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b'Episode Notes
Something horribly is happening to people who look at the night sky... Some are frozen in awe, others aren\'t so lucky... Lunatics that can hear you bleed!
Moonstruck by Mark \\u201cFerret\\u201d Mohlenhoff
Music by Ray Mattis
http://raymattispresents.bandcamp.com
Produced by Daniel Wilder
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Transcription:
3:01
I groggily get up and reach for my phone on the charger.\\xa0 Having been asleep for about 45 minutes, I was slightly peeved.\\xa0 Thankfully, my boyfriend is still asleep, since he will be up in a couple of hours for work anyway.\\xa0 Looking at my phone, I see an emergency message stating: \\u201cATTENTION: Do Not Look at the Moon for Any Reason!\\u201d
My first thought is, Why the HELL is this being sent out as an emergency message?\\xa0 I look down the notification listing on my lock screen.\\xa0 Facebook has blown the fuck up with notifications just in the last 30 minutes.\\xa0 Hundreds of notifications and shares.\\xa0 Even Twitter has been going nuts.\\xa0 I see notifications from FB Messenger, and even text messages, both from numbers known and unknown.\\xa0 Thirty seconds later, my boyfriend\\u2019s phone goes off.\\xa0 I move quickly to silence his phone.\\xa0 Free from the burdens of social media, he is missing out on notifications, but he also has numerous text messages from people we collectively know and from unknown senders.
As I am looking back at my phone, Rusty starts to awaken, having heard the piercing screech of the emergency message.\\xa0 He looks over and sees me with a puzzled look on my face, \\u201cWhat\\u2019s wrong?\\u201d
\\u201cI don\\u2019t know,\\u201d I reply.\\xa0 \\u201cMy phone woke me up, and there\\u2019s this message saying to not look at the moon.\\xa0 I also have notifications from Twitter and Facebook, as well as text messages from over 50 people, prodding me to look outside\\u2014\'What a beautiful night out!\\u2019\\u201d
Waking up a little more, Rusty starts to sit up, picking up his phone.\\xa0 He sees that he has a missed call from his brother, Michael, and starts to dial his number.\\xa0 Just as he is about to hit the call button, my phone starts ringing.\\xa0 My sister, Virginia, is calling me.\\xa0 I know she is usually still up, as she is one of the worst night owls I have ever met.\\xa0 I answer, knowing something bad is happening.\\xa0 I say with a hint of worry in my voice, \\u201cVirginia, what\\u2019s wrong?!\\u201d
Anxiety already settled into her voice, Virginia blurts out, \\u201cOh my God, Dean!\\xa0 You picked up\\u2026 Thank you!\\xa0 Have you heard about what\\u2019s going ON?\\xa0 I was playing my game when the power went out.\\xa0 I looked down at my phone and saw a whole bunch of Facebook notifications about the moon, and then got the Emergency Alert demanding we stay inside.\\xa0 I don\\u2019t know what\\u2019s happening!\\u201d\\xa0 She rushes.\\xa0 I can tell she is barely able to contain her panic.
\\u201cOkay, sis. Calm down!\\xa0 I just woke up so let me get my bearings.\\xa0 For now, stay away from the windows. Go ahead and wake Mom up, let her know what\\u2019s going on, and I\\u2019ll call you back as soon as I know anything.\\u201d\\xa0 I try to be reassuring, but it\\u2019s kind of hard over the phone.\\xa0 Hopefully Mom will be able to calm her down.\\xa0 \\u201cHey, I love you,\\u201d I tell her hoping it helps to calm her.\\xa0 \\u201cI love you, too,\\u201d she nervously mumbles back and hangs up the phone.
Looking over, Rusty is still on the phone, and from the sounds of things, he is talking about the same thing.\\xa0 I start to scroll through social media and news sites trying to figure out what is going on.\\xa0 I am afraid to look outside, not knowing what it is I will see.\\xa0 In that moment, an eerie feeling dawns on me.\\xa0 Where there has always been an underlining calm but consistent buzzing in the air--it was now absent.\\xa0 There are absolutely no noises coming from outside.\\xa0 Not even the sounds of bugs or wildlife are present.\\xa0 I notice that our fan is not on. The low hum of the television and the refrigerator are gone. It is never this quiet in our house at night. \\xa0 We had to have lost power, I think to myself.\\xa0 Looking at my phone screen, I am thankful that my phone reads full battery and that I have charged up my backup battery recently.
I open Google to see if there are any news postings on the home feed.\\xa0 As I am looking, Rusty gets off the phone.\\xa0 \\u201cMichael says that something weird is happening outside his neighborhood.\\xa0 There are a whole bunch of people standing there, looking up at the sky.\\u201d\\xa0 He reaches for the TV remote, but nothing happens when he hits the power button.\\xa0 \\u201cDon\\u2019t bother,\\u201d I say, \\u201cthe power\\u2019s out.\\u201d
I continue looking through the news feeds.\\xa0 Just then, Rusty starts to go for the door.\\xa0 As he unlocks it, I look up and say, \\u201cDon\\u2019t!\\xa0 Let\\u2019s see what we can find out first before we expose ourselves to whatever is out there.\\u201d\\xa0 I click on a local news posting.\\xa0 The Post and Courier headline reads, "Killer Skies"...
