Poor Ben, the scientist began poking and prodding at him.  Ben used his size to his advantage to get them to stop when he threw a guy against the wall without breaking a sweat.  That was another thing too; every time we grow so does our strength.  Ben wasn’t the guy I would be trying to hold down.

“Why don’t you talk to us?  We’re goddamn people, not cattle!” Ben was extremely pissed at this point.  I couldn’t blame him by the way they were trying to hold him down.  They weren’t doing the same to me but why Ben.

“Mr. Harrison, we need to run test on you.  We need to make sure this isn’t a form of gigantism.  Do you feel light headed?” one of the male techs asked.

“If you wouldn’t try to hold me down and talk to me, I’ll cooperate,” Ben stated.  He wasn’t going to give them a choice anymore.

“Alright, we’ll do as you say,” the man said in a frightened tone.  “First can I get a sample of your blood?”

“Yes you may and no I don’t feel light headed.  My joints hurt though,” Ben said as he maintained his frown.  I still couldn’t blame him.  “I am starving as I’m sure Mrs. Peterson is too.  The hunger has sort of become unbearable.  You clowns would know this if you bothered asking.”

“Okay, we’ll get some trays sent down from the cafeteria.  Hector, take Mrs. Peterson that way while you’re at it,” the tech ordered.

“No, Sarah eats with me.  Sarah and I stay together,” Ben said as he looked straight at me while a tech massaged his joints.  His lips quirked up a bit despite his feelings towards the techs. 

They did x-rays and blood work.  Every time Ben and I began to feel even slightly hungry, food was brought to us.  Sweet shy Ben Harrison had become the man in control.  The techs and doctors seemed to bow to him since Ben showed what his size can do.

“Mr. Harrison got your test results back.  There is no sort of genetic defect causing this.  Your growth plates have definitely reopened.   The amount of growth hormone and receptors is astounding to say the least.  Your DNA test shows and extra strand that is nonexistent.  The same goes for Mrs. Peterson.  This is unheard of,” the doctor scratches his head.

“How big will we get?” Ben asks.

“Well, the growth in definitely accelerating but it’s hard to gauge.  The hormones and receptors are sort of replicating.  Your bodies should be able to handle the growth but gravity might not be all that kind.  It’s hard to tell,” the doctor tells us and the look on Ben’s face broke my heart.  “Unfortunately we can’t stop it.  We have to let the process take its course Mr. Harrison.”

“Oh Jesus Ben,” I said as I took him into my arms.

“We’re moving you to another facility.  The cargo plane is waiting outside.  Take whatever you want but most of it won’t do you any good.  Not at the rate your bodies are changing.  You’ll be provided new clothes and personal items.  There will be others there,” the doctor said in the kindest voice he could muster.  I cried on Ben’s shoulder for a moment before taking leave of the generic white walls.

Ben and I couldn’t see where they were flying us off to.  The only belongings we brought were the pictures of our kids.  They unloaded us inside a hangar behind closed doors.  By this time Ben and I felt ravenous.  Ben stumbled a bit as the guards escorted us through tunnels.  The small amount of time we were without food caused the symptoms of starvation.  Ben couldn’t hold out much longer as he fell to the floor.  Our escorts immediately went into action.  I was clutching my stomach as the hunger became extremely unbearable.

The men got me a wheelchair and a gurney for Ben.  I groaned as I clutched my stomach.  “We need food,” I moaned as I watched them put IVs into Ben.

“Impossible, you just ate two hours ago before your flight here,” the woman pushing the wheelchair tells me.

“She’s right,” one of the techs working on Ben says.  “They’re just like the others.  According to the feeding schedules at the other facilities these people all require food at the same time.  It’s the same in other time zones too.  Some are eating all hours of the night.”

“Well let’s get some food in you and your friend as well,” the woman says in a more understanding tone.

Ben and I were brought to a room where Ben was transferred to a hospital bed.  The bed seemed too cramped for Ben’s large frame.  The rolling table was stacked with two trays full of food.  Ben woke up shortly before the food was wheeled in.  I had my own rolling table too but I sat in a chair.  Ben and I hated this place even more than the last even though the food was better.

Ben and I managed to get our legs back.  The guards were ready to escort us to another hangar.  We never saw the outside.  Tunnels connected each hangar.  Ben and I still felt like cattle.  Ben took my hand and squeezed it.  He seemed frightened and the feeling was mutual for me.

We were taken to a room where six other men and women were.  They all had on the same track suits and each and every one of them been well above average in the height department.  One of the men was even taller than Ben.  They all seemed as frightened as we were but they were also still eating the food from the buffet table.  The one taller than Ben came up to us with a kind smile.

“You must be the last two we all heard the guards talking about.  I’m Paul Masters,” the friendly blond man introduced himself to us.  “Do you remember anything because none of us do except…”

“The light,” I answered.  “That’s all Ben and I remember too.”

