He’d gathered some stuff from the junk drawer in the dining room of that house, a few pictures, and a journal.
Not much else, there wasn’t that much to get at the first house.
It was boring.
No one was there. No remains of bodies or a car. They left.
But the split-level house was a whole other ball game.
There was a car in the driveway. The house was in disarray, like some huge brawl broke out before everything happened.
The front door was not only bolted, but the reason that Sam and Tucker couldn’t get in was because it had a security bar on it.
Even though the walls exhibited mold and growth, Tucker didn’t see any blood or any bodies there.
The people left. Not only that, they took food.
The cabinets in the kitchen were bare and the doors to the cabinets had been left open.
While Sam examined the first floor further, Tucker walked up those six steps to the upper level.
Three bedrooms.
The house looked smaller on the outside than it did on the inside.
He paused at the first bedroom and looked at the slightly open door.
It was damaged.
When Tucker saw that door, he immediately thought about his dorm roommate in college. A young, angry man who would emotionally get out of control when he drank. One night that college roommate got into a fight with his girlfriend and in his alcohol-induced rage, punched the door, putting an indentation and slight crack in it.
The door to the bedroom in the home had a similar mark.
Tucker ran his fingers over the hole, then pushed the door open.
The bed was overturned; posters that at one time hung on the walls dangled and were partially deteriorated.
“What the hell happened here?” Tucker said out loud to himself.
The damage made as much sense to him as the bullet-riddled table in the pizza parlor.
One house peace, the second chaos.
He stepped further into the room and reached for a dresser drawer. It took some struggling to open it, but when he did he saw clothes.
The closet was open and clothes, still on hangers, were piled on the floor.
“Tuck.” Sam rushed into the room.
Tucker spun around. “You scared me.”
“You have to see this.”
“Did you find something?” Tucker asked.
“Yeah, and it makes no sense.”
“Sam, this entire house makes no sense,” Tucker said. “Makes me think of those old cop shows where the police come in and raid a place, turning it upside down.”
“You might not be far off with that.” Sam led him down the six steps and to the front door. The security bar that kept it closed was off to the side and Sam opened it. “I decided to see if there was another car in the garage.” Sam walked outside and turned right to the garage that was attached to the house. The door was open.
Tucker saw two cars in there, parked side by side. “They had three cars?”
“No. I thought that when I walked in here…” Sam said. “I thought, wow, not only is this a clean garage, but small. Short, you know, they couldn’t park that SUV on the driveway in there.”
“No, they could not.”
“I didn’t see it at first when I opened the garage door but…come here.” He walked down the side of the car to the back wall. “Look.”
“What the hell?” Tucker blurted out when he saw there was a huge hole, at least four foot around, in the back wall.
“Yeah. And it doesn’t go to the backyard.” Sam lifted his flashlight and shone it in. “It’s hollow.”
“It’s a room,” Tucker said. He pulled out his rectangular LED light and with it lit he climbed through. “Sam, get in here.”
The light was bright enough to illuminate the entire area.
It was long and narrow. There were blankets and cots, food scattered about.
“People lived back here,” Tucker said. “It’s a hidden room.”
“That hole…that hole, they either escaped…” Sam said.
“Or someone pulled them out.”
“Tuck, why build a hidden room in the garage?”
“I think the better question should be,” Tucker said, “what were they hiding from?”
NINETEEN
It wasn’t quiet when it should have been. Nate couldn’t quite place the sound. It wasn’t an animal or human, it was closer to a click and hum. But it was faint and just when he thought he heard it, it was gone. More than likely it was Tucker and Sam.
It started after dinner when they were getting ready to settle down for the evening. Right after Tucker and Sam took off for a walk, despite Finch’s advice to stay put.
Though they did check in every five minutes by radio.
Nate had cooked the meal. He’d used the fresh vegetables from Quinn, the preserved chicken breasts, and made a nice stir fry, without stir frying it.
Everyone enjoyed it.
Finch had suggested taking a break after dinner. Take time for everyone to clear their minds after the search, and then once they were refreshed they could revisit and discus.
Rey had set up the fire pan, a miniature version of a fire pit, and had a small fire going. She sat on a cushion and next to her was the gear bag. It was open and she shuffled through items.
Nate pulled up his chair. He looked at Finch, who kicked back. “Anything from them?”
“They are due to radio in a few.”
“Do we have to wait?” Rey asked. “I came up with some interesting things.”
“Like?” Finch asked.
“Like, there wasn’t much in the first house. But our second one…” Rey said. “Someone in that house went on the ARC.”
“What?” Finch sat up, leaning forward. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“Well, it was such a good find,” Rey said. “I wanted to tell everyone all at once. This person was selected really early, too.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a frame. “His mom was proud. Apparently, he was selected for his ongoing work in robotics.”
“Interesting.” Finch took the frame. “I didn’t realize that was one of the categories.”
