What's Going On?!

The power went out just after midnight. It was only for a few seconds, but for those few seconds I was sitting in pitch blackness. Just as suddenly as it went off, it was back on again and the computer fired up again. Not long after that, Andrew called me from a bar. He said the police came in and were telling everyone to go straight home. Anyone that didn't leave immediately would be arrested and taken to jail because they've declared martial law. Yeah, that's right, Martial fucking law! WTF! Andrew saw some fricking tanks and some National Guardsmen on the roads as he came home. Looks like they're using the old K-Mart parking lot as a staging area for...something. He said they set up lights and there were lots of vehicles and tents. We don't know what the fuck is going on!

The local news websites just say that Martial Law has been declared and nobody is allowed on the roads. Everyone is advised to stay indoors and await further instructions. It's like some sort of movie. I'm trying not to think about it, but it's not easy. A police cruiser went down the street a few minutes ago, flashing his lights and using his spotlight to check between houses and stuff. We locked all the doors and I went around and checked the windows too. I have the tv on, but it's infomercial city! No, I don't want a fucking Flavor Wave Turbo commercial, I want to know what the fuck is going on!

Howling?

Ok, I dunno what's going on out there, but Niku doesn't like it. I took the dogs out to potty in the back yard and Niku was acting funny. Usually, she loves to go outside! LOVES it! She can hunt for lizards and stuff. But she was really reluctant to go out just now. She kinda stood back and shook. I carried her out so she could pee and she ran back to the door. And deaf old Scutter howled. Yeah, she actually freaking howled. It was the freakiest sound! In her old age, she makes a lot of annoying whiny noises and she'll bark at nothing, but I've never heard her howl. I brought them back in and gave them treats, but dude! So fucking freaky! I have a nice big slice of birthday cake to try and calm my nerves. Still nothing on the news sites and the tv is still trying to sell me shit. I guess I can only wait till morning when the news shows fire up.

Flight Path

We have an airport here in Lafayette. Sometimes you can hear planes flying overhead, but tonight I hear a helicopter and either there's more than one of them or it is circling. I don't know why they'd be all the way out here. We're not out in the boonies, but we're not exactly in town either. Regardless of our locational challenge, there's helicopters out there flying pretty low.

The television seems determined to keep me into the dark as it's Saturday and the only things on are cartoons and morning talk shows. WTF happened to the news?! The one time I need to watch it, they go on vacation or something?

Grar! I don't know how Andrew is sleeping now. Stupid boys. He played his World of Warcraft and now he's probably dreaming of boning a hot night elf or something and I'm the one staying awake thinking of zombies coming to eat my brains! D:

Green Skies with a Chance of Meatballs

The helicopter stopped a while ago. I managed to settle down and read a manga about fairies that eat happiness. It was cute. It kept me awake. I sort of feel like I shouldn't sleep, like something is going on that I need to be awake for. Once I go to sleep, I'll probably be out for hours. I keep checking the news sites. They're being really unhelpful.

...

I just went to let the dogs out and its weird out there. Niku didn't want to go out again and Scutter was barking at nothing and the sky was green. Yes, it's a sickly, watery, yet distinctly green sky. I've never seen that before. I just looked it up and apparently it can signal tornadoes. I went back out and dragged the patio furniture into the garage just in case. The last thing we need is to have a tornado fling a chair through the stupid French doors in the back. Maybe if our French doors were prettier, I'd like them more, but they're kind of unattractive and I hate the ghosty gauzy curtains over them.

The news sites just updated. Even though it's lighting up outside, we're still not supposed to leave the house. Anybody caught on the roads will be turned around. Police and the National Guard are patrolling. They've shut down Highway 90. I-10 is still running, but all the exits are closed off so you can't get on or off the highway. There's a note not to stop for hitchhikers, as if anybody on the road will read the site. They're driving. Duh. Despite the update, nothing says why we can't leave the house or the highway's shut down. I'm starting to wonder if some bus load of criminals crashed on the highway and now everyone's hunting down the ones that escaped.

This is so weird. Next thing I know, it's going to start raining meatballs. Whatever. I'm going to go to bed now. I'm sure Andrew will wake me if anything exciting happens.

Emerald Skies

I know I said I was going to sleep, but it's hard. My blinds are down, but they're sort of glowing green. As the sun rises, the sky isn't changing blue, it's getting greener. It looks really weird. It really messes with your perception of colors. The neighbor's red truck looks brown. Also, now that it's morning some of the neighbors are up and walking around, talking to each other, speculating. The guy across the street is loud and annoying. He's one of those annoying know-it-alls who has something to say on everything. I can hear him from my bed. Just shut up dude! Just shut up. And sky, don't you dare rain meatballs! I was just kidding. Although, it seems it is possible it will spit hail. As long as it's not really a tornado, or godzilla, or something. Day, stop getting weirder. I just want to sleep.

Not a London Fog

Ugh. I'm so tired. My body is achey. I just stretched and now my back is throbbing with pain. Ow. Not cool. Shoulda slept more, but the dogs needed to pee. And yes, it's still green out there, but more hazy now. It's sunny, green, and hazy, like there's a bit of ground fog. That makes me nervous. Green sky or no, the sun is out and hot, so it would burn off any real fog, so this is something else. Understandably, I spent as little time as possible out there. I'm beginning to think that maybe there was some sort of chemical leak. Aren't we supposed to evacuate for this? And now they've done the opposite and we're in some sort of lockdown.

