Counting the seconds, p.3
Counting the Seconds, page 3
I can’t... I couldn’t sustain living in the same house as them and not be able to see them do stuff.
So erm... I read his journal, his journey. His note on his dark days. His hope to explore the world. I read about the notes he’s left about in all the shops as an apology for the things he’s taken from them.
I didn’t leave any. I just took and ran. Never looked back. Couldn’t look back. I wasn’t in the right mind at the time and it didn’t make sense for me to leave notes. I was stealing. Notes don’t make it okay. At least, that was my reasoning, you know...
I guess I’m a bad person.
Erm... I got to know his name. He had it on his driver’s license in his wallet. I... I want to mention it, but I feel it would be best if he wrote it himself. I’m already encroaching on his personal space as it is. But I feel like I needed this. I needed to write. To let out some frustration and something on the page. Something to remember me by should something happen to me.
He’s lying on the ground across from me.
His breathing is shallow, and I hope it’s not a sign of bad things to come.
I have some books in front of me about treating wounds. Most of what it says makes no sense but I’m still going through it. I don’t think my mental health will hold up if I’ve killed the only other person awake in all of this.
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Day 158
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Hey... original owner back.
I didn’t think I’d be writing to you guys again, if I’m being honest.
But I guess I’m lucky.
For a moment there, I thought she was the danger that Time was trying to warn me about when I felt the pain from the bullet. And as unconsciousness took me, I found myself wishing she was.
But... delirium is a crazy thing.
I mean, lol, Time can’t have a sense of humour such as to freeze to prevent me getting shot by a woman from halfway across the country. The idea won’t even make for a good fanfiction and I promise you, I’ve read my fair share.
In any case, I’m alive. I’m tired.
My right shoulder hurts to move too much, so I’m having to write slowly.
Firstly, I apologise for not putting my name down.
I didn’t think it was important, but I guess I would have gotten there eventually. On a level, maybe the idea of time unfreezing was the driving force behind it. Sorta like, how it wouldn’t make sense to write a name down on a book that is your private thing.
But, to face the elephant in the room... if I end up dying before Time sorts itself out, then this would be a nice way to identify myself before they have to cut into my dead body and use DNA splicing or whatever.
My name is Zane Smith.
‘Zane’ being the eccentric nature of my Nan. ‘Smith’ being the most generic last name to ever grace the earth.
Zane Smith.
You know... growing up, I used to love my name because I thought it made me special. Like a hero. But not just any ‘hero’, more anime than comic books. In the same vein as Vash, the Stampede or Vegeta. You know, the first name that stands out in a way that could only mean they are protagonist in some grand epic story.
But I’m just Zane.
I used to work tech-support in a start-up. The company itself, Arctrade, sold itself on creating enterprise solutions for financial institutions. What we did really was co-opt a third-party software to make it work for the institutions after a few modifications of ours. And then we support the new product. As it was a start-up, the team was relatively small, like say… a workforce of about fifty people. So, I was given the support position.
So maybe, Zane, the Tech-Support.
Imagined that with an anime theme and flashing epileptic lights.
At this point, I guess all I need to maybe make my situation better would be some epic colourful hair and an animal sidekick.
Anna wants to hand me a few drugs to take, as well as change the bandage on my shoulder.
It is nice to have someone else around though we haven’t spoken much. She knows enough about me as I do about her but it’s weird to talk. After all that time being alone, I guess... finding someone else in the frozen wilderness puts your guard up.
In any case... she shot me. And then, she saved my life.
So, I’m grateful.
- Zane
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Day 159
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I haven’t slept much.
I’ve tried and Anna was quick on the uptake with the covering of windows and light sources with duvets and what not. She’s breathing so softly at the moment. It’s a peaceful sight. And sound. Honestly, it still trips me up to remember that I’m not alone.
Every few minutes, I’d start thinking about where I’m heading to next, or my supplies or this or that and then the silence is broken by a sound from her and I jerk in response before relaxing at the sight of her. It’s crazy but it feels crazy amazing to not be by myself anymore. The only thing that can top the feeling is if we see more people.
