Gone

No one really thinks about where they go. No one really cares.

I knew them though, I knew they didn't have anywhere else to go. I knew they didn't leave willingly.

They were here just yesterday. I stopped by after school because I needed someone to go to the liquor store for me. I went behind the stores, over the creek and, started up the trail towards Ryan's tent when Rochel cut me off.

"Hey girl!", she hollered at me with her raspy voice. "Hey, you goin' to the liquor store?", I asked reluctantly leaning in for a hug. "Nah, I got a date he's waiting for me across the street. I'll see you when I get back though, okay!", she winked and blew a kiss as she walked off toward the motel.

I continued down the trail to Ryan's spot. He was sitting outside his tent smoking with Steve, who always made me a little bit uncomfortable. They were both drinking 40's and it definitely was not their first.

"What up?", I said as I came around the trees. "Hey", said Ryan. "Hey baby girl", said Steve as he looked me up and down. "Ryan, man, could you go to the liquor store for me?", I asked. He sighed and said, "Yea let me finish this first then we'll go." Steve reached out towards me, "You wanna hit this?". "Yea, sure", I said before I took a big hit and we fell into an awkward silence for a moment.

Skkkreeeeeaaaccchhhhhh!

Thud! Skid. Thud!

Someone pulled up in the parking lot. "I don't need you!", someone yelled. The door slammed and the car sped off. We all sighed as the drunken mumbling and stumbling foot steps came closer. "Put that out", Ryan whispered, and I shoved the joint into my hoodie pocket.

"You believe this son of a bitch?", Jamie squawked as she came out of the trees, "He left me! Threw my shit in the parking lot, took my car and left me!", Her and Theo fought like this all the time. She sat down next to me and continued slurring for the next twenty minutes.

Finally Ryan tossed his empty beer into the fire pit. "You ready?" I asked. He nodded and we walked over to the liquor store. I figured he'd be a minute so, I lit up a cigarette which caught Franks attention. "Hey, can I bum one of those man? I'm having a tough day today girl." Begrudgingly, I handed him one and he went on to tell me all about how he'd been differed from the blood bank and was late to the food pantry so he didn't have anything for the rest of the week. "Damn, that sucks man", was all I could really say.

Ryan came around the corner, "Alright, all I could get for that was a half pint of gold cap". I threw the bottle in my bag, "Cool thanks man, I'll get you back next time. Stay safe guys".

I walked back to the trailer park and went around to the ditch behind the back gate. I pulled the vodka and a soda out of my back pack, took a big swig and a chase. That's when Squeak pulled up. He was a weird little guy with a speech impediment and maybe a touch of schizophrenia. He was a little annoying but mostly harmless.

He pulled up on a bike that looked like it was stolen from an 8 year old, "Hey pwetty wady! I'll smoke this joint with you if I can bum a cigawette". "Yea, alright", I answered as I pulled a cigarette out. He sat down and started telling me a defiantly made up story about some party he went to last night. "Yea, that crazy Squeak", I rolled my eyes.

Just then, I saw something out of my peripheral. "What the fuck is that!?", I asked pointing out towards the sky. There was a bright green light hoovering over the area of the camp. We stood there baffled staring as it just hoovered for about ten minutes. After a while we both took out our phones and started filming. Suddenly, it split into four lights in a straight line. "Did you see that? Dude! What is that!?", I screamed. The lights stayed in a perfect line the whole time. They hoovered there for several more minutes. I had no idea what was going on. Then, they somehow became one again and disappeared.

I was trippin! I couldn't believe what we just saw. It didn't make any sense. I couldn't sleep that night. I just kept watching the video on my phone over and over again wondering if I had gone crazy. My curiosity was overwhelming. So, I decided to skip school the next day and go down to the camp to ask them if they saw anything.

As I walked past the liquor store, I had a feeling something wasn't right. A strange sensation of fear tingled in my spine. I walked over the bridge and headed out towards the tents. It was deathly silent. Not only was the early morning drunk chatter missing but, I didn't hear any critters or birds either. Everything was quiet. A ghostly chill ran through my body as I realized Jamie and Theo's tent was gone.

Trash was blowing everywhere, and not just theirs. I saw Frank's backpack caught in the trees as I made my way through to Ryan's spot. When I came out the other side my heart stopped for a moment. He wasn't there. None of his stuff was there. All that was left was a make shift fire pit and the frame of a lawn chair he found the other day. Suddenly, I realized all the trash blowing in the wind was burnt and, that even the leaves and trees were scorched.

I ran up the hill to Rochel's camp and it was the same; just broken bottles and ashes. I felt my heart jump into my throat. I even went to Steve's place. It was harder to get to because he was further down the creek and deeper in the trees. I pushed my way through to find a stray tarp blowing in the wind. His sleeping bag was open and upside down on the ground. The trees all had burn scars. I found a half empty pint of whiskey on the ground, took a big swig and screamed, "What the fuck!?", into the wind.

I went into the gas station for an energy drink and asked Ashley, the cahier if she'd heard anything. "No, that's crazy though!", she said much louder than anyone should be at 8:30 in the morning. When I went out the door, I saw Travis (the tweaker) in the parking lot and asked him if he'd seen anyone from the camp. "Nah, man, I was lookin' for Steve too actually. He was supposed to split a pack of cigarettes with me after he donated. Now, I'm out here hustlin because I cant find him.".

I went into the blood bank and it was basically empty. The only other place I could think of to look was the pool hall. It was a little bit of a walk but it was the only place any of us could afford and the only place that didn't card me. It was the kind of place with sticky floors and shitty food, where you're assaulted by the smell of cigarettes and mildew the moment you walk in.

"Hey baby girl!", called Cheryl from behind the bar. "Hey Mama!", I said leaning over the counter for a hug. "Now I'm not even gonna ask why you're not in school", she scolded with raised eyebrows. "Ma, you're not even gonna believe what I just saw", I sat down and told her all about what happened. She just laughed, "Alright hun, I think you're already cut off", as she walked away.

An old man in a button up shirt coughs across the bar, "Good, I'm glad they finally pushed those bums out of here." The guy next to him cackled, "Hell yea, this used to be a nice neighborhood before they all came out here.". They went on belligerently bickering together and I just left.

I got about the same response from everyone I tried to tell after that. The representative from the local news station laughed at me. The comments online were offensive. No one believed me. Everyone either thought I was crazy or just didn't care.

6 people disappeared that day. I'll never know what really happened but, I know what I saw.