Displacement Day

Chapters 4 and 5

Darren had set out on foot for the edge of town. He was walking more or less toward the hill where he and Chloe had done their reconnaissance work. A couple of young women, probably teenagers, and slightly older man that he thought he recognized. As Darren got closer, he noticed two things. The older man was Sergeant Whitney in civvies. The other thing was a humanoid figure approaching from out in the desert. The person was coming from somewhere west of the hill he and Chloe had climbed earlier. Is that the person I saw at the oasis earlier? He could see lose light brown robes and wide-brimmed hat, like a Stetson but flatter on top. Then he saw the face, a woman with pale skin and thin lips, wearing her black hair tied back. She wore black boots and wore a backpack that appeared to be made of patches of brown leather all stitched together. He reached the group and nodded to the two women. "What's going on Sergeant Whitney. Is she one of ours?" "I suppose so." "I'm Darren by the way." He looked at Darren for a couple of seconds then turned his attention back to their visitor. Darren raised his hand to wave. "Hello there!" She stopped then, about 100 feet away. Now he could the hilt of a machete or sword sticking up from the pack on her back. The woman looked at each member of the group and then at Darren again. "Are from here? Or were you visiting?" Maybe she'd foolishly wandered into the desert looking for a road, and a ride. Who knew what people would do in this weirdness. She resumed walking and stopped about 10 steps away. "What is this town?" Her accent was hard to place, not American for sure, maybe Scandinavian? Sergeant Whitney spoke first. "Ridgeway is the name." Darren spoke up at almost the same time. "I'm Darren." Sergeant Whitney and the two girls introduced. "We're in high school," one of them volunteered. "My name is Cat. It is a nickname. I'm on a...a pilgrimage. Do you think I could rest here?" She was looking at Darren most of the time. Her blue-black pupils didn't stand out too much, but who had eyes like that? "We have a couple of hotels." "Where did you come from?" She just looked over her right shoulder out at the desert. "Out there. I travel with nomads. To the East." The she looked past them at the few buildings in sight, and the cars. Darren was sure she was studying them somehow. "What's to the East?" "A small city. It is a religious site and city on the sea."Cat paused as they approached his patrol car. She didn't seem scared, in Whitney's opinion. She seemed to be curious. He looked at him, cleared her throat and started walking. She stood at the front, seeming to not understand what was going on. "Sorry, ma'am. You'll have to ride in the back." He opened the door and she marched briskly to the open door and crawled in, head first like a kid climbing into a fort. Sergeant Whitney drove cat to the Roadways Inn, putting her in the back because of regulations. He'd asked her where she came from, and she repeated the throwaway line about a city south of here. He could look in the rear-view mirror and see her looking around. Once, she caught him looking and stopped. They arrived at the hotel in under two minutes, an impossible feat with traffic on the road. "What is this place? An inn?" Charlie hesitated for a second, because he wasn't used to hearing that term. Yeah. Roadways Inn. This is only place you can really stay." "A few of the guests, or local residents – he couldn't say which, were loitering in the parking lot. A young couple of who looked like lumberjacks in their coveralls and boots were standing over a grill watching what looked like steaks. Sergeant Whitney got out and opened the rear door. "You'll be able to stay here for a day or so." He led the way into the office. She came to a stop behind him and leaned close to whisper. "I don't have any money." She leaned in a little closer, just enough to touch him briefly then pulled back. "How will I pay?" "Don't worry about that. The Department will take care of it." He made the necessary arrangements with the clerk, an Indian-American woman of about 40. She stared at Cat, who studied her for a few seconds and looked away. The clerk put a key on the desk. "Room 214. No smoking." Cat nodded and took the key. Then she looked at Sergeant Whitney. "I'll show you the way." "Sergeant Whitney, how many people live in your town?" "I don't know, maybe 3000?" "It doesn't seem possible. The place seems so empty." "Well, not all of the town did, whatever, and some people were out of town working. Or they were at school." "So, how many people do you think are in town now." Sergeant Whitney had to think a few seconds. He decided that he had a rough idea about the same time they reached the door to 214. "About 1,800 or 1,900 I guess." "Thank you for everything Sergeant Whitney." She stood at the door and looked at him, then at the door. "Oh." He put the key in the lock and turned it. "I can stop by and check on you in the morning." He left right away, feeling something kind of new. She wasn't flirting with him, probably. And she seemed a bit puzzled by things. He didn't know what to think. By the time he got back to the car he had stopped thinking of Cat and started thinking about their current situation. He decided that crisis was the right word.**** Darren and Chloe carried on with normal activities for a few hours, choosing to pretend that this was a temporary problem like a power failure. That got old. Darren grew a bit restless, so he decided to do some investigating. Chloe stayed behind to study while there was light. "Looks normal to me." He shrugged because he wasn't sure what else to expect. Of course, there were no street lights. The consolidated school would be closed due to lack of power. None of the offices or businesses were likely open for the same reason. He drove past the town's only park for about the hundredth time. Today, however, he noticed an old gray van parked in a corner of the lot under a huge tree. At least a dozen adults and two or three kids had decided to make the most of their day off by hanging out there. "They must know what happened. Why would they go hang out..." then he realized the answer – they couldn't think of anything better to do. He stopped as he drove by a pair of young men standing at the corner studying the sky. "Hey, you guys have any idea what happened?" One man