In front of the monorail tracks stood a girl before the large group of visitors to the park. She smiled to herself, and spoke loud: "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Today, we revealing the park we here at Funland Amusements had the pleasure of overseeing the construction for. You, the lucky fifty, are the very first to enter the park and see everything before the media does! In a bit, we will be boarding the monorail leading to there; for now, please stay in the waiting area and wait for further instructions, thank you."
She took two steps to her right and six in front of her before turning to enter the main control room. Inside, a secure team of nine technicians overseeing the departure runs smoothly and effectively. The girl walked over to the one further from the door and started talking about the excitement the CEO had.
"If anything happens here, it'll all be on to you, got me?" She said and he nodded in response. To make sure he did understand, she drove her finger into his chest. "Good."
"Ms. Long! I need you out here, like, now! I'm having an issue with one of the pedestrians inside the lobby," said a security guard, as the logo on his shoulder pointed out. Rose footed her way into the doorway and out of the control room.
"Alright, what's the matter?" She asked, arrogance was strongly presence in her voice. In the lobby, the group circled around a single guy with blank pants that could distract and a scowl everyone shivered from.
"Do you not see him? He's trying to sneak into the park; poor bastard, and that were with no sympathy! Kick him out and let us board already!" Cried out one of the pedestrians from the inner rim. He continued: "What are we even waiting for?! Everyone is here, aren't we?" Chatter rose among the group. "I say we force them to let us in, after we kick this poor pile of cheap shit out of here!"
"Whom are we throwing out?" A voice rose above the chatter and silenced the rest of the group. Heads turned to see the silhouette against the doorway, most shocked to see it was of a young woman. The doors closed behind her and the silhouette gave way to the neon colours hidden partly behind a solid black coloured suit jacket and the most identifiable face in the city.
Voices kicked up again, but now it was about the clothes the CEO was wearing. The neon took many back, others by the fact she didn't look like she would in the magazines they often picked up to skim through but ended up reading every article.
"Well? Either you speak up, or no one is going anywhere. We will wait here until someone, anyone, speaks up for the rest." She said again. One coughed and another kicked their feet; both echoed through the silent lobby. She walked around the side of the room with the door leading to the control room and pulled Rose a little off to the side. "Well? Who are they targeting?"
"Uhm... it's, B-Beck, ma'am. He's right in the middle of the crowd." Rose replied as she weakly lifted a finger to the man; the latter stared at the two, both scared slightly and excited greatly. He waved slightly, once, and then stared down at the ground.
"Robby! Good for you to come," Kelly exclaimed as she ran up to him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled close; he mimicked the actions as he stared past her to her assistant. "Are you ready for a day of amazing fun? Or are you gonna be another disappointment like that one night," she followed up with a giggle and a quick elbow.
"Yeah... nah! I'm ready to have fun, I even brought a pair of shorts with me to change into need be," he replied in a mimicking way. "What are the neon clothes for? You planning of letting go for once? Or is that just an act?" She laughed and gently punched his shoulder.
"I'm letting go! Nothing today will hinder me in any way, but that of knowing what it feels like to relax!" She said and patted his shoulder. "Get along now, I need to find my man in red armor." She pushed past him and he stared forward at the assistant. He just shrugged but she turned with a glimmer from her eye towards the door to go back inside.
He quickly pushed his way through the crowd now reforming a full circle until he managed to find his way through to her, softly saying when he did reach the door: "Rose, wait, I wanna talk with you."
She stopped and turned towards him, pushing him back. "No! Can you please leave me alone for now..? I thought we agreed on not showing affection to any other guy or girl," she said tearing slightly.
"I can't help what she does around or to me! I wasn't going to hug her until she hugged me!" He replied loudly but quieted when he saw they were drawing everyone's attention. "I mean..."
"That's like saying you weren't going to kiss her until she kissed you, then you go and fuck her!" She exclaimed before he put his hand over her mouth and pulled her over into the corner from sight. She struggled slightly before blushing and stopping.
"Look, I only have affections for you, okay? No other girl could take your place, even if you would leave me," he softly remarked. She pushed him away, again, as she crossed her arms.
"I'm supposed to believe it?" She shook her head as he pulled her close and nibbled gently on her ear. She squeaked softly, starting to shiver. "H-hey, d-don't do that..."
He smirked and rubbed the top of her head. "Poor baby, getting affectionate just from her ear. Maybe we should show the world how you look when you're getting turned on, sound good?"
"N-no!" Her cries were muffled when he put his lips on to hers. She ceased her cry and kissed him back; he broke the kiss and pulled her back out into the open.
In the control room, eight of the nine scientists chatted about the appearance the CEO made, making jokes about how she must have gotten here right from her boyfriend's house, when the tenth member of the team burst through the door. He had his morning coffee in his right hand and a pastry in his left, sporting the "Blue Devils" hat hanging from his belt line.
"Hey! Sorry I'm late guys! That morning commute, huh?" He said jokingly, but the others had unamused looks on their faces. "Tough crowd..." he remained silent afterwords and walked back towards his wheelie chair.
"Mr. Nellis, what have I told you about bringing coffee in here?" The boss asked from his corner, overlooking everyone else.
