him.

Turning Charlie raised his pipe ready to fight "don't come any closer." He waved the bloodied brain splattered pipe around in front of him.

"Whoa take it easy buddy," the older man said smiling easily. Turning to his companions "how's the girl?"

"She's not red eye," a girl said helping the silently weeping girl to her feet "more scared than anything."

Jerking his head toward Charlie "he's not red eye either."

Andrew winced as someone pulled on his injured arm. "This one is wounded." The man stood up 

towering over Andrew's head pointing his gun at him.

"No" Emmaline screamed throwing herself in front of her brother.

"Get out of the way stupid girl," the man gruffly pushed her aside "it's the only humane thing to do. It's only a matter of time before he becomes red eye." He raised his gun finger moving to pull the trigger "this will be more merciful then letting him turn into one those creatures."

"I wouldn't do that just yet," the woman who had helped Emmaline said to the man as she stooped to sniff at Andrew.

"Is he?" the man who appeared to be the groups leader asked her.

"I think so," she nodded "it's too early to tell for sure."

"It's too rare not to take a chance," turning to the other man with the itchy trigger finger "stand down. We'll put him in quarantine until the incubation period is over."

The man gave his leader a disapproving nod. Turning back to Andrew he barked "get up."

"He's hurt," Charlie rushed over to help him up careful not to jar his arm that still oozed blood.

"We'll all be dead if we don't hurry up," the man growled searching the horizon where the red eyes were massing together.

"We best move out," the leader said indicating that Charlie was to go first. As they walked they kept their guns at the ready. Eyes searching the gloomy corners along the buildings and trees. "Take this," the leader said handing Charlie a gun "if he's what I think he is the red eyes want him as much as we do."

Not understanding Charlie took the gun. If felt foreign in his hands but he'd take any weapon he could if it meant he could protect Andrew from these creatures.

***

Lincoln stepped out of the lights blinking as his eyes adjusted to the relatively gloomy interior of the garage. Smiling he approached the blue haired man "you must be..." his smile wobbled as he caught sight of the pink haired male. "Dddad?" he took a shocked step forward.

Shuffling closer his eyes never leaving Caleb's face. He didn't know the woman standing beside him. Breathing rapidly he felt hot tears forming behind his eyes. Anger, disappointment, resentment washed over him. This man was someone else's father. Probably the kids that vanished from this timeline. The ones the future depended on. His brain new this wasn't his dad but his eyes told him otherwise. 

He squeezed his eyes shut wishing when he opened them again the man wouldn't be there. Someone that wouldn't remind him of the things he had lost. The person he lost. It had been over five years since his parents had been killed. He still remembered how his brother had pulled him close keeping him from seeing their dead bodies. Everett couldn't however blot out Alessandro's taunting voice.

A gentle touch on his shoulder a concerned voice asking "are you alright son?" The sound brought him out of his haze and into the present.

"Um," he sniffed rubbing his eyes trying to pretend the moisture was from dust, "yeah I'm fine." 

Turning his back on the man he focused on Chase "your father sent me."

"So he pinpointed the source of the disturbance to here," it was more of a statement than a question.

Lincoln nodded in agreement. Running a hand through his hair as every eye turned in his direction. "He uh ..." his eyes darted toward Caleb then away just as quick.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Caleb asked sensing the boys discomfort.

"Nnn....yyyes" Lincoln stammered "you uh remind me of my dad. I know you're not but" sighing he hung his head wishing his brother were here instead of him.

"We don't have time for this," Drew clutched at Caleb "our children are who knows where and this boy is wasting our time."

"Honey please...." Caleb pulled her close holding her sobbing heaving body against his own "we'll get them back. I promise."

Jennifer moved across the garage taking her sister from Caleb saying "come on sweetie let's go inside and let the men talk." Her voice low, soothing as she smiled up at Caleb's sad concerned eyes, "she'll be alright."

When they were gone the three men stared at each other a moment before Caleb cleared his throat "why don't you tell us why you're here?"

"Oasis Landing is gone," he announced bluntly "only the time keepers home survived...."

"It's a fixed point in every dimension," Chase supplied to Caleb's quick look of confusion.

"Is Peter still there? Has Emit sent him back to his family?" Caleb asked concerned for his friend. What Chase had told him about Emits plan had him concerned for the man's safety.

Shaking his head Lincoln walked a few paces away before saying "Peter agreed to go to my dimension after this happened." Turning he faced the others "what other choice did he have? It's his children's future too that was destroyed. This needs to be fixed before anyone can go home."

"You're from the dimension that Peter was sent to, aren't you?" Chase asked the boy "did my father bring you here?"

"No," Lincoln crossed his arms "my brother and I came here through a dimension portal that our father had discovered in Lunar Landing." He closed his eyes blotting out how his parents had given their lives to keep the portal from getting into Alessandro's hands. 

Chase gave the boy a discerning nod "dimension portals are very rare and the people able to control them are even rarer. The only one I know of is in Moonlight Falls under Adam's control."

"Yeah" Lincoln wiped his nose on his hands "we met Adam and his family when we crossed over."

Breaking into the conversation Caleb asked "your father, who was he?"

The young man turned sorrowful eyes up to him "he was the best father anyone could ask for." He hugged his arms closer around himself "my parents were Caleb Gray and Star Upton."

Chase and Caleb exchanged glances "we need to get you back to your own dimension." They almost shouted it as they realized that the boys dimension was off balance as well. Like domino's one dimension would topple after another than nothing.

"How long will I have to stay in here?" Andrew asked pacing around the small cell he had been thrown into.

"If you've been infected we'll know within two weeks," the girl told him "don't worry about it though. I already know you're not."

"Then why am I in here?" Andrew asked staring at the girl with the livid scar on her face. Despite her rough appearance she had treated him with kindness.

"Pregnant people are immune to the Red Eye venom," she told him with a smile. 

"I'm not pregnant," he scoffed at the idea as the girl walked away from him. Men don't get pregnant unless they've had the experimental procedure that would make it possible. Neither he nor Charlie had even considered it. They had been too busy figuring out their feelings for each other to consider having children. That was a future discussion he knew they would eventually have but at nineteen neither of them were ready for kids.

He threw himself onto the small uncomfortable cot in his cell. Absently his fingers scratched at the bandage around his wounds. He had two weeks to live before he became Red Eye, a mutant. There was no way he was pregnant....unless....

He sat up in shock. It was such a slim remote possibility. His grandfather had been abducted by aliens like his dad before him. Both had been genetically modified to be able to have children. Could that modification have become hereditary? Did he really have a womb? Putting a hand to his stomach he wondered if he really was pregnant. Everyone here seemed to take it for granted that he was. It didn't seem to be absurd to them at all. In fact it seemed that anyone capable of producing children were rare, male or female.

A noise startled him out of his thoughts. He found himself staring into the angry eyes of the man who wanted to shoot him. A nasty predatory smile plastered on his face "if you are a progenitor you and I will be spending a lot of time together."

Before he could respond to what felt like a threat the man walked away. Andrew sat back on his cot unsure which were more dangerous in this world he found himself in, the mutants or the humans.