shrugged while the other shook his head. "Did you see the desert?" "My buddy told me about earlier via walkie. Yeah, we don't have any idea what the fuck happened either." "Yeah." Darren resumed his drive. Someone should go out in the desert and explore. This seemed like a great idea in fact. They could organize an expedition. The thought just popped out of nowhere, like those things that flashed through his mind the night before. ****Sergeant Whitney thought about the wisdom of driving on patrol, but they had some fuel at the station, how much he did not know. Given the strangeness and the lack of power, a show of law enforcement presence seemed obligatory. He started the car and headed out, taking it easy. From what little he had seen and heard, there were no roads beyond the town's boundaries. The early minutes of his cruise revealed nothing too interesting. It was daytime so there were only a few lights in homes. He only saw two cars on the road before reaching the edge of town. Sure enough, the road just ended, as did the grass. What lay beyond look like something from Death Valley or that big desert in South America. A few sad little bushes were growing out in the distance but that seemed to about all. He stopped at the edge of the road and got out to take a look. In his peripheral vision he caught a figure in a window watching him. He or she closed a blind. Their house was at the new edge of town. You could toss a baseball from the front door into the desert without much effort. **** Instinct made Darren want to go and take another look at the park. This time he convinced Chloe to join him. The sun was about to set and he assumed everyone would head home. The park traditionally closed at sunset anyway. It was much quieter outside than it was early in the afternoon. A few candle lights had appeared in windows. "I'm glad you got me out of the apartment, but shouldn't we try to save fuel?" "We can worry about that later. For now, I just want to take a little drive." He really didn't see any point to conserving fuel. We're they going to head for Nashville and find out things out that way had remained normal? No, that didn't seem possible. One could hope, but this looked like an irreversible change. "What kind of bird was that?" Darren looked at the sky but didn't see anything. "Where was it?" "It was flying low over there," she pointed to the right "and dropped out of sight." They took one turn and then another. This turn put them on the road past the park but heading north rather than south. Darren wondered if the van would still be there. It wasn't in the parking lot. Instead, the driver had just decided to leave, heading west down the cross street. Darren stopped the car. "That's the van I saw earlier." Chloe leaned forward so she could look past him. "And." "Well, nothing, but if he's leaving where does he expect to go?" With that Darren turned hard and start off to follow the van. "Don't follow them Darren." "Why not?" The van turned at the next intersection and seemed to pick up speed. "Well, shit. He'll be out of town in a couple of minutes." Darren didn't see how that mattered. They weren't about to follow this guy into the desert, if that's where he went. ****Darren decided that it was okay to cap off the second day of, well, whatever the hell happened, with a simple dinner and some wine. He didn't have any wine though. "You don't have wine and I don't have wine. That's too bad." "Why don't you have wine Darren?" "Why don't you?" "I asked first." "I can't afford to keep wine at home when I almost never drink it." "Well, Darren, you aren't a real romantic then." "I'm a frugal college student who prefers beer." "Beer is not romantic. Beer is a watching sports drink." "Or a playing War Dogs thing." Chloe picked up a cracker and a slice of store-brand cheese. "We should buy some wine tomorrow." "If you say so babe." "Wine is better because you don't have to chill it. I'm a smart cookie aren't I." "Well, you're a cookie." She frowned and made a point of chewing with her mouth wide open. Darren frowned. He hated that. She probably remembered that he hated it. Either way, she closed her mouth and swallowed. "We don't know how long will be stuck in this, whatever-the-fuck, so maybe we should save whatever..." He didn't know how much cash he had. "Hey, how much cash do you have?" She shrugged. "A few Dollars I guess. Who carries cash these days?" Darren didn't know, but did remember his wallet being a little thin. He took it out and confirmed things were a little better than he'd feared. "I have $14 and change on me, plus a little more change in a kitchen drawer. He tried to be organized, but using a little plastic box to hold his spare change was his best organizing idea in weeks. Darren grabbed a couple of grapes and popped them in his mouth. When he swallowed he shared the next big thought he'd had that evening. "I think I'll try to trade my mountain bike for a gun." "Why do you need a gun?" "If this situation goes on, what then? You know how people get when technology fails us and the police..." "The police were still on duty this afternoon." "What do you think of that lady who wandered into town?" "It seems odd. She sure as hell isn't from Tennessee." "How can you be sure?" "The way she was dressed? Did I mention that. She looked like a prospector from an old movie." Chloe looked puzzled. "How so?" Darren described her. "She also seemed confused by things like the police car." "She did, did she?" "Maybe she was just mentally ill Darren or had dementia maybe?" "She didn't seem old enough for dementia. Not much older than us really."**** Two cop cars, a sheriff's deputy, and an ambulance were at the store when Robert rolled up. More people have assembled at Quick Fix. A local news truck rolls in about two seconds after the sheriff's deputy. A few seconds after that, a news helicopter and a quad-copter drone appear in the skies over the desert area that used to be the small town of Ridgeway. Whitney could see a clean cut in the highway, where the county ended and the weird desert area began. He decided to back into the area for a closer look, but not without help. "I'm going back to take a look at the anomaly. My body camera is on. He could see the creature he'd shot after fewer than a dozen steps. When he turned and looked back, he could see a few curious locals pointing at the thing. He walked toward it.
