Benjamin Reilly
It had been almost two months since the start of this whole Blue Hole Radius mess and the world that it left for Ben and the others. It had been seven weeks since Ben was at Ontario Airport in sunny Southern California. It had been a normal Friday and he was enjoying his life, feeling fulfilled. Everything had changed at 1301 on May 19th, 2023 when Alexander Mathis, his newfound friend, and his group of SXS Program scientists, over at CalTech (California Institute of Technology), created a micro black hole that resulted in a new type of hole that humanity did not yet know about, a Blue Hole, and the Blue Hole Radius.
This Blue Hole Radius created what Ben could only describe as a time warp, resulting in everyone within the Radius to be trapped for 1,410 years while the rest of the world moved on. The rest of the world moved on to the degree that humanity left for the stars in 3110.
Apparently, their successors left for the stars to avoid extinction from another Pandemic in the year of 3020. The Pandemic of 3020 involved a superbug called MRSA-TB that wiped out 96% of the human race that inhabited Earth One and the Colony on the Moon. Ben always found this part interesting, the aspect of Earth One and a colonized moon, partly because he liked to watch Sci-Fi movies and shows in his spare time. Ben found it ironic that he was now part of a Sci-Fi adventure. Only this time, there’s no script and no one knows the ending.
On more than several occasions, Ben found himself asking Alexander questions about Earth Two, always expecting a different answer from his newfound and dear friend. Ben was always disappointed with the same answer from Alexander, “The information that we have from the SuperNet and archives left behind only goes up to the departure of humanity from Earth One.”
This part Ben thought to be enormously interesting, but very concerning at the same time. There was a large number of people, to which they had no clue as to how many, that were 1,410 years further into the future than Ben and the rest of the survivors of the Blue Hole Radius. That’s 1,410 years of technology, advancements, growth, and more of human nature.
Ben knew they were very fortunate to have survived thus far after the Blue Hole Radius came down and time was restored to normal transition. Nonetheless, the messages displayed that there was a lot that they did not know about the people from Earth Two, and there was something strange going on, according to Alexander.
On several occasions after they had received the second transmission that had some contradictions to the first one, Alexander expressed major concerns that there may be trouble coming their way. He even went so far as to explain that if it came to blows “it would be like nuclear weapons versus sticks and stones,” with the survivors of the Radius having the sticks and stones. This concern is on his mind’s forefront while he’s driving through Crestline.
It’s July 6th, 3433 and Ben’s driving to the Lake Drive Marketplace, which was once a line of shops, businesses, and restaurants along Lake Drive leading to and around Lake Gregory. He had heard that Lake Arrowhead Village had been transformed into something similar.
He’s been back to driving on a regular basis now that his arm and hand are healed well enough, thanks to Eileen, who sat to his right in the passenger seat. She was, and still is, a nurse and had saved his life just under seven weeks ago. Since that time, they had grown very close.
Ben smiles at the beautiful, light-skinned brunette sitting next to him, with those bright green eyes. It had been seven weeks since they had met at the start of all of this Blue Hole Radius madness. Sure… she had tried to kill him when they first met. But could he blame her? No. She had just lost her father to some greedy P.O.S.’s, and two of her friends to rapists P.O.S.’s. He could not blame her in the least.
He had found her, or she had found him, on his drive up to the mountain town of Crestline with his newfound friend, Alexander. Alexander and Ben were en route to stay with his Uncle Steven. It was Ben’s best option, and only really viable one, since it was high ground and Uncle Steven was the only family that he had left.
Thinking about this sad reality still pained Ben. He had lost his mom and dad, as well as his brother, his wife, and their children. Ben found some solace in the fact that they moved on after the Blue Hole Radius incident. It had taken some time, but they had moved on to lead full lives. He was able to find out what happened to his family thanks to the massive amount of archives on the SuperNet.
Ben was pretty excited to find out that his family line lasted through the conflicts and problems that faced the world after they were trapped in the Blue Hole Radius. Unfortunately, after further digging, he found out that the descendants of his brother, his family, had died out during the Pandemic of 3020.
Regardless of never knowing these family members, he felt for them and hoped their end was swift and painless. He knew the evidence of the MSRA-TB virus said to the contrary, but he chose to ignore that fact and push those thoughts out of his mind.
