A Whole New Breed

by: Dennis R. Humphreys

Some people are more sensitive to certain stimuli than others. What effects one fails to affect another. Some people get severe cases of poison ivy while others show no signs of it. If a population has never been exposed to a particular stimulus before, who knows what the result might be?

“The network's already been out for a year. There are financial commitments too numerous already to mention. What are they really going to do at the end of ten years if they find it deleterious to the human population?” the young researcher, Gary Lavin asked. He was part of group analyzing long term effects with the new communication technology.

“Yeah, it seems backwards the way they do anything anymore. Then if they find something bad, they'll try to hide it as long as they can, or downplay it, citing the common good. It's all about the money,” replied his lab partner, Neil Milner.

“We heard such a sale pitch about how great this is and how it's going to change the world. How's it going to change it? The last two network advancements have caused all kinds of problems with people's physical and mental health. It was all pushed under the carpet... they cause the problems and someone else tries to clean it up,” Gary Lavin countered. “It's like me slicing your wrist for you and then telling you to let me tape it up and stop the bleeding.”

“Listen... it's the same people that get rich off these new technologies with their fiduciary interests. When it becomes obvious, they are causing ailments in the population, they invest in the treatments, and make even more money. Everyone else is just the guinea pig,” said Milner. “I think that's why the stuff gets pushed through so easily. There really isn't any responsibility anymore, only compensation.”

Four years came and went and there were correlations popping up everywhere with the new technology, but actually so far, nothing bad. Parents were citing their children conceived during the initial release of the latest communications network seemed to exhibit higher levels of intelligence beyond a parent's wishful thinking. So were very young children. They were speaking earlier than normal, and what they were saying was even more more amazing. The test numbers seemed to bear out all the suspicions of the parents. The children exhibited high degrees of cognitive awareness... psychic abilities. Was that a bad thing?

In another three years the numbers were becoming even more staggering. The children first tested were in their early school years now and their numbers were off the charts in terms of intelligence and precognitive abilities. The children seemed to exhibit high level of morality as well. Perhaps that was because they didn't lie. They didn't need to, nor could they around others with their abilities. They could read each others' minds.

“Mr. President, here are the latest numbers from a few different study groups of the “6M band width. The numbers are startling,” the young man said, handing a thirty page study to the president. It was something he had been looking to review.

The president grabbed the pamphlet eagerly, even greedily to review the findings. He spent about fifteen minutes quietly reading the pages. When he was done, he smacked it down on his desk and addressed the young man standing there.

“This is unacceptable. We cannot have something like these causing problems. These numbers are good?” the president asked.

“They're good. Three different sources bear out the numbers,” the man answered.

“It's just unacceptable. Children that are with this level of intelligence and also clairvoyant. What will come of this administration or any other administration if we can't have secrets?

“What do we do?” the president's assistant asked.

“Like we always do. Make something up. We'll say the findings show the technology is causing health problems among the population. Maybe we can come up with some kind of vaccination that will supposedly protect a percentage of the children affected. We'll give them a virus or something and blame it on the technology. The government tried to help but there was already too much damage. How does that sound?” the president asked his assistant, Tyler Bender.

“That sounds perfect, Mr. President,” he replied.

Three days later there was a press conference expressing the government crackdown on the seven year old 6M technology. The second term president came out in his glory expressing his concern over the public health. An executive order was issued that day ending the 6M technology. People lost their jobs, and many lost their investments, but those at the top were warned to get rid of their holdings and put their money into the pharmaceutical companies that were going to start producing the required treatment for the negative effects of 6M. They didn't stand to lose anything. In fact they stood to gain. The president would make millions.

“I can't believe how this whole story has been washed. Now supposedly kids under ten exposed to this technology are predisposed to getting the A-10 Avian Flu which has a high mortality rate,” Gary Lavin, one of the original researchers on 6M told his associate.

“What's their game putting another spin on this? Now kids under ten are supposed to be vaccinated. I have to ask what's the vaccination all about?” said Milner.

“Did you check your mailbox yet. There's hard copy non-disclosures in there to sign. We're not even supposed to talk about the findings on 6M. We have to sign it by the end of the day or we're fired. There is a three thousand dollar check for consideration if we sign. If we do talk about it, we face criminal charges plus more. I don't know what the 'pus more' means.

By the end of the day both men reluctantly signed the papers and were each three thousand dollars richer in pay-off money.

“Honey, I'm home,” announced Gary Lavin, coming through the door as his five-year-old came running to great him.

“Hi daddy. Do I have to get another vaccination? I hate needles,” Teri asked him.

“What's this about another vaccination? I think you're done now with starting grade school,” he told his daughter as Pat, his wife entered the room.

“I don't know, she's been going on all day about having to get a needle,” Pat informed him.

“You know how she is, always telling us things before they happen. She's usually right. But she'd not getting a vaccination. Not with what I know and suspect. They made us sign non-disclosures today or get fired about our findings. They did give us three thousand dollars to sign though,” Gary told her.

“Oh, Gary. You signed your soul to the devil?” she told him.

“What was I going to do? I'd lose a good job and they'd blackball me so I couldn't get another one. They have us all by the virtual balls,” Gary commented as his daughter hugged him. In a week she was starting school, so she was excited about that. A few of her friends were starting with her.

