Time Weirdness

Logan sat on the beach with her best friend, watching the sunset. 

     She was thinking about the next day, it would be her first day of 11th grade. She was a little nervous, but pretty soon she'd have bigger things to worry about and it all started with that sunset. 

     The sun sunk below the horizon, but just as Logan was gonna get up and tell Roxy she was ready to go, the darkness that should have followed never came, instead the sun rose in the same direction it had went down, and this time much faster. Roxy gasped. Someone on the other side of the beach screamed. Logan just stared at the sun, until her eyes hurt. Finally the sun won and she looked away. 

     The one thought in her mind as people all around her were flipping out and Roxy was shaking her arm was, well this is new. 

      Logan didn't like change, she wasn't one to like when things in her life changed, but she never flipped. She hated it even more when things happened that had no logical explanation. She liked solid facts, facts like the sky is blue and the sun does not rise 5 minutes after it sets. This was not right, not normal, she could not change it by glaring at the sun. 

     She noticed something else as everyone else was freaking out. The waves were going backwards and a bird was flying backwards. She looked at her watch to find the second hand going the wrong way. Time was flowing backwards. That explained the sun. Finally at least there was a explanation for one thing. 

     Logan felt very unsatisfied. She needed to know why and why no human seemed to be stuck in this backwards flow of time.

     She was relieved to find time seemed to be flowing backwards no faster than it usually went forward. That meant she didn't have to worry about deaging anytime soon. 

     She stood up and pulled Roxy to the car, wondering if it would work. It did not. So instead she ran home dragging Roxy with her.

    Roxy was crying and seemed to be freaking out too bad to do anything. Most people seemed trapped in this spiral of panic.

     Logan brought Roxy home to her panicking parents, before going to talk to her favorite teacher. He lived two blocks from her house. House number 306, phone number 315-705-2694. He had exactly one son and one tree in his yard. A mailbox 15 feet from his back door and was exactly 60 years 2 months and 3 days old. 

     It might be weird that Logan knew so much about her 5th grade science teacher, but she paid attention. Plus his son had expressed very little interest in science and Logan's parents had expressed very little interest in her. He was like a dad to her. 

     She knocked on the door and exactly 20 negative seconds later it opened. 

     "Logan. I thought you'd be here sooner." He said. 

      He was in his lab coat and goggles, this was serious. 

     "I would've been but I had to walk. Cars are not functioning." Logan told him.

      "Yes, I have noticed technology has failed. I could not call my son." The professor said she knew him well enough to notice that the normally unemotional scientist was worried. "Hurry. We do not have time for chit chat. Lab coat and goggles on." 

     Logan quickly followed his orders and then followed him to his lab. She told him her findings. 

     "Very good." He said. 

     Logan noticed a string of scribbled formulas on his chalkboard. 

      "Do you remember that time reversal was achieved in simulations?" The professor said, Logan nodded. 

     "Do you think they succeeded in a test on the real world?" She asked.

     "Succeeded does not seem like the correct word. Succeeded would mean time would not continue to move backward." 

     16 year old Logan nodded. 

     "You may stay here until we figure this out." The professor told her. 

      That's how she wound up sleeping in his son's long since abandoned room. The walls were brown and there was no furniture besides a bed. 

      It proved dangerous to go anywhere because it turned out the only thing that wasn't headed backwards were people. A baseball flew the wrong way through a window, cars were moving without any drivers. If you wanted a ride it was possible to get one by jumping in a stopped car. Most people seemed to be trapped in a state of panic. Except for a few. 

      She ate dinner with the professor. He warmed it up by waiting until the oven turned on by itself. The professor tried to call his son by doing the same thing, it didn't work. His son lived across the country.

      The next day Logan was woken up by a really loud siren. She jumped out of bed and dashed outside, where the professor was already. 

     "Anyone who is able to must report to the nearest government facility! Turn on the TV at said government facility at exactly 4 pm!" The message from a speaker on a plane blared out repeatedly. 

      Logan looked at the professor.

      "Guess we're going to the town hall." He said.

       They grabbed some bags, he already had 2 packed. He brought his phone as he was really desperate to get ahold of his son. Then the teenager and old man made their way to the town hall jumping in and out of stopped cars. They reached town hall 17 minutes later. 

