The Time of the Stripes by Amanda Bridgeman

Author:Amanda Bridgeman [Bridgeman , Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: apocalyptic, dystopian, alien contact
ISBN: 9780995425972
Publisher: Centralis Entertainment
Published: 2017-11-28T16:00:00+00:00

Day Seven

Richard stood in the empty bathroom and squeezed his tired eyes shut. “Yes, I know what I’m doing.”

“Kid, this is serious shit you got here,” Harry hissed quietly into the phone, as though trying to hide his voice from others. “Are you sure this is true? If we run with this and it’s not—”

“It is.”

“There could be all kinds of repercussions from this, you understand? And I’m not just talking about the government here. Who knows how the people will react when they find out they’ve been lied to.”

“Hopefully they’ll react with relief that they’re not contagious and reunite with their loved ones.”

“Yeah, most will. But some will be damned angry with the government for withholding the truth and keeping them apart!”

“Only for a moment. Only until their brains wrap around the real reason as to why they did this, why they tried to keep this secret.”

“To tell you the truth, that’s what I have the biggest issue with here,” Harry told him. “That they think these goddamn fucking aliens will come back. That’s why they’re keeping the town quarantined?”

“The authorities can’t find a reason for the categorization, Harry. They’re scared.”

“But does this necessarily mean the aliens’ll come back?”

“No one knows, Harry. But they went to the trouble of categorizing people. And if they do come back, the government knows that they’ll be powerless to do anything about it, so they’re just going to leave Victoryville chained up to the post like some sacrificial goat, and hope that keeps these aliens away from everyone else.”

“Goddamn aliens. Never thought I would see the day that shit came true.”

Richard felt his shoulders soften with inevitability. “Don’t use the word ‘aliens’. Try ‘extraterrestrials’. It sounds better. Friendlier. I hope.”

“Does it? Still sounds rather fucked up to me.”

Richard sighed heavily. He slumped down on the closed lid of the toilet. “Oh, it’s fucked up, alright.”

“I’m sorry, kid. Listen to me going on, when I’m here miles away and you’re the one stuck there.”

“It’s okay, Harry. You got a right to worry too.”

There was a pause on Harry’s end, then a ruffling muffled sound as though he were running his free hand over his face.

“You’re sure about this?” Harry asked again. “You’re one hundred percent sure you want to go with this and put a big freaking target on your back?”

Richard stared at the bathroom floor. He pictured Lisa and Benny’s faces. Pictured the faces on the walls showing images of the missing. He recalled the couple he’d witnessed waving to each other over the barricade. Then he remembered that footage of Abbie Randell running out to shelter Kaitlyn Manner and her newborn baby. The Clean Skin teenage girl who had just given birth to her first child, separated from her mother and removed from her home thanks to the Victoryville quarantine.

“Yes,” Richard said firmly. “If these things are coming back and there’s a chance that I could die, then I want to do what I can before that happens. I want my death to count.

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