Where is Everybody? eighteen.

I came down for the beetle's participation in this farce. We were going to have him act like he was having a spasm. It was the eleventh of June, and our joke, a prank to fake his death was a brilliant one. Considering what we would later know, it might not have been a good idea.

I came downstairs into the den and saw Angela, Anthony, Val De Lump, Joanna, Vinnie, Pickering and Samantha resting on the sofas and a mattress. I had to tiptoe (Is it tiptoeing when you haven't got toes?) through the hall and stairway to avoid waking the Hadleys and the sweet couple. As I came down, there he was, standing on the single step separating the den from the rest of the house.

We came out and filled a bucket with water. Before, I couldn't lift a bucket full of water with relative ease. Now I could just as I was carrying a book. I placed it on top the patio door which was slightly ajar. There's two doors, one sliding and one standard. I placed the bucket on the slightly ajar one, and had Val step out into the hedge to hide.

When everyp-- everybody got up and got ready to see their day through, I pulled the curtain in place. Alex, Anthony, Monica, Sherman and I would be going out today, and Val claimed he didn't plan on coming. That was fine with me, but if he came, I would be no less thrilled by it. He really made me feel at home like no one else could.

When I guessed either Alex or Sweet would get the nature call, I would direct them outside. I instructed Alex to have a glass of water. A large one. I lifted the pumped lever and siphoned from the pipes, filling it with water. After a minute or two of boiling it over the open fire in a tin bucket by the chimney, then pouring it back into the glass through a small net, I offered it to our host who deserves it the most, and s/he downed it in less than a minute. After I suggested using the pit before we go anywhere, compilation was assured.

Bang, crash, the bucket fell, the metal and water flashed, then my good clot was drenched. I had to flinch at the reflected daylight from the tumbling substances. That's when I heard a scream, and we all came outside.

Torrez was pointing at a twitching, thrashing figure at the corner. All eyes followed it to the large bug at the corner of the yard kicking away at the hedge randomly. He continued to do it, till he was nudged by Sweet who tapped him by the leg. Then he merely sporadically writhed as if he was being shocked. Finally he stopped altogether. Naturally, I had to refrain from laughing. I knew the secret.

He finally began to giggle, then burst into laughter.

Monica and Sherman were not amused. None of them were, but them least of all.

"We have seen enough cases of this where ignoramuses have tried to fool us into thinking they had died or been severely injured or ill. It's never funny to me. It is all fun and games to us till some ponies get hurt."

He pauses.

Sherman: "Don't hear you laughing, now."

Val resumed his laughter, as did I. I meant I finally cracked, and burst into uproarious laughter myself. Their eyes all shifted to me.

"What the hell?" Pickering shouted.

"I agreed to help the bug with this. He thought you all needed a good joke."

"It sure was funny, Will." Sweet stated.

Later on, Alex said, "Now that this nonsense is over, may we please start on our way to the city?"

"Sure, Torrez. Anything you say."

We spent the rest of the morning cleaning the interior of Monica's car, and he took the wheel. Sherman was there to press the pedals when his brother said so, as he wasn't tall enough to reach the pedals. Pity.

Naturally, Anthony, and the Hadleys were in front, I was with this obnoxious twat in the damned rear.

After several minutes of silence, Torrez finally spoke up: "I guess if we are to be on good terms, we should know something about each other. Where shall I start?"

"I would suppose from the beginning, to make a general statement."

After another pause: "Alright. Five years ago, me dad went to Tokyo. He subsequently disappeared into far east without explanation. Follow me so far?" "Sure." "After five months and no difference in update, I accepted he would not be found. He was away in the far east, he disappeared, and there wouldn't be any updates. I made my peace, and accepted I would not find him, nor would anyone else. That left me with Mom, brother and sister. The older of my two siblings had gone to Manhattan, and stayed there less than a year ago. The younger one had stayed with mom. During my two week break from work, they came to stay with me. I got tired, and thought spending a little more time with them may be just the recuperation I needed. Then, on that late day in May, the twenty fifth, I was watching the cringe show and everything suddenly went silent apart from the computer. When stopped, I found not only had all sound ceased, but I couldn't see a single shadow out my window. I nearly went blind when I looked out, as my eyes are much more powerful now than they ever were. My ears were too. The sound of a pin being dropped was louder than it ever was. You probably know the rest. Mom was gone, sister was gone, brother would not answer his phone. I spent the better portion of the day looking for others before I found you. And you led me to Angie. How about you?"