He also always ended up rationalizing the situation of the people from the past, from his future, up until what was left, and those that left for the stars and Earth Two.
It is what it is. Tended to be the end of his line of thoughts on this path of thinking.
Everyone outside of the Radius was long gone, after 1,410 years passing the world by, passing them by. So many survivors within the Blue Hole Radius had lost friends and families that were outside of the Radius at 1301 on May 19th, 2023. Hell, many of those people lost their family and loved ones in much more horrific ways than he. The way he saw it, he had little room to complain.
While navigating the neighborhood roads toward Lake Drive Marketplace, Ben reflects on the last seven weeks and how much the world has changed.
He keeps on returning to the messages that his Uncle’s old HAM radio had received, which his Uncle referred to as Ol’ Betsy. In truth, it was a main point of conversation in the cabin that the four of them now lived in, Ben, Eileen, Uncle Steven, and Alexander, to which his gracious Uncle offered without a second thought.
Ben could recite both messages word for word. In all actuality, all four of them could recite the messages word for word. Before the first message had stopped, Alexander had the foresight to write it down. The second message comes on daily at the same time.
As Ben and Eileen get closer to the Lake Drive Marketplace, he dwells on those two messages, knowing they mean something important and that there’s nothing they can do about it for the time being.
::Transmission Sent from Earth Two, May 37 of 3433:: This is Commander Thomas Yang of the Icarus. Harris’s Blue Hole Radius outcome was the reset button for Earth One. Those that have survived the Blue Hole’s Radius are likely aware that your Earth is very different now, and it is.
By our calculations, you should be awake by now. If you come into contact with a deactivated Sleeper, do not activate it. I repeat, DO NOT activate it. Leave it where it lies, and we shall dispose of it when the time comes.
It is our hope that you are utilizing the additional technology and information that we provided to alleviate any strain that you are experiencing during this transition. Your starting population of the Blue Hole Radius was 8,916,237 people, and a great deal of other living creatures, both on land and in the sea. Probability and logic proposes that the best-case scenario is that roughly half of that number will survive the first few months until winter.
The Icarus, with life-sustaining and disaster relief crews, will be in Earth One’s orbit within two to three months. I apologize that we cannot be there sooner. Current situations on Earth Two dictate that the earliest that we can arrive to aid and assist you will be between two and three months, on Earth One’s time.
Make logical and good choices and prepare for the winter and worse. Do not make the same mistakes our ancestors did. Rely on each other and utilize virtue ethics. Commander Yang of the Icarus, Out. ::Message Received on Earth One, May 20 of 3433::
The same questions continue to come to mind whenever he thought of the first transmission from Earth Two.
What the crap is Earth Two? What have they been doing all this time? Who’s Commander Yang? What the crap is a Sleeper? What does he mean about preparing for the winter and worse? What do they know that we don’t yet?
There were two questions they were able to answer, with the help of the SuperNet and Alexander’s research. In regards to the winter problem, the climate had shifted over roughly 1,100 years, up to the point that their successors left for Earth Two. The six satellites that were still above Earth and in orbital rotation told the story of the following 300 some odd plus years.
Alexander always made it a point to draw attention to the fact that there were ten satellites when they had left for Earth Two, and we only needed two to have the SuperNet running for our technology to work. Alexander often reminded them that they had about 300 more years for people on Earth One to be concerned with how many satellites were left. It was his hope, all of theirs, that they would have a lot more figured out by then and their future generations would not have to struggle as much as they have had to, with the survivors of the Radius re-establishing society and pushing past all of this anarchy.
Unfortunately, Commander Yang was accurate to warn them of the upcoming winters. It would appear that Earth One was cycling back to another small Ice Age. As Ben had understood it from how Alexander explained it to him, several times, the Earth had gone through several Large Ice Ages and many Small Ice Ages, also called Glacials. In fact, when the survivors of the Radius were originally trapped, the world was still coming out of a Large Ice Age, hence the large polar ice caps.
Despite the fact that Glacials are a normal occurrence on the Earth, the combination of a Small Ice Age and lack of human beings to slow down the process of global cooling over the last 300 years, their winter was about to become starkly cold.
