The year is 2021. It’s the peak of the pandemic. Everyone is self isolating, primarily communicating through the internet. Texts, calls, facetimes, zooms, social media. The list goes on. That all stopped on May twenty-fourth at eight in the morning. It was cut off. All signals lost. No more internet. No more wifi. Nothing. All electronic devices stopped working. 

“Mom, the computer won’t workkkk,” said Nate, the middle child of three.

“Same with my phone,” said Tyler, the oldest child.

“Everything electrical stopped working,” said Margret, “let me go talk to your father about it.”

Margret walked upstairs to talk to her husband Matt. He told her that he had no idea what was happening. There was no warning for anything like this to happen. It was out of the blue. 

By June, nothing had changed. Everything was still broken, for no reason it seemed. No internet, and because of the ongoing global pandemic, there were no mail services either. They were left with no way to communicate with the outside world. 

As days went by, police started showing up in the neighborhood. Day by day taking families out of their homes. On the first day, nobody thought much of it. There must have been a reason. But time went by, and they kept taking seemingly innocent people out of their homes. This became a concern for Margret and Matt.

“What should we do?” Margret asked Matt late one night. 

“We can’t just stay here and wait until they take us,” Matt said in a concerned tone.

“We should leave,” Margret whispered, “we have a safe house a few miles out in the woods. It could be an escape if we needed it.”

“That's our plan then,” Matt agreed, “we flee to the safe house if it comes to it.”

A few hours later, Nate woke up to the sound of a car. He got up quickly and peered through the blinds. He saw two sets of headlights moving through his neighborhood in the distance. They were getting closer, at a rapid pace. He ran to his parents room.

“Mom! Dad! Police are in the neighborhood! Wake up now!” he practically yelled.

“What?” Matt questioned, half awake.

“POLICE!” Nate exclaimed.

“Get your brother and sister awake,” said his mom, “and hurry”.

Nate rushed into Tylers room and shook him awake. Tyler got up, and the boys went to wake up Olivia, who was sitting up in her bed when they walked in. She had already woken up due to the commotion.

The kids piled into the parents bedroom, Olivia in Nate's arms and the dog at Tyler's feet. They all hurried downstairs and rushed to the back door. It was locked shut from the outside. They quickly opened the window next to it, ‘that’ll have to do’ Matt thought. He had Margret go first, then Nate, and Olivia. Tyler was about to get through the window when they heard the police in the driveway. There wasn’t enough time to get everyone out. They had to split up.

“You guys go, Tyler and I will take cover in the basement. Run as fast as you can Mar. I love you guys,” Matt said as he shut the window. 

“I love you more, Matt,” Margret said with tears forming on her waterline.

Margret took Olivia and Nate and they fled. As quickly and as quietly as possible. Running through the woods, no shoes on their feet. Avoiding fallen branches, and crunchy leaves. They had a safe house a few miles out, that was their destination. 

As Margret and the younger kids were running, the cops were getting out of the vehicles. This left Matt, Tyler, and Thor, their golden retriever, very little time to get to the basement. They were rushing down the stairs when they heard the cops running into the woods. 

“Sh*t,” Matt said, “they’re going to get caught.”

The best thing for the boys to do was to stay safe. As long as they were hidden, they could go break them out. But Matt knew there was no chance at saving them if they didn’t know where they were being taken. Instead of hiding in the basement, Matt Tyler and Thor went upstairs to get higher ground, and therefore see what was happening.

It was the middle of the night, the only light guiding them was provided by the moon. That was until the light beams of many flashlights surrounded them. They were caught. 

“We come in peace,” said one police officer.

“We are here to save you,” said another, “not hurt you”.

“Why should I trust you?” asked Margret as she stood in front of her children, arms wrapped around them.

“Because police are supposed to protect the citizens of the country, and that is what we are trying to do,” said the first officer.

“Follow us, and you will be safe,” said a new police officer.

Margret decided to trust them. Plus, if they were lying, Matt would come save them. Right?

Matt and Tyler were looking through the blinds in Olivia's room, looking for the rest of their family. Minutes passed and still there was nothing. Finally, surrounded by many police officers came Margret, Nate and Olivia. The kids looked scared, however Margret seemed…calm?

Matt and Tyler moved to Nate's bedroom to get a view of the front of the house. They watched as the rest of their family were being put into the back of the cop cars. A spot reserved for criminals, now being taken by innocent people. Before they knew it, the cars were driving off. 

They were loaded into the cars, each person in a separate one. Margret thought this was due to social distancing, but who knows. 

“Where are you taking us?” she asked.

No response. She asked again where they were being taken. She was met with silence for a second time. Margret was starting to freak out. There were a million questions flowing through her head. What if she had made the wrong call? Where are we going? Are Nate and Olivia okay? What will happen to Matt and Tyler? How do we escape? None of which she had the answer to.

Tyler and Matt ran to their car. If they were going to save their family, they would have to follow the cars. They pulled out of the driveway, and sped through the neighborhood without their headlights. If they had them on, attention would have been drawn, and that is the opposite of what they wanted. They were trying to be stealthy. 

Hours went by, and they finally arrived at their destination. It was now dawn, and the sun was starting to rise. The three cop cars pulled up to a booth. They showed I.D. to the gate guard and then were permitted to enter the area. The gate closed behind them. 

