by Deb Stratton
She knew. She looked at me for one second and could feel it. I took her in close and hugged her throughout the release of her pain. It was so hard. I didn't let go. I stayed like that until she was fully comforted. After several minutes she backed up and took my hand. We walked together to the car and nothing was said. I just let it be. A mother knows and Mary did not need any words to tell her what had happened. Somehow she knew.
~
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Chapter Nine
Mary’s face was numb. Her face did not show expression when she spoke. She took a deep breath and pressed the words through her lips the best she could. It was heartbreaking.
“I loved her so much. I don’t know what to do without her.” She said.
The autopsy report showed nothing unusual. The coroner researched day and night for any indication of how Bella passed away. There were no bruises or marks. He ruled out homicide. There was nothing to go on.
“I want you to know Mary that we will keep trying to find out what is happening. Right now it is important to keep everyone close together to protect our loved ones and neighbors.” I said.
We all continued to spend time with Mary. It was going to take time for her to heal. Bev prayed with her and over her often. It did help bring some comfort. Other members of Bev’s church joined together outside for a prayer vigil. Bella was buried near the units. It would make it easier for Mary to have her nearby. Traveling to the cemetery would put the town’s people in a mess trying to travel out to it.
It was back to business as usual. We were two weeks into moving everyone into the units and were just days away from getting the first building full. Supplies continued to pour in. The weather started turning colder with Fall setting in and that was a good thing. The units were not easy to cool. It was comfortable though. I was asked by the children often how long we would need to hide. They saw it as a game. It was intentional on my part to keep adult information from them. They only needed to know that going outside was off limits unless it was necessary.
What I wouldn’t give for a look at the internet or my old social media sites. I wanted to get a larger perspective of what was happening worldwide. I only knew of the loss of jobs, food shortages and limited power usage. Everyone that was working for the police, firehouse, electric company, hospitals and essential workers was done on a-time-donation basis only. The use of money was now totally obsolete. The stock market and banks no longer remained open. My credit score was gone. My credit cards were gone. My head constantly cycles through these thoughts to keep the full vision in perspective for what was happening around us.
It was almost like everyone retired and went on vacation across the country, maybe even around the world.
It was time to start the plan for the second building. That would be quite a ways in the future. Some residents wanted to bring family members to our units from other small towns that were nearby. I was OK with that. I believed that there were power in numbers. The majority of us that joined together, the easier it would be to survive. Frank did not agree with that. He believed a larger number would look more obvious to the watchers.
One resident told a story during our evening meal. It was the story of the watchers in Bible. The watchers were defined as Angels dispatched to the Earth. They were sent to watch over humans. She told us that there were good and bad watchers. The bad were the rebellious ones. They longed to be with humans or become one.
Watchers are just my name for them. Everyone had created different ones. I liked them all but it was easier for me to call them that. After all, they just watched. Well they did until some people started to become abducted or missing. That would be a reason to call them something else.
We could call them outlanders or externals. Intruders or guests would have worked for me.
Now that they are not just watching may we should call them the Anunnaki. According to one resident, Stan, they come from the planet Nibiru. They are also known as miners. It was believed that the Arunnaki were divine and above all humans. It was mentioned that they were Aliens that interbred with humans.
There were others discussions going on in the units. The watchers could be Reptilians. This was the hardest for me to believe. I could not grasp the concept of reptile hybrids abducting humans. They are also considered shape-shifters, because they are able to take on a human form and live as a human.
More than half of the people among me believed the watchers to be Gray. Short gray beings with big heads and large black eyes. I would much rather believe in this type than giant reptiles or purring dragon like creatures. Cloaking frightened me a bit. Invisibility also freaked me out. Even though I had excellent training through the Police Academy, it was difficult to fight something you could not see. I could see a new course at the academy in the future for officers that included Alien visits.
There were a few other types that were discussed. The Andromedans and the Nordics. Both of which may already live among us. Or so they say.
If I had to choose one then I would still go with the watchers. Which is the name I chose to call them. It made sense to me. I did not want to believe that the reptilians were coming for me. I could handle the latter.
Mary went to rest for the night. The sun set and it was beautiful. It was Bella’s sunset. It was a miracle every day to see it. I appreciated it and held it close to my heart. I had hoped to see many more.
Chapter Ten
I laid on my bed night after night listening. I had no trouble sleeping but was obsessed with noises outside. I listened for them. It had been nearly a month, and they were still gone. I wondered why about every five minutes.
