Disclaimer: I own nothing.


"Dreams, they feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up that we realize how things are actually strange. Let me ask you a question. You, you never really remember the beginning of a dream do you? You always wind up right in the middle of what's going on."

Ellie replays the scene from the movie Inception in her head with her eyes closed. She can picture Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page's characters having this discussion in an outdoor cafe, but the event itself turns out to be a dream when DiCaprio asks Page, "How did you get here?" It was another one of her favorite movies that she watched over and over again in Jackson County. And to be honest, she couldn't get enough of Ellen Page.

You never remember the beginning, but she does remember the beginning. She remembers everything. She was hunting with Jake, they got caught in the storm, she got knocked out, and then she woke up in the lighthouse. She doesn't remember how she got in the lighthouse, but she can only assume Jake dragged her in there. It was her idea to wait the storm out in there after all.

Ellie opens her eyes and the sight of a dorm room greets her. Her dorm room, apparently. Strangely enough, it's pretty much exactly how she'd personalize it. A Savage Starlight movie poster adorns the wall next to her bed, and across the room on her bookshelf she can see all her Savage Starlight comics and pun books. On the floor next to the pile of laundry by the closet is a watergun and a wolf man mask. Riley, Ellie recalls as a pang of sadness hits her at the sight of the latter, but it gives her more reason to believe this has to be a dream because this room is basically constructed from memories from her subconscious, especially considering the fact that she's in the Prescott Dormitory, the same ancient fucking dorm she and Jake had just found. Sure, that's it. She's dreaming that she's living during a time when the CBI outbreak didn't exist. That explains why Max assumed she was one of the late transfer students that had just arrived at Blackwell Academy. Dreams just work out conveniently like that.

Max. Max is nice. It was really sweet of her to take Ellie back to campus after yesterday's incident and make sure she was okay. Ellie wonders how her mind conjured her up, but it's not like dreams aren't full of people you've never met in your life. Actually, now that she thinks about it, Max kind of looks like one of the characters on the Blade Runner DVD Jake found. And as a matter of fact, Ellie thinks Max is pretty cute. It's not the first time she's become infatuated with someone in her dreams.

Ellie swings her legs out to sit up on her bed and pulls up her backpack. Everything she packed for the hunting excursion yesterday is still in there, but she has no idea what happened to her bow and arrows. Another reason this has to be a dream is she wouldn't lose one of her most prized possessions so easily.

"Okay, time to wake up for real," Ellie says to herself and picks up her switchblade, which she had placed on the nightstand next to the bed. The blade flicks out and she takes a few deep breaths. Her free hand opens and closes with each breath, and then she closes her hand around the blade. Ellie steels herself and draws the knife through her hand.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Ellie whimpers. It hurts like hell. She thought this was how you wake yourself up from dreams. "Ah, shit!" Ellie drops her knife and dives into her backpack for the alcohol and rags. "Holy shit!" she hisses when the alcohol makes contact with her gash. She can feel the stinging pain in her teeth. "Well, that didn't work," she talks herself through as she wraps the rag around her hand in a makeshift bandage. She cradles her hand to her chest and falls back onto her bed.

"Now what?" she says out loud. Maybe she's in some, like, deep sleep. And if that's the case, Jake better not try to kiss her awake. Ellie cringes at the thought. She should just go back to the lighthouse. She doesn't know what to look for, but that's where this whole thing started. That's how she got here.

Ellie gets dressed, slips her switchblade back into her back pocket, and throws her backpack over her shoulder. The dorm is already bustling with commotion that Ellie drowns out by placing her walkman earbuds into her ears and pressing play. Ben E. King's voice floods her head with Stand By Me and she heads out the door. Outside her room, "Welcome to Blackwell" is written on the whiteboard by her door, except the W in Blackwell is overwritten with an H so it says "BlackHell." Ellie wipes the board clean and writes "Endure and Survive."

Satisfied with her work, Ellie walks through the dormitory, recognizing that she's in the opposite wing that she and Jake didn't get a chance to explore. She stops at Max's room and knocks, but there's no answer. When there's still no response after a second try, Ellie steps back and bumps into someone behind her.

Ellie spins around and says, "Oh, my bad."

The girl she bumped into yanks her earbuds out and yells, "Watch where you're going, loser!"

"Hey, fuck off!" Ellie fires back.

"This side of the hall is my space. Stay over on the losers' side," the girl sneers and walks away.

Ellie watches the girl in disbelief till she goes into someone else's room down the hall, then looks at the girl's whiteboard. "Be the change you wish to see," it says. Really? Ellie thinks, then erases the words and draws a hand with the middle finger sticking up. Take that, bitch.

Ellie sticks her earbuds back into her ears and resumes listening to her music. Jackson 5 is now singing I Want You Back and Ellie starts humming along as she turns the corner to leave the dorm.

