Take Over Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Miracles and explosions

The girls were unable to keep track of time. The room was kept dark most of the time. Then the “hosts” would turn the lights on low, bring food, come back remove the food and turn the lights off again.  Stefani had kept count.  She was guessing but she thought that if last two meals were breakfast and lunch then the next one they receive would make it be around diner time. 

The meals were not great, but they were not horrible either.  It consisted of bread and lunch meat.  She assumed it was bologna on dry white bread. They were each given bottled water every meal. Boy, would mom be mad if she knew how they were feeding us, Stefani thought. That brought a smile mixed with sadness to her face.

“Kim?” she whispered.

“Yeah?” 

“I miss mom,” She said.

“I know. We all miss our folks,” Kim said. Her reply was soft, distant, like her mind was elsewhere.

“How long do you think they will keep us like this?”  Stefani said aloud.

“I hope not much longer,” came from Ali. “I don’t think I can take much more of this darkness.”

“At least we have each other,” Stefani said.  Just then the lights came on.  Stefani thought it was too soon for the next meal.  They had just taken the last one out moments ago.

The girls immediately put their chins to their chest not wanting to risk another beating.

“Stefani and Ali, please stand.”

Both girls stood, their hearts felt as if they would beat out of their chest.  It was the voice of the woman whom the man called Ms. Weld. 

“Follow me,” she said.

Stefani and Ali glanced at each other and then Kim.  The looked up just enough to get the direction Ms. Weld was indicating making sure they avoided looking directly at her.  They made their way to the door. 

The hallway, if that is what it was, was stark white and the light hurt their eyes. 

The woman had them turn to the right as the left the room.  Without looking up the two followed. Ms. Weld passed several doors to their right and left.  In the condition their eyes were in, they could not make out any distinguishing marks or features of their location. 

The woman stopped, they followed suit.  She opened a door and stepped aside, “Go in please.”  

Both girls entered a room.  It was better lit than the last room they were in, but not as large.  “You two are now in charge of this room.  You are to take care of these,” with that she shut the door and they could hear the snick of the lock.

Stefani and Ali looked up.  They were surrounded by about twenty cribs and playpens. Each had a child in it ranging from what they guessed as a few weeks old to maybe two years old. Some were asleep others looked strangely calm as if they had been drugged

The two girls looked at each other.   

*******

This could not be happening, Kim thought.  Oh God why, why are you allowing this to happen?  She was beginning to be overwhelmed with grief.  She lost her dad; she did not know if her mom was alive, her sisters were gone, as well as her little brother and now, when she had finally had the comfort of a friend with her, Stefani was gone.

God, I can’t take anymore. I know you hear me. I know you are there. DO SOMETHING. At that moment she felt an overwhelming sense to pray.  She got down on her knees and began to pray to herself at first and the urge to pray just became stronger.  Soon she was crying aloud to God.

Tears streamed down her face and her chest heaved.  She would pause in silence and then began again.  Soon others around her began to weep and pray also until the room was filled with the cries and wailing of the girls.

*****

“TJ… this… this is crazy,” Steve said. “We can’t just break into buildings and set fire to people’s property.”

“Do you have a better idea?” TJ said. 

Bren watched as the two young men argued back and forth.  She knew she should say something but she didn’t know what.  TJ’s idea was the most outrageous thing she ever heard of.  He wanted them to set houses and buildings on fire, turn on the police and fire department sirens and basically make as much of a ruckus as possible.

“Look,” TJ said. “We know we can’t go to the authorities with what we have so far. If we can get those people who have our families to come here we can go inside while they are gone and film what we need and maybe even set or families free, and if that doesn’t work you and Bren will film the burning of the town and take it back to the authorities in the city.  They will have to believe that and at least come check it out.”

Steve could not argue that the idea had some merit.  It was just the thought of destroying someone else’s property was unthinkable. What if they are wrong and our families are safe somewhere? What if they came back to find the town on fire? Then what. Jail. That’s what. “TJ this is ridiculous.”

