FOUR
Wendy's head snapped up. She was sitting in the twelfth car, sweating and breathing hard. The train was still at the platform. Kevin was sitting beside her. The attendant was walking toward her, an angry scowl on his face, pointing at her camera. She looked up at him, uncomprehending and disoriented. He pointed at a sign. She turned her head, as if in a dream. The sign said "No loose objects. No cameras".
Kevin was reaching for the camera, but as he opened his mouth she already knew what he was going to say –I'll put it in my pocket, all right?
"I'll put it in my pocket, all right?"
The attendant hesitated, and then nodded. "Fine."
Kevin stuffed the camera in the pocket of his pants. Wendy's heart thudded in her throat, making it difficult to breathe. She raised her head and looked forward, confused and frightened. Ahead of them, Frank was lowering his DV cam and slipping it stealthily under his shirt. Wendy stared at him in horror as the attendant, satisfied that all was shipshape, started back toward his control panel.
Kevin grinned eagerly and started to lean forward. Wendy gasped and grabbed his hand, stopping him from squishing it into the gum that was stuck on the lap bar. Wendy gaped at the gum blankly as Kevin grinned at her.
"Hey, thanks," he said. "Good eye."
Wendy whimpered under her breath. This was more than déjà vu. She knew everything that was going to happen. They were going to crash. Frank Cheek was going to drop his camera and… Wendy turned her head from the gum to the attendant, who had returned to his console. He was flipping up the clear, plastic safety casing that covered the launch button, and raising his hand over his head.
"And away we go!" he cried, then stabbed a single finger down toward the button.
Wendy panicked, pushing desperately at her shoulder restraints.
"We need to get out of here!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"
The attendant's finger continued to move down toward the button, syrup slow and inevitable as a nightmare.
"No! NO! Don't push that button!" Wendy cried. "DON'T PUSH THAT BUTTON!"
The attendant's finger stopped an inch from the button. He looked up, making a scowling face.
"What the hell is this crap?" he asked in a gruff, sour voice.
His assistant looked over and saw Wendy struggling against her restraints. He sighed.
"Look like we got a screamer," he said out of the corner of his mouth.
They started toward the twelfth car, the other passengers looking around to see what all the fuss was about.
Kevin stared at Wendy, pulling away from her, like she was infectious or insane.
"Let me off!" she was shouting. "Everybody needs to get off!"
"Wendy. Hey come on Wendy, it's all right," Kevin said, trying calm her down. He cringed, embarrassed as everybody looked their way. "Take it easy. It'll all be over before you know it."
Wendy shook her head, wild eyed.
"No," she cried. "It's going to crash. It's going to crash."
She knew how crazy she sounded, but she knew what was going to happen. She knew. She had to stop it.
"Okay, this is beyond a joke now," the attendant growled. "We can't have this kind of shit. Call security." His assistant nodded and turned back to the console, as the attendant continued towards Wendy's car.
In the front car, Jason struggled to turn around, but the restraints held him.
"Is that Wendy?" Wendy heard him ask. "What's the matter?"
"I don't know," Carrie replied. "Sound like her."
The other passengers in the train squirmed impatiently and shouted insults. The kids waiting in the line to get on the next one mocked Wendy and shouted at the attendants to get a move on.
The attendant stopped beside Wendy, holding his hands out, placating.
"Listen," he said. "You're scaring the other passengers. If you don't stop screwing around, I'm going to have to take you off the ride, okay."
"Not just me, everybody needs to get off!" Wendy shouted, fending off Kevin's attempts to hold her back and shut her up. "The hydraulics are going to rupture. The tracks will collapse."
The attendant paused, shocked by the preciseness of the warning. He grimaced and looked back at his assistant, who nodded as he hung up the phone. He turned back to Wendy.
"Uh, that's pretty much out of nowhere," he said. "You know something we don't? Somebody call in a threat or something?"
"I just know. I…" Wendy's face fell. She knew what the attendant was going to say if she told him, but how else could she explain it. "I saw it. I saw it happen."
"It's okay, sir," said Kevin, trying to be the peacemaker. "She was just a little upset before. We're okay now."