“Did you hear about this new flu pandemic that started? It was all over the news. Evidently it started in Borneo of all places. Does anything ever start there?” Pat asked her husband as they went into the kitchen.

“I heard something about it yesterday, appropriately called the AB Flu. Timing is odd I think, but maybe I'm just being paranoid, or suspicious,” Gary surmised.

Later that evening they were all watching a movie after dinner when the phone rang.

“Oh, hi Neil... sure he's right here. Let me give him the phone,” Pat told the caller as she walked over to her husband and handed the phone to him. “It's Neil.”

“Hi Neil!” Gary answered.

“Did you hear the latest on the news?” he asked his fellow lab researcher.

“No... you know I try to avoid that at all costs,” Gary replied.

“You might find it interesting. The president just signed a mandate about all school kids under the age of ten getting vaccinated against this new AB Flu that's supposedly going around now,” Neil informed him.

“The Supreme Court will stop that, he can't do that,” Gary answered.

“Yeah, but there will be plenty of people that will go out and get their kids vaccinated right away. They're talking about not letting kids start school that aren't vaccinated and then fining the parents per day if the kids don't attend,” Neil told him.

“There's no way my kid's getting a shot. Doesn't it make you wonder what is really going on if they have to strong arm, you to supposedly stay healthy?” Gary proposed.

“Exactly... I just thought I'd let you know. I'll see you in the morning,” he told Gary and disconnected the call.

People of course went out without question and got their children shots because they were told to and it was mandated. The country over was getting shots. Supposedly the ones at risk were the children and it was important they get vaccinated immediately.

Both Gary and his wife Pat didn't say anything to the school because they felt it wasn't necessary, until the next level of communication was reached. Besides the Supreme Court appeared to be getting ready to put their foot down.

Nothing more was said to Teri's parents and they heard nothing else, but school began several days later.

“Daddy... be careful, my arm's really sore from the shot,” Teri told her father after greeting him at the door.

“What do you mean... the shot?” Gary asked.

“I am so pissed... the school took it upon themselves to vaccinate all the unvaccinated children there today, regardless of the majority of parents not wanting them to get shots. It supposedly was a presidential order above and beyond the mandate. Parent's concerns weren't important,” Pat told Gary coming into the room.

“Oh God... those sons-of-bitches. I'd like to fucking shove some needles up that presidential butt!” Gary went off into a tirade.

“Honey why don't you go play while your mom and I talk in the other room,” Gary directed his daughter.

They went into the bedroom and closed the door.

“What are we going to do?” Pat asked as she walked into the room.

“We're going to sue the government. They've opened a can of worms now. With the right line of questioning in court the prosecution will be able to bring out the whole cover up with the 6M network technology. I'll tell them whatever they want to know. I'm just worried what this shot is supposed to do,” Gary told his wife.

“If these kids exposed to the 6M technology several years ago when others like me were pregnant and it made them psychic in some way and they don't want it, I have to assume it either is supposed to kill the children or do something to their brains,” his wife reasoned.

“I'll talk to lawyers tomorrow. I'm calling in sick,” Gary decided.

Gary called one law firm after another with messages to call back and what it was in reference to, but no one returned calls. He called Neil a couple of times to let him know what he was doin. He told him the shit was hitting the fan and people were pulling their kids out of school because of what happened nationwide. It wasn't just a local thing with the local school board. This was a concerted and organized national thing that was instituted.

“This was a wasted day. I can't get any lawyers to call back. Somewhere there has to be one that will talk,” Gary told Pat when she walked in the door.

“It's all over the news... kids are having reactions to the vaccinations. Government spokespeople and the CDC are blaming it on the flu saying the vaccinations don't keep you from getting it now, it only lets you get a milder case. But Gary, there are children dying out there that got their shots several days ago... not just getting less sick,” Pat informed him.

“Dear God, if anything happens to Teri, there's going to be hell to pay... with or without a lawyer. They aren't going to intimidate me like they're doing with everyone else. You are less sick if you're dead! that's their truth,” he told his wife.

Gary and his wife watched the news and went online. They were down playing the number of deaths but from what they could see seventy five percent of the children so far where getting sick and the deaths were close to sixty percent

“We know what the government is doing now. They can't stop the cognitive abilities, but they can kill the children. They're blaming it on this flu and masking it, making it sound like they're doing their best to protect everyone,” Gary told his wife. “I won't even be able to go into work and think straight.”

Several days later nothing happened to Teri. She went to school with a few others but most of the children had been taken out sick or had died. It was a devastating ordeal. She and the others attending school seemed to have increased their cognitive abilities. In fact they seemed to have become somehow unified in their thinking and their actions. Perhaps it was because so many of their friends, and the other children they knew, had passed away or were gone. Somehow they gathered strength in closely aligning themselves with the children left.

The same thing was happening throughout the country within a few weeks. The stats were holding up under close scrutiny of government officials. They reported success at saving twenty five percent of the children under ten but there was an air of dismay when politicians came on the air to discuss their success. It seemed a bittersweet response those certain media spokespeople received.

“How was school today, honey?” Gary asked his daughter when she got home.

