Surely, not everyone is crazy. The world I woke in was much like home, a much older Earth, several decades behind my time.
I was in the driver’s seat, sitting there typing on my computer. It had rained and rained, and it wasn’t rare that a bloop noise would come from the sirens up above me in the lot.
There would be a bloop, then a flash, bloop, flash, bloop flash; this happened every hour or so, it was never consistent though.
I sat there in my car, I waited for my brother. In my dream I had a brother, who came back to the car so I could move over and let him take control and drive me home. It seemed alright, it seemed like life was fine, but then bloop. Those things would bloop, flash all, day long.
I felt like something was bound to happen, I wasn’t sure what the bloops meant, I wasn’t really sure where I was exactly with my brother.
I just quietly waited and imagined things.
Inside of the glove box, there was a little jar filled with bright blue pills, a red jar.
Like little candies, I knew not to touch them with their daring looks, I knew it was not candy for me.
Slam! My brother slammed his face on the window right beside me, I jumped. After my adrenaline stopped, I let myself go and moved over unlocking the doors. He fell into the seat lopsided and swaying.
He said, “you, I need you to get me that bottle. I know you know what I am saying. I need one. Just one, get me one.”
“What are they for?” I asked.
I shook my head no, his hand reaching out to my face. I clearly saw, and was frightened that he had been acting so belligerently.
“Just get me one! I’ll let you have one, you’ll see. You’ll see man,” he demanded.
I gave in because I didn't want to argue. It was still raining, he was drenched, light colored face, black hair, light eyes, empty and cold.
I reached back over to the glove compartment, and I grasped the little red jar, and opened the cap. I pulled out two, and I downed both, as a child would candy. He didn’t even notice.
I reached back in with my small fingers, and grabbed four, and I placed them into his hand.
He stuck his tongue out, his red lizard like tongue, and he placed each pill in a pattern crossing each other and parallel before sliding his tongue back in, closing his mouth and then swallowing. I sat still with the pill in my mouth.
His pupils grew so large, he expanded his arms in a stretch, like a high he had never had before, he reached out so far, his color restored, normality brought back to life. Then, he froze.
Just like one who would overdose, instead of just having one, he had four, he sat still, frozen and cold, much like a figure I knew.
I swallowed two pills, and within a drop of water, I froze too. Like life was perfect, and in that frozen state, I dreamt again, I dreamt the same dream, with the same brother. Like population control, like addiction to methyl amphetamines, I saw color, I felt lifeless, but it felt so damn good.
I heard someone yell, “Luis! Get up, get up man!”
My vision flashed, black to clear, black to clear. I was frightened. I felt liquid dripping from my chin, and my ears felt filled with water.
I was hit right in the back, when I finally saw clarity. I felt my insides tense up, and everything just came out, all into the bucket Tommy had grabbed me.
“Let go Luis! Just let go, you’re hurting me, you are going to be fine,” Tommy reassured me. I finally felt the world balance again.
“What happened?” I asked lightly shaking but still holding his hands instead of his sides.
“You were sleeping, and then started violently shaking like you had a seizure,” Tommy said.
I felt nauseous.
“Those pills, I don't know what they are for, but we need to stop letting Mae take them,” I said concerned and confused.
We just sat there for a moment, and then I got up to change my clothes. Someone knocked at the door.
Tommy got up while I looked through my messy bags of clothes.
It was Anthony, “are you guys ready? I think if we are going to do anything, or go to Dunshop it should be today.”
Tommy replied, “I think we should. We are ready, he is just getting changed.”
The doorbell rang.
“Oh great, I wonder who that is. Let’s all stay quiet, I think Mae will get it,” Sam said coming from out of her bedroom.
Mae slowly walked to the front door, she was smiling her old smile, and she opened the door.
“Oh hi! It is so nice to see you Robert!” Mae smiled, but we still couldn’t see who it was. It seemed like he was talking, but we couldn’t hear who it was.
He stepped in. He had nice slicked back hair, he wore all white, almost like a doctor’s coat.
17
It was truly a strange moment. We stood there while Mae entertained that man in the white coat. We all knew it was the doctor that had been caring for Mae, Sam’s grandmother.
Like little kids hiding behind the corner, we observed the danger that seemed to have controlled the displaced society. We finally crept out to introduce ourselves and to gain a better understanding of that stranger.
“Hi, there!” Anthony said to the man in the white coat.
The man seemed startled, and at first, he was in the complete flat face, then he smiled as if he rebooted and changed the entirety of the subject.
“Oh, hello! I didn't even know Mae had people over,” he turned over to Mae, and sternly said, “I thought I made it clear if anyone was to ever stop by, you were supposed to contact me immediately.”
He pulled at the bottoms of his coat, and he made a final opportunity to make a statement of his business, and then Mae interjected, “I am so sorry, I didn't know that you were supposed to be aware of all things I do. They are my family, not friends, that is my granddaughter Sam, and that is her uncle. They aren’t strangers,” she cried.
