The Cleansing 16 – Chapter 5 continued

I like to ground my Sci-fi in the present time. In this novel I introduced myself, under the Ron Forsythe alias, as a character. That was fun.

The novel itself is an objective view of humanity in which I attempt to dissect the good and the bad and delve into the reasons.

Here’s Chapter 5:

Ron lived on a mixed estate. There were people from all walks of life. He liked to associate with creative people and live in a rural environment. Nature and creativity were important to him, but pleasant surrounds were sought after by many different types of people. Down his street there were people from many professions.

The night was one of those clear, bright nights, the type where the stars are visible as a glimmering scattering of glistening salt on a black velvet cloth. The moon, almost full, lit everything up with its blue light, creating pools of inky shadow. The absence of street lamps enabled the beauty of the scene to be appreciated in full. Ron cherished such nights and probably got to appreciate them more than most. He always worked late at night, when it was quiet and inspiration struck, not finishing until tiredness stilled his fingers on the keyboard and his sponge of a brain had been wrung dry. After shutting down his computer he would often get himself a last cup of coffee and take the dog out for a walk. Woody, named after his idol Woody Guthrie, was a loyal, loving border collie who did not like other dogs. He was wont to get his retaliation in first. Thus it was preferable to take him for walks when other dogs were not around. Ron often remarked that Woody thought outside was permanently dark.

Ron’s writer’s block had lifted and a new storyline had magically coalesced in his head. While strolling down the road towards the lane, lost in thought, mulling over the twists in the plot, he was brought up short by Woody’s sudden aggressive reaction. He had frozen, ears back, hackles up and fur bristling, growling and staring straight ahead. Ron immediately shortened the lead and peered ahead at the moonlit street. If there was another dog they’d be in for a loud barking match, which might not please the neighbours any too well, it being close to three in the morning.

There was no dog. What Woody was seeing was a large black shadow rapidly approaching, accompanied by a deep subdued throbbing. Ron pulled Woody in and grabbed him by the collar as the craft silently passed overhead and hovered a little way down the road. He knew exactly what it was: one of those alien ships. He watched as it seemed to make up its mind and arrived at its destination. It rapidly descended. As soon as it hit the ground large doorways dilated open and a number of lizard troopers spilled out. It was as clear as daylight. Woody barked madly and had to be restrained with all of Ron’s might. The lizards ignored Ron and Woody. They split into two contingents, one group making a beeline for George’s place, the other a little further down, focusing on Jean and Dean’s house. Without hesitation the doors were booted in and they disappeared inside. Ron stood agape, frozen, staring at the scene taking place in front of him while absently trying to calm Woody, patting his head as he lunged at his collar.

Screams could be heard from inside both houses. Within seconds the lizards reappeared, dragging George and Jean to their craft while a desperate Dean yelled, screamed, and pulled at them, trying to free Jean from their clutches. They brushed him aside like one might bat away an annoying wasp. The two were bundled into the craft, the doors dilated shut, and the craft lifted off and was gone, leaving a distraught Dean in its wake. Ron couldn’t quite believe what he had just seen. Apart from a hysterical Dean, now crumpled sobbing in the street, and two splintered doors hanging half open, there was nothing to suggest it had really happened. He shook his head to wake himself up and released the now‑submissive Woody.

Coming out of his trance, Ron rushed forward to comfort the stricken Dean, helping him up while Woody stood watching with his tail wagging. He obviously considered this a much more interesting walk than normal.

Back in Ron’s kitchen the two men were seated at the table, mugs of strong tea in their hands, while a satisfied Woody coiled up in his bed contented. As far as he was concerned the fun was over. Dean was still shaking.
‘What the fuck was that about?’ Ron asked.
Dean shook his head and was about to collapse into a blubbering wreck again. Ron patted his hand.
‘They’ve taken Jean,’ he wailed, unable to say anything more.
‘But why have they taken Jean?’ Ron muttered largely rhetorically, utterly bewildered by the events he had witnessed.
‘I don’t know. I don’t know,’ Dean wailed miserably. He turned to Ron with a face creased in anguish. ‘What will they do to her? Will I see her again?’ With that he descended into a whimpering heap.

