Mind's Echo

Alex

Four sets of startled eyes swung toward the door and the new player on the scene.

Alex, looking more than a bit startled, said to the guy threatening them with legal consequences, "Whoa! Now, just cool it, bro! Give us a chance to explain ourselves!" He looked around at everyone before turning back to the man standing in the doorway and began to explain, "I know this is gonna seem a bit Twilight Zone-ish, but we're kinda stranded out here, and all of our phones are dead, and ..."

Suddenly, Alex became frustrated with the entire situation. He halted his explanation and shook his head. He was really tired of having weapons pulled on him.

He snapped, "No! Wait a damn second! I got a question for you, bro. Why the hell are you here with a gun aimed at four innocent people talking about calling the police!? And trespassing, are you freaking kidding me right now!? What is your business all the way out here, huh!? You ain't a security guard, that's for sure. This place has been all but forgotten. So, yeah, I'd say you're just as guilty of trespassing as any of us are! Goddamn it!!!"

Shelly looked at Alex with concern, her eyes narrowing and her shoulders tensing, and asked, "Alex, what has gotten into you?"

Alex looked at Shelly, but he didn't seem to see her. His eyes danced in clear agitation, flicking from Shelly, then to the armed man at the door. He threw up his hands, pacing in a tight circle.

"This ain't no party. You can't come up in here, acting all Billy Badass, like you've found us destroying the place or something, like you have dibs on the place! Nah, dude, I'm stuck out here 'cause my brand new car decided, 'Screw you, Alex! Watch me strand your ass here!' I've had a knife pulled on me, it's storming outside, the batteries in our phones just went KAPUT, and NOW this guy waltzes in and pulls a gun on me while threatening to call the cops!?"

By now everyone was staring at Alex with a look of alarm at his sudden shift in demeanor from the quirky college boy to a raving, infuriated man.

"You wanna call the cops, hmmm, tough guy!? Well, go on, call 'em! Betcha don't, 'cause the whole place is a damn DEAD ZONE! So, I guess your next step is to shoot us, huh!?"

Alex's bright eyes bored into those of the stranger. His trembling hands clenched and unclenched as his shoulders heaved with each anger laden breath. The group, for a timeless moment, was unsure of what to do. Then Mark grabbed Alex before he could approach the man with gun and wrestled him back, moving him farther away from the doorway, and potential danger.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Alex?" Eva shouted.

Shelly shook her head, baffled by Alex's display of crazy. Sure they were all stressed, but that had been a bit much. Alex looked around at everyone. As Mark held him in a tight grip, he seemed to come back to himself. He finally stopped struggling against Mark. After a brief hesitation, Mark released his hold. Alex rolled his shoulders and rubbed at the back of his neck, shaking his head. He held up a hand in surrender, backing even farther away from the stranger with the gun.

"I don't know ... I ... I'm just tired and agitated from everything, I guess ... I ... uh ... just need to lie down."

Everyone, including the newcomer who was protected by a weapon, was looking at Alex warily, as if truly afraid of what he might be capable. There was an oppressive heaviness in the air that hadn't been there before. Something had shifted in the atmosphere, and the group shared a look of utter mystification mixed with a healthy serving of trepidation.