Sally and Jonathan sat in the living room of their home, in front of a large TV set tuned to a science channel. Some astronomy program was on and they watched it intently. Signs of packing and preparations were evident in every corner. They were so focused on watching the program that they didn't hear the door open. Sam walked in. The 17-year-old rebellious boy turned into a young, tall man more thoughtful and serious looking than his peers - just days before his 21st birthday. The sight made him freeze.
"What's going on here?" He finally asked, hardly concealing his anger. "Don't tell me it's starting again."
Sally and Jonathan turned to him, startled and embarrassed at being caught red handed. Jonathan switched off the TV and let go of the remote.
"I thought I was coming to talk to you about my birthday," Sam continued. "And this is the gift you are planning for me? Another trip to that Shelter?"
"I thought you didn't care so much about birthdays," Sally said in a failed attempt to change the subject. "But we did plan a surprise party for you..."
"When exactly? And where? At the Shelter?" Sam cut her off. "I really appreciate it, but the guys are already planning a party for me at club..."
"I really hope you will be able to make that party," Jonathan said. "The zero hour has not yet been set..."
"And that's what I'm supposed to tell my friends?!" Sam's anger became increasingly difficult to restrain. "Keep planning the party, just don't count on the birthday boy showing up?"
Sally and Jonathan got to their feet. They were obviously expecting resistance from Sam, but its intensity surprised them. "Sam," Sally said. "We hope it doesn't happen, but..."
"But what?!" Sam cried. "Do you remember the 'Blood Moon thing in October 2015? That was only two years ago! I missed an entire semester because of that! And you insisted so much that I apply for the ROTC! When we came back all my friends laughed at me!"
Sally and Jonathan were shocked, but Sam wouldn't let go. "And then came the 'polar reversal'. Do you remember how it ended? My girlfriend almost dumped me!"
"But Sam..." Sally began to say.
"And what happened just last January?!" Sam's agitation only kept building up. "What was it, the planetary alignment changed again, or something? How many planets was it in the end, two or three?"
"Sam, the realignment was real and it happened exactly as predicted..." Jonathan began to say, and for the first time his voice showed anger too.
But Sam stood his ground. "What prediction? Ah, those two days of snow in some nowhere resort town in Italy? Because of the prophecy of some Italian who died some 500 years ago? What was it, 'Two days of snow, two flashes in the sky, I do not long for it, but I kniw the world is comingto an end...'"
Jonathan got up and faced his son. "You think you know everything, don't you, Sam?"
"I know about the solar eclipse, of August 21st 2017, and the collision with the planet X in Seoptember 2017..."
"Sam!" Sally spoke in the most appeasing tone she could muster at that moment. "The solar eclipse has occurred. You know that. And while we were spared the impact of Planet X, as you call it, this time, in less than a week the third part of the prophecy will come true, 'fifteen days of darkness'..."
"Sam..." Jonathan interrupted his wife, struggling to maintain his composure and patience. "You're not a little kid anymore, you see what's going on in the world..."
"No! That's not the whole story! Every time a rumor of a terrible disaster starts, you expect me to leave everything and follow you to this stupid Shelter, and nothing happens, and you continue to believe in those lunatics like Daniel and his lackeys, who meanwhile are dying one by one from all kinds of natural and unnatural causes?"
"Sam," Jonathan tried his luck again. "You have to understand..."
"Sam, we're just being careful," Sally interjected almost pleadingly. "We are looking out for our family. For you. Even from a simple statistical point of view, we cannot ignore all those abnormalities happening around us. If something happens and we are not prepared..."
"Then explain it to me!" Sam interrupted him. "If you want me to understand, explain it to me, or I won't go with you this time!"
And he left the house, slamming the door behind him.
The computer lab at the college library was almost completely silenet, except for the intermittent typing and alerts sounds from the computers. Most of the stations were taken by students, each busy with their own project, Sam came in and stopped at the doorway, scanning the room with a quick glance. He soon found what he was looking for and walked towards one of the stations. It was occupied by a young man, about Sam's age. Sam approached him, gently tapping his shoulder to attract his attention, and whispered, "Benny."
