I don't own anything apart from Brianna and bits of the plot
Chapter Two
I can't exactly describe the feeling that went through me; it was like being sucked through a vacuum. When I came out the other end of said vacuum I stumbled, my eyes blinking to adjust to the bright sun beating down from the sky. I could hear murmuring around me, a few worried shouts to someone and I forced myself to look around despite my pounding head and the nausea building up.
I have never been more confused in my life; I was surrounded by a group of people in what looked like a village. They were all staring at me with a mix of curiosity and uneasiness, looking around for someone to take charge of the situation. My hand was still holding on to the handle of my suitcase while the other was keeping hold of the straps to my backpack and laptop case. I let go of the suitcase to hold my hand up as what I assumed were soldiers approached me, their guns pointed directly at me.
What the hell was going on?
"Identify yourself!" One shouted.
I stared at him blankly, wondering if this was some kind of joke, "Where the hell am I?" I muttered to myself, peering around confused.
I couldn't see much but what I thought was a marketplace further down the dirt road. The people watching had moved away to give the soldiers space and were murmuring to themselves as they watched.
"I said identify yourself!" The soldier shouted again.
"Why don't you identify yourself?" I shot back, annoyed by his demands, "I mean, seriously, do you go around pointing your guns at everyone or am I the exception?"
The soldier gaped at me for a moment, turning to look at his fellow soldiers perplexed. I scowled and returned to observing my surroundings, trying to figure out what was going on. Hadn't I just been standing outside my unit? Had I hit my head and was dreaming about this entire situation? Just to be sure I pinched myself, wincing at the pain that shot up my arm; definitely not a dream.
"Sir." The soldier that had been shouting straightened as another man arrived. The soldier lowered his weapon slightly to make room for the new man to move in front of him.
I eyed the new man, one of my eyebrows raised as I studied his appearance; he looked like a typical soldier. His cargo pants were black and I was certain he had a gun or at least a knife around his calf; the gun in its holster around his thigh and the one at his waist didn't escape my attention either. His black shirt fully emphasised the prominent muscles on his arms and chest and I didn't doubt for a minute that he could handle himself in any situation. His dark hair was greying slightly and I could make out a few scars on his face and down his arms. His grey eyes were looking at me with a mix of curiosity and distrust. Despite my apprehension about the situation I couldn't help but note the attractiveness of the new comer but I forced that from my mind as he approached me.
"How did you get to Terra Nova?" The man asked.
My brows furrowed in confusion and I stared at him like he had suddenly grown another head, "What the frack is Terra Nova?" I asked bluntly. Ever since becoming a teacher I had learnt to not swear so much. Parents didn't particularly appreciate it when their kid comes home saying a range of colourful expressions that they learnt from their teacher.
Everyone stared at me in confusion, the soldiers even lowering their weapons to look at their leader questioningly. The man frowned and took a few steps closer, stopping when I took a step back nervously; there was no way in hell I was going to get too close to this guy before I knew what the hell was going on.
"Who sent you? If Mira thinks that anyone here is going to believe you don't know what Terra Nova is then being out in the jungle has obviously done more harm than any of us expected." The man retorted shortly, crossing his arms across his chest. This only served to make his muscles bulge from underneath his black shirt and it made me want to inch further away from him.
Except now I was fully surrounded by soldiers. From my peripheral vision I could see a woman standing behind me, obviously a second in command by the way the other soldiers stood behind her, waiting for a command from either her or the man in front of me. She was dressed almost identically to the man except she had her weapon out and ready.
"What the hell is going on?" I exclaimed, beginning to get frustrated as well as nervous, "I don't know who Mira is and as far as I'm concerned there isn't a jungle this close to Melbourne."
That seemed to get a reaction out of the man; he had begun to move closer to me but froze when I said that. He looked behind me to the woman, frowning with confusion. "Melbourne?"
"Yeah, you know the big city in Victoria, Australia?" I was waving my hands around by this point, hoping that the movements would help them catch on to what I was saying. I sighed, trying to calm down before asking, "Look, just tell me what state we're in."
"We aren't in any state." The woman behind me said slowly.
I turned slightly to face her, "What are you talking about?" This was not going well.
"Australia doesn't exist here." She told me.
I eyed her sceptically, "Australia doesn't exist here." I repeated. "And this is Terra Nova."
The woman nodded, her eyes flashing behind me for a split second before back to me. It was enough for me to know that the man was behind me; I swung around quickly, unnerved to find him no more than a foot away. I did the first thing I could think of; I kicked him in the balls. If I wasn't freaking out I would have found the situation slightly hilarious; the soldier dropped to the ground, clearly shocked by my action as was everyone else.
The woman pointed her gun at me, having lowered it while we were talking. I glared at her while the man grunted and struggled back to his feet.
"Don't look at me in that tone of voice!" I scolded, sounding exactly like I did when I was reprimanding a student.
The woman stared at me like I was crazy and I was beginning to wonder if maybe I was. "I wouldn't if you didn't attack my commanding officer." She retorted dryly.
"Well maybe someone should tell him that sneaking up on confused people is bound to end with his balls being targeted." I think if her commanding officer weren't standing (or rather kneeling) so close she would have smiled.
The woman studied me before lowering her weapon and holstering it. "What's your name?" She asked, clearly having decided to take a different route of interrogation.
"Brianna Lee."
She nodded her head in acknowledgement, "I'm Lieutenant Alicia Washington. That," She nodded towards the man, "is Commander Nathaniel Taylor. He's the leader of Terra Nova." She explained.
I stifled a giggle at that; I had just managed to kick the man in a place where no man wants to be kicked and he was their leader. Alicia was clearly trying to think of the appropriate way to phrase her next question so while she was distracted I fished through my pocket for my mobile. I could feel their eyes on me as I pressed the button and watched the screen light up; I frowned when I noticed the zero reception I had and wondered where I would be able to make a call.
"What year is it?" Alicia asked suddenly, looking at me warily.
I blinked at the question, "It's 2010." A collective gasp arose from the onlookers and I frowned confused. "What year did you think it was?"
"I think we should go somewhere private for this discussion, Miss Lee." Taylor spoke up, his voice a mix of sympathy and shock.
I eyed him suspiciously not having noticed him recovering and standing up, "Why?" I certainly didn't want to be alone with the man.
"You're not meant to be here." Taylor said.
I snorted, "No shit, Captain Obvious." I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to move, "Look, I really need to get going so can you just spit it out already?"
"I don't think you'll be going anywhere." Alicia told me quietly.
"Why?" My gut twisted when I realised there was something extraordinarily wrong with this situation.
"We said Australia doesn't exist here." Taylor reminded me, "It doesn't exist because here is eighty five millions years in the past."
This really sucks.
A/N thank you for the review! Let me know what you think and I hope you enjoyed.