“It was fifty years after our time,” Nate said. “A lot could have changed.”
“Very true. So anything else?” Finch asked.
“You mean like, that wasn’t enough?” Rey asked.
“I didn’t say that, I was just…”
“Apparently, there weren’t any natural disasters. From the looks of the stores,” Nate said. “They closed down. So, that tells us something happened here.”
“No shit,” snapped Rey.
“What is that about?” Finch questioned. “Why the bad mood?”
“I’m pissed, we’re supposed to share what we found and put our heads together. Where are they?” Rey said. “Not here.”
“They’ll be here soon. We can talk without them.”
“Just that we’ll have to repeat it,” Rey said.
“She has a point,” Nate agreed.
“Fine.” Finch lifted the radio. “Tucker. Come in. Are you guys coming back any time soon?”
“On our way, Commander,” Tucker replied. “We found something.”
“Roger that, see you soon.” Finch glanced at Rey.
Nate saw it; she didn’t look happy.
“What is it now?” Finch asked her.
“Now, everything they say is going to be important, like ours isn’t.”
Finch laughed. “Rey, what is wrong with you tonight? Have some of that Quinn wine. It’s good stuff, relax.”
“Speaking of Quinn,” Nate said. “Did he ever give us any definite indication of when things happened? Like the big stuff.”
“Obviously, sometime after right now,” Finch said. “I just wish we knew when we were.”
Rey raised her hand and spoke cheerfully. “I found a loaf of bread today.”
Finch and Nate just looked at her.
They still stared at her as if she were nuts.
“I was kind of shocked it was that bad,” Rey said. “The Dawsons…”
“Who?” Finch asked.
“Second house, they were they Dawsons,” Rey replied. “The name on the letter.”
“Oh.” Finch nodded.
“Anyhow, the Dawsons had been storing food. I mean, hiding it for some reason, maybe there was a run on things. They had these gray plastic storage bins, the type I used to store my Christmas decorations. Why they didn’t stick it in a freezer, I don’t know.”
“Maybe,” Finch said. “If they were hiding it, it would be seen.”
“Good point.”
“Where is this going?” Nate asked.
“I’m getting there. I was going to wait,” Rey said, “until Tucker and Sam got back, but I want to break the news first in case they found it out.”
“What news?” Nate asked. “That bread stored in gray plastic container turns into a lump of something?”
“Sealed container. That’s important,” Rey said.
Finch shook his head. “Okay, I am going to let you roll, because, obviously, you are building to something big.”
“I am,” Rey said. “The sealed container allowed the plastic wrapping over the bread to be in good condition and…let me see the sell-by date. That sell by year was five years after the letter Nate found. Which also let me know that Tucker was off by twenty-five years. If we go by the intervals of the Androski, the date on the letter, and condition of the town, we are not on Earth one hundred, we are only seventy-five years in the future after we left. Because there is no way this town has been empty for fifty years.”
“Oh my God,” Finch said. “That is amazing. That really is amazing.”
“It is,” Nate stated. “Although I’m pretty sure there was a shorter way to say it.”
Rey was going to say something but looked beyond Nate.
Tucker and Sam were returning, walking at a quick pace to the camp.
Finch stood. “Everything alright?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Tucker nodded. “It’s been an eventful evening.”
“It has,” Finch said. “Rey just told us she figured out when we are. In a pretty impressive way, too.”
“From a loaf of bread,” Rey said. “We’re seventy-five years post-Omni.”
“Wow, really?” Tucker asked. “Makes what we found even more disheartening.”
“What did you find?” Finch questioned.
Again, Tucker looked at Sam.
Sam answered, “We found out…what happened in this town.”
<><><><>
“If we take the solar buggy,” Finch said, “we’re not going to be able to go to the farm tomorrow. It will use all the power and we’ll spend the day recharging.”
“One more day won’t hurt,” Tucker replied. “The farm will still be there, it gives us time to figure things out here, and still time to catch the Androski. By the size of it, it’s not closing soon.”
Finch asked, “Is it that far to walk?”
“We were gone two hours,” Tucker replied. “One lead led to another.”
“I’m not going to like where this is going, am I?” Finch questioned.
“It gives answers,” Tucker replied. “But not all.”
Before all five of them loaded into the buggy, Tucker and Sam retrieved the larger version of their pocket LED lights, both eighteen inches wide.
Sam attached one to the top of the buggy. It lit up the road better than any headlight system could do.
They didn’t drive far or for too long.
Tucker told them how he and Sam had just started walking when it dawned on them to check out a specific location.
Absolutely nothing they saw gave an indication to what they would find.
They drove through a residential area until they arrived and stopped at the rear entrance to the high school.
“Keep in mind it was still light when we first walked here,” Tucker explained.
“We weren’t even going to stop,” added Sam. “We walked right by it.”