Benny Linder was Sam's best friend since high school, of average height and a geeky look that masked a particularly sharp mind. He turned to Sam in amazement. "What happened? Is it time yet?"
"No," Sam replied impatiently. "Come on, I need to talk to you."
Sam and Benny sat opposite each other at one of the corner tables in the small cafeteria adjacent to the library. In front of them lay cups of coffee, but none of them paid attention to the drink which was getting cold. They were engaged in quiet but intense conversation, with Sam doing most of the talking. "I need a favor, Benny," he finally said, almost pleadingly.
"A favor?" Benny wondered. "I thought you were supposed to be on your way by now..."
"Shhh..." Sam interrupted him. "Do you remember what I told you about this man, Daniel, who runs the Shelter?"
"Yes," Benny replied. "What about him?"
"I Googled him. I searched every website about survivalists and their communities. I found nothing. Nothing. It's as if he doesn't exist."
"And does that surprise you?" Benny smirked. "Or did you also think that Daniel was his real name?"
"What do you think?" Sam reacted angrily.
"So what do you want from me?"
Sam lowered his voice even further. "I want you to talk to your friend, Mickey, the hacker. I want you to ask him to search the dark web..."
Benny's smirk turned into laughter. "The dark web? How does a boy scout like you even know about the dark web..."
"Benny!" Sam called out. "I am totally serious! I spent hours online. This man doesn't exist. If you're really looking for a community of survivalists, you won't find him. So how did he manage to get in touch with my parents? And why did he choose them? Trust me, I've seen the people he lets into the Shelter and none of them were chosen at random. I have to know who this man is and what he's all about. Maybe it will help me talk some sense into my parents. Please! This madness has got to stop! "
Benny softened and sobered up. "All right," he finally said. "Give me all the details."
Sam took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Benny, who immediately tucked it into his own pocket. "I wrote down everything I know about him, which isn't much," he said. "I also made a sketch of him, maybe it will help."
Benny stared intently at his friend's face. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"
"Yes," Sam replied simply.
"Well, I'll talk to Mickey, but I can't promise anything." Benny glanced at his watch and got to his feet. "Now you better run off to your statistics tutorial. You don't want to get in trouble with that teaching assistant again."
Sam also got up quickly. "OK. See you at the seminar tonight?"
He hurried off without waiting for an answer.
The club was crowded with people, decorated and full of banners and balloons bearing the inscriptions "Happy Birthday Sam" and "21". The music was especially loud and noisy, but none of the young people who filled the place seemed to mind. Sam was sitting at the bar, sipping absent mindedly from the glass of beer front of him.
"You know this is your party, right?"
Sam shrugged. On the vacant barstool beside him, sat a young woman about his age, her face smiling and energetic looking. Sheila was Sam's girlfriend - at least he had hoped.
"Yeah, I know," Sam smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, it's just..."
"What happened? Everyone here is celebrating the fact that you've finally reached the legal drinking age, and you're the only one who seems to be totally out of it."
Sam bowed his head for a moment. "My parents are acting weird again. I'm afraid it's starting all over."
"What's starting all over again? Another doomsday prophecy?" It was obvious that Sheila knew all too well what Sam was talking about. "I haven't heard anything on the news."
"They don't follow the 'news'," Sam replied ironically. "They have other sources of information. And I know my parents were already in contact with that Shelter group."
Sheila tried to maintain a matter-of-fact, practical tone. "Did you talk to them about the apartment?"
Sam shrugged.
"All right. Did you at least talk to Benny?"
Sam glanced around. "Where is he? I thought he would be here."
Sheila followed Sam's gaze. Benny was nowhere to be found.
"I can't believe he had anything more important to do today than come to your party," she said at last, upset. "I swear sometimes..."
