THIS IS NOT A TEST… aka -- THE SHELTER Part 1 (original fiction)

THE SHELTER

THIS IS NOT A TEST.., were the words scrolling across every TV in the city… Then an uncomfortably loud robotic voice tried to speak as seriously and politely as it was programmed to do -- Ladies and Gentlemen -- THIS IS NOT A TEST - I Repeat -- THIS IS NOT A TEST!!!

But even as this Special Alert blurted out this phrase we have all been trained to ignore as nothing more than an annoyance… It took a few seconds to sink-in.., but it wasn't until the they heard something unfamiliar next -- TAKE COVER -- EVERYBODY TAKE COVER!!!

WTF -- Yes.., WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON?!

Smartphones, tablets, computers, huge public LED screens, ticker tapes -- every means of communication all at once went off with the sound of deadly intent. All broadcasting, across all platforms immediately cut to newscasters everywhere, like you had never seen before -- their voices cracking and the look on their faces expressed the worst imaginable. But before they could inform the public what was about to happen.., a shadow came over their whole building and for the first time they rushed to the window, as the sky above them turned black.

-- BAM - BAM - BAM - BAM --

They stared in awe, fear and confusion.., as parts of buildings no more than a few blocks away started exploding, huge pieces of stone, brick and glass falling and crushing the people below… When they looked up to see the cause of all this destruction, they realized the eery darkness that now covered their town and filled the air with sounds of death were -- DRONES.

Like a massive swarm of bees moving through space as one giant blob, then one by one they veered from the mass to take aim at their target… The accuracy of their mayhem was effortless and precise, never missing their mark -- how could they, they were programmed with the exact coordinates of standing structures.

After what seemed like forever (actually this all took place in about two minutes).., and after the initial shock started to wear off a bit… Jax yelled out -- grab your devices and the emergency boogie bags! A handful of people, each darting off in different directions, moved in a controlled panic way, gathering -up all the tablets, phones, more water and food, extra clothing and blankets, batteries, first-aid kits… Even though they were freaking-out.., they did what they had to do and then most of the group grabbed these supplies and headed for the basement.., while Jax and Jade headed for the roof with a video camera and a drone of their own.., and on the way out the door Jax stuffed his 9mm handgun in his belt.

Once on the roof they could see all the devastation right before their eyes.., and feel the fear that now gripped their city. They positioned the drone out of sight, took some video of all the damage and as they focused-in on the army of drones that continued to wreak havoc -- the mass, this evil stain turned, all at once and started to head directly for them… Immediately, they turned the camera off and headed for the basement to join the others.

Not only did at street level of this building exist the bar known as "The Shelter.., " right below in the basement -- was a real bomb shelter. This was one of the oldest buildings in the city, the developers that owned it had left it to rot.., so a group of artists, tech geeks and a few neighborhood people started squatting there… They had been there for so long before the owners knew, they couldn't throw them out… Some weird ancient law -- a loophole kept a roof over their heads for years… And as time went on they made amazing repairs and improvements to this dying structure, so much so, at the last court date the judge awarded the whole building to this group of unlikely friends.

And they weren't kidding around, either… The basement of this building now housed an old-school bomb shelter, updated to look and operate like a cooler, hipper, better decorated NASA… There were all kinds of tech gadgets, led screens, bunks, bathrooms, sophisticated air filters all run on their own self sustaining power source. Oh yeah.., one of the group was a gun freak -- I mean "collector" so the place was armed to the hilt.., all surrounded by yards and yards of stone.

By now the word was out. The city was under attack -- but by who…

Images of military helicopters being swarmed upon and destroyed by dozens of these drones acting like old-school kamikaze's -- in real time, as reporters screamed in terror live on the airwaves, dead and injured people littered the streets begging for help. It was more than clear.., the unimaginable had happened -- not a one-off bomb being used against us like in the past, but a sustained attack had been waged.., and from what this group buried deep beneath could see -- it couldn't have been more successful.

It was real now!


Stay tuned for Part 2