    There were already 6 people there. All were calm. One was reading. All had brought their go bags. A middle aged woman, 3 men, another teenage girl, and a little girl probably no older than 8. 

    "What are your names?" One of the men asked them. 

     "I'm George Adams and that's Logan Dalton. Who are you?" The professor said. 

     "I'm Max. That's Sarah, Emmet, Lexi, David, and my daughter Kimberly." The man said. 

     Sarah was the woman with her head in a book, Lexi was the teenager, Kimberly was the little girl, Emmet was a black man, and David had really big glasses. David was bent over an iPad and looked like he had taken the whole thing apart. 

     By 4 ten more people had shown up. Only one Logan knew. A boy named Jonas. He was in her grade. He was on the chess and baseball teams. 

     At 4 they all crowded around the TV watching the news report. 

    "As you probably noticed, time is flowing in reverse. Most people appear to be caught in a state of panic. Our top scientists have figured out how to reverse time, unfortunately it went wrong. However we have also figured out how to freeze time. Time domes are currently under construction." A woman in a lab coat said. 

     The instructions for making a time freezer device came on and between all of the people, they had all the stuff that was needed. It sent out a pulse like a rift in the air that covered the entire building. The TV stopped and so did the clock. 

     "If we get separated I think I need that the most." A pregnant woman said. 

     "How many months are you?" Logan asked her. 

     "This guy was born yesterday or well tomorrow. I woke up and he was back in my belly." She said. 

     Ok, this just got weirder. Apparently the human body was not immune to time going backwards. Deaging could be a real problem. At least Logan didn't have to worry about that for at least 5 years. 

     She did not feel like going through puberty twice or actually 3 times, since she would be going backwards through puberty. That didn't sound anymore fun. She was almost out of puberty, she didn't want to go back through it. But others like babies had much less time. They would need to hurry to fix this or the babies would need to be moved to places where time stood still. 

     The next day at exactly 4 pm, or what would be 4 pm if time was moving, there was another update. Anyone who wanted to help with the building of the time zones could report to specific areas where the work would be taking place. 

      The professor volunteered. Logan wanted to go with him, but he convinced her otherwise. Telling her that she would be aging backwards at a much more concerning rate than him. She'd be safe here. She wanted to argue but decided against it, so she watched as the professor and 3 other people left. 

    The professor never was one for emotional expression. Logan stayed behind, feeling rather strange. She almost felt abandoned. 

     That night she stayed near Jonas, as he was the only one here she knew. He didn't complain. 

      There were a total of 4 teenagers staying here. Lexi, Jonas, Logan, and a girl named Harper. Lexi was 15 and Harper was 13, while Jonas and Logan were 16. There were only 2 little kids, an 8 year old, and a 6 year old. The 6 year old was alone, his name was Xander. 

      At 4 pm there was another broadcast, with instructions on how to make a dart gun. Those who did not go to build were told that they should bring as many people as possible into the frozen time spots. Babies, little children, and pregnant women were top priority. 

     Logan went out of the time zone armed with her dart gun along with most of the other people. 

     "You don't mind if I stick with you, do you?" She asked Jonas who only shook his head. 

     She didn't want to be alone. It was strange out here. She saw a dog walking itself backwards, the leash straight up in the air as if someone was holding it. Crossing the street proved to require more brain power than normal as you had to be extremely smart to know when to cross. It was basically a riddle. Everything was moving backwards, and no car would stop for you because there was no driver.

      Lexi and Harper came with them. They held hands crossing the street, something Harper suggested. 

      "Ok. 1, 2, 3, go!" Jonas yelled and they blasted across the street as soon as a car stopped at a stop sign and the car on the other side seemed far enough away. 

      You had no way of knowing when cars were going to go, so you had to go fast. 

      The first person they saw was a small child who was crying. 

     "I get the first one!" Harper said, a little too excitedly. 

     She shot the kid with a dart and 5 seconds later he collapsed to the ground. 

     "You get to carry him back." Logan told her. 

      "Now?" She asked. 

      "Maybe not right now. When we go back." Jonas said. 

     The next person they ran into was a wailing woman. She seemed to be screaming for her children. Considering they only had about 3 darts per person they ignored her. 