"It's okay," Sam interrupted, and after a brief hesitation he said abruptly: "If you see him before I do, tell him the answer is yes. I'll talk to my parents tonight when I get home."
A broad smile covered Sheila's face. She motioned the bartender to approach her, leaned over to him and said loudly, "Turn the music down for a minute, will you? I have an important announcement."
The bartender nodded and walked over to the sound system behind the bar. A few seconds later, the room went silent, and at the same time a wave of protest murmurs and questions: "What happened?" went through the room. But Sheila ignored them. She got to her feet, picked up the glass in front of her, tapped it with a spoon to draw attention, and called out: "Guys, it's time for a toast for our birthday boy, Sam Rosin, who is officially becoming a responsible adult today!"
The thunder of the greetings and applause was almost deafening. The music resumed, and Sheila quickly pulled Sam after her to the dance floor. He did not object.
When Sam returned home after the party, Sally and Jonathan were still awake. They were sitting in front the TV, anxious and worried, but at Sam's sight, the anxiety turned into relief. "So, how was the party?" Sally asked with a wide smile.
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Sam didn't reply. His mother's almost desperate attempt to sound like everything was almost normal almost made him regret what he was about to do. But then he took a quick look around the room and realized that the packing was moving along much faster than he had thought. "When are you leaving?" He finally asked.
"We don't know yet. Probably in the next few days." Jonathan was the one who answered. "What do you mean 'you'?" He repeated carefully.
"I'm moving in with Benny and Sheila." Sam said simply.
Jonathan and Sally's momentary relief turned again into anxiety. "Now?!" Jonathan exclaimed sharply.
"Yes, I'm starting to move my stuff tomorrow." Sam stared directly at his parents' faces. "I'm 21, aren't I? Don't you think it's about time I found a place of my own?"
"But now?" Jonathan repeated. "Now, when any minute..."
"I'm just starting to move my stuff," Sam said. "It'll be a few more days before I get settled, but yeah, right now. I've been spending more time there than I have here lately anyway."
The bombshell hit. Jonathan and Sally looked at each other. They both knew they had no way of making Sam change his mind.
"I promised Dina and Roy I would take them for a visit as soon as I got settled," Sam continued. He did not expect any resistance after winning the first round, so he allowed himself to soften his tone. "I don't want them to think I'm abandoning them or anything."
Sam saw the date marked red on the calendar and knew the call has arrived and the departure date was set. He had only two days left after the Birthday party. He spent most of his time in his room, busy packing his belongings, supposedly for the move.
Sam worked quickly and efficiently, making his mind up what to take and what to leave behind. Two full packs were already by the door, ready for the move. He was so focused on the task at hand that he didn't notice the door opening slowly.
"Are you leaving us?"
Sam turned his head sharply towards the voice. 11-years old Dina and 9 years old Roy were standing in the doorway, looking at him accusingly. The argument in the living room woke them. They heard much of it but were too sleepy to understand what it was all about.
"Are you leaving us?" Roy repeated the question in a more demanding tone.
Sam laughed unwittingly. "Leaving you? What's that? Who put that idea in your minds?"
"Dad said..."
"No, I'm not leaving you, okay? I'm just moving in with my friends, Benny and Sheila. You know them, right?"
Dina and Roy nodded.
"And it's not far from here, you know? Give me some time to get settled, and I'll come and take you for a visit. What do you say?"
The two children didn't appear to be a hundred percent convinced, but Sam's words managed to alleviate some of their concerns. Sam got up, grabbed both of them and led them out of the room. "Come on, get back to bed, quickly, before Dad and Mom hear you."
At the breakfast table, Sally and Jonathan tried their best to maintain an atmosphere of normalcy.
"Come on, kids, hurry up, today I'm taking you to school on the way to the clinic," Sally finally called out. "Bring your bags, your lunch is ready."
The children did not need any additional incentive to leave the table. Sally turned to her husband. "You'll pick them up at noon, yes?"
