Prologue

An Unexpected Discovery

The shockwave threw Eve out of bed.

Dazed but suddenly wide awake, she stumbled to her window. Or rather, the gaping hole where her window used to be. Her vision swam back into focus as the ringing in her ears subsided, making way for the shrill cries and blasts of gunfire in the street. She saw the men, the same as before, come once again to take what sanctuary there was left.

How long had it been this time? Three weeks?

Eve dove to the ground as a bullet grazed her ear. Idiot! “She’s up there! It’s the redhead!” was shouted by a voice she knew too well. Scratchy. Rough. She’d had too many close calls with that one. Not today though. One deep breath, and go. Into the hallway. Out the fire escape. Down the ladder. Through the back door and straight into the basement as the front door was kicked open. Down down down into the dark, but she knew what to look for, where to go. The little crack in the wall. Into the damp tunnel. Run.

Always have an escape plan. The wisest advice she’d ever been given. Eve tried to remember by whom as she pushed open the ancient trap door and was greeted by a flood of bright sunlight. She sat still and listened, hearing nothing but the peaceful sound of birds. Carefully poking her head out, she saw the overgrown ruins of a small town. Off in the distance was the city, her city. Had she really come that far?

She climbed out and slumped down against a wall. The grass was still cool and damp, pleasant, the sun nice and warm on her face. Eve’s eyes had started to fall shut when suddenly they caught something. A soft blueish light, pulsating in the grass. She reached and pulled out a…watch? It looked ordinary and odd at once. A dark brown leather wristband was attached to a plain clockface, with no numbers, but instead the blue glow. That piercing blue glow.

Put it on.

The thought came unbidden, the pull was strong. If Eve was one thing it was curious, for better or for worse. She put it on.

The following sensation was almost instant. Eve felt a power surging through her, flowing from her wrist into her entire body. She felt it in her veins, growing and growing until it was too much to bear. And at that precise moment she was thrown backwards, into a clear whiteness that lasted a split second before landing hard into a patch of grass.

Then darkness.

…

“…Eve?”

Eve slowly opened her eyes. Her head hurt. Did anyone just call her name? She carefully sat up and looked around her. The same buildings. The same spot she’d been in.

Or was it?

No. The buildings were still destroyed but…freshly. They hadn’t been retaken by nature yet. And something was different about the vegetation. It looked a bit more taken care of, not quite as wild.

Had the watch sent her back in…no, that couldn’t be.

“…E…ve…”

That voice again, faint. Eve looked behind her, and there she saw him. Lying against a rock, the man was pale behind the bushy brown beard covering his face. He was clutching his belly, shirt around it darkened. “You’re hurt!” she shouted and hurried over to him, but he shook his head. “Too late…,” the man coughed and took in a long raspy breath, then pointed to the watch on Eve’s wrist. “Use that. Here.” With a huge effort he drew a small, metallic keycard out of his pocket and handed it over.

As Eve took it, it immediately began to hum in her hand. Writing slowly appeared on its front. She looked back at the man in wonder. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

The man managed a smile, taking her in with his strong blue eyes. He held her gaze for a long time, as if drawing from her a last bit of strength.

“Eve…I’m glad it’s you.”

And then he was still. And around her everything else went still.

Except for the watch. The watch beeped. The same sensation as before came over Eve and before she knew it, she was not thrown backwards, but this time shoved forwards into whiteness.

This time she was prepared, and she had a strong sense of what was happening.

Eve was travelling back to her own time.