Outside Max is sitting on a bench, but she gets up as soon as she sees Ellie come through the door.

"Hey, Ellie!"

Ellie's stomach suddenly tightens up. She pulls out her earbuds and says, "Max, I thought you were already gone. I went by your room and you weren't there."

"Oh, I headed out early so I wouldn't have to run into Victoria." In actuality, Max had already run into Victoria and it caused a most unpleasant morning, so she used her rewind powers to set a different course of action. It still boggles her mind that she has these powers, but it's proving to come in handy.

"Who's Victoria?"

"Only the most stuck-up bitch in the world."

Ellie hits the stop button on her walkman. "Ah, so that's Victoria. We've met," she says and proceeds to wrap her earbuds around her walkman.

Max's eyes widen. "Wowser, is that a walkman?"

Ellie arches an eyebrow at Max. "Um, yeah?"

"I didn't think anyone still had those! I mean, I thought cassette tapes were pretty much obsolete. What are you listening to?"

"A mixtape someone gave me," replies Ellie, stashing her walkman into her backpack.

"That's so retro."

Not knowing what to say, Ellie just smiles.

"Sorry, I'm really into that stuff. I use this retro instant camera to take photos." Max shows Ellie her Polaroid camera. "I don't know. I think it's cool," she says with a shrug.

"Oh, gotcha," Ellie goes along with it. "I just like collecting old stuff because they still work off the grid."

"You mean, like, when the power goes out during a blackout? Or when you're somewhere you can't get signal?"

"Uh, I'm thinking more like a post-apocalyptic scenario."

"Whoa," Max laughs, "that escalated quickly. You've got some frightening imagination."

"I guess," Ellie tries to laugh and absently rubs her nose. "Oh yeah, by the way, thanks for, uh, everything. You know, yesterday."

"Oh, no worries. I mean, I'm sure you would've found your way eventually."

"Yeah, everything just looked a little different. Haven't gotten my bearings yet, I guess."

"You'll get it in no time. It's kind of hard to get lost in a small town like Arcadia Bay.

"Cool, good to know 'cuz I'm gonna go back to the lighthouse."

"After school?"

"Uh, no. Now."

Max looks at Ellie in awe. "You just got here and you're already ditching?"

Ellie shrugs and says, "Yeah."

Max doesn't peg Ellie as the kind of person who ditches school. She may have had a rough start with missing her first day thanks to the bonfire all nighter, but attending Blackwell Academy typically means you take your education pretty seriously. The competition to get accepted alone is no joke. "Is everything okay?" Max asks warily.

The genuine concern on Max's face makes Ellie wonder what the big deal is, it being a dream and all, but then again, Max wouldn't know she's just part of a figment of Ellie's unconscious imagination. "Yeah, I just need to go back there. It's hard to explain."

"Hmm," Max nods thoughtfully. She understands if Ellie doesn't want to talk about it. They've only just made each other's acquaintances after all, but it never hurts to make a friend, or at least have someone to just be there when you're going through something. "I'll take you."

"Then won't you be ditching school?"

"Yeah, and I've never ditched before, so I have to admit I'm kinda nervous, but fuck it."

Ellie has to admit she's kinda nervous now too, not because she's ditching dream school, but because Max is coming with her. Her stomach seems to tighten even more. "Well, okay then."

"Okay. Let's go."

Ellie follows Max on the path that leads to the main campus grounds. It looks drastically different with the grass neatly cut and all the shrubbery well landscaped. As they pass the side entrance where Ellie had carved the warning about spores, she spots the very brick that she had used to prop the door open. Indeed, her subconscious had lots of new material to work with for this dream.

When they get to the main campus, Max sees an opportunity to impress Ellie and show her she's not such a loser. She points to a group of boys hanging out along the short brick wall that fences the school in. "There's Justin and his skater posse."

Ellie gets wind of a skunky aroma as they approach the boys, the kind she always smells around Frank's trailer back on the compound. She's never smoked pot before, nor has she had the desire to, but the smell is unmistakable.

"They're so cute doing their tricks," says Max before they get within earshot of the skaters. She doesn't catch Ellie rolling her eyes at that last comment. "Yo, Justin," she says to the boy with glasses wearing a red cap.

"Check out the Max. Come to thrash?" Justin asks.

"Thrash?" Max replies with uncertainty. "You mean stage diving or…"

Justin shakes his head incredulously. "You're such a poser. If you can't even name a simple noseslide or a tre flip, you should walk on."

Shit, you can't let Ellie see you like this, Max thinks and does a quick rewind. "Oh yeah. Bring it," she says more confidently.

"What's your first move gonna be?"

"Uh…" Max hesitates. "Jump?"

