On the day martial law is announced and put into effect, the whole city of Nova Aria is on fire.
Lou is stuck on her way home from work. She calls Robert, her distant ex-boyfriend for help, right before a bus crashes into her car. Little does Lou k...
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Water reflection danced on my face. Circles of light warped and wiggled as the bodies floated in the tank. Their blue uniforms got a shade darker thanks to the water turning red.
Like the sea at dusk.
"How much time do we have left?" Edgar panted like a dying dog.
"Ten minutes," I mumbled.
My fingernails dug into my palms. Shaking and sticky. This wasn't my blood. I rubbed them on my clothes, trying to wipe away the sensation. Nothing helped. The nausea in my gut came in waves. I crouched down and poured the contents of my backpack on the cement floor while trying to keep my dinner in. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focusing on the plan was the only thing that kept me from losing it. "Goddamn it..." Edgar kneeled next to me, "One, two, three, four, five..." he counted, "Hold on a second."
Edgar threw his backpack on the floor.
"Careful," I said.
He looked up at me for a split second. His eyes opened as big as a pair of frisbees. I thought he would snarl at me, but he just looked down and counted.
"One, two, three, four, five... We're screwed," he whispered.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You didn't take them, did you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The bags in the garage! I put them on the side... Shit! I told you I would take them... Anyway, we won't have enough. This isn't enough."
I readjusted my glasses. They kept sliding down my nose with all the sweat. "Forty bags for eighteen thousand eight hundred and fourteen gallons..."
"That meant we won't have enough, Robert," Edgar shook his head. "That's the end of it, and it's my fault. We're screwed! With a capital S."
"No, Edgar," I grabbed his shoulders and gave them a healthy squeeze, "We just have to go through with the plan. We're here. We can't back down now. We just have to use what we have. It will be a little diluted but it will be fine. It has to. We get it done and go home."
"Hah," Edgar held his chest and chuckled. "I think I'm about to have a heart attack..."
"Just breathe, Edgar. Everything will be fine. I promise. Everything will be fine. Just. Breath."
I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. Edgar followed. He seemed to settle down a bit. My eyes then traveled back to the tank.
They were someone's sons, husbands, brothers, fathers. Just did their jobs.
The adrenaline had gone, leaving me with nothing but crippling guilt and disgust. I remembered the alarms. The hurried footsteps. The "What are you two doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" shout before the world went into complete mayhem.
