"Names... Chosen... and I'm here to explain some things to you,"

the mysterious figure told Micah and Jim. "Explain what? All we wanted was summer vacation - all we did was go fishing and then it ended. Haven't even seen the rest of this place." Micah hastily replied. "That's because there is nothing. Not a single darn thing," they said disturbingly as they set down an ax on the coffee table. "You see, North, it's not even a summer camp. It's such a complex concept that I fear you won't even be able to understand it," they said as they unrolled a map of sorts from their baggage. "Alpine located here, notice anything?" the person continued to say as they pointed to the cities and towns located on the map. "I notice... nothing. That's... are you sure this is a real map? I've seen maps of this area before and I could've sworn there was something!" Jim said as he squinted his eyes. "Why is this triangle here? This doesn't make sense. Every major city and town is formed exactly around this triangle. It's a perfect triangle of nothing except this place, Alpine. How could we never notice such a thing?" Micah asked the person. "Because it's so obscure. Obscurity does just that," they answered calmly. "You, my friends, are in the 'Northern Triangle' as I call it. Alpine just so happens to be the last little town left, every other town was abandoned before modern-day maps could even plot them. I've seen them all over the place, yet not a single one is marked." Chosen said. "Can I ask you something, Chosen? Just a few hours ago a big storm came through, our friend disappeared, and then it was silent. Then our other friend left to look for him and hasn't been back yet. Can you explain that one?" Jim asked the man. "Are you being serious with me?" Chosen said in a startled manner.

"Well, yes, I asked you it," Jim told him. "Grab everything you need. Everything. We are going now, right now. No time to waste." Chosen said as he grabbed everything and rapidly shoved it into his bag. "Where are we going?" Micah asked. "No questions now, only later once we are in a secure location," Chosen replied. "This Bronco is yours?" they asked on the way out. "Yes, why?" Micah answered. "Take the keys for it, but leave it here. We do not bring this with us," Chosen replied to Micah as he walked out. "This will bring your scent with us. An easy track to follow," Chosen continued saying. "Aren't we bringing our scent with us already?" Jim asked. "Yes, and no. Remember when I said it's complex? This is exactly what I mean. Our scents radiate but do not follow. The only way a scent would follow us is if we brought an object with us that is big enough to produce a big enough scent for it to find us. If we have our baggage and ourselves, that is not enough for it to track us down," Chosen told Jim. "Now you have an even bigger question to answer; IT? What do you mean 'it'?" Micah asked. "I call it that because it is it. I have no idea what to call it, it's a monster unlike anything known or seen by man. Take that answer for what you asked before about your friend as well. Why do you think it came to you? A permanent scent, the bronco sitting for hours, radiating - drawing it in." Chosen finished saying.

Sometime later. "Sun is setting. This is not good, but we are close. We have to make it to the secure location before it's too late," Chosen said to the ground as the sun gently set, casting beautiful rays through the trees and mist. "You'd think we would see Henry or Nathan walking through these woods, at the very least hear them. They came this way," Jim pointed out. "You'd think that," Chosen budded in. "As I said, however, this northern triangle does not make any sense. Nothing about Alpine makes a single penny's worth of sense," they continued saying. Even the time of day doesn't make sense. When did you get here?" asked Chosen. "We got here about a day before the event. The morning of August 31st," Micah answered. "Ok, what day is it then?" Chosen asked Micah. "Well, a day passed, so it must be September 1st," Micah answered Chosen. Chosen didn't even answer Micah, they just chuckled. "If you say so. Look at my watch, Micah," they said. Micah walked over to Chosen and looked at their watch. The time and date were pointed out clearly, but Micah was in disbelief. "September 22nd? Surely that cannot be correct. Also, that, wait - what is that even? It's a watch, but, that doesn't exist?" Micah questioned Chosen. "Oh trust me, it exists. Just, not yet. This is called a smartwatch. It has a screen and a tiny computer in it to make it run. It can connect to this as well," Chosen told the group as they mystified them with some strange object. A large phone with a screen that was touchable. Micah jumped back a bit, starting to realize some things in his head. "You're..." Micah said, as Jim budded in "...a time traveler?" Jim and Micah said, as they stood back baffled at what they had just seen. "I told you my name was chosen, and quite truthfully, I was chosen. I also tried to tell you on several occasions this place is weird." they said as the group walked up to this metal door with a door lock. "Alright, everyone step in," they said as the airlocks disengaged from the door.

"Welcome to this place I found," they said. "I also think we are on a good enough level of trust for me to say such a thing, but, my name isn't and never was chosen. Names Axel Ross," said Axel. "Axel, huh? Pretty cool name, I must admit," Micah complimented him. "Breaking news, ex-scientist and engineer George Walmon has broken out of Romina County Prison after a deadly shootout with police from an unknown source," Jim read out loud as he read the date on the paper "March 1st, 2030," he said. "You were not lying, were you?" Micah said. "No, I'm not. I came from the year 2032 through a machine made by that man there. George Walmon," Axel replied to Micah as he typed something on a strange device neither Micah nor Jim has seen before. "So Axel, care to explain that futuristic typewriter?" asked Jim. "It's a laptop. The easiest way for you to understand it is to take the computers you have now, shrink everything down, and it's now inside this here device," Axel answered Jim. "What can you do with it?" asked Micah. "Everything you can now, plus more," they answered. "I hate to ask you to stop asking these awesome questions, but, we do have some work to do. Thus I ask you to come and check this out. See this here?" Axel said as he pointed out some documents from Mr. Walmon "These are gateways, portals if you will. This is how I got here. The concept will hurt your brain but picture this. A worm, in space, but it has no organs and instead, it has the potential to allow someone to use it and travel through time." Axel explained to the group. "How do you get back? If you can even," Jim asked. "That is where we are going, and that is how we get your friends back. Think about why we did not hear nor see them," Axel attempted to further explain to them. "The only problem is that that creature, I am almost certain its origin is exactly where we need to go. Meaning that, if we want to get back, we will have to find a way to kill it," Axel continued saying. "I'm going to bed, but an alarm will ring throughout this little place when it is time to get up. We must wake up early so I can explain where we are going, and what we are doing," Axel said as he crawled into his bed. "Thank you Axel," Micah said as he crawled into the bed on the other side of the room. "Micah, do you think Nathan and Henry are ok?"

"Only one way to find out," Micah said as he flipped a light switch and turned the lights off.