Unsure of what Anna wanted, Jeremy excused himself from the packing plans, leaving Dustin to put everything in the car.
“Thanks a lot!” Dustin said sarcastically, as Jeremy jumped into his Subaru and sped off toward the high school.
He walked up the stairs to the top floor, passing classrooms until he reached the end of the hall. He and Anna had snuck out onto the roof before; the door was supposedly rigged to an alarm bell but Anna had discovered one day that the system had died long ago. He pushed through the door and walked up the narrow stairs to the roof of the school. All the buildings were situated around the main two-story schoolhouse, so when he reached the roof Jeremy could see the entire high school. He saw the bleachers by the football field, and the scoreboard that yearned to show a victory to its citizens. He saw the baseball diamond, and then all the little heads scurrying around the quad—kids that cut class, kids that had no class.
Anna sat watching the clouds go by.
He walked over to her and sat down. “You okay?” he asked.
Anna leaned on him, and Jeremy put his arm around her. “I just wanted to look out at this view one more time with you,” Anna remarked. “Everything seems so calm.”
In the distance they could see the Houston skyline, with the blue-orange haze surrounding the tall buildings.
“Yeah,” Jeremy replied, “it is.”
“I just can’t believe—”
Suddenly, a loud bang! erupted behind them. Anna yelped in surprise and Jeremy looked behind him. Police sirens wailed.
It’s coming from downtown, Jeremy thought.
Jeremy heard gunshots, and the couple looked at each other, both of them having no idea what to do.
Jeremy’s phone buzzed.
Dustin: Someone robbed Al’s Guns and Ammunition at gunpoint. I think people believe in the comet now. We should go.
Jeremy looked at Anna and showed her the text, and she looked worried, but nodded.
“I haven’t even told my parents yet,” Jeremy said nervously.
Jeremy texted Dustin back, asking him to pick them up in the parking lot of the school. Jeremy and Anna quickly walked back down the stairs, and waited in the parking lot, crouching behind a car just in case. After ten minutes, they saw the Acura pull up, with the U-Haul trailer behind it. Jeremy couldn’t help but chuckle at how the car looked. Its sleek black exterior made it seem like the last car that would be dragging around a scratched and peeling U-Haul trailer.
They quickly scrambled into the car, and drove off toward Karina’s apartment, which was just five minutes from school.
“How did you know about the robbery?” Jeremy asked Dustin as they drove. Now they knew what the super loud sound was—the thieves had used a grenade to bust open the door.
“My aunt texted me. She was across the street when it happened, and saw the whole thing.”
Karina was busy packing her clothes—she had skipped school that day, too—and they arrived at her house by one o’clock. She buzzed the group up and they went up in the elevator, which seemed to take forever to get to the fifth floor. Karina answered the door and Anna quickly explained that they needed to go as soon as possible.
“So, are you all packed, or . . . ?” Jeremy asked, eager to get on the road.
“Almost!” Karina replied, showing them to her bedroom.
“Jesus Christ,” Jeremy said, while Dustin started laughing.
On the ground beside Karina’s bed were two enormous suitcases. Karina could have probably fit in both of them, and one was bulging out the sides. There was a small mountain of clothes on her bed, which were presumably going into the other half of the suitcase.
Even Anna, whom Jeremy felt had packed twice the amount of clothes that he thought she needed, said, “Kari, you can’t be serious.”
“I mean, we might not be coming back, and I want to be prepared!”
For six minutes of painful conversation, the four argued about how many clothes Karina was allowed to bring. They settled on letting her bring the bag which was already bursting at the seams, but not until she unpacked and repacked it, this time with some clothes from the other suitcase.
“Better to be prepared!” she said.
Dustin labored to carry the suitcase to the elevator, and down they went. Karina looked nervous and Dustin and Jeremy tried to act brave, but in reality everyone was terrified. Jeremy kept on going back and forth between thinking that either leaving was necessary, or it was the worst idea he’d ever had. Anna grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, making him feel secure and happy.
