Dead Sea

Chapter 10

Making his way through the crowd was slow going to say the least. He tried using his phone to call Calvin, only to have the call drop every time. No matter, he would just have to push on. The closer he got to the office, the thicker the crowd got until Billy found himself stuck.

No longer able to move forward through the crowd, Billy gauged the distance between himself and the office. 'Worth a shot' Billy thought to himself as he called out to Calvin. The sudden outburst momentarily stunned the crowd to silence. Now was his chance.

With the crowd somewhat stunned, Billy found it was easier to again attempt to force his way through. He found it beginning to work, but was soon once again stuck a few feet in. Drawing another breath he once again called out for Calvin, only this time he didn't seem to have such an effect on the crowd as he did before.

From where he was standing Billy could see the door to the office, still no movement. Billy began to prepare himself for once final shout, but found he would not need it. To his surprise, as well as anyone looking in that direction, the door flew wide open before he could even finish drawing a breath.

     In the doorway stood a stout man who stood closer to the five foot mark than he did to the six. His attire consisted of cargo pants, that appeared to be more stain than pants, combined with a button up plaid shirt whose sole job was to cover the owners beer belly. Even from this distance, Billy could tell that the shirt should have been retired years ago. Recognizing the ensemble anywhere, Billy began to wave his arms in an attempt to get Calvins attention.

     It didn't take long for Calvin to recognize that man waving his arms at him was the same man who had just been calling his name. Storming down the stairs he began to yell at all in his path to clear the way before he cleared it for them.

     What Calvin lacked in height he strongly made up for with his personality. In the past, Billy had grown to fear this mans temper, but today he was glad to see it as the crowd before him began to part like the Red Sea.

     The space ahead of Billy was not clear for long, as it was soon filled quickly by the enraged wharfinger. "Follow me, quickly! Before the crowd loses it... again."

They didn't make it far before the crowd started to badger Calvin, demanding to know why they had all been asked to return in such a hurry. In all honesty, Billy was wondering the exact same thing himself, but instead chose to keep his mouth shut in order to avoid Calvins wrath as long as possible.

Suddenly Billy had to come to a complete stop, only to avoid bowling over Calvin who had also stopped without a word of warning. "I told you all!" Calvin bellowed, "I will tell you the reason once all island inhabitants have returned. Not a second sooner."

"But Billy is right there!" Shouted a voice from further back in the crowd.

"Aye, that he is. But you forget someone. Our very own island legend, Reginald Day, has yet to return and until he does I shall not be sharing my reasons. Understood?!" Others began to argue, but none stopped Calvin as he made his way back to his office. Billy was surprised at how fast the man could be, forcing himself to pick up his pace in order to catch up.

Once inside the office, Calving threw himself down in his chair before Billy even had a chance to close the door. Head in his hands, Calvin let out a sigh, clearly agitated by the whole situation.

The office was small by many standards, only containing a small desk and a chair, combined with enough standing space for a handful of grown adults. Electronics cluttered the desk, from radars, to monitors, to communication pieces. What really caught Billy's attention was the television that appeared to be broadcasting news from around the world. The sound was muted, but Billy did not like the looks of the images and videos that repetitively flashed across the screen.

"So where is the old coot anyways?" Calvin interjected, pulling Billy's attention away from the television. "He must nearly be here, you were just with him when last we spoke."

"About Reg... I tried to tell you earlier. He... he won't..." Billy was at a loss for words. No matter how hard he tried, he could not form a sentence.

"He won't? Won't what? Come on, spit it out! We don't have all day here!"

This wasn't like Billy. Composing himself, he took a deep breath and slowly collected his thoughts. "Reg won't be coming back. Something happened." With that, Billy began to explain the events of the morning to Calvin. By the end of it Billy was glad Calvin was sitting down, the man looked defeated.

Billy waited for a while for Calvin to take it all in. Hell, he didn't even know what to make of most of it, let alone someone who hadn't even seen what he saw. It sounded like some horror movie, not something that really happened.

Slamming a fist against the desk, Calvin finally began to speak. "Dammit Billy, I can't believe it. I knew it couldn't be contained, fucking government."

"Hold on a minute Calvin, what do you mean 'couldn't be contained'? What's going on? What aren't you telling us?!"

Without another word, Calvin reached for the remote to unmute the program, which had stopped airing the images and videos and now began to air an urgent news bulletin. Reaching for the desk, Billy grabbed the wharf intercom and proceeded to power it on, facing the microphone at the television. Since they no longer had to wait for Reg, it only seemed fair to let everyone know what was going on. What better way to do that than to broadcast it over the entire sound system for the whole wharf to hear.

As the news bulletin progressed, Billy was truly shocked to the core. There was no other way to describe it. This was big, bigger than anything he had ever encountered in his life. Their lives were about to be changed, forever.