-Freedom Survivors-

It was the evening of the 4th of July 2022. Faith, or Faye, (as her close friends had used as an endearing moniker), lay in her bed on her back. Staring at the ceiling, she wondered, being awestruck. Her breathing grew tighter as she laid wide-eyed clenching her pillow tighter than before a few minutes ago. She reached by her neck to grab a golden heart-shaped locket attached to a necklace strung snugly around her neck. Her grandmother had given the charm to her on her 17th birthday four months ago. That February, at her graduation party from high school, her grandmother Doris had gifted the item to her so she would always remember that special day. Her grandmother was rather wealthy and well-to-do in her community. She lived in Jasper Alabama on Delaware ave. It was an upscale development where the homes there were mansions. There were also a few homes that were more likened to castles. The fine brick buildings were a thing of the past as to how homes were now being built. Her grandmother would show up to birthday events, special occasions, and weekend shopping getaways where she would go out with Faith and her older sister Jess, (short for Jessica). The golden heart-shaped locket was a special gift Faith received after everyone heard of her recent grades in high school from her mother Cathleen spreading the good news to everyone.

Lightning struck. Faith opened her eyes still wider in fear. She couldn't sleep. No one could in their county except for hard laborers, like the construction workers, and the plumbers, but even they had a slower fade to R.E.M. Also, the senior citizens at Laurel Garden Retirement Home and other places where seniors lived slept through the weather just fine. Everyone else was up and alert, and would be for some time longer. She wondered what was happening. Why was it happening? Earlier, on T.V. as fireworks streamed the Television from New York City, it was interrupted by breaking news that a terrorist airplane had struck one of the major U.S. airline bases. The airplane completely missed its landing strip. Also, just a few hours ago, the weather was picking up, and becoming more terrible than anyone had seen in over a decade. Constant thundering and rain mixed with fierce winds beat against her window and her neighbor's windows. She knew her friends and family were perplexed by the weather too, and up just like her by now.

"Who could sleep in this chaos?" she whispered out loud to herself. Just then, her cell rang. She looked to her right where she placed her phone on her bedstead every night to the right of the lamp, at the corner. It was Becky. She reached over slowly to grab her phone still being awestruck. Click.

"Hi, Becky!" Said Faye

"Faye, I can't sleep," said Becky

"Me either,"

"Have you ever seen a storm like this one? Isn't it terrible?" Said, Becky

"No, I have not, never,"

"Did you hear about the terrorist attack at the Florida airport?" Said, Becky

"Yes, I saw it on the news, but then retired, why?" Said Faye

"Did you know that the base that was hit was the central intelligence base for 4 major airlines in our country?" Said, Becky

“That base is in charge of communicating proper landing maneuvers, demographics, and weather changes to the mainframes of every one of the airplanes so they can land safely,”

“Without that central intelligence base, all of the airplanes in all of the 4 major airlines that were flying at that hour could not access proper landing procedures,”

"That base helps airplanes communicate for safe landings at over 250 locations they said." Said, Becky

"CNIS says over 500 airplane crashes have happened and that over 50,000 people have died," said Becky as she began to cry over the phone as she confided with her friend Faith.

Faith looked at the ceiling wide-eyed in horror. She could not believe it. She was struck with terror as well and began to cry as well. Tears welled up in her eyes, then a gasp and a cry came from her mouth mirroring Becky's cry.

"That's terrible," Said Faye, whimpering and crying with a shout as she spoke.

"Not only that, but many of the airplanes crashed into cow farms. They are saying that cows will no longer be available for months, maybe even over a year for both meat products, milk, cheese, and even ice cream," said Becky

In Alabama where Becky, and Faith lived milk, butter, and cheese were staples in their diet. This was a tragedy at its pinnacle in their views. She began to think of how bad life would be without these things. Not only that but the steaks her father Michael, which her mother Cathleen enjoyed as well, would not be an option for a nice meal for some time.

"Becky, what are we going to do, I'm scared?" Said Faye

"Me too," said Becky

Silence came over their phone call like an extra blanket on a cold dark night. They both laid there thinking about what had happened. Both of them had questions pour through their minds as silence and stillness swept over them. How will we live without milk, and what about all of the deaths that just happened. This could not be. Something had to be wrong. But what if this was real. What if this was not a hoax. What if the CNIS had reported accurately. Faye turned to her right now trying to relax on her right side. She grabbed her golden heart-shaped locket around her neck and squeezed it tightly. She took a deep breath and said.

“Becky, I am not sure what exactly this all means, but I think we should stick together. Can you meet me in the wheat fields between our homes in the morning after sunrise, say 9 am?”

“Sure, I will be there,” Becky said

“Okay, I have to go. I am just hoping this storm passes, so we can sleep,” Said Faye

“I agree, see you tomorrow Faye,” said Becky

Click! The phone call ended

A few minutes passed and the winds began to die down. The rain and the lightning subsided as well. Faye, Becky, and all of the country where the storms were the most fierce, now began to sleep. It was nearly midnight, however, and most folks lost a few essential hours of sleep. Tomorrow will be a tiring day, Faith said to herself as she began to fall asleep.

The sun began to rise. What was once a dark night, was now coming to a close. The sun began to shine at the bottom of the window shades. Faith woke up.

“Oh, it’s almost sunrise,” Said Faith

She hurried to grab her clothes for the day and her sneakers. She ran downstairs, grabbed an apple from their fruit basket, and ran for the fields. As she did she looked up to the sky to see the formation of what would be a glorious morning sky rich in blues and white. It was still a little too early to tell what the weather would be like without consulting their local newscasters. What would life be like now without meat and dairy products? Could there be more pandemics to come, or was this going to be it? This tragedy was man-made, but what would nature bring? Trees had fallen all along the dirt road. Somehow, Faith knew there must be more to this, than just 500 airplanes crashing and few lives perishing. Yes, 5,000 were a lot of people to die, but it would not bring an outright extinction to life as they knew it. There would have to be more to this, than just this happening. Yes, it was terrible, and living without meat would be near unbearable in her mind, but beyond this, there had to be something else lurking. This had to be just the beginning of great tragedies to come.

“Becky, are you there?” Said Faith

“Faye, yes, I’m here,” said Becky

Just then Becky came around the corner of a big tree. She brushed off some dirt and leaves from where she was sitting while waiting for Faye.

“Faye, I have bad news,” said Becky

“Oh no, more bad news, I’m about to lose my mind, Becky,” Said Faye grabbing her hair to fake pull it out while halfway bending over to release stress and breathe.

“The CNIS, just announced on the news that our country is now being invaded by other nations, and we are officially in a world war,” Said Becky

“Oh no, this can’t be happening, have you heard what happened to the victims of world wars? It is not good,” Said Faith as she began to cry

“We will need to get ready for what is coming, but how?” Said Faith

“We will need food storage, guns, and ammunition for protection,” said Becky

“Fine, let's do it,” Said Faith

“I have a feeling the end of the world has already come,” Said Becky

“Me too,” Said Faith.