Voltaic (Interference: Book 1)

Chapter 13: Vociferous

Either way, the silence faded away as more began speaking again. Cassandra then gestured to Raymond, signalling to him to continue. He thus cleared his throat, preparing to speak once more. "Right. So, as I was about to say, we've already grouped all registered refugees here. There will be forty groups, each with one assigned group leader, who is a volunteer or soldier. All groups will move at different timings to ensure that the Formicidae don't detect us easily, and will also make group leaders' jobs easier. We have coordinated two ferries to be anchored at each side of Navy Pier, so there will be four in total to fit ten groups in each one."

"This will all take place two days from now, so please get ready. Do pass on this message to your fellow refugees, although you all will be gathered tomorrow by your respective group members and briefed more thoroughly on this," Cassandra commented. She then sighed, which was somewhat audible despite her moving her microphone away. She then brought it back to her mouth to speak. "That's all for the announcement. Feel free to bring up any questions you have."

Just then, it became pure chaos. Everyone was raising their hands, roaring and yelling. Those at the back quickly cycled to the front, as refugees began squeezing between one another. Everyone seemed so desperate to get their question answered first. And this was something that I wasn't part of.

As soon as the announcement had ended, I grabbed my water bottle and left. I squirmed my way through the violent crowd, eventually making my way through them and heading back to the main refuge area via the corridor. I had no idea why I was so enthusiastic to leave the hall and return to my friends to pass on the message regarding the announcement. There was nothing quite interesting about it after all. But something alarming?

That was a whole different story.

And there was something else about it. Something about the camp directors. Once again, while I was staring at them intently, listening to their speech, I continued to feel that same strange feeling. It wasn't a thought or emotion, but more of a vibe of some sort. It was almost like there was some sort of connection, and it felt stronger than when I had come face to face with one of the aliens earlier on and suddenly awestruck, refusing to harm it. More importantly, it was neither a good nor bad feeling. I really couldn't put my finger on it, which frightened me greatly.

Soon enough, I was back in the refuge area, approaching Larry, Zoe and Jake. I sat back down, exhaling exhaustedly and staring at the ground. After a few moments of pondering, I looked up, facing my friends, who were looking back at me with raised eyebrows.

"So... are you going to tell us what the announcement was about?" Zoe questioned me.

Suddenly, I snapped out of my deep-thinking spell. "Right," I said, shaking my head and trying to realign my mind with the situation. "But before I pass it on to you guys, I just have to say..." I added, trailing off as I attempted to gather my thoughts and get myself together.

"Go on," Jake said.

I sighed, rather unsure on how to explain my thoughts. "I've got this awfully strange feeling that I can't shake off. Or strangely awful feeling, whatever you want to call it. And it's about everything—this "Exodus" plan, the camp directors, and even the camp."

"No shit," Larry cut in vulgarly. "This place is hella vulnerable. We've all seen what happened two days ago, when those aliens killed the four soldiers and almost raided the place. It's a mess, and I bet that that Exodus they're planning isn't any better than the condition of this place."

"It's quite a mess, yes," I admitted. Just as I could continue with informing them about the Exodus, Jake added more comments.

"Well, it's our only option to follow along with," Jake lamented. "Either that or we pick the "second option" and stay here in this unprotected, vulnerable camp and eventually run out resources."