Abduction Revelation II: Truth Be Told (The Comeback Kid)

by Unknown

  The noise and light show stirred up a flock of bats that came flying out of nowhere in every which direction. Only these bats were about twice the size of any I had ever seen.

  “Hit the deck!” I shouted, as the bats whizzed overhead in a frantic flight.

  This scary commotion lasted another five minutes before all went quiet again. Caren was the first to speak.

  “Wonder what that was all about?”

  Do not worry, Monroe said, the Warriors can handle themselves.

  I had no doubt about that after seeing one dig himself out from under tons of rubble, with nary a scratch.

  “We got more company,” Caren said, pointing to a dark side of the cavern.

  There in the dim light were two bright shining eyes staring at us.

  “Monroe, did you bring a flashlight?”

  The words had just escaped my mouth when a beam from Monroe lit up that corner of the cavern.

  In the beam stood a funny looking little creature. It wasn’t but about a foot in height. It stood on its two hind legs. Two huge eyes stared at us on a tiny head. Sort of looked like an overweight chipmunk wearing oversized goggles.

  “Ah! Isn’t it cute?” Caren said, as she walked toward it.

  When she got within a few feet, the loveable cute little creature suddenly turned into an unfriendly nasty little critter.

  It made a hissing sound as something sprang up around its neck. Its mouth opened wide, displaying a full set of shark teeth, stopping Caren in her tracks.

  “I think you best leave it alone,” I warned her.

  The little creature then sprang forward with lightening speed, biting Caren on her leg. It then spun around and disappeared into the darkness.

  “Are you hurt,” I shouted, rushing toward her.

  I got to her just in time to catch her from falling as she passed out.

  The bite did not penetrate the jumpsuit. She must have fainted from the shock, Monroe said after he examined her leg.

  He retrieved something from a first aid kit and waved it under her nose.

  “The animals don’t seem to be very friendly here in the future,” Caren commented to Monroe after coming too.

  Survival instincts, was his reply.

  “Let that be a lesson when you get the urge to pet something cute again,” I warned.

  “But honey. Does that mean I can’t pet you anymore?”

  I had no comeback for that one.

  While we were waiting for the Warriors to return, I asked Monroe, “Would you mind if I asked you a personal question?”

  Of course not. We are family.

  I’m getting the impression he says that ‘family thing’ because he is trying to fit in.

  “Do you have a significant other?”

  I am not sure I understand your question, he replied.

  “A mate. Someone you share a relationship with, like Caren and I.”

  After there were no more children to be born, there was no further need for a family unit or relationships. Everyone became a separate unit.

  “But don’t you still have a desire for sex?” Caren got in on the conversation.

  Of course, after all, we are still human. We established facilities to meet for those occasions.

  The Warriors returned, and that put an abrupt end to our little conversation.

  “They are not here,” one informed Monroe.

  “But there are signs indicating someone had been here, and it wasn’t too long ago,” he added, as he displayed a human skull.

  “Oh My!” Caren gasped.

  Monroe pulled out his funny looking gadget and waved it over the skull head.

  It is too ancient to be those we search for, he proclaimed.

  Caren and I both were relieved to hear the good news.

  “What was all the shooting and commotion about?” I asked one of the Warriors.

  “Do not concern yourself with such matters,” was his blunt answer.

  “Okay…What now, Monroe?” I asked, a bit irritated with the Warrior’s attitude.

  We shall continue searching the remaining caverns.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Caren responded.

  “But has anyone thought about how we are going to get out of here. If you recall, our entrance can’t be our exit,” Caren pointed out to everyone, while raising an eyebrow.

  The words had just escaped her tongue when a Warrior blasted another hole close by the one that had collapsed.

  “That should provide a way out,” was his boastful remark.

  “Great job,” I said, with no pun intended. “Who volunteers to go last?” I added, pun intended.

  We shall proceed in the same order, Monroe advised.

  This time through I made it a point to go a little faster. Everyone made it through before the hole collapsed.

  Daylight was fading fast, casting deepening shadows over the area, leaving a cold silence. The landscape began to melt into the darkness. A faint glow above the horizon heralded a rising moon.

  We will set up camp here and continue our search in the morning, Monroe announced.

  “Why didn’t we stay in the cavern for the night?” I asked.

  Monroe rolled his eyes.

  “Just asking,” I added, shrugging my shoulders. I thought it was a reasonable question. He must be getting irritated with all the questions.

  He must be thinking that our roles are reversed. Usually, it’s the grandkids that ask all the questions.

  Setting up camp was a breeze with all this modern day camping equipment. A one-foot square container became an eight-foot square shelter, erected by a push of a button on the side of the container. It even had a means inside to relieve oneself, although it was a bit unorthodox.

  We didn’t have to search for firewood as there was no need for fire. Light and heat came from a small metal bottle with another push of a button.

  As we sat around our fake fireplace that night, no one was in the mood to tell a good ghost story. We had no hot dogs or marshmallow’s to roast, or hot chocolate to sip. This was not your typical family weekend pleasure camping trip.

