3The Orphan Test
Chapter One: The Disappearance
All of the grown-ups were gone.
Of course, the teenagers called them "The Adults", or "Our Parents", but it ended up being the same thing. They were on their own.
Reactions were mixed. Little three-year-old Timmy, who still sucked his thumb, had screamed for his mother until Petunia, one of the teenagers, had given him a lollipop. She was holding him in her lap now, and he was playing happily with a shiny spoon.
Robert had sniffled a little, although, at eight, he was really too old for that. Charlie, age seven, had handles it admirably, comforting his little sister, Anastasia, even though it was obvious he wanted to cry, too. Obviously, Anastasia was bawling her eyes out, being only five.
Sam and his twin sister, Sammy, had eaten candy until they were sick. At age four, they were still young enough to be wrapped up in each other to the exclusion of everyone else, so the disappearance of their parents didn't really register except as a disappearance of rules.
John had reacted stoically, only gripping his girlfriend, Karen's, hand a little tighter. He was the one who had called the meeting. Karen was pale and red-eyed, but had stopped crying after a few minutes.
Cynthia and Eloise, ages nine and ten, were crying and clinging to each other. They had been friends as long as they could remember, and the familiar closeness was comforting.
Petunia, as previously mentioned, was taking care of Timmy. She had experience from her younger brother, Robert; and besides, it distracted her from what was happening.
Then there was six-year-old Ben, whose earlier tears had melted away into whimpers due to the comfort of his older sister, Elizabeth. She had hid her own tears, feeling it was her duty as the elder by six years.
Elizabeth's best friend, Cameron, had just recently hit the "rebellion phase", and felt an odd mix of pleasure and guilt; pleasure that his parents couldn't boss him around, and guilt for feeling happy that his parents were gone.
Cameron's older brother, Patrick, had no such confusion, which wasn't to say he wasn't upset. He had been filled with a nervous energy since that morning, when the absence of the adults was discovered.
And, last but not least, there was Johnny, the baby. No one knew what he thought about the disappearance, because he was too young to tell them, but it was through him that they learned the disappearance wasn't an isolated occurrence, but had overtaken to whole neighborhood.
Seven o'clock AM, Day One
John Carter, age fifteen, was out for his morning run. It was already warm, suggesting a hot day ahead- a perfect start to summer vacation. The world was relieved of the noise of humanity, at least for the moment. John wondered if it was ever this quiet in the cities. He doubted it.
It was peaceful in South Bennett. He really loved it there, with the big trees, the old houses, the two-acre-or-more properties, and the little creek running through his backyard- not to mention his girlfriend, Karen.
He slowed and then stopped, hearing cries from a nearby house. He shook his head, sighing. How long was it before babies learned normal sleeping patterns? Johnny was over two months old already, almost three, but he had probably kept his parents up half the night again.
He hesitated for only a moment before heading up to the house. Aunt Jessie and Uncle Tom could use some sleep, after all, and he was close enough to them that they wouldn't be offended. Besides, he loved kids, especially Johnny, and he would enjoy watching his godson for a while.
He knocked on the door. When there was no response, he knocked again, then rang the door bell. Still, the only sound was Johnny's crying. Maybe they couldn't hear him over the baby.
He tried the doorknob, not too surprised at finding it unlocked. Aunt Jessie and Uncle Tom must have been so tired they forgot to lock it- again. "Aunt Jessie? Uncle Tom?" he called. Again, there was no answer, making him nervous.
"Aunt Jessie! Uncle Tom! It's John!" He yelled, but the only change was that Johnny cried louder. Maybe they were asleep; although how they could sleep through that racket, he didn't know.
He closed the door quietly, feeling nervous now. Maybe they were just outside, he told himself; but why would they leave Johnny alone? They must have heard him crying by now. A quick search of the downstairs revealed that they weren't there.
He slipped silently up the stairs, feeling more worried by the minute. They weren't in their bedroom, the bathroom, or the guest room. That left only the baby's room. Fearful of what he might find, John opened the door slowly, peeking around the corner of the door.
The room was empty except for Johnny. John sighed, half in relief and half in worry, walking over and picking up the baby. He wrinkled up his nose in disgust; no wonder Johnny was bawling, he would be, too, if he had to be around that stench for too long!
A quick change and a bottle of formula later, Johnny was asleep, worn out from his crying. John left him in the crib and headed downstairs, knowing there was a phone in the kitchen.
He dialed his aunt's cell-phone number from memory, but was put onto voice message. "Hello? It's John, Aunt Jessie. Are you alright? Where are you? I'm going to bring Johnny to my house, alright? Call me as soon as you get this message, I'm starting to get really worried." He hung up, biting his lip nervously.
As an afterthought, he called his own home, but no one answered there, either. He supposed everyone was still asleep; he was the only early riser in his house. Just in case Jessie didn't check her messages, he wrote a note for good measure. He'd leave it on the front door so they couldn't miss it.
Going back up into the nursery, he packed a large diaper bag with enough things to last the rest of the day, if necessary. Hanging the sling around his neck, he gently transferred Johnny into it. Grabbing the bag, he headed home.
Only to find that his parents were missing, also. He tried to call his grandparents, to find out if they knew where everyone was, but no one picked up. Were all of his adult relatives gone?
He finally settled on calling his girlfriend, to find out if she knew anything, and if her parents were home. Of course, Karen's parents were missing, too- he asked her to come over. A few more calls around the neighborhood revealed that all of the grownups were missing. He told all of the kids to come to his house.
The only houses that he had no answer at were Timmy's and the twin's. Timmy, he quickly discovered, was at Petunia and Robert's house. Sam and Sammy lived next door to him, and a short walk revealed that they were just too young to understand that "no adults" meant no one to answer the phone.
Moreover, Cameron and Patrick told him that no one outside of the neighborhood could be reached by phone. They had tried to call the police, but it was like everyone in the world had disappeared but them.
It was eight o'clock in the morning. Everyone was gathered at John's house, which takes us back to the beginning:
All of the grown-ups were gone.
To Be Continued