August 1st
Chicago, Illinois
Carl Smith
It was almost three months since Quentin disappeared. I was too busy at work to meet with the Campbells and hear about their daughter. To be honest, they seemed to be grasping at straws. But I could say the same thing about my parents. It sucked to think that way, but anything else was just denial. At least I thought that was the case before an interesting person knocked on the door to my apartment.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to hear about your religion,” I answered before opening the door. Once it was open, I noticed that they weren’t some kind of proselytizer or salesman. Instead, it was some biker woman that was around my age. She wore a black leather jacket with torn-off sleeves along with ripped jeans. Her blonde hair was short. I couldn’t get a good look at her face since she wore a white and red mask. I looked down at her and said, “You got the wrong apartment.” I was about to close it when she barged her way into the room.
“No. This is the right place,” she said as she walked over to my couch and plopped herself down. She kicked her feet onto my coffee table and turned on the TV to a football game. I walked up to her, making her ask, “Care to join me for a moment?” She patted the seat next to her. I sat down at the recliner the furthest away from her.
“First off, you barged into my house. If I wasn’t as forgiving as I am, I would’ve called the police. Secondly, get your filthy boots off the coffee table! I just cleaned it!” I said back as I purposefully ignored her question. She gave me a raspberry but obliged.
“You’re no fun, Carl!” she shouted in reply. I flinched at the use of my first name. She laughed. “I know all about you, Carl. You’re Carl Smith, older brother of Quentin Smith. I must say, I’m envious of you. Your parents still care for you. Heck, my parents seem to care for your missing brother more than me.”
“You’re a Campbell?” I asked as I grabbed the remote. I lowered the volume to reasonable levels. “You don’t seem classy.”
She grumbled something under her breath. She then switched to a neutral tone as she said, “I struck out on my own. Their rules were too stifling for me. I’d rather be as free as the wind.” She looked away before saying, “Though I would have to say that ever since Scarlet went missing, the rift between me and my parents has gotten worse. I was never on good terms with them, but when she disappeared, all their expectations for her fell upon me. So when I turned eighteen, I bought my own motorcycle and rode across the country to get away from them.”
“I heard about her. She was just a kid,” I said with some sorrow. As bad as it is to process Quentin’s disappearance, I can only imagine how hard it was for them to process the disappearance of a child. The two of them are probably in the same place now. A better place than Earth.
“Indeed,” she replied before pulling out a photo from her pocket. She flipped it to show its content. I looked closely and noticed that it was of two men in black suits and sunglasses entering my childhood home. She smirked and asked, “Does this get your attention?”
My eyes widened in recognition of what probably happened. The Men in Black! I thought it was an urban legend! “Why did the government talk with my family?” I asked as paranoia started to grow.
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s about your brother’s disappearance. For some reason, the feds are trying to cover up something. I don’t know what they were searching, but it angered them,” she replied. I don’t know if I can trust her. My brain is telling me that it’s ridiculous and stupid, but I want to believe otherwise. I want my brother to be alive. And honestly, the government being behind it at least gives me an explanation. Even if he’s six feet under.
“Let’s say you’re telling the truth. How would we find out what they’re hiding? I don’t know about you, but hacking into government databases is much harder than television makes it out to me,” I replied as I entertained the notion. As long as I don’t go to prison, this seems fun.
“It’s simple. I’ll just sneak into a government building to get the information,” she said as she pulled another photo out of her pocket. She showed it to me, revealing that it was of an abandoned army base. “How does raiding Area 42 sound?”
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“I’d say that you’re suicidal,” I replied before drinking a glass of water. “Besides, what does this have to do with my brother’s disappearance?”
She sighed as she put the photo up. “Nothing. But it has everything to do with Scarlet’s. You see, Area 42 is in the Appalachians. More specifically, it’s in Northern Georgia. It’s less than one hundred miles from my childhood home. Just like with Quentin, my parents were harassed following the disappearance. My family is rich, but never cared to influence politics. This may have been the government’s way to get us to side with them.”