Justin shakes his head (again). "You're such a poser. If you can't even name a simple noseslide or a tre flip, you should walk on."

Ugh, Max, why do you suck? she asks herself and rewinds again. "I came to noseslide, but I'd love to see somebody do a 'tre flip!'"

Justin's face lights up. "Oh, sick, you're not a poser."

Max shrugs. "Nah, I just can't skate worth shit."

"Oh check it. We're gonna destroy some rails for you. What do you want to see?"

"Go for a 'tre flip.'"

Justin nods his approval. "Let's get Trevor all over that action."

Another boy who Ellie can only assume is Trevor kicks off on his skateboard and attempts to do the infamous "tre flip," but only to fail horribly. The end of Trevor's skateboard flips up all right, directly into his nuts, and he rolls on the ground grabbing his crotch. Just watching him moan and writhe in pain makes Ellie wince. She can't imagine how much that must hurt.

Damn, poor Trevor. Maybe he should stick with the noseslide, Max thinks and rewinds yet again. Third time's the charm, right? "I'd love to see… a noseslide," she tells Justin when he asks (again) what she wants to see.

"Let's get Trevor all over that action," Justin says (again).

This time Trevor slides the nose of his skateboard along the edge of a bench and lands the trick perfectly.

"Nice one!" Ellie cheers.

"Oh, this is Ellie, by the way," Max tells the skaters sheepishly. How rude of her not to do introductions first, but Ellie doesn't seem to mind.

"Nice to meet you," Ellie says in their general direction and high-fives Trevor. That's when Ellie notices the scar on Trevor's wrist. She's seen that scar before. There was that Firefly named Trevor whose hand she bit to escape from his hold in order to save Riley. She even stole his gun. Ellie looks more intently at Trevor while he receives high-fives from the other boys and realizes he is indeed the same Firefly Trevor, but younger. She can't believe it. If only she could tell Riley about this bizarre dream. She'd get a kick out of it.

"Dude," Justin calls Trevor's attention, "here comes Dana."

Ellie looks around curiously till Max points her chin at the girl coming from the dormitory grounds. She's got her hair tied back in a ponytail and walks with a pep in her step, which is no wonder since she's a cheerleader after all. And like most stereotypical cheerleaders, she's dating a football player, and they're both members of the popular kids' club. Unlike Victoria and the others, however, Dana is actually a decent person and gets along with everyone, regardless of their social status.

"Hey, Dana!" both Justin and Trevor say in unison.

Their synchrony makes Dana giggle and she tosses them a wave. "Hey, guys! Don't forget to deodorize."

Trevor erupts in laughter. "Dude, that rhymes!"

"Oh, shit, almost forgot," says Justin and searches his pockets.

"I got it, bro," Trevor says, pulling out a small bottle and spraying them both to mask the dank smell.

"Good lookin' out, bro."

"You guys are so baked," Max says. "Can you make it anymore obvious how bad you got it for Dana?"

"Dana is so chill. How can you not?" Justin replies.

"Hey, whatever happened to that other girl you were talking to?" Trevor asks Justin. The one who wanted to be a nurse."

"She moved to Boston," Justin says offhandedly, "but we keep in touch on Facebook."

Ellie feels another pang inside. She has no idea what Facebook is, but it was part of the photo booth where she and Riley took pictures on their last night together. "Hey, what exactly is Facebook?"

Her question is received by weird looks.

Ellie thinks quickly. "I'm an orphan. I was raised in a boarding school run by military. They were extremely strict and deprived us of all things fun."

"Damn, that's fucked up," Justin says.

"Yeah, we didn't even have internet connection," Ellie adds and hopes it makes sense. She has no idea what an internet is, but that's what it said on the photo booth screen.

"Must've been some kind of government social experiment," Trevor surmises.

"Don't worry, Ellie. You're probably better off without it," says Max.

"But if you decide to get on it anyway, add me," Justin says. "Justin Williams."

Surprise washes over Ellie's face. "Hey, my last name is Williams," she says.

"Whoa, you guys could be related," Trevor thinks out loud.

Ellie and Justin look at each other, then laugh.

"Doubt it," Ellie concludes.

"Hey, man, maybe you should lay off the pot a bit," Justin advises his friend.

"Both of you should," Max teases.

Ellie glances across campus and notices some faculty emerging from the school parking lot. If they were going to skip school, they should probably leave soon, or else faculty might spot them. "Um, Max? We should probably get going."

"Yeah, sure."

After the skaters and the girls exchange their farewells, Max and Ellie continue down the sidewalk. Max points out more people along the way and gives Ellie a brief rundown on their statuses from the jocks to the nerds to the self-proclaimed elite, also known as the Vortex Club. To Ellie, all these labels seem trivial, but one thing remains true: mean people suck.