In fact, according to Alexander's research, winter would not only be much more frigid, but also a great deal longer than in 2023. Alexander was surprised that winter would be in full swing by October and last until March.
This was one of the main reasons Ben wanted to go to the Lake Drive Marketplace this weekend. There was a great deal more of trading and bartering going on over the weekends, compared to the weekdays. And Ben saw it necessary to begin preparing for the winter months, now rather than later.
Gone were the days where Ben hesitated on preparing for a certain situation because it might happen and he didn't want to look like a full-blown prepper. To the contrary, his paranoia and preparedness helped keep him and his friends alive. That and his Uncle, Alexander, and Eileen saving his ass.
Ben was certainly concerned about this new shift in their worldly climate and thought back to the days of people worrying about global warming. Ben thought it to be ironic, how humanity was so wrong on that accord, but also, so very right, but in a different sense.
The second question that Alexander was able to partly answer was that of the Sleepers. Most of the information about the specificity of the Sleepers were scrubbed from the SuperNet. Ben wasn’t sure if this was some form of control from their successors over their history. However, Alexander explained that there was still some history there… and whatever the Sleepers were, they killed indiscriminately.
Alexander found articles and many pictures of the dead left from the Sleepers. In short, what they did know was terrifying. Anything with a heartbeat would die if a Sleeper was activated. They still were not sure what activates meant, that information was expunged from the SuperNet. There was also no video footage of the Sleepers in action, only pictures after the fact. That information was erased from the archives, along with how to create Sleepers.
When they first found this out, Alexander had pointed out that it was likely so that we don't hurt ourselves with this technology. Ben remembers countering with his perspective, “Sure, they may not want us to hurt ourselves. But I guarantee that they sure as hell don’t want us to be able to hurt them.”
That last thought continued to circle back to Ben’s brain, time and time again. Why are they returning and what do they want from us?
Which always shifted his focus to the second message they had received, only a couple days after the first. Whereas, the first message proposed so many questions, it was the second message that truly had Ben and the other survivors concerned.
::Transmission Sent from Earth Two, June 1 of 3433:: This is Captain Abraham Jackson of the Leviathan.
We are en route with surveying and risk analysis teams. Earth One will be within range for two-way communication within two months, which is roughly 60 days, on Earth One’s calendar.
As the previous message stated, if you come into contact with any deactivated Sleepers, do not activate it. Leave the devices alone and we will handle them upon our arrival.
My apologies if Commander Yang thoroughly scared the people of Earth One. The Leviathan is en route to alleviate the pain and suffering that you are dealing with.
I will send another message in two months’ time with our designated landing zone, and further instructions and orders. This message will repeat again, shortly. Thank you for your cooperation in advance.
Captain Jackson, of the Leviathan, Out. ::Message Received on Earth One, May 21 of 3433::
To Ben and the other survivors in the mountain communities, the second message seemed to hold a grueling warning to their way of life. The directness of the message, lack of compassion, and any true words of hope, displayed a rigid feeling of the authoritarian variety.
Ben understood that people were naturally scared of change and anything new is usually met with fear and overreaction. Nonetheless, he thought this situation to be different. Despite the instance that there were no real threats in the second transmission, it still seemed threatening. Ben’s thoughts over the last seven weeks and their path ahead were cut off by Eileen.
………………………………………………..
She points out the window. “There’s a parking spot open right there, Ben.”
Ben looks over at the beautiful woman sitting next to him in his black Dodge 2500 truck, with her bright green eyes.
Well, I suppose it most certainly could be worse. He thinks to himself as he looks Eileen over on this warm day in July.
He pulls into the spot between Lake Drive ACE Hardware and Lake Drive Camping, Fishing, & Hunting.
“Perfect. Nice parking spot find, Eileen. Everything we need, right next to each other.”
Eileen opens up her door and hops down. “Did you expect anything less than perfection from me, Benjamin?” She smiles at him, winks, and slams the door shut, walking to the front of the ACE Hardware store.
Ben laughs at her as he exits the truck, grabbing the pack from the back-cab and slinging it over his shoulder. “A little high and mighty, aren’t we today.” he walks around the truck and meets her in front of the storefronts.