“Steve, I think he is right,” Bren said tentatively. “Listen, I am willing to do whatever it takes to get my family back and if that means destroying some things that can be rebuilt then so be it.”

“You can’t be serious. You are agreeing with him!” Steve looked to Kyle for help.

“Don’t look at me. I thought we should just go in, guns blazing,” Kyle said with a smile. “This sound much more reasonable and fun.”

Steve threw up his arms, “Am I the only sane person here?”

“Steve,” TJ said. “I know how you feel, but we really don’t have much of a choice.”

That was it, Steve decided.  He didn’t like the fact that he was being forced into such a position.  He knew TJ was right, that it was the only way and yet he didn’t want it to be…the only way.   He wanted options things to consider.  He didn’t want to feel so helpless.

“TJ, what do you have in mind?” Steve finally asked.

Chapter 7 The Mine

The jeep jostled and bumped across the empty field.  TJ wasn’t sure but he thought this was near the Tucker farm; one of the families that attended their church. He was hot and tired, last night he had been unable to sleep.

The four had camped in his backyard, in the fort.  They had all agreed that seemed to be the least likely place to get caught.  The plywood structure was large enough for them but there was no luxury of a mattress or carpet. There was no comfort at all for that matter.  Not that he could have slept under the circumstances anyway.

TJ had made sure they were packed for today’s trip out to the mine.  He had taken a couple of his dad’s pistols, the shotgun and his rifle.  He had Kyle grab his family’s firearms as well.  They packed enough food for two days and siphoned some gas from cars around the neighborhood.  Flashlights, lighters and some other essentials rounded out their backpacks. 

He wasn’t sure just what to expect and he wanted to be as prepared as he could.  That was something his dad had taught him.  Dad where are you? He thought, if only he were here.  TJ believed that if his dad were with him he and his dad would storm this place and take back their family. 

Kyle reached between TJ and Steve and turned on the radio.  There was only static. He sat back with a heavy sigh.

“There’s never any radio out here,” Steve said.  He turned the radio down so they could not hear the static.  He could never get any radio reception when he was this far from the city, not even in town, but he left it on figuring a little hope was better than nothing.

“Steve, I think you can pull into the brush over there,” TJ pointed.

To their left was a grove of pine trees along with scrub oak.  Steve turned and headed in the direction TJ had pointed.  He pulled into the trees and brush as far as he could, not worrying about possible scratches to the red paint of the jeep.  He turned the vehicle off and they sat there for a moment listing to the chirp of birds, a gentle breeze in the trees and the pops and clicks of the cooling engine.

“We can hike it from here,” TJ said.  “It is about two miles.  I don’t want to take any chances on being seen or heard as we get closer.  It should take us less than an hour if we move.”

The four disembarked, put on their packs and headed east.  There was more brush than TJ anticipated and it slowed them some.  By the time they had reached a hill that separated them from the mine entrance the sun was high overhead. 

“We can stop here.  Over the ridge should be the mine entrance,” TJ pulled out his topographic map and studied it. “We are… here,” he pointed. “Bren, you and I will go to the ridge and take a look first.  I want you to point out what you saw.”

“I am afraid it wasn’t much; just some vehicles.”

“Where were you?” TJ asked

Bren looked around, trying to get her bearings.

“I think I was over that direction,” she pointed just south of their position.

“Kyle, you and Steve keep an eye on our backs.  We don’t want anyone sneaking up on us.”

“Right.”

“TJ, here’s the camera,” Steve said handing it over to him.

TJ nodded his thanks, and then looked at Bren; “Ready?”

“Lead the way.”

The hill was gradual to a point.  Then they reached a spot that had been washed out at some time by heavy rain.  They had to do a little climbing with their hands in spots.  TJ had them stop about halfway up and he took a look around.  He didn’t know if he should be concerned about guards or lookouts, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.

