It started with a screeching ring in his ears. Nathan Miller ripped his eyes open. Intense, white light forced his head into his pillow. Pain snaked through every nerve, his skin boiling. He smashed his hands against his ears and contorted his body into a ball. He screamed, but it went unheard to the endless ringing. The torment was unbearable. Tears ran down his cheeks. Then it was over. The burning subsided, along with the deafening onslaught of sound. He rolled over and blinked. His eyes needed to adjust, but he could see the outlines of his room. His dry lips muttered.
“What in the...”
“Dad!”
The sobbing cry of his daughter bolted Nathan out of bed. He snatched his red robe off the floor and dashed towards the door. “Lina,” he called out. He was about to inquire about her status when he froze. Snow-dusted tree branches greeted him on the other side of his door. He stood in shocked silence. Too much had happened too fast. He decided it was best to ignore it for the moment. He needed to know his children were okay.
“Lina. Where’s your brother? Are you both alright?”
“Dad, what’s happening? What was that light? Why is there a tree in the middle of our house?”
“I don’t know, honey. I’m trying to process that myself. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. My body felt like it was burning.”
“Mine did too. Is it still burning? Are you feeling pain anywhere else?”
“I… I don’t think so.”
“Good.” Nathan took a deep breath and leaned against the door frame. “It’s going to be okay, honey. We’ll figure this out, I promise. Where’s your brother?”
“I’m here.” The distracted-sounding voice came further down the hall.
“Jay, are you okay?”
“Yeah, Dad. I’m fine, I think. Something really strange is happening, though.”
“Yeah, it’s called the past five minutes, Bro. Have you not seen the tree?”
“No, I mean, something really strange is going on. Look out your windows... it’s snowing.”
“No… it’s the middle of May.” Lina had said it more pleadingly than argumentatively.
“I’m telling you it’s snowing. Seriously, look out your windows.”
Nathan’s blood chilled as he turned and approached the window across from him. Reaching out for the curtain, he could feel the cool breeze tickling his hand. He knew his son was right before even seeing the flurries of white cascading across his lawn. He stared, jaw agape. It wasn’t just the snow. In the distance, there were mountains stretching past the view of his window. Mountains that he didn’t recognize.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” he murmured. “What the hell is going on?”
Lina cried out from her room. “Why is there snow? It’s supposed to be spring.”
“Is this like some kind of apocalyptic event or something?” Jay asked.
“Not helping, Jay.”
Nathan tried to repose his demeanor as he re-approached his door. “Kids, we need to stay calm. I know all of this is frightening, but if we panic, it’s only going to make our situation worse. Let’s try to take each challenge one at a time. Let’s start by clearing these tree branches so we can access the hallway.”
“I’m checking my phone,” Lina said. “Maybe there’s a news article or something.”
“Good idea,” Jay said. “I’ll do the same.”
Nathan rolled his eyes. “Sure. Let’s do that instead.” He tapped the wall with a thoughtful rhythm. He glanced at his phone, which sat on his wooden nightstand in taunting silence. With a defeated sigh, he walked over and grabbed it.
“I’m gonna call the station,” he said over his shoulder. “Maybe they know something.” He was about to open his contact list when he noticed the cell signal. There wasn’t one. Odd. He raised the phone in the air and began walking around his room. He about tripped over the array of scattered clothes, papers, and trash.
Lina’s concerned voice returned. “Dad?”
“Let me take a wild guess. You’re not getting any signal?”
“It’s not only that,” Jay added. “Data’s not working either, nor is the wi-fi.”
“Wait,” Nathan said. “The wi-fi isn’t working?”
“I’ve tried everything. I can only use the apps. That’s it.”
“Oh my god, this is the absolute worst,” Lina said.
Nathan checked his phone again. Everything Jay had said was true. No signal, data, or wi-fi. The wi-fi was the one that bothered him the most. He stood thinking for a moment. That’s when he realized how quiet it was. He had been so preoccupied with the bizarre series of events that he failed to notice his fan wasn’t blowing. Being on the second floor, the fan would have been pulling twenty-four-hour service with summer around the corner. There was no reason for him to turn it off.
