Chapter 9

"We are going on the Mayflower."

Madison was so excited about securing two berths that she was almost tempted to speed home. That would be bad though, because then a cop would pull her over and give her one of those traced tickets. Then they would know where she was, and that was a chance she just couldn't afford.

As she turned onto yet another dirt road, she checked her mirrors ever so casually to make sure no one was tailing her. At last she was into the familiar woods, making a sudden turn into what appeared to be a game trail. She avoided the multiple booby traps and snares placed to trap the government agents stupid enough to infringe on her constitutional rights. Madison made one last check and put on her aluminum foil to scramble any hidden bugs the government had secretly placed on her.

Savannah was crazy to allow her family to reside in a hotel room with absolutely no aluminum foil. She had taken a big chance going there today, but it was worth it. Finally satisfied that she disrupted all the emitting government signals, she made her way into her copper-aluminum lined cabin. "Mark! We did it! We are going on the Mayflower. We've got to get packing."

Madison made her way to the fall-out shelter in the cellar. There, she rapidly began packing all the essentials. First on her list was aluminum foil. As much as she could take.

She shuddered at the memory of when she had had to chew on aluminum foil for three years. Her parents forced her to get a cavity filled when she was fifteen. How naïve they were, of course the government is going to put micro transmitters into fillings. Why do you think they are metal? To increase the frequency, duh. The only way to block the homing frequencies was with her good friend, aluminum foil. The day Madison turned eighteen, she pulled the molar and freed herself! Her parents had insisted on having a professional do it, but then they would just put the transmitter in her gum and she would never be free of Big Brother.

Her parents always said she was paranoid; that she was taking this whole government thing too far. How convenient that BOTH her parents died of meningitis seven years after sight-seeing in the federal buildings in DC. What the people don't know is that meningitis is really when the transmitters implanted into people's brains suffer a melt down. Natural causes indeed.

Madison carefully folded and packed her home-made aluminum suit composed of seven emergency blankets and metal thread. She was prepared for warm or cold climates. Within the suit was a pump that connected to the feet. Whenever she walked, cool air spread throughout the suit. This way, she wouldn't bake like a potato. For cold climates, she simply disconnected the hose. And the best part was that it could be worn under civilian clothing without attracting attention.

Her last items to go into the pack were the med-kit and some food. MRE's and Twinkies, to be exact. A part of Madison warned her that this could all be an elaborate government conspiracy to trap her and Mark. The government might try to poison them. MRE's and Twinkies were definitely in.

As she zipped up her night bag, she smacked herself on the forehead. How could she forget the most important items of all? Her conspiracy notebook where she kept track of all of her leads. She heard that the president's son would be aboard. Maybe he could provide some answers. Or maybe he was one of Them and was personally working with the aliens. And finally, she grabbed her favorite book: Catcher in the Rye. She packed it with care and zipped up her bag for the last time.

Madison and Mark began their eleven-hour drive to the FBI building in Washington D.C. Along the way, they stopped by one of Madison's connection's gun shop. "Colonel Mustard, I need the best Swiss army knife you've got."

"You need a knife, eh? Well a knife isn't going to help much when the Yanks come to get ya. What you need is a rifle!" Colonel Mustard seemed to think that he was still in the Civil War. Well, that wasn't exactly right, since he wasn't even in it to begin with. Madison didn't know where he got these delusions from. All she knew was that he provided the best weapons under the Mason Dixon line and that he had a great knack for overhearing conversations. He was the one who told her about the dolphins being turned into covert assassins.

"Thanks Colonel, but I won't be doing any fighting. I am going to need the knife for a trip I am taking. A lady can never be too careful when it comes to her safety."

"Alrighty miss, but you be careful on your trip. The Yanks are past the Mason Dixon line and are attacking southern homes. Something about an Emancipation Proclamation."

Madison bought the knife and left the store with Mark. She didn't know whether to feel happy or bad for the Colonel. He was going to die, but perhaps death would be the only escape from his delusional world.

They continued their way up to Virginia, making one last stop at the first Denny's in Virginia. Madison loved the clam chowder and their club. She was going to miss Denny's club and strawberry shortcake more than anything else in the world. Maybe another planet would bear strawberries. After all, the aliens had been taking samples of Earth's life-forms for years. She paid with cash as usual. Madison never used a credit card. The government learned something new about you every time your credit card was scanned. No-siry-Bob the government wasn't going to infringe on her constitutional rights.

Madison and Mark continued their trek to Washington on the motorcycle. They decided to unpack their aluminum suits before they went into DC and wear them under regular clothing. One can never be too careful. The signals that the government emitted originate in Washington and were therefore the strongest there. Madison was fairly sure that the government did not emit any signals to her brain. But then again, that's what they want you to think. The aluminum suit would assure that no signals reach her brain today.

Madison had never been in Washington DC before. She stayed home when her parents went. Normally, she would never consider sight-seeing there, but seeing as to how the world was coming to an end, she made an exception. Madison and Mark went to all of the Smithsonian Museums. They even went out of her way to visit the National Zoo. Madison was saddened to see all of these wonderful unique creatures who would all surely perish when the Rock hit.