They reached the ridge and stopped again.  TJ wished there were more bushes or trees for cover but there was none. He took off his sunglasses and hat and did an army crawl the rest of the way to the top and peaked over.  To his relief there was no one nearby.  He looked down into the valley below, then turned back to Bren and waved for her to join him.  She crawled up beside him, keeping her head low.

They both peered over.   Below them was what looked like a large court yard with a road to the south and the entrance to the mine to the north.   Directly across from them were several vehicles.  There were five busses, two hummers and four utility trucks; the kinds that service men use when fixing power lines… except on the backs of these were large satellite looking dishes.  There were two men stationed at the road that lead in and out of the valley and two men at the entrance of the mine. 

TJ slid back down a little and turned on his back.  Bren joined him.

“This is no good.  We can’t tell how many of them there are and we don’t see anyone from our town,” TJ said.

“What now?” Bren asked.

TJ turned toward her, “We have to get inside.”

“In there? How are we going to do that?  They have at least four guards…with guns I might add.  We don’t know how many men they have inside and…”

“I know, I know,” TJ said cutting her off. “There has to be a way.”

He rolled over and closed his eyes, “What if we created a distraction?”

“What do you mean?”

“Draw them out in the open.”

“How are we going to do that?”

TJ’s mind was working overtime now, “We have to do something big. I mean really big.  Something that would cause them to bring away from the mine all the men they have.”

“Like what?” Bren did not like the sound of this.  The thought of heading into the city and begging and pleading for someone with authority to come was sounding better.

“I think I have an idea, but we have to get back to town,” TJ looked at Bren again. “I’m going to need your help to convince the guys.”

“Convince them of what?  I don’t even know what you are talking about.”

“I’ll explain it all. You just need to know that it is the only way we can get help here.”

Take Over Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kim clung to Stefani. She had lost her father, her mother, her friends and she wasn’t about to lose another. She began to cry, “Stefani, they killed my dad.”

“What?” Stefani felt her chest tighten.

“They shot him in our house just before they took us.”

“Who did?”

“Whoever the people are that put us in this prison. They shot my dad and sprayed something into the air. I passed out and woke up here.”

Stefani wished they had light. She was scared, very scared but she wanted to comfort her friend and it seemed that, while they were still holding each other, the darkness was keeping them apart. If I could only wake up from this nightmare, she thought. She began to pray. God, please help us, was all she could manage.

Just then there was a scraping sound of metal on metal and then a dim light came from the ceiling.

Stefani squinted, her eyes watering. The new light was not very bright but after being in such complete darkness for so long it might have well been the sun. She attempted to look around the room and could not see clearly enough to determine the size of the room or how many people there were. The scraping returned behind her and she turned to see where the sound was coming

from.

                                            

There was a door about ten feet from her.  It began to open.  Ali came to her side and spoke

in her ear, “Do not look at them.  Keep your eyes to the ground and don’t speak unless they speak to you.”

That’s ridiculous, Stefani thought.  She was about to say so when she felt Kim elbow her in the ribs and nod vigorously at her as if to say, “Listen to what Ali says.”

Stefani just could not, no… would not comply.  She wanted some answers.  Her best friend’s dad dead, her parents were God knows where and she was stuck in some dark room, hungry and afraid.  Her stomach was in knots. The anger welling up in her seemed to lift her head. 

She saw two men at the inside of the door staring straight ahead in some military stance.  Then through the door came a cart pushed by a blonde girl.   The girl was about Stefani’s age.  Her was hair pulled back.  She felt a tug on her sleeve.  Ali leaned into her.  “Stefani, please,” she begged in a whisper.

Through the door came a tall slender woman in a military outfit, high leather boots, and a very, very stern look on her face.  She wasn’t ugly, but not beautiful either.  Her eyes met Stefani’s and Stefani quickly diverted hers; courage she had had was gone.

