2016 Bending Reality Magazine October 2016 | Page 6

ALARM Part 2 (Chaos)

By Sam “GryGhost” Abbott

Riddled with fear and confusion my fight of flight instincts are starting to set in. I wonder why didn't I get a heads up from the office. How could I have slept through all of this? At this point it really does matter. I need to figure out if this was really going on. The city is about 20 minutes away. Nothing outside seems to be out of the ordinary. I have to get it together. This has to be some elaborate joke, well planned out by my office mates. No, why would the go to such extremes. Okay, okay, okay, I have to get a hold of somebody......Julia at the security desk. I still have her cell number. Maybe she can shed some light on what's going on. As I stood there, looking out the window. And the voice on the other end of the line saying “All circuits are currently busy, please hang up and try your call again later,” six military vehicles, with U.N. markings, flew up the street heading towards the city. This was no joke. Something is happening and happening right now. Running out to the sidewalk to see which direction the trucks went, I gasped the view on the horizon. The city bellowing smoke. The sky filling up with enough to cover the sky. It was true America was under attack again. Okay, gotta think, gotta think. Can't just say here and not just nothing. I can't risk getting caught. I'll make my over to the police station, on foot, check out what's going on over there. Surely they have to have some kind of control there. I can take my pistol with some ammo, put it with my computer in my computer bag to hide it. Solid plan, except I don't know who to trust. We were just briefed on what actions to take in event of martial law being put into effect. They made it seem so improbable. Well I need to get moving, as I grab for my cell phone it rings with my favorite ringtone, the theme song from the original Caddyshack “I'm alright.” With all that is going on it scared the crap out of me. This has to be like some kind of fate, it's Julia. As I answer she is totally in a panic. She starts telling me that when she showed up for work the entire White House has been shut down and is crawling with some unknown military force. She has been trying to get in touch with as many people as she can but I was really the only one she had the number for, outside the security staff, and thought maybe I might have the number for some of the other employees. I ask if she has tried to contact the local police and it got quiet on the other end.

I can tell she was there, there were loud industrial noises in the background. Just as I was going to say her name, there was three short beeps three long beeps and then three more short beeps. That was “S.O.S...” Something is wrong. She pressed it in again, and then over and over. I felt entirely helpless. There was no way for me to get to her quick enough. The phone went silent, but I could still hear the background noises. I tell her “tap the phone if you can still hear me, and you are okay?” A second or two passed and she tapped the phone three times. A huge sigh of relief rushed over me. Knowing that she probably couldn't talk aloud I figured that I'd try to hold this conversation one way as long as she could keep tapping her phone. I asked her if she had a path she could take to leave the area without being seen. “Tap one time for yes, two for no.” She tapped once. I then asked her if she any place that we could safely meet up. She quickly tapped once. I told her to text me the address and I would meet her there in two hours. She tapped once. Just as I hung up an extremely amplified loud speaker resounded out in the street. “ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS, YOUR COUNTRY HAS BEEN PLACED UNDER MARTIAL LAW, ANY AND ALL SIGNS OF RESISTANCE WILL BE DEALT WITH BY A SHOW OF FORCE. WE WILL BE CONDUCTING HOUSE BY HOUSE SEARCHS AND CENSUS TAKING TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL CITIZENS. COOPERATIONS IS MANDATORY. A CURFEW OF 9 P.M.

HAS BE SET IN PLACE. NO CITIZENS MUST BE FOUND OUTSIDE THER RESIDENTS

AFTER 9 P.M. OR THEIR PUNISHMENT WILL BE HARSH. THERE WILL BE CONVERSATIONS OR CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE SECURITY FORCES IN THE AREA, THEY ARE HERE TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE, SECURITY AND SAFETY FOR ALL INVOLVED.

THANK YOU, AND HAVE A PLEASANT DAY.