Lana spat her milkshake out. She slammed the glass down, tossing the 2009 quarter onto the countertop and jumping out of her seat. Faster than lightning, she ran outside and hopped onto the old bike she had propped up against the wall, frantically wheeling it back out of town.

She had to get back to Kyungsoo—and fast. She had to find him before anyone else did. As fast as her legs allowed, she propelled the bike forward, hoping she could reach him in time.

But by the time she neared what should have been the wreckage of the old bus, she realized it was already too late. In the distance, she could already make out a large crowd of people, military vehicles, and canvas tents. An entire mile radius seemed to be roped off, and Kyungsoo was still inside. Lana blanched as all the horrible scenarios flooded her mind. What if the US Military thought he was an alien? What if they were probing him right now? What if they were about to cut him open and perform a vivisection—or worse, an autopsy?

Lana roughly wheeled to a stop as she approached a throng of journalists, farmers, and casual bystanders alike. She carelessly dropped the bike to the ground and pushed through the crowd, forcefully shoving her way to the front. Upon coming face to face with the watchful eye of a colonel with a thick, yellow mustache, she stopped dead in her tracks and gulped nervously.

“Go on home, girlie,” he grunted in a Southern drawl, blowing hot air right into her face. “This area has been restricted to military access only.”

He glared down at Lana, sending her shrinking back into the crowd. Clearly she wasn’t going to be allowed to walk right into the area. She would have to find another entrance, a hole in the perimeter that she could sneak in through. She hopped back onto the bike and cycled around the encampment, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible so as to avoid being called out by the military personnel standing guard.

Before long, she happened across a tent propped up on the outskirts. From the looks of it, the setup was unattended—likely her only chance to get inside the restricted area. She quietly set the bike down and crept up to the tent, glancing over her shoulder with every step she took to make sure no one was watching. She dropped to her stomach and stealthily lifted the side of the tent just an inch so she could peek inside.

A guard was standing in the center of the tent. He didn’t seem to be paying much attention to anything at all as he idly stared at the entrance opposite Lana. An easy enough target if this tent was her only option for getting inside.

She quickly reviewed everything she had learned in self-defense classes. If she was going to get past him, she would have to knock him out. The safest way to do that would be to cut off his air supply, but that would take too long and cause too much of a struggle. The only other option to take him out from behind would be a knifehand strike to the back of the skull.

Taking in a deep breath, she slipped under the edge of the tent. She was careful not to make any noise as she straightened up and crept up behind the oblivious cadet, close enough to breathe onto the back of his neck if she wasn’t being cautious. Just as she raised her arm, ready to strike down on his head, the man whipped around.

Lana barely had time to react or rethink her strategy. Before he could utter a sound or draw his weapon, she pulled back and punched him square in the jaw. The man fell to the ground, miraculously knocked unconscious by the blow. She poked at him with her foot for a moment just to be sure.

A minute later, Lana emerged from the tent, having traded her own clothes for the cadet’s baggy military uniform. She stuffed her long hair into the hat and walked with a rough, exaggerated gait, praying she could pass off as a man. Thankfully, not a single soul gave her a second look as she traipsed the encampment in search of her friend.

She found the bus soon enough, camped right in the middle of the enclosure. Although only a short time had passed since she last saw the vehicle, it was no longer a wrecked pile of junk. The auto-repair system had done a remarkable job fixing the rubble up; the bus had been completely restored to its original faded-blue, worn-down, antique shape. Around the automobile was a flurry of military personnel, obviously trying—and failing—to break into the locked bus doors.

“There has to be some way into this confounded contraption,” one of the officers grumbled, placing his hands on his hips.

“The prisoner won’t talk,” another added.

“We’ve tried everything,” a third groaned. He kicked at the sealed doors, only to yelp in pain, recoil, and hop around on one leg until finally regaining composure.

Lana turned away, the gears in her head quickly spinning as she pieced the situation together. One, the army couldn’t get into the bus, even with extensive measures taken. Two, Kyungsoo had been taken prisoner and was probably still locked up somewhere within the camp. All that was left to do now was to find him. But where would the military hide a potentially alien prisoner?

