Unmarked Spoilers Ahead
Here is a timeline of the events in Time Trap. The first date represents the approximate external calendar year, while the time-code in brackets represents the amount of time since the first caveman enters.
- c. 8000 BC (00:00:00): First caveman enters.
- c. 7999 BC (00:00:01): All of the cavemen are in the cave.
- between AD 1-1500 (02:13:20 - 02:38:20): One or more medieval-era natives briefly enter and exit the cave. They find out years have passed during the short time they were in, and tell their fellow tribesmen. The legend is passed down generations.
- c. AD 1550 (02:39:10): Conquistadors, having heard of the legends, enter the cave.
- c. AD 1860-1900 (02:44:20 - 02:45:00): A cowboy enters the cave via the hilltop entrance.
- c. AD 1970 (02:46:10): The Hoppers and their daughter enter the cave via the "ground floor" horizontal entrance and descending the cliff.
- AD 2017 (02:46:57): Professor Hopper enters the cave via the hilltop entrance. he sees a cowboy frozen in place. Returning to town, he informs Jackie of his trip. The next day, he enters the cave, crossing the Time Dilation barrier.
- AD 2017 (02:46:57): Taylor and Jackie, along with Cara, Cara's sister Veeves, and Veeves's friend Furby, arrive at the Hoppers' van. Furby finds a rope. Taylor, Cara, Jackie, and Veeves follow the rope through the ground floor entrance and descend the cliff. By this time, the Hoppers and their daughter have left the bottom of the cliff to look for the fountain, unaware that their forty-five seconds down there translated to forty-five years on the surface.
- AD 2017 (02:46:57): The morning after, Furby gets worried about the others. He finds the Professor's vehicle and a rope tied to a rock leading to the vertical entrance. He goes down the hole to look for his friends.
- AD 2020-2030 (02:47:00 - 02:47:10): Furby records the passage of the seasons above him. The rope snaps and he falls.
- c. AD 2050 (02:47:30): The Professor emerges from the cave. He finds that his car is overgrown with brush. He then finds Cara's Jeep, also overgrown with brush. He goes back into the cave, with Jackie's backpack.
- C. AD 2080 (02:48:00): Furby makes radio contact with the others. He is killed by one of the cavemen.
- c. AD 2100-2500 (02:48:20 - 02:55:00): The first ark leaves Earth. (English is still Lingua Franca at the time, so the date of the launch of the first ark could be narrowed to between the 22nd and 25th centuries, a five minute period inside the cave.
- c. AD 5700-10,000 (03:48:20 - 05:00:00): The others reach the vertical entrance and see the strange sight above. They find Furby's body. Cara climbs up to get help, and finds out that the area around the surface is now a desert and there is a dust storm. Veeves examines Furby's recording and realizes that the time dilation factor is about a year per second. An explorer comes down via a ladder to rescue them. Not being able to speak English, the party runs from this possible threat. (the protagonists explicitly say they were down here for a couple of hours.)
- c. AD 13,600 (06:00:00) Taylor, Jackie, Cara, and Veeves begin to realize everyone and everything they knew was gone. They resolve to find Hopper.