The voice of Iris crackled over the radio. "What happened Robert?" "Well, it looks like most of Ridgeway turned into a desert." A few seconds of silence followed. "What happened? I thought I heard gunfire earlier." "Some sort of dog-like animal charged me. I killed it." "Holy shit! What?" "I'll explain later."**** Robert had been summoned to an emergency meeting at HQ when he was about to eat dinner. He ate on the way. A pair of blue Chevy sedans were outside. They looked like official vehicles. Official in what way he could not guess. Inside, the Dispatcher and two Deputies were hanging around behind the desk. The door to the Big Boss' office was open. It was never open when he was there. As he approached, he could see four men in dark suits standing against the wall. "Please close the door." That was the Big Boss, technically the Sheriff, who was fat and loud and borderline incompetent, but politically savvy. Robert did as he was told. "Have a seat Robert. We have some questions about your encounter this morning." When Big Boss said "we" he looked back at the guys in the room. Two of the men sat near him across the little table. "Firstly, Robert, these gentlemen would like to hear your account of what happened this morning." He's submitted a relatively short report, which he assumed was being ignored on purpose. "Fine. I'll start just before the town seemed to disappear." Robert described the light and the sudden appearance of the desert. Then he described his brief foray into the desert area and his encounter with that creature. "There was probably a second creature. Did I mention that in my report?" The older of the four government men seemed to think about that, then he shook his head. Robert noted that he still had not been introduced. "What agency do you guys represent?" The middle-aged man sitting closest to him looked at his colleague then back at Robert. "Two government agencies that cooperate to investigate security incidents." "Didn't a town get replaced by desert today?" He looked around at the government men, who did not respond. "What did I kill this morning?" "We don't know. From the body cam footage it looks like a spotted hyena." "We don't have those here in Tennessee." "People keep them as pets, legally or illegally." "So, the town disappeared and someone's pet hyena attacked me." He laughed. "I may seem like a country bumpkin to you folks, but I'm not an illiterate moron." "Robert!" Whitney closed his mouth before his next thoughts could escape. The older government guy cleared his throat. Robert looked him.**** The second full day of whatever happened passed for Darren without anything noteworthy happening. People speculated on what happened and how and when it would end. They had not seen or even heard from their mysterious visitor for the desert in at least 48 hours. Darren inquired of the couple across the hall, who didn't know anything. The department of public safety was closed, according to a neighbor Darren decided not to waste the effort of going over there to ask. "Babe, how much food do we have left? Oh, and money." "I have about $9." "I have about $12." He took out his wallet to check. Yep, $12 plus a little spare change back at his apartment. "Shit, how long will $21 last." "Yeah." "Any ideas babe?" "I wish we could plant a garden. We might need it." "We won't need to, I hope." "Hey, let's go down to the grocery store and see what we can buy." "Drive or walk?" "Walk." "Okay." Darren was happy that Chloe wanted to walk. While they walked, he could look for ways to forage. Some of the plants in town would have edible roots or berries or whatever. He was certain he could identify things. If this crisis went on, they might have to raid empty homes for food. That reminded him of Susan. "Hey, I think Susan had some crackers in her room. We should eat them." She thought about that and nodded. "Ha, yeah, we can offer to pay her back later." One house they passed on the right seemed to be empty and there was a small vegetable garden in the side yard. He stopped walking. "Can you tell if anything in that garden is ripe." Chloe studied it a for a few seconds. "I'm pretty sure the beans and tomatoes are ready." A door opened next door. A large man in jeans and a wife beater came out carrying a plastic bag full of what looked like empty beer cans. He stopped and stared at Darren and Chloe. Then he looked next door. Chloe tugged on Darren's hand. "That garden appears to be owned by someone." He glanced at the man while they resumed their walk. The man was watching them go. After a couple of minutes they got close enough to see the county's only real grocery store. One of the city cops was there, sitting on the hood of his patrol car. Another man in civilian clothes was standing in the parking lot holding a hunting rifle. "What's going on?" Chloe did need for Darren to answer because the debris out front made it obvious what happened. Someone, probably a group, had smashed the window and grabbed some groceries. Bits of glass and smashed boxes mixed with glass. It wasn't the window then. Someone had pulled the doors off their hinges and rushed in to grab stuff. Darren approached the cop. "Hey, any idea who did this?" The cop shrugged. "My partner's looking at a possible abandoned car." A couple of young men came out of the store, one carrying a broom and one carrying a piece of plywood. "Will you be open for business later?" Darren was afraid of how much stuff they may have stolen. The man with the hunting rifle looked at the damaged doors. "I thought I had the place secured. They took about two cart loads of stuff, mostly canned food and chips. We'll have some stuff we can sell tomorrow." Sergeant Whitney pulled up just as Darren was turning to leave. Darren was tempted to keep walking, and Chloe was ahead, in a hurry to get home probably. Darren tugged on her hand. "Let's talk to Sergeant Whitney." She sighed but turned to face Darren and the cop car, which had rolled to a stop behind the one already there. Sergeant Whitney got out. "We just checked out a stolen truck. It had some of your store's bags in it. But it was abandoned by the school." Sergeant Whitney seemed to notice Darren and Chloe standing there just then. "Can I help you two." "Well, Sergeant Whitney. I think the security situation is likely to get worse as food and water run out." Sergeant Whitney scowled. Darren glanced at Chloe who shook her head, just a little. It was enough to make Darren suspect she knew what was coming. "I was in the Army and I'm still in the Guard." Sergeant Whitney nodded. "Let's talk later. Come to the police station this afternoon." He was slow to finish his sentence. Darren guessed most of the town was struggling to set times for this and that without having clocks. "I will do it." He suspected he'd be in trouble with Chloe.