"So, you think any of the guys here are cute?" Max asks.

"Um, I guess," Ellie replies, "but I actually never really had a crush on a guy."

"Max, get's over here," a voice interrupts them.

"And that would be Warren," Max states, leading Ellie to a bench where a boy is sitting like he's waiting for somebody. Max doesn't know Warren to hang out around campus before class. He's usually in his room downloading and watching movies and anime or putting in extra hours in the science lab. "Warren, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing—waiting. For a call? I mean, I already took the call," Warren stammers. "Anyway, that drive-in is having a 70's 'Planet of the Apes' movie marathon. Let's 'Go Ape!'"

"Yes, that's exactly what I need. I love those old-school ape films," Max says with some enthusiasm. Finally, movies that are more mainstream.

Warren looks a little taken aback, then says, "Well, that was easier than I thought. Cool. I'll text you the info."

Beside Max, Ellie crosses her arms and shuffles around uncomfortably. Inside, her stomach is getting tighter and it's starting to affect her chest, like some kind of heartburn. There's also something else she's feeling that she can't quite explain. What's clear, though, is how Warren has a huge crush on Max and she just agreed to go on a date with him. "Hey, Max, you know what? If you'd rather just stay and chill with your friends, it's cool."

"Wait, Ellie."

"Really, it's cool. I'll be fine on my own."

You, dumbass, Max berates herself internally as Ellie walks away. The last thing she wanted to do was make Ellie feel left out, but in her effort to impress Ellie and make herself appear popular, she did just that. Max holds her hand up, brings Ellie back, and undoes her last decision.

"Let's 'Go Ape!'" exclaims Warren (again).

Max smiles apologetically. "No, I don't think I can concentrate on going out to the movies. I just feel like escaping," she says and discreetly winks at Ellie.

Warren sighs dejectedly. "Fine. Be a damned dirty human. I'll 'Go Ape' myself."

Relief washes over Ellie, more than she expected, but she maintains a stoic appearance as Max wraps up her conversation. While Max is giving Warren back his flash drive, Ellie sweeps her eyes around campus for more faculty, but only the students have grown in their numbers, each in their respective clique, aside from the loners.

From opposite ends of the lawn, Logan, the one Max pointed out as Dana's boyfriend, is throwing around a football with Zach, the football team quarterback. Zach lobs the ball long and Logan misjudges the trajectory, unable to arrive on target to receive it. The football sails past Logan by several yards and bounces around clumsily once it lands. It stops just a few feet short from Ellie, but too far for Logan to retrieve it without putting in some hustle.

"Hey! You mind?" Logan shouts across the lawn to Ellie.

Ellie goes to pick the football up and tosses it back to Logan.

"Appreciate it!"

"No problem!" Ellie shouts back, and just as she spins around to rejoin Max, she hears a mortified gasp behind her, but it's too late. She watches helplessly as Victoria's coffee erupts from her insulated tumbler mug and splatters down the front of Victoria's blouse.

Victoria looks down at her top, then slowly brings her eyes up at Ellie, her face red with rage. "What the hell?"

"Geez, my bad! At least you didn't get scalded."

"Are you kidding? Look at this…"

Ellie has seen worse stains, coffee not being one of them. "That stuff washes out. What's the big deal?"

"Do you know how much this fucking outfit cost? No way! No fucking way! Now I have to change my whole outfit!" Victoria fumes and rushes back to the dorms.

"You can change your outfit, but you can't change ugly!" Ellie calls after her, eliciting laughter from the jocks.

"Fuck you!"

Max grabs Ellie by the shoulder. "Ellie, what happened? You okay?"

Ellie shrugs, unmoved by the confrontation that just transpired. "I'm fine. What's Victoria's deal?"

Max sighs. "Who knows. Probably because you don't wear designer clothes, you have a sweet tattoo, and you have a badass scar over your eyebrow. As far as she's concerned, you're lowlife, but I dig your style."

Ellie looks away for a second and rubs her nose absently in an effort to deter the blush she feels rising in her face. "Oh. Uh, thanks?"

Max starts to feel a little warmth in her face as well. "Don't mention it."

Ellie clears her throat. "So, we going to the lighthouse or what?"

"Right. Let's go."

On the bus Ellie watches the world of Blackwell Academy disappear behind them. She feels like the whole morning had been taken out of a page of that diary she found in that ranch house by Tommy's dam three years ago. The hard life of a teenager. This really is all they had to worry about. Boys. Movies. Deciding which shirt goes with which skirt. It's bizarre. Ellie glances down at her own outfit of choice: an olive surplus field shirt with sleeves torn short over a plain t-shirt, black jeans with holes at the knees, and black Converse shoes. Comfortable, practical, and durable. She looks at her reflection on the window, focusing on the scar on her right eyebrow. It's just one of many she's acquired over the years in her fight for survival. Meanwhile the town of Arcadia Bay sweeps by outside the window, absent of the overgrowth and abandonment of every town Ellie has known. She passes her left hand over the tattoo covering her right forearm. If Max only knew the story of what was beneath the ink, she might not think it was so sweet.