They walked out and got into the car and started to drive north, first stopping by Jeremy’s house.
“I have to talk to my parents,” he explained. “I have to tell them.”
The group waited in the car as Jeremy ran in. I should have done this sooner, he thought, chastising himself.
He had a little luck, however, because his mom was feeling a little under the weather and thus had stayed home from work, and his father was home for lunch.
He burst through the door, and saw his father eating a sandwich and his mother drinking a tea.
“Guys,” he said breathlessly, “we have to go.”
“Where?” his father asked, uninterested.
“Let me start over,” he said, taking a deep breath. “A couple months ago, Anna and I found some evidence that NASA had discovered a comet that would collide with Earth and destroy all life and then a week after that, we followed Dr. Miller, a NASA astrophysicist, to a bar where we questioned him and he confirmed what we found and then there was this viral leak of some information about Project Mars—”
“Jeremy, Jeremy, slow down!” his father said, looking over to his wife. It looked like both his parents thought he’d gone crazy.
Jeremy repeated what he said a little slower than he did before, and articulated himself more clearly, but his parents still just stared at him.
“You guys don’t believe me?” Jeremy asked angrily. “Dad, I tried telling you this already!”
“Honey,” his mother began, “it’s not that we don’t trust you—we do—but isn’t it possible that you’re making a few leaps?”
“No—” Jeremy began. “Dad, you saw the JSC. That wasn’t normal, right?”
“Of course it wasn’t normal,” his father began, before looking shyly back at his wife, “but we know why. It’s just Project Mars, son.”
“Jeremy!” Dustin called from the front door. “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” Jeremy’s father asked suspiciously.
“I’m leaving to go to a less populated place before the country dissolves into anarchy. Chile is in chaos because they know that a comet is going to hit Earth and destroy everything!”
“Oh no, you are not,” Earl said sternly.
“Will you guys please come with me?” Jeremy pleaded one last time, as a last ditch attempt, but his parents just looked at each other, dumbfounded.
“Dustin, start the car, let’s go,” Jeremy yelled.
“You are not leaving,” Earl repeated, unsmiling.
“I love you both,” Jeremy said, before stealing a quick hug from his dazed mother. Then he ran after Dustin while his father was too stunned to try and stop him.
They drove by Al’s Guns on their way out of the city. They drove slowly past the police cars parked outside. The tinted glass doors were shattered, and the walls were filled with bullet holes. Jeremy thought that robbing Al’s Guns was probably the most dangerous thing to do in all of Houston, even deadlier than robbing a bank. He had gone in there a few times to shoot targets with his father, and imagining someone going in there with guns to rob the place seemed beyond reckless.
Then Al’s was gone, and they drove silently forward.
Jeremy didn’t know what to say, and apparently the girls didn’t either, because everyone remained quiet in the car. Dustin drove in silence. Jeremy turned on the radio and Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” started playing in the ca
r.
An hour north of Houston they still hadn’t seen anything resembling anarchy and decided to stop off for gas. Anna had the idea of taking her father’s Visa card, because they figured that in a year or so credit cards would stop working, so they might as well use them while they could. All that mattered now was survival.
They pulled off the freeway and drove into a Chevron, tapped up their supply, and bought two large bags of “Flamin’ Hot” Munchie Mix and four Arizona Iced Teas. It turned the mood in the car one-hundred-eighty degrees.
“Awesome, thanks Jer!” Anna said, kissing him on the cheek.
As Jeremy climbed into the passenger seat, he saw a man waving at him, walking toward their car. Jeremy looked behind him to see if the man was waving at someone else. Nope. He looked back at the man, who was tall, maybe six foot four, and his right hand was covered under his jacket.
“Hey, hey!” The man said, in a friendly tone.
“Jer . . . ” Anna began, “maybe we should . . . ”
“Yeah, man, get in the car.” Dustin said nervously.