"If I told you I was a greedy old miser with no family who had little social life, would you buy it?"

"Yes."

"This can wait."

S/he seemed to accept this. I don't know why.

"Oh, by the way," S/he pulled out a photograph. On it was a middle aged woman. "This here is Rumiko Torrez. You would love her."

perspective shift.

I had an unpleasant trick pulled on me today. I have fallen for the oldest one in the book. After accepting some booze laced water that had previously been boiled over some kindling, I had to pee. When Will gave me my funnel, I thought he had somehow changed. He had, but not in the way I expected.

No sooner had I opened the door had I felt a sudden weight on me head, and a stab of coldness. Where did this come from? Apparently, our local insect thought we needed old school jokes to lighten up the mood. I applaud him for his practical methods in lifting the spirits and getting us out of the gloom. But this is not how you go about it. I'm just glad he sent me rather than Sweet.

Once we all had the car loaded with us five, I could feel Val's presence behind us. He looked almost pleading.

I told our not-very-social accomplice about my estranged father and my closest relatives being my brother, sister and mother. About my week and a half off the bookstore, and losing my entire host of acquaintances. I also showed him a picture of my mother.

We're nearing the train station. I can see the spire on the tower now. I'll come back to you.

Perspective shift

As usual, there's no one downtown. Why are we here again? I would soon regret coming down here, for once I did, My companions would find out about a certain something they'd best forget. Or know from the start.

We walked about the place, and found them central park. We didn't find it a big deal, and passed the empty coffee house in its centre. We would soon crawl back to our car as we heard a sound from the east. Monica ordered us back to the car and to head west, and sped faster than he would usually permit. When we came to the hillside, we took a small breather by the creek. Many plants had died from thirst, yet many others grew much taller, roots allegedly deeper and wider, and the place would not be recognizable if we didn't know where we were.

After several minutes of catching our breaths after leaving the car, we saw the most unusual thing. There was a clearing that looked as if someone had cut it. We entered the abandoned park and stayed on the walkway. When we came through, our curiosity would get the better of us. Out in front I stepped, and there was a car oddly parked in the area in front. What ought not to be there. There were no more cars on the street, as they were beamed away. But this one was there at the curb, not the driveway. I took a step towards it as it looked familiar. It looked just like that silver car from the first day everything went to hell. I stepped into the clearing towards the vehicle, and could tell even before I got too near it, that it was occupied. Three of the people from before were in it. Somebody wasn't there.

I did something real rash, and I regret it every minute. I approached the car in spite of the warnings Alex and Anthony gave me.

Anthony said:"Will, I have a bad feeling about this. I think you'd best not come near that thing, nor those in it." "Nonsense!"

Alex:"WILL! Don't." Then I felt a forelimb wrap around my neck and pull me back.

The policeman raised a brow and silently asked them what was up.

"Can't you feel it? Can't you detect it? Are you unable to sense that emptiness?"

Sherman stated he didn't get what they meant and shrugged.

Alex's hoof struck forehead and slid down and back again. "There's no power around it. It's like a deadzone. Like having no radio nor mobile signal in a basement, only much worse."

Anthony nodded. "It feels like an invisible no entry sign, like a place where there is no reactor, no sun, no UV, nothing. Except there is UV, But this x energy that's been ever so abundant and found everywhere in either trace or concentrated amounts, like in us, there is none there."

"The outside is fine, but the interior is somehow void of it. Like an airtight bubble in the middle of the ocean, under the sea. I don't like it. It's like the chopper."

Sherman then said: "Don't be paranoid, Alex. So what if this energy is everywhere yet oddly void in that car? It can't possibly mean bad luck for us, can it?"

"I'd rather not tempt fate."

I left them to their silly argument, and wriggled out of their grasp. As I marched toward it, the attention of the occupants remained stagnant. They seemed to all have their eyes on the monitor on the dashboard. One of them looked up and caught eyes on me. When she tapped her partners shoulder, he looked up and stared at me. I then felt another set of eyes glaring at me from behind the brush. When I looked, the remaining man was emerging from the brush. The others in our party seemed leery of him, but I wasn't. It should be noted he was in a reflective metal suit, probably made of tin and lead, likely too heavy to comfortably walk in. Just like the one I saw on day one. The crystal helmet was also on his head, for some inane reason.

