Page 78 of Crucified By the Dark
“What’s the source?”
“Unknown.”
“Well, that doesn’t exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy,” Jeremy said as Judd started to come around and began coughing. Butch and Jen were next. They looked a little green as they sucked in deep breaths.
“I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but I’m happy to see you’re alive,” Jeremy said to Judd, who smirked as one of the other Hummers revved. Jeremy stared at it as it flew past the bar. Of course, there was no driver, which only added to the cool and disturbing feeling the vehicles always gave him.
“What is it doing,” he asked as Morry slowly stood.
“I don’t know.”
It turned and lined up, facing the double doors of the living quarters. The tires spun as it raced for the building, and with a loud crash, the Hummer smashed right through, sending dust and debris flying.
“Oh shit,” Jeremy mumbled.
Morry was off, running for the doors and the Hummer that was slowly backing out. He was hot on her heels.
Trev stood just inside the door with someone draped over his shoulders. “The door had been sealed. I managed to open most of the windows, but we need to get the gas out of here faster. Some are in bad shape,” Trev said as Kes and Arek came down the hall, each helping someone.
“I’ll go see if I can find the source,” Jeremy said, taking off for the back of the building.
He’d worked on all the units for this place with the maintenance guys more than once. With a leap, he grabbed the ladder and hauled it down before scrambling up to the roof. Jeremy sprinted to the heating and cooling units, pulled open the doors, and froze.
“Oh, shit.” Were the only words he could come up with as he stared at the bomb that was quickly counting down. Jeremy ran to the edge of the building, yelling for Morry or any of the others.
Kes was the one to poke his head out. “What’s up?”
“Ah, we have a big mother fucking problem up here. A bomb is attached to the heating and cooling, which is attached to all the tanks and the gas in the building.
“Fuck, how much time?”
“Like ten minutes, if that.”
Kes waved at him. “Get your ass off the roof, then. We need your help to get everyone out.”
“You can’t disarm it?”
“I was a fucking pilot, not part of those crazy fuckers in the boom boom brigade.” Kes shook his head and darted back inside.
“Well, that’s fucking great,” Jeremy mumbled as he ran back toward the ladder. He skidded to a halt at the sight of the hose coming from one of the massive storage tanks, pumping into the ventilation system.
He glanced at the bomb showing seven minutes. “Shit. This is probably a stupid decision.”
Jeremy ran to where the hose was attached and pulled with all his might. It came apart easier than expected, but now he had a hose pumping gas everywhere. He tossed the end over the side of the building. Hopefully, that would be enough.
Racking his brain, Jeremy looked around for a way to stop the bomb when an idea came to him. “Okay, this is definitely stupid,” he said as he ran back to the bomb and looked at it. He lifted it carefully to see if it was attached with wires, but it only seemed to be sitting in the unit.
Yay for lack of sophistication. Picking up the bomb, he prayed that someone loved him enough not to let him explode. Carrying it as gingerly as a new born baby, he made his way to the ladder and held it in one hand as he climbed down.
Nothing had ever felt as slow as he watched the numbers tick. As fast as he could, he raced around to the front side. “Less than five minutes,” he yelled over and over again. Those who were feeling better were covering their faces and trying to help get the rest of the people out.
“What the hell are you doing?” Morry yelled as he raced by with the bomb held out in his hands.
“Damn, that fucker is crazier than we are,” Arek said.
That was the most accurate thing Jeremy had heard the guy say since he arrived. Putting it in one hand, he ripped off the gas mask—it wouldn’t help him anyway if the bomb went off in his hands.
“Open the gates,” he screamed over his shoulder.
