Ancient Of Days on :
"Then the static flared again, and everything went black."
Excellent. Perfect wrap up to this entry.
Excellent. Perfect wrap up to this entry.
Wednesday, August 3. 2005Macon Craig
The call ended. I slid my phone back into my pocket. I was hungry. Famished in fact. I walked downstairs into the kitchen. As I savored my Moose Tracks ice cream, I heard Brain_Stem's voice, "Well, I'll probably starve to death before anybody breaks into my apartment and finds me . . . " I finished the ice cream, and sat down to see what was on TV. I flipped from channel to channel, searching for something worth watching, but as I did, I kept hearing Brain_Stem saying "I'll see you in there." No, he wouldn't. Night_Watcher meant nothing to me. He wasn't my friend. He was just . . . I stood up. I knew nothing about rescuing anyone.
It took me longer than usual to choose a body. Which body would be most suitable for a rescue? Did I need strength, speed, lots of cool gadgets? What was I even rescuing him from? Finally, I chose one of the newest bodies. It was modeled on Indiana Jones. Well, maybe more like what Indiana Jones would be like if Harrison Ford were on steroids. I stepped out into the environment. "I AM GOOD," I said, looking around in astonishment at my own work. I saw someone, a huge, heavily muscled hulk of a man, standing nearby. He looked up as I approached. "You made it." "I didn't want to." "That's ok. I didn't either." "So, where is he?" "I don't know yet." We began walking around the environment, taking care to never let the other out of our sight. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "Yeah. I mean no. I mean, I'm glad you're here too. I'm not real glad that I'm here, though." We crept silently down the subway tunnel. I'm not sure why we were being so quiet. "What do you think it will look like?" "I don't know. I think a train's coming." I looked behind us. I didn't see anything coming, but I did feel the ground vibrating beneath my boots. We rounded a bend in the tunnel and saw it in front of us. It didn't look that dangerous, just like a column of static piercing the tunnel about 300 yards away. The walls and floor around it seemed to be in constant motion. Bits of static flashed out from the column every few seconds, and when they did, everything around them disappeared momentarily.
Step after careful step, we edged nearer to it. We were about 100 feet away when Brain_Stem saw Night_Watcher. He looked like a crumpled heap of cloth lying on the floor in one of the side tunnels. He was lying against the curb in an awkward, painful position, one arm sticking straight into the air. A strong wind whipped through that tunnel, whistling, and picking at the edges of his dusty trenchcoat. We couldn't feel the wind at all. Like everything around him, he flicked in and out of existence as the bolts of static flashed out. Brain_Stem hurried forward, and collapsed to the floor, screaming when a piece of the static flashed out toward him. I don't know what I was thinking. I pulled out my whip, and flung its tip toward him. The black leather coiled around his neck. I braced myself and pulled backward with all my strength. He slid toward me, gasping. I unwrapped the whip with shaking hands. "Thanks," he said. "Next time, though, let's not hit the neck." "Sorry, I panicked." "No worries. I think you just saved my life. Do you think your whip will reach him?" "No. There's no way." "We have to get to him. By now, if he's not dead, he's wishing that he was." I bent down, and rummaged in my knapsack. Flashlight, matches, bullets, a heavy leather jacket, staples. Staples! What were the staples for? And there it was. Down at the bottom of the pack, I found a carefully coiled rope. I dumped the pack out, uncoiled the rope, and tied it tightly around my waist. "Pull me back when I get him," I said, handing Brain_Stem the other end of the rope. "You don't have to do this. There has to be another way." "Well, I can't think of any other way, and the longer we wait, the longer he's stuck here." I sounded more confident than I felt. Taking a deep breath, I rushed forward. I had to do this while I still believed that I could. It felt like needles. Hundreds of thousands of hot needles, jammed into my skin, my eyes, and my guts. And then they were gone. I felt myself fall, but couldn't do anything to stop it. The screaming voice wasn't mine, but I felt it coming from my throat. I looked up. Just a little farther. I crawled forward, wondering how much further I could go. Again the static flashed out at me. I braced myself, but it was no use. When I could move again, I felt the blood in my mouth. I spat. That chunk? It was a piece of my tongue. A few more feet, that's all I needed. Ignoring the pain as best I could, I scrabbled forward. Flinging the whip with all my might, I watched it wrap itself around Night_Watchers upraised arm. Then the static flared again, and everything went black. Trackbacks
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Ancient Of Days on :
"Then the static flared again, and everything went black."
Excellent. Perfect wrap up to this entry. Mad Giggler on :
Yeah. Perfect. As in, perfectly maddening.
Ancient Of Days on :
Moose Tracks ice cream. For breakfast.
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