“It was OK, but the teacher doesn't seem very friendly anymore. There were two men there too... one was sent from the governor and the other was in a uniform,” she told him.

“A man in a uniform, huh? Was he a military man?” Gary asked her.

“He was in the army. They're wondering what they're going to do with us... the others in my school,” she mentioned.

“Did they tell you that honey?” her father asked.

“No, but we all know what they're thinking,” she told him, while she was playing with a couple of things, he had in his shirt pocket. “We talked about it later at recess.”

“Can you see anything else they might be thinking about?” her father asked, sitting her down on the sofa as her mother came in to listen. She had caught the tail end of what she was saying and became startled.

“They're talking about sending us to camp. I would like that. When we went camping last year it was a lot of fun with you and mom,” she told him smiling, but her father just looked up at his wife and didn't smile. He had no idea what he was going to.

All the children that survived the so called 'flu' and the inoculations, perhaps weren't supposed to. Now they represented a problem. Twenty five percent survivors was twenty five percent too much across the country. Something else had to be done... something more drastic, but what would be the excuse? Some kind of threat to national security?

“She thinks camp is going to be some kind of vacation,” Gary told his wife later after putting Teri to bed.

“I don't want to scare her but I'm frightened,” Gary's wife told him.

“You and me both. It isn't just this country that doesn't want these kids because they represent a threat to their secrets. Most developed countries won't want them. The only alternative we have is to go to some third world underdeveloped country. How is that going to play out? It doesn't matter the distance... Teri and the others like her, will always be a threat.

“We can't just sit around and wait,” Pat told her husband, "otherwise we end up on the short end. They'll show up at our door one day and take Teri.

“If you told me this was what this country would come to one day while I was growing up I'd would have told you, you were crazy,” Gary told his wife.

Later they were listening to a podcast about what was happening.

“I have it on good authority that the plan is to start rounding up these kids that seem to have overdeveloped cognitive abilities as a result of the 6M technology that came out several years ago. It seemed to have triggered something in their brains that have made them more advanced than the rest of us, but instead of seeing the development as advantageous, their powers seem to be seen, negatively. There are rumors with this inoculation the government is handing out, its purpose is to get rid of these kids. However, a percentage of the kids were not affected physically, but it kicked their cognitive powers into overdrive. They're afraid people are going to find out exactly how corrupt they really are. These kids are going to find the skeletons buried in their closets. And they won't be able to keep it secret anymore,” the host was saying.

“There you go., exactly what we were talking about,” Gary told his wife.

“You can't run and hide... at least not for long. They know who these kids are... they have lists. They tried to kill these kids off with some cockamamie story about fending off a flu variant with some bogus vaccine meant to kill the kids under ten. It killed a lot of them but the remaining percentage... some say twenty percent, some say twenty-five that survived are actually stronger, and more clairvoyant. I've heard a few rumors about some having the abilities to move objects, OBEs on demand and even teleport objects. If this is the case, the government and some of these other industrialists trying to gain control of the public aren't going to be happy,” he went on to say.”

“Do you think Teri can do any of these other things?” Pat asked her husband, not being aware that she could.

“I think maybe we should wake her up and see. I want to know exactly with what we're dealing,” Gary suggested.

“Honey... Teri! We need to talk to you for a few minutes. We hate to wake you up,” Pat told her daughter as she rubbed her head until she was awake.

“Teri, honey... we're aware you know things that are going to happen ahead of time, but can you move things by just looking at them? Even go visit your friends when you want without leaving the house... maybe they can visit you?” Gary asked her.

“The ones of us left at school... we can do those things, but we thought it better to not say anything to anyone,” she told her father. He looked at his wife questioningly and she was worried.

“That's a good thing. Don't say anything to anyone else unless it's with one of the other children or their parents. Can you show us what you can do?” her father requested.

Teri looked across the room at her dresser where her hairbrush was laying. It floated into the air and then towards Teri where she caught it in her right hand. Her parents looked at each other in wonder. Then as Teri sat there in bed, she didn't just have an out-of-body experience, she seemed to separate from her body, the second Teri being a transparent image of herself, who then ran around the room jumping like anyone her age would. Then the second image came and sat on her father's lap and looked at him. There was no weight to her OBE but there was an ever so feeling of warmth. It was unnerving...

“How long have you been able to do these things?” Pat asked her.

“For a while, but with what's happening I didn't want to say anything or worry you and father, ”the child informed them both.

“From now on let us know anything that happens, or you know is going to happen, so we can do whatever we need to do as a family. Understand honey?” her father asked her, and she shook her head affirmatively. “Now go back to sleep, sweetie.”

Both parents kissed her goodnight and tucked her in before leaving.

“Alright, the people that started this whole vaccination bit are probably aware of what else besides precognitive abilities these kids can do. Her school has about twenty of them in different grades. I think we need to get a meeting together with the other parents,” Gary told his wife, “without alerting the teachers or anyone else associated with the school.

“How do you plan to fight them?” Pat asked her husband grabbing his arm as he looked out the window.

“I'm not, we're going to run and anyone that wants to run with us can, as well,” he told her.