She smiles at him. “I’m not sure if it’s the sunny weather returning to us after a week of straight rain, or maybe it’s reminiscing on saving your butt at the MS13 battle.”
He grins at her, looking her up and down. It was warmer than it had been outside. Mostly due to the constant rain for the last week. She stood next to him in hiking boots, jeans, a black t-shirt, one of his, with her M&P Shield on her right hip. Ben could not help but be thankful for what he had gained since the Radius, despite the adversities they had faced and will likely have to face soon.
“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?” He replies.
She looks to the storefronts, “Not a chance in hell, good looking. It’s my hope that if I keep bringing it up… you won’t be so reckless next time.”
Next time… So, she feels it too. Like there’s something coming, something big that we have to face again.
Ben scratches the back of his head and grins. “You may have a point there. Look at you, still looking out for me.”
He chuckles at his own joke and she gives him a look. He adverts his stare to his right, toward the post office.
“Looks like they caught another one stealing or something else that chops up to a petty crime.” Ben points toward the parking lot of the post office, to the young man in a set of stockades that was set up with two other sets in the post office parking lot.
Eileen shakes her head. “What an idiot… I’m sure whatever it was that he wanted, he could have asked someone and they would have helped him out.”
Ben’s still looking at the young man in the middle set of stockades, remembering when they were put up about three weeks ago. He recalls the first guy having to be chained to the flagpole for a full 24 hours. The next day, Sheriff Patterson had three sets of stockades cemented into the parking lot of the local post office. He had given a big speech about it and told those around to pass on the word.
The big man had bellowed his voice, but he had sounded pained at having to resort to such laws. “We don’t have the time, man-power, or room to be housing people that break the laws. Therefore, punishments will change, effective immediately. Small crimes will be met with the stockades. Serious crimes will be met with a bullet. And before you all ask… murder, rape, and mayhem are serious crimes in my book. In short, if you play stupid games, you’ll win stupid prizes.”
Eileen brings him out of his memory. “I get why we have to do these things, especially after what happened just before the rain started… But it just seems so barbaric, don’t you think?” She asks him.
He looks over at her. “Yeah, that was a real shitshow, with those teenagers and that poor girl and her mother.”
He pauses thinking about the two young men, no older than 19 years old, that saw it fit to rape a young girl, who Ben had found out was 14. The poor girl’s mom came in during the rancid act, distracting the boys and allowing the young girl to escape. In haste and fear of being caught, the young men killed the mother with a gun they had brought with them. The young girl made her way to a neighbor's house and the boys were cornered back in her house. One was killed in the confrontation and the other one gave up, only to be swiftly executed by Sheriff Patterson. Ben had heard the story from Todd, who was his childhood friend and a Deputy as well.
Eileen continues. “No, yeah… I get it, with those monsters. But that poor guy looks like he has been there since yesterday.”
Ben’s still staring at her, thinking of Todd and how he had lost his twin brother, Jim, during the MS13 Battle.
“Earth to Ben. Correction, Earth One to Ben!” She blurts out at him, and he snaps out of his own mind.
He chuckles at her joke. “Yeah, sorry about that. I was thinking about Todd and Jim.”
She pauses and sighs heavily. “Yeah. I was talking to his wife the other day on the phone. Jamie says that he’s distant but seems like he’s getting better. He goes and visits Amanda and Jim’s daughter a lot. To check in on them.”
Ben nods. “That’s good of him. I haven't talked to him much in the last couple of weeks.”
Ben looks over at the young man in stockades. “I get it’s barbaric, but what are our other options? Apparently, people have thought twice before rape and murder since those two dipshits. We have had multiple people in stockades… what like seven? But they’ll get the hint, eventually.”
He looks back at her and she replies. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right… this time.”
Ben smiles back at her.
“Alright!” She blurts out. “Enough doom and gloom on this very nice and warm day!” She claps her hands together. “Hardware store or camping store first?”
Ben shrugs. “You’re call, beautiful. I’ll follow you anywhere.” He says the last part with a prominent hint of sarcasm.
She gives him a stern look. “With that kind of rude attitude, you may just get cut off, Benjamin.”
Ben puts his hands up and smiles. “What?! I was being sincere.”
She grins. “Uh huh…” She looks at the camping store. “Let’s go in there first. I really need some clothes that are my own.”