She felt rather than saw the woman approach her.  The woman grabbed Ali by the arm, “Didn’t I make myself clear?  You were to instruct every one of the rules.” 

Ali did not reply but let out a small whimper. 

“I see I will have to teach you obedience.”

With that she turned Ali’s back to her and began to strike her.

Stefani could hear a whistling, like the sound of a small branch being swung rapidly through the air, then sound of something striking flesh. She winced and then began to cry.  The sound was then mingled with sobs and horrible moaning sounds from Ali.

The beating seemed to go on and on. Ali fell to her knees. This gave Stefani a clear view of her back, welted and bleeding. Her shirt was torn through.  It was too much. Who were these people?

A shriek.

Stefani fell over Ali, shielding the girl with her own body. She felt one strike and then another.  “PLEASE!” she yelled.

She waited for another strike… it never came. “

“That is enough,” She heard a man’s voice say.  Stefani kept her eyes averted.  She would not make the same horrible mistake again. “Miss Welds. I thought I explained to you that these young ladies were not to be harmed. They are our guests.”

There was no response from Ms. Welds. Stefani for the third time felt a hand this one heavy but gentle rest upon her shoulder. “My dear.  Would you forgive my colleague? While she is a very competent soldier she can get out of hand when it comes to discipline.”

“What is your name?”

“Stefani,” she managed to sob out.

“Stefani. Such a pretty name. Well, Stefani, I can see you are a brave and unselfish young lady. You see, we have rules here and we expect them to be followed. If you obey then it will go well with you and your friends. If you do not… let’s just say Miss Welds will have to insure that does not happen. Do you understand?”

Stefani could hear the smile in his voice and it gave her a chill, “Yes.”

“Very good. Miss Welds, please inform them of the rules and then give them food and water.”

Stefani heard his heavy steps leave the room. She still did not dare look up. She felt Ali shaking with sobs below her. She lifted herself off so she would not pressure down on the poor girl’s back. Their blood mingled. Kim slowly knelt beside them both and gingerly put her arms around them.

Stefani put her hands to her face and rocked. Kim heard her whisper over and over, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Take Over Chapter 5 "A Plan"

A Plan

Kyle was furious that someone had invaded his town and taken everything that was important to him.  He began to make his way to the door, fist and jaw clenched.  At first he had been scared because he had not known where everyone was or what had happened.   He had no enemy then. No one and nothing to lash out at, but now…now he knew that there were men behind this and they were hiding in some hole in the ground.  Well, he would fix that. He would go and get his family back if it was the last thing he did.

“Where are you going?” Steve asked.

“To get my family,” Kyle said. 

Steve rushed to get between Kyle and the door. Kyle was not just a little bigger than Steve; he was a lot bigger.  Steve knew that when Kyle was mad you did not want to get in his way.  He also knew that it was foolish to go off halfcocked against armed men, possibly trained soldiers, all by yourself.  He was about to put his hand on Kyle’s chest when he saw the look in his eyes. He thought better of it and leaned back against the door. 

“Move, Steve, or I’m going to move you,” Kyle said between his teeth.  Kyle was trying hard not to lash out at his friend but he was not going to let anyone stop him now.

“I can’t, Kyle.  They are soldiers with guns.”

“I have guns.”

“We don’t know how many there are.”

Why doesn’t Steve understand? Kyle thought. I don’t care how many of them there are.  I am getting my family back.  He was full of anger now and was about to put his hands on Steve and move him, just like he would soon put his hands on the ones who took his family and friends. Bren grabbed his hand.   He wrenched away, “Stay out of the way, Bren”

“No, Kyle. Listen, I have lost my family and a lot of my friends. I don’t want to lose you too.”

This caused Kyle to pause. “Aaah!!” he screamed with rage.  He had felt so helpless, so powerless when he discovered that his family was missing.  Now it seemed his own friends were against him.  They would not let him help his family. 