After a short bus ride, Max and Ellie arrive at the lighthouse bus stop. They cross the road to the trail and begin the trek up to the lighthouse. Beams of late morning light pierce the woods and the chirping of birds fill the silence that's fallen between the pair. To Max, not much has really changed in five years. The same wooden sign points the direction to the lighthouse, the same horizontal wooden beams jut out from the dirt to form steps as the path inclines, and upon looking at the map of Arcadia Bay, the same red skull and crossbones marks a spot in the upper left corner.

Wowser, Chloe drew that to mark our treefort so we'd always be able to find each other in case of emergency, Max remembers.

Ellie makes a beeline to the lighthouse entrance, anxious to see what she'll find, or won't find. She gives the door handle a tug, but the door won't budge. She tries again with more force, but the door remains locked tight.

Ellie grunts in frustration and kicks the door. Defeated, she plops down on the nearby bench. Her frustration is short-lived though when her gaze rests on the view before her. From this overlook, she can see the beach and the town bustling with inhabitants, untouched by the outbreak. The atmosphere is so different compared to what she's used to, but that's what baffles her. She really had no idea what to expect when she got here, but it seems the longer she's in this dream, the more real it feels. But how can it be real?

Max, who has been taking her time to reach the lighthouse, finally catches up to Ellie. Every few steps she aims her camera, and once she finds the perfect angle she captures the image of the lighthouse. After slipping the photo into her bag, Max resumes pointing her camera around until the viewfinder centers on Ellie sitting on the bench. Max admires how the sunlight hits her face and thinks, This would be a nice photo of Ellie framed by the sun…

Max snaps the shot, and waits for the photo to develop, which for some reason seems to be taking more time than usual, but she's probably just being impatient. Finally the image of Ellie emerges from the gray slate and before Max knows it, a smile tugs at the corner of her lips. Max adds this photo into her bag with the rest and then takes a seat beside Ellie, who still hasn't said a word since they left Blackwell. Max knows what it's like to feel out of place, so she attempts some conversation.

"I used to come up here with my best friend all the time when we were kids and play pirates," says Max.

"Pirates, huh," says Ellie. She turns to face Max and is pleasantly surprised at how close Max is sitting next to her. Her stomach begins to fold again.

"Yeah."

"Did you know that 3.14% of sailors are Pi Rates?" Ellie asks with a straight face.

Max takes a moment to digest the information, then the pun finally sinks in and she laughs. "Good one."

Ellie smiles and says, "How about this: What is a pirate's favorite letter?"

"Oh. I know this one... Rrrrr…"

"Naw! 'Tis the C!"

Max laughs some more. "Clever."

"My best friend got me into puns. She always found the best pun books for me."

"You would've gotten along really well with my best friend. You and her could have a pun battle." Max's laughter tapers off. "Wish you guys had met each other… "

"Did something happen to her?" Ellie asks.

"I haven't talked to her since my family moved to Seattle. I meant to write her, but days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, then months into years. Now I'm back, but I'm not sure we're friends anymore."

"Oh. How many years has it been?"

"Five."

"You should talk to her. You never know if you might not get another chance."

Max catches Ellie's hand brush over her tattoo, but the change from light-hearted to solemn tone in Ellie's voice stops her from asking.

But Ellie can see the curiosity in Max's eyes. "It's been three years since my best friend got hurt and died."

"Oh, man. I'm sorry, Ellie."

"Don't be. We were somewhere we weren't supposed to be. I should've died with her, but..." Ellie trails off and looks at her right forearm. "But I survived," she finishes and offers Max a reassuring smile.

Max returns the smile and says, "Well, I'm glad, or else I would've missed out on meeting such a cool person. Here, let's take a selfie."

A selfie. At least that's one thing Ellie knows that seems to have made it through the outbreak. She and Riley had taken a selfie once. She keeps the photo under her pillow back home. The tight feeling in Ellie's stomach erupts into flutters when Max leans in close, close enough for Ellie to inhale the floral fragrance of Max's hair. It smells heavenly, and Ellie realizes she can't recall a dream where she was able to smell anything.

"Okay, ready?" Max holds her camera at arm's length and presses the button. The flash blinds her for a second, but when her vision returns, she's looking out the window of the bus, stuck in traffic, and out from the nearby hospital runs a frantic patient covered in blood.

Oh, no! Not again… Why is this happening to me? Why am I here again?

Max pulls out her phone to check the display. September 26? Is this Thursday? That's only two days away!

