Image © – ID 107768540 | Futuristic © Pitris | Dreamstime.com
Ron Willoughby had always wanted to move his jewelry business to the main square, but he had never been able to afford the rent. Still, he was within two hundred yards of the square and did enough business to keep his family, who lived above the store, fed.
It wasn't long until he heard the civil defense warning on his Emmie, a personal AI assistant. The government was declaring an emergency and recommending that all citizens shelter in place. Ron quickly closed his store and stared down the street towards the central square. He could see from where he was standing that the buildings on either side of his street next to the square, the Centauri Bank Building and the Stevens Tower, had collapsed. He watched for several minutes as other buildings he could see suffered a similar fate.
Ron felt a twinge of panic as he watched the fire and police departments respond to the disaster.
What can they do when such a huge thing as a ten story building collapses?
By this time his wife and two small children had joined him at the front of the store.
“What is it dear, what's happening?” asked his wife holding the smallest child.
“I don't know honey. For some reason the buildings on the square are exploding and collapsing.”
“Are we in danger?” she asked.
“I think we are far enough away to be okay. Besides according to my Emmie, the government recommends we shelter in place.”
Then he saw it. The next building, a building on his street behind the bank building exploded.
That was Whitlow's building.
Something had caused the windows on the first floor of Whitlow's to shatter and explode outward. A flame like a roiling cloud of fire shot out. The police and firemen started to pull back. At least those that could.
Then the building next to Whitlow's exhibited the same behavior. Now Ron became worried. He didn't care what the government recommended he had his family to protect.
“Quick honey,” he said. “To the car.”
His wife turned to run. Ron scooped up the second child as he turned to follow her, through the inventory room and out the back door. Outside they could hear the booming destruction coming closer. With the kids in the car, Ron jumped in. He started the car and put it in manual mode. The steering wheel, which was recessed into the dash, deployed. The pedals dropped to the floor. By this time the smoke and dust of the disaster was drifting past the car windows.
Ron's wife turned to soothe the frightened children. Ron had two choices, he could drive down the narrow alley parallel to the street until he could turn onto the street itself and flee from the square or he could take off down the alley across from the back of his building. That alley would lead him to the next street over. He chose the alley parallel to his street thinking that it would gain them the maximum distance from the square in the minimum time.
And it would have if not for an improperly parked vehicle.
I should have looked first.
The vehicle ahead was parked at just the right angle to prevent Ron from driving his car between it and the building opposite. He heard a loud noise directly behind. Looking back, he saw that the disaster had crossed to the other side of the street, his side, and was coming down the row of buildings that included his store. They had to move, now.
“Hold on kids,” said Ron.
He slowly closed on the front of the other car. He hoped to move the car just enough to wedge his way through. At first it seemed to be working. Then his car stalled, it was stuck. Ron tried to backup but found the car was wedged firmly. He looked in the mirror to see the destruction coming closer. The buildings were now falling on both sides of the alley, and the destruction wasn't more than a hundred yards to the rear.
He couldn't run on foot with his wife and kids. And the way the car was wedged he wasn't even sure they could get out the doors. By this time the kids were crying uncontrollably, and his wife was getting hysterical. The only thing he could do was to keep rocking the car back and forth trying to break through the impasse.
Then as he rocked it forward, he felt a little give. “Thank God,” he said.
He looked in the rear-view mirror and was startled and horrified. The buildings were falling only fifty yards away and there was Milt Lincoln pushing with all his might on the back of Ron's car. It was Milt's car that was blocking the alley. Ron realized that not only were his car's doors blocked but he had the doors to Milt's car blocked also, the left side blocked by Ron's, the right side blocked by the service node that Ron had pushed Milt's car against.
Ron started to yell at Milt but stopped at the sounds of his children's screams. He looked in his mirror again. Milt was putting his whole body into it now. With his back to the car, he was lifting it almost off its wheels. Then, the impasse broke, the car was through. Ron was driving as fast as he could. He looked in his rear-view mirror one last time to see Milt down on the ground looking back at Ron and then he was gone in the debris and dust as the buildings continued to collapse.
To be released July 20 on Amazon & KU with special price.
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