"Do you really want to do this?" asked Father Feretti.

"Of course," I said. "I'm not going to leave her at the hands of that man."

"they have cars. you won;t save her from being raped."

"Does he usually release the women he takes after he's done?"

"About half of the time, I guess. sometimes he gives them to his subjects as a reward."

"Was anyone else taken from you like this?"

"Yes, some of the girls had caught the attention of the wrong people and they were taken. We don't know what happened to them."

"I'm not going to let him get away with this," I said. "I know you are trying to rebuild civilization. I read about this history of this country prior to the plague, and that justice for all was one of the principles this country was founded upon. I'm going to Sacramento."

"Well, if you're going there, you'll need a horse as well as a map of the city. You can reach Sacramento by going east on Interstate 80 after crossing the Bay Bridge. The bridge is safe and still in use. I'll get Lee to help you."

After an hour, I was on the horse Swift Wind. Lee Tan provided me with a street map of Sacramento he retrieved from a long-abandoned Chevron gas station.

"The boss of Sacramento has his headquarters in the governor's mansion," he said. "He keeps his harem there."

"I'll be back with Deana," I said. I made sure that the nine-millimeter Beretta semiautomatic pistol was loaded and ready to fire.

I then set off to Sacramento. I rode through the streets of San Francisco to the downtown area, where I saw a ramp for the eastbound Interstate 80. I got on the ramp and then rode across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to Oakland. After a few minutes of riding, I was out of the Bay Area. A road sign indicated that Sacramento was sixty-six miles ahead. At this rate, I would not get there before dark. I did check the flashlight I had carried from the previous world; the batteries still worked. I noticed the sun setting as I rode east on Interstate 80.

After hours of horseback riding, I noticed lights ahead. Those were not lights from fires; those were electric lights. From the mile markers along Interstate 80, I figured I that was Sacramento straight ahead. I remembered hearing that Sacramento's power grid had been restored three years ago and has been maintained since.

I stopped right underneath a lamppost and read the map to confirm my route. I then rode a few miles to where U.S. 50 started. I got on the ramp for the eastbound U.S. 50 to downtown Sacramento.

I continued on U.S. 50 and entered the city of Sacramento after crossing the Sacramento River. I looked at the city lights which looked like a field of stars planted on the ground; from here there was no indication a plague wiped out the adult population ten years ago. I passed the junction with Interstate 5, and then I found the right exit-Fifteenth Street.

"Okay," I said to Swift Wind, "swish your tail to signal." I got off the freeway and then I was on Fifteenth Street.

I noticed there was very little traffic at this time of night. Most of the vehicles were drawn by horses or oxen. I did notice a police car drive by, I imagined they belonged to the boss of Sacramento. I checked the map again to see where the governor's mansion is.

As I rode through the streets of Sacramento, I remembered the time, when I was twelve, when Uncle Mac took me to Sacramento, which served as the capital of California in the world I grew up in. I remembered visiting the State Capitol and the governor's mansion and the historic buildings. The street layout was the same on this world as it was on my world. I saw the dome of the State Capitol, which looked identical to its counterpart on my world.

I then rode to the governor's mansion; it looked identical to its counterpart on my world. I could tell the place was more maintained than most of the buildings and properties I saw in this post-plague world.

I wondered if the people who worked to maintain the mansion were conscripts. After all, if the resident of this mansion were willing to kidnap women for sex, it would not be a stretch for him to kidnap people to take care of this place.

I also noticed that this place was heavily guarded. There were soldiers with M-16's. Two of them guarded the main entryway into the mansion, and the other entry points were guarded with one soldier each.

I had to think. It would be plausible to believe the mansion guards have radios; if anyone in California had access to working electronics, it would the boss of Sacramento and his thugs.

I rode a few blocks away from the mansion to ponder my situation. I tried not to think about what the boss of Sacramento had already done-or is doing-to Deana.

"Come on, Mallory," I whispered. "Think. I've broken into high-security military bases before; it shouldn't be that difficult to break into the governor's mansion."

"Try a nightclub," a voice said.

I looked around to see if anyone was speaking to me.

