Chapter 6

The discovery

 

Chapter 6

 

 

 

Sharon and the girls were next in line to give their information.

 

“Sharon Baugh, I am married, two children, Lori Baugh and Lilly Baugh.”

 

“Where is your husband?” Asked the person keeping the list of names

 

“I don’t know. We kind of left at odds this morning.”

 

Even though she saw that he was at the end of the line when they entered she really didn’t want to have him near her or the children. She was trying not to let the girls know what was going on.

 

“Ma’am, your children will need to go to room 22 and you will go to room 12.”

 

“Mommy!” Lilly was excited “That is my room!”

 

She took her kids to the room they were supposed to be in and dropped them off. Lilly said it was her homeroom so it was fun for her. She was going to show Lori the work she had done and that it was on the bulletin board.

 

Sharon went to the room where she was to be screened and waited in line. She was next. The door opens and the person in front of her leaves. She is so distracted by the events of the morning that she doesn’t notice that it is her turn to enter the room. She had to be prompted to enter the room.

 

“Now don’t be frightened Mrs. Baugh, We are going to pass this instrument around you and if you are not from the other race nothing will happen, otherwise you will feel some sensations.”

 

Sharon stated, “I am not scared. Is this going to take long?”

 

They move the instrument back and forth and around her arms and legs and across her back and over her head.

 

All of a sudden this mild pain started to run up her arm and at the back of her neck and through her back. Then the pain started in her other arm. She looked at her arm and noticed a mark appearing on her arm and then on her other arm. She felt the back of the neck and she could feel raised bumps on her neck and on her back.

 

It looked like some sort of script in a different language. It also had the markings of a map on the back of her neck. She realized that the wand they had used which triggered this in her had an effect that she thinks that they are not aware of and she decided not to let them know. There was a sensation that went across her scalp also. She was already feeling that her privacy was being infringed upon and she wasn’t ready for of this and plus the morning didn’t help much.

 

There was a lot of commotion in the room now. A couple of rather large men came in and grabbed her arm and escorted her to another room where there were other people who had the same marks on them. Some were looking rather alarmed and others were soothing the ones who were upset by this whole thing.

 

“I don’t understand. Why do I need to be escorted by these large men? I am not running away. I have children in the next room. Do you think that I am dangerous?”

 

Then Sharon started to ask, “Where are my children? What are you going to do with them? You need to let me see them and talk to them!” She was almost shrieking

 

She was so agitated at the thought of something wrong happening to them she was in a state of panic. That is when a woman came up to her and introduced herself as Rose.

 

“Don’t worry. They won’t harm your little ones. My name is Rose. I think I can help you understand a little better what is happening to us. I will talk to you about it when this screening process if over.”

 

Rose talked to Sharon for a long time and then the door opened up and the kids came running in.

 

“Mommy, guess what? Loris said my project was the best in the whole class. Are you going to come and look at it to? What is wrong with your arms Mommy? Is this a new art project? Can we do our arms like that too?” Lilly was very chatty.

 

Sharon tried to keep her voice calm as things were getting more unusual as the time passed. “Lilly, Mommy will explain later. Right now I am just glad to see you. Girls this is Rose she is a new friend of ours.

 

The large men come in the room again and this time they are escorting a woman pushing a man in a wheelchair.

 

“Now this is ridiculous!!” Sharon blurted out “Is a woman with an invalid going to eat you alive or something?”

 

One of the men reddened at this comment. The other one didn’t seem like it bothered him at all.

 

“Now, now there, don’t be so upset. They are just doing their job.” Soothed Rose

 

“Everyone is uncomfortable right now. They don’t want us to be upset and yet they also know that some of us will be real upset and not want to co-operate.”

 

Rose then comments,

 

“I think the men have been taking it harder than the women! They just cannot believe what is happening!”

 

There is gruff grumble coming from a large old burley man.

 

“Uh hum… Rose now you know that isn’t true.”

 

“Oh Sharon this is my husband Bert. Bert this is Sharon and their daughters Lori and Lilly.” Rose said

 

“Hello Sharon, girls, very nice to meet ya!” Bert said rather loudly.

 

Lilly and Lori both hid behind their mother he was way too loud and scary.

 

 

Lilly looked at Bert and he looked rather scary and old but he winked so cutely that she warmed up to him and Lori followed Lilly. They treated him like they did their grandfather.

 

Bert reached his big burley hand towards Sharon. She notices the marking on his arms too. It seemed like this was nothing more than a dream. She wanted to pinch herself to see if it was. Secretly she did, immediately feeling foolish at the attempt to wake from this dream.

She knew this wasn’t a dream but she pinched herself regardless.

 

All the feeling she had kept to herself from the morning just rushed her and she started to giggle hysterically. She just couldn’t help herself. It was a small tickle in the pit of her stomach and it started to get more intense by the minute.

 

‘Giggle, Don’t mind me…. Giggle.. I just do this when I am nervous… Giggle,,, I will be… Giggle…. all right in a…. Giggle…. Minute:”

 

Sharon carried on for some time and then when her stomach sore was for it all she finally stopped. She knew herself pretty well. She only did that when she was near tears. It was much better to laugh than to cry. In a way she was crying. Tears were coming out of her eyes as she was giggling. It was a big release that she needed to have happen that morning.

 

She had just learned that her marriage was nothing but over, she had to come to the school and find out that now she was from this other r ace that no one knew about until this morning. And to top it off, she is now in this room with others just like her and it feels like they are going to a prison.

 

The girls were starting to notice the arms of everyone in the room and were full of questions. Sharon was not ready to answer them but Rose, kind Rose, was there to help them with all of their questions. She talked to them in an animated voice of how special they all were. They were enchanted by her story. Rose knew something more than everyone else and so did Bert.

