The Breach

Julie Pitzel

March 11th, 2022

The clock read 3:15 AM.

I threw a change of clothes and toiletries into my overnighter, hoping that I would reach safety. My car had been acting wonky lately, and I breathed a sigh of relief that it started without a hitch. I hit the road heading west.

Fortunately, at this time of night, there was no traffic. Nothing to slow me down or distract me.

Raul had called after the breach, giving me a head start. We didn’t know how fast the effect would travel. Maybe we’d be lucky, and it would stop outside the lab.

None of us thought we’d be lucky.

Red lights and mangled vehicles blocked the road ahead. I glanced at the rearview, as if the time-wave was visible, then pulled a U-turn, hoping the nearest cross street would take me away from the lab.

#

The clock read 3:15 AM.

I threw clothes in my overnighter. A waste of time, but I needed to hope it wasn’t.

The car started without a hitch. I headed west at top speed.

Raul said there’d been a breach, then screamed.

Brake lights blocked the highway. I skidded through a U-turn and right at the first cross street.

#

The clock read 3:15 AM.

Raul’s garbled scream cutoff. There must’ve been a breach.

I grabbed my car keys. West was the fastest route, but north had more options. I hit eighty on the open road and ignored the flashing lights and sirens. No telling when the time-bubble would overtake me.

#

The clock read 3:15 AM.

Raul’s scream spurred me out to the car.

#

The clock read 3:15 AM.

#

The clock—

Author Bio: Julie Pitzel lives south of Houston, Texas, in a geodesic dome with her husband and a couple of cats. Julie has recently returned to college to complete her bachelor’s degree at the advanced age of [REDACTED]. Her story, “The Dance,” appeared in the Death of All Things anthology

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