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  Tucker lifted a bracelet of sorts. A black plastic band. He bent down and grabbed another. “Don’t these look like those exercise bracelets?”

  “Yeah, they do.” Rey took one.

  “Who the heck gets shot at and leaves their exercise bracelets behind?”

  Rey examined it, running her fingers along the side. After doing that, three small green lights lit up on the edge. “Heck of a battery.”

  “That is really strange.” Tucker took it, looked at it again, and placed both in the small bag he carried over his shoulder. “Bullet holes, exercise bracelets…”

  “And a bunny.”

  “What?”

  Rey bent down and lifted a rag doll style toy bunny from the floor. It was nearly buried beneath dirt and dust. She cleaned it off by hitting it a few times on the table’s edge. “This belonged to a child. God, I hope they weren’t shot.”

  “Why would there be a shoot-out here?” Tucker questioned, more so thinking out loud. “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “A robbery or someone looting, perhaps?”

  “I don’t think so. What would someone loot?”

  “Food. Money,” Rey suggested.

  “Exactly.” Tucker pointed the light at the front. “Register is fine. Soda case still has soda, chips are still there. If they’re looting for food, why not take those?” Tucker, with the light in hand, stepped back, shining it around. He paused when he heard a faint mechanical whirling. It was short and soft. “Rey, did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  “I guess not.” He moved slowly counterclockwise, shining the light, and just as he faced the rear corner, he saw it. There was a door there, right in the back of the restaurant. It probably led to a back room. It was a swinging door, no knob, with a small square window near the top.

  It was there in that window it appeared.

  A red dot of light. Small and round. The sight of it was so startling to Tucker, he not only jumped, he let out a small shriek.

  “What?” Rey asked. “You scared me.”

  “That.” Tucker pointed.

  “What? What am I looking at?”

  He lowered his hand. “It was there. It’s gone.”

  “What was it?”

  “I don’t know.” Tucker moved toward that door. “I’m gonna find out. I saw a demon.”

  Rey snorted a laugh. “I’m sorry, a demon?”

  “Okay not a demon, but I swear it was a red eye like some horror movie,” Tucker said.

  “Maybe it was your light reflecting off of something.”

  “Maybe,” Tucker said. “I’m going to find out.”

  “Tucker. Rey,” Finch called out.

  Tucker was already on heightened nerves and Finch’s call just made him jump again.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Rey asked.

  “I wasn’t expecting him to call our names.” Tucker looked to the front of the restaurant. Finch stood there.

  “You guys alright?” Finch asked.

  Rey answered, “Yeah, we’re fine. Tucker saw a demon.”

  “Tucker saw a what?” Finch asked.

  “Oh, stop,” Tucker said. “I just saw something weird.”

  “The buggy is ready to go.” Finch pointed back. “It’s getting late so if we want to find that farm, we need to get a move on.”

  “Commander?” Tucker walked toward him. “Can we not?”

  “I’m sorry.” Finch titled his head. “You spotted the farm. You were the one that told us about it. Why are we not looking for it?”

  “We will,” Tucker explained. “It just that…it’s getting late. When we find the farm, we’ll find the farmer, hopefully. We need more time than just to say howdy and turn back here to the ship. Let’s make camp. I think not only would we do better finding the farm when we have a whole day ahead of us, but we need to check out this town.”

  “He’s right,” Rey said.

  “What’s going on?” Finch asked.

  Tucker shook his head. “I don’t know. But something. We have an empty town. Very few cars. No damage other than what the passing of time would do. So no natural disasters here. There are bullet holes in here. A shoot-out in a pizza place. Food is still everywhere. It doesn’t make sense. This is just one place. There are a lot more buildings just around here to check out. I think if we’re piecing together what happened to Earth between Earth Zero and Earth-175, we need to examine what happened in his town.”

  “Show him what you found,” Rey said.

  Tucker reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out one of the bracelets. “Buried in the dust on the floor behind the table. A table, mind you, set up as a shield from bullets.”

  “A fitness bracelet?” Finch examined it.

  “Strange, isn’t it?” Tucker asked.

  “It is.” Finch returned it. “Alright, we’ll set up camp and do some exploring. It’s not like we’re in a rush.”

  “Thank you,” said Tucker.

  Finch nodded his acknowledgement and turned. He paused and looked back. “Are you two coming to help set up camp?”

  Rey glanced up to Tucker. “Did you want to check out the demon thing first?”

  Tucker looked behind him to the door. “Nah, we can come back and see. Let’s help set up camp.”

  The three of them left the pizza shop, but not before Tucker looked back at that door just one more time.

  EIGHTEEN

  Something about Tucker’s sudden switch from carefree to concerned put Finch on high alert. Tucker was an intelligent man with what Finch believed was a lot of common sense. When he suddenly stopped sightseeing, Finch felt Tucker had a gut instinct about something. He wasn’t mentioning anything, but it was there. Finch took no chances.

  Unlike when they landed on Earth-175, Finch set up security measures before they left to explore. Placing the security poles in four points around the ship, Finch initiated the electric perimeter and alarm.

  He’d leave it up all night while they slept too.

