The Woman Unfrozen

I am moving slow today, but not as slow as everyone else. I say bye to my cat, Angus, before walking out the door to walk over to the cafe down the street, just like every other morning. One benefit of this whole “being frozen in time” thing is that I get everything for free. I wave to the barista, Anthony, who was a new hire at the shop when he got frozen. I only know his name because of his name tag. Anthony has become a good friend these last few months, we see each other every morning, but he won’t remember our friendship when they all wake up. When, not if.

I hop behind the counter and make a toffee latte. I've been experimenting with different flavors this week; some words of advice, don’t try a raspberry peppermint flavored coffee, it’ll make you throw up. I’m sure the employees won’t mind that I’ve been using their machines and all. I restock the supplies when they run out anyway. It’s a good thing I like oat milk, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to make these delicious lattes. All of the cows' milk and cheeses have gone bad by now. The grocery stores smell rancid. I have to wear a face mask and nose clip when I’m grocery shopping.

 Just last night I made a really fancy drink that I named after myself; I even wrote it up on the menu. It should give everyone a good laugh when they read it, “Maggie's’ Minty Freeze Latte”. I’m laughing now just thinking about it. Looking around in this little shop, seeing the customers and employees still going about their business and hearing my laughs echo, it does feel lonely. 

Poor Barbara, stuck in a constant phone call argument with her husband, and Miss Sherry, burning her tongue on her coffee just as she did every other day, and of course there’s Tommy in the corner playing his games, having no choice but to sit at the shop all day until his dad closes up, they should really give him some work to do here, I’m sure he’d enjoy helping out. All of them are frozen in these states. On the bright side, if these people never got stuck in time we never would have all become such great friends. I never would have looked through Barbara's purse and found out her name, or sat down and talked with Miss Sherry for the first time in months. She has some great life advice since she’s been through so much, and you’d never know it unless she told you. Sweet memories. 

“See y'all later. Good luck with that game Tommy” such a good kid. 

A well deserved break, that’s what I call it. God knew I needed a break from working so hard. I’ve filled journals with theories, ideas, research, and tears these past months trying to figure out how all of this is possible, and the only answer I could come up with was God. There’s nothing on earth that could be responsible for freezing time, that I know. Even being a physics major didn't help me figure this out; this all has meaning, I know it does. I just haven’t figured out the meaning yet, but I will. 

The weirdest part is that it’s like time is frozen, except it’s not. The dairy and meat still went bad and the traffic lights still work, but every other living being is frozen, even the trees and flowers won’t move or grow. But here I am skipping down the street with a hot latte in my hand. If magic were real, this would be a great example. 

Today is sunny with a bit of a chill in the air, just like every other day. I challenged myself to take this time for personal growth and trying new things, well, once the perpetual crying and fear of being dead stopped. Just the other day I learned how to make cake pops. I’m going to see how far I can run today without passing out, later. I’ve gotten into pretty good shape recently, running helps let off the steam of being completely alone in the world with no one to talk to. 

My apartment has been my safe space since I moved in last year, but until now I wasn’t able to afford all the decor I wanted. Now the walls are bright, my couch is worth $30,000, and I set up a yoga station and new office space for my work. I’m not doing any work now, but when things are normal again I will really benefit from the space. I miss the people, but I also miss the work. I miss most of it. If I could leave town and adventure then I absolutely would, but I can’t leave. I tried to leave after a couple weeks of being alone here and crashed the car I borrowed into an invisible wall. I was going slow to avoid other cars and people frozen in the streets so no damage was done to me physically, only mentally. So, I settle for the wonders and familiarity of this city. It makes me wonder though, is the whole world frozen, or just my city? 

“Angus! I’m home” I miss his purrs and greeting at the door when I’d come home. Now he just lies in his cat bed by the window, sleeping soundly. Sometimes I pet him, but he never wakes up. 

I hear something, which is extremely unusual. The only sounds I’ve heard in months are the ones I make, and I’m not making this one. It’s small and quiet, but it's something. I grab my baseball bat from the entryway and hope I won’t have to use it, leaning my ear into the door and listening in silence. Footsteps. I feel like I can’t breathe and my hands are shaky. If there is another person out there, they know I’m in here and probably followed me all the way home. It couldn’t be a person though, right? 

