THIS IS NOT A TEST… aka -- THE SHELTER Part 2 (original fiction)

THE SHELTER...

PART 2

The whole attack lasted less than 1 hour.., and then it was over -- they just disappeared… This massive show of force -- BY DRONES.., thousands of them -- just vanished. There were all kinds of rumors that immediately hit the internet -- some were even saying they saw that huge blob moving through the air, disappear into the Hudson River…

Details and any sort of "official" information was sketchy, at best… Power and most forms of communication were hit pretty bad.., and had been unreliable for most of the city -- who were still in the dark about what just occurred in one of the most famous cities in the world -- NYC. Unlike the morning and aftermath of the attacks on September 11.., there were no answers coming from anywhere. The public was being told NOTHING and they were not happy about it.., they were anxious -- SCARED!

Unlike the resilience NY'ers showed in it's past.., this time they were starting to crack. It was the not knowing -- a common enemy to focus all that anger on. And without those things, all that emotion churning around inside of them manifested itself as -- FEAR. Instead of coming together in this tragic moment in time, people were defensive, suspicious.., and selfish. All the news outlets could do was keep repeating, over and over was -- Stay Off The Streets.., which bred even more fear and isolation.

As the first few days ticked by.., the normally overcrowded streets of the city were almost completely empty… Many businesses had never reopened after the attack and people could sense supplies could start to run short, so pretty much, the only time you saw ANYBODY on the street, they were stocking up on necessities. They were in survival mode.., but ill-prepared -- at least there was to be a live press conference tonight.., finally some answers. As the whole city -- including the group safely tucked away in the Shelter, got ready to huddle around their TV's and computer screens to FINALLY see who was responsible for the destruction of their city.

But as the much awaited for press conference started.., before the first words were uttered -- people looked shocked already -- they didn't recognize anybody! They had all been waiting for this.., and expected to see the Governor, the Mayor, Police Chief, pretty much every high ranking official in the city… But staring at them through their screens were a whole bunch of people they had never seen before -- even the press was a loss for words.

And then, some guy in a wrinkled suit, 5 o'clock shadow and bad hair, attempted to speak… But as soon as he tried to mutter his name -- the questions rang out from all directions… The man in the bad suit, didn't acknowledged any of them -- he barely lifted his head long enough to look in the camera, as he read from a prewritten statement -- "Hi, my name is blah, blah, blah (and that's exactly how it sounded, nobody gave a shit)…" And then more yelling of questions -- "WHERE'S THE MAYOR -- THE GOVERNOR… WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

This man, now sweating, looks into the camera for the first time.., and also for the first time, he speaks in a clear and audible tone -- "You're right it doesn't matter what my name is (he stops and looks at all the press coverage)… The Mayor, the Governor and just about every other high ranking officer of the state (he takes a moment to swallow the lump in his throat) -- are dead."

A deafening silence not only embraced the room…

"We are all doing our best to access the situation, all I can tell you at this time is.., all crossings to and from the city have been destroyed -- bridges, tunnels are inaccessible and impassable, airports have closed, mass transportation suspended. City emergency services have been pushed beyond their limit -- the total number of dead and seriously injured is just shy of 700,000."

But before he walks off -- "We have essentially been cut-off from the rest of the world… We Are On Our Own."

That deafening silence that still hung in the air.., rang out and touched every citizen glued to their TV -- it entered their psyche.., and only proved to enforce what they had already been thinking -- EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF… The lack of confidence this man inspired was felt throughout the entire city.., there was now a definite sense of -- SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST!

Almost immediately after the broadcast you could hear it starting -- the craziness… Looting, muggings, beatings, gunshots, sirens, alarms -- instead of inspiring ANY kind of hope.., this low level city official, who just informed the world -- all senior level NYC officials had been killed in the worst attack on NYC and America ever -- had made an already insane situation, even worse. He had just turned the city into the wild west!

Although the attack on the city was a complete surprise.., the way officials handled it wasn't… Many people had already grown to realize the government was a joke -- they hadn't done one significant thing that benefited the people in years… They had somehow gotten the masses to accept the status-quo, their lack of results -- as the norm. They had managed to get a whole nation to ignore its true potential.., and occasionally tossed them a bone.

But that was all about to change…

If this threat this city now faced was to be dealt with.., it would be the people that inhabited it that would have to deal with it -- there was no help coming. And the group of exceptional misfits taking refuge deep below the city, were ready for it. They had all been drawn to each other, to this historic building that they bought back from the dead -- they were ready for this fight!

Jax.., who was the unsaid leader, gathered the group into the main living area of the shelter -- "Time to start getting our own intel.., we need a plan. But until we can get a handle on what's going on -- nobody leaves, we'll use our own drone. We have got to figure out what we are up against, if we are going to have any chance…" He looks directly at Jade -- "Okay drone girl, lets get that baby of yours up in the air and see what the hell is going on out there…" Jades whole face lights up with excitement and she moves to a control center that any tech geek would be envious of -- she was one of the brightest minds in the whole aerospace industry after walking out of M.I.T because she was bored… But that didn't last long either.., after butting heads with corporate types on a daily basis, she left it all behind to do her own thing.

She had been working with and building drones, since before most of us knew what a drone was -- she was born for this shit.., and she didn't waste another second… The drone was in-flight immediately.., and the images it was relaying were worse than the media was portraying. Immediately, the rest of the group starting searching the web, the dark web -- every chat room looking for some kind of cohesive thread to the mayhem, that now engulfed their town.

Hours went by like minutes, each of them running down leads, following links to sites most don't even know exist -- a world on the fringe of the internet that was always watching and waiting for something to happen… One of the group, Luke, finally stands up in almost a sense of frustration and blurts out -- "Is everybody else getting the same thing I am… Everywhere I keep getting lead too, is saying one thing…" And it is screaming it at the top of its lungs -- FALSE FLAG!!!


Stay Tuned For PART 3

Click Here If You Missed Part 1


Image Source: 1 2