Matt and Tyler watched the entire interaction. If they were going to break in, they would have to find a flaw in the system. They watched from the woods, just about 30 feet away. They first noticed that before they got to the booth, they had to wait in a line. This line was around 20 or so cars, but the line moved quickly. Then, once they were at the front, they would talk to the gate guard. The guard would ask them for a name, and then a form of identification. They all seemed to have this badge, not a normal police badge, but some sort of official badge. Then, the gate guard would open the gate, allow that car to pass through, then the gate would shut behind them. 

Another thing to note would be the electric fence that surrounded the massive building. The building must be where they are holding everyone. There was only one entrance, and only one exit through the fence. The gate guard was the only one able to open the gates. On either side of the booth was an armed security guard. 

“Dad, how are we going to get in there?” Tyler asked while petting Thor to keep him calm.

“I'm working on that right now,” Matt replied.

While Matt and Tyler were making a plan to break in, Margret was making a plan to break out. She saw how heavily secured this place was, so she wasn’t sure it was even possible. Her train of thought was interrupted when the car came to a stop. The police got out of the cars and started escorting them into the building. To get in, they swiped a key card, and the door opened. 

They walked Margret and the kids down a long narrow hallway. The floors were made of concrete, so were the walls. The ceilings were paneled, and the lights were dim. They walked for what felt like hours, but in reality it was only ten minutes. At the end of the hallway was an elevator. There were fifteen floors and they went to the tenth.

When they arrived, and the doors opened, Margret was shocked. She was expecting some sort of jail. A hostage situation. But it was like a hotel. There were many many rooms, down more long hallways, but these ones were nicer looking. Carpets lined the floors, and there were pictures on the walls that were made of drywall. In the lobby, there were many people in lab coats. Doctors maybe?

Matt had formed a plan. He kept seeing trucks with trailers hitched on the back pulling in. He thought that Tyler, Thor and him could hop in the back of the trailer, and sneak in that way. 

“Do you see that trailer?” Matt asked Tyler.

“Yes, what about it?” Tyler replied.

“We are going to get into it, and hide under the tarp,” Matt said, “follow me.”

Matt and Tyler snuck up to the back of the trailer, Thor in Matt’s arms. He had been surprisingly quiet this whole time, barely making noise. As sneakily as they could, they got into the back of the truck. They pulled the tarp on top of them, and waited until they were eventually moving. Matt heard a click, and the moving of the gate. They were in.

A police officer took Margret and the kids into one of the hotel looking rooms. There was a couch and a table, with four chairs. He sat them down at the table, and started explaining everything. 

“I know this has probably all been really confusing and scary. Let me explain. First, we have some major news. We have a cure and vaccine for COVID-19. We just made it, and we had to keep it a secret. That is why we shut down the internet. We couldn’t have word of this getting out before we could cure our people. So, we had to start taking in our citizens, providing them with the medicine, and then once everyone is cured, we will release you. After every U.S. citizen is safe at home, we will turn back on the internet, and tell the world about our discovery. Then we can stop COVID-19 once and for all. I know that is a lot to take in, any questions?” said the police officer.

“I- wow, um,” said Margret.

“So we aren’t in trouble?” asked Olivia, who was still very, very confused. 

“No. You definitely are not,” officer Jones said.

They continued to talk about logistics of things and Officer Jones answered all of the questions, patiently. Margret agreed to take the vaccine, and get her kids vaccinated as well. Mr. Jones took them back into the lobby, and into the vaccination section. They were waiting in the chairs for their turn.

Matt, Tyler and Thor were now on the other side of the electric fence. They waited for the car to come to a stop, and waited until the driver got out. They poked their head out of the tarp, and saw that the driver was on his way to the door leading into the building. That was their entrance. He had put a doorstop in the door jam (after using his key card to open the door), because he was unloading things from his truck into the building. When he was walking towards the door, his back to the truck, Matt, Tyler and Thor got out. They hurried and hid behind the truck.

They were waiting for him to come back to get more stuff, which was when they were going to sneak up behind him and get into the building. This is exactly what happened. As he was putting something down just past the door, they ran by, and down the hallway. They got into the elevator and then realized that there were fifteen floors. They went to each one, looking for their family on the way. No luck on floors one to nine. They finally got to floor ten. The doors opened and Matt saw Margret. She was getting a shot?

A nurse had come to get Margret, and she started prepping her for the vaccine. Cleaning her arm with the alcohol wipe, and then she came with the shot itself. She was about to put it into her arm, when Matt burst through the elevator doors yelling ‘Mar?’. 

“Matt!” Margret exclaimed.

“Mar, you're okay! Nate, Olivia!” Matt yelled in excitement.

The family all ran to one another. They all hugged, or in one case, kissed. They were all relieved. Everyone was safe. Everything was okay. Margret explained everything to Matt and Tyler. Once everyone was caught up, the family got their vaccinations. 

Weeks went by, and everyone in the country had their vaccinations, or in other cases, got the cure administered. People returned to their homes. Everything became normal again, or as normal as things could be, rather. 

That was until the ‘cure’ and ‘vaccine’ made people start to drop dead.