“So, you’re saying you don’t like wearing my shirts and re-wearing your only two pairs of jeans that you have up here?” Ben says to her.
“You’re pushing it Ben. I’m warning you… cut off.” She faces him and crosses her arms over her chest.
He can’t help but laugh at her. “Alright then. Let’s go shopping. And find you something pretty to wear.”
She laughs at him. “You’re such an ass sometimes… I swear.”
He laughs at her and shrugs.
Eileen shakes her head and they wander into the camping store on Lake Drive Marketplace.
Entering the store, they are greeted by a man with a revolver on his hip. Ben didn’t even think twice when seeing that the man carried. He was likely the owner and everyone was armed these days. Gone were the days when people concealed their weapons or thought that guns were not needed.
The man waves at them as they cross the threshold from halfway through the store. “Good morning! Welcome to The Camping Store. Name’s Dave Stine. You all let me know if you need any help!”
“Good morning!” Ben replies. “My name’s Ben Reilly, and this here is Ms. Eileen Rivera… We have silver, ammunition, and gold to trade with. Is that sufficient?”
Dave Stine replies. “Yes, sir. That will be good by me. Nice to meet the both of you!”
Ben nods to the man and Eileen asks, “Which area has the women’s clothing, Mr. Stine?”
Dave Stine nods. He points off to his left. “That area over there should have a good selection for you, miss.”
“Thank you.” She replies and turns to Ben. “I’ll be over there. You go grab that cold weather stuff you wanted to grab for you and the guys. I’ll grab some extra clothes. What’s our budget?”
Ben points his thumb to the pack on his back. “With how heavy this thing is, I’m not too worried about it. Grab what you need, Eileen. You sure you don’t want me to come over there with you?”
She gives him a smile. “Ben, it’s literally thirty feet away and you can see me. I think I’ll be fine… Plus, shouldn’t I be the one to come with you, to make sure you’re alright?”
Ben chuckles. “Hey, just trying to be gentlemanlike.”
She leans in close to him, kissing him on the lips quickly, but firmly. “I know you were. We’re in line of sight, so we should be good. I’ll be quick though.” She backs away and heads in the direction of the women’s clothing.
Ben watches her go, and then heads over to the men’s section.
He looks through the shelves and racks for five or ten minutes, deciding on what exactly he should get. He finds three cold weather jackets, six pairs of cold weather socks, four beanies, four sets of snow gloves, and four face shields.
He’s wandering over toward Eileen, looking through the shelves and racks along the way. He passes by a shelf of snow pants and pauses.
They would be useful. I mean, once denim’s wet… it stays wet, and cold.
Already having a pile stacked on top of his arms, he tries to grab some of the snow pants and ends up dropping everything. He hears Eileen laughing from behind him, right behind him.
“I knew I should have come with you. Why didn’t you grab a basket?” Eileen asks, still chuckling.
Ben looks down at her basket in her left hand. She had found a snow jacket, some gloves, a couple pairs of jeans, several shirts, and even some snow pants.
Ben scratched the back of his head. “Didn’t think about it, I guess.”
She shakes her head and walks off toward the front of the store, returning with another shopping basket. “Here. Put the smaller items in here… so you aren’t dropping everything constantly.”
Ben starts doing as she says, holding the larger items over his other arm. “What would I do without you, Eileen?”
She grins at him. “Oh, you know... probably just fail at life in general.”
She laughs lightly, and then looks over her basket. “I’m good, if you are.”
He smiles at her. “Yeah, I think for now. If there’s more we need, we can come back another day.”
She nods and they head to the counter at the center of the store where Dave Stine’s waiting for them. He sees what’s in their baskets. “You two do know that summer’s just around the corner, right?”
Ben nods. “Yes, sir. Does that cut us any kind of deals, since its off-season?”
The man looks him over. “Depends on what the offer is?”
Ben nods. “Looking at what we have here, I’m guessing we have close to 10 Gold $5 American Eagle coins worth here. I have that many on me, at 1/10 ounce each.”
The man behind the counter whistles. “Well! With that kind of offer and considering the season and all… I’ll throw in a few of my winter sleeping bags.”
Ben replies, “Would four of them be asking too much, Mr. Stine?”
