CHAPTER 13 HE REMEMBERED

"I remember the bridge."

Lena couldn't move.

Those words had haunted her for months in the first timeline.

She had remembered Ethan's voice.

The broken bridge.

The chaos.

The moment they had realized there was nowhere left to run.

But now Ethan was standing in front of her, alive, three years before the apocalypse.

And he remembered too.

"What do you remember?" she whispered.

Ethan closed his eyes.

His breathing changed.

"I remember you."

Lena's eyes filled with tears.

He opened his eyes again.

"I remember running toward you."

She stepped closer.

"What else?"

"People were everywhere."

His voice became quieter.

"The city was burning."

Lena looked away.

She didn't want to hear the details.

Not again.

Ethan continued.

"I remember holding your hand."

Lena's fingers trembled.

"And then?"

He stared at her.

"We fell."

The room became silent.

That was enough.

They had both been there.

They had both died.

But Ethan's memories were returning differently.

Not all at once.

Like pieces of a shattered photograph slowly finding their places.

He suddenly grabbed the edge of the table.

Lena moved toward him.

"Ethan?"

He shook his head.

"Wait."

The silver mark on his wrist brightened.

The laptop screen flickered.

A new file appeared.

Neither of them had opened it.

MEMORY SYNCHRONIZATION: 3%.

Lena stared.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

The number changed.

4%.

Then 5%.

Ethan's eyes widened.

"I can feel it."

"What?"

"Memories."

He looked at Lena.

"Your memories."

Lena stepped backward.

"Mine?"

He nodded.

"Not everything. Just fragments."

Another number appeared.

6%.

Lena suddenly heard a voice inside her mind.

Not Ethan.

A woman.

Calm.

Controlled.

"If both subjects synchronize, the timeline becomes unstable."

Lena grabbed her head.

"Ethan!"

He reached for her.

"What happened?"

"I heard a voice."

"What did it say?"

"Something about synchronization."

The laptop displayed another message.

WARNING: TIMELINE DEVIATION 8.7%.

Ethan stared.

"We're changing things."

"We already knew that."

"No."

He pointed at the screen.

"It's measuring it."

Lena's eyes widened.

"The system is tracking the timeline."

"And someone can see the changes."

She immediately thought about the lodge.

The watcher.

The message.

The people chasing them.

"They know."

Ethan nodded.

"Then we need to move."

"Where?"

"Somewhere they won't expect."

Lena looked at him.

"The lodge?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because they already found it."

He closed the laptop.

"We need another location."

Lena thought for a moment.

Then remembered something.

"Your warehouse."

Ethan looked at her.

"Which one?"

"The old one near the river."

His expression changed.

"How do you know about that?"

"You told me."

"In the first timeline?"

"Yes."

"That building was sold two years ago."

Lena shook her head.

"Not anymore."

Ethan stared at her.

"What?"

"The sale never happened."

He immediately checked his phone.

A few seconds later, his expression changed.

"You're right."

Lena smiled faintly.

"That's another change."

"No."

He looked at the screen.

"The buyer withdrew yesterday."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Lena's smile disappeared.

"Maybe because we changed it."

Ethan nodded.

They gathered the drive, notebook, and Aurora files.

Before leaving, Lena looked at the laptop one final time.

The synchronization number had stopped.

9.2%.

Then a new message appeared.

PRIMARY SUBJECT LOCATED.

A second line appeared.

SECONDARY SUBJECT ACTIVE.

Then:

RECOVERY TEAM DEPLOYED.

Lena's stomach dropped.

"They're coming."

Ethan picked up the keys.

"How long?"

The message changed.

17 MINUTES.

He looked at Lena.

"We have seventeen minutes."

They left the building.

The underground garage was silent.

Ethan started the car.

As they drove away, Lena looked through the rear window.

Nothing.

No vehicles.

No headlights.

Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them.

After several minutes, Ethan spoke.

"There's something else."

"What?"

"I remember another place."

"Where?"

"The laboratory."

Lena turned toward him.

"You remember it?"

"Not clearly."

"What did you see?"

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"You."

"Me?"

"On a table."

Lena went silent.

He continued.

"There were people around you."

"Doctors?"

"Scientists."

"What were they doing?"

"I don't know."

He looked at her.

"But someone kept saying the same thing."

"What?"

Ethan's eyes met hers.

"Don't let her die twice."

Lena's breath caught.

Before she could respond, the car's dashboard suddenly went dark.

Every light disappeared.

The engine stopped.

They rolled to a halt.

Ethan tried the ignition.

Nothing.

Lena looked ahead.

Three vehicles were blocking the road.

Black SUVs.

Their doors opened simultaneously.

Men stepped out.

Ethan reached for his phone.

No signal.

Lena's palm began glowing.

A new message appeared on the dead dashboard.

RECOVERY BEGINS NOW.

Then another line appeared.

LENA CARTER — PRIMARY SUBJECT.

ETHAN CROSS — SECONDARY SUBJECT.

Lena looked at Ethan.

He looked back.

For the first time, neither of them had a plan.

Then the SUV doors opened.

And someone stepped out of the middle vehicle.

Lena recognized him immediately.

The man from the laboratory.

The man whose voice she had heard in her memories.

He looked directly at her.

"Hello, Lena."

He smiled.

"Welcome back."

To be continued....