  Even though the town seemed dead and not a soul was around, that wasn’t to say there weren’t animals.

  Rules were set.

  They went into the same area together. They could check buildings in teams.

  No one said anything to Finch at first, they just did what was told until he gave his talk before going out.

  “We will take one buggy, slow moving,” Finch said. “Tucker and Sam, I want you on point. I’ll follow behind, Nate and Rey in the buggy.” He checked the clip in his pistol.

  “Um, Finch?” Nate asked. “What gives?”

  “I’m sorry,” Finch replied. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, no one is around. It’s almost as if you’re expecting us to be ambushed.”

  “He’s being proactive,” Rey said. “It’s very strange around here and it’s not like where we were before. We didn’t know it was inhabited. This is Earth not long after things really fell apart, so there could be people around.”

  Sam added, “There’s a farm. So we know there is someone.”

  “I think it’s smart,” Tucker said. “Something doesn’t feel right around here. I don’t know what it is.”

  “Demons,” Sam said. “Demons with red eyes.”

  Tucker shot a glance to Rey. “Did you say something to him?”

  “Not making fun, I swear.” Rey held up her hand. “I was telling him. That’s all.”

  “Well, I saw something. It was there one second, the next it was gone,” Tucker said.

  Nate suggested, “Maybe your flashlight reflected off an animal’s eyes.”

  “Big animal,” Tucker replied.

  “It could have been a racoon on a shelf or something,” Nate said.

  Tucker nodded. “You know what? That actually sounds plausible.”

  “In any event,” Finch said, “we roll out as a team, staying close. We can hit these stores in the strip mall when we get back.” He pointed. “Right now, let’s cross that road and check out
those houses. I saw them when we flew over.”

  “What are we looking for?” Sam asked.

  “Anything and everything,” Finch replied. “There has to be a paper trail. A time stamp of events. Something.”

  “Junk drawers,” Rey said. “Almost every kitchen has a junk drawer. Look there, behind the fridge, places mail could end up.”

  Tucker shook his head. “There is no mail. I mean, there is and isn’t. The post office was no more when I was thirteen. There are independent letter companies, or were, but not like when you guys were on Earth.”

  “Aw,” Nate said. “My friend was a mail carrier.”

  Tucker shrugged. “It wasn’t profitable.”

  “That makes sense,” Rey said.

  “Then something else…” Finch instructed. “Just find dates and any info you can. This town was not hit with any major disasters. It’s still standing. Let’s see if we can find out why there are no signs of life.”

  They left the parking lot and the ship, crossing over the six-lane road to a side street that nestled between another strip mall and a convenience store.

  At the end of the block, just before the residential area, was a tiny building that housed two eateries. Like twin restaurants, one on the left the other on the right. The big front windows of both restaurants were broken. Both had an outdoor patio. The railings were overgrown with weeds and not a single outdoor table was out.

  As they started to pass, Tucker lifted his hand for Nate to stop.

  “Do you see something?” Finch asked.

  Tucker walked to his left and to the restaurant and stood there for a second. He reached out and grabbed something, then returned to the buggy.

  “What is it?” Finch asked.

  “Was a sign,” Tucker replied. “They had it in plastic too, but it’s really faded, probably from the sun. Can’t make it out.” He gave it to Finch.

  “A sign on the door. The place was probably closed. I’ll hold on to it.” He opened a case in the back of the buggy, placed it inside, and closed it again.

  He then signaled for them to continue.

  The road curved around into the residential area. An apartment complex sat on one side of the road and houses on the other. They were quaint houses, all frame, and most were one story. They were all set up the same: a wide driveway and small front laws that had long since grown over.

  The street was cracked as roots from the trees made their way through.

  “Be careful inside,” Finch instructed. “Watch your step, these houses may not be the sturdiest right now.” He looked at his watch. “Tucker time has us at four p.m. Let’s do a few houses, get what we can, head back to camp and examine our findings.”

  There were five houses on that small bend and they would be their starting point.

  Rey grabbed the empty gear bag and placed the strap over her shoulder as she, Finch, and Nate walked to the first house. Even staying on the pathway to the house was difficult to get to with all the overgrowth.

  Finch walked ahead to the front door and turned the knob. “It’s not locked.” He pushed on it, but it didn’t open. Stepping back, he examined the archway.

  “Is something blocking it?” Nate asked.

  “No, I think it’s just warped.” He gave it a couple of shoves with his shoulder, and it budged enough for him to put his head inside. “Not blocked. It’s the floor.” He kept at it a few more times, opening it enough for them to slip in. “Watch your step, the hardwood floors are lifted.”

  Nate passed inside first, with Rey behind him.

  She waited for Finch to enter. The front door brought them straight into the living room. It was a simple layout, the kitchen right off the living room and a small dinette area in the corner.

  The floor was lifted in so many spots; at one time it was probably beautiful. The sofa looked as if insects or something had eaten it. More than likely it was just the passing of time causing it to fall apart.

  “Finch?” Rey asked. “Why are the windows here not all broken?”

  “Probably because they’re better windows. Windows loosen over time and a good wind can take them out. These are sturdier, I would think.”