"I'm sorry, boss! I just needed it to stay awake on the way here." Nellis replied, only to put the cup on top of his computer monitor.
"Just finish it and hurry up, I wanna get the meeting underway," the boss grunted as he stood up, "alright, people, let's get this started. Team A, raise your hands." Half, not including the boss or his assistant, of the members rose their hands; most hands went back down as quickly as they went up. "Good, and Team B?" The other half raised their hands.
"Listen carefully, understand? The train is one long car, which is enough to hold more than seventy people if given the right arrangements. Also, the train's connected by two different receivers so if the first set of wheels give out, the second would keep it moving. If both, for an accident that shall never happen, come undone, then the train will stop altogether and we will have to help them out," the boss finished with a long pause, staring right at Nellis whom had his hand up high. "Ugh, yes, Nellis?"
"Would it be possible for the train to crash or even be damaged if gotten into a derailment?" He asked, and the boss put his hand to his chin.
"Good question, and no. A simple crash not be enough force to cause damage to the trains," the boss finished again with a pause and then a nod. "That's all, and remember your jobs. Check the wheels and tell anything that happens."
Nellis nodded back and turned around completely, unaware the cup of coffee he had on the computer monitor was light enough that the wind cause by the spinning chair pushed back. It had fallen behind the desk completely and the lid had popped off. The coffee traveled down the wires, searching for a source of energy for its big moment.
He searched everywhere, someone must have picked it up or thrown it away. It would really, as he drank all of its contents, at least he thinks he did. Ignoring it, he reached down and felt around for the power switch for the extension cord. The trailing coffee along the hardwood floor was inches from the extension cord.
"Alright, everyone! Time to board the train and leave towards the future! First, however, I would just like to thank Robert Beck for saving me seven years ago," Kelly said, standing at the very front of the crowd just before the entrance to the monorail cart. Beck idly smiled and looked around; he heard a cough and the warmth of a cigarette behind his ear.
"If he didn't, then we wouldn't be staying here for the opening of AstroPast. And you all were about to throw him out because he looked poorer. Anyway, without a further ado, I'd like to start boarding now," she continued as she moved out the way, "One at a time, please, and no pushing, Children and women can sit in the seats and men can stand."
The crowd flocked in, women and children took the seats lining the walls the men grabbed the metal bars hanging overhead. A crackle came from the communicator overhead as Kelly took the speaker off the wall.
"Alright, everyone! Who's ready for a trip of a lifetime?" She asked and smiled at the faces before her. She had done it; she successfully her dream park and not an accident yet.
"I am! I am!" One of the little boys said one of the little boys whose father wore a sailor suit.
"That's great! When I count to three, I can you all to say Blast Off, alright?" She asked and all cheered. She looked over at the small ignition button hanging on the hall, gently pressing it while saying one aloud.
"That's the signal men! Fire up the engines!" The boss yelled out at the team, who frantically scrambled on the keyboard and control panel. Lights flashed and all electricity went out; the only lightly was the sparks coming from the towers supporting the mainframes for the user interface.
"Nellis! What did you do?!" The boss yelled out again, trampling over the small leg of the wheeling chair. He fell down straight on to the floor and busted open his nose; he gripped the ground and moved his feet until he was on the again. He could hear the clumsy nerd in the corner with the sparks.
"Shit, shit!" Nellis cried out as the coffee spread even more on the hardwood floor. The room filled with the blinking red of the emergency light and the yellowish sparks from the towers.
Kelly didn't have time to react. The train flew off the station faster than a rocket and made its way down the tracks. The tunnel turned the car black and the wheels, under the speed the car was traveling, popped off; the car was running on only two good front wheels and two stubs for wheels in the back. The tracks lowered themselves like they would upon inspection day and the front wheels, not being completely screwed on correctly due to the faulty metal used in the construction, popped off as well. The car was now traveling with two stubs; making sparks along the bottom as the tracks rubbed up against it.
"Everyone, you must hold on tightly. I don't know what is happening now, but I'm sure the people in the control room are trying to fix it as we speak!"
The back of the first car started to creak and everyone in the back of the car stared before caved in. The second car crashed into it, crashing down straight into the bottom of the car; the second car crushed several women, children, and a man with a red suit jacket. His head cracked open and his body flew out of the train from the wheel overtop of him. Blood covered the sides and the roof of the car; some even managed to hit Kelly's face and she screamed.
She saw the wheel starting to rumble on its axel and a rat-looking man at the same wheel. The top metal piece on the wheel shot forward into the man's stomach just as the wheel shot forward cutting the man's neck in half; his body fell right on top of Kelly's body. She tried to kick it off but the second car pushed down on the first and the two started traveling towards the back.
"Dad! Help me!" The same little boy from earlier called out. The man in a sailor suit ran after his son and jumped to to pull him out of the rotating stub of a wheel. The man, nor anyone else, didn't know that the tracks underneath the first car switched and the back drifted into the inspection lane; as it rose on both lanes, the second car backed off but the support beam attacked its victim by suprised by cutting the car into two sides, crushing him at the waist. His top half fell right in front of his son and Kelly.
