5/26/2017

Dream On. Chapter 84: Traffic

Previously...


Traffic

Tom, Octavia and Robert were stuck inside the car. The portion of the trip that had discoursed inside Tom’s neighborhood had been smooth and without troubles. As soon as they had hit the main street they had been stopped. The radio informed that there was a terrible traffic jam, possibly the worst that there had been in the city, and no one really understood why. More cars than usual had broken down, some streets were closed without any explanation. Robert was getting especially nervous, but there was nothing he could do.

When, after sitting half an hour in the car, they still were on the same spot they started considering other options. Anything that needed a road to work was out of option, none of them knew how to pilot a helicopter, or rich enough to hire one for the matter, so air transport was out too. Finally, Tom decided to pull over and park the car wherever he could, which ended up being on the sidewalk.

-Goodbye, car.- he said knowing that he wouldn’t find it whenever he decided to come back. –We are going to walk until we find a better way to get there.

And walk they did. All the cars on the road were completely stopped, some drivers had even turned the engines off and gotten out of the cars, sitting on the sidewalks enjoying the sun in resignation. They saw some policemen stranded in the sea of cars surrounded by angry drivers who were asking for explanations. The friends, followed by Marla’s father, approached them in order to get more information on the road status.

-Please, calm down.- they heard one of the policemen shout.-We do not have any other information, there were no road closings planned. We have some units working on it, however, they are also stuck in traffic, be patient, please.

Apparently, the police were as clueless as everyone on what was going out. They decided to keep walking, in views that they were losing time. After a while, they meet some kids with bicycles in a small park, and Octavia saw the opportunity.

-Hey, would you mind if we borrow your bikes?

-Why would we do that?- replied one of the teens, mockingly.

-Please, we need to get to the center of the city…- started Robert awkwardly, teens reminded him too much of high school.

-Because, if we don’t give them back to you, I’ll give you new ones. Better ones.- Octavia cut him.

-How much better?- another teenager asked masking his interest.

-As much as you want.- said Octavia reassured.

The teenagers talked between them for a while, until the first one faced them again.

-Deal, but how do we know that we are going to get what you say?

-Ok, here you are.- she said while taking a card from her wallet.- On this card, you have both my mobile phone and my parent’s phone. Call me now so I can have your numbers to contact yo so you can retrieve either these bikes or the new ones.

The boys looked at both sides of the card trying to discover if it was fake, and called her immediately. When her phone started ringing they finally agreed to let them their bikes. Tom looked particularly uncomfortable on his bike, because he was really tall, but he still managed to maintain his balance and ride the bicycle.

-I haven’t been on a bike for ages!- he said laughing, knowing that he looked ridiculous.

-That’s something you never forget!- replied Robert, sprinting by.

The bikes were faster than walking, and definitely faster than driving. However, they still had to avoid lots of people on the sidewalks and they couldn’t go as fast as they wanted to. When they finally arrived to the city gates they couldn’t believe it. They left the bikes leaning on the walls, knowing that they would possibly be gone when they were back and entered the old city.

And faced the infinite crowd, it did look as if everything was against them when they only wanted to get to the cathedral as fast as they could. Tom headed the line finding the ways were there was less people, and therefore was easier to pass by. Even like that, it took them lots of time to reach the cathedral square, that was even more full of people than before. When they were halfway through the square Octavia stopped, pointing at the building.

-Look, there is fire inside it!


Just after she had said those words the fire grew bigger, making the windows explode and unleashing the panic.

No comments:

Post a Comment