The next morning, it was even cooler than yesterday. I was bundled in a warm coat, hat, and gloves. I met Phil outside of his house as usual and we made our way down the street. Wouldn't you know it, it didn't take long for us to come across a man in black. He was parked on the street with his window down.

I didn't feel any kind of anxious. These guys were like stray dogs. Just everywhere.

"Hello?" I called out to him, closing the distance but leaving about a meter of space between me and his car door.

He looked at me with a straight and deadpan expression. Yet, he said nothing. Surprise.

"Hey." I simply continued. "What's up with all these birds?" I said it as casually as asking about the weather.

He perked up at the question, "Have you touched a bird?" Was all he asked in a stern voice.

"No, rest assured, I'd never dream of it."

"Then? What about birds? Have you seen any birds portraying any strange or unusual behaviors?"

And everyone was so sure that I was the one obsessed with birds. Make it make sense.

"What is unusual for a bird?" I was confused by his question to the point I almost forgot what I came over here for, "Look." I spoke before he could answer, "I just want to know. Why can't we touch the birds?"

He may have been wearing sunglasses, but I could still somehow read his eyes. They were cold and suspicious. His voice was laced in concern, "Are you sure you haven't come into contact with any birds?"

"I'm positive." I wasn't initially worried when I came over to talk to the man. Yet, now, I was beginning to feel nervous. His demeanor was beginning to gaslight me into thinking maybe I had touched a bird or something. Were there any signs to show that? Was I showing any?

"Good. Let someone know if you do."

"What happens to people who touch birds?" I felt a little bold to be asking this one. Part of me didn't even want to know the answer. Not really. I had seen too many movies maybe.

"Don't venture to find out." Was all he said before very rudely rolling up his tinted window. I just saw my own disappointed reflection in return. Overall, I couldn't really complain. I mean, I had gotten more out of the man than I ever thought I would. I was expecting his to answer me with a series of grunts or silence altogether.

Phil and I got to school just in time. I didn't have time to talk to Patrick just yet, but I would be sure to talk to him after the roll call. I waited while feeling extra antsy. I eyed him to see if he would look back at me at all. He didn't. Maybe he felt a bit indifferent about it all, too?

After we were finally free to move about the classroom, I eased my way up to his desk that he shared with Chelsea. She just so happened to be Phil's crush. The kind of crush who knew he was head over heels for her, but she simply didn't seem to share the same interest. That didn't stop her from enjoying to toy with him, though. Sort of made me not like her as a person, but ultimately, it wasn't really my business.

"Hey, Pat." I gave him a casual greeting, "I saw your comments last night."

"Yeah, it seems you decided to take to the internet with your concerns." He was a lot easier to talk to than the men in black, that was for sure.

I only now realized Phil had followed me. He spoke to Chelsea, "Morning, sunshine."

"Good morning, Phillip." She greeted him with a forced smile.

I decided to let them have their awkward stare-off while I focused on Patrick. I came up here with a purpose. "So," I pivoted to my right leg, "you're like, the only person with any kind of curiosity. What do you think is going on with these birds?"

"As I said," He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, "It's my thought that we are dealing with some kind of avian illness. One that can spread to humans. It isn't out of the ordinary for the government to step in to order quarantine or restrictions in order to protect citizens from some kind of outbreak."

"What about the water?" I thought I would cover as many points as I could before the bell rang to release us to our first class of the day. Not that he would have all the answers. I was just relieved to be talking to someone about real issues.

"I wouldn't doubt that the birds may have contaminated it." He shrugged. The water plant is wide open. As are our lakes. Birds can dip in any time."

"Why do you guys care about the birds?" Chelsea could easily overhear our conversation.

"Because." Phil raised his eyebrows at her, "Birds and bees. That's the language of love, am I right?"

"No one mentioned bees." She told him flatly.

"I did." He gave a nod, "Because I want to beeeee close to you."

"Take a hint." I rubbed the bridge of my nose in second-hand embarrassment for the guy. He wasn't really the type to take no for an answer. When it came to rejection, the guy seemed to turn a solid "no" into "convince me."

"Anyway." I tried to steer the focus back to the topic at hand. "I spoke to one of the men in black today." I shared with him, "Except he wasn't any help. About like I imagined."

"They actually spoke to you?" Patrick seemed surprised.

"No really." Phil jumped in. "More like talked around him."

"But it was something." I wanted to see the positive in this, "With the way he was answering, it did make it obvious that they are hiding something. Something they don't want us to know."

"Do you think the adults know?" Patrick pondered aloud.

"Doubt." I said, "Otherwise my parents would have told me. I think everyone is clueless here and no one cares enough to find out."