Two heavy set, nylon-jacketed security guards, a big white guy whose embroidered name on the breast of his jacket read Colquitt, and an even bigger black guy with the unlikely name of Bludworth, hurried onto the platform from an emergency exit. The attendant whistled them over to Wendy's car and they crossed quickly, hands on their flashlights. The attendant turned away from Wendy to meet them.
"What's going on?" asked Colquitt.
The attendant jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "That chick is dope or something," he muttered. "She's saying a bunch of weird shit about the coaster crashing. She's nuts."
Colquitt looked past the attendant to Wendy, who was clinging to Kevin's arm and shivering. The other passengers were shouting and whistling now. A chant started up toward the front and spread down the length of the car.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"
Colquitt bit his lip. "All right," he said. "Let her out."
The attendant turned back to his assistant. "Open up seven through twelve!" he called.
The assistant looked down at the console. There were two buttons, one labeled 1-6 and another labeled 7-12. He pressed 7-12, and all the restraints on cars seven through twelve released at once with a hiss of hydraulics. Lewis groaned with relief. Along with the rest of the freed passengers, Ashley and Ashlyn turned to look back at the commotion.
Frank Cheek grinned at the two girls and stuck his camera in their faces.
"So, want to do a little interview while we wait?" he asked. "What's your favorite sexual position?"
"Forget it, pervert," Ashley said.
Wendy leapt out of the car like it was on fire. Kevin followed reluctantly. Colquitt and Bludworth took Wendy's arms and led her off of the side. Kevin made to follow, but they waved him back. He crossed his arms and leaned on the car watching anxiously.
Colquitt looked Wendy in the eye. "All right, miss," he said, face grim. "You want to tell me what's the matter?"
"She was just a little upset before…" Kevin began.
He ignored Kevin completely. "Miss?"
Wendy hung her head. "I… I don't know," she said in a small, defeated voice. "I saw it… in my head. The… the track broke… The roller coaster crashed…"
Colquitt and Bludworth exchanged a blank glance. Colquitt sighed.
"Uh, you saw it?" He frowned. "You mean like a… psychic vision or something?"
"I know it sounds crazy," she said. "But I know it's going to crash. It's going to happen. You have to take everybody off."
"I'm sorry, miss," Bludworth said, shaking his big, bulldog head. "We don't shut down the rides without reasonable cause."
In the train, Frank Cheek focused in on Ashlyn. "So," he asked. "You girls ever thought about, you know, fooling around together? I mean, you're both so hot. How could you resist?"
Ashley and Ashlyn exchanged disgusted looks.
"Let's ditch this loser," said Ashley.
"Hell yeah," said Ashlyn.
They hopped out of the car and started for the exit.
Frank stood up. "Hey!" he called. "Where you babes going? Wait a minute."
He scrambled after them, keeping them framed in the view screen of his DV cam as he ran out the exit.
Lewis looked over Ian and Erin's heads at Kevin, sneering. "Dude, what the hell's the matter with you?" Lewis said. "You need to control that bitch."
"Fuck off, Lewis," said Kevin. "Even if she was my girlfriend, which by the way she isn't, I'm not some fucking caveman like you."
Lewis failed to fuck off. He raised his voice to a girly squeak, mimicking Wendy.
"We're going to crash. We're going to crash." He grunted and returned to his normal voice. "She's probably trying to get some attention. Just like a bitch."
The two hooded girls slipped out of their car and away without a word, heads close together and exchanging whispers. Wendy looked down, embarrassed, but Kevin turned and started toward Lewis.
"Hey, enough already," Kevin said, face flushed and angry. "Leave her alone."
"What do you care?" Lewis asked. "I thought you said she wasn't your bitch."
"She isn't anybody's bitch," Kevin said. "And I said leave her alone."
Lewis's voice rose up into high-pitched baby talk again. "Leave her alone. Leave her alone." Lewis smirked. "You're starting to sound just like a bitch yourself, man."
"Fuck you," shouted Kevin.
Lewis stood up in the car. "Fuck me? Fuck you."
He pushed Kevin. Kevin grabbed for him, and Lewis blocked the grab with a sweeping left, accidentally backhanding Erin, who was cowering in the car behind him.
"Ow! You dick," she cried, hand up to a bright red mark on her paper white cheek.