Steve and Bren were shocked by the display and a little afraid of their friend.  They knew he was strong and very capable of hurting them both.  Bren moved to Steve’s side and put her back to the door also.  While she was scared of what Kyle could do to her, she was more scared of what might happen to him.

Kyle felt a hand on his shoulder he turned, fist raised.  TJ stood there looking him eye to eye.  The two were about the same size.  TJ was just a little broader in the shoulders and had muscles hardened from hard work.  TJ looked him in the eye, “Steve, Kyle is right.”

Bren and Steve looked at each other, eyes wide.

“What?”

“Kyle, I agree we have to get our families back, but Steve is right in that we also have to have a plan… and I think I just might have one,” TJ said. 

Kyle stared back at TJ.  The realization that he was going to try and harm his best friends began to dawn on him.  Slowly he unclenched his fist and sank to the floor.  He placed his head in his hands and breathed out a heavy sigh. 

Bren walked over, sat beside him and put an arm around him. 

“We have to get back to the city and get some help,” Steve said urgently.

TJ shook his head, “Steve that won’t work.”

“What do you mean it won’t work?  We have the jeep. We can head straight to the city and tell the police what happened,” Steve said exasperated.  Steve had always been the undeclared leader of the three boys as he was the oldest and tended to be the most level-headed. In this situation there was definitely a need for a level head.  He thought TJ had brought back some sense to the conversation but now he was beginning to sound like Kyle.

“OK. Look, four teenagers show up at the police station ranting about how their entire town has been drugged and kidnapped.  After the cops stop laughing we would be lucky if they didn’t put us in jail. No, that won’t work,” TJ said.

Steve had to admit that TJ had a point.  He was not ready to give up so easily though, “TJ, we can’t go against an army.  I know you and Kyle know how to shoot but what about Bren and me? What are we going to do? Do you expect us to…”

TJ cut him off, “Hey, I’m not saying we go in there and shoot up the place; that would be suicide.  I think we need to take our camera and go film what’s happening.  You know, get some shots of the town and then we can go get help.”

The tension in the room seemed to let up at this.  Steve began to nod his head. It was a good idea.  They could go film what was going on, and then they could take it to the authorities.

Take Over Chapter 4 "A Friend"

Steve, TJ and Kyle quickly made their way to the front door.  Steve pulled it open, “Bren?”

“Thank God!” The girl gasped as she plunged through the door and hugged him around the neck. Bren hugged each one of them and then stood back and stared at them with tears in her eyes. “Where have you been?” she asked.

“Us?” TJ said. “Where is everyone else?”

Bren was too overwhelmed with emotion to answer.  She pushed pass Steve, went into the living room and collapsed on the couch.  She ran her fingers through her short, dirty blonde hair.  Then she looked at them with a big smile.

 “You don’t know how glad I am to see you,” she breathed.

“We got that,” TJ said.

“What happened?” Kyle asked, anxiously.

“Sorry. It’s just… I’ve been hiding for days now and I have not seen anyone,” Bren began. Then she asked, “Can I have some water?”

“We’re not sure that’s a good idea,” said Kyle.

“Why?” Bren looked at him strangely.

“Well, we think it might be contaminated,” Kyle told her.

“Contaminated? With what?” Bren asked.

“We saw the quarantine sign and… well…”

Bren looked confused, “What quarantine sign?”

“The one outside of town,” Steve explained.

Bren stared into space as she thought about this. That would make some sense, she thought. “You don’t have to worry about that.  I have been drinking the water and I’m fine.”

Steve sat down in a chair, leaned forward and asked again, “Where has everyone gone?”  

“Please let me have some water and I’ll tell you.”

Kyle went to the kitchen; got two glasses, went to the sink and filled one for Bren and one for himself. Then, before heading back to the living room, he grabbed some crackers.  He handed an appreciative Bren the glass and he began to eat.