Max hears the screams from outside as chaos ensues.

"Max?"

Max is unable to look away as the horror unfolds once again.

"Max!"

Ellie's hand touches Max's shoulder and it jolts her back from her vision, knocking her bag off the bench and onto the ground.

"Ellie! You're here! I'm back. Oh, my lord, this is real-it's real! Oh, man, this sucks…"

"Max, what's going on? You totally blacked out."

"I didn't black out… I had another vision." Max shakes her head and affirms she really is back. "This is going to sound crazy, but there were people, and they were attacking other people and… and… eating them!"

Ellie's eyes widen. Infected. Now it's getting back to reality, she thinks.

"I had this same vision yesterday in class… And what's even more crazy is I discovered I could reverse time."

Ellie sighs and rolls her eyes. "Okay, ha ha, you had me at people eating people, but reversing time? Really, Max?"

"Listen to me, how do you think I saved you from becoming roadkill yesterday?"

"By reversing time? Yeah, sure."

"I saw you get hit, Ellie. Saw you actually… die. I was able to go back and stop you from walking into the street."

"Okay, I see you're a geek now with a great imagination, but this isn't a movie or comic book; people don't have those powers, Max."

"I don't know what I have, but I have it. And I'm scared shitless. What I saw… It happens on Thursday."

"How do you know that?"

"In my vision, I looked at my phone. It said September 26th."

That's Joel's birthday! That's when Sarah… the outbreak… Ellie's mind races until her eyes drift down to the spilled contents of Max's bag. There on the ground is the photo of the lighthouse, the very same one she had found just yesterday, except this photo is in pristine condition and far from deteriorating. And next to the photo, peeking out from Max's bag is the black, sticker-covered notebook she had also found, except undamaged. But what really blows Ellie's mind is the Arcadia Bay Beacon newspaper also sticking out of the bag. The date on the newspaper says September 24, 2013.

Maybe this really isn't a dream, but if this isn't a dream, then how the fuck could she have traveled back in time? Maybe she's the one going crazy.

Ellie slowly brings her eyes back up to Max, who's taken on the appearance of someone who just got off a bad trip. No way. No fucking way.

"Hey, maybe we should head back to town. You look like you could use some food," suggests Ellie.

Max nods silently and gathers her things.

The bus ride back to town is quiet as both girls are preoccupied with their own thoughts, except for when Max tells Ellie they've arrived at their stop. It's not crowded, but for a small town there are plenty of people walking about. Max leads Ellie to Anthony's Pizza & Subs, one of the small restaurants lining the street. Upon entering, Ellie cannot believe her eyes and for a moment forgets all about her strange circumstances. Suddenly Max finds herself alone at the counter. She looks around confused and there's Ellie, standing hypnotized by the demo playing on one of the arcade machines. Max quickly orders slices of pizza for both of them then joins Ellie.

"The Turning?" Max reads the title on the arcade aloud.

"My best friend knew everything about this game," Ellie says. "I never got to play though. The one back home was busted."

Max digs out a few quarters from her pocket and inserts them into the machine. "Now you can."

Ellie's face lights up with pure excitement and she grabs hold of the joystick. "Holy shit! This is actually happening! You're the best, Max!"

The title screen gives way to the character selection screen and Ellie immediately chooses the claw-wielding Angel Knives. The screen fades out, then reveals Angel Knives standing on the edge of a temple, just like Riley had once told her. Her opponent, Black Fang, steps out of the temple. Just as Riley described him, he's this super ripped white dude with three arms. The music kicks up as the characters get into their fighting stance and round 1 begins. Ellie mashes the punch, kick, and block buttons while maneuvering Angel Knives around Blackfang and Max watches. The fight intensifies as Blackfang's health bar steadily decreases and with victory in sight, Ellie eagerly executes Angel Knives' special move. Unfortunately, it misses as Blackfang's attack moves him out of harm's way. Blackfang catches Angel Knives in a vulnerable position and deals the game-ending blow.

"No! What the fuck was that?" Ellie groans as YOU LOSE glares at her from the screen.

Max knows exactly what to do. She rewinds.

Ellie is about to execute Angel Knives' special move again, but Max knows what's going to happen. "Block," she says.

"I got this, he's almost dead," Ellie says dismissively.

"Just trust me."

Blackfang rushes towards Angel Knives but Ellie misses the block and Blackfang grabs her.

"Shit!"

Ellie rapidly mashes the punch button to break free and quickly performs a Blade Charge. This time she successfully blocks Blackfang's next attack, causing him to stagger back a few steps. Now Ellie executes Angel Knives' special move and it lands cleanly on Blackfang. The screen turns dark. Angel Knives' blades begin to glow. She pierces Black Fang's torso again and again until his heart flies right out of his chest. She winds back her leg and roundhouses his head clean off. A geyser of blood covers the entire playing field. "Ultra Kill," the game announces. Angel Knives throws her fists in the air and YOU WIN appears on the screen.