  I don’t know about Monroe and his Warriors, but I can say that Caren and I was getting a bit antsy about what was going to happen tomorrow. Especially Caren, as she was being usually quiet.

  To get our minds off the subject, I asked Monroe, “Can I ask you another question?”

  He reluctantly nodded, If you must.

  “So what happened? How exactly did the Earth become such a wasteland?”

  The sad story he quoted that night was scarier than any ghost story you will ever hear.

  Whether it was by accident or planned, (history doesn’t know for sure), 90 per cent of the Earth’s population was wiped out in the Great World War of 2027. The 2015 Nuclear Arms agreement between Iran and several nations (including the United States) did nothing to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb. Seems the non-binding treaty wasn’t really signed by anyone.

  On September 11, 2027, without warning, Tel Aviv was wiped off the map. Iran was determined to be the culprit. Their punishment started a chain reaction that became humanity’s worst nightmare.

  Most of the major cites of the world vanished in a cloud of radioactive wilderness. The numerous nuclear explosions caused most of the ice glaciers to melt, and many of the coastal cities that weren’t nuked were flooded. The nuclear explosions also activated many dormant volcanoes, spewing volcanic dust into Earth’s atmosphere. They also caused many earthquakes that added to the destruction of the world as we knew it.

  The ten per cent of humanity who survived were mostly huddled in bomb shelters, caves, and the mountain regions of the midlands of various countries. They were propelled back to dark age conditions.

  It took several decades for the radiation fallout and volcanic dust to dissipate and allow survivors to resurface and to reorganize.

  Anarchy and chaos spread amongst the survivors. The law of the land was each man for himself. This continued for several
more decades, until finally groups of survivors started to unite. Much like the ancient clans of Scotland and the Indian tribes of North America. It started in the Midlands of the United States and eventually spread to survivors on other continents.

  Building the Domes was a necessity because of the harsh landscape, environment, and air quality. It would take many more decades for Earth’s land, water, and air to return to livable conditions. The Domes enabled man to live above ground. He could again gaze at the sun and stars of the universe and dream of days of yesterday.

  By the turn of 22nd Century, mankind had embraced a new beginning. Technology advanced more in a decade than all previous years of human existence. Factories ran without being visited by a single human being, as robots performed the tasks of manufacturing.

  To avoid repeating history, it was determined that mankind must change its habitual old cultures and form a new, perfect society. It was further determined that in order to accomplish this, it would take a perfect human being. Everyone needed to be on the same page. Only one government, one creed, and one race. Everyone looking and dressing the same was determined to be the ultimate answer.

  Since God had been unable to accomplish this, genetic engineering became the primary objective. A world without hatred, prejudice, disease, crime, or wars would enable humanity to live in peace and harmony. Gone were the crisis that had once produced banner headlines. There were no more murders and mass shootings to shock the public. All for one, one for all. At the time, it made perfect and common sense.

  By the end of the 22nd Century, humanity had had ample time in which to change its culture and physical appearance to almost beyond recognition. All that was required for the task was a sound knowledge of social and genetic engineering, a clear sight of intended goals, and the will to embrace it.

  Ignorance, poverty, and fear had virtually ceased to exist. The memory of wars faded into the past as a nightmare vanishes with the dawn, soon to live outside the experience of all living men. With the energies of mankind redirected into constructive channels, the face of humanity had been remade. Now that so many of its psychological problems had been removed, humanity was far saner and less irrational. It was literally a new world. Humanity had stumbled upon its utopia.

  But then, something went afoul. Mother nature took her revenge on humanity for messing with her plan.

  “But why the need for the Warriors if people are no longer at war?” I asked.

  That is enough questions for one night. It is time to rest. Monroe avoided the question.

  “Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Monroe,” I called out as Caren and I headed to our shelter.

  “I can’t imagine what a mutant bed bug bite would feel like,” Caren added with a shiver.

  We didn’t get much sleep. We had no sooner tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags inside our shelter when the mutant bed bugs attacked. Just kidding...

  But seriously, just before we were able to fall asleep, strange and creepy sounds penetrated the silent night.

  Then the wind started to howl. It soon became a rip-roaring gale. Something hard slammed into the side of the shelter and we both about pissed in our pants. We figured the shelter would be blown away any second with us in it.

  We laid cuddled together in one sleeping bag for the next few hours, praying the shelter would hold together. Thank God it did, and the wind eventually died down. It became quiet and peaceful again, and we were finally able to fall asleep.

  *****

  There are numerous manmade caves carved into the Missouri and Kansas landscape beginning as far back as the 1800’s.

  Over the next few days, we searched just about every conceivable cavern and cave on Monroe’s electronic GPS device to no avail. There were no signs of our originals. Like they had vanished from the face of the earth.

  “Where are they?” I overheard a vexed Warrior demand of Monroe. Monroe appeared shaken. I was beginning to have suspicions about who was actually in charge here.

  There is only one conceivable area left to search, Monroe said on our fourth day of searching.

  “And where might that be?” I asked.

  It was once called the Vivos Survival Shelter and Resort, located near what was once called Atchison, Kansas.

