Alien Zoo

by Deb Stratton

  The banks were still closed until the internet was revived and without banks the money was just limited to peoples coin jars and stashed away rainy day funds.

  “I can’t help but wonder what they are doing. I want to know where they come from and where they go.” I continued, “I remember when I was young. We always talked about spaceships and aliens. It was something that only came to life in movies. I just want to know how this became normal after a few years.” I finished.

  It was eerie above. The sunset was almost complete and it made a curtain of light that created the most breathtaking scenery. I took my time finishing my lunch. I had just an hour or so of planning left before hitting the streets. We would be patrolling the neighborhoods for the most of the shift after Frank showed me his new evidence in the woods. I was hoping it was a crop circle secretly.

  “I think you’re right Frank.” I said and stood up and walked towards the building.

  I had a nervous habit of feeling for my weapon after every break. My eyes looked up and past the sunset. “I think it’s all good.” I smirked a little and kept walking.

  Maybe the watchers could see us well at night and maybe they could not. They moved faster at a lower level the darker it got. It was almost like a game to them.

  “Fynn!” A very loud voice shouted from his radio. It was not the official coded voice I was used to. It was Frank. He was calling out from the bathroom to add some excitement to the shift on the streets. I didn’t even answer him. I just wanted to mace him or lock him in his back seat for awhile.

  Frank insisted that I ride with him to check out this evidence he discovered in the woods. I stopped and parked my car at my house and hopped in. His face lit up like a ten-year-old with a new BB gun. He drove slowly at first looking around and then flew down the gravel road near the quarry. It was no longer being excavated and still reminded me of the Flintstones every time I saw it. I was hoping that Frank would not be disappointed from this adventure.

  We drove down the gravel and weed filled road. I could tell no-one had been out in the area for awhile. I had to admit to him that I was getting a creepy feeling. It was not really the kind that meant impending doom would arrive but something that would spook us for a good long while later.

  I had the feeling that this was the beginning of one of the greatest stories ever told. Maybe we would go down in history. Maybe not.

  Frank pulled in slowly to the weeded parking lot. It was next to the abandoned office for the quarry. He chose his position carefully and sat there for just a moment. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. It was the strangest feeling. Almost the same as driving to the haunted house on Halloween. After ten minutes or so he decided to open his door and said, “Let’s go.”

  I opened my door and closed it very quietly. I stood very still until he motioned for me to follow him down a path to the right of the office. We walked for about ten minutes and came to a slope that slid down into the rock bottoms. There was a longer wait while he stopped and looked around. This was going to be second on my list of weirdest days in the past few months. The first was the day my cat ran away but that’s a whole story in itself.

  Frank started walking again and walked even further down to the river. We stood there and I had to ask.

  “What were you thinking to make you come out this far and look around?” I said.

  “This is what I know Fynn. Those watchers are coming down and I think they have been here. I will show you why in just a minute.” he said

  We climbed up on a few oversized rocks and boulders to the top. As soon as we did the night sky lit it up. The moon gleamed down on the quarry and I seen it. It was junk but it was not normal human junk. It was metal pieces and long metal rods. And there was an odor in the air. It was odd. I couldn’t explain it if I tried.

  I had a feeling we would be coming out this way again and that bothered me a little. I was worried that they would see us or could sense us here. We had come a long way from the car and I was actually too scared to even want to go back.

  I did though. I put my legs into fast mode and walked out of the quarry like I had never walked before. We arrived back at the car and I threw my head back on the headrest. I was completely empty of thoughts. I had nothing to say. I wanted to know more but knew it would lead to more stress. It was too close to our homes. Something bad was brewing and I could feel it in every inch of my body.

  “You got this Fynn.” I said to myself. “Remember why you do what you do.” More self thoughts.

  Our shifts were long but voluntary. After the power came back and everyone adjusted a little, we worked for free but it carried with it a lot of thanks. People were very grateful that Frank and I continued with our jobs.

  The shift would end in the early morning hours. It was early enough for me to get home and take a break before the sunrise.

  Chapter Three

  I woke up once again to another beautiful sunrise. The skies remained quiet and since the beginning of their visits, the weather would stay peaceful for a few days and then turn into a wild creation of thunder and lightning.

  They were creating the weather just the same as the way the humans created it for the animals in the local animal sanctuaries. Sprinklers would come on at night and weather had to be mimicked to help them survive. The penguin houses had ice and cold frosty air. The monkey house had jungle plants and humidity.

  It was going to be a day without too much excitement. I was sure of that. I was off for the next two days and looked forward to the rest.

  Soon after my late day nap, the radio went off.

  “Fynn, do you read me?” the volunteer dispatcher said.

  Our local corner houses were all dispatchers. It was better to have a group of women reporting the news to me than strangers out of a county dispatch unit.