"Fuck yeah. I win," Ellie says, throwing her firsts in the air as well.

"Nice moves, Ellie."

"Thanks, Max. That was so awesome. I owe you big time."

Max shakes her head. "You act like you've never played video games before. It's no big deal."

The weight of the situation returns to Ellie and she fixes her eyes on Max. "How did you know the attack was coming?"

"I may have used my powers," Max replies.

"Thirteen!" the guy at the counter calls out, dishing out slices of pizza onto two plates on a tray.

"That's us. Come on, let's eat," Max says.

They settle into a booth by the window and Ellie bites into her pizza. The tomato sauce oozes out from under the layer of cheese and pepperoni and lands on the space between her thumb and forefinger. Instead of immediately wiping her hand clean, Ellie lingers on the sight. The sauce is the same color as the blood that seeped through the bite Riley sustained on the exact same spot.

"There are a million ways we should've died before today. And a million ways we can die before tomorrow. But we fight… for every second we get to spend with each other. Whether it's two minutes… Or two days… We don't give that up. I don't want to give that up. My vote… Let's just wait it out. You know we can… be all poetic and just lose our minds together."

That's what Riley had said when they discovered they had both been bitten by Infected, so they stayed together as long as they could. Riley was the first to show symptoms and Ellie waited to follow suit. But then Riley died, and Ellie still waited. And waited. And waited. And she's still waiting for her turn. Not a day goes by that Ellie doesn't miss Riley.

Ellie wipes the sauce off her hand and finishes her pizza. She watches Max and wonders if maybe it was Max's powers that brought her back in time. The lighthouse photo, the journal, Max's visions, the date on the newspaper - it's too much of a coincidence to ignore. What if she could stop the outbreak? No, there's no way she could do that, but there has to be a reason why she went back in time.

"I want proof you can rewind time," Ellie says, "so I will believe you without any doubt."

Max swallows her last bite of pizza and says, "Mm… I can tell you what's in your back pocket."

"Okay, Max, impress me!"

Max really doesn't know what Ellie has in her pocket, but hopefully her time-reversing powers can lend a hand. For now she has to take a wild guess, and it's something most people typically keep in their pockets. "Keys."

Ellie reaches behind and pulls her switchblade out of her pocket. "That was so… wrong, Max," she says unamused and disappointed.

"Whoa, is that, like, standard military issue or something?"

"It was my mom's. I don't go anywhere without it."

Powers don't fail me now, Max thinks and rewinds.

"Okay, Max, impress me!" says Ellie, again.

"You have a knife in your pocket. It belonged to your mom, and you don't go anywhere without it."

Ellie stares at Max wide-eyed as chills run all over her neck. "How did you know that?"

"This isn't my first guess," Max confesses.

"Okay," Ellie nods, "I believe you." Ellie pauses, giving herself one last chance to back out, then says, "Max, I have to tell you… Something."

"Talk to me, Ellie."

"Your visions… What you saw, it actually happens."

"How do you know?"

Ellie can't believe she's going through with this, but she takes a deep breath anyway and says, "I'm from the future."

Max frowns. "Are you cereal? I tell you I can rewind time and you fuck with me by talking about you're from the future?"

"Hey, you don't get to look at me like I'm crazy when you're over there blacking out from visions and rewinding time and calling me cereal! Besides, I have proof!" Ellie unzips her backpack and pulls out her future version of Max's journal. "Recognize this?"

Max gawks at her journal, then checks her bag to make sure she has her own.

Ellie flips the time-worn journal to the back. "Look, and here are your photos." She picks out the lighthouse photo. "You just took this one today."

Max can't believe what she's seeing, but it is indeed the very photo she took earlier. "What… happened?"

"The CBI outbreak."

"CBI?"

"Cordyceps brain infection. Some kind of fungus that turns you into a mutant killer cannibal if you inhale the spores or if you get bit by someone who's infected. The outbreak occurred before I was born so I really don't know what happened. It's pretty much been survival of the fittest since then."

Max examines the pages of her future journal. "How did you get this?"

"I was hunting with a friend when we found the dorm. It was completely abandoned."

Max shudders at the thought of her vision becoming reality and genuinely feels scared for her life.

"There's one other thing," Ellie says and she lays her forearm on the table. "I'm immune."

Beneath Ellie's tattoo, Max notices for the first time that there are faint scars in the shape of a bite. "You were bit. You and your best friend."

Ellie nods.

"So I can rewind time, you're from the future… what does this all mean?"

Ellie shrugs. "I have no idea. I don't even know how I traveled through time."

