Chapter 25

A helicopter flying overhead was the first sign that something was up. I just looked up at the strange thing. I couldn’t remember any other aircraft flying over the school before. It had been placed out in the middle of western Nebraska for a reason, no one came this way. There wasn’t anything here, the nearest town was nearly deserted and still a long way away. The fields around the school were all owned by the school, both to provide cover and prevent escape. There was nothing out here anyone could be interested in but us.

I didn’t think much of the helicopter until a moment later when I saw a small group of dark suited men run out of a building. They were carrying a strange looking device, some kind of odd electrical device that reminded me of a cross between a tesla coil and an electromagnet. They pointed it at the helicopter and I felt a strange, almost electrical sensation pass through me. The helicopter suddenly stopped making noise, and I watched as its rotor stopped. It fell quickly to the ground, crashing with a large explosion just outside the school. I realized that the device must have been some kind of EMP weapon, and that the school was under attack.

My heart raced with anticipation, but I just allowed my mask to sit tight for the moment, and continued on my way to class. Even a crashing helicopter wasn’t supposed to be noticed to the conditioned students. With luck this would be the final moments of my time here, but I could not very well risk discovery now. I strolled off, wondering just what was next and hoping for salvation.

I hadn’t even gone a hundred yards before I found out. A plane flew overhead spraying a white mist into the air. I instinctively covered my mouth as I watch the mist drift down, wondering what it could be. As it enveloped me, I quickly discovered it was some kind of knockout gas as I felt myself suddenly getting drowsy. I fell to the ground and fell asleep.

I groggily awoke some time later, I had no way of knowing how long I’d been out. I was lying in a bed, still dressed for class. I took a quick look around to see many rows of cots lined around me, all filled with fellow students, some waking but most still looked asleep. My head pounded slightly, and I lay back, wondering just what had happened. Either we were being prepared for reprogramming or being checked out in some kind of a field hospital, I couldn’t tell. All I could do again was wait, and hope that my head quit pounding.

A few minutes after I woke up a young woman in military uniform came by with a small cart. She walked up to me with a glass of water and a couple of pills. She looked shocked and sympathetic at the same time. “Hello, take this, it’ll help with the headache.”

I just nodded my thanks and quickly swallowed the pills and emptied the glass. If this was malicious there wasn’t much chance of escape now, and I was quickly feeling that I might just be free.

The woman took the glass back and continued on to the next bed. She must be the first line of treatment, I figured. I rested again, waiting for the drugs to take hold.

It wasn’t long before they did, and I sat up on the side of my bed and looked around. It was a very eerie scene. All around me were my fellow students laid out on beds under a big field tent that seemed to just stretch on and on. The new students all seemed rather animated and all very curious as well. The older students seemed just the opposite, few of them had moved at all, and even those that had were sitting still on the side of their cot like I was now. I realized quickly that the mask was still in place, I wasn’t inclined to move either. I knew that was because these circumstances violated my programming. I wasn’t in the school, or following my normal routine, thus I was reduced to a very uncooperative or inactive state, until I found a way to escape and return to the school.

For a moment this scared me. The mask that I’d been forced to wear since Marty had freed my mind could very well force me back into captivity, just because Marty wasn’t here to free me of its control. I only hoped that my will would be strong enough to block the mask from carrying me away if it saw the chance. Even as this concern raced through my mind, I sat expressionless and passive, waiting for what would come next.

It was a long wait. I ate at least three meals in that tent, and slept an evening. If it weren’t for overhearing one of the soldiers talking to the new students I wouldn’t have known what was going on. Apparently, information about the school had gotten out and the federal government had sent in the FBI with some national guard backing to secure the school. Everyone would be kept here until more could be found out about what had been done to us and appropriate action could be taken to help.

It was the second day of my new captivity that I was welcomed by a very friendly face. I saw him off to the far reaches of the tent. Inside I beamed with joy, but I still couldn’t move. I still was in violation of my programming, so all I could do was watch Marty slowly comb his ways through the rows until he finally spotted me.

“Ana!” He shouted and ran over smiling. He was at my side in mere moments and I waited patiently for him to free me again. Marty looked me over for a moment, waving a hand in front of my face and everything after I just started up at him passively. I would have rolled my eyes if I could have, sometimes Marty was just a little too dense for his own good.

Then he shook his own head, remembering the obvious. “Ana, you don’t have to listen to your programming anymore, okay?”

I jumped up and gave him the biggest, warmest hug I could. “Oh, yes, Marty, I’m so happy. Thank you so much for this.”