"There are soldiers in the nightclub," said the voice.

I knew the voice was in my head. I wondered for a moment if sliding can cause mental illness or something. Suddenly, Swift Wind started walking on his own. I had no idea where he was going.

He stopped on a street. I noticed this was once a shopping district in Sacramento. I did see a neon sign for a club called the Beat. More importantly, I saw a green U.S. Army truck parked near the curb.

Checking my map of Sacramento, I noticed there was a U.S. military base nearby; the truck must be from the base, and soldier's from the boss's militia are here.

I entered the nightclub. There was this big man in front.

"Hey dude," he said. "You need to have something to trade before you can enter."

"You mean like money?" I asked.

"Money? No, something more useful like canned food or maybe some working electronic device." He took a closer look at me. "you have a digital watch. If you give me the watch, I'll let you in."

"Sorry," I said. "I need this watch for my travels."

"Then find somewhere else to go and don't waste my time."

"Wait," I said. I pulled out the spare pistol magazine. "I have a magazine with nine-millimeter bullets. It was made before the plague. We both know that pre-plague ammunition is a valued commodity in these times."

"How do I know this works?" asked the doorman.

"Try it."

He pulled out a pistol and placed the magazine inside. He then fired it at the ground. I heard the bang and saw the muzzle flash.

"You can go in," he said, giving me some coupons. "Just make sure to check any weapons you have."

So that is what I did. I went to this cage where I had to hand in my Beretta and I received a ticket for its return. I then went in.

Apparently, electricity was used to power the lights inside the room as well as the neon sign above the exterior door. A deejay was spinning records, and music from the eighties played on the speakers. I heard the song "Take on Me" by A-Ha and the club's patrons were dancing. In the corner of the room was a bar where liquor was served, and I noticed the room smelled like roasted marijuana. I looked at the coupons; I figured these were used to purchase drinks. I imagined that decades from now, such things would evolve into currency.

I also noticed some Sacramento soldiers among the patrons, dressed in fatigues with the California flag patch sewn onto the right sleeve. Most of them were in their mid-to-late teens. I wondered if the boss of Sacramento provided electricity to the nightclub in exchange for the soldiers getting in for free.

I saw one of the soldiers go into the men's room and I followed him inside. I saw him use the urinal and then go to the sink. I noticed this place still had running water! Back at Our Lady of Refuge, there was neither electricity nor running water, and we all had to use an outhouse. Running water was available in Sacramento, at least to the boss and his inner circle.

If there was one thing I learned from my two years of sliding, it was to be quick on my feet and to strike like lightning. So that's what I did. I used a sap I carried inside and struck the soldier near the base of his skull. He went down cold. I went into one of the toilet stalls, noticing how clean the toilet is, and immediately undressed him.

When I left the restroom, I was dressed in the outfit of a Sacramento soldier.

I was on the dance floor, and the stereo was playing "Jump" by Van Halen. I was about to leave when a pretty lady tapped my shoulder.

"Hey soldier boy,:" she said. "Never seen you here before."

"Here," I said, giving her the coupons. "I've been called back to base; there's an emergency."

I went to the cage and retrieved my Beretta, and then I was out of the nightclub. I got onto Swift Wind who was drinking from a horse trough. I untied him and rode back to the governor's mansion.

There were no lights inside; the so-called governor must be sleeping. I decided to make my move.

I went to the back entrance guarded by a soldier who looked like he was sixteen years old. "Excuse me," I said as I approached him. "I'm from the base, and I need tio speak to your commander."

"At this time of night?" he asked. "I'm not allowed to let anyone in here. If you need to see the duty officer now, speak with the guards at the front."

"I know the governor has working phones in his mansion, maybe you can call him. I can show you the papers."

That gave me the opportunity to strike. I grabbed his left arm and shoulder and then thrust my knee into his solar plexus. I then struck the base of his skull and he went down.

"Well, I'm in," I said as I went through the door. The interior was unlit, as it was after dark and most of the staff are either asleep or in nightclubs like the one where I got this uniform from. Luckily, I have excellent night vision, as turning on a flashlight will attract attention. I opened each of the doors. I saw the outlines of desks and stuff-an office. Apparently, this is where the governor's staff had once worked in the days before the plague destroyed American civilization.