"No one likes the government." Patrick stated the obvious, "Of course they wouldn't want to get involved."

"They should be rioting in the streets!" I pointed out. "They should demand answers! We can't even drink our own water?"

"Who drinks tap anyway?" Chelsea managed to hit the same point that had already been made before.

"That's not the point." I rolled my eyes, "The point is we didn't have these issues until they showed up. Maybe they brought all the troubles with them."

That was when the idea really started to resonate with me. That we really were being tested in some way. Maybe they really did bring all these issues onto a small town like us for their own hidden agenda. I wasn't a conspiracy theorist. At least, not until recently. Except, this wasn't a conspiracy. This was happening right in front of us, but no one was questioning it.

"The water is making the frogs gay?" Phil let out a short snort.

"Maybe!" I exclaimed. "Who knows what's in the water now."

"If they wanted to test it on us, why would they be preventing us from touching things?" Chelsea was just part of this conversation now, I guess. "Wouldn't they keep their distance and let us make mistakes in order to test what happens to humans who come into contact with things?"

"God, you are so smart." Phil smiled at her. "I love the way you think."

She did make a good point. Then what was the catch. They actually... what? Wanted to protect us? That didn't sound like the government.

The bell rang. It was time for us to mosey on about to our following classes. Which was fine. I had a lot to think about. I would be making a new post concerning Chealsea's point. Maybe someone else had some insight. Someone who wasn't Ricky. Who, by the way, was glaring at me any time he saw me. Jeez, like I said the worst possible thing to him. Some people are so sensitive.

I made notes in my journal of things to add to my post. Maybe I would swing by Martin's house to see if the rumors of his family leaving were true. Enough people had said it. There had to be something to it. That is, if you could really believe anything anyone said around here. Gossip was comparative to our town's sport here. For a town that liked to mind their own business, the school students didn't seem to get that memo.

Yet, I actually was looking forward to computer class. I guess I was more just looking forward to people actually engaging about the topic. It wasn't gossip to me. It was real world events that affected us on a real level. At least, they did to me. Because it was basically all I could think about.

When I got to computer class. I could see that there were some comments on my previous post.

Dillon Parks: My cat caught a bird and ate it. Should I be worried?
--Jerry Frinlind: Maybe you should alert the authorities.

Frank Tosh: I noticed a flock of birds hanging out at my watering hole. My cows drink from there. Who do I call about that?
--Ricky Delps: Is everyone here obsessed with birds?

The thing about these comments was that they weren't from people at my school. They were adults. Adults that just began following me. I had been gaining more followers ever since I started posting about this. I was so excited to see real conversation.

Cynthia Loyd: I saw a dead bird outside my apartment.
--Devin Camp: Was there anything strange about it?
--Cynthia Loyd: It was dead.

I knew of Cynthia Loyd. She was in my history class. I knew which apartment complex she lived in because we only had one in this town. I wondered... I had already examined a feather to find nothing. What if I had a whole bird? A whole dead bird. I wouldn't even have to try to catch it. All I had to do was find it. If it was still there. Well, I knew what I would be doing after school.

Phil noticed we were heading in a different direction when we were leaving. It was interesting enough that he was actually following me instead of walking his own way home.

"So." I knew what he was about to ask. "You going after that dead bird?"

For half a moment, I forgot that the posts were public. He must have been reading them as they were posting on my profile.

"You gonna try and stop me?"

"Nah." He reiterated. "Ride or die."

"Thanks man."

It was going to be a bit of a walk, but it would be worth it if we found what we were looking for. I made sure to bring a bag and some gloves with me from the study fall.

It was so cold; I couldn't feel my nose anymore. Yet, we searched. We only had a ton of ground to cover. Cynthia never said exactly where the bird was. It could have been right outside her door or even across the street. It could have been confiscated by the bird police. We would just have to be vigilant.

We searched the grounds for almost an hour. Starting close to the building and working our way outward.

"We aren't going to find it." Phil finally said. His nose and cheeks were red. He was clearly exhausted and ready to go home. I couldn't say I blamed him. I was worn out and freezing myself.

"Maybe someone came by and picked it up." I shrugged.

"Or even a cat came by and got it." He offered. "Why do we even really need it again?"

"I just wanted to look at it."

"And what would that tell you?"

Suddenly, I noticed a big black SUV driving past us. One of the men in black. He rolled right past us. Staring the whole time with his dark sunglasses. Even though the sun was setting. Did those men ever take them off?

"Dude." Phil shook his head, "They know. They definitely took it."

"Yeah." I muttered as the man continued to roll on away to go about his rounds. "And I want to know why."