[qzar9999]

Sorry for the gap of an extra week, folks. My birthday was last week, so I took a break--I didn't think about that when I gave the timeline for my next update.

No growth in this part, although there's an important plot development. And don't worry, the growth will be back soon, and with a vengeance. XD For now, please enjoy the beginning of "Thursday."

Oh, I just realized I didn't upload the .doc for Wednesday. Please find it attached at the end of this post.

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ONE WEEK AT WOLF LAKE
DAY FOUR: THURSDAY THE 12TH
CONTAMINATION: 75%

"I still don't understand why you have to get this done right now."

Carla sighed and rolled her eyes for the fifteenth time. "As I've already told you, I want to know just what the hell is in the water. I've never heard of anything that can do...what this stuff is doing," she replied. "I wanted to know last night and I couldn't reach my friend, the phone still doesn't have a signal, so I'm driving over there to talk to her in person."

"I just don't get the urgency," Will said, exasperated.

"Every minute I wait is another minute that stuff is polluting the water! What if it turns out to be fatal? I need to get the word out as soon as I possibly can!" She wasn't willing to admit, even to herself, that she might have an ulterior motive. If it turned out that the strange chemical was ultimately not dangerous, she could... Nothing. I could nothing. I still need to let everyone know what's happening. I just need to know the extent of what we're dealing with before I go public. She hadn't told Will about her vivid dream, and she wasn't planning to.

He sighed. "I guess you're right. Just do me a favor and drive safely, okay?"

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Love you." She embraced him and gave him a quick kiss before stepping out of the front door and walking to her car. As she started her drive out of town, her mind kept wandering to her dream. She kept visualizing herself being big enough to pick up Will, big enough to destroy houses with a step, her tits big and round, each one the size of a car--

She was startled back to reality by a loud horn honking; in her daydream she'd started to drift into the oncoming lane! She swerved back into her lane, narrowly avoiding a big, dark green semi truck coming the other way, closely followed by another one. They looked vaguely military and slightly out of place, as she'd never seen any trucks like that around town. Shrugging, she dismissed the trucks and concentrated on her driving, heading for a road that led out of town.

Along the way, she passed a few more of the large trucks, raising her suspicions, but what really set off her internal alarms was a vehicle that looked like some kind of armored personnel carrier. What the hell is that doing here? She tried to call Will to see if he'd heard anything, but she still had no signal. "Damn!"

As she approached the outskirts of town, she was shocked to see one of the semi trucks and a black pickup parked by the side of the road and a barricade set up, blocking the lanes and a stretch of ground to either side of the road. Men in military garb stood by the barrier, holding rifles and watching her car. She slowed down, gradually coming to a stop near the roadblock. One of the men walked up to her and signaled for her to lower the window. She complied, and he leaned down to speak to her.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm afraid you'll have to remain in town," he said flatly.

"What's going on here, sir?" she asked, trying to keep calm.

"I'm not at liberty to divulge specific details, but this town is under quarantine. No civilians are permitted to enter or leave, and the Guard is enforcing a strict lockdown on all traffic. Please return to your home."

"You can't just trap people here!" she protested.

The soldier frowned at her. "Ma'am, this is an emergency situation. All I can tell you is that we have information that some residents may have come into contact with a potentially hazardous contaminant, and in order to contain its spread, we cannot permit anyone to leave until the situation has been resolved."

"Hazardous contaminant? You mean--" She stopped abruptly as she noticed a man in a black suit standing off to one side, talking to a few of the soldiers. She couldn't hear what was being said, but the body language suggested he was giving orders. Belatedly, she realized the black pickup had the Talbot-Lucian logo on the side. A series of thoughts flashed through her mind very quickly. They know about the chemical in the water. They know it's affecting people. They've called in the freaking National Guard to lock down the town. Yet they haven't told anyone in town anything about what's happening. Carla reached the conclusion that it might be best not to let on that she knew anything.

She realized the man was still looking directly at her. "Uhh...you mean I'm stuck here? For how long?"

He shook his head. "I don't have an answer to that question, ma'am. Please turn around and stay within the town limits, and I assure you we'll let everyone know when the danger has passed."
She adopted a pleading look and decided to go for broke. "But I have a family emergency outside of town. I really need to be with them."

"I apologize, ma'am, but that's simply not possible."

"Look, I'm in dire straits, here! I can't even contact them to see what's going on!" she exclaimed, holding up her phone that was still displaying "No Service."

The man's face remained blank. "I apologize for any inconvenience. Please turn your vehicle around and move away from the border. If you do not comply, you may be detained."

Something about his complete lack of reaction seemed off to Carla. Suddenly, a very dark suspicion regarding the cellular outage surfaced in her mind. Hoping that her feigned anger and distress about her "family emergency" masked her very genuine distress about what was happening here, she scowled and threw up her hands theatrically. "Fine, fine. But someone's going to hear from my lawyer!" So saying, she turned her car quickly around and drove away from the roadblock, heading into the middle of town, wanting to try something. She thought of doing it at Dr. Matthews' office, but realized that he wouldn't be open yet. Moments later, she had the perfect idea, and steered her car in the direction of Lobo Loco's, the town's only coffeehouse/internet cafe.