Short Story Collection

Quiet

The constant whirl of machines rang through Ethans ears. It was in the background of his life, quiet, but still there. From the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep, he could hear it. Silence. That's all he wanted now. The quiet he once knew, before all of this, before all of the machines. He turned on the TV, half-listening to the news. An image flashed on the screen, a woman smiling towards the camera. Cassandra Waters, the multi-billionaire. The one who started all of this.

In a flash, Ethan was heading out to his car. He didn't realize until he started driving away from his house. Did he lock the door? Turn everything off? That didn't matter, now. He drove aimlessly down the streets, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Where was he going? He drove for a little while, watching the city start to wake up. Ethan pulled into the parking lot of his office building. Technological innovations, building a better future. A future without quiet. No. He walked into the building, heading up to his floor. Work, all he had to do was work.

The elevator door opened, only a few people in the office. They said their usual good mornings as he walked in, cheery smiles on their faces. These people wanted this. They wanted the constant buzzing. Within seconds, their bodies hit the floor. The bodies of his fellow colleagues lay scattered around the room. Leave, he had to leave. Ethan took running down the stairs and out to his car.

It wasn't gone, yet. There was still the buzzing there. He needed it gone. Ethan sped out of the parking lot, driving on to the now much busier road. The city had woken up. Car horns blared as he flew down the street. He had to make it stop. Make it stop. The car stopped in front of another building.

The workers there fell to the floor, shot repeatedly. Like at his office, they were dead, scattered around the place. A momentary pause. There, the silence that he craved had come. The machine within the factory had stopped, the workers now dead. He at last had his quiet. For a few seconds, at least. He could still hear the buzzing from the machines outside. Not enough. He didn't do enough.

Ethan got back into his car flying down the street. He sped down the highway, out of the city. He knew where he had to go. His hands trembled as he drove, his body shaking. Was it the adrenaline rush? Maybe, he couldn't tell. A large building came into sight. The place where it all started. He pulled into the parking lot, getting out of the car.

Up the elevator, he went. Glass walls surrounded him, business people speed walking down the halls. They were busy. He walked through the halls, stopping when he heard her voice. Opening the room door, Cassandra Waters sat at the head of a table. Other people, famous business owners, were also seated there. They quickly jumped out of their seats, startle shining on their faces.

Their bodies now lay on the floor. Blood stained the carpet. He sat on the table, closing his eyes. Sirens blared outside. Uniforms came through the door, guns trained at him. He raised his hand and -

Ethan smiled as he got the quiet he always wanted.

Word Count: 568