I left the office and continued down the hallway. I then saw a door.

She was down there. I knew it. I wondered if I had developed psychic powers since becoming unstuck, or if my guardian angel from another dimension was guiding me.

I went inside the door and I noticed it was a stairwell leasing down to the basement. After descending the stairs, I reached the door at the bottom. I shined a light on the door, and there was stenciling reading "LEVEL B1".

In opened the door and I noticed that the basement hallway was lit; the light came from fluorescent lamps in the ceiling. The floor was made of concrete and pipes ran overhead. I made sure the pistol was ready and loaded.

As my feet echoed on the conrete floor, I could somehow feel myself getting closer to Deana. She is being held in this basement level. My extra sense became louder or something as I got to a pair of steel doors.

I opened it and it led to this huge room. I saw a soldier in there, holding an automatic rifle in his hands.

I also saw cages. In each of those cages was a young woman, sitting in there naked. I noted some of them could not be older than sixteen. The cages were to small to either stand up or to lie down.

"Excuse me," said the soldier. "My shift isn't over yet. Is there any problem."

"Yes," I said. And then I opened fire with the Beretta M93R, hitting the soldier square in the chest. I looked through the cages.

And in one of the cages, I saw Deana.

"Deana," I said. "It's me, Colin. I'm here to rescue you."

"colin," she said. She looked up. she looked different from the last time I saw her; I could only imagine what she had been through these past few hours.

There was a padlock on the cage; I wondered how to open it. Then I saw keys hanging from a rack mounted on the wall. I took the keys and then unlocked Deana's cage. I opened it, and then she ran out and hugged me. Looking at the other girls in the cages, I decided to unlock the other cages too.

I removed the shirt and pants from the fallen soldier so Deana would have something to wear. Now I wondered where to go. There were no clothes for the other girls, and it wasn't exactly a warm summer night outside. It was still winter, in fact. The only place to find clothes would be on the upper levels of the governor's mansion.

"Listen," I said. "If we're to get out of here, we need to stick together. Deana, do you know how to fire that thing?"

"No," she said.

"Okay, I'll give you the pistol," I said, giving her the Beretta M93R. I then took the M-16. We all headed out into the hallway. It was still clear. We all headed up the stairs and to the first floor of the mansion. We walked along the carpeted hallways.

"Halt!" someone shouted. One of the mansion guards had spotted us.

I replied with a burst of fire from the M-16. There was no time to be subtle now. We might as well turn on the lights. So we did. We continued on. After a few minutes of wandering and shooting two more guards, we found a door marked "PRIVATE RESIDENCE".

Well, if there is any place we could find clothes, it would be the private residence. I shot the lock off and then we went rhrough the doors and turned on the lights. This was apparently the governor's living room, complete with sofas and chairs and a coffee table and a wide-screen Sony color television with a Sony video cassette recorder attached. I also noticed some VHS video tapes on the coffee table.Some of them were of movies made before the plague, others were unmarked.

a closet in the living room gave us what we were looking for, there were coats and jackets inside for all of ther girls. The othert girls went into the rooms of the private residence and took some more clothes.

Now that the girls won't freeze to death on the streets of Sacramento, we had to figure out how to get out of here. I am sure there are working cars stored somewhere, probnbaly in a garage. We would have to make our way to the garage, and appropriate a van and drive back to San Francisco.

"Okay," I said. "It's time for us to go."

I looked around, but then I noticed Deana was missing. Where did she go?

"Stay here," I told the girls. "I'm going to look for Deana."

I went up to the second level of the mansion's private residence. It was a carpeted hallway, and the doors all led to bedrooms.

I then heard a shot. I ran to the source and I saw the door of the master bedroom open. I knew what was happening.

Deana was going to the master bedroom to find the boss of Sacramento and then kill him in his sleep. Well, I coiuld only imagine what she had been through during her time here.

I heard footsteps. I wondered if it was from the girls. A second later, my hunch prioved incorrect as I saw soldiers swarm in, all brandishing M-16's.