"And I don't even know how I got these powers to rewind time. What's the last thing you remember?"

"My friend and I got caught in a storm. I saw the lighthouse and thought we could wait the storm out inside. There's nothing after that, and next thing I know I woke up in the lighthouse, and I noticed everything looked different… newer."

"There was a storm yesterday morning. Maybe the storm created a wormhole?"

Ellie raises an eyebrow. "Like an actual time-traveling, alternate universe wormhole?"

Embarrassment covers Max's face when she realizes how far fetched she sounds. "Forget it, sorry. Too many sci-fi movies."

"No, I love sci-fi!" Ellie exclaims with a little too much glee, and now she feels her own face getting flush with embarrassment. "But seriously, at this point anything's possible. That might explain how in this timeline, I am a student at Blackwell."

"And it explains why you don't know what Facebook is," Max teases.

Ellie shrugs with half a smile. "I don't know what the big deal is about a book of faces."

"It's not really a book-" Max starts, then remembers Ellie saying something about being off the grid, which makes even more sense now. "But yeah, you're probably right. It is kinda stupid actually."

Their conversation falls to a hush. Ellie rubs her nose nervously to stop herself from staring at Max too long and turns to the world outside the pizza place. Across the street, a building is undergoing construction. A group of men are securing their equipment onto a truck, oblivious as everyone else about what's going to happen. Nobody will see the outbreak coming till it hits them, and everything will change in an instant. The infection will kill the ones you care for, people will kill the ones you care for, and the only thing you can do is keep finding something to fight for.

Max follows Ellie's gaze out the window as well, but only to sneak back to Ellie. The sun highlights the red in Ellie's auburn hair, giving her a coppery glow that compliments her green eyes, eyes which never lose focus. Since Max ran into Ellie (pun intended), Ellie has always been alert, observant, and filled with wonder. She'd love to take more photos of Ellie. Perhaps she's her Everyday Hero. Or perhaps she's something more. She's drawn to Ellie, whether by their strange twist of fate or by plain, simple attraction.

"Hey, um…" Max begins.

Ellie turns to face Max once again.

"Wanna see a movie?" Max manages to spit out. She doesn't even know why it was so hard to ask, but she guesses this is how Warren must've felt.

"Really?" Ellie tries hard to hold back a grin. "I mean, I thought you said you don't think you can concentrate on going out to movies."

"That was just an excuse not to go out with Warren, but I do actually feel like escaping."

"Hell yeah, I've never been to a movie theater," Ellie says, suddenly feeling shy.

"Dawn of the Wolf just came out. Everyone's talking about it."

Ellie remembers seeing Dawn of the Wolf posters and billboards everywhere when she and Joel were in Pittsburgh. She had thought it was a horror film and imagined the wolfman gutting the starring actress, but Joel told her nobody gets gutted and that it was a dumb teen movie, much to Ellie's disappointment.

"My first movie on the big screen and you wanna drag me to a dumb teen movie?"

Max rewinds. It's amazing how she's managed to survive life this long without being able to undo her fuck-ups. Of course Ellie isn't into Dawn of the Wolf. She just said she loves sci-fi.

"Let's go see Savage Starlight."

"Seriously? I love Savage Starlight!" Ellie can't hold her grin back anymore, and before she can stop herself, she says, "You sure know the way to a girl's heart."

Without missing a beat, Max says, "Not just any girl's heart, your heart."

Ellie's heartbeat spikes through the roof, but she maintains her composure and tells herself this is just silly banter. "You asking me out on a date?" she asks with a smirk.

"Maybe," Max replies with an air of mystery, but finds herself surprised she hasn't rewound yet. For once, she actually feels good about her actions and maybe, just maybe, this could be a date.

The loud rumbling of an engine from outside interrupts the girls' repartee as the truck across the street starts up and departs, exposing an alley between the buildings where a red SUV is parked.

"Hey, it's that SUV from yesterday!" Ellie says, jumping from her seat. "Come on, Max."

Before Max can say anything, Ellie grabs her backpack, dumps her trash, and rushes out the door. Max hurries after her and catches up to Ellie as she's crossing the street. Upon reaching the other side, Ellie reaches under the construction caution tape and grabs a brick.

"Ellie, what are you gonna do with that?" Max asks, but considering Ellie's don't-give-a-fuck attitude, she has a feeling she already knows the answer.

"Just cover me," Ellie says.

"Cover you?"

"Be on the lookout. Make sure nobody is walking by. I'll be right back."

Max stands at the corner, looking both ways down the sidewalk, as Ellie disappears down the alley. If they get caught, they'd be in so much trouble, but the risk was admittedly exciting. And Max could always rewind.

A crash of broken glass confirms Max's suspicion.

"Boosh! Brick. Fucking. Master!" Ellie cries out.