"Yes," Jonathan confirmed. "See you later, kids. Behave yourselves at school."
Sally put the sandwiches and fruits she packed into the children's bags, gave her husband and Sam quick goodbye kisses and led the children out. Jonathan turned to Sam, who was quiet as usual. "How about you?" He asked. "What are your plans for today? You didn't change your mind about the move?"
"No, Dad. Benny and Sheila are waiting for me. Later on we'll be going to the library to study for the exams. I'll be back in the evening."
"Okay," Jonathan conceded, but it was clear that for him, the matter was not closed. "You'll be available, right?"
"Not in the library, but yes," Sam confirmed.
"Okay." Jonathan didn't want to keep pressing. "I'll be at work," he said, and left.
As soon as the door closed behind Jonathan, Sam went up to his room to finish packing. He moved the packed bags into the trunk of the old car he bought with his savings on his 18th birthday, then went to his brother and sister's room and filled another large bag he had prepared in advance with clothes and toys for them. He tried to pick items that he knew were less likely to be missed by the children, and added items he bought specifically to minimize that risk. When he was finished, it was almost noon. He got into his car and drove to the rental apartment.
On the evening before the scheduled day of departure, Sam was busy arranging his stuff in his room in the rented apartment. He was so focused that the loud knock on the door startled him. Benny suddenly stood in the doorway. "Well, how's it going?" He asked flatly, as if he hadn't disappeared for a few days.
Sam put down the cardigan he was folding and turned to his friend. "Where were you?" He asked accusingly.
"I had all kinds of errands to run," Benny replied lightly. "What's up with you? Did you speak to your parents?"
"About the apartment? Yes. But I think they suspect there's more to it, and they don't dare to ask because they are afraid to hear a direct answer."
Benny looked at the packed bags on the floor. "So I understand that you've already made a final decision."
"Yes," Sam replied simply.
"And you're still going to take Roy and Dina with you? Don't you think it's a bit... extreme?"
"I really hope it's extreme enough to make them change their minds and come after us," Sam replied decisively.
Benny stared into his friend's eyes, as if trying to decide if there was still a chance to convince him to change his mind. "Well, I'm sorry I missed your birthday party, but it was very hard to find the right present for you."
He took a small portable drive out of his pocket and handed it to Sam. "I got it from Mickey. I hope you find the answers you are looking for in there."
Surprised, Sam looked at Benny's face, then at the portable drive, then at Benny again. He took the portable drive carefully, slowly, as if fearing its touch. "Thanks," he finally said.
As soon as he got home, Sam quickly locked himself in his room with his laptop. He connected the portable drive to the laptop and started opening the files it contained one by one. The photos and documents were taken from websites Sam had never heard of. One of the files was an article published in some local newspaper. The date was 26 years ago. The photo showed a young family - a man, a woman and two children smiling at the camera. The title of the article was "Local Family Perished". The article told the story of a local family vacationing in the Philippine island of Luzon that got trapped by the Pinatubo eruption. The father survived, but the wife and children perished. Sam quickly Googled the names of the family members, and found some old references to lists of those killed in the Pinatubo eruptrion.
The article went on to say that Apparently, travelers in the area were warned of the danger ahead of time and some canceled the trip and survived. Some of the survivors even claimed that if it wasn't for the insistence of the father of the family that the trip continues as planned, the number of cancellations would have been much higher.
Sam printed out the article and went down to the living room. The TV was off and the living room was dark. Sally and Jonathan had already gone to bed. He hesitated for a moment, then went back to his room. He took a sheet of paper out of the desk drawer, wrote some words on it, put it in the envelope along with the article printout and put the envelope on his desk, and after hesitating for a while, left his callphone on the envelope as a paperwieght.
The entire house was dark and still when Sam left his room again and tip toed to his brother and sister's room. Although he knew that his parents were asleep, he was sure that the sound of his wild heartbeat would make them jump off their bed. He opened the door, went inside and closed the door behind him without making a sound. Both children were sound asleep in their bunkbed, and it took him several attempts to wake them up gently.