“Hi fellas, hey!” The man was getting closer.
“Get in the car, Jeremy, get in the car now!” Dustin yelled.
But Jeremy was transfixed by the slow-moving giant and he felt like he was moving in slow motion himself, like the guy had put him under some kind of spell. Jeremy watched the man moving slowly toward the car, and saw the man’s expression change from the jovial friendly smile to a determined glare.
Then he saw the reflection of something metal in the man’s hand, but still he could not move. Then he felt Dustin’s hand on his shoulder. The contact broke the spell. He jumped in the car and yelled, “Go, go, go!”
As he looked back he saw the man aiming a handgun at the car. Dustin quickly put the car into gear, and shot out of the gas station. Jeremy heard the loud sharp bang of the gun, followed by Karina screaming and all four of them lowering their heads.
Jesus, the world’s going crazy, Jeremy thought.
They made it unscathed to the freeway, and then everyone glared at Jeremy.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Jeremy continued, “I don’t know what happened. Is everyone okay?”
Karina, Anna, and Dustin all nodded, and Jeremy silently thanked the fact that no one was hurt. He looked outside the car to be sure, once they were far away from the gas station. He stuck his head out of the window to check the side of the car.
There was a bullet hole in the side of the door. Jeremy turned white.
“See anything?” Dustin asked, curious.
“There’s a hole in Anna’s door.”
“Let’s be more careful from now on, everyone. No one goes anywhere alone anymore. Buddy system all the time, okay?” Dustin said, keeping his eyes on the road.
“And let’s make sure that everyone we meet, no matter how nice they seem, we have to be suspicious of them. We trust only each other. We have each other’s backs. We can trust only each other,” Jeremy added.
They all agreed, and then they were silent for a minute. Then, Jeremy could hear Anna softly sobbing in the back. Within ten seconds all four of the group were crying. Sometimes, after a stressful situation, a good cry is what a person needs. Suddenly, Jeremy felt his phone buzz. A private number was calling him.
“Hello?”
“Jeremy? It’s Robert Miller, the scientist.”
“Oh, hi, Dr. Miller.” Why would Dr. Miller be calling him? “Uhhh, what’s up?”
“Where are you? Did you take my advice?”
“Yeah, we decided to go north,” Jeremy replied.
“Great. Listen, I need some advice. My daughter, Jennifer, is going up north as well. I wanted to give her your information. She is going with her daughter, and if they need anything I’d like you to help them, if you can. Likewise, if you need something, you can trust her. I’m sending you the coordinates of her destination, and her phone number.”
“I’ll do what I can, doctor,” Jeremy replied slowly.
“I have to get back to work. Sorry I’m not much for the pleasantries now. We have two days until we publish the news. Looks like things are already deteriorating here.”
Jeremy thought back to the man who shot at them at the gas station, and a shiver ran down his spine. “Right. Dr. Miller?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for everything. And good luck saving the planet.”
Dr. Miller was silent on the phone for a long time and Jeremy pressed the phone into his ear a little more, so he could hear him, but the line went dead.
Earl Genser watched from his television with a beer in his hand as the baseball game switched suddenly to a surprise address by the President of the United States, Victoria Chaplin. He raised his eyebrows, intrigued, and watched:
“Good evening, fellow Americans and citizens of the world. I speak tonight for the destiny of humanity, for the fate of all life on Earth, indeed for the very existence of our beloved planet.” President Chaplin looked stoic and calm, and Earl sat up in his chair, furrowing his brow.
“Earlier this week the hacker known as One Union Anarchist published a document which alleged that our mission to Mars is a cover for a different mission. These allegations are true.”
Dr. Miller, who sat in the front row of the press room, shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling unnatural in his suit. Some of the reporters tried to ask questions, but President Chaplin continued:
“Please hold all your questions until I have finished. Months ago, astrophysicists at the Johnson Space Center used radio telescopes to confirm the existence of Comet J312, a comet forty kilometers wide, and a comet on a collision course with Earth.”