He sighed, and then looked over at her again and then back at us, then at her, “I guess my business here is not finished, I will be back. You have enough vitamins to get you through the week, but you need to increase supplementation by five an hour. I don't want you to be stressed out. Okay? Have a good day dearie. I am so sorry to disturb you.”
The man never introduced himself, and therefore we were stuck still filling Mae with questions, she seemed to know her way around her doctor, coinciding with the fact that she was either able to lie on the fly, or she was confused as to who we really were to her.
“Have a good day, I am sorry that I didn't tell you I was having family over, I will do as you ask,” Mae replied.
She shut the door behind him, and then she turned to us, “okay, family. I don't know why you are here with my granddaughter, or what you want, and as you see everything is fine here, but I was wondering if you guys would mind keeping to yourselves. The more you know, the more in danger I am. That man, he is nice, and I want him to keep coming by, but I don't want any trouble.”
Sam was quick to reply despite the surprise, “Grandma, there is something wrong here. This is all wrong, you have always been healthy, but now they are pumping you full of pills, and the only good reason they have is so you aren’t stressed. Doesn’t that seem sketchy? You need family here to help protect you, and you need to stop taking all those pills.”
Mae stood there, and as if her thoughts fleeted away, “I am so sorry honey, I have no idea what you are talking about. What man? These pills just soothe me. Here.”
She grabbed one from her pocket, “have one, I promise it’ll make you feel better.”
“I think I’d rather not,” Sam remarked.
Tommy was still inside the bedroom, as Anthony, Sam and I dealt with the situation.
Mae seemed to be perfectly authentic, and she really wanted Sam to try one.
“Honey, it doesn’t do anything dangerous. I started taking them several months ago as everyone did, the man stopped by with a large supply, and there I was starting my first dosage. I have never felt better,”
Mae said.
Sam replied, “Grandma, those red things turn you into a zombie! We have all seen it. You sit on that couch with nothing on, and sit there and sit there, and you don’t move or acknowledge anything around you until there is a dire need for you to do so.”
There was silence, and we all stood around Mae as if we were trying to break her addiction.
Mae sighed, “just leave me be. If you are unwilling to see what I am trying to tell you, then I guess we ought to ignore each other. This isn’t something I am going to stop doing.”
Mae walked away and sat back down on the couch, sitting, just as Sam said, zombie-like and spaced out.
Anthony grabbed my shoulder pulling me to the side with Sam. Whispering, he looked at her and then me, “listen, I don’t think we are safe, but I don’t think we are unsafe either. I think that Mae is harmless, and she’s unwilling to tell the government the truth of who we are because let’s be real, that man is not a doctor. That man is the government. He trust’s Mae because he knows she is under control and no harm to anything or anyone in particular, and that includes telling of the past and realizing where she really is or where she really is not. We will keep staying here, but let us not agitate her or cause her any distress that would lead her to tell the government who we truly are.”
I asked, “when are we going to Dunshop?”
“We have to wait this out, I think. I think it would be smart for us to wait a day or two before traveling out. Maybe if you and Sam want to go outside, and walk over to the foreign grass and trees near the fence where Dunshop is, you can gather some details about how we might want to go in,” Anthony explained.
Sam was the first to speak, “I think that is a good idea. I am going to get on my shoes and prepare my backpack, and then Luis, we can head out.”
Anthony remarked, “remember the three rules, don’t trust anyone, don’t get to knowing and befriending people you don’t know, and do not get caught.”
I spoke frankly, “I figure Unity has this all mapped out. They have geothermal maps and radars, they have cameras and total control of the area near the fence, so I figure that we need to keep quiet and have a signal if we need to leave. If we need to get out of here, we will send a message to you Anthony, and then when Sam and I are together, if we need to tell each other someone is near or we are worried, we will use the hand signal for go and point toward the direction of Mae’s and we will get low and move out.”
We were all in agreement and left it at that. Sam went to her room to prep her bag, and I went back to mine to gather some items I thought would be necessary to protect ourselves.
Tommy was still lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling, and he asked, “do you think that we will actually ever get back to Earth or do you think that is a far stretch?”
I replied, “I don’t think it helps to think about it. Whatever happens, happens. At this point, it has become my life just to go as it is, and to let it be and I can try to work with everyone to get us all back, but I am not too worried about getting back to a place that is probably filled with corruption and never-ending problems.”
Tommy said, “I guess that is true. I’m just so done. I saw you take some of Mae’s pills and hide them, and I took one of them.”
My eyes had opened, “why on earth would you take one of those!”
I basically jumped onto his bed and agitated, but slowly let go, “how do you feel?”
He said, “you know how people always talk about out of body experiences, and how like something allows you to crawl out of your skin, and walk around and see what is really around you like a “Naked Lunch”? Well, that is how this feel. I feel like I am anxious and nervous, and I am walking around outside of my body emotional and all, probably about to pass out from the different sad thoughts coming out of my mind, but I feel none of it. I see it. I don’t feel it or anything, which explains why Mae just sits there.”