That day Pat and her husband both made calls to the parents of the twenty-one children like Teri, at her school. They expressed their concerns openly to the others and the need to do something. Everyone was in full agreement, but had no idea what to do. Pat suggested a meeting at their place to discuss it, but not to do so anywhere, publicly.

“Gary, I know they're probably tons of rumors out there like there always are, and you don't know what to believe, but I'm hearing stuff I don't like,” Neil said quietly to his friend in the hall. He was a little paranoid these days speaking too openly in their lab area. It would be too easy to listen in on conversations. So he waited until they were in the hallway, going for coffee.

“I hear stuff too. A lot of it could be exaggeration but even downplayed it's getting scary for me,” Gary responded.

“Felicia and I don't have kids, but we feel like Teri is part of our family. If anyone tries doing anything to her, I swear I will go ballistic,” he told his friend.

“Listen, you have that large travel trailer you bought a couple of years ago. How many people could you stuff in there if you had to?” Gary asked.

“Well, it sleeps eight, but if you had to in an emergency I imagine you could stuff thirty-five or so people in there to transport. What are you thinking?” Neil asked.

“You have a pretty good gun collection too...” Gary stated just for enlightenment. “Tell you what, why don't you and Felicia come over about seven tonight. Some of the parents are getting together to discuss... things. I might need your help,” he told his friend.

“We're there for you guys... whatever you need from us. Let us know. We'll be there,” he assured Gary.

Eight couples showed up at seven plus Neil and Felicia. They quietly parked their cars in different locations rather than right out front and attract attention. Gary started the meeting on time while his wife stood next to him, offering support. All the children went to the basement to play.

“I'm sure you're all worried what's going to happen. Neil there and I were involved in testing the 6M technology that started this whole thing, but we had to sign non-disclosures. The government is making it sound like some flu virus is running rampant and kids need inoculations. What they are trying to do is stop these kids because of their clairvoyance that the technology caused. Their purpose is to kill these kids. The ones left now in the school somehow weren't affected by the substance they gave them, and in fact came out even stronger. It's a matter of time before they try something else. My daughter sees them talking about 'camps',” Gary informed everyone, and everyone was already well headed to a frenzy.

“Everything you confirmed just now is what we had suspected and gathered from some of the things our kids have said. There isn't enough of us to fight,” one parent spoke out.

“We try to do anything we'll just end up getting killed or disappearing anyway,” another proposed.

“I am going to suggest something simple... we run. We take our families, withdraw money and get debit cards, beef up food supplies and anything else we need for an extended camping trip. I'm sure others will be doing the same thing, until which time perhaps we can fight, especially with our children's growing abilities to help,” Gary suggested.

“And just how do we do that? They have drone technology and I know there's strength in numbers but with all of us and a bunch of off road vehicles it won't be hard to find us,” another parent warned.

“First, we all go at one time and together. Neil here has a large camper we can squeeze everyone into. We take three days to get our cash or barterable items, clothes, tents, tools, together to pack. We're in a relatively warm location. We travel no more than two days and get to where we need to be,” Gary told them all.

“My parents have an old farm with a barn, They've already told us to come there with the kids. We can go there and put the camper inside, along with the rest of us,” a parent suggested.

“I have a trailer if you have a hitch on your camper we can load that with a lot of supplies,” another recommended.

“If it's unanimous then... that's what we do. Pack what you need to in Harry's trailer and the remainder bring it over to Neil's place to the camper. He's getting it in the morning out of storage and parking it in his drive. Let's be ready to leave this time the day after tomorrow. Not a word to anyone. Don't say anything to your employers about being absent. Don't say anything to family or friends. We leave without a trace,” Gary told the room of parents.

They were getting more and more excited because they were doing something. Recently it seemed everything was out of their hands and in the government's. They were taking back their lives guaranteed in this country and were prepared to fight now if they had to.

Ten couples inclusive, showed up at Neil's home. Over the last two days they were hectically taking most of their money out of their accounts, but not closing them, and purchasing debit cards. Some had gold and silver. They purchased food for a few days and packed the trailer... some things in the camper. There were tents and clothes... everything they could muster, without being over laden. They packed the camper and hooked up the trailer, careful not to reveal how many people were leaving. By nine o'clock they were on the road traveling south towards Zach Tobias' parents farm, a sixty-acre place in South Carolina, a twelve-hour trip. They were expecting the group. The parents were fairly well armed and well stocked with ammunition

* * *

“President Dobson. I hate to bother you but there seems to be a development. One of the IRS agents we're using in Suffolk Place, Virginia alerted me, there's some kind of movement in the area. A number of families may have taken their children and fled,” Tyler Bender, assistant to the president alerted him.

“How many of these accelerated children are involved? Damn, we were just going to pick them up at the end of the week,” the president claimed.

“There are twenty-one, sir,” Bender told him.

“Did that IRS agent have the intelligence to follow them,? Dobson asked.

“He wasn't told to, so he didn't sir,” Bender responded.

“We'll have to use drones to spot them from the sky but get a line on the camper so we know what we're looking for. We'll blow them to pieces first and then plant WMDs in the motor home. We'll come up with a good story,” the president told his assistant.