"Hello, Sir. You wouldn't mind removing that suit so I can talk face to face with you, would you?"

The human froze on site, refusing to move a muscle. His mouth seemed to quiver ever so slightly. Then he bolted towards the car. I was too quick for him. I caught him in a flash and held him in place. He then began to cry. As I held him down, tears were running down his face. "Please, don't hurt me," he begged and pleaded. "I'll do whatever you wish, just don't hurt me."

I got off him and gaped. Huh? Hurt him? He then ran for the car, then the others inside, who weren't in spacesuits scrambled to get theirs on. The door slid open to reveal it's on rails. When it did, the people inside barely got their stuff on in time. He got in, but so did I.

He shed his suit to reveal normal clothes underneath. The other three shed theirs too when the door shut behind them. No sooner had this happened that I suddenly felt like the wind had been sucked out of me. I felt out of breath, and the four passengers glared at me. Suddenly I felt so tired. What kind of sorcery is this?

"Finally, we catch one of you scum." The lady in the rear said. My ears perked up. Scum? What did I do?

"You're that horse we saw on the day this happened, aren't you, Equestrian?"

"My name is Will. Willie Maket, if you please."

"An odd name for one of your sort. It still sounds prophetic, but it seems like something an earthling would name their child."

Giving a small gasp and a sigh, I pulled in enough breath to say: "I'm an earthling, too. I wasn't always like this."

"Horse hockey!" the man in the "driver's" seat exclaimed. "We know your kind. We also know you are responsible for this..." He waved his hand to the landscape around us. "I suppose your solar princess is responsible, Willie?"

Huh? "What solar prince?"

"Don't play dumb, boy. We know how tricky your likes are."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Then the man I caught before chimed in: "Thaumic energy. Perhaps thatwill jog your memory."

Thaumic energy? Is that what this invisible power all around us is?

"Fuck that. All I want to know is: Where is Everybody?"

The other lady spoke: "You tell us. You made them all vanish."

"I'm telling you, I have no idea. I didn't do anything. I am an innocent victim of circumstance, like the rest of you."

"That's what they all say," the first man said again.

By the minute, I felt like I was getting weaker, and I just might whither away.

*Bang, crash!* My head whipped up to see Monica and Sherman beating away at the glass. The man in front quickly pounded the lever to release the door. I heard hissing as the door opened and the occupants next to me scrambled to get their suits on.

Anthony and Alex pulled me out, but not without tearing the lead lining in the first man's outfit. I slipped out of the car and felt like all my normal strength had returned at once. Monica had snatched the exposed man who was out before by his outfit, and pulled him away from the door. Before we could get too far, the woman in front grabbed and took Alex into the vehicle, then shut the sliding door shut, sealing them all in again.

This would be the most terrible thing were it not for the man we got outside the car acting weird. They would speed away with Alex in their custody, but not before sticking around to see their man perish before them, and I could see Alex Torrez was watching. All four of them had a look of pure terror on their faces, more so the humans. Alex was more curiosity that would bloom to horror after several minutes.

The man I spoke to first, then got caught by Monica began to jerk and convulse. When I ventured to tear his delicate metal suit further, he shoved me away, then fell to the ground thrashing wildly and aimlessly. When he fell, he shattered his helmet, giving us a clearer view of his face. His eyes were completely black, his mouth bubbling and foaming, his whole body going stiffer and stiffer till he could only twitch. After several minutes, he stopped moving altogether.

I heard a loud humming and looked up to see Torrez staring at me with glazed eyes out the back of the window as the car sped away. It disappeared into the distance as we all screamed and pleaded to come back. It didn't. Alex was gone.

I have come back in the evening and now regret my folly. I lost us our host. Now they're all going to hate me. But look on the bright side: Now we know we are not alone. There are others here. And now I have seen someone die from getting their brain cooked. I opened his head to look inside, and the result was identical to the bodies I snatched from the morgue.

Tomorrow, I, Willie Maket will embark on a search for my friend, and I will get 'em back. They'll respond to our broadcasts, I'm sure.