In any case, my shoulders hurt a lot at the moment, making it difficult to move or re-adjust myself but it’s not what is keeping me up, to be honest. I’m still awake because I’ve been trying to reconcile the pain I’m feeling with what happened.
Anna shot me.
As in, she held a gun, she pulled the trigger, the gun fired.
The bullet left the gun, propelled by the force of gunpowder and magic bullet shit.
I should probably note I know zilch about how a gun works. I’ve seen my dad use one, I’ve held one but the idea of shooting and everything to do with it makes no sense to me, and after the wound in me, I’m not so certain I’m juiced up about learning.
Still.
Something moved, independent of her actions, of my actions. It moved on its own, entered me and clattered to the ground somewhere on the street.
You have to understand, nothing moves of independent action, at least not in this frozen world but yet... this did. This did.
Ignoring the injury, I’m actually curious as to why and how, and if I can replicate it.
It would be so ideal if I can.
---
The last couple... I don’t know... hours have been interesting to say the least.
When Anna woke up, I explained what I’ve been thinking about and what kept me up. I have to say she’s a calm listener but then again, she seemed less unhinged than she had been when I first saw her.
She told me about her experiences and it seems we were largely living the same life till we met, though she seemed hesitant and distant in the re-telling. I guess it had gotten particularly hard for her like it did for me. Perhaps she was going through her dark times like I had gone through in Miami.
Anyway, she expressed her surprise at the occurrences too, but admitted her mind was all over the place when she saw me. And it didn’t help that she hadn’t slept properly.
So, we decided to try some tests.
Though that took us a few minutes to decide how to go about it before the simplicity of it hit me.
“Motion.”
While she was sitting across from me, thinking about what she could do, I tossed the pen I’m using to write at her. And we watched it, slowly as it flew through the air and landed in her open palm. We didn’t say anything for a few seconds because, frankly, there isn’t much we had to say.
I threw the journal at her and she threw the pen back.
Both objects moved.
I threw the cloth next to me, the one she had used to wipe away the blood and clean my wound. She caught it and threw it back. There was a smile on our faces after that (which turned to laughter) and I don’t even know why really but I guess it felt good to have something actually happen.
After a while of throwing objects about, I began to write down what we had established so far.
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If I throw something into the air || It freezes
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If I throw something to her || It moves
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If I throw something in her direction but not to her || It freezes
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If I use an object without her input|| A tad iffy really
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I’m not quite sure yet about what else I can test but I’m thinking about it. All in all, we’re pretty stoked. It, at the very least means that Time is giving us some allowances. And I plan to find out everything I can do with it.
- Zane
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Day 160
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Hello.
It’s Anna here.
Zane said that seeing as it’s not just him alone anymore that we should take turns leaving notes in his journal. I wasn’t going to but he talked me down and it’s not like our day is filled with much action.
First things first, I brought a ruler with me, so I’m going to try and make some sense of the weird looking table he tried to draw yesterday. Plus, he’s not the only person now, so changing the tenses to neutral. I think it will make for a better reading.
I titled it as the Time-Stop Rules.
Feels a bit grand, doesn’t it?
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| Conditions
| Effects
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|- If an object is thrown into the air
|or manual action is removed from it
|- Freezes in place
| ———————————————————————————————————————————
|- If an object is thrown to another
|- Moves
| ———————————————————————————————————————————
|- If an object is thrown in the direction
|of someone else, but not at them
|- Freezes in place
| ———————————————————————————————————————————
|- If an object that doesn’t require manual
|action is activated with another
|- Works
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The last rule is probably the best one for us.
Microwaves fucking work. Though the method of activation is weird. Like... we actually both have to be touching the device at the same time for it to work. I haven’t had anything warm in a… I mean, since the whole time stuff began.
But, even then, it seems to only be for small appliances. Fridges and ovens and anything bigger than the standard microwave won’t budge.
Small progress, but an important one.
At the least, we can eat hot food.
Zane has suggested that we move tomorrow but I don’t want to. We’ve got a hotel here, and the beds are comfy. The idea of sleeping on the road is not something I think I ever want to do again.
Still…
I don’t want to be alone.
- Anna
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Day 165
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Anna is in a bad mood and I have no one else to blame but myself.