* * *

“Dad,” a boy a year older than Teri by the name of Trapper, went to his dad sitting behind Neil, who was driving, and Gary to warn them, “I see drones coming to look for us sometime by five in the morning.

“We'll be about half way. They'll probably know what they're looking for by then,

so maybe the best thing to do will be to get off the road during the day and park under a bridge, so the drone can't spot us,” Gary suggested.

“They have infrared technology. They can spot us at night,” Trapper's dad responded.

“It isn't real clear though at night. We might get away with it. We only need several more hours. I wonder if we bought a reflective paint for the top of the camper if that would screw up their night vision, or just alert them to us,” Gary thought.

“They might not care. If there's a question at all they might just fire first,” Leo, Trapper's dad thought.

“Dad any of us can tell you when there's a drone coming. We see it,” Trapper told his father. The men just looked at each other.

“Trapper, do you think you can give us enough warning when you see one coming that we can get under a bridge or someplace to hide?” Leo asked his son.

“I can try, it depends on where the bridge is,” his son told him.

“OK, we'll park under a bridge at around 4:30am and stay there until the other kids give us a clear sign. Hopefully when they see them coming again, we can make it to the next bridge. They don't know which way we went so they have to cover quite a territory. I do not want to make it easy for them,” Neil told everyone.

They continued driving but watched the skies. They might not even be able to see them unless they had running lights. No one was sleeping much anyway, so stopping might give everyone the opportunity to sleep. They were so cramped.

“The one other question I have is this... do you think they'll alert people on the ground too to look for us?” Neil asked Gary.

“I sure hope they don't. We're too easy to spot down here with the cops or any military. I think we need to get off the main drag in case though. It'll slow us down and will be rougher driving, but it might be safer,” Gary responded.

“I agree. Instead of hiding under bridges we may have to pick a large tree,” he said as he suddenly pulled off the next exit ramp and looked at the GPS. “This way we're adding twenty miles.”

“Do it,” said Leo and Gary.

It was a state road. It wasn't any highway, but it was fine. It added twenty miles and instead of going sixty they could only go forty five. It would probably add and hour to their trip.

“If we're far enough off the highway, maybe a drone won't get close enough to spot us. What do you think Trapper?” his father asked him.

“They're still coming. I see several of them side by side in a wide formation. Is that what you see?” Trapper asked the little girl next to him. She shook her head 'yes'.

“Shoot they're covering a wide area then, not just the highway. We'll have to lay low. Start looking for someplace at four then to be safe. That also means they probably won't come back right away... hopefully,” Neil admitted.

It was beginning to get darker but it was still light on the horizon at four, so seeing wasn't the best, but you could see silhouettes out in the countryside. Everyone on board looked for a spot when they came around a corner by a falling down split rail fence. At the end of a short dirt drive, that hadn't been used in awhile, was a dilapidated graying barn. Neil stopped the camper.

“Is that just what the doctor ordered? I don't see any other houses or buildings around and that barn doesn't look like it's being used,” Neil observed.

“I say go for it. Even if someone says anything we can just say we stopped to rest. We'll only be there a couple of hours hopefully, and then we'll leave,” he told them.

They slowly pulled down to the barn and two of the men got out and opened the barn doors, letting them pull the camper into it. They shut the doors when they were parked.

“Everybody get out and stretch their legs, rest, eat whatever but be quiet. We can't attract any attention,” Gary warned them all. “We'll stop here a couple of hours until the kids say it's clear.”

The travelers settled in for a little while, enjoying the barn. There's something comforting about a barn. Maybe the smells herald times gone by that were simpler and more fundamental to existence. Life wasn't weighed down by technologies or the apparent need for them where life couldn't go on, yet there were places on this earth people had never touched a phone and they survived well.

“Someone's coming,” one of the little girls spoke up among the crowd and everyone stopped. The others shook their heads and Trapper confirmed it.

About that time the barn doors flew open. There was a half dozen people, rural people standing outside the door, carrying things with them.

Those in the barn just stared in shock, it happened so quickly, so they only looked at the group of people there, but one woman spoke and came into the barn saying something.

“We were expecting you,” she said. “I'm Martha and I baked a couple of pies for you all. The others have some things for everyone as well.”

“How did you know?” Gary asked as the leader, since it seems he was the group's spokesperson having engineered the escape.

“You aren't the only one with exceptional children,” an older gentleman announced coming in carrying another pie. “My granddaughter is one of you.”

“I'm her father and she hasn't been to school for quite some time. We have her hidden with a few other kids around here. The kids told us yesterday you were coming, so we got ready to greet you. Anything we can do for you just ask,” the man offered.

“I'm Gary. We'll probably be out of here in about two hours, as soon as the drones pass through,” he told them.

“I'm Dustin. Yeah, the kids told us there were four sweeping a path. Well, there's only three now. We have a group that shoot at them when they see them. One of our men was a long range sniper in the Marines some years ago and he's still got it. He got one earlier when it came through,” the man told them.

“Aren't you worried about repercussions?” Neil asked the man listening to the conversation.

“They can't figure out where the shot's coming from if you make one shot count and hide... guerrilla type warfare that founded this country still works,” Dustin countered. “Here we'll slice up the pie for you all and pour some hot coffee. Jay's wife over there, Matilda, she makes the best coffee here.”