Paul frowned.  All of us ‘missings’ didn’t like the fact that twenty-four hours of our life was taken away for no explainable reason.  I wanted answers as much as Paul and Ben.

“I heard one tell the other that we are getting monitored here twenty-four seven, even in our sleep.  Jessie over there thought she heard something about studying us for some sort of super soldier program,” Paul motioned to a leggy redhead talking to another tall man with shaggy brown hair, more like a kid about my Zackary’s age.  “Aaron heard something mentioned about UFOs.  We don’t know what the hell is going on.  Nobody told us anything at our old facilities.  We were just wondering if you guys know anything.”

“Nothing,” Ben answered.  “I had to throw a guy against the wall to get any answers.  I’m surprised anybody here is talking.”

“Me too,” Paul answered with a smile on his face.  “Wish I would have thought of that.  I just let them poke at me.  I don’t know if this is some sort of genetic defect or what.”

“No it’s not.  They have no idea what it is,” Ben answered.  “They’re not even sure it’s going to stop.”

“Hey Paul,” the shaggy haired teen approached our new friend.  “Liz heard that there are children being held.  I don’t know if they can do that.”

“They took you.  It wouldn’t surprise me.  This is Aaron.  He’s the youngest one here,” Paul made his introductions.  We come to find that Aaron is only sixteen.  Children Services came to his parents’ house with orders to take him away.  There was no reasoning for it.  Aaron’s mother thought he was just going through a growth spurt and like with all teenagers and thought nothing of it.  “I hadn’t seen my parents since I hit close to the six foot mark.  I hate this place.”

Some self-important military bastard came into the room.  We were each given assigned dorms but the weird part was each of us was now going to be living coed.  It made no sense to me but I was happy to find out that I was assigned to live with Ben.  I felt comfortable with Ben; I don’t think I would be with a random stranger.  This just didn’t seem right.

To my relief the living space was much bigger than expected with beds that could easily fit Ben’s frame with a lot of extra space.  The rooms were separated off like a regular living space.  Even though we were bunking together, each bed had its own separate room.  It seemed like too much space but I’m sure there is a reason behind all this.  Ben and I crashed as I’m pretty sure the others are doing the same about now.  It was a very eventful day.

I woke up to find my old track suit gone and replaced with a sports bra and shorts.  Even my shoes were missing.  Another weird thing they wanted us to do was sleep in the buff.  I never slept completely naked except after having sex with Richard, this was another new experience.  I quickly put the two articles of clothing on.  I go to brush my hair and teeth.  I still couldn’t get over the youthful reflection staring back at me.  I looked fresh and new since this craziness all began.

I found Ben walking out of his room in nothing but a pair of shorts.  A t-shirt would’ve been nice as I caught myself looking at a body that should’ve been carved out of stone.  Ben blushed when he noticed my roving eyes.  Cheese and rice!  Ben is a happily married man!  Why was I even looking in the first place?

“Did they take your clothes too?” I asked.

“Yeah, this is all they gave me.  You’d think they would at least give me my dignity since I have to bunk with a chick,” Ben joked.

“Visitation in five minutes,” an overhead speaker announced.

“We should eat,” I tell Ben.

“They already brought us room service,” Ben said as he motioned to the cart.

“You’d think they would at least let us pick what we wanted since we have to stay in this five star hotel,” I said sarcastically.  Ben laughed as we made ourselves comfortable near the food cart.  We quickly scarfed down the grub.  The soreness and the hunger pangs seem to have lessened a little.  Big plus in my book but that doesn’t mean we won’t start feeling them again.

A buzzer sounded to our dorm room door.  It sounded like one of those buzzers prisons use.  Sure as shit, the next sound was that of a super industrial strength deadbolt.  We might as well have bars too.  We probably would if there were windows in this godforsaken place.

Ben and I remained seated in our chairs as we waited for our guest to come in.  First Richard came in holding an envelope.  I knew it, divorce papers.  Behind him was a teary eyed Judith.  Ben frowned at the sight.  Ben loved his wife and son dearly.

“We were flown here to talk to you,” Richard said flatly.

“Oh Ben!” Judith sobbed as she approached him.  She collapsed into Ben’s very muscular arms.

“In private,” Richard said as he motioned to the bedrooms.  I nodded and stood up.  When I was completely straightened I realized one thing.  My line of sight cleared the top of my six foot tall husband’s head.  Richard looked up at me with his jaw agape as I tilted my head down to look him in the eyes.  I looked down further to see that Richard was wearing his favorite pair of dress shoes, the ones that gave him an extra inch of height.  My feet were completely bare and were actually bigger than my husband’s, well soon to be ex-husband.  I must be six and half feet tall by now and boy did I feel every bit of it.