Bren took a long drink and set the glass on the coffee table.  She brushed back a strand of hair from her face.  “Thank you,” she said to Kyle. “Where have you guys been?”

“We were up at the cabin, but I think you have a lot more explaining to do,” Steve said, showing his impatience.  He could not believe she was taking her time to fill them in on whatever was going on.

“I’m not sure what exactly happened,” she started, “Callie and I were over at Kim’s house.  We went to bed around midnight,” she looked at the ceiling as if trying to remember or make sense of what she had seen, “I couldn’t sleep.  So I got up and went into the kitchen for a drink of water.  I stood by the window and noticed a few trucks, large ones, pull up the street and stop.  I went into the living room to get a better look at what they were doing.  It was strange because none of the trucks had their lights on.  Then a bunch of people in some kind of space suit looking things, exited the trucks. Two of them took a big hose and started heading toward the house.  Some of the men had guns…I …I was so scared.”

She took a shuddering breath and hugged herself. TJ noticed she was shaking. “They approached the door of the house.  I ran upstairs, not sure of what they were going to do. I called out to Kim’s dad.   That is when I heard the front door behind me get forced open and a hissing sound.  I turned around to see that the men with the hose were spraying something into the house.  When I reached the top of the stairs Mr. Helgum was standing there.  He yelled to ask me what was going on, saw what was happening, then moved me to the side and, and….” she looked up at the boys, tears running down her face. “They shot him.  I panicked and ran down the hall.  Mrs. Helgum came out of their room. I yelled at her to run but she didn’t listen. She ran past me to Mr. Helgum. Kim and Callie came out. I tried to grab them but I was too late.  They screamed and I turned to see what they were looking at.  Mrs. Helgum was lying there in the hall, her hand stretched out toward us.  I went into Kim’s room pulling Callie behind me, but she would not move. I yelled at her to come and then she just… collapsed.  That’s when I saw the mist from whatever that man was spraying beginning to fill the room. I held my breath and went to the open window.  I climbed out on the roof and down the tree.”

Steve could not believe what he was hearing.  Had Bren told him this while everyone was still in town he would have thought it was one of the crazy stories she liked to tell.  This… this was too much.  Men spraying some weird mist, guns and worst of all, shooting Mr. Helgum.

Bren continued, “I hid in the bushes and waited, but they didn’t come after me. The next thing I knew it was day time. I was still lying there, under the bushes.  I must have breathed some of that mist or whatever and it made me pass-out.”

The boys stared at her in stunned silence trying to process all that they had just heard. 

TJ spoke first, “Where are the bodies?”

Bren looked at him, “I don’t know.  I went into the house and it was like it had never happened.  There was no blood, no bodies.  I ran out the front door and looked around.   I then went the Shellic house next door.  No one answered when I knocked.  I tried to call mom and dad but the there was no dial tone on the phone.  I got Kim’s bike and road into town. ”

It was painful for Bren to recount this living nightmare.  She knew it had to be done, but she also knew that these guys, no matter what sympathy they had for her, would never understand what she felt.  She had been completely and utterly alone. No other person had been left, no phone, no radio and no TV.  She felt tears welling up in her again, “Please tell me you guys are not a dream,”  she smiled at them, the thought of not being alone anymore was almost too much to bear. 

“Later that day the men came back. I was in town when I noticed their vehicles coming up Main Street.  I hid.  They stopped in front of the coffee shop and went inside.  I heard a woman scream and then I saw them carrying Sarah out.  I went to your house TJ, and hid in the old fort.  I didn’t know what to do.  Once they were gone I got some food and blankets and went back to the fort.  I stayed there all night and the next day, until I was sure they weren’t coming back.

“Then I got restless. I had to do something so I thought I would take Mr. Helgum’s car to get help.  It wouldn’t start.  Then yesterday morning they came back to town.  I did my best to stay hidden.  They went from shop to shop on Main Street and then house to house in the neighborhoods.  Twice I thought they were going to catch me.  Then they went over to the power station at the edge of town and worked there all day.  I decided then that I would follow them.” 

