Displacement Day

Chapter 9 - Back on Earth, Part 2

Robert was not at all surprised to hear the National Guard had closed off Ridgeway. It took them until the end of Day Five to make that happen. He wondered what happened to the few hundred people who lived in the parts of town that were still here. Robert shook his head.

If this were a national emergency or an invasion from another dimension, they'd all be screwed. If there were no real threats, then why send a couple thousand people for who knows how long. On the other hand, he'd be earning some overtime at $35.17 per hour, which was just fine. Robert was about to leave home and drive to where Ridgeway used to be, yet again. He knew they needed extra law enforcement help, but that wasn't the purpose of this visit. He'd wondered if anyone in town was still out there, but at roughly 72 hours since the town disappeared, it seemed like anyone in there would have been found. The affected area was less than 3 miles across after all. 

The news still reported on events at Ridgeway, but reporters had nothing much to share the night before. He'd been invited to a short interview at the Tennessee State command post on the southwest edge of town. Robert wanted to go out that way again so he immediately agreed to an interview. On the way, he noticed that things were pretty much normal until about a half mile from town. He started to see tents and recreational vehicles. 

Then he encountered TN National Guard, gray SUVs and cars, TN State Patrol, and press trucks.

 "Holy shit? Is the whole edge of town like that?" He guessed the answer almost before finishing it. Most of the land was private property so the security, cops, reporters, and former residents would be concentrated around two or three points. 

"Hmm...if something in there did try to escape it wouldn't have been too difficult." He didn't know what to do with that particular insight. Nothing. Way above his pay grade.

Robert was more concerned with what happened to Charlie and Allison. Logically, the would have been in touch if one or both happened to be out of town at the time. They hadn't called, so they were in town when it disappeared. He promptly forgot the two government men who introduced themselves. They'd shown up to take a careful look around the desert area.

"What exactly are you looking for? Have there been any reports of animals?"

"You were the only report we got. With all the people gathered around, we assume someone would have noticed other animal life. Unless it already escaped into the countryside. "What about going in there on my own? I'll have my sidearm and my radio handy." The anonymous government men looked at each other.

"We don't have any say in that sort of thing." "Haven't people gone in there and looked around?" "Probably, but no one has said anything to us."

Robert had a sudden urge to go and look around. He had work to. A brief exploration could wait until his lunch hour. Around noon, Robert called in to say he was taking a walk at lunch because it was slow at his sector. He wasn't asked where he was going and didn't say. "I know people have been out here, but why haven't they," he cut himself off. He wasn't into social media stuff but he assumed you could find numerous "tour" videos. The area had been closed to the public since about 36 hours after most of the town disappeared. How would you seal off an area about a mile and half across, mostly surrounded by private property. It wasn't realistic.

While he'd not seen any videos or any news accounts, he knew people had been there because he read about mysterious plant species in the area. After a few minutes of aimless walking, he paused to take a close look at a thorny bush. He'd been looking at them from a distance for a couple of days. It looked like a mesquite bush. Except the trunk was a little thicker and the fruits it bore were almost the size of Roma tomatoes. He plucked one and held it. While thinking about what to do with the fruit he took a drink of water and looked around, thinking about the town. If he had the correct bearings, Charlie and Allison would be about a mile from his location, almost due north. The church where they go married would be a little closer. He'd figured that out with a two-minute survey of the area.