"Locals are currently baffled by a strange phenomenon in the skies tonight.\\xa0 Current reports state that citizens who have braved the outside are finding people either laying in the streets, seemingly dead or just standing there, gazing into the unknown.\\xa0 Around 2:35 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, people reportedly started sending and receiving messages via text and social media about the \\u201cbeauty of the moon.\\u201d Considering the moon set around 2:08 AM, something else has drawn the attention of the populace.\\xa0 If you find anyone standing outside, it is advised by officials at this time to leave them alone, as they are reportedly becoming agitated and aggressive when moved.\\xa0 They also advise to stay indoors and away from windows. \\xa0 Covering any access to the outside is also advised at this time, blocking any view of the skyline.
This is a developing story and will be updated when information becomes available."
As I finish reading, I look at Rusty and see concern cross his face.\\xa0 "Call your brother and warn him to stay away from the windows.\\xa0 I\'ll call Virginia and tell her the same."\\xa0 As I punch the next to the last digit, we hear a loud explosion, which sounds like it came from down the road.\\xa0 Thankfully, the windows didn\'t blow in.\\xa0 "Shit!", yells Rusty.\\xa0 He starts to reach for the door again and I forcefully blurt out, "No!\\xa0 There is nothing we can do right now.\\xa0 If we go outside, even to look, we may become affected.\\xa0 I\'ll call 911, you call Michael, then call your parents."
I proceed to call 911, and the line is busy.\\xa0 Considering everything that is happening tonight, it\'s no surprise.\\xa0 Still not a great thought.\\xa0 I can only hope that no one was injured in that explosion.
I call Virginia, and my heart drops.\\xa0 "Mom was asleep, but Dad was not, and he\'s nowhere in the house.\\xa0 I can\'t find him!", she tells me frantically.\\xa0 "Don\'t look outside.\\xa0 Stay away from the windows and doors and try to call him.\\xa0 Make sure Mom stays inside.", I tell her.\\xa0 "I tried that already, but it just goes straight to voicemail."\\xa0 I can tell she is starting to lose it. \\xa0 "VIRGINIA!", I say sharply, "I need you to calm down!\\xa0 Take Mom into the bedroom and stay there.\\xa0 Rusty and I will be there when we can.\\xa0 We\'ll find Dad, but right now, you and Mom need to stay safe.\\xa0 We will be there shortly!"
Thank the Gods my brain kicks in when something happens.\\xa0 I slip into emergency mode like a professional. After the call, I start to have a little breakdown as plans start to settle into place. I never thought I would be as grateful as I am now.
Rusty finishes his phone call and hugs me as I finish my cry. No words\\u2014just love and support. After I clean myself up a bit, he moves to the clothes pile and starts to get dressed.\\xa0 "How are we going to get there without looking at the skyline?", he asks.\\xa0 The thought had crossed my mind when I was having my mini break down.\\xa0 "You have 2 broad brimmed hats. We\'ll keep the brim low so all we see is the street ahead of us so we can avoid anyone or anything in the road.\\xa0 We\'ll also take it very slow since we won\'t be able to see that far ahead.\\xa0 We only need to worry about the one bridge, so if we are lucky, nothing will be on it to get in our way.", I explain.\\xa0 Thinking it over, he nods his head and says, "It\'s as good a plan as any."\\xa0 After we finish dressing, we look around to make sure we don\'t need anything else.\\xa0 My eyes wander over to the washer in the corner, where we keep the firearms, Frau and Igor, and the ammo boxes.\\xa0 "Just to be on the safe side, I want to bring them along.\\xa0 With everything going on tonight, I would feel a lot safer having something with a little bite to keep things at bay if things get hairy.", I say to Rusty.\\xa0 He looks at me and replies, "That was happening anyway, but at least we are on the same page."
We load a couple of clips for the rifles and grab our knives from between the mattress and futon.\\xa0 I look over to where Thor and Loki, our ferrets, are in their cage, looking longingly at us.\\xa0 With all the commotion of the last half hour, I\'m not surprised we have their attention.\\xa0 Gods, has it only been 30 minutes? Feels like we have been going for hours already, I think to myself.\\xa0 Time moves so much different in moments of stress, turmoil, and chaos.\\xa0 "We\'ll be back boys.", I say as we walk to the door.\\xa0 I hope\\u2026
We grab the hats off the pegs on the wall.\\xa0 They are the type that have the snaps on the sides to give the Aussie look on either side.\\xa0 We make sure they are not snapped, pull the brims as low as we can, allowing ourselves some sort of visual, and leave the apartment.\\xa0 I look around as Rusty locks the door, and the surrealness starts to set in.\\xa0 Across the marsh, there is a fire raging from one of the houses over there.\\xa0 I can only imagine what happened to cause the explosion.\\xa0 I whisper a little prayer to whomever is listening that no one was hurt.
As we start to walk toward the jeep, the motion sensor light from apartment D comes on and we see someone standing in the front yard.\\xa0 It\'s our neig'