**** Richard got a call just a few minutes into his shift the morning after Displacement Day. It was trespassers in the desert. He was far enough away that he might be able to justify not responding, but his training wouldn't let him. He didn't use the siren but it still only took about three minutes to take SR-312 around in an arc to a church parking lot where the adventurous two guys on dirt bikes had raced into the alien landscape for a look around. Another Deputy was there in his car talking to an elderly Black woman. "I'm Deputy Watkins," he said just out of habit. The man on the scene would have been told he was coming. "Deputy Wright." He nodded at the woman. "She made the call, about 15 minutes ago." The old lady smiled slightly and nodded. "There were two of them on two of them loud little dirt bikes. There were two other boys, but I don't know where they went." Deputy Wright pointed toward a couple of lines in the sand, which began roughly 50 yards from where Richard had parked. "Well, it won't be hard to track them. You think the cars will be able to handle it out there?" Deputy Right shrugged. Charlie was more certain of his assessment. "Mostly sugar sand. We better walk if we're going." They shut off the cars and got out. Charlie was leading the way because he was already a little closer to the desert's edge. After walking for about two minutes, Charlie heard the sound of 2-stroke engines, two of them. He looked at Wright. "I think they're coming back this way." In a few seconds it became clear that they were. Two young white guys on 50 CC dirt bikes road up and stopped. "What are you boys doing out here?" "Just looking around. Someone said there were animals living in here." Robert nodded. "That seems to be true. Did you know the whole area's been off limits to the public since about sunset yesterday. There are even signs, I think.
The nearer of the two teens nodded. "Are we going to get tickets?" "Possibly." "What's in that bag?" Write was looking at a black plastic bag wadded up on the seat between the other boy's legs. "Um, we took some of the fruit from one of the plants." Robert wasn't a conservation officer but he sensed this was probably a terrible idea. "Is that illegal?" Robert looked at Deputy Wright who shook his head. "Fine, we'll let it go. I do need your ID. For a warning." Neither boy had ID. They were both 15 and friends who lived on farms a few miles west. While they waited for the parents to show up and answer some questions, Robert speculated on the fruit and other stuff they knew little about. He asked the fruit thief and his friend about other souvenir hunters. "I don't know of anyone who took anything." His body language and lack of eye contact made it seem like he was lying. "Are you sure son? You'll be in a ton of trouble and so will your parents." He wasn't sure if that was true but wanted it to be. The parents arrived and the group of adults sorted things out. The fruit thief had to toss his booty in the desert. The parents promised there would be no more desert adventures for their kids. Robert indicated that the whole area was being cordoned off to keep people safe. He knew that was partly true because all roads into the missing part of Ridgeway had been blocked and were under guard. He was one of the guards, though his first shift would be tomorrow. Later that day he heard about a pair of treasure hunters leaving the desert carrying stalks and leaves in a couple of bags. He hoped the government would finally move in and cordon off the area, for real, not just some roadblocks and maybe a helicopter or two. He asked Deputy Wright about the two guys with the plant parts. Someone came to get the samples, wearing anonymous gray jumpsuits. The treasure hunters had been taken away by government agents. **** A storm rolled into town just as Robert was getting ready for bed. He sighed and went to the window, even though he wouldn't see much. A jagged line of light raced across the sky. While it moved left to right across the sky it was so quick it could have been instantaneous flash of light. Then the light stayed in the sky, moving like an ultra slow-motion recording of a lighting bolt. Before he could think on that comparison, the light show flickered out It was there one instant and gone the next. "What the hell?" He almost broke his own rule against swearing for the second time today. His mind wandered back to a BOLO from the day before. Someone had stolen a van from Oak Ridge, and headed northwest. That right might have taken the thief close to Ridgeway. He didn't pay attention to vehicle theft reports, even if the were important enough to announce on the radio. Maybe the theft meant something after all. He couldn't be bothered to think about that anymore. So, he went back to the bathroom to clean his teeth. He was more interested in whatever happened to Charlie and Allison. But he could do nothing for them, so he put that worry aside and flossed his teeth. CHAPTER 5 - Figuring Things Out Late on Day Two of the Displacement as Darren liked to call it, he put out a couple of buckets and an old coffee can to collect rain water in. The water wouldn't be as clean as one would like, but it would do. Water still flowed when he turned on the faucet in the kitchen. "That would've been the first thing to check Darren." He put a bottle under the tap and filled it up. "The tub." He went to the bathroom with the bucket and put in in the tub. He turned on the water and got a weak stream. He would at least fill the bucket. He let the water run in the tub and ran back to the kitchenette to fill up the other two bottles. The water coming from that faucet but at a reduced flow. It wasn't a trickle, but he assumed it would be in minutes. The second bottle filled up. He put the third bottle under the tap to catch the dripping water. Then he ran back to the bathroom. The water was still dripping out of the faucet and the bucket was about 70% full. He wondered if this was normal or if lot of other people were doing the same thing to capture whatever water they could. "Hmm. Is there a creek in town?" He remembered a tiny pond on the south side of town, but it was on private property. Then he thought about Chloe. "Shit. I better go back to her place."