Hunting Their Omega

Aurelia  I read the letter in my hand and scoffed before tearing it up into several small pieces. It was the third reminder I received about the mandatory testing being held by the government. My appointment had been scheduled for later this morning in the school's gymnasium in town. I wasn't even given a choice on the time or date. They assigned it without asking if I had any prior commitments. Assholes. The worst part was that no one would tell me what the testing was for or why they were doing it. The only thing indicated in the letter was that it was mandatory, and anyone who failed to attend their scheduled appointment would be guilty of a punishable offense. I called the mayor’s office to get more details but he was unavailable, and his secretary refused to answer any of my questions. Of course, he never returned my calls either. I wasn't a conspiracy theorist or anything, but I certainly didn't trust the government, and without any more information, there was no way I would let them run tests on me. Punishment be damned, I wasn't going to abide by their demands without further information. One of the other tenants in my building went to her appointment yesterday and said they took a blood sample from her. She asked them what it was for, but they refused to answer. That didn't work for me. Unless they gave me a legitimate reason for taking my blood, I wasn't giving it up freely. What were they going to do about my refusal? Arrest me? I guess time will tell since I wasn't attending my appointment. I grabbed my purse and shoved my cell phone in the side pocket before leaving my apartment. I walked to the hospital a few blocks from my house, where I worked as a doctor. I loved my job since I got to help people, but it was exhausting at times. Lately, it had been so busy that I barely got any sleep. I was always on call since I lived the closest out of the three doctors in town and had been called out the past five nights in a row. "Hey, Janice," I greeted one of the receptionists as I entered the hospital's front doors. "Good morning, Dr. Flores," she replied with a friendly smile. "It's Aurelia, Janice," I corrected with an eye roll. We were friends outside of work, yet she refused to call me by my first name during work hours, even though I asked her to. "You know I’ll keep calling you by your title, so why bother arguing with me?" She shrugged. "You worked hard to become a doctor, own it." I grabbed a stack of file folders she held out for me. "I don't need a title for that. I'm already owning it." I joked and winked before heading for my office. Janice was chuckling as I walked away. She knew as well as I did that I didn't own anything. In fact, my job owned me. All I did was work, eat, sleep, and repeat. It was actually quite sad for a twenty-six-year-old. Once I reached my office, I set the file folders on my desk and sat before sorting through them. I had surgery scheduled for today, but it wasn't until late afternoon. So, unless there was an emergency, I had time to catch up on paperwork. Fingers crossed for no emergencies because I had a ton of work to catch up on. I lived in a small town called Krestova, which was on the country's west coast and had a population of five hundred and fifty-six people. Usually having two doctors at the hospital was enough to handle all the medical emergencies, but sometimes we were run off our feet like this past week. It seemed like everyone picked the same week to have medical emergencies. It had been crazy busy. I was in desperate need of a vacation. Sighing at that thought, I got to work. I had been filling out reports for a few hours when Janice walked into my office with a mug of piping hot coffee. I groaned at the smell, which made her chuckle. Caffeine has been my lifeline lately. Without it, I couldn't function—especially not this past week. "I thought you could use this," Janice chirped as she put the mug on the desk before me. "Have I told you how much I love you lately?" I asked, picking up the mug and inhaling the rich coffee smell before bringing it to my lips. "And I told you before, Dr. Flores, I'm flattered but taken," she joked, walking to the door with a little extra sway to her hips. "Well, keep me in mind if things don't work out between you and Tony. I would treat you well," I retorted with a playful whistle before we both chuckled. She knew I was joking. Janice stopped at the door and turned to face me. Her expression had turned serious. "Have you had your appointment yet? You know, the one for testing that the government is mandating?" she asked nervously. "I'm scheduled to go this morning, but unless they give me more details on what exactly it's for, I'm not going," I said firmly. "But, Lia... They said anyone who doesn't go will be punished. Don't you think..." Janice's concerned voice trailed off. She used my nickname now that the conversation had turned serious. "They can punish me all they want because I don't think I'm asking for too much. I just want to know what the testing’s for," I said with a casual shrug, trying to sound confident even though, in reality, I was also nervous about the consequences of my actions. "I guess.” she sighed, adding, “My appointment's tomorrow, and I'm nervous. I don't want to go either without knowing what it's for. This is the first time they've asked us to do something like this. I wonder what's going on." "Well, if I'm still here tomorrow, maybe