It was official. All Hermann residents were tucked into their units and doing well. People were still drifting in from the outskirts and from smaller towns. Two small towns were only a few miles away. One was blessed to have a Marshal. He was the complete opposite of any officer one would expect. He was fair, kind and caring. Police officers in general get a bad wrap from some, and he took his fair share of hits just like we did. He continued on with an impressive amount of energy and drive because he loved his job. We were lucky to have him and his wife arrive to our Zoo.
He was of Native American Heritage and had little fear. This was just what we needed because his focus was always on positive messages and the community. We needed that. He stayed behind after moving his wife in and helped his community travel the eight miles to us. His name was Trace. He brought with him extra equipment and support. We found a way to keep him in a small unit up front. If I could have mustered up the mental energy to share a room with Frank then it would have given Trace and his wife a room up front with us. I just could not do that yet. I liked Frank and cared about him but was not ready to bunk with him.
The situation was complicated. In the past two years an epidemic developed in the area. We had higher numbers of drug addicted residents. We had seen an increase in crime due to this and the release of the prison and jail inmates. It was hard to balance but he accomplished it.
The last thing we wanted to do was have the units filled with people recovering from drug addiction and withdrawal. The number one drug was methamphetamine. So we had units with families and farmers. We had police officers and doctors. We also had drug users. Being in a smaller space helped focus on what we could do to help them.
He convinced about 80% of his town to travel to us. They were terrified before arriving. The amount of stress that they were under with worry was very high. That all changed.
The families all started to care about each other. We set up a game table and had card and game nights.
If there were any way for me to take it all away, I would. I had been battling an insane idea in my head to try to make it easier for everyone but it would take some time to convince myself to do it. We all had to try to do our best to get through it. Maybe it would end. Maybe it wouldn’t.
It was always a good thing to see the children happy and playing. Bev was busy getting a learning schedule set in place fo
r them. We had thirty-six young children to educate and keep busy. She was such a blessing to all of us. Her faith also kept everyone positive. We housed many religions in one building and there was never one more beautiful than her Pentecost ways. The moment the kids caught sight of her skirt and hair bun, excitement brewed. She was always calm and pleasant. She was also very humorous which kept everyone in a good place.
I don’t know how long I laid there and stared at the ceiling. It was getting late and the patrols were slowing down for us. No more long nights and shifts. We checked the houses and looked for anything unusual when we felt like it. It was much better that way. I was tired. Adding an officer was making it much easier for me as well.
We had still not recovered the two others that were reported missing. There was not a single clue. They were gone and none of had a choice. We just tried not to focus on something we had no control over. Trace had no reports of anyone missing from his area.
I forced myself to rest just, so I would not miss the sunrise. The sun had a ring around it the day before and it was said by some that it was an omen. Others said it was a blessing. Whatever it was made for a beautiful sky. It just kept getting brighter and more amazing as the days went by. Maybe it was just the way we thought. Sometimes appreciation of life when you think it is almost gone makes beauty show in everything.
Chapter Eleven
The morning came three months after our units were thriving. The military came through town and was spotted by the funeral home owners. They kept going and never came near our units. The houses were all quiet and with the daylight shining on them it gave an appearance to the guard members that everyone was either gone or OK. I trusted them but had my worries about martial law making an impact on our lives.
I had taken it upon myself to learn more about martial law and so called FEMA camps. I had heard that each state had a designated place secured for the people they would take in. Maybe they were a good idea when it was developed. I wondered why they didn’t use them to house the prisoners they set free.
Bev was busy running around due to the requests made by some women. Not only was she the loving educator, she was also one to call for health issues. She took care of everyone and organized all the medications we had stockpiled. We had one woman expecting a baby that had just moved in. She was still four months away from her due date. Dr. Mitch assured us that it would be ok and monitored her often.
On Monday we had four women that were sick. On Tuesday we had six more. By Friday, it turned to ten. Either we had a Fall season breakout of the flu or a possible food-borne illness spreading around from something we had served as a meal.
Frank was OK. I was OK. There were no children sick. Bev was even complaining about her stomach as she grabbed the basket of nausea pills. Without her it would be a mess. Someone would have to care for the children and men while the women were all confined. The one sick bay we had made in the smaller unit towards the front was housing two women and the rest were placed in a large unit together.
“Well this isn’t good.” Frank said.
“Well no it’s really not. I don’t know what to think.” I said. I really didn’t.
We went into the second week and then the third. It was not going away.
I couldn’t grasp the situation. I was present to others physically only. My mind was numb. I spent more and more time looking for answers. There was nothing to discover. Nothing they wanted us to know.