“The drones are gone. They came back a little while ago and flew back through after they lost the one but they're sending several soldiers to look for it now,” Trapper informed everyone.

“How much time do we have? Are they coming by vehicle?” Gary asked Trapper.

“We have an hour before they get here in a single helicopter,” he reported.

“Well shoot, you'll have to be leaving shortly. That wasn't the first drone they lost in these parts, so they'll just suspect locals causing the problem,” Dustin told them.

Within the hour everyone was back in the camper and ready to leave.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Neil told the man from the RV window.

“We appreciate it,” Gary added.

“Good luck to you all. I hope you get the rest of the way without any problems,” Dustin told them as the others gathered around him and offered their sentiments.

“Those were nice people,” Leo told Gary and Neil as they drove out of the barn. They wanted to get out of the area before the copter showed up and inadvertently saw them. It would be coming from the opposite direction but still, they didn't need complications by being careless.

* * *

“One of our drones was shot down seven miles off the highway going south through North Carolina,” Tyler Bender announced coming into the President's office. “They were looking for that camper.”

“Seems kind of stupid for someone in that group to shoot a drone down. It would draw attention to them,” said the president.

“It's the third one shot down this past year in that area. They obviously have some vigilante having target practice with them,” Bender told him.

“Then don't waste my time with useless information. Bring me something more substantial. You still have no idea where they went or which way?” the president asked his associate.

“No sir,” he told him.

“Let's suppose they were headed that way... is there a reason for them to be going that direction... family, friends, property ownership in some secluded mountain place?” the president asked.

“I'll check on that right away sir,” Bender agreed.

“Do that and check out the same stuff in other areas. You're not going to get answers by asking their neighbors questions. They're keeping everything under the table,” he suggested.

* * *

The camper had crossed over earlier into South Carolina earlier in the day. It wasn't far now and there had been no complications. The parents were beginning to feel relieved. Everyone had been checking with the kids, including Trapper and they were all saying the same thing... no drones. The search party the military had sent out before for the drones that were shot down, found them and they had done intensive investigations in the area of the population to see who was responsible. They didn't get anywhere, and they probably wouldn't this time either.

The kids were singing and having a better time than when they left, sensing they were about to get to where they wanted to be. Once there, they could relax and be kids. The parents could go about settling in with plans to work the farm for more than just hay. It was going to produce vegetables, and there would be some beef and chickens, so there would be meat and eggs.

“You know if they really want to find us, they're going to check all of us and our families. If they locate a farm like this, out and away from everything where you could be self-sufficient, they'll be checking us out. Don't be surprised if eventually a drone flies over,” mentioned Leo.

The farm was indeed isolated. The closet town was only fifteen miles away and it was a small one. Neighbors consisted of other similar farms throughout the valley raising vegetables, some beef, chickens and eggs, and lots of alfalfa hay. It was a lush green valley... very peaceful. A large river ran through the middle of it, ancient geologically, because it was not extremely wide, but it was deep. It was what probably at one time carved the valley out between the large hills, slowly eroding it away to it present state.

Zach Tobias directed Neil as he drove up the stone and dirt drive to the large old farmhouse. It was his parent's farm, Robert and Norma Tobias. They were waiting on the porch as the camper drove up and parked. The doors opened and they were greeted by twenty-one rambunctious kids letting off steam.

Zach greeted his parents since he hadn't seen them in a couple of years, and his dad immediately told Neil to pull the camper into the barn, out of sight. After all the greetings were done, it was time for lunch and Mrs. Tobias cooked a slew of food for everyone.

“I can't believe you went through all this trouble for this many people, Mrs. Tobias” Pat Lavin admitted to the farm woman.

“Call me Norma, Honey. We'll all be on a first name basis by the end of the week anyway, we might as well get started now,” she told Pat Lavin as she put out paper plates on the long tables set end to end on the wide front Victorian porch, looking out over the hills.

Two large turkeys were carved for everyone... turkeys raised on the farm. They couldn't get fresher, since Zach's dad, butchered them the day before. In fact, everything served had been raised on the farm on just a little area. That area was about to be expanded next season. It was too late this year to plant, but the next few months would be spent planning for this many people.

“It's criminal what some of these people have done to this country and are doing to it,” Robert Tobias mentioned at the table as everyone ate, and he watched his wife dish out pie and ice cream to the kids. She loved kids and wanted more but complications limited their family to just Zach.

Zach worked hard on the farm growing up without siblings and he kept himself busy playing alone. School was when he socialized, picking the school bus up at the end of the lane. School was where he got into tons of trouble making a spectacle of himself. Zach craved the attention, there was no doubt about that. He didn't settle down until his senior year of high school when he got serious about his studies. Still, his grades were good enough to get a partial scholarship to college, where he got his computer science degree.

* * *

“Alright... it's been a fucking week since you told me anything. I hope you're coming in here to give me some news,” the president told Bender somewhat threateningly.

“Nothing yet, sir but I do have a possible place we're checking out later... the Tobias farm in South Carolina. It's out in the middle of nowhere and there are sixty acres. Seems like a good spot to take that many people to hide, Bender told him.