The walk to Virginia wasn’t particularly pleasant, not with her wanting to stay and me wanting a change of scenery. Plus, I think I have an irrational fear of going to the shops to take a new item and time restarting at that very moment. I keep playing the imagination of cops running to come and get me and arrest me and throw me in jail.
And then all my crimes and all the hotels I stayed at will hit me in the face with the full might of the law. I wanted to leave her in the first hotel we saw. Not like leave... but like, “wait for me and I’ll be back” kinda leave. That didn’t go down well with her either.
The idea of having to be on her own for even a short while was not something she wanted to entertain anymore. So, we spent the day gathering some supplies for the hotel and for ourselves. I moved the microwave from the kitchen to the suite we had chosen for our stay.
While we were eating some soup, she did ask why I have been heading north and I told her the truth:
“I don’t know.”
That made her regard me with a look that I’m uncomfortable with. The kind of look you give someone who you don’t trust.
We didn’t talk much after that and she retired to our makeshift bed since.
…
I looked up to the sky today, when we were taking a break, and I felt an ache. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the dark blue hue of the night sky. And the stars in the sky. And the airplanes at night. Or the streetlights. The traffic lights. Everything.
I miss the night.
I miss the night a lot.
- Zane
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Day 170
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I’m not too sure where I’m going anymore. I mean, not to say I knew before, but I guess, on a level, it’s just habit at this point.
“Stay in a place, scavenge, enjoy the sights, move to the next place”
Before Anna, I had taken some solace in it. With her, it is beginning to feel like I’m aimless... Which I am, but you know how the mind works. Feels like I’m disappointing her and her expectations because I don’t seem to have a goal.
The marvel of the time-stop rules, as we are calling it, wore off when it only made us eat better. We tested other applications but found most of them far too weird to uphold. And if it wasn’t weird, it just rubbed us the wrong way, you know?
An example would be, something like a showerhead. Yeah, a showerhead. If we hold it together, water gushes out like it’s been dying to flow. And I do mean gush out. Craziest thing is, we don’t even have to turn the nozzle on for it to work. It just does. Till it hits the floor and it’s back to being frozen in time. It makes no fucking sense. But if we wanted to, we could shower. Or at least, I suggested as much. Innocently.
Anna had given me a cold look then and went on to rant about how men like me are dangerous. About how she loves her husband and her kids and her family. About how she’s not that kind of woman. I mean, she’s pretty but I don’t even know her enough to be attracted to her yet. The possibility is on the horizon
Might as well cross that out now. It’s not going to happen. But yeah, the time-weirdo thing... it’s there. Fridges work, well mini fridges really, if we’re touching it but as you can guess, highly impractical. That said, like about 3 days ago, we were thirsting for something chilled, so we got some bottles of soda from a convenient store and put it in a fridge.
We sat next to it, our hands resting on it and just talked. And laughed. And joked. And soon enough, we were guzzling down a cold drink.
With everything else in the air? That was a win for the books.
This was before the trip and the shower-head situation. We’ve been on a conversation shut down since.
- Zane
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Day 171
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I’m not sure I want to write anything at the moment.
There’s only so much scribbling away one can do before it tears through the paper and ruins the book. I can see what he tried to scribble out.
So, I’m going to make it clear.
NOT. HAPPENING.
- Anna
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Day 172
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In hindsight I should have torn the page out.
Anna is pissed and she’s decided her last destination would be Washington DC…
Which we’re in.
So, I guess this is my last stop. Unless I choose to leave her, which is not going to happen. I’m not going back to loneliness.
She’s not talking to me though, so I guess I’m not far off from the state.
We’ve chosen one of the theatres around.
It’s called the... Andrew Wello-
The Andy-Well
The Andrew W. Melon(?) auditorium or something of the sort. I wasn’t comfortable with it but it was where she decided to stay. She chose to camp between the chairs and away from me, as I chose the stage. Figured if I sleep there and if time resumes, at least I can be found faster. The theatre is not in use at the moment, so I’m pleased. It’s dark.
The comfortable dark.
The kind of dark that isn’t reliant on duvets and multiple blankets just too dull the intense gaze of the sun.
The darkness was good.
- Zane
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Day 175
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The last couple days have been empty.