****Darren arrived in time to find Chloe holding a bottle of water. Before she could even move to kiss him, he came in. "How is your water pressure kiddo?" They kissed in the kitchen. "Shitty. I filled the tub about halfway and this bottle too." "Um, is that really all the water you have then?" "No. I have a few bottles in the fridge. Did you come all the way over here to see if I'm collecting water?" "Yeah, I did. If things don't go back to normal soon, we'll be glad we collected as much as we could." "This is only the beginning of the third day Darren." "Yeah. I know. But, shit, what the hell is going on?" Chloe shrugged. What else could she say or do?" "Wait babe, I have an idea. We could go shopping for some essentials." "How much money do you have?" Darren checked his wallet. "Seven Dollars, plus some change at home." "I might have more." She seemed glum. Her energy level had definitely plunged since that perky greeting. "What's wrong?" "I don't know. This is an insane situation." Darren had to agree. "Yeah, but we still have things we can control. Like the water." She looked at the floor then at Darren. "Yeah, we need to make a list of things. What should we buy? What things do we have here?" "I like that approach. Oh, and I collected like 3 gallons of water at my place before the water stopped running." He realized how bad that sounded almost before he finished.****"Do you think we should go shopping now?" It was almost dark. "I think we can wait until tomorrow. I bet neither place is open anyway." She looked around and nodded. People were lighting candles or using flashlights in their homes. The flicker little lights and the wavering beams of flashlights gave away those people. Darren hoped the situation was temporary, real temporary. He followed Chloe to her apartment. Someone had put some small LED candles in the hall to put out a bit of light. The little window at the end of the hall didn't help much. To Darren the silence was even stranger than the darkness. He would expect to hear a television or radio, maybe a loud conversation in the apartment across the hall. In fact, he heard nothing but a baby crying. When Chloe opened her door, Darren could tell she'd left the blinds closed because it was totally dark by this time. Darren pulled out his phone, thinking to use the screen for light. Chloe didn't need the help. She went right to a drawer and pulled out a little gray LED flashlight. A quick press on the base confirmed for her that the batteries were good. "I'll get some clothes and stuff." "Do you have any more batteries for that flashlight?" He went for the same drawer she'd kept the flashlight in. "Yeah, I think so. Not sure how good they are." "I'll get some bottled water." She returned with two 16-ounce bottles. "This is all the bottled water I have." They might need more water in a day or so, if whatever happened didn't reverse itself. He'd worry about that tomorrow morning, he decided. "Save 'em. And, come to think of it, do you have empty containers you could use for water?" "Why?" "We might want to stockpile some drinkable water." "Oh, yeah, I remember hearing about that. The water in the pipes might not be safe to drink for much longer." Darren nodded. "Let's see what we can fill up with water. I'll get the tub. "Oh. Does this mean we can't flush the toilet every time?" Darren laughed. "I'm afraid so" "Then you can pee outside and let me use the toilet" Darren scowled at her. Chloe pointed and laughed. Then she did something she never seemed to do – she opened the door to Susan's bedroom and went inside. "I wonder if Susan has anything..." a second later she held a water bottle out in the hallway. "That's it so far." Darren wanted to have Chloe look for money, but felt like it would be rude. After all, they might be out of whatever situation this was pretty soon. Darren stood up and gasped. "Shit Chloe, why didn't I think of this!" Chloe wandered to the bathroom doorway. "What?" "If we had a battery-powered radio we could see if anyone's out there talking..." She was already shaking her head. Yeah, neither of them had a battery-powered radio and neither of them knew anyone in town who did, more than likely. Anyway, one of the neighbors would have mentioned something, or they would have heard the radio.**** It was a little bit warm and stuffy in the apartment so Chloe suggested eating lunch out on the lawn. After a few minutes of sitting on the top step, of four outside the building, Darren saw someone who looked like Cat approaching. She wore what looked like a leather water flask slung over her shoulder. She seemed to notice they were watching and waved. "What does she want?" She stopped after walking a few more steps. Darren thought she was studying them, though for what reason he could not guess. Darren winced a little. "Wow, maybe she's just a little bored." Cat resumed her walk. "Hello!" She took off her hat and stopped walking about twenty feet away. "Do you mind if I join you?" Now he saw that she was holding a Clif bar in one hand. "Not at all." They exchanged a little small talk and ate. Cat paused just before taking her last bite of the Clif bar. "How long has this town been here?" Odd question, Darren thought. "About three days. We have no idea what happened. Do you?" "What happened a few days ago?" "Everything was normal and the town just disappeared from our state and appeared here, we think." "What is the name of this state?" "Tennessee. You have heard of it. Right?