At last, Madison and Mark hesitantly went to the FBI building. They were exhausted from the long drive and the sight-seeing, but they refused to sleep anywhere that wasn't protected with copper and aluminum. Mark and Madison made sure not to be separated as they entered the building. They were tired, but both kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. The inside of the building was exactly what they had expected it to be. It was large and open, with furniture and desks lining the walls. Large potted plants dotted the room. Oh yeah, tons of places for bugs and cameras to be planted.

Madison and Mark walked together towards the main desk adjacent to the row of metal detectors leading to the rest of the building. Clearing her throat, Madison gave her and Mark's names to the receptionist. The receptionist, being the good little federal spook that she was, gave the pair a bland look and entered their names into the registrar.

Suddenly a loud beeping noise came from behind her. Madison shot around, ready to make a run for it. No group of angry agents met her eyes. Only a slightly surprised-looking elderly woman holding a pager. Oops.

Moments later, two federal agents greeted her and Mark. "Ms. Carter, Mr. Hammerson? We have been expecting you. Can you please come with us?" The federal agents began walking back through the metal detectors. Madison knew that she and Mark could not go through them. That would mean that they would have to remove their aluminum suits, exposing them to dozens, maybe even a hundred different government signals.

"Excuse me," Madison protested, "we would rather not go further into the building. Anything you have to tell us, you can tell outside." The federal agents insisted, but Madison and Mark would not budge.

Eventually, the agents gave up and called their boss down. He introduced himself as Benjamin Tonja. Agent Tonja escorted Madison and Mark to a secluded part of the lobby and went through the procedure for the next couple days.

Madison didn't like the hibernation part, even though it was the most vital part of the entire process. Who knows what, other than the ventilation tubes, was going into the subject's head? Nonetheless, this was her only way to survival. Anyway, there wasn't going to be any government left to monitor her. Or is that what they wanted you to think?

Madison and Mark were escorted to a private air strip. The FBI agent led them to the plane and told them that another FBI agent would be waiting for them when they landed. Madison was glad to be rid of the FBI escort, even if it was only temporary. She wished that they would just tell her and Mark where they were going. This way they could get there on their own, without a FBI escort.

The people at the FBI building insisted they be escorted and refused to give them any relevant information on where they were going for security reasons. All she knew is that they were going to Florida. The plane was going to take four hours to get to there. Madison pulled out her two copies of the Weekly World News, one of which was two years old. Madison started reading the most recent, which she bought the previous week.

"I don't know why you read that garbage," Mark commented. "There isn't an ounce of truth in that entire magazine."

"Newspaper Mark. NEWS paper. It is the only one bold enough to state the facts as they are. Do you know of any other paper that would tell the world about giant ants attacking a home maker? Or of the birth of bat boy? No, you don't. All the other so-called 'news' papers are politically correct. And we both know that the politicians want to keep people in the dark about what goes on in the world.

"But you know what the sad part is? People let it happen. They only care about what is going on in their life and keep a blind eye to everything else. If you ask ..."

Madison was cut short by violent shaking in the plane. She and Mark quickly buckled their seat belts. Madison looked out the window and saw streams of fire falling through the sky. They were under attack! It was all a setup to kill her and Mark. Stupid! She was so stupid to put her trust in FBI agents that she never met.

At last, the rain of fire ended and the plane became steady once again. Mark turned and whispered to Madison, "Those must have been small fragments from the Rock."

"Yeah," she agreed, grateful that Mark couldn't read minds, "must have been."

At 10 PM, the plane landed. Both Madison and Mark were a bit shook up by the small fragments that nearly took their plane down. The FBI agent immediately whisked them away into a black Grand Jeep Cherokee.

It pulled in front of a familiar hotel. Madison recognized it almost immediately. It was the same hotel that Savannah and her family were staying in. She remembered that the hotel was not very secure. She would have to make a trip to the grocery store and buy a lot of aluminum foil to counter act all of the government signals surely entering this building. After much debate, the FBI agent agreed to take Madison to a late-night store while Mark settled into the room (with his aluminum suit of course).

"Geez ma'am, what are you going to do with all of that foil?"

Madison looked at the agent through squinted eyes. "As if you didn't know. The government isn't going to be sending signals to my brain today, thank you very much." The agent must have known she knew one of the government's greatest secrets, because he gave her a funny look as if she were crazy and suppressed a laugh. That was part of the cover-up though, make the people who know the truth look like idiots to the public.

Madison purchased the fifty boxes of foil, along with the most recent Weekly World News, before making her way back to the hotel with the agent. Mark was already in bed, but Madison had her work cut out for her. She immediately began taping the foil to the walls and ceiling, breaking every so often to skim the Weekly World News.

A couple hours later, she was almost done. All she had left was the outside of the hotel door. She placed the newspaper behind her and got to work. A few minutes later, she heard someone slip behind her. She turned around, surprised that someone was out in hall so late. It was a middle-aged man, perhaps a decade older than she. He proceeded to inadvertently slip on her precious Weekly World News.