Richard cracked open an eye. His body was sore, but he could wiggle his toes. It was a miracle he could move at all. The only plausible explanation was that he was back at the beginning of this strange time anomaly. Another few seconds revealed that wasn’t the case. Despite the delirious state he was in when the guards saved him, he recognized this room. Five beds ran down either side of the walls, and he saw a doorway in the back. Maybe time only jumped around when he died, but he didn’t feel comfortable testing that theory.

  He was on the bed closest to the door with a thin blanket over himself. Richard sat up, carefully placing his feet on the ground, wiggling his toes. He was still shirtless, so he touched his back. Not even a hint of scars. It shouldn’t be. He should be paralyzed, yet he kicked his legs up to test it. No, he shouldn’t be paralyzed. What he should be is dead. Bleeding out by the gate with the demon leopard tearing him apart again.

  A clear cup sat on a small table next to his bed with a hastily scribbled note next to it. The liquid inside gave the impression of water with a dash of milk, but it had a thick consistency about it. Was this what a healing potion looked like? He never got a good look at it before.

  Richard picked up the note, but did not recognize the writing at all. His mind told him there was something alien about this language. Squares, loops, and squiggles. It had to be a language because he recognized the uniformity. This wasn’t just scribbles, but something meant to send him a message. Whatever that was—whether to drink the thing next to him or wait an hour—he couldn’t be sure, so he placed the note back down and got up.

  Richard’s knees quivered as though they, too, couldn’t believe he was already getting up. He took a few steps, waiting for it all to come crashing down on him. Or to wake up from a very bizarre dream. Was this what happened in the few minutes after his heart rate flatlined? Did he experience wild adventures?

  As though to remind him that this was not a dream, he remembered what it felt like to have that leopard dig its claws into his flesh. Twice.

  He stumbled around the room, his legs growing stronger. “Lucy?”

  No reply. Lucy didn’t seem like someone he wanted to mess with. He was almost grateful she wasn’t here.

  He walked around the room until his knees stopped trembling. This felt good. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious, but even if a week was gone, the healing aspect still astounded him. Though living somewhere near a forest full of demon monsters didn’t seem like a fair enough trade, even with mythical levels of healing abilities.

  He walked to the back door, wondering if this led to the outside. He grabbed the doorknob and tried to twist it, but it froze in place. Richard glanced at it, frowning, before he tried to let go. His hand couldn’t move. He tried again, and the door jiggled on its hinges.

  A loud, blaring noise brought Richard to his knees. He shouted in surprise more than anything. The door flung open, and Lucy and another man ran inside.

  “Alarm, recognize my voice!” Lucy shouted.

  The alarm shut off immediately, though the ringing still rattled Richard’s head. He wanted to cover his ears, but one of his palms was still stuck to the doorknob.

  Lucy marched toward Richard, eyes blazing. “What do you think you’re doing, newbie?”

  “I… I was…” Richard glanced at the door, then at Lucy’s fiery eyes again. “I thought this was the way out.”

  “And what makes you think I believe you?”

  Two guards entered the hospital with swords out. Richard’s stomach dropped as he realized how much trouble he was in.

  “I didn’t mean to do anything. I swear!”

  What was behind this door? Whatever it was, it was valuable enough to place a magical alarm system on it.

  “I have given you your dose.” Lucy pointed to the cup beside the bed. “Why didn’t you drink it?”

  It all clicked into place. Behind this door, where his palm was stuck, was full of precious healing supplies. Richard slowly lifted one hand to make himself seem less of a threat. “I thought this door led to the outside. I didn’t… I didn’t realize…”

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  Lucy kept pointing at the note on the table. “And yet it says on the note to stay put.”

  “I can’t read it.”

  “Obviously. I’m guessing you’ll be a scavenger, since you’re also illiterate.”

  “Lucy,” the man behind her said in warning. Richard didn’t think anyone could be in charge of Lucy, but she dropped her hand and gave the other man an annoyed look. “He’s not in the system yet,” the man said.

  “So?”

  “Universal translation.”

  “The idiot can hear me, can’t he?” Lucy asked.

  “Because your system is helping with speech. The written word is entirely different.”

  Lucy clenched her jaw, and Richard got the impression that it was the only apology she would give.

  The man walked forward. He glanced behind him and gestured toward the guards to lower their weapons. They sheathed their swords, and it was incredible how much better Richard felt. This new man was of a stockier build, with curly brown hair and blue eyes.

