“Rob! When…How…?” I started. No, Rob had said it perfectly. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”
He was acting strange, although I suppose I wouldn’t be 100% considering he may have just somehow traveled through space and time. He sat there listlessly, unresponsive now.
“Holy shit, man! I better get you to a hospital!” I was panicking. What was happening? Rob finally broke his silence.
“No, you can’t. They’ll find me there.” He was grey against the cold palid beam. “We’ve got to get to the shipyard. There was a note by the photo…”
“Let me see the photo! Let me see my dad!” I snapped, having forgotten all about it after seeing my best friend somehow Houdini his way into the back of my hijacked ride.
“I didn’t have it with me when I, well, when whatever happened,” Rob replied, still looking puzzled.
“You look terrible, Rob. I’m taking you home. I have to see that picture!”
As Rob began to protest, an old Subaru roared down the dark highway, screeching to a halt just feet from the Dodge, dust cutting through the blinding headlamps. Rob was gone. He had vanished just as quickly as he’d appeared. A tall, bearded man stepped out of the Subaru, heavily armed, his face silhouetted by the backlight.
“James, we’ve got to get the fuck out of here. You’re no longer safe here. I’ll explain everything in the car, but if you don’t start moving faster than a virgin’s orgasm, we’re both dead.”
The voice sounded familiar, but didn’t click until I heard that stupid old virgin line. He was still using it after all these years. It was my dad – alive somehow.
“What about Rob? Where did he go?” I asked.
“That wasn’t Rob. Get in. I’ll explain everything.”