"Why?"

"What?" asked Richard.

"Why did we have to choose this car? It's so uncomfortable," complained Alice.

"As I've already explained, we don't know what to expect from now on, so we decided to use this military vehicle just in case."

"It sucks!" replied Alice.

"Really? I think it's pretty cool!" the boy said.

"Agreed," completed the man.

"Yeah, I bet you boys love this overgrown Jeep. But I don't like it!"

HMMWV or Humvee, short for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, is a type of military truck the group took from the base. Richard thought a large armored vehicle like that might come in handy if they had to face challenging situations.

The Humvee, however, is a utilitarian military vehicle, not made for comfort; and while Alice was the only one complaining about it, both Richard and Michael were also starting to feel annoyed by how unpleasant their ride was.

Thankfully the trip from the base to Michael's home in Richmond was a short one. With no traffic, the group was able to reach their destination in just about an hour.

"Yep, this is where I live," announced Michael.

"Nice place! Your dad must be a hot shot in the scientific community," said Alice.

"One of the best!" Michael proudly confirmed. "My mom is also an accomplished architect. This house was a project of hers, actually."

"Yep, I can see that. She does have very good taste."

"So if you live here with your parents, Mike, what were you doing alone in New Southport?" asked Richard.

"Oh, my aunt lives there. She recently opened a small bakery, and I was helping her to set up the security camera system and Wi-Fi network. I was pretty much done and ready to come back the next day when the shift happened."

"The shift?" mumbled Alice.

"Yeah, that's what I'm calling the event that got us stuck here," answered Michael.

"Hum… Good choice. Sounds cool," the woman praised.

The boy invited the rest of the group to come in. There was still food in the kitchen, so they decided to have a meal and rest before heading to the basement where Michael's father had a small laboratory. Even though they were not vocal about it, both Richard and Michael were tired from the trip thanks to the Humvee being very uncomfortable.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

The kitchen in Michael's house was pretty large and had all sort of ingredients and cooking gadgets. According to the boy, his dad was a foodie and one of his hobbies was cooking. "The old man was always comparing cooking to science," he explained while showing the kitchen to his guests.

With lots of options at their disposal, each member of the group started working on their meals. Richard prepared a bacon sandwich, since it was something they didn't offer at the base's cafeteria. "They don't have bacon there. What kind of American eatery does not offer bacon?" He complained.

Alice and Michael went straight for a steak meal. They found some high quality wagyu beef in the fridge. According to Michael, his dad was planning on cooking a Japanese style barbecue next week for some friends, but since those plans are no longer on the table, he figured it would be better to savor the ultra-high quality piece of meat while they could. Of course, they also offered some to Richard, but the man was so excited eating his bacon sandwich and reading a car magazine he found on the living room that he didn't even listen.

"I guess he's happy with his bacon sandwich," pondered Alice.

"Let him be then. It's more Kobe beef for us," answered Michael.

- - - -

After the resting period, the group finally went to the basement. The laboratory they found was very impressive. It had all sorts of expensive looking equipment, and it was extremely clean. Alice thought it looked like a high-tech laboratory from a Hollywood movie.

"Umbrella Corporation?" the lawyer joked.

"Haha, yeah, it definitely looks like it. But don't worry, there are no deadly viruses here," Michael replied.

The boy instructed the group to look for documents and line them up on a large table in the center of the room. Then he started looking for any useful information on one of the computers.

The trio worked quietly. While the boy typed on the computer, the table started to get covered with documents. Alice and Richard didn’t really know what all those papers were, but they came up with a way to arrange everything in an orderly manner regardless.

After about an hour of work, the young prodigy announced: "Okay, I have everything I need."

"So we're done here?" inquired Alice.

"Yes. By the way, you two did a great job at organizing all this, thanks. I still need to take a look at a few more documents but, honestly, I think I already have a good idea of what we should do next."

"Okay then… What is your idea?" asked Richard.

"I believe we might have to pay a visit to Washington D.C."

"Well, it's not far from here. We can get there in what, two hours?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right; but... Why Washington?" questioned Alice.

"They have an advanced research center there. Dad was helping with their research. The information I was able to find here isn't really new to me. We're gonna need more than that if want to really understand this situation, and that research center seems to be our best bet right now"

"Okay, I think that makes sense," said Richard. "When do we leave then?"

"Give me a few minutes to organize a few things, gather some more data and I believe we'll be ready to go"

"I think we should rest a little," suggested Alice while raising her hand. "There's no day or night in this dimension, so there's no point waiting for tomorrow. But I do think we should sleep for a few hours before leaving."

Richard seemed to agree with the young woman. "Alright then, I think I'm gonna take a nap in the living room. That fancy sofa you have looks pretty comfortable."

"And you can sleep in my parent's room, Alice," completed Michael.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll see you guys in a few hours."