The power just flickered, so I suppose I'll cut my rambling short and shut down the computer before it can go out on me.

Browning Out

We've had brown outs and power flickers all day. Our cell phones aren't getting signals, but Mom managed to call us on the land line. She's out at Sam's and they've been asked to evacuate. Apparently I-10 is not closed around Lafayette. You can only head away from the city where they are. The bridges in town have all been put up so you can't cross the river. Not like any cars are allowed on the road, but that's weird. From our house, you can usually hear the constant traffic going over the grills of the drawbridge, but now it's silent. It's made even creepier by the absence of birds. Even the cicadas aren't doing their usual annoying buzz. It's hot and humid and gross, but none of their buzzing. Every once in a while you hear some dogs barking or howling or a few neighbors grouping together, but other than that, a very unnatural silence.

Mom and Sam tried to drive down here but there's a road block just before Tel Jean Road, so they weren't able to get down. With the power being so unreliable, a lot of people in the neighborhood are actually barbecuing. You can smell it out there in addition to the weird smogginess, there's grill smoke everywhere. It's a nasty mess. Regardless, Andrew and I have begun to pack up our cars with some clothes and other essentials. We're hoping that we get evacuated soon as well. Of course, we don't know what the fuck we're evacuating from, but I'd feel much better being on the road heading for Texas than sitting around here in the dark, wondering. If nobody comes to evacuate us, I'm seriously considering going over the condemned bridge. Just past this end of Tel Jean, there's a bridge over the river. If you go over it, you can get out to Sam's house. It was damaged in the flooding a few hurricanes ago and has since been deemed unsafe. It's still standing, but I guess unsteady. I'm wondering if we can drive down there, clear whatever barriers they have on it and pump it as we go over the bridge. Once over the bridge, we should be able to blend in with the rest of the evacuating traffic and meet up with Mom and Sam.

I'm hoping that there's just a few sand barrels or something easily moved out of the way. I never go down towards the bridge. There's a road block that detours you down Tel Jean anyway. If we do that, it's best to wait till it's darker. Then we can drive down the street with our headlights off and be a hell of a lot less noticeable. Not that there's many people to notice, other than the neighbors. There's been the occasional police cruiser through the neighborhood, usually using the loud speaker to tell people to return to their homes and remain calm. Yeah right, as if! Once they drive off, everyone's back out there chattering like a group of angry chipmunks. And I don't blame them!

This is so weird. The quiet, the color of the sky, the smog, the patchy electricity, the lack of information. Talking to other people is the only thing that keeps you sane. Sitting around and stewing in the situation is what drives you mad, leads to all that crazy stuff. It's only been a few hours and you can tell people are jumpy and edgy. Even though people are talking, some of them will look at you funny and you kind of wonder what the fuck is on their mind to stare at you that way. After the first time or two, I just stopped going out there with them and continued to put stuff in the car.

Andrew got his new computer in the car. We've got clothes, food, dog food, some family photos. I stole the box of cash from mom's room. Money is a great motivator. If we can't make it over the bridge, maybe we can pay off the road block with a couple hundred bucks. At this point, we're just playing the waiting game. I'm waiting till the last minute to put my computer in the car. It's one of the few things keeping me relatively calm right now. Having music helps. Having cake helps. Not being alone is a big help. But even then, there's a lot of time to speculate on what's going on. Is it really escaped prisoners? A gas leak? A freaking terrorist attack? Hell, maybe it's the damn apocalypse! There's no way of knowing.

The local news sites still have generic "Stay in your home" notices and the national news has nothing. They seem to be going about their day as usual talking about the elections in Iran and Six Flags filing for Bankruptcy. I wonder if it's because of the Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans disaster left by Hurricane Katrina. They were just asking for trouble when they built that up out of the swamps. Into the swamps it will return since no one's touched it since. Ironically, they have a 20 year lease on the place or something. I've seen some pictures from people who have managed to get in and look around. I love those abandoned places pictures. I sort of feel like I'm getting an up close and personal taste with that now. Sure, the neighborhood isn't abandoned by any means, but it has that sort of atmosphere of something not quite right.

CRASH!

Fuck! Some dumbass teenagers in the neighborhood got shitfaced drunk and took out their stupid fucking golf cart to drive around the neighborhood. The idiotic driver crashed into the house for sale across the street. They only ran into the white picket fence surrounding it, but I screamed. It was loud and I was already on edge. Andrew and I were getting ready to sneak down to the bridge on foot to check it out, but now the neighborhood is a hive of activity. It looks like there will be no ambulances out to pick up the morons. They mostly have cuts and bruises. I'm sure someone in this snooty neighborhood is a doctor. The lady that lives behind us is, but she's on vacation in India. Whatever, those little snots deserved it, but now Andrew and I are still stuck here waiting. Mom and Sam already evacuated and they're waiting for us in Beaumont. We can be there in a couple of hours. We just need to get out of this damn neighborhood.