  She was worried and her voice trembled.

  “Fynn here, what’s going on?” I said quickly.

  “I… I... need to announce an alert. No tones at this time. I have a reporting party stating that their two-year-old daughter is missing.” She is very concerned and upset.

  “Go ahead with info when you’re ready.” I said.

  “Attention Frank and Fynn... I have a report of a missing two-year-old white female. Last seen about one hour ago at approximately Three P.M. This is Mary’s house. Description is as follows: 30 to 36 inches tall, weighing about 30 pounds. She was wearing a purple shirt and flowered leggings. Pink shoes. Mother stated that she was out in the yard playing by the tree and disappeared in less than five minutes as she was watering the garden.”

  I felt ill. There would need to be alerts sent out to several locals and a search team would need to be organized right away.

  “Copy that. Do we know any other details? Witnesses? What she was wearing?” I responded.

  “Reporting party is at 4148 Mills Avenue. The mother will be out front waiting to talk with all responding searchers and officers.”

  “10-4, in route.” I mumbled. We tried to continue to be official unofficially. In a small town we all know who Mary is and Mary knows everyone else. Before things changed our dispatch calls were recorded and there was a legal protocol to follow. Now we just do it to keep some type of order.

  I was worried and felt the tears start for the first time in a very long time. It took a lot to shake me up and get panicked.

  As I pulled up to the address, I noticed people coming from all around. The mother was crying and normally I would never cry in front of anyone but could not stop them. I knew what was happening.

  She cried and grabbed me. “I didn’t go far. I was just a yard length away from her! She was running and singing. She always plays by the tree. The wind started blowing and soon after, I called her name. I looked everywhere.” Mary said.

  I touched her shoulder and walked the yard looking at the area while the other neighbors talked to her. I was looking for anything that would be a clue to her disappearance.

  “Mary! Have you searched your
home again?” I yelled.

  She ran towards me and grabbed my arm.

  “I have searched the house and yard multiple times. It has been more than an hour, If she was hiding she would have been found by now. I am so scared.” she sobbed.

  We discussed a few more details before I walked off. This was beyond bad luck. As a matter of fact, if anyone truly believed in luck any longer it would have surprised me. Predicting what was next would have been easier with a magic 8 ball.

  But I knew. Deep in my heart. I knew that the watchers had something to do with her disappearance. Baby Bella was somewhere but not where we would be able to find her. If this was true, it would be the fifth documented case of a missing human that I had heard of since they had started visiting.

  I searched the tree and its surrounding area. The idea of watchers who may have become abductors did not excite me. Sometimes I enjoyed the thrill from it. The thrill was from still being able to do my job to some extent and enjoy,ment from solving a case. This was not one of the events that I looked forward to when it involved a child or anyone else we all knew.

  Frank arrived at the scene and walked back to the yard towards where I was standing. He could tell by the look on my face what was happening.

  “The watchers?”

  “Frank, you know it has to be. There is not one sign of Bella here. She is nowhere to be found.” I said.

  A farmer pulled up a few minutes earlier with his hunting dogs and was walking the perimeter. Neighbors and additional locals were calling out her name and looking in all directions. There was no damage to the ground or areas near the tree. I was busy looking for a sign of a landing.

  I sat at the base of the tree and looked up. The sky was silent. There were no watchers above. That seemed unusual. I became annoyed with my own misjudgment of how dangerous they could be.

  Mary walked back to me and could see it in my eyes. She knew that I had information or something that could help find Bella.

  “You’re not afraid of them, are you?” she said.

  “Mary, I have never been afraid of much in my lifetime but this is really worrying me. I am afraid that they have taken your daughter. Where, I don’t know. How I don’t know. For what, I just don’t know.” I said.

  I walked a few steps and looked up. The breeze swept through my hair and I just stood there and breathed it all in. It felt good and I needed that moment to clear my thoughts and get refocused. I had no idea what to do next. She looked heartbroken. I would have to decide what to do next. We would have to get the word out to other areas about another possible abduction. The previous missing cases we had were a farmer/hunter and husband/father from out in the county. This was the first missing person from our neighborhood.

  Communication was so slow paced now. Without the internet and being able to link with other communities we only had our radios. I would give anything to sit and scroll through my phone looking at my apps again. I missed my favorite pages that I followed and looking at new posts and stories. It was hard to forget how advanced we had become for just a few years before it was taken from us.

  I still had my phone and charger. I used it a few times to see what would happen. I even played my game for an evening. I enjoyed Candy Crush for a few years then moved on to Farm town and Zombie Games. Little did I know that they were preparing me for real life survival.

  There would have to be a discussion about the watchers and what their intentions were. I was hoping that this was not a sign that many more individuals would turn up missing. I felt helpless. There was not a good way to protect the public without ordering a curfew and mandatory lock-in.