“Why are you telling me this? Tell me after the fact. The new president is taking over in a few months and I want all this out of the way before I leave. If this asshole comes in here and gets sentimental and reprieves the kids that are left, our futures will be in jeopardy,” the president warned. “How are we doing rounding up the kids that are left?”

“A lot of families have taken off, it'll be a matter of time finding them, we've already found some. A few took stands and fought. That gave us an excuse to kill the parents and have the kids die in a crossfire. That way we can blame the parents for their deaths,” Bender said.

“Wish this was all that easy. A couple of groups have gotten wind of things and are starting their shit thanks to a couple of these pod casters and talk shows. They need to be silenced too,” the leader informed his associate.

“These kids represent the largest threat because there are twenty-one of them and twenty adults. They're organized,” Bender added.

“Who the hell organized them? I want special attention spent on that one when we catch up to them. We've spent years trying to disorganize the population educationally, politically, ethnically and economically and then some do-gooder gets a group like this together,” the president asked.

“As far as I can tell it was a Gary Lavin, or him and his friend Neil Milner. They were both instrumental at the time, at Kovitch Labs where they did the testing on the 6M technology that started this problem. Lavin has a kid identified with the advanced cognitive defect while his partner is childless. My money is on Lavin,” Bender told him.

'I will be leaving the presidency with all this cleaned up... in fact, I want all these kids and their families eliminated by the holidays. I want to enjoy my Christmas,” the president exclaimed.

“I'll do what I can as quickly as possible,” Bender responded.

“I know you have to be careful these days or stuff gets out onto social media. My father was a crime boss when I was growing up and back then you could just make someone disappear and that was that. He and his buddy made Jimmy Hoffa disappear. I heard the talk at the dinner table... they threw him into a bridge abutment they were casting with fresh cement in Detroit. That would be common news today all-over social media unless you control and scare people so much so, they never will say anything,” the president told him.

“I'll keep that in mind,” Bender replied and left the office.

* * *

It was late in the week when Teri approached her father, to tell him there were two drones on their way. Gary immediately called all the children to the front porch to talk.

“Teri tells me there are drones approaching. Are there?” he asked all twenty-one kids.

Yes... they all confirmed. Then Trapper approached Gary and further clarified things.

“We all decided to make Teri the person that speaks for all of us, to make it easier to give you information. Whatever she tells you... is. We are of one mind now, though we are separate. The knowledge that is out there is true and there can be only one truth. You only need one of us to confirm, or deny anything,” Trapper informed them.

Gary and the other parents standing there listening were somewhat taken back by this declaration. It was a simple fact and clear. What did they mean by being 'one mind' now? The children, being together, both day and night, were becoming stronger. They were feeding off each other making their strengths, stronger... more powerful.

“Alright then but let us know when the drones get closer so we can all move into the barn and stay out of sight. They obviously suspect us of being here so they're going to see what they can,” Gary asked them.

“We don't have to hide anymore. We can take aggressive action,” Teri told her father and the others.

“What do you mean, 'aggressive action'? Zach asked about the same time Leo started to.

“We can aggressively defend ourselves against our attackers,” Trapper added. “Her terminology is the same as any of us would use, just for you to understand... so there are no misunderstandings.

“Well, for now let's just hide until they're gone. It's probably better not to fight now and fight another day. Let me ask you this, are your abilities getting stronger since all of you have been together all week?” Gary asked anyone that would answer. His daughter did, simply.

“Exponentially,” she answered. She was just turning six. Gary was dumbfounded by the way she was talking. Clearly, if she was an indication, the children were growing intellectually by leaps.

In two hours, everyone went into the barn or the house and waited. The drones were too high up to be heard but if you looked there were two of them and the sun lightly glinted off of them. The children stood waiting.

“They're making a few passes and taking pictures. I'll let you know when everything is clear,” Teri told the parents.

A while later, the drones left the area and everyone emerged from the barn, back to normal.

“Children... I baked apple pies for all of you if you want to go to the porch, I'll dish it out,” Norma Tobias announced.

The kids almost trampled each other for her apple pie. She backed them every day for them. She doted on the children endlessly and they loved her dearly for it. She was everyone's grandmother. Little did she know a month ago her family would have increased so rapidly from having an only child.

Bob Tobias was just as bad. He took several kids at a time to the river to fish for trout and bass. He made wooden gadgets for them and played what games he could with them. It was good to see the children away from electronic games for something healthier outside. They didn't seem to miss it either but derived great pleasure out of enjoying each other, outside. Gary expressed his thoughts to his wife, thinking their intelligence level and abilities now took them beyond the need for electronic games.

* * *

“Sir, we have the photos of the Tobias farm. It doesn't look like anyone's there. It didn't catch anything. Not a single person or vehicle. I'll start broadening the search,” Bender told the president, coming in with the folder of aerial reconnaissance shots.

“Let me see that,” the president demanded. He took the folder and paged through the forty some shots. “I don't see anything out of the ordinary... wait here. Look at this one shot coming in towards the house there. How many people do you know have enough tables set up to seat forty people on their front porch?”

Bender took the photo in question and looked. You're right!” he told his boss.