"What happened?" Dina asked with a deep yawn. "Is it time to go yet?"
"Not yet. I promised you I would take you to visit my new apartment, right?"
"What, now?" Roy exclaimed enthusiastically,
"Shhhhhh!" Sam quickly shushed him. "Yes, now. It's going be a surprise for Mom and Dad. Get up and get dressed, quietly."
Sam drove silently. His brother and sister sat in the back seat, still groggy, but it wasn't long before they realized that something was wrong and that their big brother was very upset. Dina was the first to break the silence by saying accusingly: "You said it wasn't far."
"What's not far?"
"Your apartment, like!"
The car reached the on ramp to the intercity highway, and Sam knew he couldn't put off the confrontation any longer. "Do you know what?" He finally said. "You've got me. The surprise I had for you is much bigger than you imagined. We're not going to my apartment. We're going to Aunt Lily's."
"Aunt Lily?!" Roy cried in protest. "Ugh, I hate her! She's a royal pain!"
"You don't really mean it," Sam said in a reproaching tone. "It's true, she can be a pain at times, but that's just because she loves us. She'd be very happy to see us before the trip. Maybe we can even convince her to bake her special cake you guys love so much. What do you think?"
"What about Mom and Dad?" Dina asked accusingly.
"They'll be joining us in a few days. That's part of the surprise," Sam said with confidence he hardly felt, and a thought crossed his mind, I hope...
The children looked at each other, as if trying to decide if the faith they had in their big brother was strong enough for them to accept what he told them. Finally, Dina said, "They went to that place, the Shelter, without us, didn't they?"
"Yes," Sam admitted. "They did, but they'll be back, as always. They know we are together and I think they'd like that." And after a slight hesitation, he added: "Come on, lighten up! This is our big adventure!"
It was 4 AM and Sally was in the kitchen, busy making sandwiches for the trip, when Jonathan stuck his head inside. "Everything OK?"
"Yes, two more minutes," she replied.
"All right, I'm going to wake up the kids."
A few seconds later, Jonathan's scream suddenly filled the entire house: "Sally!!!"
Sally dropped the plate she was holding into the sink, and it shattered to pieces. She ran out of the kitchen and joined her husband in the children's room. At the sight of the empty beds, her face drained out of color.
"Sam…" was the only word she could utter.
She hurried toward Sam's room with Jonathan beside her. The door was wide open. The room was almost empty, as Sam had apparently already moved most of his things to the new rental apartment. On the desk, under the cellphone which was switched off, they found a simple envelope with "Mom and Dad" handwritten on it Sally picked up the envelope, opened it wuth trembling hands, and pulled out a plain, folded sheet of paper. She spread the paper with trembling hands and read the note, muttering partly to herself and partly to Jonathan: "Dad, Mom, don't worry about us. I'm sorry, but I'm just not ready to go through it again and I don't want Dina and Roy to go through it. You will see just as always that these prophecies are utter nonsense. We will be at Aunt Lily's, when you come back home call her..."
The envelope fell out of Sally's hands. Instinctively, Jonathan hurried to bend over and pick it up. It took him a few seconds to realize that the envelope he was holding was not empty, and he came to his senses. The envelope contained another folded sheet of paper. He took it out and spread it. It was the printout of the newspaper article about the family that perished in the vulcao eruption. He immediately recognized the man in the photo. "That's Daniel!" He exclaimed, stunned.
Sally quickly took the printout from his hand. "Where did he find this? How did he manage to find out?"
"Daniel never told us about this," Jonathan said pensively, then turned to Sally. "But I don't understand what difference it makes or why Sam wanted us to know..."
"What shall we do?" Sally asked anxiously.
"If I had ever imagined he was capable of something like that..." Jonathan's voice choked with anger.
