"And when? I live in Baltimore and it's 2015."

"I came in from Rockport, Maine in 2013. Do you mind if we start walking?"

"Lead the way," she sighs. "So. Is your 2013 the one I had two years ago or is it a different one?"

"Different, I think. It might be hard to tell for sure, but..." he hesitates again, "We do have other evidence that alternate Earths exist. It seems more plausible that this place is reaching into multiple worlds than that it is reaching across time, though both might be possible."

He picks a direction and starts walking. 

"Are you going to look for your own door even if we find mine or take your chances in my timeline?"

"Take my chances with yours. I'd take my chances with almost any Earth we stumbled across. I'd recommend you do the same."

"I'm married."

"Ah."

He's silent for a moment.

"I'd still recommend you risk it. There might be another way to get home and you don't know how many chances you'll get to get out of here. The survivor who alerted us to this place met people who were in here for years."

"Thanks for letting me know."

"Do you remember if there was a major earthquake in Miami in 2007?"

"I'd need to look it up, so if it was major enough that I wouldn't have to, then there was not. Is that the usual way to identify a timeline, natural disasters?"

"Yes. You likely would've heard of it. There wasn't as much media coverage as is typical, but it affected tourism for years."

"Okay. I could list disasters that did happen but you'll know and I won't if they're common or not, I suppose."

"That would be helpful."

"Hurricane Katrina? Big earthquake in Haiti in - I was first year then so 2010 or 2011? Huge fire in western Texas in June 2012? Sinkhole ate half of Banff in... I was in college so maybe 2006ish?"

"We had Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake. I don't remember any particularly notable fires in 2012 and we didn't have the sinkhole."

"Lucky alternate universe Texas and Banff."

"There should be small settlements in here somewhere. I haven't run across any yet."

"Me either, I would have noticed that."

"I've been considering piling several things on top of each other to get a better view. It's something of a waste of time, but aimless wandering hasn't gotten me anywhere."

"I'm not going to be very helpful with that, unfortunately."

"If you were sitting down, could you hold the bottom of a ladder steady?"

"I'm better than nothing."

"The ladders aren't tall enough by themselves, but if I push two bookcases together and put a ladder on top that should be a decent vantage point. Could you climb a bookcase if I helped?"

"I wouldn't bet on it, but if that's the best plan going it probably won't kill me to try."