they're bluffing about punishing those who don’t comply.” I wouldn't tell her not to go because I didn't want to be the reason for her getting in trouble. But I could be her guinea pig so she could see what happened when someone failed to comply. Then she could decide for herself if it was a risk she was willing to take. "Yeah, I hope they are." She sighed defeatedly, adding, "I'll let you get back to work." "Thanks for the coffee." Once I was alone, I returned my attention to the file open in front of me. The next time I looked at the clock on my desk it was almost noon. Since I had surgery in a few hours, I walked to the coffee shop next door to grab a pre-made sandwich for lunch. "Hey, girl. What can I get you?" Celine, the barista, asked as I entered the front door. She knew me well since I came to the shop almost daily to grab food. "Hmmm... I'm thinking roast beef today, Celine," I replied, looking over the display case. "Oh, and one of those double chocolate brownies, please," I groaned and licked my lips at the sight of the delicious sweets, making Celine chuckle. What? I had been working my ass off this past week. I deserved a sinful treat in the form of decadent chocolate. "You got it," she chirped as she started preparing my order. "Anything to drink?" she asked as she put the brown paper bag on the counter in front of me. "No thanks. I have water and coffee back at the office." "Okay. That's fourteen-fifty." As I paid with my card, the bell above the front door rang, indicating that a new customer had entered. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and my skin prickled with awareness when I felt the authoritative aura filling the room. I resisted the urge to look behind me until I was done putting my card away and gathering my food. When I finally turned, I froze at the unfamiliar men standing in the entryway. They were massive, at least six foot five, and muscular, dressed in full camo gear. They had guns holstered to their belts. I knew everyone in town and didn't recognize these two. They were both looking at me, but the taller of the two was far more intense. His gaze felt like it was piercing my soul. He was handsome with short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a sharp jawline. He looked around thirty, maybe older. It was hard to tell because his stern expression added a few years. I felt so short next to him and had to crane my neck to meet his gaze. I mean, I was only five-foot-three, so in all fairness, I had to look up at most people if I wanted to meet their eyes. Something about the man unnerved me. I wanted to say it was only because he was intimidating, but that wasn't the whole truth. His handsome face and big muscular body awakened something inside of me. I felt the punch straight to my core. There weren't many handsome men in town, so my ovaries got a little excited when we came across one. Down girl. I silently scolded myself. His partner was a few years younger and only slightly shorter, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He was handsome, too, but for some reason, my eyes stayed locked on the other guy. Probably because of the intense way he stared back. It wasn’t creepy, just intense. Almost like he was trying to figure out my deepest darkest secrets. A chill raked down my spine and my entire body suddenly felt like it was burning up. A sharp cramp hit my lower abdomen causing me to flinch from the stabbing pain. What the hell was that? It had to be my nerves acting up from all the excitement of the day. My attention returned to the two men standing by the door. Were they military? If so, why were they in town? Did they have anything to do with the stupid government-mandated testing? I was a law-abiding citizen, so the fact that I was going against the government was setting me on edge. I felt like a rebel even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Had they given me a legitimate reason for conducting the testing I would have gladly complied. But the fact they didn’t include the health care providers of this town in whatever these tests were for, led me to believe this wasn’t medical. So, if it wasn’t medical, what was it for? Once I snapped out of my shocked state, I smiled awkwardly and walked around the two enormous men, heading for the door. They didn't say a word as I scurried out of there like a scared little mouse. When I was outside, I couldn't stop myself from glancing over my shoulder through the glass door one last time and immediately regretted it. They were both looking back at me with stern expressions. But there was something else in the tall one’s eyes, confusion? Recognition? I squashed that thought since I had never seen him before in my life. There was no way he recognized me. I glanced at my watch and realized my appointment for testing was supposed to be over an hour ago. Were they here for me? It was possible, maybe that was where the confusion and hesitation were coming from. I didn’t exactly look like the rebellious type. Maybe he was struggling with the thought of arresting me. You're just being paranoid, Aurelia. If they were here for you, they would have said something. I tried to reassure myself as I walked back to the hospital a little quicker than when I first went to the coffee shop. Sweat trickled down my forehead and my breathing came out in short pants. I guess I was more nervous than I realized about my defiance. Was this a panic attack I was experiencing?