The man looked at Lucas to see if he understood. Lucas nodded, but wanted the man to get his eyes back on the road.

The man continued, eyes back on the road.

“Now when I think of the peace sign, I think of hippies and see the sign as a stepping stone into drugs. That gives them peace.”

Some sparks went off in Lucas’s head.

“It’s funny I wear this symbol. But peace is something I’m searching for. I’m starting to think I’ve been looking in all the wrong places because I ain’t found it yet. Sorry, Lucas, I’m rambling a bit too much.”

Maybe. “Well, I can’t tell you if I’ve found peace or not. But there is definitely a lot of searching going on in my head. There are glimmers of lights coming through the clouds. Your face pops into my head now and then. Maybe the fog is lifting.”

More houses appearing now. They’d soon meet the suburbs, and whatever that held for Lucas. “Your name is John?”

“Close. It’s James.”

“James. Sorry.”

“I always thought memory loss was just a Hollywood thing and the famous Jason Bourne spy movie. I’ve pondered that for a long time—must be forty years since the movie—about how Jason Bourne remembered his magnificent skill set but nothing else. How can a man remember how to pull a gun apart and put it back together, yet not remember his name?”

“I’m like that,” Lucas said. “I seem to remember all these survivor-type things but not much more. I think things are coming back now.”

“You must have been a good boy scout or something. Maybe even a spy.”

“Why do I think you’re keeping something from me?”

“Lucas, I only met you today, so I don’t know much about you. I do know someone had a lot of confidence in you, and that’s why you ended up in the hill country.”

“Confidence in what?”

“Think it’s best we do things slowly. Why don’t you try and rest, and when we get to our destination I’ll tell you all I know. You feeling okay?”

He did feel tired, the result of fighting a dull thud in his head. He rested the water bottle against his forehead. James said they were heading in the direction of Melbourne, to one of the inner city suburbs. Someone known as the professor had a rental apartment there, and it sat vacant.

“You hungry, Lucas? There’s some nuts and things in the bag on the back seat. Just grab some.”

Lucas turned around and reached for the bag. He lifted a flap and saw the nut mixture. He also saw a black device.

The name Bella jumped into his head.

But he was tired and dozed off.

He woke with the name Bella still in his head.

Streaks of water on the car’s window had a calming, sleeping affect. He could hear splashes as wheels plunged through puddles. All made him drowsy.

“Welcome to Camberwell, Lucas.”

He turned to the voice and waited for the name to come. James.

“Looks cold out there,” Lucas said.

Lucas turned and rested his head against the cold window.

Bella, who are you?

43 – Dead batteries

THE STREET WAS LINED WITH LEAFY TREES, and the street lights reflected on their damp leaves strewn on the ground. Dark puddles, shadows. A two-storey block of units sat nestled within a thick garden setting. Large palms guarded the property.

James turned the car into the driveway, slowed and looked around and then headed towards the underground car park. He parked the car and they headed inside. Both exhausted, they found beds and went straight to sleep.

<°)))><

Lucas woke suddenly, his heart thumping against his chest. Voices. Screams. Being jolted, bashed against something. Sounds of metal collapsing, glass shattering. Where was he? Slowly he took in his surroundings. A dark place. He groped around and found a lamp switch. A noise. Like something rushing away, as if fearful of the coming light. He flicked the switch and caught a glimpse of something dark move into the wall. There was no fear. He laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. Cracks in the ceiling looked like a road map.

An accident? He remembered some things now. Those pesky evil things still hung around. They didn’t bother him anymore. He knew the mind dug up images from somewhere.

Where was Bella? Was she in the police car? Is she now dead? He turned over and sunk his head into the pillow and closed his eyes. He laid there awhile waiting for his mind to settle. The occasional car drove past and some birds were making a racket. The back of his eyelids were swirling in patterns of darkness, suddenly a whiteness washed over the darkness. Intuition told him his memory had returned. It’s all back now. He turned back over, opened his eyes, and smiled.

The blankets were thick. He moved his legs from under them, sat up, and tried to get his bearings. Yellowish-white walls with an old print hanging in the middle. He stared at the print. A dark tall man, holding a long stick. There was something familiar about it. Lucas liked these déjà vu moments treating them as a confirmation of being where he was meant to be at this point in his life. He stood up and drew the curtains. A damp breezy day greeted him. He walked out of the room and found his way to a living room.

James sat at a small table with a book and notebook open in front of him, and a cup in his left hand. He turned and smiled at Lucas. A tablet device also rested on the table.

“You doing okay?” James asked.

“I’m surprised how good I feel. My head’s still a bit tender but generally I feel good.” There was another chair at the table. The sky-blue cushioning on the chair looked firm, maybe even comfortable. Lucas sat down. He leant over and looked at the cover of the book James was reading.

“My memory is pretty well back now, although I’m feeling anxious about Bella. Is she okay? She wasn’t in the police car? She went away in a helicopter, didn’t she?”

“Yes, Lucas, yes. She’s fine. They took her away in a helicopter?”

“That’s good news. I think.” Lucas felt some tension drain.

<°)))><

With the puzzle of Bella solved, Lucas started thinking about his circumstances. He also thought about the black device and what it contained. He needed to protect it.

The pieces were falling back into place in his head. “And they were taking me back to the police station and then transporting me back to prison. See, it’s all coming back. I can even remember seeing that book back at your shack.”

“That’s good, Lucas.” James closed the book and placed it on the table. He picked up his notebook and opened up to a blank page.

“Why are you so interested in this end times stuff?”

He doodled something in his notebook. “Just find it an interesting topic. You know, what’s going to happen in the end. I think we’re moving towards it quickly. I also had this discussion with that strange lady that paid us a visit yesterday.”

“Really? I think she was up on the road after the accident. I yelled, but she didn’t respond.”

“Maybe she called for an ambulance and left. You know, maybe didn’t want to get involved.” James continued to doodle.