She shook her head. "I thought this whole region was just desert, some animals, and a few nomads like me." "Where are we? Do you know what happened?" "No. But everything here is odd. I never saw a car before." "Where did you come from originally?" "A town far south and east of here?" "What is it like there?" "What is Tennessee like? Are there lots of people?" Darren decided not to push but made a mental note that she was ducking questions. Chloe spoke up before Darren could. "If this isn't North America anymore, how did you learn English." "English? Oh, yes, we have a similar language. I have a talent for languages. So, your English is kind of easy for me." "How many people do you think live in the town?" "Almost 3000 live here, but lots of us were out of town when this happened. I guess there are a 1000 or so now." "This didn't affect the whole town either, at least I don't think so." Darren nodded. "That's why I think the number is about a thousand." Cat finally ate that last bite of Clif bar and washed it down with a big drink of water. "These bars are great." "Cat, how long will you be staying in town." "I like the place, but I will have to leave in a day or so. Just for a short time, I guess." She again seemed to be studying them. Maybe staring wasn't rude in her culture. "Well, we're going to go back inside Cat. It was nice talking to you." **** Pastor Drummond stood outside the church, wondering what to do about the kitchen, among other issues that were emerging. Without power, some of the food would have spoiled. He'd put some meat on the grill and, well, he realized there was nothing else he could do. The cooked meat would safely feed himself and a few parishioners. Nothing could be done about the remaining milk, meat and cheese. The stuff was at room temperature when he'd checked in early in the morning. All he could do was run across the street and ask a few people if they would grill it for the church. They didn't have a grill. Two people had already come by to take some of the meat and cook it for later today. The remaining 20 pounds or so were a total loss. The cheese might still be safe to eat, but he didn't want to risk it. He watched a few people who were cruising around the neighborhood on bikes or motorcycles. That was a good sign, he supposed. People were still trying to get their bearings. They may have realized the need to save fuel. Well, you never know how long an emergency would last and being conservative in these circumstances made sense. An old gray van caught his eye. He was pretty sure it was the same one he'd seen the other day. So, he squinted at it, then smiled at himself. How would that help? "Lord above, I wish I knew who that was? I wish I knew if I was being paranoid." The van driver turned onto a side street that led away from the church. Pastor Drummond paused to think for a half a minute. Did that road lead out of town? "They're heading out of town I bet. But why?" The stupidity of it puzzled him. So, he decided he was wrong and the driver was simply headed to someone's house. **** Darren did as he promised, showing up at the Public Safety Center about an hour after noon, as near as he could tell. Two other men he didn't know were standing outside with a woman in uniform. He assumed the other guys were also police volunteers. Ignoring them all, Darren went inside to see Sergeant Whitney, who was sitting a desk near a window, where he could use light streaming through the blinds to write. It was warm and a little stuffy inside with no air conditioning and no electricity for fans. "Have a seat Darren. So, I heard about your military training. What was your MOS?" "31B. I was base security at the same location for my entire enlistment." "I was the same, on both counts. Though I was in the Air Force not the Army. So, I can see why you might have volunteered to provide security." The interview continued in that vein, simple questions and no much of a response for a few minutes. Darren described his training, his insights about supply problems, and more. "Finally, I own a pump shotgun and some ammunition." "That's good. We can't arm anyone, because we only have our few issued firearms and a few hundred rounds of ammunition." "How many are on the force now including the volunteers?" "Nine including two volunteers and a dispatcher. Two were out helping a deputy police up a major accident just west of town when this happened." "Well, make it ten." Sergeant Whitney nodded. "Welcome aboard. Let's home this is a short-term thing." "Exactly." Darren wanted to ask about a dozen questions about food, medicine, water, and more. "We've had some confusing reports of large animals." "And, what about that woman who wandered into town." "She's still here. I haven't questioned her at length because I can't. As far as I know, she's still at hotel where I left her the day before yesterday."**** Darren and Chloe walked to the convenience store starting about an hour after sunrise. "Babe, did we really need to come out here so early?" "It was your idea. Quit complaining." She smiled as she said it. "Fine. I needed the exercise and air anyway." "That's the spirit!" It only took a few minutes to get close enough that Darren could see the building and the parking lot. A few cars were there. Two men were talking about something. One man held up a rubber tube and something with a handle on one side. "Hey babe. I think those guys are trying to pump gas out of the underground tank." "Should we come back later with a gas can?"
"Good idea. But I think we should spend money on food first." They reached the edge of the parking lot, and Darren could now see people standing outside. At this angle, to the south and coming from behind the convenience store there was no way to be sure they were open. "Shit. They aren't open, are they?" A few seconds later, Darren could see that the store was closed. A middle-aged black woman in khakis and a polo shirt was leaning against the doors and facing a small crowd of about a dozen men and women who seemed split about 50/50 between bored and angry. The employee looked at them. "We're closed. No power." Darren opened his mouth to ask why they can't pay cash. "We can't sell anything even for cash." "We need gas and stuff." A man just out of sight in the little crowd had neatly stated the obvious. Whispered grumbles and curses continued while the woman variously stared at the group and frowned. A cop in a patrol car pulled up. Darren didn't recognize either of the officers inside. "Let's go back to your place. Maybe tomorrow." As they left, Darren noticed the two men with the hose and pump or whatever had walked away from the store, heading down the same road Darren and Chloe had come down to get there.