The man extends his hand. “It’s a deal, good sir!”
Ben shakes the man’s hand. “Alright, let me bag that up for you. Then I’ll grab the sleeping bags from in the back.”
Eileen and Ben hand over the clothing and Eileen looks over at him with a questioning look.
As he takes his pack off his shoulder and pulls out a small cloth pouch. He then pulls out a tube of coins. He opens it and counts out 10 Gold American Eagle Coins, then places the small coins, each in their own protective plastic case, into her hands.
“Each one of these is a tenth of an ounce of gold. Depending on the market, they are worth anywhere from $140 to $260, each… and that’s when the market was around.” Ben explains.
“Well then… are we getting the bad side of this deal?” Eileen questions.
Ben shakes his head pointing to their baskets. “Although the stuff that we want is out of season, it’s expensive. Ten of these for all of this and cold weather sleeping bags is a good deal, for sure... Especially if it makes the difference of us freezing to death this winter or not.”
Eileen looks at the coins in her hand and then at Ben. “Hmmm, that’s pretty darn useful of you Ben. Freezing to death does not sound like very much fun.”
Ben smiles and shrugs. “Eh, I do what I can.”
Eileen looks at his pack. “But you said it was heavy. That small tube of coins doesn’t seem too heavy.”
Ben grins at her. “We have more… and the silver is heavier than the smaller gold coins, and they look like the actual coins you are used to. Plus, ammo is much heavier. I’d just rather not trade ammo if I don’t have to. Gold and silver we can find more of in the years to come. We can melt it down and measure it out. But one of the things I never got around to learning was how to reload and make my own ammunition.”
Eileen replies. “Well... maybe, we’ll just have to learn.’
Ben nods. “Yeah. We could. But I hear it’s best to learn from those that already know. Coming across someone like that, in times like this… may prove difficult.”
“You Uncle doesn’t know that sort of thing? He seems like the type.” Eileen asks.
“No, yeah. He does seem like the type. But he doesn’t either. He said he always steered clear of it after hearing some horror stories of some yahoos injuring themselves pretty badly.”
Eileen nods. “Yeah, that makes sense, with gun powder and all.”
Ben responds. “Right! That kind of put me off on it, too. Not going to lie.”
Dave Stine returns with their sleeping bags and his eyes go to Eileen’s hands with the coins. Eileen catches on, and hands them over to the owner of the camping store. “Here you are, Mr. Stine.”
The man takes them gratefully. “Pleasure doing business with the two of you. I look forward to seeing you in the future.”
Ben nods. “I’m sure we’ll be back. Have a good one!”
Ben and Eileen acquire their new belongings and head out of the store and to the truck to drop off their cold weather gear and Eileen’s extra sets of clothes. After they’re done, Eileen turns to Ben.
“So, what else do we need?” She asks him. “Oh, and thanks for getting me something pretty. Aren’t you just the sweetest...” She says this last part with a hint of sarcasm and a smile.
He chuckles. “Least I can do for my guardian angel.”
She smiles and Ben stares at her in the midday sunlight, with her light-skinned complexion, brunette hair, and bright green eyes.
“What are you staring at, mister?” Eileen asks, squinting her eyes.
“You.” Ben responds and watches her blush.
“Alright McDreamy… What else do we need? I was thinking we could stop by Todd and Jamie’s place on the way back home.”
Ben nods. “Sounds like a fine idea. We just need some lumber, nails, some Gorilla Tape, and few extra propane tanks would be good too. That and swing by a butcher on the way back for some more meat.”
“What’s the wood and tape for?” Eileen asks.
“For the windows, if it comes to that. We may need to board and tape them up.” Ben replies.
This gets a look from Eileen, and Ben adds, “It’s just in case. I’d rather have the supplies to fortify and not need them, then need and not have them.
She eyes him. “I guess so… You are the crazy prepper guy.” She grins at him.
“Hey!” Ben tries to look hurt. “This crazy prepper guy has got us this far, hasn’t he?… and I’m not even a full-blown prepper.”
She responds, “Uh huh. Whatever you say Benjamin.” She laughs at him as they go into the ACE Hardware Store and spend the rest of their morning shopping at the Lake Drive Marketplace.
