“So me, you and John were all in the same place.”

“Yeah. Something big, the president was there.”

“Well….” Nora tilted her head. “Unless like John believes, he is part of it. Are you remembering anything else?”

“It’s coming back. I know I was a preacher or pastor. I know I was a pretty big deal because my memories have me in front of thousands. Like an arena. I’m a husband and father. I feel a sense of sadness for my wife. Like I hurt her or abandoned her. You.”

“Nothing. Just the New York thing. But there’s one thing I do know.”

“What’s that?”

“That Event, this whole being stuck in a vat of fluid…” Nora shook her head then sipped her wine. “I’m a mistake. I’m not supposed to be here.”

“How can you say that?” Jason asked. “Forty-eight people were handpicked. That’s what I believe. I think once we all remember, we all will know why.”

“Not me. I’m a mistake.”

“I’m curious,” Jason said. “Why you are adamant?”

“That.” She pointed at the Genesis unit.

“What about it?”

“The name. Look. I emerged from that unit. They were labeled.”

“I know. That’s what made me remember my last name,” Jason said.

“Yeah, so, that name above my unit is Rosewood. And that is not my last name.”

Jason was hesitant before saying anything. He looked at Nora then the unit. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, I am positive. I don’t remember much, but I know my last name isn’t Rosewood. So why am I even here?”

“And where is Rosewood?” Jason poured her more wine. “Drink up. Your mystery is even deeper than the rest of ours.”

“Don’t I know it.” Sitting on the bed, Nora sipped the wine. It was an even bigger mystery for her, compiled with the one everyone else was trying to solve.

Nora wanted answers. She wanted her memory and she only hoped that she got her answers before the clock hit zero.

For some reason, she believed that when the countdown was over, she was on her own. And that thought scared her even more than not knowing at all.

TWELVE – Breakfast Club

Being the first to arrive had its advantages. Nora didn’t miss anything, in fact, she was pleasantly surprised to smell coffee.

“Morning sunshine,” John said. “I found the coffee pot and coffee. Grab some.”

“What time did you get up?” she asked.

“I haven’t been to bed,” John replied, “Neither has Grant. Malcolm either. I think he finally powered up the computers. Grant and I got everything logged in storage. You wouldn’t believe the stuff in there.”

“Really?” Nora poured coffee.

“It’s like they have enough stuff for each one of us to survive longer than the three days remaining on the door.”

“What about your locker?”

“I found my key,” John lifted it. “But I was going to wait until everyone was ready. I figured we’d all do it together.”

Nora absorbed her first sip of coffee. It was an instant fix. Suddenly, that slight headache she carried with her all day long, started to fade. “I’m a caffeine junkie,” she said.

“So you got your memory back.”

“No. I don’t remember anything. Just the way this coffee is making me feel, I am betting I’m a coffee drinker.”

“I know I was.”

“Where are you from, John? New York?”

“No. Connecticut. So if we are still in New York, then I don’t have far to travel to get back home.”

“Have you given any more thought as to why we could be here?”

“I have. But all of them are just theories.”

“Hence,” The woman’s voice entered the room. “My specialty.”

It was Meredith, she pointed to the coffee. “May I?”

“Please.” Nora said.

“I’m sorry for intruding. But I know what I did. I was a teacher, a professor at Yale. That’s about where my memory stops, but I know that to be certain.”

“Theoretical physics?” John asked.

“No, A professor of Evolution Psychology and Epistemology. Which is…”

John stated, “The study of knowledge. The theory of thought process. So in a nutshell you are a people expert in how people evolve, think, and act.”

“Exactly.”

“Wow.” John stepped back. “That just adds a lot to this mess. I think knowing everyone’s field will help. I wrote science fiction. Then again, I wrote science fiction based on fact and circumstances of the now.”

Nora scratched her head. “All of this is foreign to me. I don’t know what I did.”

“I do,” Another voice entered the room. It was Amy. “I’m a scientist. More so an Astronomer, particularly the sun and the study of solar storms. . I know that. I study storms. In particular odd weather patterns brought on by the sun.”

Nora crinkled her brow. “A scientist. A writer. Malcolm says he did computers or so he thinks. Grant is a musician. Jason is a preacher. What do we all have in common?”

“Easy,” Meredith replied as she took a sip of her coffee. “We all contribute to the factors to what makes society civilized. And that my friend is a big clue as to why we are here.”

<><><>

The president was crying; sobbing more like it, at least that was the observation Jason gave when he arrived with Grant. He told how they stopped to see President Thomas and the president was distraught.