Suddenly everyone started to feel better. One of the Mom’s had a theory and it put my brain into motion. Her name was Stephanie. She had three children and her husband living in a larger unit towards the back. We were sitting at the table, and she made a comment that struck me funny.
“What if Bella was returned with an illness?” she said.
“And maybe that’s why Mary was sick first. She was exposed to it. Maybe she was alive when she was placed in your yard and didn’t heal?” She continued.
That is when it all started to make sense. The watchers saw that we were civilized and technologically capable. They also were fascinated with us. It was possible that they also seen the large amount of disease that we all tried to defeat on a daily basis. Cancer being the largest one.
Bella must had been returned with a sickness. She was returned with an illness that spread into symptoms similar to the flu.
Without a way to speak to other cities or countries it would be hard to make complete sense of it all. I think I was finally onto something.
I ran to my office and pulled the files for the missing people in our town. First, I looked at Alex’s file. His wife Anne reported that he was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. It was in the early stages and disappeared shortly after his last doctor visit.
There was also a case reported for Chance. His sister Niki reported he was ill before he went missing. No diagnosis.
I looked through the files and made a discovery. All of these people were sick in some way.
I grabbed my notebook and told everyone I would be back. I headed outside and took a walk. I tried to stay away from the units while outdoors to keep the focus off of them. That was assuming that intelligent beings from another planet or galaxy would never be able to predict or see what we had been doing. I felt kind of stupid at that point. If they were capable of finding us or placing us here, why would I assume that they were not smart enough to know what we were doing. Sometimes I could just kick myself for my crazy thinking.
I walked down to the Barr’s farm and sat under a tree. As the day went on it drew closer to my favorite time of day. The exact moment that the sun shines perfectly across every yard and field. The early evening glow. It had always been my favorite throughout the years.
I wrote my notes down and doodled a bit. While my pen was dragging the edge of the paper a noise startled me. It sounded like cars rumbling on the pavement of a highway. It was humming. They were back. I sat there looking but not looking. They were back and filling the sky. One ship was a mile or so off. Then two. Then five. It looked like they were frantically moving back and forth in the sky looking for something.
Maybe it was Bella. Maybe it was me. It could have been all of us they were searching for.
I moved my hat over on my head a little to see around it. I was not scared any longer. Whatever it was that they could do to me was not worse than the feeling I had trying to survive them. They had come from nowhere and turned the earth into a major apocalyptic scare. They were interested in humanity with an odd curiosity. Odd because they were never found interacting with anyone. They only observed. They studied us like animals.
Multiple ships went behind the clouds. Just when only one was left more came out. Some large and some very small. Some as large as a battleship.
I decided to wait under the tree until dark to walk back. I did not want to be seen.
I sat quietly. The enemy was close and the world seemed to bow down to it. The sun started to slip away. I sighed a little and brushed off the back of my pants. I admired the wonder of it all and as the last bit of color faded, I walked away.
Chapter Twelve
I woke up to Bev standing in my doorway. She was shivering like a person on a snow filled day. It was still early and everyone should have still been sleeping.
“I don’t want them to come here.” she said.
I sat up and asked her to come sit by me. She sat on the edge of my bed and looked at me.
“What’s going on Bev? Why are you up so early and what is bothering you?” I said.
“I think I know what is happening. I can hear them outside. They are hovering again near us. They want something. I know what it is.” She said.
I was half asleep and completely fascinated with her new-found theory. I wanted to know more. I jumped up and grabbed my notebook off of the desk.
“What do you think is happening? Please tell me.” I said.
She continued on the longest speech I had ever heard. That the watchers were visiting and abducting humans to not only obse
rve but to heal. I knew this went against her very personal religious views. She was not only educated about biblical events but known for her interest in science and politics. I trusted her and wanted to know more.
Her theory brought my questions to life. So many questions were leading to why. Why were they here? Why did they come? Why would they take anyone with them? Why did they return Bella and no-one else?
She went on to say that if the watchers were on a mission to help our planet then the healing would be a gift.
Over time, they had abducted or taken several people from our area, not just our town. All sick. There was no way to find out the numbers of all that could have been taken or missing worldwide. That seemed to rule out the China theory. I would laugh at myself later for even considering that one.
This would turn out to be the greatest brainstorming session in history. The watchers, according to Bev, were taking humans and healing them. It was not very effective at first which may be the reason why Bella was returned. Was she sick and no-one had known yet? The watchers were transporting people to diagnose and heal them. They found the nature of the human illness epidemic and found a way to help without interaction.