She glanced across the encampment, eyes spotting nothing but tents and the time-traveling bus. Unless he had already been taken away to some top-secret military lab, Kyungsoo must have been captive in one of these tents, and Lana would search each and every tent one-by-one if she had to.

Luckily, she didn’t have to. Upon checking the first tent nearest the bus, she found exactly what she was looking for. Inside was the bug-eyed Korean boy, strapped to a chair as a guarding officer stared him down suspiciously. He stopped writhing in the arm restraints the instant he saw Lana enter.

“I’m, um, relieving you,” she told the guard in a hoaxy, forced man’s voice. Slowly peeling his eyes off of the prisoner, he transferred his wary gaze to Lana. She cleared and added more convincingly, “Commander’s orders. I’ll watch the prisoner now.”

The guard continued to peer at Lana for another heart-pounding moment. And then, without another word, he turned and left the tent, leaving the girl alone with the prisoner. She hurried to Kyungsoo’s side, demanding, “What the hell is going on?”

“Well, I brought you to Roswell hoping we could visit a few alien museums or even see what the crash was all about and see something neat,” he exhaled, grinning excitedly. “Turns out, we were the crash!”

She glared down at him. “How can you be so giddy at a time like this? You’re practically a prisoner of war,” she grumbled, fidgeting with the restraints clasped around his arms to no avail. They wouldn’t budge. “Ugh, how am I supposed to get you out of these straps?”

“Oh! Oh! I know!” he exclaimed. “I have this skeleton key that will pick pretty much any lock ever made. It’s in my front left pants pocket.”

Lana groaned as she was left with no choice but to dig a hand into his jeans pocket. She fumbled around, awkwardly patting the inside of his thigh as he giggled and turned bright red. After a while of searching, her fingers finally latched onto something metal. She pulled it out and held it up, only to find herself staring at a bobby pin.

“That’s the one,” he breathed in a hushed voice. She raised an eyebrow but didn’t bother questioning. Jabbing the pin into the lock on the restraints, she wiggled and jiggled it until the bolt popped open. He slipped out of the binding, rubbing his sore wrists. “Now we just have to take the bus back.”

Kyungsoo made for the tent exit, but Lana quickly threw a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Wait a minute,” she said. “How do you expect to get the bus back? This place is swarming with military officers.”

“We’re going to wait till there’s an opening and make a run for it of course,” he clucked matter-of-factly. Lana groaned, watching helplessly as he peeked out of the tent. A moment later, he withdrew his head, muttering, “Oh no. Well, looks like there won’t be a good opening. We should probably run now.”

“What...?” she muttered. Before she had time to properly process what the boy had said, she was yanked out of the tent by the wrist. As she ran back out into the sunlight, dragged along in Kyungsoo’s grip, she passed right by the officers who had moments ago been examining the bus as they now made their way back to the prisoner’s tent.

“HEY!” one yelled, pointing at the teens as they made a daring escape.

“STOP!” another one shouted.

“THE PRISONER IS ESCAPING!” the third one yelled.

Lana was halfway to the bus when she heard a gunshot. She felt the whirr of air as it buzzed past her head, narrowly missing her ear. Another gunshot ricocheted off the side of the vehicle, and several more barely missed the teens’ feet as they ran along. Kyungsoo hurriedly slid the bus door open—with no trouble at all, as if it had never even been locked in the first place—and dashed aboard, pulling Lana up the steps behind him. He slammed the doors shut as the military officers ran up, pounding furiously on the sides of the bus.

“Don’t worry,” Kyungsoo exhaled breathlessly as he slinked back into the driver’s seat. “They can’t get in. The door has a super-special lock; only a few select people can open it.”

Lana groaned as she plopped down on the tiny mattress, clinging to the bed sheets for dear life. “That’s wonderful. Now can we please get out of here? Can we go somewhere safe where we won’t be shot at, please?”

“Sure,” he panted, grinning as he gripped the steering wheel tightly in his hands, “but you have to admit, that was exhilarating and fun!”

And without a care that the US Military was standing right outside, watching the vehicle’s every move, the bus zapped out of 1947.

Author's Note
LOL NOTHING UNREALISTIC TO SEE HERE

I’m watching a movie with my dear friend ^0^ I wonder if she’ll notice I'm updating this in the middle of the movie ^0^