"Halt!" they shouted. I saw the hallway lights turned on, revealing the hallway in full glory. I saw Deana brought out of the master bedroom, dressed in the combat fatigues, escorted by two young soldiers.

then I saw the boss of Sacramento come out, dressed in a purple robe.

"Are you all right, sir?" asked the commander of the soldiers.

"Fine, Captain," replied the boss. "May I ask what happened?"

"Sir, apparently the girls broke free from the holding pen in the basement. It appears someone broke in. The sentry guarding the back door was found knocked out behind some bushes, and the guard assigned to watch the girls is dead."

"Very well, Captain. The fallen guard shall be buried with full honors. And what of the girls?"

"They are in the living room, and we still have them."

"They shall be returned to the holding pen. As for the one who broke into my bedroom, put her in the chamber and tie her to the rack. She is not to be harmed yetl; I intend to give her some discipline in the morning. And I want a guard posted all entry points into the private residence."

"You," the captain said to me, not realizing I was not in the Sacramento militia.

"Yes, sir?" I asked, not wanting to blow my cover.

"You will guard the main entry into the private residence. No one enters or leaves unless you hear from me or the governor."

"Yes, sir," I replied.

I went out as Deana and the others were herded out of the private residence. I went out the door of the private residence, and I noticed that there was a desk next to the front door. I sat on the desk. As I sat there, I counted myself lucky that the security here did not learn about counter-infilitration techniques from their parents.

I remembered the boss telling the guards not to harm Deana until he comes. I just hoped that they had a habit of following orders.

I looked at my watch; there were forty-one hours left until the next slide. So I decided to wait. I was interrupted by telephone calls every half hour. Eaxch time, someone would ask me if everything was all right, and I answered affirmatively. I certainly cvould not ignore the phone, or else some soldiers would be sent up here to check. At one point, I was getting tired, so I asked for coffee. Fortunately, one of the soldiers brought up coffee; apparently the boss of Sacramento still had access to coffee.

After sitting at the desk for hours, the doors to the private residence was opened. The boss of Sacramento came out, dressed in a suit.

"Good morning, sir," I said. "May I help you?"

"Good morning," he replied. "I'm sure you are tired after standing watch here."

"Actually, sir, I can help you with one more thing."

"Then accompany me to the basement; I have a prisoner to interrogate."

"Yes, sir."

And so I accompanied the boss. We were accompanied by the captain who had duty the previous night as well as another officer who was his superior. After descending two flights of stairs, we reached the basement. We then entered this room. I saw Deana in the room.

She klay on a wooden table, with her wrists and ankles bound. She had been sitting there all night. I also saw chainsand shackles hanging from the ceiling, as well as a whip hanging from a rack..

This room reminded me of something. An event that still haunted me even after nine months.

Nine months ago, soon after becoming unstuck, I was sent to the Presidio Concentration Camp in San Francisco by a U.S. District Court for participating in a Jewish conspiracy against the Aryan race. Of course I was innocent, but then I was not allowed to call witnesses on mny own behalf nor allowed to cross-examine the government's witnesses, so I was convicted and sentenced to death. On my first day yhere, I objected to the cruel treatment of the prisoners and I was taken to a room like the one I was in now to be punished. I was hung upside down and my back was whipped repeatedly. Looking around the room, it seems the boss whips his girls as some sort of foreplay.

"Untie her from the table," the boss commanded.

I took a key hanging from the rack near the whip and then unlocked the shackles holding Deana's wrists and ankles. I looked into her eyes, and she looked in mine.

"Now tie her to the ceiling," said the boss.

I led Deana to the ceiling shackles and I placed her wrists in them, and pretended to lock the shackles.

The boss took the whip from the rack. "Now remove that shirt."

This was it. I raised the rifle at the boss and aimed.

then something hit me in ther side real hard. And it hurt!

"Well, well," said the boss. "So we have an intruder."

"Shall I kill him, sir?" asked one of the officers.

"No, Colonel, I want to see if he is willing to talk." the boss looked at me. "Who are you?"

"my name is Colin Mallory," I said. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Governor of California."

