early edition -bennoda

chapter four

Super short chapter- wrote it as one big chapter on my laptop (I normally write on my phone) so it's a lil strange, bare with me.
Also, you want some Mike content? Won't be too long from now until your crops are watered.)
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They walked in silence the rest of the way until they got to Chino's bar.

Brad looked at Chester when they stopped, drawing a deep breath in. "Okay, I'll be back."

"Okay." Chester said, his voice barely above a whisper as he watched his friend disappear into the building.

"Please come back."

Minutes passed, and Chester checked his watch, reading 7:17.

He'd been in there awhile, he had enough time left, right?

Chester hoped.

He was always worried about his friends when they helped him out with stuff like this.

Some stuff he just couldn't handle on his own, or sometimes Brad just insisted on doing things himself to "give Chester a break," but Chester always felt like it should be him doing it, especially if it was dangerous.

He didn't care about his life all that much, he didn't really have anything to lose, but Brad did.

He had dreams, he had a will to live, a family, and other friends who cared about him.

Chester really didn't.

People started flooding out of the bar rather quickly, breaking Chester's train of thought.

He stood up from the cold concrete he was sitting on, and scanned the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of Brad's red hoodie.

Eventually, he found his friend, he was walking out of the bar, screaming his lungs out at a bigger dude as they walked.

As they drew closer, Chester picked up on bits of their conversation, but that wasn't what he was focused on.

He saw the paper change.

Instead of the article disappearing, it changed, from 16 dead in bomb explosion, to 1 dead in bomb explosion.

Chester scanned over the article in a panic, gathering some information about where in the bar the body was found.

He glanced at his watch.

7:24.

The bomb would go off at 7:30.

That gave him six minutes.

He glanced at Brad, and the man,- who he now recognized as Chino,- and back to the bar.

Then he ran, as fast as his fucking legs would carry him.

He could hear Brad screaming his name from behind him, but he couldn't stop.

It was a big bar, it would take time to cross, and time was what he didn't have.

He remembered what he read as he ran- the body was found in the kitchen.

He looked around frantically when he got inside, his mind going a million miles an hour.

The kitchen would be at the back, right?

Just as soon as the thought ran through his head, he ran, too, hoping it was in the right direction.

He scanned his eyes over the back wall, double doors falling into sight.

'that has to be it, right?' he thought to himself, rushing back to the doors, pushing them open quickly.

His panicked brown eyes searched for any kind of life in the kitchen, and he called out, receiving no response.

He pulled the paper out to see if anything had changed, and it had, from one dead- to two.

"Hey!" He screamed, breathing heavier than he ever had in his life, if that were possible. "You've gotta fucking get out of here, there's a bomb!"

He made his way through the messy kitchen, crashing into random objects as he went, and at the very back, there was a man who looked completely unaware of his surroundings.

'whats with this dude?' Chester thought to himself, standing beside the man.

"Hey,  c'mon, you gotta get out of here."

No response, the man simply stared into space, looking high as a kite.

"Hey, godamnit, I said c'mon!" He shouted, the urgency in his voice growing more obvious, and he grabbed the man by his arm.

The man seemed to be aware of his presence now.

He looked like a deer in the headlights as Chester pulled him quickly through the bar.

Through the double doors, and out into the main part of the bar.

They could see the outside now, he could see everyone staring at them as they ran for the main doors.

A few seconds later, everything went black for Chester Bennington.