Chapter 127: Left Behind
Mia approached the store, sighing. The two won had spent the last twenty minutes getting the street blocked off. She had to coordinate with the Watch NCO to shut down all traffic going through main street. Dusk was approaching, the suns low in the sky on their various horizons. The L.E.D signs lit the area around town square, making Mia cover her eyes when she looked at the building. Her phone rang in her pocket. She ignored it. "Sorry my love, I have more things from your world to take care of." Mia grumbled.
The situation was slowly settling down. The residents of Freedom town were no longer approaching her one after the other for answers or complaints. Kar stood behind her, his arms crossed.
"Hm. Traffic flow will have to divert from main street to second and third street." He grumbled. No one had co out of the store yet. "We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that there might be casualties." He said, turning to Erica and Mia.
Kar checked his watch again, his eyes narrowing.
Mia sighed, looking around. "I agree. It has been nearly half an hour. Should we go in?"
Erica walked over. She had been talking with an elderly lady that lived near Eric and Mia. "I wish these fractures would hurry up and finish." She grumbled. "These little things popping up here and there are getting annoying. What was it yesterday? A shopping area and two gas stations? What next, a freaking novelty shop?"
Mia shrugged, walking towards the front entrance. "Co on. Let’s go see if the people inside need help."
Erica followed closely behind. She had her hand on her weapon in case sothing went wrong.
"Looks like a reception desk." Erica said, walking past the various warning letters on the wall. She read one out loud. "Patrons under eighteen will be asked to leave. Everyone appearing younger than thirty will be asked to provide governnt issued ID’s."
She paused, tracing her finger along the last line of the letter. "What is this place?"
Mia didn’t answer.
"Mia?"
Erica turned around, and saw Mia blushing. Her ears flickered and tail was whisking back and forth like a whip. "What’s wr-"
Then she saw it.
"Oh."
Rows of adult toys and shelves filled with novelty items stretched as far as Erica could see. In the middle of the store, a large chair with chains wrapped around it stood proudly on display. In the corner, toys of various sizes and shapes spread from wall to wall.
Erica nearly dropped her weapon.
The two won took a mont to collect themselves before scanning the aisles for anyone that may have been inside. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" Mia yelled, doing her best to ignore the various shapes of the toys behind her.
Erica went left, Mia went right. They called occasionally, scanning each aisle for anyone trapped or hurt.
Finally, Mia heard a voice call out. "We’re in here! Is it safe?"
Mia walked over to the corner she heard the voice from. "Yes. You are safe now. Do not be alard." She said gently. "We are here to help."
The door slowly opened. A crowd of won and n walked out slowly. One woman saw Mia, and nearly fainted. She leaned against the wall, clutching her chest. "So it was true."
A man in the back slumped against the wall. He sighed and pulled out a cigarette. A clerk from the store looked at him.
"Sir, can you not smoke in here?"
The man looked up. "Fuck off, lady. I need a smoke, and I ain’t moving. The clerk lookef over at Mia and shrugged. She pulled out her phone and put headphones in.
Erica walked up from the other side of the store, putting her weapon away.
"No one is hurt, right?" Mia said. She kept her distance while eyeing the crowd.
A woman stepped forward, smiling but visibly trembling. "Yes. No one is hurt. I am the store owner here. Can you tell
what is going on? I assu that since you are here we..."
The lady struggled to find the words. Her jaw clenched and she whispered to the ground.
"We crossed over, didn’t we? We’re in the world that everyone keeps talking about, the world of Brishan?"
Mia nodded. "Yes. There is no easy way to say this, but it is true. You are no longer on Earth. Your governnt has made a deal with mine. We have a hotel here. It has plenty of rooms. You can stay there and get settled. I can lead you to a bank specifically set up for people that co over with nothing but the clothes on their backs. We can give you money and supplies for you to live on your own until your dwellings cross over."
The woman sighed. She grabbed a counter to steady herself. "Thank you. I don’t need any money or supplies for now though. I live on the second floor. I can’t speak for anyone else though.
Mia nodded before turning to the rest of the crowd. "If you will please follow , we can get everyone settled in."
No one moved.
"Is it safe out there? I an... we are from Earth. We don’t know if we can breathe the air here?"
Erica had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. "My boyfriend and her husband are both from Earth. They have been here for a long ti. Neither of them have any trouble breathing."
The convoy arrived as daylight faded. Eric hopped out of his humvee and began to help with making sure the civilians were able to unload safely. As they unloaded the fourth truck, Eric recieved a call from Milano.
"Sir?"
Milano didn’t answer imdiately.
"Hello? Sir?"
"Yes. I’m Here. Head back to Freedom town. There is a situation there that you need to address."
Eric frowned.
"What kind of si-"
Before Eric could finish talking, the line went dead after Milano hung up. Eric looked at his phone and shook his head. He turned to Justin.
"Get the families to the new area of Freedom town. All the single adults will go to the hotel. Have the NCO’s make a roster."
"Roger."
After making sure his orders were disseminated, Eric hopped back into his truck and drove to Freedom town. He drove in through the main entrance, and a soldier stopped him at the gate. "Master Sergeant, main street is blocked off right now. You will have to use one of the adjacent streets to get to the town center."
Eric arched an eyebrow. "Why?"
The soldier looked anywhere but Eric, not able to et his eyes.
"Your wife will explain, Master Sergeant. I am not at liberty to say."
Eric sighed. "Alright. Make sure to relay that ssage to General Milano. All convoys coming in or out of Freedom Town are to use either Second, or Fourth streets. Third street is too narrow."
"Copy. I will relay the ssage."
Eric turned left. When he got closer to main street, he parked off to the side of the road. Barricades were blocking off access to main street, with a periter of soldiers ar each corner. He walked up to a soldier at the corner of Main Street and Second Street. "What’s going on here?"
The soldier did a double take and lost bearing as Eric approached him. He fidgeted as he answered Eric. "Master Sergeant, our orders were to block access from any civilian entering this area. We don’t know why. Your wife inford us that we are to also divert any traffic down the street you ca from."
Eric sighed.
"Alright. Keep doing that. If anyone tries to resist, detain them. Do not arrest them. Also, news outlets have been hanging around us with everything we do. No horsing around."
The soldier nodded as Eric walked past him. He turned the corner, and then saw the sign.
"You have got to be fucking kidding ." Eric growled. He saw Mia talking to a crowd of people. One woman was yelling so loud he could hear her.
"What do you an I have to share a room?" The woman yelled. She had a thick southern accent, and Eric could barely make out what she was saying.
"You told us that we would each get our own rooms! Now we won’t even have that?"
Eric walked forward, seeing Mia almost on the verge of tears. He sighed.
"She’s always too kind for her own good."
He thought as he walked up to the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlen, if I could have your attention please." He said loudly, walking up behind Mia. "I know that these are trying tis. I assure you that we are doing all we can to make your life here easier. Unfortunately, just as Earth is having it’s own crisis, Brishan is having one too."
Mia looked up at Eric as he made his way over, smiling and wiping the tears away. "You’re late."
He shook his head. "I like to make an entrance."
The civilians that had crowded Mia looked up at Eric. A young woman approached cautiously. "Sir? What’s going on? Why won’t we have our own rooms?"
Eric sighed. "We are currently accepting refugees from an area the size of New York. It will take ti to get everyone settled in. These next few days will not be easy. Bear with it for now. Soon, we will have new houses being built. You can purchase them on a loan, or help in construction projects here in Brishan. In order tor a life worth living in this world, everyone needs to pitch in."
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