I place my hand on the door knob and count down, in 3….2….1. I open the door with one swift motion, and there is a young girl standing right outside, looking frightened. I let out a prolonged scream and raise the bat unsteadily in the air, ready to swing. We stare at each other for a while but I’m the only one screaming. She holds her hands in the air as a sign of surrender. 

“Maggie! Maggie! It’s okay! Put the bat down, it’s okay” my breathing steadies a bit, and I lower the bat, but still grip it tight just in case. 

I hold my hand out to her and touch her arm, and then her cheek. 

“Are you real?” I ask the girl. 

“Yes, I’m real. My name is Cassie” 

“How do you know my name?” I ask. A look of worry stays on her face. 

“I’ve been…watching you Maggie. I’m so sorry about all of this, but I’m here to get you out now. If you come with me, you won’t be stuck here alone anymore. I see how lonely you are and know this whole situation was wrong, but you can leave now and be with other people again. You can be free” she holds her hand for me to take it, but I won’t. 

“How are you moving? You’re not frozen like everyone else. You’re not from the city, are you?” she glances down, seeming ashamed. 

“No, I’m from outside the bubble” 

“I had a theory about the bubble, it’s all in one of my journals”

“I’m sure you did, you’re very smart. There is an invisible force field surrounding the city, but everywhere else in the world is normal. Out there, the people and animals are not frozen, just like you. Listen Maggie, if you want to get out of here then we need to go right now. Are you coming?” I hesitate. 

I’ve been waiting for the people around me to unfreeze. Anthony, my best friend Marcus, Miss Sherry and Tommy, my coworkers, all the people I see everyday, and those I’ve come to know these past months, and now I’m being told that instead of helping all of them, I have to leave them behind. What choice do I have though? If I don’t leave with Cassie I could be stuck in this town for the rest of my life. I take her hand, and we start to run. 

“I’m working on re-opening up the passageway to get us out now, but we have to be precise with the location. Everywhere else around the bubble is surrounded, and if they see us leaving they will capture us” she holds a device in one hand, entering data as she speaks 

“Who are they?” 

“It’s a secret underground project that went way too far. I- I helped them do this, but I didn’t know they would use my invention to hurt people. It was meant to help them” 

“Wait what? Slow down Cassie. I need you to tell me what happened” she squeezes my hand tighter and keeps running.

“There’s no time. I promise I’ll tell you once we are out of here”

I was planning on going for a run today anyways, but not all the way to the outer edge of the city. I place my hands on my knees when we stop at the edge, just before the barrier. 

“This is one of the only spots outside with no cameras, they won’t see us leaving if we hurry. Come on” she holds out her hand for me to take again. I reach towards her, but pull back and take a few steps away instead. Something in me doesn’t want to go with her. 

“I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t trust you Cassie, I don’t know you” she looks extremely on edge and afraid, very afraid. 

“Maggie there’s no time! You can trust me I promise! Let’s go” 

“Tell me why all of this happened, and I’ll make my decision then” her head falls in defeat, and then she starts to tell me the full truth she promised me earlier. 

“I graduated high school when I was 12, college when I was 15, and got my first PhD when I was 20” no wonder she looks so young, she is young. She may be younger than me still. “I was performing surgeries on people before I was 21 years old, and doing a lot of good, medically. I worked on projects to advance medical technology alongside my advisor at the hospital. He designed a medicinal serum that could temporarily freeze the bodily functions of humans for solely medical purposes. Shortly after he came out with the invention, he passed away. I believe someone was responsible for his death, but I don’t know who. I took all of his research and the serum and hid it away, but not long after that, an agency contacted me about the serum. I never was a good liar and they saw right through me, but they didn’t want to destroy it, they wanted to advance it, and I was the only one who knew how to. I agreed to work with them to help the advancement of medicine, but they lied to me and used me. I was still young and naive. I made a mistake. They created some kind of device that merged with my new technology and could spread the advanced serum in the form of a clear mist over a large area, the whole city. It wasn’t just a serum to temporarily freeze bodily functions anymore. I re-invented the serum to be permanent and place a person's body and mind into a state of no motion or aging whatsoever. They decided to take the city hostage under some kind of experiment and tell the world you are all under quarantine. They blocked off all entry to the city. Once I found out, I started working on a plan to unfreeze everyone, but then I saw you and started watching you. They’ve been studying you Maggie, because you can’t be frozen no matter how much they pump the serum into the air here, you’re immune and they want to know why” 