 

The children of other families came in and there were a couple of boys that were in Lilly’s class. They joined in on the discussion Rose was having with the girls. They were listening but acting like it wasn’t that interesting.

 

 

All of a sudden the doors opened and Devin bursts in. He started yelling for his kids and wife.

 

Sharon stated. “Have you been screened? Devin, are you like us?”

 

Devin looked upset and dazed. He stopped in his tracks and let the guards take him out of the room. He said nothing else. He just left.

 

The kids watched as their dad left. Lilly started to cry. She didn’t understand. Lori had tears in her eyes but didn’t cry out loud.

 

Rose grabbed the girls and took them aside and reassured them that things will be ok.

 

There was another burst through the door, and this time a wild-eyed young man is escorted into the room. He was handcuffed and quite frankly I think they wished they could sedate him. He was yelling obscenities thrashing his torso to get away. Sharon now understood completely why they had the guards.

 

He kept yelling that it was a mistake he wasn’t one of these things. He wasn’t!

 

The marks on his arms proved him wrong.

 

All the children in the room ran to the opposite side of the room. They were very frightened by this. Their parents stood in front of them trying to block them from this scene.

 

Sharon couldn’t help but look at him. The fiery flames that shot from his eyes were very appealing. She found him intriguing. She could not stand his vulgarity though. His anger was too intense. He calmed slightly when he noticed her staring at him.

 

Bert went over and introduced himself when he noticed the change in his attitude.

 

“Hello there young man, I am Bert Barry, what is your name?”

 

“What’s it to you old man!” The man rudely spat.

 

“Will I figure if we are going to be cell mates it might be a good idea to know what to call ya.” Bert grinned.

 

He looked a bit defeated before he answered, “Frank Timber.”

 

 

 

Rose had all the kids huddled in a corner of the room and calming nerves and soothing fears. She started her story that captivated all of them.

 

She started and hesitated a little not knowing how they would all react.

 

“This story had been told over and over again from one generation to the next. Books have even been made to tell the story. These books are known as fiction to most everyone except those of us who were meant to remember.

 

 

Long ago, before we all can remember, there was a great turmoil on the earth over religion and races.

 

There were two leaders proclaiming to be the chosen one, the one who would bring Utopia to the world.

 

Pagiel and Gamaliel were the two who believed themselves chosen. Pagiel was not very wealthy but he was wise he was able to lead his people peacefully. Gamaliel was very wealthy and he had many soldiers to care for his people. The soldiers were paid very well and had all that they desired.

 

At that time there were some really wicked men, those who had power and riches and those that took advantage of the ones who had none. Even though they took care of their families and survived well enough, they did not have access to the armies that would destroy the simple things to gain what they thought were great things.

 

The Soldiers were the ones who were strong in body but weak in mind, you know ,kind of dumb they had to be told what to do. They tried to keep ahead of them in any way we could but they kept finding ways to infiltrate their lives and managed to kill Pagiel and our other leaders who followed him and stole their children. They said they used the children for sacrifices for their Gods.

 

Gamaliel soldiers killed and tortured Pagiel people so much that they were driven into the caves to live. They found caves that had such intricate tunnels that most could not find their way out. Only those who traveled to get supplies for the people knew the tunnels. They had a secret code they put on the walls and floors that only they knew how to decipher.

 

 These men were referred to as underground warriors. They were brave to venture out and most of them returned with supplies. They often came in bloodied from fighting off those who were trying to get to them.

 

Gamaliel people called Pagiel people the devil children living closely to hell.

 

Pagiel people said Gamaliel people were already in hell.

 

As time passed they found that the earth took great care of us and gave us nourishment. They didn’t see the sun anymore. Their skin became translucent and there were no more rosy-cheeked children.

 

They started to use the resources underground more and more, which was good. One day our underground warriors didn’t return.

 

Pagiel’s people didn’t need the supplies anymore. They had adapted quite well to their surroundings. Fresh water was constantly around them, in pools or small waterfalls, all of which was enriched with many minerals and vitamins that they needed.

 

They lived off of underground roots and Bugs. Some underground rodents were a source of meat. Bats, which were hard to come by, were a real delicacy.

 

As generations died and new children were born, they were born with deformities. Well, to the elders they were deformities. You see at first when those up top had sealed off many of their cave openings they lost a lot of people from suffocation.

 

The elders managed to survive and tell the stories that we have now.

 

Oh yeah, the deformities. Well, the children were born with marks on their arms, which later, we realized that it wasn’t a deformity but an adaptation to their environment that they were all forced to live in. They found that whenever a child would dig tunnels they their cheeks would redden and their arms would glow. Somehow they were producing oxygen.

 

They became so strong and their minds became even stronger. The marks on their arms…

 

(Rose pointed to the children’s arms and winked)

 

would become soft and cause a tingling when air was produced. 

 

 

We had some great scientists emerge from future generations. They invented machines that made our lives more comfortable.

 

The only things that really harmed them were the shifting of the earth causing cave-ins and the quakes and sometimes the hot flowing liquid they called the red waters.

 

Scientists eventually could measure the time of the movements and when occurrences of the red waters were to happen and they would move the city.

 

They invented machines that could travel through the earth at great speeds that could take them from caverns deep in the earth to the topsoil.

 

This had evolved after thousands of years being trapped in the caves.

 

They were forced to evolve to a different kind of being because the circumstances that were brought to them. And then the eventful day that happened that took the underground society and us to the topsoil of the ground. It was an unfortunate accident. Mother earth just purged us to the top. I guess our time had come to where we no longer needed to be there.