“Where?”  TJ asked.

“The old mine.  I followed them to the edge of town, but I could not keep up on the bike without being seen.  So I just went the way I thought they had gone.  I reached Dell, cut off and could see their dust on the dirt road.  I took a roundabout way; trying to stay in the trees,” Bren remembered how her heart raced when she came to the road leading to the mine.  She had almost turned around and given up.

“I left the bike in the bushes and hiked along a side trail keeping the road in sight.  Then I reached the bluff that overlooks the mine entrance.  I couldn’t believe it.  There were school buses, and trucks and men with guns all out in front.”

“Jasper’s mine?” Steve asked. 

“Yes.  I realized then I couldn’t do anything. Not against men with guns, so I came back here and hid, then I heard your jeep this morning.”

Take Over Chapter 3 Taken

Chapter 3   Taken

Stefani awoke, her mouth dry and her muscles stiff. She thought her eyes were open but it was so dark she could not be sure. 

“Hello?” she tried to speak but it came out as a croak.  She tried to swallow; it was near impossible.

Slowly she sat up.  Her head felt like it was spinning.  She put her hands to her forehead and rubbed.  The spinning slowed down and after a while stopped.  She strained her eyes to see where she was. 

Something brushed up against her and she tried to scream but it came out as a moan.

“Don’t be afraid,” a voice came from the darkness. “You’re not alone.”

“Where am I?” she said in a whisper, “Who are you?”

“I am not sure where we are, but my name is Ali.”

Stefani felt a hand on her shoulder.

“What is your name?” the faceless voice asked.

“Stefani.”

“Stefani!” a familiar voice spoke now “Is that really you? It’s me, Kim.”

“Kim,” Stefani said.  Kim was one of Stefani’s best friends.  Some relief came to Stefani. The thought that she was not alone brought a little comfort to her.

Ali spoke, “Our guess is that you were drugged and it will wear off in a little bit.  Several of you came in that way.  Most have recovered, but there are still some of you that are asleep.”

Drugged? Stefani wondered, by whom and why?  She heard some shuffling behind her.

“Ali, please keep talking so I can find you,” Kim said.  

“I don’t know what to say,” Ali replied.

“Say anything.  I am almost there,” said Kim.

Stefani’s head was clearer now and she heard sounds of muffled sobs and sniffling.  She had no real sense of direction because of the darkness of the room.  She also had no idea how big the room might be.  “Here, Kim, over here,” she said in a hoarse voice.

 

This was all too much.  She needed Kim to be near, she needed something to be familiar.  “We are over here,” she said with desperation in her voice.

For the second time a hand reached out of the darkness and rested on Stefani’s shoulder.  She reached for it and pulled Kim close. The two held each other for a long moment, tears streaming down their faces.

“I thought…” there was a sob “I thought I was all alone,” Kim said, breaking the silence.

“There are a lot of us in this room,” Ali said. “We were brought here on school busses.”

“What do you mean?” Stefani asked.

“Well, I had gone to school and at lunchtime there was an announcement for everyone to meet in the gym.  When I got there the gym was full of students.  As far as I could tell it was every grade. They had the younger kids sitting on the floor and the older ones seated on the bleachers.

“Then we were told to line up.  They loaded us up on buses and we left town.  I think we are somewhere near the old mines, but I’m not sure. Anyway, when we stopped they separated us; boys on one side girls on the other.  Then they had us separate again by age.  We were scared, we had no idea what was happening. They walked us to the room we are all in now and shut the door.  I am not sure how long ago it was because after we were all in they turned the lights out.  I think it must have been at least overnight.  Then just a few hours ago the rest of you were brought in laid on the ground and, well, you know the rest,” Ali finished. 

The sounds of sobbing were again heavy in the room and Stefani, Ali and Kim listened, helpless and hopeless.