“You bet I'm right. Are all you people a bunch of idiots? I shouldn't have to point that out to you when there's probably a half dozen of your 'intelligence' people looking at these photos.

“What should I do?” Bender asked, closing the folder and putting it under his arm.

“Get rid of the whole bunch. Level that farm. Send in four drones, that should do the trick,” the man demanded, displaying somewhat of a more sinister, tyrannical demeanor now.

He appeared more diabolical and more mentally misplaced than before, now that he seemed to have control again. Bender noticed it too... the difference. He had been with him long enough to notice these changes in his personality when things were going badly, and when things were going well. He seemed contemplative and definitive when he wanted something but when he felt he had it, he seemed to be slightly deranged. It was odd he could see it but most others couldn't... especially the voting public. They were so gullible and easily hoodwinked, thanks to the media. They made excuses for him like their troublesome child.

* * *

The group was having breakfast early on the porch. All the women and a couple of the kids helped put it together. It was too much for any one person to handle so they had to work as a group. They were just finishing when Teri came running to the end of the table.

“Father! There are four drones coming to kill everyone,” she announced, and everyone began talking at one time.

“They're armed and they have the orders to kill us?” Gary asked.

“It's a presidential order,” Trapper yelled out.

“That son-of-a-bitch. I'm not sure what we can do, but run. Then if they find us on the road we're as good as dead<” Neil yelled.

“We don't need to run, father,” said Teri calmly, “the group of us can take the drones out of the sky.”

“You're positive you can?” Gary asked her.

“They're sending foot soldiers as well. Twenty of them to clean up anything they need to after the drones are finished,” she told them as the parents ran to get what weapons they had.

“Do what you children need to do, but don't do anything to endanger yourselves,” Leon warned them.

The children waited in front of the old house, minding the sky. The soldiers were coming in helicopters, after the drones swept through the area. The enemy would be coming out of the blue... or so the military thought.

This time, the drones could be heard. They were lower, taking evasive action. You couldn't be sure if you got everyone in one swift action from too high up, it had to be closer to see what you were killing. The children stood as one group facing the airborne enemy while the parents stood behind them on the porch doing the same. One of the children finally pointed straight ahead into the sky where the four drones made their appearance across the horizon, each next to the other.

Upon their appearance, as they began to position their attack, the parents watched as the first drone dropped from the sky and crashed into the ground. It just dropped. A few seconds later the second one dropped. They just seemed to lose power and fall. Their engines became silent. As the last two swept closer over the ground, the third one seemed to lose power and fall, crashing into a large old oak tree. As the last one started to fire it suddenly became silent and dropped, crashing in a heap into the ground. The four attack drones were done.

The parents cheered from the porch but knew this wasn't the end. The soldiers would be alerted the drones were unsuccessful in their attempt. It was up to them to finish this mission. The news would most likely be bent to say these people, they were after, had some kind of military weaponry that was able to take out the drones, and to proceed at all costs, to stop them.

Twenty soldiers were on their way. It would be a little different on the ground fighting with them instead of the air. Gary and the others weren't as sure about this next step.

Shortly, in the direction the drones descended from, came the copters. Their deep, resonant, distant sounds becoming audible before their sight. They were large military copters, three in all, transporting the troops. They stopped about a mile away and dropped the soldiers before coming into the farm closer to provide air support with their guns. It looked like they were ready for a major military encounter with a large band of rebels instead of children. Had they ever been told they were kids they were after? Had they any idea why they were after them, blindly following the command of their Commander-in-Chief who was a control freak. Oath or not, had they known differently, perhaps the attack would be headed the other way.

The helicopters came in shooting their fifty-millimeter machine guns. There was hardly enough time for the kids to start, but they did. They jammed each on board machine gun one at a time. Within seconds of opening fire the guns stopped... jammed and inoperable. As the helicopters flew over to make another pass from the other side, with a couple hand held machine guns, the props, in turn, on each copter froze, and the copters dropped like lead weights. They crashed unceremoniously into the ground. The men on board, joined the other soldiers attacking but they carried only their hand guns. Others began spraying the area with their bullets sending dirt into the air. They continued the assault, realizing no one was firing back. The parents began opening fire as slowly the children began jamming the machine guns. The objects of the children's attention were much closer and more manageable, so each child could take one soldier. There were those that continued without guns but with knives. They began dropping unconsciously as the children physically attacked them with their minds.

The attack seemed to go on for some time but in fact was maybe ten minutes from the first onset of drones. When the attack ended, and attention returned to the others on the farm, there was a gruesome discovery. None of the children were hurt but most of the parents and Mr. and Mrs. Tobias lay dead from the initial spray of ground bullets.

The children were devastated they weren't able to save most of their parents. They were just as angered by the deaths of the Tobias'. There was nothing more to be done here. They beat their attackers but it was a bittersweet victory. However, their united action further strengthened the children. Their minds exercised by the actions had pushed them beyond what they thought they were capable.

Several of the children walked two of the soldiers still alive, back to the rest of the group.

“These two are the only ones still alive. What should we do with them? Trapper asked the rest.

Teri stepped forward her face full of ferocity and revenge at the loss of everyone there and especially her parents.

“There's been enough killing here today. Let them go... to tell the President, we're coming for him,” the little girl promised.