The Remnants - Chapter Two

At about seven o'clock I willed myself up off the bed. I rummaged through my duffel bag for something decent to wear. I normally didn't care but I thought I should look presentable in the event that Tabitha actually showed for the party. I found some olive cargo pants that were a little baggy. They were comfortable and probably my best looking pair of pants. I grabbed a tan t-shirt and slid on some socks before throwing on my reliable Etnies. Really they were the only pair of shoes I had, the rest were sandals and house shoes. Neither would work for the occasion. As I passed out the door I picked up my dark brown jacket even though I didn't really need it. It was barely November and it didn't really get cold until late December or early January. I slid it on anyway because it made it seem like I had more to my wardrobe than just t-shirts, which I didn't.

I should have really got another shower but I was still unsure the rules regarding my new living quarters and I didn't want to just make myself at home. Sketch's house felt foreign, not only because it wasn't my apartment but because it was Sketch's. I still didn't know a lot about him and the fact that he seemed to know what I was thinking had started to bother me. Hopefully Tabitha wouldn't even show up and all this would be pointless. I hadn't been nervous about the whole thing until now, maybe it hadn't really sunk in before. I had never had steady girlfriend and the ones I did have seemed more out of convenience. It felt nice having someone around, at least for the first few months. Though I was never the direct result of a break-up, I probably had my hand in it. I doubt I ever really wanted to be in one before or I would have had one longer than eight months. Tabitha was different somehow though and at the moment, what she thought of how I looked mattered.

Walking out, Sketch was sitting on his front steps waiting. As I passed him, he slowly rose and we began our walk toward the corner of the block. Shawn would be there waiting, ready to complain about how the two of us needed to pool our money and find something to ride around so he didn't have to pick us up all the time. I filled him in on the fact that I was now taking residence at Sketch's place and the reasons why. Shawn found it funny, despite how little I did. The whole ride consisted of a lecture that I didn't pay any attention to. I knew I was a screw-up, I knew I needed a job, and I knew I needed more of a life than I had come to know but somehow I felt like it would come in time. I had always had that feeling, as though I had a purpose that had not yet reached me and I didn't want to miss it because I settled for something easy. Dreams were important to me, especially mine. Shawn bummed a cigarette, which meant his rant was finished for the time being.

I was staring at the glowing blue of the digital clock on the dash as we rounded the corner onto Andrea's street. For some reason the number eight at the beginning stuck in my head and I just stared at it until the car jerked to the right, tires squeeling, and we finally stopped half-cocked against the curb. Three police cars wipped passed, sirens screaming through the night, and they almost ran us off the road in their efforts to make it to the end of the street where they slid through the turn and continued on their journey at top speed. A flurry of curses arose from the driver seat and before I could even ask what was going on my eyes rose to see Andrea standing in her front yard a few houses down. We were a little further up the hill and could see a bit better. My eyes focused on the sky again as I stepped out of the back seat. Shawn wailed, "And just where are you going?" Sketch simply tapped him on the shoulder and pointed out the window. As I reached the front of the car I sat on the hood in complete awe.

The clouds swirled around downtown and the horizon was a mixture of blue and green that seemed to radiate from the ground below. Our small town was alive with the sound of alarms, sirens, and what seemed to be yelling. The others joined me at the front of the car for a moment and Andrea must have seen us because when I peeled my eyes from the sky she was only a few feet in front of us. "I was watching the news and apparently something had fell from the sky making a small crater in the asphalt over on Short Street this morning. The city workers and the police were down there this morning trying to get it up before the government sent in some guys to assist, but something must have went wrong," Andrea said. If only I had took more notice of the world around me I would have known all this before now, but something about it seemed wrong. All I could think about was that awful feeling I'd kept all day long. Andrea continued, "Channel 4 was trying to report on the scene about thirty minutes ago, but as soon as they started filming the HAZMAT crew some guys in suites asked them to move along. Seems kind of weird, do you think we should be worried?" I looked over at Sketch, he nodded at me, knowing what I was thinking. "Let's go see what's going on," I say as I head back to the car. Shawn didn't seem to like the idea but Andrea pulled him to the car anyway and he was going wherever she went regardless of what his feelings on the matter where. We all loaded up and though Shawn wasn't always the safest driver, I had never seen him push that Buick so hard.

When we reached Main Street, we were greeted by road blocks. By this time all of downtown was guarded by camouflaged men with assault rifles, probably National Guard from the looks of them. Shawn pretended to turn around, but we ended up parking in an old parking lot down the block. By now the night had taken over and if we used the alley we shouldn't be seen. We emerged between a couple shops just on the other side of what seemed liked ground zero. As we stepped out the darkness was pushed back by the eerie greenish-blue glow. "If this thing is radioactive we are screwed," Shawn popped off. I pushed forward, a few paces ahead of everyone else. We were spotted finally and a slew of men in B.D.U.s surrounded us. The questions errupted, then commands, but the entire time I was staring at what they seemed to want to keep us from. The hole in the ground was only about three feet in diameter and most of it must have been made by the city workers because their pick-axes and shovels were still buried in the ground beneath the upturned asphault. The original crater emitted light that was almost blinding and as we were pushed back toward a Humvee the entire block went black.

It was as if a switch had been flicked and the lamp shut off. Everyone stopped and the entire procession went dead silent. The only noise was the slow breeze pushing it's way between the buildings that looked down on us all in worry. I couldn't even feel myself breathing anymore and I wondered if I was dead and this was just what it was like just before you passed on to whatever was next. The silence is what got to me the most. I was waiting for something, anything to break it. When nothing came and no one moved something rose inside of me like a drum roll. When it reached its peak a sound erupted into a yell from my throat, "WHAAAATS GOING ON?" I didn't even know for sure where it came from but it startled everyone, even my friends. Guns drew my direction and again we were being forced into the Humvee and from within all we could hear was chatter. Chatter from the men outside, chatter from their radios, and finally a third rumbling of voices that seemed to come from the distance. In an instant the light returned, brighter than before and in it's awakening I found myself feeling very very tired. The men outside slowly folded up into niced little sleeping dolls about the caravan of military vehicles. A thump of heads falling back and sideways against things inside the Humvee were heard as my friends fell into their own slumber. And as my vision blurred and my eyelids became lead weights, a silhouette emerged from the white canvas of light. With all my years of restless sleep you would think I would be able to stay awake a little longer to see but for the first time in years, I slept and I dreamed.