  “Pictures,” Nate said.

  Finch and Rey looked at him questioningly.

  He walked across the living room to the fireplace and the mantle. “There are pictures here.”

  “Okay,” Finch said, not quite understanding where he was going.

  “It’s a well-known fact that if someone is leaving home for good, they take personal items over anything else.”

  “Unless they left in a rush,” Rey said. “Maybe there was a threat of something happening and they just ran. I didn’t see a car in the driveway.”

  “Evacuation would give them enough time to take photographs,” Finch added. “We should check the garage after we leave.”

  “It could have been a biological event like what happened with my family,” Nat said. “Maybe something like that happened here.”

  “We’ll find out,” replied Finch. “Nate, look around this room. Check the closets. Rey, you have the kitchen and I’ll head to the bedrooms. Call out either of you if you run into any problems.”

  “It’s a little house,” Rey said. “I think we’re good.”

  Nate stayed in the living room and Rey went to the kitchen. It wasn’t very wide. It was long and a vine-like mold crept up over the walls. There were dishes in the sink with some sort of crust growing over them. Her first instincts were to open the cabinets. There weren’t that many, and it wouldn’t take long. She opened the first one to find a set of dishes and cups, the next was exactly the same. She thought it strange and opened the wide one. A red piece of tape ran vertically down the center. Each side had boxed and canned goods.

  Whoever was there left and didn’t take food. To Rey that was strange.

  Checking drawers would be just as easy. The first one she opened was next to the dishwasher. It contained serving utensils, the next one aluminum foil.

  Nothing else.

  She shuffled over to the first row of drawers by the wall and started on them.

  Top draw was silverware, under that…silverware.

  She tilted her head in confusion, then pulled open every drawer. Out of everything, and more odd than them not having a junk drawer were the two identical silverware drawers.

  “Finch?” she called out.

  “Yeah,” he answered from the back of the house.

  She left the kitchen, turned right immediately and walked down the short hall. He was in the last room to the right, standing at a dresser. “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I saw something strange.”

  “Me too.”

  “Not only do they not have a junk drawer…”

  “Rey.” He chuckled. “Not everyone has a junk drawer. I didn’t,” Finch said.

  “I think you’re the only one. Anyhow, they have two sets of dishes, two sets of silverware…like maybe they took a tenant. It’s just a really small house to do that.”

  “I’m trying to figure that out,” Finch replied. “Everything in here was boxed up. Like the person died or something.”

  “Maybe they were moving in.”

  “I don’t think so.” Finch lifted up a wallet. It was covered in a thick layer of dirt. He flipped it open and showed Rey. “Look at the license.”

  “William Kramer…thirty-two,” Rey said. “What about him?”

  “Look at the state on the license.”

  “Virginia. I would say a relative, but why divide everything up?”

  “I think he died,” Finch said. “They were packing up his stuff whenever what happened, happened. It’s just strange that someone from Virginia would be sharing a tiny two-bedroom house with someone all the way in Colorado.”

  “An internet love affair?” Rey guessed.

  Finch laughed. “You’re funny.”

  “Hey, guys.” Nate poked his head into the room. “Ch
eck this out.” He handed Finch an envelope. “It’s a letter. No stamp, but like Tucker said, some weird courier name.”

  “Where did you find it?” Rey asked.

  “Oh, they had a junk drawer in the dining-room buffet table.”

  “Damn it,” Rey said. “Who does that? Who has a junk drawer in the dining room?”

  Finish looked at the letter. “It’s pretty preserved.”

  “It was in the drawer pretty good,” Nate said. “Look at the date. Forty-five years after we left. Twenty years after Tucker and Sam left, five years before the ARCs.”

  “What is it?” Rey asked. “What does it say?”

  “It gives us the answer to the out-of-state roommate,” Finch replied. “The letter is from…something called the Federal Relocation Program. William Kramer was moved here by the government.” Finch handed her the letter. “And these folks had no choice but to take him in.”

  <><><><>

  It didn’t look it from the outside, but Tucker thought it was a really cool house. It was the only one that was two stories, but he wouldn’t have called it that. The second floor was only six stairs up. It was more like a split level.

  Sam and Tucker had to enter through the back. The front door wouldn’t open no matter how hard they pushed. The sliding glass doors that led to the patio were broken and they just walked in.

  The house was a mess. Furniture was broken, some overturned, nature had crept up everywhere and the carpet had turned into a garden.

  The cathedral ceilings were riddled with holes and there was water damage in the living room from the broken window on the ceiling.

  At one time, Tucker was sure it was the best house on the block. He imagined the family had lots of gatherings; the backyard was set up for it.

  He made a comment to Sam that he wouldn’t swim in the pool. It looked like a swamp and they got a good chuckle out of it.

  It wasn’t what Tucker expected to walk into. It was completely opposite from the first house they entered. That one was small, a single-story ranch style. It looked like a starter home for a young couple. They had a baby, a deduction that was pretty easy once they saw the crib.

  The first house left in a hurry. Nothing was disturbed, food was still in the cabinets, and the trash was still in the can.