"I don't remember you being elected."

"It is true that the constitutional government collapsed after the plague. This is only an interim government. I control Sacramento, so I am rightfully the governor. Where are you from?"

"I was born in San Francisco. After my parents died I moved around for a few years. I came here to resuce the women you're holding captive."

"As governor, I have the right to the first fruits of this land." He paused and looked at me. "You have a working digital watch. Where did you get that?"

"From a friend," I said.

Well, we all know that those things need batteries, and no more batteries are being made at the moment. Did you come from Fresno? Or Baskersfield? Did their leaders send you here to spy on me."

"I'm not affiliated with them."

"did anyone send you?"

"No."

"then you are simply an intruder. The penalty is death."

Then I heard a shot, but it was not me who was shot. Deana had released her arm from the shackle, and then opened fire on the boss with the pistol I slipped into her pocket. The two officers pointed their rifles at Deana, so I immediately went for the rifle I brought in and opened fire on both of them. I looked around; the boss and the two officers were wounded or dead.

"Okay," I said. "Let's get the others."

Deana and I went to the holding pen where thr girls were being held and we freed them. Only this time, we had to find another way out.

"Where do we go?"Deana asked. "We can't just go out the front door."

"I think I know where to go," said one of the girls. "My dad worked here as a security guard before he died. He told me secret tunnels were built underneath Sacramento connected the state government buildings. The governor used these tunnels to escape Sacramento when Mexican warships siled up the river and bombarded Sacramento during the Second Mexican War."

"You sure know your history," I said.

"Well, it was my favorite subject at school."

"Tell me where the entrance to the tunnel is."

And so she did. As it turned out, it was in the torture room where the boss and his two officers still lay.

"it has to be around here," the girl said, puhsing around. "I remember when my dad took me."

Then a wall opened up. Apparenrtly, the secret escape route still worked even after over a decade of neglect.

We all entered the dark tunnels. I took point, brandishing an M-16. I half expected monsters to attack us in the darkness. Fortunately, we had flashlights. One of the girlsd found the flashlight near the secret door.

After walking a few feet, we saw a metal staircase heading up. "There should be an exit," the girl said. We walked up the stairs, and reached a door. the girl opened the door, and we emerged into a closet. There were still cleaning supplies in there. We emerged out of the closet and went to the hallway. There were already people walking about in this building we were in, which was not the governor's mansion. we reached the door, and I read a plaque next to it. It read "SENATE CHAMBER".

We were in the state Capitol. I looked into the chamber of the California State Senate. There were people in there, still on business, and it appeared they were trading goods. Apparently, the California State Capitol was turned into a market.

"Let's go home," I said.

We all left the state Capitol. I hoped no one tried to take Swift Wind, whom I left tied to a lamppost. We found him still tied to the lamppost, resting. Forutnately, I acquired some oats from the Capitol market in exchange for some magazine clips as well as the Beretta pistol. I fed the hungry horse the oats and he was up again.

"Where do we go now?" asked Deana. "Swift Wind can't carry all of us."

I then saw a military truck drive dwon the street. "I have an idea," I said.

and it worked. The girls walked in the path of the truck, and the truck driver, a boy of about sixteen, stopped. Needless to say, Deana and I went to the truck and forced the driver out.

"Will you be coming with us?" I asked.

"No, replied the girl who showed me the shortcut and was now behind the steering wheel. "We'll take our own path."

"I can't understand what you endured back there."

"You never will," she said. And then she put the truck in gear and drove off.

Deana and I rtode on Swift Wind together. We stopped by the Sacramento River so he could drunk up, and then we headed westbound on Interstate 80 heading to San Francisco. It took a good few hours to get back. Deana did not say anything. I knew that the horror of the events are still at the surface of her mind. I looked at my watch; I still had a day left.

We finally made it back to the Our Lady of Hope High School. Lee Tan was there to greet us.

"Hey, Deana," he said. "You're alive. We're so glad you made it!"

I decided to escort Deana back to her quarters. We reached her door, and then she entered and shut the door.

I put my ear against the door; I could hear her sobbing.