“Don’t tell me…” He walked to his light switch and flipped it. No light. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “Hey, did anyone check to see if the power was out?” He stopped and listened for a moment. It didn’t take long before the ever-so-familiar disgruntled moans of his children flooded his ears. “Makes you wish we still had those landline phones, huh?”
“Not funny, Dad,” Lina said.
“So, what do we do now?” Jay asked.
“Get dressed. We’re going down to the station. I need to know how isolated of an incident this is. Hopefully, they will have a basic grasp on what happened when we get there.” More moans ensued as Nathan began working on clearing the tree branches that blocked his way.
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The trip to the police station was surreal. Everywhere Nathan and his children looked, familiar mixed with the unfamiliar. Trees, rocks, boulders, and hills, that didn’t belong, dotted and rolled through the town’s yards, streets, and even buildings - much like the tree in their own home. This strange fusion of objects had damaged the integrity of many of the structures.
Nathan could see the foreign mountains more clearly now. They wrapped around in every direction like massive fortress walls. Their surfaces were a cold white, unlike the town where snow was only now sticking in small patches. Wherever they were, it had been snowing for a long time. Neither Nathan nor his children spoke the entire ride over.
Pulling into the rear parking lot of the police station, Nathan placed his old, red, single-cab pickup truck into park and slid out. He rummaged through the tight storage space behind the driver’s seat and pulled out his police-issued jacket. He looked at his children as he zipped it up over his black uniform. They remained seated, waiting for his instruction.
“Come on, kids. You’re coming with me.”
“You sure it’s okay, Dad?” Jay asked.
“I don’t want you all out of my sight. I’ll deal with the consequences if they have a problem.” Nathan motioned to them with a coaxing gesture, and they piled out. Once they approached the staff entrance, Nathan pulled out an access card and swiped it across a small gray card reader next to the door. Nothing happened. Raising an eyebrow, he tried once more, but again, it made no sound. He reached for the door handle and twisted it. It popped open.
“Great,” he said. “Looks like we aren’t the only ones without power.”
Lina piped up. “Wait. Don’t police stations have like… I don’t know… backup power or something?”
Nathan sighed. “They sure do.” Without further comment, he strode in. Jay and Lina followed behind with timid steps.
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The police station was a small, two-story building comprising the main floor that held the lobby, dispatch, booking, office, and locker rooms, and a basement where rooms like the armory, evidence lockup, and a couple of jail cells resided. It wasn’t anything fancy, and the rooms that it had were cramped. Complaints had been filed over this multiple times, but town budget concerns had always put the priority of renovating the station at the bottom of the list. It came as no surprise that the place was run down. Dirty walls with faded white paint, tiled floors darkened by permanent stains, and a stale, bothersome odor that would scrunch anyone’s nose if they weren’t accustomed to it. Thankfully, the absence of light - except for what came through the windows - hid most of the unpleasant, visual appeal. If someone had visited the station without knowledge of the current situation, they may have mistaken the place for abandoned.
Nathan entered the dispatch room after rounding the corner. The two people already inside turned their heads in his direction. The first was Mary, who sat at the only dispatch console in the room. She was a middle-aged woman pushing fifty, dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans. A clipboard filled with sheets of paper, covered in handwritten notes, rested under her hands, with a portable radio sitting only a few inches away. The bags under her eyes and chaotic locks of curled, blond hair advertised to Nathan how long she had been at her post.
The second was Ericson, who stood behind Mary, having been reading her notes before Nathan had entered. He sported the same officer’s uniform as Nathan, but had already adorned his armored vest and utility belt. He was two years younger than Nathan, who had turned forty a few months back. The two of them had served together for most of their career, so Nathan picked up on the torment in his eyes.
“Thank Christ, you’re here, Nate,” Erickson said.
“Any idea what’s going on?” Nathan asked. “I noticed the backup generator isn’t working.”
“Nothing’s working,” Mary said. Stress riddled her voice. She removed her thin-rimmed glasses and held them to the side, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “From what we’ve been able to gather, the whole town seems to be without power, save for the lucky few who still have working generators. Phones are dead across the board too. Not even the emergency landlines are working. The only way we’ve been able to communicate is by two-way radio. Best part is, we appear to be cut off from both the sheriff’s department and the state police. I can’t reach any of them. I’ve tried every frequency. That means we’re it for now. Just five officers and my sorry butt.”
