I stared at the note in disbelief. The words were scrawled in jagged writing, the ink smudged as if it had been written in haste. The note read:
“Your time is up. The Time Patrol has marked you for termination. You will die on the 13th of March at 3:48 AM. Your fate has been sealed. Say goodbye to your loved ones.”
My heart skipped a beat as I read the words over and over again. It couldn’t be real, I thought. It must be a cruel joke or a prank. But as the date and time stared back at me from the paper, my fear intensified.
I worked as a janitor in a tall office building in the heart of the city. It was a mundane job, and I had never expected to be caught up in something so sinister. I couldn’t fathom why the Time Patrol would target me, or what they wanted from me.
As the days passed, my paranoia grew. I couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched, of eyes following me wherever I went. I noticed strangers giving me wary looks, as if they knew something I didn’t. I became increasingly anxious and isolated, my nerves frayed with each passing moment.
On the morning of the 13th of March at exactly 1:45AM, I woke up with a sense of impending doom. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was going to happen, something beyond my control. I tried to carry on with my routine, but the unease gnawed at me relentlessly. Today I had to do an early shift, starting at 4 AM.
At exactly 3:44 AM, I was in my office, looking out of the window, my eyes fixed on the clock on the wall. The minutes ticked by slowly, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I knew I had to leave the building, to get as far away as possible. But before I could make a move, the door burst open, and a group of angry individuals stormed in.
They were co-workers, people I had worked with for years. But their expressions were twisted with rage, and they advanced towards me with menacing intent. I recognized their faces, but I couldn’t comprehend why they would be hunting me down.
“What did you do?” one of them yelled, his face red with anger. “You weren’t supposed to be in that building!”
I stumbled back, my mind racing. I tried to explain that I had simply entered the building as part of my job, that I had no idea what they were talking about. But they didn’t listen, and the situation quickly turned violent.
I ran, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to evade my former colleagues. I sprinted through the hallways, my mind a blur of fear and confusion. I realised that the Time Patrol had set me up, that they had orchestrated this hunt to make sure I met my fate.
I made my way to the roof, hoping to find a way to escape. But the rooftop was surrounded, and there was nowhere left to run. I saw them closing in, their faces contorted with anger and determination. I knew I couldn’t outrun them.
I ran up several flights of stairs for what seemed like an eternity, I glanced at my watch to find it was 3:46 AM. My heart pumped like my blood was jelly. I cramped my ankle, but tried to ignore it, whatever they wanted was far worse than this.
In a desperate attempt to escape, I climbed over the railing and leapt onto a neighbouring building. I clung to the edge, my fingers aching with pain as I tried to pull myself up. But my strength gave out, and I fell. I felt a calming feeling overtake me, before I snapped back to reality.
As I hurtled towards the ground, I saw the horrified faces of my former colleagues watching from the rooftop. They had caught up to me, and their expressions were a mix of shock and horror. I thought I hit the ground, but I glanced up with the small amount of strength I had, I was indeed alive. I then glanced at my chest, now with a gaping hole, then I realised a branch was protruding out of my gut. Realising that was a big mistake as I felt my heart beat harder than it ever had, pushing the stabbing pain that appeared all around me, slowly turning everything to black. I realised this was a better fate than what was intended, I glanced at my watch for a final time before blacking out for good, “3:48AM”.