Tragedy ✔️

Chapter 25

I always wanted to see The Big Apple. I just never thought I would see it after I was dead.

To be honest, I have traveled to more places in my afterlife than when I was alive. After my mom passed away, Annie and I never went on vacation again. We couldn't afford it.

Right now, traffic is zooming through me, people are walking by, and big screens on tall buildings all surround me. This must be Times Square. It is beautiful. The many colors of cars, clothes, and the pictures on the screens make me feel like I've never been in this world before. Red was getting on my nerves.

I wonder why the zapper transported me here. Even though I know I am safe for now, I feel as if I could get caught any moment and suffer the same fate as many of the people I have met. But there is no time to grieve. I have to find Charlotte and make the king pay.

***

The sun has set over Manhattan but the streets are still swarming with people. I walk down the middle of the Manhattan Bridge, letting the cars pass through me. This calms me. I feel the life of people inside me for a second as they pass.

I move to the side of the bridge and stop to take in the gorgeous scenery. The sound of the slow running water below cleanses my mind and lets in a train of thought.

For some reason, the zapper was set to this location, but why New York? What is so important here that the guard had the zapper preset to this place? When Charlotte and I came to Earth together, I'm certain we didn't land in New York.

I resume walking on the side of the bridge when suddenly, the ground trembles furiously. A car crashes to the back of a pick-up truck, making it head straight toward me. I have no time to panic as the truck passes through me and barrels into the side of the bridge. The truck was going so fast that it bent the metal bar barrier and fell off the bridge.

The ghost of the truck passing inside of me sends me tumbling backwards. I feel my feet leave the ground and gravity takes a hold of me.

I plummet deep into the cold water below. Wet darkness engulfs me and I remember I can't swim. Frightened to the core, I flap my arms around like a bird and kick my legs in every direction, but my body keeps sinking instead of going up. I am holding my breath, but I feel the oxygen seeping out of my lungs like a teared balloon. The abyss consumes me deeper into its body and I see nothing but black.

I open my mouth.

For a second, I think that this is it. The water rushes into my mouth, nose, and down to my lungs. I feel the liquid filling my lungs up like a water balloon that has been attached to the hose for far too long. As I sink deeper, I feel the two balloons expand like the stomach of a pregnant woman and then pop!

The mini explosion inside of me is subtle. All I felt was like a small needle pricking me in my chest for the shortest of time. With that, my panicking is extinguished. I breathe in and out as if I were in the surface and I can feel a mimic of oxygen entering my body. I'm breathing underwater.

In an effort to get back to the surface, I fall weak, pretending to shut down and let my body go limp. Instantly, the water begins to carry me up. A strong, external force pulls me out of the water in a swift move like a fisher reeling in a fish. I feel myself being dropped on a solid surface. The smell of moist soil fills my nose and I know I am safe on land.

My body acts like it is tired, when it just wants to trick me into believing I am alive. Or maybe it's not tricking me. Maybe it tries to accommodate to the environment around and it mimics the behavior of every other body here. Either way, I don't have lungs anymore. I didn't need them anyway.

Standing up and squinting my eyes, trying to adjust to the moonlit environment, I see three silhouettes before me. My camera lens finally focuses and at first, dread fills me because I see three people in red uniforms with helmets on, but then I recognize him. One of them is Richard.

"I've seen you doing better, West," he says, chuckling. He and the other two people are wearing the same uniform as the guards who attacked me. They are also wearing the helmets but I can see their faces because the visors on the helmets are for some reason transparent. The visor is still protecting their face but you can see through it, almost like it isn't there. Must be a technological feature that allows to turn on a one way mirror-like visor and vise versa.

"Glad we got here in time to help you," says Richard. "After we got no intel on why the White Box was in lock down, me and these two, Tony and Susan, went to check out the problem."

I can only see their faces but Tony has dark skin, brown eyes, and has a young, calm face. I can see strands of blonde hair poking out of Susan's helmet. She has green eyes and a stern, aged look. She might be a little older than us, but she looks like she is tough.

"We walked around the entire building," Richard continues, "We didn't find the culprit, but we found Ms. Pudge." We look at each other and he gives me a consoling pat on the shoulder. "She'll be missed, Colin. She was an amazing, strong woman."

"She was," I state boldly.

"After that, we moved everyone to the auditorium and informed them on the situation. We knew something had gone astray. Everyone was ready and willing to deploy. We quickly assigned squadrons and leaders and zapped ourselves here. We tracked you down so we knew where to go. We decided to meet at Central Park to formulate a plan after we saw what we were dealing with. We were on our way there when we luckily stumbled upon you."

"Thanks for finding me," I say, "I almost didn't recognize you there. Uniforms aren't your strong suit. Get it?"

I'm dumb.

"Well, yeah," says Richard, "but what does it matter in a time like this, right?" He gives a wry smile.

"Yeah..." I trail off.

I was really focused on what Richard had to say that I didn't notice the red moon. Half of the Manhattan Bridge fell down and many cars are stacked on top of another. People are scattering and looking for help. The buildings in the background; some damaged, others completely down, and a fire in the distance. The king has unleashed hell in New York City.