“In other words, we’re straight up screwed,” Ericson said. At that, Nathan looked back at Lina and Jay, who stood huddled behind him. Their faces reflected the fear in the room. Nathan glared back at Ericson, the effect seeming to work as Ericson raised his hands in apology.
“Sorry, Nate. Young ears, I get it. Can we talk privately?”
“Yeah… sure. Kids, stay in here with Mary for a minute.”
“Don’t you worry, you two,” Mary said. “I might not be the best of company, but I swear I don’t bite.” Lina and Jay attempted a smile, but their discomfort was obvious.
Ericson led Nathan out into the hall and towards an office room. He opened the door, and the two stepped inside. Once the door shut, Ericson placed his hands on his waist and started pacing.
“Nate, I don’t know about you, but I’m freaking out, man. An hour or two ago, it was just a normal day in Maybury, and now I’m questioning literally everything I’ve learned in science class.”
“Do we, or anyone else, have any idea of what’s going on?”
“No, Nate. You probably know about as much as the rest of us do. Even the chief’s scratching his head. This whole mess is fubar. The only explanation my mind can come up with, and I know this is going to sound crazy, is that we, along with the town, got teleported to either some other part of the world or maybe even a different world altogether.”
“No, there’s gotta be a better explanation than that.”
“You got a better theory? Did you even look around when you came here? It’s snowing in the middle of May. There are mountains that weren’t there before, and there are trees, hills, and all sorts of weird crap growing out of people’s homes. Damn, man. The entire fabric of reality just took a dump, and you want me to believe that there’s a more normal reason for all this?”
Nathan lifted a hand. “I get it. I’m going to need you to tone it down a notch or two.”
Ericson stopped pacing and shot Nathan a look of shock. “Tone it down? Really? You want me to tone it down? The world decides to give up and toss reality out the window, and you want me to… what? Be okay with that?”
“Look, Eric, I’m just as perplexed and terrified of the situation as you are, but I have children, and we both have a duty to the public. In times of crisis, we suck it up. If we can’t keep it together, then how do you expect everyone else to? This is what our training was for.”
“They didn’t train us for this.”
“Not for this exact scenario, no, but they did train us on how to be proactive, and approach any crisis with logical, problem-solving reasoning.”
“Sure, okay.”
“Look, right now, we’re just in the shock of the moment. There’s gotta be a rational reason for all of this, and I’m sure we’ll figure it out in time, but right now… right now, we need to focus on just one thing at a time.”
Ericson crossed his arms and broke his gaze with Nathan. He shook his head and rolled on his feet a few times. A couple of moments passed, then he let out a loud sigh. “You’re right. You’re right, Nate. I hate it, but I know you’re right. I’m just… I’m just having a real hard time with all of this, you know?”
Nathan stepped closer and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I get that. Truly, I do. I can’t explain to you how absolutely frightened my thoughts are right now, but I’ve gotta stay strong for my kids. For everyone. I can’t do it on my own, though. I need you with me. I need you to try and keep it together.”
Ericson gawked at Nathan and removed his hand. “Okay, Dad. I don’t need you all lectury with me, now. I ain’t your kid.”
Nathan smiled. “It’s the only way I know how to keep you in line.”
Ericson let out a sarcastic snort. “Man, you know, you can be a real jerk sometimes. You know that?”
“Blame my upbringing.”
“Nah, I think it’s because you’ve been a dad for too long. Honestly, how do you stay sane?”
Nathan smirked. “I don’t always. Getting back to the matter at hand, have you heard from the chief yet? Any chance he’s already got a plan in motion?”
“Not yet. I just got here myself a little before you did. Mary says he went out to have a chat with the town manager. Apparently, he wants to gather all the town citizens in one place. Seeming we have no way to communicate with the public by regular means, I guess that would be the next best option. Ryan and Michael are already out on patrol. They’re trying to see what the extent of our situation is. I haven’t had a chance to check in with them yet.”
“Alright, we should probably do the same, then. I’m going to go grab Lina and Jay and gear up.”
“You taking them with you?”
