10/17

Episode 4, Chapter 17

Parker cracked an eye open at the buzzing of his phone. It had been going off all morning. After the first few rings he had turned it to silent. Even then, it continued to vibrate with incoming texts and calls, but Parker had slept on, happily oblivious, until now. Glaring at the offending device, he considered his options. Most of the messages and texts he was getting came from his friends. Some were worried, and curious. Some, like Casey, were sure to be angry a Parker for not spilling about all this sooner. Well, while Parker appreciated their concerns, they would just have to stay worried, curious and mad. Despite their suspicions, thanks to all the media coverage, he was still not about to tell anyone, outside his immediate circle, anything about his situation. Decision made, he rolled over, turning his back on his phone for now.

It was a little after ten and Parker's brain was still exhausted from the previous evening. Last night had been a late one for him. While the family discussion had broken up a little after midnight, it had been nearly two in the morning before he had finally been able to shut off his brain enough to go to sleep. So much had changed in the course of one evening.

Within minutes of the FEMA press conference, it seemed the Internet lost its collective minds. All social media sights erupted into chaos as everyone tried to put their opinion out their to be heard. The White House released a statement encouraging cooperation and calm in the face of this new threat. Of course, that wording had the exact opposite effect on most of the country, pouring gasoline on the thousands of raging debates over the intentions of this government round up and whether it was a good thing or not.

One of those debates had broken out in the Carlisle's living room. Laney's Nan was up in arms the moment the shock of the new wore off. She had been ready for every one of them to pack their bags and leave the state that night. Unsurprisingly, Laney's mother had gone the opposite direction. The information about the affected teens being unstable shocked and scared her. She had declared that Laney would be one of the first kids in line Monday morning at the Tulsa clinic and had encouraged the Carlisle's to do the same with Parker, even going so far as to suggest they all go together for support. Parker's parents, on the other hand, were torn. They were worried for his health, and what the possible instability could mean for him, but something about the press conference message did not sit well with them.

Parker agreed with his parents. There was something about that press conference that had rubbed him the wrong way. He knew exactly what it was too. Those three words, "At the present,". The FEMA rep stated that, at the present, visiting these clinics was voluntary. Did that mean that eventually it wouldn't be? If FEMA were really trying to get his cooperation, why would they say something so ominous? Then again, maybe Ms. Dempson was right. A lot of people in the country were scared and angry over the people like him. Perhaps the government was just trying to make it clear to both sides that they were doing everything in their power to keep the situation under control. Even if that meant they had to play good cop and bad cop. Parker shook his head. No, it still felt shady to him.

Laney was also torn. She was worried about the stability thing enough that she was willing to go along with her mother, but she also agreed with Parker.

"The statement was too heavy handed to be an innocent request for help," Laney said to the group, last night. "They did everything they could to make sure there was target on the back of every altered teen out there. First, they say they suspect every child born on our specific birthday is affected, then they say they don't have enough information to effectively track the rate of change. Which is it? Either they have enough information to confirm a sweeping judgment or they don't and they're just guessing, but they're comfortable enough with their guess to sick the rest of the country on us to drive us into their little clinics," she voiced with outrage.