“So, you have no control?” I asked.
“Correct. No control. That was just one pill, can you imagine how some people take five an hour?” Tommy asked as he slowly looked over at me.
I just looked at him and shook my head laughing, “seems like the kind of drug everyone needs back home, of course not several an hour, but one here and there to let loose of all your feelings.”
Sam tapped on the door as she looked at me and walked in, “ready to go, dude?”
Tommy asked, “where are you going?”
She answered, “we are going out. Making some observations or doing field work, whatever older people say these days.”
“Alright, see you in a bit,” he said.
Sam and I walked out into the hallway where Anthony waited, “I have my computers linked to my room, I was able to tap into the camera feed to the west fences of Dunshop. The only goal today is to identify any good entry points. The feeds will be jammed on your mark, and you’ll have ten minutes before they dispatch security out to the location to check the cameras and the jamming will cease.”
Sam reiterated, “get out to the fence, follow the three rules, in ten minutes identify a good entry point. Got it.”
I liked her ability to get somewhere and to get something done. She had goals, and she abided by the rules, she was hip.
I waited on the front porch for Sam. The air was dry, and the sun blazed heat that was almost unbearable to stand. My short sleeves covered barely the tops of my arms, I knew I would get burned.
Unlike being in the city, where it felt uncomfortably awkward and abnormal, the edge felt almost the same if not worse being where there should be a river and New Jersey.
The door opened and closed behind me.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yep, let's get it done,” I said.
I stood up, and we began our walk. Almost like black bears in an ocean of white snow, we stood out like a sore thumb.
“Your Grandma seems nice and everything. Do you think that she would consider getting away from the people she knows are using her?” I asked out of concern.
Sam replied, “my Grandma Mae is very smart. She is or was very healthy before the pills and all, but she doesn’t seem all that concerned about getting away or anything. She seems fine, and I don't really care to try to intervene. I think she is serious when she means to keep separate from what we are doing, and that is I think inside she knows that there is something wrong for which she, for once in her life, can’t fix. Whatever it is that this man Kolash can do for us, he can do for her and all of us, and all of them out there in the city that don’t even know what has gone on since they woke up.”
I thought I knew what she was saying, so I just shrugged and kept up the pace with her.
Off in the distance, it looked like a plateau of grass, with a huge sharply inclined mountain, but right in between of the valley was our destination, the only fence to the higher Dunshop, almost like a floating island with fields of flowers.
The strange colored skies changed to a darker purple, it must be close tonight.
“Time seems to move so strangely here. One moment we wake up and it’s morning, and the next it’s night like several hours later, then it’s like mid-day with yellow skies,” Sam interjected.
I replied, “I think there is a lot we don't know about this place. A lot where we do know and don't know. I mean figuratively, it seemed two years back The Councilor thought this place was about to explode after crippling and droughting of all-natural resources. Look now though, it seems like the flow of energy can be controlled, there doesn’t seem to be any urgency that this planet is as less stable as any other planet. To me, this is just a shit show that we have to deal with, the government here only has one goal and that is to keep things moving and prevent people from thinking they are somewhere else, or that that the aliens they knew to be enemies and destroyed had actually lived on, and successfully gone to Earth.”
I stopped for a moment and slowed my walking.
“Sam, do you really think we are going to get back an
ytime soon? I feel like this, what we are doing is enough, but I don't feel like it is really going to make all that difference to the world or the universe.” I said.
Sam remarked, “I think, whatever happens, happens. I’m not here to save the world, I am here now to get my father back.”
The pretty colored grass seemed to grow further and further up my legs, to the point I had to physically push it out of my way so that I could breathe.
I peered over the tall dandelion-like growers, “I don't think we have much further. It looks like the trees are up-ahead. We just need to keep clear of the cameras or whatever it is they use to watch this place. When we get up there, lets spread out, and then try to find an easy access point and get out.”
Sam said, “yeah, sounds like a good idea to me.”
We made it through the grasses, and the trees overhead seemed to extend into the sky for miles. Taller than any skyscraper I had seen anywhere in the city.
The trunks were green and smooth like a flower’s stem. The branches curled like a spiral staircase but sideways, and the tree leaves were more like cotton balls of brightly colored yellows, greens, and splotches of blue and black.
There was no tall grass underneath.
I could finally breathe clearly without feeling squished tightly in by the thick underbrush.
I saw the fence.
It was tall and black with a small, and tightly dense diamond pattern. Above, were several cameras, I hoped that Anthony had jammed. I sent him a message.
He quickly replied, “it is a go, set your watch for ten minutes.”
I looked over at Sam, “okay, so I think that we are good to go. Anthony messaged me, the cameras are jammed, let’s try to get out of here in five minutes instead of ten. I don't really feel like waiting for the Unity watchdogs to get here to check out the area and the cameras.”
She nodded her head and went left as I went right, looking for a soft area that perhaps we could dig our way through when we come with everyone down to the house.
The World of Hope Page 12