“With the way things are right now, I want them close.” Nathan then gave a sly smile. “Besides, Mary’s a wonderful woman and all, but I would hate to torture my kids that way.”
Ericson chuckled. “I’ll be sure to let her know you said that.”
The two left the office and returned to the dispatch room. Mary was in the middle of talking to Lina and Jay, but stopped when she saw them enter.
“You boys came back just in time," she said. "The chief just checked in a few minutes ago. He was able to find the town manager, and they both agreed that a good ‘ole fashion town meeting was in order. They want to hold it in the gymnasium at East Garden High. Fire Rescue was able to confirm that their generator still works, and their gymnasium is the largest place we have for holding that many people indoors. He wants every officer to ride around town, letting people know where to go. He also wants you all to split off in different directions and drive towards the town’s border to see what’s beyond them.”
“We’ll do just that,” Nathan said.
“Good luck. I’ll keep in contact with you boys by portable radio.”
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It was about an hour later before Nathan was reaching the east side border of town. Normally, it didn’t take that long, but Nathan had made sure he went through every road on the way, broadcasting the message about the town meeting. Another factor that played into it was the condition of the roads. Several times he had to find another route because some large foreign object blocked the way. Despite this, he was happy to have gotten the east side. The area was more residential than the western and northern sides. That meant fewer shops. The last thing he wanted to deal with were looters.
The weather was becoming a problem, too. It had taken a while to reach this point, due to warm surface temperatures, but now the snow was sticking more prominently. The temperature was well below freezing, and the snowfall was falling faster than it melted. It was just one more problem to add to the ever-growing list.
Lina and Jay both rode in the back, despite how odd it was sitting where so many criminals had sat before. Except for a handful of casual comments, they had remained silent. Nathan couldn’t blame them. The world had been flipped upside down. It was hard for him to know what to say. He was as confused as they were.
His mind became consumed by his ever-racing thoughts, so he failed to notice it until he was right on it. The town ended. Not because he was at the border, but because, after reaching what seemed like an invisible line, the town just ended. Nathan stopped the car and stared with unblinking eyes. It was like someone had cut part of the town out with a massive cookie cutter, chopping off anything that reached past its radius. There were buildings missing parts, some even half of their walls. Roads that should have kept going just stopped abruptly. He even saw a person’s car missing everything past its hood. Nothing of the town existed beyond that invisible line.
“Maybe Eric was right,” he said.
“Dad, I’m scared,” came Lina’s voice.
No comforting words came to Nathan. He wanted to tell her everything was okay, but even he couldn’t swallow that lie. All he could do was reach for the car’s radio. “Bravo-One-Zero-Three to Dispatch.” He hoped he had spoken loud enough for Mary to hear. The radio responded back.
“Bravo-One-Zero-Three, go ahead.”
“Yeah, I’ve arrived on scene at town’s end, east side.”
“Copy that Bravo-One-Zero-Three. Town’s end, east side. What do you see?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. Everything of the town that goes past a certain point is just gone.”
“Say again, Bravo-One-Zero-Three.”
“It’s gone. Like it never existed. There are missing sections of houses, lawns, cars, streets… everything.”
“You mean like destroyed?”
“No, I mean gone. There’s no sign that any part of the town was ever there.”
“I… I’m not sure what to think about that. What do you think it could mean?” Another voice jumped in on the conversation. Even without identifying his unit number, Nathan could tell it was Ericson.
“I told you, man. We’ve been teleported. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“You know,” Nathan said, “as insane as that thought sounds, I have to say, I’m beginning to think I might agree with you.”
“How else could you explain it?”
“I’m… I’m really not sure.”
Before anyone else could add to the topic, the radio crackled once more. This time, Nathan heard loud bangs distorting the speaker. They sounded like gunshots. The horrified voice of the police chief followed.
“Break, break, break. Alpha-One-Zero-One to all available units. I need backup at East Garden High, stat. Unknown wildlife pouring into school… They’ve started attacking civilians. There’s hundreds of them. Get here now.” Two more gunshots cracked before the transmission ended.
Nathan felt the dread trickling down his body, his hand frozen to the mic of the car radio. The only thought that rushed through his head was,
Where the hell are we?