President Chaplin said the last words methodically and evenly. Living rooms around the world were quiet, bars fell silent, and newsrooms around the world exploded. The hacker known as One Union Anarchist smiled grimly behind his computer screens.“Comets are volatile, unpredictable, and difficult to spot. There is a small chance that this comet will not come in contact with Earth. But we must plan for an impact. The comet will reach Earth sometime in June 2018. Interplanetary missiles, initially disguised as the primary supply missions to Mars, will reach the comet shortly and attempt to divert its path. An international team of the world’s best scientists are working around the clock to do everything in their power to stop the comet.”
Another flurry of questions came from the press. President Chaplin held up her hand and waited for it to die down before saying, “I’d like to introduce Dr. Robert Miller, head of NASA’s comet research division. He will be heading the global effort to keep Earth alive.”
Dr. Miller felt all eyes on him, even if the cameras hadn’t reached him yet.
“We will be providing Dr. Miller’s team with everything he needs. Our entire country will be fueling this project. We will turn our military, our financial centers, our auto industry to face this crisis. We will turn Hollywood and Silicon Valley toward this. We will turn Los Angeles and New York toward this. We have the might of the United States of America and the world, and we must remain a united force against the most Herculean challenge our world has ever faced. It is important to know that the rest of the world will be looking to us as an example, as a beacon of calm, logic, and rationality in this trying time.
“Now, before I turn this over to Dr. Miller,” the president continued, “I will take a few questions. Please leave all scientific questions for Dr. Miller.”
A fat woman in the front row spoke up. “Thank you, Madam President, Lexy Smith, CNN. You deliberately deceived the American people about the meteor, why?”
The president paused, and then spoke. “We felt that, in the interest of national security, and in order to adequately address the crisis, we needed to be able to focus solely on creating a scientific response team to destroy the comet. If we told the public right away, we would have had to divide our resources. Because we were able to coordinate a planned attack against the comet, we are already defending our planet. The most impo
rtant task for the world right now is to defend the world against the comet.”
There was some unsettled rumbling. It was the sound of a press room full of people who had been lied to.
The president nodded at a smaller man who held a pencil in his raised hand. “John Goodman, Fox. Do the recent uprisings in the Third World, and the lack of communication with the countries of South America, have anything to do with this?”
“The citizens of Chile, upon learning about the meteor, set fire to their capital, Santiago, and within one month, their government had dissolved. We did everything we could to make sure that did not happen here.”
Back at the Genser home, Jeremy’s father could hear the reporters’ gasps. He was watching the television, mouth agape, wondering why he hadn’t listened to his son.
Anna’s mom held the goodbye note Anna had written her, while looking at the TV through teary eyes.
Someone else was asking the president a question. “ . . . the economy. Are you saying we are going to see a similar shift in the economy like when the United States militarized for the Second World War?”
“The militarization of the economy before World War II was necessary to defeat Nazi Germany, and the United States succeeded in doing that. This is a new enemy—one that no one has ever faced before—and there is no room for error. A comet is coming, and we are the only hope to stop it. Because of this, major car companies like GM, Ford, and Chrysler have all agreed to begin working solely on satellites and other pieces of equipment we will need to ensure the survival of the planet.”
As she spoke, around the United States, people were losing their faith. San Francisco and Seattle had already declared national emergencies, and the military swept in, taking control.
“Now, I turn it over to Dr. Robert Miller, the lead scientist for Project Earth, the global fight against the meteor.”
President Chaplin looked over to Robert, who stepped forward. He had never thought in his entire life that the president of the United States would introduce him—much less to the entire world. The room felt very dim and heavy to him, and it was difficult to move. He slowly walked with his papers to the podium and looked at the teleprompter, which was blank.
The Sky is Falling Page 9