The only people left in the front half were, namely, Beck, Rose, and the lower body of the sailor, but the rest of the riders were strangers to them. Together they saw the back half of the car between the thick support beams until the fourth; all they could see was a small smoke cloud and an explosion on the other side of the wall. Beck looked to his left and saw the sun shining down onto them. A man with a camera tried to lean out the window to escape the car; his neck strap got caught on the broken sill and left him dangling. He pushed himself out of the strap and tried to grab the camera, but it slipped out of his hands and he fell down onto his head on the ground below; his head spilled blood, squirting it onto the base of the beam. An Impala, unable to slow itself down, ran over his body and continued into the beam. It began to slowly leak blood from the car door and gasoline from the tank. The gasoline traveled down to the train car as the engine caught fire.
Faulty metal and the force of the explosion at the base snapped the beam and the car plummeted down to the concrete below. Beck looked about, he could feel the blood drift down his head. Before him, a girl held an older looking man close to him, the latter laid limp and his neck at an unreachable angle. Behind them was an uniformed man who held the jugular in his neck, stabbed from his pocketknife; he slid down the wall as his blood flooded the area around him.
Beck could only see one familiar face among the five survivors, including himself, still inside the car. He slowly stood up, wiped the blood continuing down his forehead, and held out his hand for Rose. She grabbed it, but her knee gave in and she fell back to the floor. Instincts seem to always kick in when most needed, Beck threw her arm around his neck and hoisted her up. He, along with two helpers, managed to get Rose out of the car from the emergency exit on the bottom. Beck ran ahead to secure a spot for Rose to sit; he stopped when he heard an explosion behind him and he turned to see what it was.
His eyes widened as the flaming body came flying at him; he ducked upon instinct, and the body hit the ground behind him. The smell of burning flesh and burning gasoline put him a trance like no other. He dropped to his knees and stared as the fire from the Impala snaked its way to the already burning train car; the bottom of the car, unwittingly mentioned to anyone on it, brimmed with gas to secure transportation between stations in an orderly fashion. The flames hit the tank under the train car and the girl inside, still holding the older man close to her, engulfed into a blaze of life; she screamed and banged on the windows, ignoring the emergency exit above her. Her flesh fell off her arms first, then there was a blaze of light from the train car as parts of it flew in multiple directions. A small fragment of the window the girl pounded against struck Rose in the back of the head; part of the glass exposed itself through her mouth, as it shined a light red against the ground.
Beck gulped as he could feel the other drivers around him exit their cars and bolt. It was his fate, as he figured, to burn like he let all those others back some seven years ago. He felt the warm blaze drawing closer like the predator with its prey. He kneeled there, ready for his fate, but only received the words from before.
"I'd like to start boarding now," called out Kelly from the front of the crowd. The cigarette against Beck's neck sent a shiver down his spine and he reacted in a way he didn't think was possible. He cried out as his voice cracked and his arms shot out; he pushed the woman in front of him down. The man wearing a bomber jacket next to her grabbed Beck by the collar and shook him.
"Why would push my friend down like that?!" The man cried then pushed him away, reaching down to the girl below him. "You alright, Monica?" She nodded and stood up with aid from the man. The crowd, with Monica and the man with her in the front, circled around Beck like vultures circling their prey.
"Don't get on... Don't get on the train! I beseech you!" Beck cried out and tears came to his eyes when he saw the little boy. "It's going to crash and kill everyone on it. Please, listen to me." People laughed and back of the crowd started entering the train car. Beck cried out again, grabbing Rose and Kelly and pulling them back to the front near him. The security guard on duty reached for the handcuffs as Beck threw his arm out again; he punched the man in a sailor suit before him who led his son by the hand. The sailor let his son go and pulled his arm back. His fist nailed Beck in the jaw; the latter fell to the floor, withering in pain.
"Alright, that's enough! All of you," exclaimed the security officer, his stomach heaving as he yelled, "the three of you are coming with me." The officer reached out to handcuff the three when a man in a red suit jacket grabbed the officer's arm.
"Sir, please don't do something like that, they aren't trying to pick a fight or anything." The man in the red suit jacket said, as the officer pulled his arm out from the other's grasp and threw the one cuff onto his arm.
"Adkins! Let James go, now," growled Kelly from behind Beck. She pushed free and pulled James over to the other side. "Manny, let's go, we don't need to let something as stupid as this bother us." Her words halted the rat-looking man at the entrance to the train car. He turned, looked back, and growled at her like at the office; but was pushed to the side by an older looking man with a younger girl.
"What's the hold up out here?" The older man asked as he stepped out of the car, pulling the girl with him. "Are we going or not; because if we're not…" His words silenced by screech of the train car, blasting off like the rocket it was molded after.
Beck fell to his knees; he thought to himself: "I failed… I actually failed, my one job, and I blew it." He looked around at the people in the lobby with him. The cries of the sailor were thin in his ears, drowned out by the crash of the monorail car. The other nine around him stared at one another, too scared to do anything. Their heads shifted to the camera flashes near the edge of the platform. Sirens filled the space around them, and, well, let's say the curtain's cast down upon that dreadful hour.