“You’re not frozen either, and why am I immune? I don’t understand what the point of this experiment is” 

“I don’t know why it doesn’t affect you. The only reason I’m unaffected is because I created a device that shields me from the serum in the air here, but you’re not wearing any device. And Maggie, we have to go now!” 

“No, wait, I- I can’t leave them” 

“We’ll figure out a way to help them once we get out of here, together, I promise you I’m going to help them” Finally, I place my hand in hers and she creates a small opening in the forcefield. 

I believe Cassie and I can fix this problem together. We can combine our knowledge and reverse the bubble of frozen time, but we will never be able to take down an entire operation. We are just two young girls who happen to be smart for a reason that is out of our control. I have no choice but to go with Cassie, but I will never leave this city and these people behind. My friends are here, my cat, strangers, people who deserve to continue living their lives. Even though some days are bad and terrible things happen sometimes, I’ve seen them all frozen in one moment for months. They are all special to me. 

Anthony was frozen while he was smiling widely and handing a freshly made coffee to a customer; his smile is now permanent and bright. Marcus is frozen at his apartment petting his dog, his other best friend, and his dog was wagging his tail and looking in Marcus’ eyes with all the love he could possibly have for a person. These people don’t get to leave the city or continue their lives, so why should I? Even the sky is fake now, it’s been replaced with a forcefield. I can’t trust Cassie, or those on the outside, and anyone on the outside who could help might not believe me. I don’t know if I can take that chance. 

“I’m sorry Cassie” she looks back at me with confusion before I shove her through the opening in the forcefield, holding onto her arm and quickly pulling the device that keeps her unfrozen off her wrist and the forcefield disqualifier out of her hand. I close the open door. 

I wonder what she is thinking now, on the other side. I hope she made it out okay and is safe. Maybe she’ll continue working on ways to help us here, from out there. The first thing I’m going to do is wake up Marcus. His apartment is close to mine. We met years ago when we were both still studying for my bachelor’s degree and decided to stay close to each other. We've been best friends ever since. It was hard visiting him while he’s been frozen, but if this device works like I think it does, he won’t be frozen much longer.

I wrap it around his wrist and turn it on, then cover his nose and mouth with my hand. Minutes pass, and I think it won’t work, but then he moves. I take my hand off his face and watch as he stumbles forward. 

“Ew, why were you grabbing my face Maggie! And how did you get into my apartment?” I stare at him for a while before the tears fall and I run into his arms to embrace him. 

“I’ve missed your voice so much” his arms wrap around me immediately and he asks if I’m okay. 

I explain everything to him. It’s as if there are no effects from the serum, like time never froze for him, but it did for me. He almost doesn’t believe me, until we go outside. I tell him all about how I spent the last few months and my plan to unfreeze the people in the city, one by one. If I can figure out what makes me immune to the freezing serum, I can create an anecdote. Marcus will help me, and finally I won’t be alone. We will have each other now. Once everyone is normal again, we will all come together to escape the city. We’ll be like an army. 

He is much more eager to get out of the city than I’ve been, so I decided not to tell him about the device that can create a hole in the forcefield. It’s better this way for now. We also found a way around being watched. Cassie let the word slip that the only way they can see us is by hacking and controlling cameras throughout the city, which are only in public spaces and easily trackable to Marcus. Unless someone is immune like me, there’s no way they can stop us from unfreezing everyone. As far as I know, Marcus has the only immunity device. We will wake them all up, even if it takes years.