Don't Bury The Lead

The Frederick News-Post

August 29, 2025

By Quincy Jacobs. qjacobs@newspost.com

Several hundred people gathered today to witness the historic unearthing of a time capsule that was buried on the grounds of the Walnut Ridge Park 50 years ago, but many were baffled and angered by what they found.

Instead of the letters, tapes, and memorabilia that had been buried in 1975, there was what appeared to be a tablet stamped with a small silver plate that read: BREMER TECH.

“This has to be some kind of a hoax,” said Samantha Clemens, a resident who brought her children to the event. Clemens went on to say that it was “like something out of a science-fiction movie,” and the only ones who could be responsible were “maybe someone from Anonymous.”

Mayor Josephine Adams was present, and after a short speech in which she thanked the town for their presence, she reminded them of the history they were taking part in. “As you all know, Fort Detrik, which borders this park, began in 1931 as Detrik Field, and was just an airfield back then. It became a secret center for the U.S. Army to conduct biological warfare in the 40’s. And now it remains a center for biomedical and biosafety research. Many vaccines and safety equipment developed here have saved an uncounted number of lives.”

Many of those present expressed excitement at seeing what would be unearthed, listing the things their parents and grandparents had added to the time capsule in 1975. “My parents were married in this park when they were just teenagers,” said Issac Christenson, owner of ArmUp!, a local gun shop. “My dad was just a private at the time and had to request permission to marry. The Army told him that if they had wanted him to have a wife, they would have issued him one. He left his stripes in there after the Vietnam War,” Christenson said. “I can’t wait to have them back and display them at home.”

The extraction crew was busy during the mayor’s speech, and once they were finished and opened the vault, there was a silence that fell over the crowd.

The brass band playing patriotic songs came to a discordant close.

Questions shot from the crowd towards the mayor, but she declined to answer and instead picked up the tablet.

“I’m -- not sure what this is,” she said.

When the mayor touched the tablet, it powered up and boomed six words that were picked up by her mic and carried across the crowd.

“HELLO, MAYOR ADAMS. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.”

When the words on the screen faded, a series of news articles, allegedly from the future, appeared on the screen. Still shots of them are posted on the frederickpost.com website, thanks to local man Joshua Banks, who biked to the event and recorded it on his GoPro. The following timeline was among them:

Thursday, October 21st, 2027. 9:32 a.m.

Ground Zero, Frederick, MD

- Classification: G5, severe geomagnetic storm coupled with a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit, overloading transformers in minutes

- Witnesses report streetlights sparking, smoking, and exploding

- Power grid and cell service go out, causing wrecks on the interstate and widespread panic at schools and hospitals throughout both Frederick and the surrounding area, including Washington, DC

- The President declares a state of emergency; FEMA gets involved with little impact

- Back-up generators are inoperable except for those equipped with a Faraday Cage

- When diesel for generators cannot be delivered to the nearby National Interagency for Biological Research (NICBR) in time, the freezers that contain the deadly germs studied by the agency for biodefense fail

- Ebola and smallpox become live, as well as Yersinia Pestis (plague) – there is no known cure for ebola, and smallpox vaccines were discontinued in 1980. A national stockpile of vaccines exists, but due to grid failures, rioting, and sickness, the government cannot contain the crisis

-Once released, the combined pathogens burn across the planet with an estimated 75 percent mortality rate

– Out of 8.4 billion people, an estimated 2.6 billion survive

A group of black SUVs parked outside City Hall today, and the public assumes they took the tablet for national security reasons.

“They had the tinted windows,” Shari Williams, 25, said. “The sunglasses and everything. Looked like they were straight outta that Men In Black movie. I asked them what they were doing, and they didn’t even speak to me. Like I was invisible or something. I pay taxes too.”

Social media has been ablaze with rumors, suppositions, and tutorials on how to prepare for a CME, while others write the entire thing off as a hoax. The Frederick News-Post will continue to follow the story and post updates as they become available.

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AFTERWORD:

August 29, 2025 – Caltech University, Pasadena, California

Theo dropped his backpack beside the bench outside and sank gratefully onto it. Classes this semester had just started, but his itinerary was brutal. Luckily, he was in his senior year, so if he could just manage to get through this last bit he’d be home free.

He was double-majoring in Computer Science and Physics, and more than once, he questioned his own choices in the matter. Like now, when his stomach grumbled in protest. Reaching into a cargo pocket, he pulled out a granola bar and thoughtlessly munched on it while he doom-scrolled. He had about fifteen minutes or so until his next course began, and could let his mind take a bit of a break before the next workout.

Pulling his phone out, Theo was surprised to see that several of his friends from campus had linked him articles surrounding the same story. Some kind of hullabaloo in Maryland.

Interesting.

Having the time to spare, Theo clicked on the first article and read it, then the second and the third. Far from being a skeptic, he was immediately taken in by the story, and it occupied his mental real estate as he walked to the next class, mind afire with the possibilities.

Just as he opened the door to walk in, the sun flashed across the student identification badge hanging on a lanyard around his neck.

It read: THEODORE BREMER.