"What would you do?" Sally's eyes were filled with tears. "What could we do?"
Jonathan was too upset to respond, and Sally continued. "All right, he's 21, I get it, but why did he have to take Dina and Roy with him? Did he really think he could protect them better than us? That they needed protection... from us? How could we have missed that?"
Similar thoughts crossed Jonathan's mind as well, but he had no answers to Sally's questions. "The question is what we will do now," he said at last. "This was a smart plan, I admit it. He knew we wouldn't have the time to go after them, and that there's no point in calling Lily and asking her to send them back. He left the phone so we couldn't reach him. And we have to leave within an hour, otherwise we won't make it."
"Without them?!" Sally covered her mouth immediately, as if panicked by the very sound of the words spoken out loud.
Jonathan glanced at his watch and bit his lips. He had to make a decision, and right away. "They'll be fine with Lily," he said at last. "Her area is supposed to be safe. We'll call her on the way, when they're already there. Come on, we have to go."
The car's fuel gauge showed near empty. Sam tried to turn on the car's GPS to check for the location of the nearest gas station, but received a repeated "out of service range" message. He pulled out of the glove compartment of the car the map on which he had marked the route in advance. A gas station at the nearest intersection was marked on the map.
He said out loud: "Okay, listen up, in a few minutes we'll stop at a gas station. Anyone needs to pee?"
"Me," replied Roy immediately, as a top student hurrying to answer the teacher's question before everyone else could beat him to the punch.
Sam laughed. He was happy that so far. the trip had been relatively calm. "Great. I'll buy gas, then we'll go into the store and buy something to eat and drink. You must be hungry, right?"
They both nodded.
The car entered the gas station running almost on fumes. Sam quickly pulled up by nearest gas pump, and was greatly relieved when the meter started running, indicating that the pump was working and fuel was flowing. He opened the back door and called out: "All right, everybody out! The bathroom is right in front of us. Go ahead."
An atmosphere of calm and boredom welcomed Sam inside the store. Apart from one vendor, there were only four other customers there. The large TV screen on the wall behind the counter was tuned to some music channel.
"All right, go pick what you want," Sam said quietly to his brother and sister. "I'll wait for you by the counter. Go on."
The vendor, an older, friendly-looking man, was engaged in small talk with one of the customers while ringing the till. By the time Dina and Roy joined him with the items they picked up, Sam had a hard time controlling his impatience and tension. The chatty customer finally finished his shopping and left the store. Soon it was Sam's turn.
"Hey," said the vendor. "You're not from around here, are you?" He looked directly into Sam's face, then at the faces of the two children. "Family trip, huh?"
"Yeah, and we're in a hurry," Sam replied. "I'm paying for the gas, pump 3, and can I get a cup of coffee to go, please?"
The vendor nodded and walked over to the coffee machine. He operated it swiftly and skillfully, and a few seconds later he put the cup on the counter and asked, "Anything else?"
Sam motioned to the children with his head to place their items on the counter. The vendor rang up the items and packed them in a bag, taking his time in a way that was probably unintentional, but it threatened to make Sam lose his temper, and finally said: "Two hundred thirty-seven."
Sam put the money on the counter, took the bag and cup of coffee, muttered "Thanks," and left the store with his brother and sister following him.
Sam tried to tune the car radio to the same music channel that the TV in the store was tuned to, but he couldn't, and finally settled on another music channel. It was already 8 AM. Dina and Roy, who were napping in the back seat, began to wake up. The road became more and more crowded as the big city was getting closer. Dina and Roy looked out each of their window.
"Sam, why is everybody going in one direction?" Roy asked suddenly
Before Sam could answer, an ambulance went past them, followed by another, and another, all in the opposite direction, and soon they were joined by fire engines and police cars that formed a convoy of emergency vehicles rushing out of the city. Sam tried again to tune the radio, but all the channels he was used to receiving broadcasted only static noise. Finally, he managed to tune to one of the local channels and turned on the volume.