This woman is a bit loony. Especially considering that the Campbells are still wanting to find their daughter. That seems to me that it couldn’t be a way of securing loyalty. Scarlet was never returned to them, meaning that this is permanent. Probably murdered. There’s some kind of conspiracy here. Whether a crime syndicate or the government is behind it, this needs to be exposed. “I’ll help you,” I replied.
“Good! Let’s go!”
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August 10th
Area 42
We arrived at the rusted fence that surrounded the facility. I scanned the area, noticing that the cameras were still active. The facility wasn’t as abandoned as it looked. Fortunately, I managed to get fake identities for both of us. Now, if only Amanda could act like a soldier.
“This uniform makes me look fat,” she said as she tried to take off the bulletproof vest.
I rolled my eyes and scanned the improperly disposed keycard in the reader. The gate opened up, allowing us to walk towards the base. “No it doesn’t,” I replied.
We walked in silence until we reached a set of double doors. I swiped the keycard and opened the doors for us. Once inside, I couldn’t help but be amazed. There was something that made the exterior look far worse than the interior. While the windows and doors were dilapidated on the exterior, they were perfectly fine inside. Including the same windows. Something was definitely wrong. I just couldn’t place my finger on it.
We walked through the pure white hallways, encountering no one else. It was unsettling. And maddening. I would think that there was at least some personality in this place, but no, there was only white paint. I could sometimes hear a faint mechanical sound, but I couldn’t identify it.
We eventually reached the first staircase. Unlike the rest of the building so far, the stairs were rusted. In fact, quite a few of the steps seemed to be missing. We took it cautiously, making it down a single floor. Amanda opened the door wide open, only to see that the building wasn’t so empty after all.
“Who are you?” a soldier asked as he walked up to us.
“I’m Doctor Trent,” I said as I flashed the fake ID card that I made. He looked at it intensely. After a few seconds, he gave us a thumbs up and left. I took the opportunity to walk into a nearby room, Amanda following me.
Once I was sure no one was watching us, I explained in a whisper, “I need you to get into the archives. Try to find anything relating to Quentin or Scarlet. Got it?”
“Got it!” she whisper-shouted. She walked into the hallway, allowing me some time to myself.
I sat down in a chair and scooted over to the nearby terminal. It looked like a piece from the 1980s. While it probably used an old programming language, I studied all relevant ones in undergrad. I placed my fingers on the keyboard and typed away. I quickly discovered that it was a Unix operating system, which made life much easier.
After some poking around, I managed to break into someone’s account. After some navigating, I found some interesting files. I pulled out a floppy disk and inserted it into the machine. It was time to copy all the important information.
After a few minutes of searching the files and copying the ones that were interesting, the alarms started blaring. I quickly ejected the disk and put it in my pocket. I made sure to logout without a trace.
As I entered the hallway, I could see several soldiers running down a set of stairs. They were probably headed towards Amanda. I had no doubts she was the one to trigger the alarms. I wanted to help her, but I knew it would do no good to get arrested myself. Instead, I walked out of the building, careful not to look suspicious by running.
Once I reached the outside, I made sure to leave through the back. I ran far into the woods before changing out of the disguise. The lab coat was pretty expensive, but I was willing to part with it to save my own life. The important thing was to keep the floppy disk. It contained all the information I could get my hands on.
I was preparing to leave when I felt a tap on my shoulders. I screamed in shock before seeing that the person was Amanda. “It was difficult, but I managed to lose their trail,” she said as she held out a folder. “I wasn’t able to find anything about either of our siblings, but I did find something explosive amidst the files.”
I took the folder from her and looked at the first file. My eyes widened when I saw what it read. “Extraterrestrial Encounters,” I said to myself before closing the folder. I looked at her and said, “We need to leave. They’re probably still looking for us.”
“Agreed. We’ll meet up back at your place once you decipher the text. Bye,” she said as she walked off.
I looked at the sky above and silently swore. Quentin, I’m sorry I couldn’t find out what happened to you. I hope you’ll forgive me.