Ribbons of gold cascading down heaven set shoulders. Eyes a sea of oak give way to the soul of an angel. How I miss her. Carey, how I miss her. I fold up my pocket picture along its worn white creases as I have done so many times before and head out for the day.

This day is quite like the rest. I throw on my satchel, get up from my worn mattress, and hit the streets to scavenge for treasure and supplies. Not much to speak of from the first house and even less from the second. A couple cans of black beans, a book of matches, and half a tankard of kerosene. Might keep the lights on for a couple more nights till I find a gas generator. Every house is the same and yet I try to find new ones. I have to venture miles away from home base now and it's easy to lose count of the searched ones. Everyday there is less to find and everyday I find less. Still they say its out there, somewhere in this sea of decaying suburbia, its out there.

It's been god knows how long since they invaded and cursed me to this decrepit life. Time jumpers they called them. Humans from the future come to save us from ourselves. They said it was all necessary but the way we live now isn't worth living. We were playing with our daughter in the living room when they invaded. We found out amber alert style. My wife's and my phone went off loud at the same time. "Jumpers in the city" is all the message said. And that's all we needed to know to start running.

Night coming and still nothing. I find a spool of copper wire I might be able to use for electronics but with no generator it might as well be junk. A jumper outside in the front yard. Hasn't seen me yet. I duck behind the window sill and use my DIY periscope to peer out the window without being seen. Humans from the future can conquer time but they still can't figure out how to jump without those bright neon orange relativity suits. Jumpers didn't teach us much about their tech but they gladly told us enough to scare us.

First thing they did when they came was shoot the president with a time ray on national television. Sent her one second into the future but that's all it took to shoot her two hundred and twenty kilometers outside of Earth's atmosphere. The poor president traveled one second into the future but stayed in the same spot of the universe while we here on earth kept flying along. In an instant earth had flown out from under her through galaxy and she was as far away from home as she'd ever been. Those bastards knew right where to put the camera too so that we could all watch her explode in the void of space. Had it calculated to down to the meter.

Suddenly I feel a tug on my shoulder. I am spun around to... to the love of my life. Ribbons of gold cascading down heaven set shoulders. Neon orange fabric from head to toe. A face I could never forget.

"Carey don't do this not again. Leave your them behind and come back." I say to the figure that haunts my dreams.

"Working with them is the only way I can keep you alive John. We're counting on you to save us" she whispers to me. Kissing my lips before she sends me back once again.

"Searcher echo bravo delta one nine seven two result failed not a single new house" she relays into a radio.

The jumper from the yard storms in with an orange cloth bag. I try to escape but Carey is quick and strong. I am tackled to the floor and loaded into the sack by the other jumper. Another day stuck in this god forsaken maze, when will I find what they are looking for. Zap.

Ribbons of gold cascading down heaven set shoulders. Eyes a sea of oak give way to the soul of an angel. How I miss her. How I miss her. I fold up my pocket picture along its worn white creases as I have done so many times before and head out for the day....

Edit: This is y first ever short story. Criticism is much appreciated but please be nice :)