Bad Day in
Utopia
page 4
The crowd laughed at the
joke and Avy realized it was the first time she had heard the sounds of
laughter in months. It wasn't nervous laughter, or forced, but real laughter
that only comes when people are comfortable. She didn't know if it was the
corny joke or the promise of finally seeing an end to her detention but
for the first time in months, she felt safe. From the sounds of those around
her, the presence of the soldiers made the others feel safe too.
The officer with the hard features continued, "We were able to carry
some basic medical supplies with us, but little food. FEMA is working with
us to find a way to get more food to you, but for now it looks like you
have enough for at least a few more weeks."
"What happened? What made the sky go dark?" Bogan yelled up to
the captain in an accusatory manner like the Captain had caused the Gloom.
"The science is beyond me, but it has something to do with a large
negative energy force that has settled over most of Florida. The panhandle
and the rest of the world haven't been affected."
"So what caused this?
Is it global warming, a nuclear war, a nuclear meltdown, pollution, the
ice caps?"
"Again, I don't know.
People way smarter than I am are still trying to figure it out. My job
is to get you out of here."
"Then why in the hell
didn't you come here for us sooner?" A lady with a strong New England
accent yelled to the captain.
"We have been working our way down slowly. What were we supposed
to do lady? We lost communication with most of the state and quarantine
has been in place for everyone, including emergency aid workers. Lady,
we didn't know what was going on down here. Satellites couldn't take pictures
through the thick cloud cover. We couldn't even send in armored and air
tight vehicles or even robots - nothing worked." The Captain explained
that the best possible rescue efforts had failed. Still the crowd was
now hopeful and talking with each other about the coming rescue and what
they would do once they were out of Florida. The anger of being left for
so long subsided with the anticipation of escape.
With their weekly rations, each person or head of a family received a
black envelope containing instructions for the evacuation. Each envelope
contained a date and a time to return to the ration station along with
other instructions on what to pack and how much each person could bring.
There were no specifics as to how they would be removed when they returned.
"Are they taking us out of here on horse?" Avy wondered.
Avy opened her envelope quickly while keeping it close to her chest, like
a presenter at the Academy Awards, hiding the contents from those around
her. Her appointed time was in only three days. She had watched as each
person before her opened their black envelopes. Some smiled and walked
away, a few jumped around like they had just been selected for "The
Price is Right", and others stomped off clearly upset. Then there
were the ones that became enraged.
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