     People were freaking out. Screaming, crying, having complete and utter meltdowns. It didn't make sense to Logan. Yeah, time was moving backwards but chill out people. It's not worth having a mental breakdown. 

     Logan stole a baby from a mother that looked very confused as to what the thing in her arms was. Logan had thought ahead and brought a baby carrier with her. The mother didn't do anything to stop her from taking the child. 

     "Ok, this is ridiculous." Lexi said, when she saw a full grown man having a temper tantrum. Logan nodded. 

     "Why are they freaking out so bad and we're not?" She asked. 

     Lexi shrugged. 

     So many questions. Logan thought. 

     She hated unanswered questions, they made her confused, and she did not like being confused. 

     The whole time they were on their mission, they talked to each other and tried to figure out the answers to the questions that were driving all of them crazy. 

     Jonas grabbed a shopping cart on the way back and piled all the little kids he had knocked out into it. 

     "That...that's actually genius." Logan said and grabbed her own shopping cart. 

     "Why thank you." Jonas said. 

     "This feels so wrong. Like I think we're gonna get arrested, wrong." Lexi said as she grabbed a shopping cart and placed a child in it.

      "We're saving their lives. Time is moving backwards fast and these guys are so little." Harper said. 

      Logan had managed to get 4, counting the baby. 

      After gathering all their stolen children they had to cross the street again. It was almost more dangerous this time than last, considering the shopping carts full of children. 

     Jonas counted it off again. They had to go in groups of two. He counted it off each time and both times no one got hit, so Logan guessed he knew what he was doing. 

     Suddenly she had an idea and asked him if he wanted to help her with something when they got back. He agreed so after they unloaded their load of unconscious children, they found a quiet spot in the town hall with a pad of paper and a pencil. 

      After testing a theory, by insulting his best friend while he worked she figured out that only those who were smart, calm, and didn't care who knew it, were here. She tested this several other times on multiple people, with the same result. Then she shared her findings. Everyone agreed that this made sense. 

      Weeks went by, or what would be weeks if time was flowing correctly. There were news updates every day at 4. 

     Logan gathered her friends and family inside the town hall, all knocked out. After a while the basement filled up with unconscious bodies. The good thing about stopped time was that you didn't need to eat or go to the bathroom, and they didn't wake up. 

     They took turns going out of stopped time to gather people into the basement. 

     So much time had disappeared that it was now snowing. It had been one day before school was supposed to start when time started going backwards. 

      Anyone who wanted to de-age stayed outside as much as possible. Logan had probably de-aged about a week in the time she'd be here. She missed the professor. 

      Finally after so much time had decreased that the old dog that had been walking backwards by itself was now a puppy, a news report came on saying that the time dune in their area was complete and they should try to make their way there with any small children they could. Logan made it there with 2 children that woke up on the way. 

      A young man came up to her. He was probably about 40. 

     "Logan!" He exclaimed. "It's good to see you!" 

       She blinked. 

       "Do I know you?" She asked him.

        He was wearing a lab coat and had brown eyes and brown hair and looked slightly familiar. 

       "It's me, George. Professor Adams." He said. 

        Logan blinked a few times, then gave him a hug. He hugged back. 

       "How old are you?" She asked him. 

        "I believe my body would say 42. Although my mind says 78." He said. 

       18 years. She hadn't seen him in 18 years, or well negative years for him, really only a week for her as time hadn't passed in the town hall. 

       He showed her around inside. It was a huge dome. There was a library and since no one needed sleep in stopped time the bedrooms were only little spaces for you to study by yourself. Entertainment centers were filled with books and there was a stage where plays could be performed. 

      The professor introduced her to his son who had de-aged only 2 years. His name was Marcus. Marcus had been an English college professor. 

      After a while they managed to figure out how to speed up time. It was on the news and everyone was told to stay put in a time freezer zone because if this worked things were about to get really fast outside. It worked and as soon as it was on the news telling them things were back to normal, everyone went home. 

      Logan was so tired that she fell fast asleep. She woke up to her mother telling her it was time to go to school and the whole day seemed so normal that Logan wondered if the whole thing had been a dream, at least until she went to the professor's house and a 38 year old professor opened the door, telling her to put her goggles and lab coat on and try to help him figure out why no one seemed to remember what happened.