DRONERS

THE DRONERS

Kate and Martin weren’t your quintessential brother and sister. They were like twins, two parts of a whole, both strong individually but, together they were a pair to be reckoned with! Connected in mind and heart, from birth. This was a great thing in many ways, however, it was a tumultuous relationship at the best of times. Perhaps that’s why they took different paths. They lived in separate countries for many years, Marty stayed in New Zealand and Kate moved to Australia. When they could see each other they always picked up as if they had never been apart.

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Marty was an enthusiastic conspiracy theorist. Kate was usually open to his theories, however, Marty’s belief in a Flat Earth left her astounded and really, quite pissed off. She couldn’t believe he’d even entertained the thought! Hadn’t he learned the same basic geography at school, like gravity, the moon, and its effect on the tides? Surely, that alone de-bunks it, she pondered? Not to mention, every planet, moon, and sun are spheres! Marty’s reluctance to listen to Kate was so out of character for him. He had sent Kate his Flat Earth links, and asked her repeatedly for her opinion, even stating, “You’re so smart, I know you’ll see I am right about this, Kate”. Kate tried to understand where Marty was coming from and sent him many links to proven, scientific facts, about the Earth being round, hoping he would see reality. … But, to her shock, her brother was beyond incensed! He took her opinion as an insult to his intelligence. His last message was unnecessary, nasty, and full of expletives!

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After that awful day, Kate didn’t hear from Martin, for years, until one day in 2030, she found a package on her front porch. It had a Sydney postmark. She didn’t care about the wheres and whys, because the moment she saw the handwriting Kate knew it was from Marty, he was alive!!! Her relief was instant and she couldn’t wait to open it, but something was bothering her. A man… he’d been lurking around across the street. He kept staring at her, “Pervert”, she whispered under her breath.

*

There was a strange familiarity about him, she couldn’t quite grasp, but, something told her to be wary of him. Instinctively Kate raced to the back entrance to find her husband, Alan. He was a tall, strong, man with silver hair and warm, amber eyes. They had loved each other from the moment they met. Their son, Travis was the personification of that love, born 25 October 2016 in NSW. It’s chilling how everyone was oblivious to the horrors to come back then...

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Kate couldn’t help feeling guilty for all the years that had passed without communicating with her brother. Fighting back tears, she burst through the back door. She called to Alan, “I have a package, you’ll never guess who it’s from”! Who?, Alan asked. Marty! It’s from Marty! They sat down together to open the parcel, and inside, wrapped in her grandfather’s cream, silk scarf was a letter, a sealed box, and a key. Her grandparents were gone, yet she felt her grandmother’s presence all the time and as she began to read Martin’s letter, she clutched an oval-shaped antique locket she never took off, with her grandmother’s heart-shaped locket kept safely inside.

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Dearest Kate,

I am so sorry for pushing that Flat Earth theory down your throat. I was so wrong and was feeling pretty down at the time, like you. Losing our father was hard enough, but when mum no longer knew me or herself, I had to leave.

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Kate, please trust these important things I have to tell you. Go to, Dorothy’s Sanctuary, find, ‘Gloria’s Motel’ and search her bed. Find the irreplaceable asset and read the clue attached. You’ll know where to go and when you get there the answer is the KEY… I trust you have kept Grandmother’s heart safe? Don’t let it out of your sight and whatever you do, do NOT speak a word of this to ANYONE, apart from Alan, of course. Keep your eyes open! Trust your gut and trust NOBODY. Don’t forget to bring the sealed box and scarf.

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Follow the clues, Kate and we can be reunited, and hopefully, all survive together.

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See you soon… Love, always, Marty xox

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It’d been seven (7) years since the world came to a screeching halt. Apartment buildings, post offices, police stations, and shopping malls were a thing of the past, only the twisted metal, bones, and rubble remained, like peculiar gravestones to remind us of the world’s obsession with technology and consumerism. Our hunger for ‘things’ had brought everyone to their knees, for many, literally.

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Kate had her family packed up, for the umpteenth time. Alan and their son, Travis, now,14 had always loved travelling, were well educated on driving offroad and had become experts on how to live off-grid. The best decision they’d ever made years ago, was buying their 1975 Toyota Landcruiser, painted black and adapted with a slide-on pod, sleeping 3 comfortably, with gas stove and fridge and plenty of storage areas. Over the years they had reinforced it, making it almost impregnable and most importantly, it had no post-android technology...

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Taking the back roads, only at night, they headed north to Queensland. Finally, after hours of careful driving, they veered nor-west to the Nerang Hinterland area, towards Marty’s clue…

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Kate knew exactly where “Gloria’s Motel” was, she chuckled, thinking how clever Marty was to use their childhood memories as the clues. Driving uphill on what seemed like an endless narrow, winding road, Kate declared, they were almost there and asked Alan to wake Travis. Travis popped his head over the front, kissing Kate on her cheek. Yawning, he asked, really, Mum? Are we here? Yes, just left here onto Appel Street, my son, and it’s the last house on our left. Pulling over, De Ja Vu came calling and the joy Kate felt as a child came rushing back. “Let’s check Gloria’s Motel out, shall we”? Come on, Alan, quickly now, Travis, it’s getting late”.

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Straight to the back garden, now overgrown with thorns and bush, Kate saw what was left of Gloria’s Motel. The chook house her Nana had so lovingly built looked as dilapidated as Kate felt, but the roosting boxes were pretty much intact. She found Gloria’s ‘bed’ and proceeded to search for the clue. She felt something hard and smooth, it was as wide as the roost and heavy. Her hand just fitted in enough to grip a handle. Kate pulled it out and was so surprised to see a CB Radio! Alan was stoked to see it and he couldn’t wait to get it up and working so they might finally be able to contact other survivors of the compulsory vaccine, CVD27. For the first time in ages, Alan felt hopeful.

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He explained to Travis, that the CB Radio was more precious than gold used to be. It meant they could make contact with survivors. “What do you think of that, Travis?, Alan enthused, “Great, aye”? “Yeah, if you say so, Dad”… But wouldn’t a phone be better”? “No, son, that’s crazy dangerous, we must only use pre-digital equipment, or the Droners will find us and inject us with their evil freaking nano-bots! You don’t want to be a mindless slave, do you”? Travis, shook his head, “No, Dad”!

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After a meal of baked beans and toast, Travis fell asleep. Kate and Alan looked at Marty’s letter and his clues taped to the CB Radio Box. It read… *Where we once found Thunder-eggs, the labyrinth waits beyond an iron gate*

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That evening while her boys slept, Kate worked out exactly where to go. She hated what fear had done to the world. In 2027 the propaganda machine had people totally convinced that the world’s leaders, having their best interests at heart, had discovered a vaccine, approved by World Health, that would make them immune to any future mutations of the D2 virus and 99.9% of all other future viruses. Of course, the majority leapt at the chance to have that last, vaccine. We sensed it wasn’t right and didn’t go for it. It was a blessing! We discovered the extent of the evil one day when we saw an old acquaintance, Donna. She was like an empty vessel, her eyes were not bright blue anymore, they were an opaque light blue, looking but not seeing, she walked right past us, we called her name several times, but nothing. Every person who took the D27 vaccine had changed…

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Kate and Alan were on to it way back… The 5G was just the beginning. Who would have thought that man could be so evil? Injecting nanobots into our bloodstreams, programmed to target the brain and make slaves out of the entire human race!

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To Be Continued...

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© Wendy Dawn Phelan - 29 June 2021