Enjoy!
“Adelaide.”
The single word drew my attention to a raggedy looking man
leaning against a light pole. What’s his face from the old house, the crazy guy
who told me the city would blow up in seven days.
That was, what? Six days ago.
I backtracked a few steps to lean next to him. “What’s your
name, slim?”
“You don’t need to know my name. Thought I told you not to
come downtown.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, well. You know what they say about the
lure of the lights and all that.”
“You’re too smart to be doing this to yourself.” He glanced
over to me, and I noticed for the first time how calm he was. No twitching, no
incoherent talk. Just as calm and steady as a sunny day. “Why do you destroy
yourself?”
“Gee, slim, I don’t know.” I stepped off the pole and turned
my back to him. “Maybe my daddy didn’t love me enough.”
“Bullshit.” He stepped up behind me and I felt his hot
breath on my cheek when he spoke again. “Leave. Now.”
Slim’s voice sent goosebumps across my skin and I rubbed my
arms. “Why?”
“Up to you, mama,” he said, suddenly backing away. But he
grabbed my arm before I could run for my life. I knew I should have finished
off that tequila before I left the house.
“What are you doing?” I struggled in his grip, my efforts
futile. Slim was much stronger than he appeared.
“Come on,” he said, and tugged me into his side. “We’re
taking a walk.”
I stayed silent as he drug me along the crowded streets of
downtown. People jostled by, unaware of the silent struggle with their heads
tucked securely up their asses. So long as that smart phone was visible, they
didn’t care.
We finally reached the hub of downtown, a section of old
buildings fashioned in a large circle. The courthouse sat to our left and
police headquarters to the right, the same building I’d gone into just a few
days before. The police didn’t notice
us, either. They were too busy getting a group of rowdy protesters to move.
Slim smiled and led me down a small alley between the buildings.
“Where are we going, slim?” I asked in a sweet voice, hoping
to disarm him.
He finally let go, but beckoned me forward. “I want to show
you why you shouldn’t have come back down here.”
Apprehension slammed into me with a gale force, leaving my
heart pounding and breath coming fast. I stepped forward cautiously, following
him into the shadows. Slim lifted a trash can to reveal a hole in the ground
and pointed.
I leaned around him and gasped. Wires, thousands of them,
ran in intricate patterns to a hub of some sort. It seemed to pulse with
anticipation of the lives it would steal, the mangled bodies left behind in its
wake. I glanced up at Slim and found him nodding with excitement.
“See, Adelaide? This doesn’t just end here, either. We’ve
set this bitch up all underground.” His arm swept
the area to indicate the size
of the beast below us. Energy hummed through my feet as I prepared to run. “There’s
another set up on the other side of town and too many more to count across the
nation.”
I fell back against the wall, clutching my chest as panic
rose inside of me. “Why, slim?”
“Why what? Why two? You know, double your pleasure, double
your fun.” He winked, and for the first time I saw his calm clarity for the
truth: madness.
Utter madness.
“Oh, my god,” I whispered.
“Twenty three minutes, mama.” I bolted down the alley, his
laughter following me the entire time.
What do I do? All these people, all oblivious to what crawls
beneath them. I looked to the protesters at the police station, embroiled in a
meaningless battle with the law. Who cares? Freedom means nothing in the
aftermath.
I ran up to them and grabbed an officer. He jerked away and
stared at me.
“The hell do you think you’re doing?”
Tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I pointed to the alley
where slim had just emerged from. “A bomb,” I said, willing him to believe me. “There’s
a huge bomb in that alley.”
He frowned, waffling back and forth. Finally, he relented
and stepped down from the first stair to meet my gaze. “A bomb?” I nodded. “In
that alley?” Another nod.
“Hey! Johnston!” Oh, god. The cop who didn’t believe me.
The officer stepped over and spared me a glance. “Yeah?”
“This young lady seems to believe there’s a bomb in our
alley.”
Before Johnston could form the clever reply, I threw my
hands up, exasperated. “Will you just come down there and I’ll fucking show you.”
They kept their hands trained on their guns, which was
probably a good idea seeing as slim was hanging around. “Here, right here.” I
pointed to the trash can. “Lift that up.”
Johnston stepped around me, keeping a side eye on me the
whole time. He kicked the trash can away to reveal the hypnotic core of the
massive bomb beneath our feet.
I swallowed. “I told you. He said there’s twenty three
minutes to the explosion.”
Before I could blink, I was being dragged out of the alley
and tossed onto the street. After an agonizing minute of delay, a whole shebang
of cops ran into the street. The radios crackled and feet pounded past me as
they tried to decide how best to evacuate the area.
I didn’t need to be evacuated. While they were distracted, I
got to my feet and ran. Three city blocks between me and the monster, I still
didn’t stop running.
Even the ground rumbling beneath me couldn’t stop my feet. I
didn’t stop until the blast threw me from my feet.
~End~
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