**** Darren walked south from his apartment complex, intending to take a left and walk out to the desert out there. He hadn't been out that way yet, even though the western edge of town was only a few minutes away on foot. The distinct buzz of a small engine, like a drone or model airplane made him look up. Sure enough, someone was flying a large-ish quad-copter drone some distance north and west of him. The drone was flying in a slow arc down and to the east, where it continued to turn and disappear behind some trees about 100 ahead and on the left. The street he meant to follow into the desert was just on the other side of that house so Darren decided to make a little side Ridgeway and talk with the drone owners. The house was another of those generic brick ranch houses with an aluminum carport added on to the side. He knocked on the door and took a couple of steps back. A light came on inside. A middle-aged woman in a track suit came to the door holding one of those round stick-on lights people like to use in closets and pantries. "Can I help you?" Darren introduced himself and explained that he wanted to talk about the drone if he could. The woman introduced herself as Mrs. Looms and closed the door. A middle-aged man in fatigue pants and a Miller t-shirt came to the door with a scrawny teen in jeans and Roblox shirt just behind him. The man spoke first. "Can I help you?" "I noticed the quad-copter drone flying overhead and I was walking by the house anyway. Did you happen to see anything out in the desert.?" The man and kid came outside. "We only spent a few minutes flying it today. Do you have any idea what's going on?" Darren had to shake his head. "I'm lost just like you are." "We thought about sending the drone out of town but the controller only works for about a half mile, at best." "Does that drone have an LED screen or can you record what you saw?" "Yeah, there's a little LED screen." He immediately wondered about the batteries in the remote. "I'm volunteering with the police department now that we only have two cops in town and a bit of an emergency. They probably need more help." "Well, I'm not sure where this is going..." Before he could refuse to lend anyone the drone, Darren changed topics. "Well, we actually might have a drone at the police station. It never occurred to me to ask until now." "However, if you see anything, at all, I know we'd appreciate hearing about it." Darren quickly explained how to find him, assuming the guy would try to reach the police if that made better sense. "I'll do it." Darren stood there, looking for some instant, final flash of an argument that would get him a shot at flying the drone. Nothing came up. It began to get awkward. "Well, I'll get back to exploring. Thanks for your time." He drove at a leisurely pace for a minute at most past some people wandering the sidewalks or out in yards. It looked like a normal day, except for the lack traffic, traffic lights, and electric lighting inside most of the buildings. He assumed some emergency lights and battery-powered lanterns were on. A police car pulled out of a side street behind him. He'd been looking at the road to the right at the time the car pulled out. The cop at the wheel flashed his headlights in Darren's rear-view mirror. "Okay. Fine!" He held up a hand as be slowed down and came to a stop. At this point there seemed to be no harm in stopping right in the street out in front of a small office building housing two law offices and a title company. The cop, Darren didn't recognize the man, came up to his side of the car. "Good morning sir." "Good morning officer. What seems to be the problem?" "No problem, but we'd prefer that everyone stay off the streets. We have been posting fliers here and there." Darren thought he remembered seeing one. "Understood. I'll head home right away." He wanted to ask what happened, but figured the local cops were just as ill-informed as he was. "Good afternoon sir." The officer turned around and returned to his patrol car. When he got in, he started the engine. Darren assumed they always kept the engine running during stops, just in case. He didn't know what to make of that observation and drove back to the apartment complex. **** Robert had accepted that his brother was in the part of town that disappeared. He would have called or sent a text message or responded to Robert's by now. Nothing could be done about that, unless he could figure out how to get the people in town back from wherever they went. He turned on the news, mostly to keep his mind occupied while he got ready to for the day. Yesterday, he'd told those teenagers the place was being closed off. It was a best guess at the time but the news proved him right. The National Guard was being mobilized and county workers had begun erecting fences on roads and public land. All roads into the desert were now secured 24/7. They were too late to stop things from getting out or people getting and carrying away the plants. He wondered again if there were more of those hell-hound things in the desert. Robert guessed they'd find out soon enough. A helicopter flew overhead. It was a civilian helicopter with a Channel 17 logo on the side. Somehow, Robert had expected an army helicopter. "Where's the army when you need 'em?" He stifled the urge to laugh at himself. **** Later that afternoon, Darren decided to resume his exploration on foot, this time making a big loop through the desert and back into town somewhere southwest of his apartment complex. Someone was coming the other way as he reached the edge of town. Whoever they were, they were dressed in fatigue pants and a t-shirt. This man was also carrying a hunting rifle. They passed each other about 100 feet apart, without saying anything. Darren turned his attention to the surrounding desert. It looked exactly like the rest. Rocks, sand, scraggly desert bushes and grasses. The plant life was sparse but maybe a little more dense than north and east of town. Something moved near a large-ish patch of grass and thorn bushes. It might have been a large lizard. Darren stopped to watch the location. More movement, the the north of that spot. Something was burrowing through the sand. He decided to approach the area where he saw the animal and look around a bit. The relatively large patch of life proved to be around 12 feet long and 6 feet wide. Five thorny bushes all less than a yard high were surrounded by grass. Instinct told Darren to pick some of the grass and take it home. He did so, stuffing some grass in his back pocket. Something had dug a hole in the sand near the edge of the little oasis. The whole was big enough for a groundhog or a large lizard. He waited and looked around for a minute, but nothing much happened. Darren resumed his hike to the south, with only one look back at the plants. Soon after, he got the sense of being followed or just watched. Something moved off to his right, near some rocks. "Shit!" It was a kind centipede thing at least three feet long. And it was coming past the rocks in his direction. As it got closer it maintained the same leisurely pace. It was longer than it appeared before, maybe six feet. "Does it not see me?" Darren debated what to do for a moment. Running