  “Try to do your best this evening and stay inside. We will all work throughout the night and search again in the morning.” I said.

  “Thank you, Fynn, you’re a true blessing to us all. I just don’t think I can do this. I am not sure I can.” Mary said.

  I really didn’t feel like a hero or a blessing. I felt like a failure. I knew I had done my best with most of the situations we had been dealt but it was never enough. I continued looking and listening. I saw the looks on the faces of everyone that was searching.

  I watched her walk to the house. She went in the backdoor and turned on the lights. People were still coming in large numbers to talk to each other.

  The rumors would be hard to keep contained. I was not trying to be heartless but was so looking forward to having the night off. I wanted to read my book and just relax. I put the thoughts out of my mind and started the ideas flowing for a search party.

  Life was about to change again. Just when it seemed normal.

  The sun was set fully and the sky was still silent. The moon was full and overhead. Not one watcher was in sight. I wondered where they had all disappeared to.

  Chapter Four

  The sun did set and come up again several times while looking for little Bella. We were searching throughout the area and two others were still reported missing. One was the Father of four and lived just outside of town. He was fixing his well pump when he vanished. The second was a retired truck driver/farmer that also lived just on the outside of town limits.

  There was no connection between the two men and Bella. It was hard to make a theory as to why they were chosen or taken. We were all outside searching and could have all been taken at any given moment if they wanted to start collecting us. My curiosity was at its highest level and I wanted to see it happen. I wanted to be looking in the direction of someone that was chosen and lifted up. It made no sense at all to me how it all went down. I compared everthing to old movies. Big beams coming down transporting people up was one. Maybe it was a big claw. Heck I don’t know. What other possible ways could there be? Some of our beloved Church goers were following the signs and weather changes. I wanted to know more. I was thirsty for information and if that was the answer then I wanted it in full detail.

  I was finding it hard to continue foot searches while wanting to investigate the watchers. They were limiting the visits and the sky was almost silent. It seemed like a lifetime since I had seen a jet flyover. When the airports were closed it was similar to watching the era of closed shopping malls. Grass began covering the runways and large airlines had no way to turn their businesses into something else. No air traffic meant no air traffic.

  So many lost their jobs and were no longer able to see their families. Ground travel has become the number one way to get anywhere, second to the railroad. The only people able to accomplish ground travel were mostly farmers. Gas was still becoming an issue fast. We had enough to last for our emergency vehicles for several more months but that was due to donations from the farms.

  As the evening continued my head started getting full of stress and worry. I felt almost done. I was at the point that I just wanted it all to end. It was exciting most days, but physically and mentally draining. My emotions were going up and down quickly and when my motivation leaves it’s gone. For the day gone or until I get a nap and food.

  I sketched out the area and marked the missing reports on my map. There did not seem to be a pattern. I was looking for anything familiar. All missing persons the past week were from all age groups.

  The town’s local Doctor added his take on it. He believed that most at risk for abduction and that included Bella, all had Negative blood. I remembered my blood donor card with a big O-. That never really interested me before until he researched it. Negative Rhesus blood is copper-rich and had been listed as an Alien blood type for the past few years. It had also been described as self-healing and was the blood of the elite or Blue Bloods.

  So if Dr. Mitch was right then only negative blood types were missing. If history was correct then the negative blood appeared thousands of years ago and some really believe it was due to an Alien visit.

  I found some info in my old childhood encyclopedia and wrote down what Dr. Mitch told me.

  ~There are 35 blood group systems organized by our genetic structure to carry the information that produces antigens.
Antigens are molecules that produce an immune response, so when a foreign substance or toxin enters our system, antigens tell our bodies to attack them. Within the Rh system there are 61 antigens, with the D antigen determining whether one is Rh-positive of Rh-negative. This antigen is a sensitive protein that exists on the surface of red blood cells and can react negatively if it comes in contact with Rh-positive blood.

  If a woman with Rh-negative blood becomes pregnant with an Rh-positive baby, her body will produce antigens signaling to her immune system that her fetus is essentially toxic. Oddly, the woman’s body will kill its own fetus, unless given a rare antibody known as Rh-D immunoglobulin. This complication is known as hemolytic disease. Some believe Rh-negative blood is simply a mutation that came about at some unknown time in our evolution. But, as strange as it sounds, others have speculated with the possibility that it may have come from an alien species that interbred with humans or engineered us in some way, producing a hybrid bloodline. When we look at hybrid animals in other species, there are similar incompatibilities and sometimes even complete infertility. When a horse and donkey mate, the genetic differences result in a sterile mule. The same goes for a liger – the progeny of a lion and a tiger – the two species chromosomes don’t match, so they produce infertile offspring. Could there be a similar incompatibility between Rh-negative mothers and Rh-positive babies?~