"Fucker," Ian stood up and threw a weak punch at Lewis, who returned it with a wide haymaker. Ian ducked and grabbed Lewis's arm. Kevin took advantage and leapt on Lewis, throwing punches. Bludworth and Colquitt turned at the noise of the fight.
"What the hell?" said Bludworth.
Colquitt advanced, hefting his flashlight.
"Hey!" he called. "Break it up. Break it up,"
The two security guards waded into the fight, trying to push the combatants out of the car. One of the passengers in the front half of the cars started chanting a line from an old Ramones song.
"Hey! Ho! Let's go!" they cried. "Hey! Ho! Let's go!"
The rest of the riders picked it up.
"Hey! Ho! Let's go! Hey! Ho! Let's go!"
In car number one, Jason was turning and craning his neck, trying to see what was happening. All he could see were the tops of Kevin and Lewis's heads, and fists flying.
"Let me out," he cried. "Lewis, you asshole, get off him. I'll fuck you up."
Colquitt and Bludworth dragged and pushed Kevin, Ian and Lewis out of the cars, and shoved them to the ground. Kevin and Lewis kept slugging each other. Erin followed Ian, weeping. Wendy looked on with her hands over her mouth. Everybody who could was turning around and watching.
"Let me off," Jason was shouting. "Wendy. Kevin. Hang on, I'm coming."
Colquitt looked up from trying to hold Kevin and Lewis apart. He shook his head at the attendant. "No way," he said. "Don't let anybody else out. We don't need any more trouble." He scanned the cars and waved at the attendant. "Get the rest of them out of here. Start the ride."
"All right." The attendant nodded and then returned to the console.
"Hey! Ho! Let's go!" chanted the remaining riders.
"No! You can't!" screamed Wendy.
She started toward the attendant. Colquitt broke away from the scuffle and hustled after her. The attendant pushed the 7-12 button and all the restraints on the empty seats closed at once.
"Let me off," bellowed Jason.
"Stop! Stop!" screamed Wendy. "The tracks are broken. The cars are going to crash."
She grabbed the attendant's arm. He shoved her back, and Colquitt caught her and pulled her away.
Wendy fought and squirmed fiercely against him.
"Don't," she begged. "Don't please. Please!"
The attendant ignored her and pushed the button.
Wendy looked toward the front of the train as it jolted into motion. "JASON!" she shrieked, but she couldn't find his face.
The train disappeared into the tunnel. She sagged in Colquitt's arms.
Colquitt shook her, angry. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked. "You don't touch the equipment. You don't assault the staff. We could have you arrested."
Kevin stood up as Bludworth muscled Lewis up and pushed him, Erin and Ian toward the door. Kevin started toward Colquitt.
"Hey, ease up," he said. "Give her a break. She freaked out. Let her settle down. She'll be alright."
"Yeah," said Colquitt. "She'll settle down at home. And so will you." Colquitt grabbed Kevin's arm and turned him toward the exit. "You guys are eighty-sixed with all the rest."
He kicked open the emergency exit and pushed them through. They went down a short flight of steps to another door and went through that. They came out outside, right next to the superstructure of the roller coaster. One of the loops was right overhead. The half full train rocketed above them. Squeals of joy and excitement reached their ears.
"See," said Colquitt, sneering. "Everything's fine. It was just your imagination."
"Yeah, Wendy," said Kevin. "It's all right, see?"
Colquitt started to lead Wendy and Kevin away from the coaster. Suddenly the metal pillars of the superstructure groaned and shuddered, as if subject to unusual stress. The three of them turned simultaneously and looked up, trying to find the train in the clutter of beams, posts and track. As they watched, it rose up over a hill. The front car was shooting up a huge plume of sparks.
Wendy's mouth dropped open in horror as she realized that her vision was really coming true.
"What the hell?" Colquitt said.
Kevin gasped with a stunned disbelief. "No way," he whispered.
Colquitt's hands fell away from Wendy and Kevin's arms. Through the pipes, the three of them watched as the damaged car raced for the second loop. There was a scream of rending metal, and the crunch of horrifying mechanical impacts. Red and orange lights flickered. They flared off the slack contours of their stunned faces.
Wendy shrieked.
"JASON!"