might trigger it to chase him, like a mountain lion would do. Or, it might thing he's dead and easy to eat if he doesn't move. Now the creature was close enough that he could hear dozens of little close scraping and scratching against packed sand and little pebbles. He decided to run when the creature was still about 30 feet away. He took a quick look over his shoulder mindful of not being too distracted. The thing wasn't following, but it was heading toward town. Darren changed direction and started jogging into town. He was now roughly parallel to the thing about 60 feet away. Someone was on their back porch, near the edge of the desert. The person ignored him and just sat there in a lounge chair. Darren got to the edge of town, again marked by a neat line where grass met sand. The centipede thing was...somewhere. He realized that he could no longer see it. The person on the porch was looking at Darren now. Darren waved and shouted. "You might want to go inside.!" He pointed to where the creature had been. The lady looked him, squinted, then looked to her right. Darren started jogging in her direction. She put her hand on the revolver on the little table next to her lounge chair. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Darren stopped jogging. "I was taking a look around and saw some kind of animal headed this way." "Well, I'll keep my eyes peeled. In the meanwhile, I'll thank you to stay off my property." Darren looked back at the desert, then at the woman. "Whatever you say lady." He backed up and walked on, taking the nearest thing to a straight path back to his apartment complex. "From now on, I'm carrying that fucking shotgun wherever I go."**** Darren noticed Cat standing by the road not far from the hotel. She waved at him when she noticed his car. Charlie pulled over on the shoulder just past her spot. "What's up Cat?" She jogged across the road without looking, which was fine because his was the only car on the road. "I just spoke with Pastor Drummond about the food and water situation. Well, mostly about the water. Can I get in." "I'm actually out on business. We're you going somewhere?" She walked around the front of the car and kept talking. "Pastor Drummond told me the city is a little low on water, already. I told him it would get worse, and he should stockpile water any way he can." She bent down in the passenger window to look at him. He could have sworn she meant to show her chest, because she'd even unbuttoned the top button on the old-fashioned linen shirt she was wearing. "Have you and Chloe started worrying about the water situation?" "We have, but thanks for pointing it out." "Watch out Darren. I've seen places like this before. People will start hoarding water. Fights will start. Watch out." "I need to go." "Don't forget what I said about the water, and don't forget that Pastor Drummond knows the situation." She stood up straight and walked around the back of his car. Darren drove away, trying to focus on his little tour of the central business district and the nearby streets. About 100 people would be there at the shops on in the houses on a normal weekday morning. That's what Iris had said before. In fact, no one was shopping but the smell of bread indicated the bakery was still in business. A few adults and one kid on a bike were out in the central business district. Indeed, the bakery and the drug store were open, lit by a couple of candles each. Sunlight penetrated deep into each store through the picture windows and glass doors so you really only needed a few candles. **** Chloe convinced him to leave the shotgun at home for their second shopping trip to Freddy's. It was the closest place to buy food and some other necessities with what cash they had left. Darren had a general idea of what to shop for, but Chloe had made a list. "Okay, we'll go by your list then. And if we don't have much luck we'll try the church." "You really think they'll share?" "I guess we'll have to find out." He hoped they would not have to because Pastor Drummond wouldn't have taken that much food. Did the church have more? "Don't they have a food pantry, Darren?" "I don't know." Darren paused to scan the sky and ground. They were in the middle of town but he was beginning to worry about the worms and the bird-things. "Stay alert Chloe. Something's making me nervous." Chloe sighed and started walking a little faster. "Don't make up stuff to worry about." Before Darren could think of a new subject they had reached the edge of the parking lot. Someone walked out with a plastic bag full of something. He could see two more people inside at first, then a third, a young Black woman. They reached the front to find it a little dark inside. They sign outside reading "Cash Only! No Credit!" was also not a surprise. Inside it was mostly empty. The perishable food in the cooler was all gone. The smell wasn't entirely gone, Darren noticed. He thought he remembered some bags of charcoal briquettes on sale. That spot was empty. Darren grabbed the last disposable lighter on sale. When he looked up, Chloe was on the snack food aisle, frowning. He'd noticed that the end cap was picked over but couldn't see much of what was actually on each side of the aisle. She looked up and around. When he made eye contact she shook her head. They were mostly out of food then. "What about candy?" Some of the candy might be valuable if things got really tough. Same for granola bars and protein bars. Darren checked for deodorant. Out. Soap? One bar. He grabbed it without hesitation. Hand sanitizer was gone as well. Oddly, the store still had a few cans each of dog food and cat food. Darren paused and thought about it for a couple of seconds. He shook his head. "I'll go hunting in the desert first." "What babe?" "Oh, we're not desperate enough to eat pet food are we?" Chloe grimaced for an instant and then picked up a can of dog food. He shook his head. "Maybe later." Chloe came around to stand next to him. "Well, this is it then." She was holding a granola bar, a can of tuna, and a small bag of generic corn chips. He showed her the bar of soap and the deodorant. "I guess we're ready. Let's pay and get out of here." They did so, walking home in relative piece. A few people were outside again, gardening or grilling. Darren thought he'd seen a recent increase in gardening or foraging. Maybe it was both. They'd been in this alternate dimension or whatever it was four days ago. "Chloe, do you think we're dead?" "What kind of a question is that? No." "Maybe this is a simulation of some kind." "So we died and woke up in a simulation?" "I don't know. Did we teleport to an alien earth-like world with people living on it?" "Yeah, well that's even worse than the simulation hypothesis." Darren thought about that some more. Were they did? If so, how was it possible they were still awake and conscious? Was it possible to upload their minds into a computer program? That did not seem even a little bit plausible.