“Who is they?” asks the Mother Gaia theorist, an attractive blonde wearing a form-fitting blue dress.
“Christians,” the man says. “They’ve been saying that one day Christ would take all his followers into heaven.”
Elliott shakes his head, disgusted and angry. People needed real answers, not make-believe.
“I’ve never heard anybody say that,” the biological warfare panelist says.
“You’re just pandering,” the woman says. “Preying on weakness and fear, what Christians have done for years, and exactly what people don’t need right now!”
“I’m not saying it’s true,” the man yells. “I’m just saying it’s what Christians have said for over two millennia.”
“If that’s true, then the world will be a far better place without millions of hatemongers and bigots,” the believer in aliens concludes.
Elliott reaches for the phone on the floor and picks it up, desperate to hear his parents’ voices.
CHAPTER 7
Queens, NY
Emma opens the door to her apartment and Matt grabs her, pulling her inside. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling for hours! I thought you were gone!”
She falls into him. “I thought you…I couldn’t get through. My mom is…”
He pushes her from him. “What? What?!”
Her face is contorted and wet. “My mom is gone, and so are Carrie and Reggie and Mrs. Ramos and her family.”
He puts his hands on top of his head and sways from side to side with his mouth open. “What’s happening?” He mutters, running to the TV and pointing. “People are missing everywhere! It’s not just here. It’s all over the world.”
Emma’s legs feel heavy as boulders as she walks to the TV, staring at images from Oklahoma and Dubai, Charleston and Barcelona. She wipes tears from her face, covering her mouth as she watches. In one video after another security cameras from banks, malls, hospitals, businesses, government buildings, airports, schools, grocery stores, military bases, prisons, and surveillance systems from around the world reveal the disappearance of countless people who vanished right off the streets, from lobbies, waiting rooms, supermarket aisles, school playgrounds, offices, airport security lines, university campuses, and restaurants. Reporters are on the streets, in cemeteries, and in news studios, trying to piece together what has happened.
Emma’s legs lose whatever strength is left and she falls to the sofa, staring at the screen. “What have they been saying?”
Matt shakes his head. “A lot of them are saying terrorism. Many are saying it’s aliens.”
“That’s what Gina said.”
“Who’s Gina?”
She can’t stop looking at the screen. “A girl who works at Mrs. Ramos’s deli. I was running by there and went in to tell them that she was gone, but the entire place was empty.” She begins to cry and Matt sits next to her, holding her head on his chest. “Carlos, Viviana, Angel, Luis, and Mrs. Ramos and her husband. All gone. Just Gina was there. Hiding in the refrigerator from aliens.” She looks at him. “Aliens!”
“It could be. Or terrorists.”
She presses the palms of her hands to her eyes. “How did terrorists make people disappear from the rehabilitation room?” She points to the TV screen at the reporter in a cemetery. “How did they open graves and empty them out?”
“Nobody knows, Emma.”
She turns to look at him, trembling. “Where did they go? Why were they taken?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
Hysteria is rising in her voice. “Mateo said it was some sort of evil that vaporized people.”
“What sort of…”
She screams over him. “Why is my mother gone and where is she?!”
“I don’t know.” He pulls her to him again. “I don’t know.”
Israel
Since the nation of Israel went on lockdown, Zerah, his parents, and his sister Rada’s family have not left his parents’ bomb shelter. The entire Israeli Defense Forces have taken their positions around the country, prepared to defend Israel and her citizens from attack. Many residents have disappeared, but with so many in bomb shelters, there’s no way to get an accurate count.
“How did this happen?” his father Chaim says, rubbing his head of white hair, his hands shaking from the tremors or fear, or both. “What sort of evil did this to the world?”
“Papa, you’re looking pale,” Rada says. “You shouldn’t get so excited.”
Rada’s oldest child, eight-year-old Taavi, wraps his arms around his grandfather’s neck and leans against him. Rada’s three-year-old daughter, Batya, sits on her father’s lap, unaware of what is happening.
“I keep trying to understand,” Zerah’s mother says. “Who were these people who have disappeared? And why?”
“I think a colleague is one of them,” Zerah says from the sofa.
Each family member turns to look at him. “Why do you think that?” Rada says.
“She was right behind me as we were headed to a meeting. We all took our places and she wasn’t there. I went back into the hall and all the way to the reception desk looking for her. She wasn’t anywhere. I tried calling her cell phone in the meeting, but she didn’t answer, and then our meeting was interrupted with news of this,” he says, pointing to the TV screen.
“She could have had an emergency,” his mother says.
“That’s what I thought, so I tried calling her repeatedly.”
“With no answer?” his sister says. Zerah shakes his head no.
His father stands and paces the small living room. “Who was she?”
“Dr. Miriam Haas,” Zerah says. “A good doctor. A wife and mom. We didn’t talk beyond research. She was a messianic believer.”
“That’s one of the theories!” Rada says.
“It is preposterous!” Chaim yells, silencing his daughter. No one would say the name of Jesus Christ in this household. They turn their eyes to the TV and watch in silence.
CHAPTER 8
Queens, NY
Rick and Brandon sit on the sofa in Matt and Emma’s apartment, drinking. It has been the only way to soothe their nerves as they have watched events unfold on TV for the last seven hours. Emma has turned her eyes from the screen many times at images of people looting buildings throughout the country. In the past, many have resorted to theft and property damage following elections or after a sports team’s loss, but watching this behavior after the disappearance of millions makes Emma wince. At three in the morning they are all nauseous from fright; their eyes are bloodshot from exhaustion and swollen from crying.
“This has shaken the foundation of our global security to the core,” the newscaster says to the panel of experts in front of him. “We’ve seen the debilitation of our government and the military. Our stock market has plummeted, and as a result we’re witnessing the chaos in the international financial markets. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, London, and other world markets are falling, toppling like dominoes, which will surely usher the world into a global depression. What does it mean for the housing market and loan institutions across the country? Our own banking system or business and manufacturing? What does it mean for our schools, health care, transportation, or our food supply? What about our…”