Chapter 3

The creak and groan of metal was what finally woke Andrew. He didn't place a great concern on it, but eventually, it became annoying. He looked to his right and was startled by a large piece of equipment digging into the passenger door of his vehicle. It was a long moment before his eyes focused, but he managed to clear his vision long enough to see what, or who, was at his car.

There were two figures next to the vehicle. One of them, he could tell, was a man, and the other a woman. They were dressed in white, but he didn't understand at first. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't let him. He couldn't tell what hurt most, his head, his neck or his legs. One of the figures hurriedly motioned for him to stop, and the vehicle tore open, letting sunlight pour in through the passenger side of the vehicle. "Damn it," he muttered. "How am I going to explain this to insurance?"

Andrew shielded his eyes from the light, and the two figures now seemed silhouetted against the other side of the car. One of them reached forward, speaking. "Don't worry, Mr. Russell, we'll get you out of here in a minny." He felt the belt around his body slacken, and he grumbled incoherently in response.

Not feeling in the mood to be touched, he slapped away the hand away. "Sir, please, we need to get you to a hospital," the woman said. Andrew did his best to glare at her stubbornly, but after a moment complied. He took her hand and eased himself out of the car through the torn side.

"How the hell am I gonna pay for this?" he groaned, upon seeing the wreckage.

The other man spoke up, "Mr. Russell, please, we need to get you to the hospital."

"Hospital?" asked Andrew incredulously, rounding on him. "Why the hell do I need to go to the hospital, I'm fine! But my car! Look at my car!"

"Mr. Russell," said a familiar voice. "You need to go to the hospital."

Andrew whirled around, stunned to see a shorter dishwater blonde man in a brown tweed suit standing there. He eyed him warily for a long moment before asking, "What are you doing here?"

The blonde man simply laughed, a derisive grin plastered across his face. "It's simple, really," he said. "I'm just here to make sure that you are okay."

"Why would you give a damn about whether I'm all right?" Now, Andrew was being placed on a gurney to be put on an ambulance. "You've never given a damn about me before, Sam."

Sam frowned at that, clearly distraught. "Far from the case, Andy," Sam said, making sure to emphasize the name. Andrew loathed it. "You've just never taken the time to notice it. But that's your fault, not mine." He waved a hand, following the paramedics to the ambulance. "The country's best interests are at stake right now. And you're one of the few left right now to be able to take care of things."

Andrew sat up with a start, but immediately fell back onto the stretcher, dizzy. He raised a hand to his face, covering one side of it. "What? What happened, anyway?"

Sam shifted uncomfortably, eyes lowered. His voice was quiet when he spoke after a long pause, "Melbourne's gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone."

"Explain how an entire city can disappear in one night, Sam," Andrew said, glaring at the other man, expecting to be answered immediately.

"I will when we get to the hospital. Okay?"

"Must it wait?"

"It's... It's complicated."

The paramedics lifted Andrew up to the ambulance, and he grunted. "Complicated? What's so complicated about telling me how an entire fucking city just disappears out of the blue?"

"Sir?" the female paramedic interrupted. "We really need to get you to the hospital." She turned to Sam. "Will you be riding with us, or in your own vehicle?"

"I'll be taking my own car, but thanks," he said with a smile. "See ya in a bit, Andrew."

"Fine!" Andrew roared, none too pleased about the situation.

Sam waved, and headed to his car, while the paramedics closed the ambulance up and started toward the nearest hospital in Canberra. "We don't know any more than you do, before you ask," said the male paramedic.

Andrew simply crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well, that figures. Just my fucking luck." He let out a deep sigh, shaking his head, at which he groaned again, once again dizzy. "Don't let me do that again."

The woman let out a small chuckle, and began taking his vitals. "I won't. We're going to Canberra so we can get you into a hospital, how's that sound?"

"Sounds like it's gonna be one hell of a time. I hate hospitals. They don't smell right."

She raised an eyebrow. "They don't smell right?" she asked.

"Too clean, for my personal taste." He shrugged. "How long 'til we get there?"

"Just a few minutes," she replied. "You weren't too far from there to begin with."

"S'pose I can be thankful for that much at least. Guess I'll just be along for the ride for right now."

The woman nodded, and then began asking him the standard battery of questions while they made their way to the hospital. Some minutes later, they arrived and they piled out of the ambulance, taking Andrew inside on the gurney. Sam soon followed inside. Luckily, Andrew had been able to manage a room, and was seen fairly quickly by a doctor, despite the fact that the hospital was nearing full capacity due to the incident.

When the room cleared, Sam spoke up. "So, yeah, Melbourne's gone. Apparently just up and disappeared." Sam shrugged.

"And why's this complicated, exactly?" asked Andrew.

"Because there's no explanation why. And all the people are looking to guys like you for answers. Bright flash of white light, and it's gone. Conspiracy theorists are vapid over all this, and it's making things chaotic all over the world. Melbourne's not the only place gone."

Andrew lay there, confused. "This happened other places, too?"

Sam snorted. "Did I stutter?"

Andrew shook his head, slowly. No dizziness this time. "No, no you didn't. Where else?"

Sam shrugged a shoulder. "Well, from what we've heard so far, Washington, Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, a few other places. Mostly capitals. It's wreaking havoc everywhere. There's been speculation of other-worldly intelligence out there, but again, that's just the conspiracy theorists at work, if you ask me."