  Back in the early 2000’s the Vivos Survival Shelter and Resort was conceived and built in an old, man-made cave just south of what was then a town called Atchison. Atchison was known as the birthplace of Amelia Earhart, a famous female pilot who disappeared from the face of the earth while trying to establish a world record for circling the globe in an aircraft. Makes you wonder if perhaps she had been an abductee. Now that I think of it, I could have sworn I saw her statue in the Dome.

  Another network of hardened underground shelters was built and designed to withstand future national disasters and life-extinction catastrophes.

  The Kansas caverns were 100 feet to 150 feet below the surface and had a constant natural temperature of 70° F. Entrances to the shelters were nondescript concrete loading docks tucked discretely into the wooded hillside. They were easily defendable against potential intruders provided there’s not a full-scale military attack.

  Each cavern was equipped with enough food, clothing, medicine, fuel, water and survival gear to accommodate approximately 6,000 people for ten years.

  The trip there didn’t take long and was totally uneventful. But again, when we arrived, we couldn’t find an entrance to the shelter.

  “Are you sure we are in the right area?” I asked Monroe.

  As soon as I asked it, I knew it was another silly question. Of course, he would know.

  The entrance has had several decades of decay and will be difficult to locate, even with GPS. If someone has been here recently, perhaps we can find evidence of where they entered. If not, we may have to dig around to discover evidence of an entrance.

  The Warriors began probing the hillside with a strange looking gadget that resembled a metal detector. Only the gadget had a sharp probe that would penetrate into the ground surface to about a foot down.

  One probe into some brush disturbed something mean and nasty. I heard a strange high-pitched squeal. The brush under the probe came alive. Some horrendous looking, pissed off bear-like creature sprang up, throwing debris all around. Now, I’ve seen some nasty looking creatures in various movies, but this thing topped them all. It was one ugly mother f*#ker.

  It stood about eight feet tall. It had large mean eyes, a mouth full of sharp, rotten, yellow teeth, and it looked like its nose had been chopped off.

  The mutant bear-like creature grabbed the Warrior who probed it. The Warrior did a somersault, escaping the creature’s hold. In a motion that was hardly visible, the Warrior drew his laser sword, initiated the beam, and sliced one of the creature’s paws off. This just made it madder as it charged the Warrior on its three remaining paws, spitting saliva from its mouth and blood from its missing limb.

  The Warrior made a quick side step, swirled and sliced the creature in half with one swift motion of his laser sword. Blood and guts splattered all over the place.

  I had to jump out of its path as both parts of the mutant bear went tumbling down the hillside. All this happened in a blink of an eye.

  The Warrior had sliced and diced the creature like a true Jedi Warrior.

  “Holy Cow!” I shouted.

  “Did you see that?” I commented to Caren.

  But when I looked around, she wasn’t anywhere in sight. Before all the commotion, she had been standing right beside me.

  “Caren!” I shouted about ready to have a heart attack. Where could she have gone?

  I observed Monroe standing a few feet from the Warrior that had slain the creature.

  “Monroe. Where’s Caren?”

  He pointed down the hill.

  I looked and saw her laying beneath the upper half of the slain creature. She was engaged in its unwelcomed embrace.

  “Crymeny! Get this thing off me,” she cried while pushing at the
creature.

  In a rush, I stumbled down the hill to help her. But I lost my footing and tumbled down the hill, landing smack dab on top of the creature and her.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, as I quickly jumped up and pushed the creature off her.

  “Just got some bumps, a bruised ego, and some more smelly stuff splattered all over me.”

  “Jesus, my love, what’s this ‘thing’ you have with smelly, mutant creatures?” I joked.

  “Ha! Ha! Must be my bubbling personality,” she replied with a bite of sarcasm.

  After the dust had settled and Caren got cleaned off, Caren and I thought to make ourselves useful. We found some tree limbs and cautiously started to probe around the hillside, searching for an entrance to the cavern.

  “Let’s hope the creature doesn’t have any kin folk hanging around,” I said eyeing the undergrowth. Heaven forbid we would arouse another one of those scary creatures.

  It wasn’t long before I heard a ‘clunk’ come from one of Caren’s probes.

  “I think I’ve found something,” she said in excitement.

  I rushed over to help her remove more debris from the spot. Sure enough, a large circular metal plate came into view. You could tell someone had tried to disguise the area with loose leaves and brush.

  It didn’t take long to expose a metal hatch with a circular handle. The hatch resembled a watertight damaged control door of a 20th Century battleship. We figured it was probably an emergency escape route or air shaft for the caverns beneath.

  I grabbed the handle and tried to turn it. It didn’t budge, so I tried again with all my might. It was being somewhat contrary.

  “Are you turning it the right way?” Caren asked, rolling her eyes.

  “Yes, dear! Usually counter clock wise is to open,” I said rolling my eyes back at her. Hey, I’m ex-Navy, I should know how to open a hatch.

  But to be sure, and from a woman’s point of view, I tried it the opposite way. Not surprisingly, it still wouldn’t budge.

  By then, the Warriors and Monroe had arrived on the scene. One of the Warriors tried turning the handle. Ha. He couldn’t move it either. Of course, that boosted my ego. Maybe they weren’t so macho after all.