  The man stuck out his hand toward Richard. “Hello. I’m Dmitri. Leader of Base Two.”

  Richard went to shake Dmitri’s hand when he realized the hand he needed was still stuck to the knob. Dmitri shot Lucy a glare. The woman sighed, then wiggled her fingers. Richard’s palm dropped from the door, and he instinctively grabbed his wrist, inspecting his hand. The guards slipped away once they knew their jobs were finished. He was alone with Dmitri and Lucy.

  “You are new here, yes?” Dmitri asked.

  “Yes.” Once his own inspection of his hand was done, he held it out to Dmitri. “Yes, hello. I’m new. Richard Walker.”

  The polite smile dropped from Dmitri’s face. “Richard… Walker?”

  Richard’s gaze bounced over the two of them. “Yes?”

  Dmitri stared at him again as Lucy somehow muscled her face into a more distrusting look.

  “You… remember your last name?” Dmitri asked.

  Richard kept staring at him. He realized all at once what had happened. He didn’t remember his last name when he first got here. In the very first instance before time jumped back. With everything else going on, he thought little of it. Not until that weird time jump when the nurse called him Mr. Walker, and something in him remembered how right that felt. He was Richard Walker.

  A warning screamed at him a few seconds too late. The way Lucy looked at him, and the darkening frown on Dmitri’s face, he needed to keep the strange time anomaly to himself. As much as he wanted to ask all the questions he could to understand this better, what happened to him was not common. In fact, due to the looks Dmitri and Lucy gave him, it made other people distrust him. He needed to play this cool.

  “Yeah. You don’t? Know your last name?”

  That… was not cool.

  Dmitri’s brows furrowed, studying him like a squirming specimen under a microscope. Richard tried to go for confident, but with most of his memories gone and being murdered by a demon leopard, it made it difficult to shake off. His pretend confidence instead felt like he was pressing his luck.

  “Perhaps we shall keep this information quiet between the three of us,” Dmitri said, glancing at Lucy. “No one remembers their last name, Richard. No one. This can be a suspicious bunch, and I’d rather not have a member of this base camp kill you because you remember things differently.”

  Richard chuckled. “Seriously?”

  Yes, Dmitri was serious. It was there in the way he held himself, waiting for Richard to stop laughing. Richard stopped with a brief but loud clearing of his throat.

  “It’s alright, newbie,” Lucy said, folding her arms. “We’ve made a show of the people who tried to kill others for no other reason than the voices in their head said so.”

  Every ounce of confidence Richard pretended to have left him in an instant. “I’m sorry… what?”

  Dmitri rubbed the bridge of his nose before focusing again on Richard, patting him on the back. Richard was surprised it did not hurt. His back should at least twinge, but it was fine. “Let’s show you around the camp. I’d love to answer questions you have. Lucy, am I free to take the patient?”

  “Let him drink this, then he’s good to go.” Lucy grabbed the cup from the side table and handed it to Richard. He couldn’t hide his trembling hands as he drained the thick liquid. It had no flavor, and the consistency felt like glue running down his throat. A hundred thoughts went through his head. Should he trust these people? Lucy and the man in the forest had both treated him with next to no regard. Dmitri seemed nice, but Richard couldn’t shake the feeling that it was often the people who presented their niceties who hid something dark.

  Richard’s hands shook as he handed the empty cup over to Lucy. Dmitri watched his shaking hand as though calculating. Richard stared right back, so Dmitri knew he noticed. The smile on Dmitri’s face looked like one a politician would wear. “Come walk with me, Richard.”

  He didn’t move, still studying Dmitri’s face. “Can I trust you?”

  The smile remained on the man’s face. “No. You can’t. I do my best to put people at ease, but the fact of the matter is, this apocalypse has lasted for thirty years. That breaks people and makes them mistrust others. Better for you to know this now than later.” Dmitri took another step. “Here’s the blatant truth, Richard. You shouldn’t trust us. As soon as you realize how much nobody trusts each other, the sooner we can all agree to put that aside so we can work together to survive.”

  Richard stared at Dmitri. “Seriously?”

  Yes. Once again, Dmitri was serious, and he didn’t have to say a word for Richard to realize it. Richard swallowed as Lucy placed boots, socks, and a clean shirt in his arms.

  “It’s not much, but it is the life we have here on the planet Kaelune,” Dmitri said. He smiled, a quick flutter of the lips before they returned to their more neutral expression. He lifted his hand toward the door. “Let me introduce you to base camp two.”