“That’s when we noticed the entire area north of the school,” Tucker said. “On this side of the road…it was flattened. Gone. But it wasn’t a field and trees like we thought. There had been all kinds of buildings and stuff here. When we walked through we saw wood sticking out of the ground, chimneys, you name it.”
“We walked up for two blocks, maybe three,” Sam said. “Everything was gone. It was another block before we realized it wasn’t like a gas explosion, but that the buildings had been flattened on purpose. There is a one-block section of nothing but rubble. Knocked down and pushed aside.”
“Did you figure out why?” Finch asked.
“We did, which led us to here first.” Sam pointed to the school grounds, then drove onto the property.
Tucker leaned forward from the back seat. “At first we wondered why they didn’t tear this down.”
“They did, sort of,” Sam said. “The school buildings are all gone.”
“But not the stadium,” Tucker said.
They drove a little closer and when they did, they saw several dump trucks parked outside the stadium, along with a crane.
“Looks like they were going to tear this down,” Finch said.
“That’s what we thought too,” Tucker replied.
Sam drove directly to the gate of the stadium. “Until we went inside.”
Rey glanced at Tucker. “Why do I think I know where this is going?”
The buggy stopped and they all stepped out.
Sam left the one light on the vehicle and Tucker turned on the other, leading Finch, Rey, and Nate inside.
There was no particular smell that stood out, and it was too dark to see after they walked through the gate.
Finch felt the softness under his feet, and occasionally the snap of a twig. The ground and galleys of the stadium were overgrown.
The light was exceptionally bright but it was one directional, illuminating a good walking path and showing the opening to the actual field.
And then a few rows into the stadium seating, the light hit a wall. The wall started before the field and was at least twenty feet high.
“Fort Collins wasn’t a small town,” Sam said. “A hundred thousand or so people lived here. Not a major metropolis, but no village either.”
“So where did everyone go?” Nate asked.
“A lot right here,” Sam said.
“What were they trying to build in here?” Rey asked.
“They weren’t building anything,” Sam explained. “That’s a wall of bodies.”
Rey spun to Sam. “You’re kidding me.”
“It’s dark, but in the day you can clearly see,” Sam said. “The ones on the bottom are in bags, merely clothing of the dead now on top. Decay, time, turned the bodies into dust. The ones in the bags not exposed are just bones now.”
“Jesus.” Nate stepped forward. “Is this the whole city?”
Tucker shook his head. “No, something happened and they never finished.”
“Finished what?” Nate asked.
“Burning them,” Tucker answered. “I wish you could see right now. It’s tough but tomorrow, you can. Out where they tore down the buildings, when you get closer, you can see there are three pits. Nothing ever grew in them because they must have burned bodies in there for a while. The ground is dead.”
It wasn’t something Finch looked forward to, but knew he had to see.
Perhaps in the light of day they could discover what happened to the people of Fort Collins and maybe learn if it happened everywhere.
Was that why the world was completely grown over? Had the human race faced another extinction event that beat the planetary event to the punch? And when Planet X slid into its orbit, the damage and destruction was, in turn, just part of the evolution for Earth?
<
br /> One thing was clear to Finch, what had occurred in Fort Collins didn’t kill everyone. Some organization had been left standing long enough to collect the bodies.
TWENTY
The next day, while Rey and Nate went on a data search, Finch went back to the high school. Since the buggy had to charge for eight hours, they walked. It was almost two miles, but the temperature wasn’t too hot and a slight breeze came in from the west.
Usually, Finch didn’t think twice about weather, he was always under the belief there was nothing that could be done about it. Yet, when they first arrived in the future, it seemed the weather had it out for the crew of Omni-4 and he was no longer taking it for granted. He’d be more aware of any changes. Planet X, even at a distance was already wreaking its havoc.
Was it necessary for him to go to the school and the area where they’d burned bodies? Yes.
He had to see for himself.
“The light of day makes everything clearer,” his mother used to say. And it held true when Finch stepped into that stadium.
When Tucker and Sam entered the day before it was still somewhat light. Nothing like it was when Finch got his second glance.
The clear sky and bright sun truly showed the massive amount of human devastation.
Nothing remained of the bodies that made up the top third of the mound. The ones on the outer areas were also nothing more than rags of clothing. He assumed the mound was only being held up by the bodies on the inside.
They were skeletons. He guessed tens of thousands.
What a grand movement it had to have been to bring those bodies into the stadium. Apparently, they were dead when they were brought in. Loaded into trucks and lifted by a crane like some sort of game found in an arcade.
Finch had once read a fiction novel which depicted something terribly similar to what he was seeing. He dismissed it as farfetched and beyond the suspension of disbelief, until he saw it firsthand.
There was nothing in the stadium or around it to indicate what had happened that caused such a massive amount of death.
It happened fast.
It had to.
To accumulate that many bodies, and for them to pile so high that it got ahead of those collecting them, whatever caused the event occurred in weeks, if not days.
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