Ron did his best to console the man. In truth they hardly knew each other. They moved in very different circles. But they were neighbours, and neighbours looked out for each other.

What was going on out there? Why had they taken Jean and George? They were hardly desperate criminals, were they? Was this the start? Would they be coming for everyone else soon? This was all taking a nasty turn. He put an arm around the sobbing Dean’s shoulder and told him it was OK; it was all going to turn out alright.

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Despite the clear instructions that they were to stay in their own homes, the Ashley Arms crew broke the curfew and furtively made their way back to the pub. It felt like a refuge. With no TV or radio to provide news bulletins they had nothing to go by. In their part of town the abductions were few. None of them had actually witnessed an abduction, though they had all seen the alien craft flying back and forth overhead but could not see what was happening. Vague screaming could be heard in the distance — enough to scare them silly.

‘Something’s up,’ Billy observed, peering out of the window at the sky as another alien craft shot past.
‘Come away from that bloody window,’ Nobby the landlord ordered. ‘I don’t want you drawing bloody attention to us.’
Reluctantly Billy pulled himself away and rearranged the curtains.
‘They’re up to something,’ he growled, glaring around at the others.

The kids were having a time of it, racing around the pub, giggling and laughing oblivious to what was going on. There was no school and a new playground. What was not to like? Besides, for some reason they were being given unlimited crisps and pop.

‘Seems there are all sorts going on,’ Foxy remarked, trawling through his phone. All the media was down, but the phones were miraculously still working, and people all over the world were finding ways of evading the censorship and putting up snippets of various scenes of abduction, most of which were very disturbing. Doors were being smashed in and lizards emerging with struggling people. ‘They’re dragging people off.’
‘I think we can see that,’ Cheryl observed cuttingly.

The mood was grim as all of them started scrolling through the disturbing scenes that had begun springing up on their phones. Debbie looked to be on the verge of tears and was trying to hold it together.
‘At least we’ve still got power on,’ Kathy remarked, desperately trying to put a positive slant on things and looking to divert attention onto something else.
‘Where do you think they’re taking them?’ John muttered, glancing up from his phone. The abductions seemed to be taking place all over the world.

‘Who fucking knows,’ Billy growled, scrolling from one distressing scene to another as they popped up on his phone.
‘They seem to be focusing on all the wealthy areas,’ Foxy noted, observing the nature of the houses the lizards were targeting.

Everyone started to check that out. Foxy was right.
‘Right,’ Denby acknowledged, ‘they do.’

‘Do you think they’ll be coming for all of us?’ Charlene put into words what they were all thinking.
‘I don’t reckon so,’ Billy muttered, concentrating on his phone. ‘They look to be picking up all the rich bastards.’
‘Might just be the first phase,’ John remarked chillingly.
‘But what are they doing with them?’ Cheryl wondered.

‘What did that lizard say about it in that broadcast of hers?’ Denby asked, trying to think back to the night before. They’d all been so shocked that much of it hadn’t really gone in.

Everyone stared at Denby as they tried to recall what had been said.
‘I think that lizard said something about them taking away the ones responsible for causing the trouble,’ Debbie said thoughtfully. ‘And that we weren’t to worry. They would be returned unharmed.’
‘Yeah,’ Denby said. ‘I’ll take that with a pinch of salt.’

‘Sounds pretty lame if you fucking ask me,’ Billy muttered. ‘How do they know who’s causing trouble? I bet that’s just an excuse.’
‘It’ll be us next,’ Charlene muttered morbidly.

They all turned her way. The same thoughts were going through their heads.
‘Fucking hell,’ Denby growled, ‘this is a right mess.’