Ruggsville County Medical Center had been expanded upon from the old Deadwood Hospital, and had been the premier medical facility in the region for decades now. It was a clean, state-of-the-art business that attended to the needs of the community with efficiency and professionalism. It wasn't always this way, though.
Here in rural Texas years ago, records were fudged to reflect that some fleeing criminals had NOT been shot with hundreds and hundreds of rounds instead of making a better attempt at bringing them in alive to face justice. The autopsy reports did NOT reflect an accurate examination of the murderers' bodies, in order to exonerate Deputy Dobson and the rest of the Ruggsville Police Department. It simply made things easier for everyone, open-and-shut, right? The horrible criminals had been dealt with, their mangled, bullet-ridden bodies transported to the old Deadwood Hospital, and the public was happy.
No one cared to wonder what happened to the Fireflys' bodies when it was all said and done. RJ had been buried on the old family homestead, but the three who escaped and fought so hard for their lives and freedom had been deposited unceremoniously in a graveyard adjacent to the Hospital, and as the people there wanted to forget, the people interred were indeed forgotten. Years rolled on, times changed, new people came in, construction and renovations took place, and in 2010, the ground was part of the kidney dialysis offshoot of the Ruggsville County Medical Center. It just so happened to host bunches of pretty tulips and ferns, growing happily amidst the bustle of the health care industry there.
It was late evening, and the normal business hours of the dialysis clinic were over. The hot summer day had cooled and all was peaceful.
Something disturbed the earth where the flowers grew, very faintly at first, then more insistently. Fingers appeared in the soil, digging, clawing, whole hands and forearms emerging. Moaning and coughing could be heard as the figure struggled, heaving, pushing, yanking themselves from their long-time tomb. He gulped huge lungfuls of air, gasping, spitting out warm earth. He squashed the tulips as he finally yanked himself free of the earth's embrace, long thin hair matted with damp soil, and flopped over on his back a moment. What…what was going on…
He was alive. He'd been..dead...free from the restrictions of living world…and now he had the taste of earth in his mouth and his chest burned with heaving breaths. He sat up to see more commotion coming from the earthly womb he'd just emerged from. A blonde head poked up from the flowers and familiar screeching could be heard. "What the fuck….where am I?," she went on, long, lean arms pulling herself upright. The man sat there wide-eyed as he watched his sister claw her way out of the soft soil. Finally, he took hold of her hand and yanked with all his might, and she popped free of her resting-place like a cork from a pop-gun.
They stared at each other for several long moments in total disbelief, then they began checking themselves over. Their bodies were their own bodies they remembered, but whole and perfect, with no evidence of the horrific carnage they'd suffered at that roadblock. Their clothes were moldy and in tatters, barely serving to cover them at all, but they were whole and hale.
"How the hell—why's there dirt in mah mouth!," coughed another familiar voice. The siblings' heads snapped around to see two more hands and a bald head fighting to be free of the confining earth. After glancing at one another a moment, they crawled forward and took the man's hands and pulled, pulled, slowly bringing him up into the living world.
They all three lay there panting for a few minutes, then got to their feet and looked around.
Holy SHIT. This didn't look like the world that they knew…
"Oh, somebody's gonna fuckin' pay," vowed Otis.
The trio watched with eyes like saucers the strange-looking cars zipping back and forth, and the unfamiliar buildings and garish signs. The older man's survival and fatherly instincts kicked in. "We gotta get under cover," the bald man said, pulling them both behind the clinic and out of general sight.
"Daddy, I'm scared," said Baby, and the big man looked down at her kindly.
"Keep ya head on straight, girl," he admonished, but hugged her. He then grabbed Otis and hugged him, all three clutching at each other for a few happy moments.
"Well, we can't stay here," the slender long-haired man declared. "Cutter's right, we gotta get under cover." The three of them darted across one of the less-busy streets, trying to get their bearings, and were crouching behind a van when someone approached them.
"Hey there…are you folks ok?," asked the young man. "Have you been in an accident?"
Three heads snapped around and three pairs of eyes narrowed. "Say…do you have a car?," asked Baby brightly.
"Oh, well yeah," the man replied.
"Jackpot!," crowed Otis.
