Chapter 36
Light It Up!
"You speak to Death?" William Bludworth asked carefully as he looked at the crazed eyes of Bobby Yates. "That is not possible."
Bobby's smile only widened as he dropped his arms. "Who are you to say what's possible, Bludworth? Your family was always terrible at that part." He scoffed and shook his head. "Quite frankly, it's insulting. You guys always gave advice to visionaries and that advice would often get them killed. A lot of good lives were lost 'cause you Bludworth's figured you knew better than anyone else."
"Don't insult the name of my family," William said firmly. "We help people defend against Death's vile schemes."
"Ha! You try, I'll give you that," Bobby's eyes gleamed. "But I'm sorry, Bludworth. I'm on a little bit of a schedule, so…" Bobby shrugged and raised his arm. "Get 'em out, guys." All as one, the rest of the students brought out the lighters and held them out in front of him. William looked at them warily with his black eyes as Bobby turned to Marianne. "You best get out of here. I'll meet you in Pluto."
Marianna nodded without a word and turned, heading through the doorway and leaving the group below in the maintenance room that was slowly filling up with gas.
"You do realise this gas pipe connects with many across all of Eastbourne," William said slowly, not liking the fact that these other students seemed to be acting exactly the same as the other.
"Oh… does it?" Bobby's words were thick with sarcasm. "You know, for a Bludworth, you're extremely stupid. Besides…" Bobby looked up and down William's body. "What the hell is up with all of this? Are those contacts? Are what, did you get mauled by a tiger or something?" Bobby grinned again. "Or is it just make-up to make you seem more mysterious. You Bludworth's always did like your mysteries. Well, I reckon it's a mystery that you people have a hard-on for dead bodies. I'm pretty certain anyone with the name Bludworth is destined for morgues. That a choice? Or just because you can't kill what is already dead."
"How do you know of us?" William asked, starting to get a little bit desperate to prevent whatever it was Bobby was planning. A bead of sweat ran down his head and he fought to keep his composure.
"When Death comes up, you Bludworth's come up as well. It isn't a hard connection to make if you look hard enough. Besides, your research draws all kinds of attention. Sure, the DSI may not realise what is under their noses but there are other forces that does get interested."
"So that's it…" William nodded to himself. "You want to destroy my research?"
Bobby stared at William for a moment before suddenly bursting out laughing. He actually clutched his gut and had to fight for control again. William could only watch as the young man finally wiped tears from his eyes and spoke again. "Are you that desperate for meaning, Bludworth!? What the living fuck could I care about your research?" Bobby motioned around the room. "I'm not here for your research and I'm not here for you, Bludworth. You're just a booby prize," Watching William's expression, Bobby seemed to grow more gleeful.
"You really believed that I was here for you? That's brilliant! That's the problem with you Bludworth's: your pride. I reckon that's why you get involved with visionaries and the List. You just want that attention, you want to feel useful. Well, sucks to be you, Bludworth, but this ain't about you… Oh, I know, it hurts to hear. But I'm afraid, much like your life, your death will have no meaning…"
"People will realise I'm missing,"
"I don't fucking care," Bobby hissed, exasperated. "I could give two shits about who realises your dead cause at the end of the day you'll just be a pile of meaningless ash. I'm surprised you know people, Bludworth, honestly."
"You think I didn't share my information?"
"I know you didn't share your information," Bobby said, seemingly getting impatient. "You Bludworth's don't share."
"You shouldn't match me with the rest of my family," William said carefully. This drew Bobby's attention and he cocked his head for a moment at the mortician.
"I don't believe it… you actually did tell someone? The fact that a Bludworth would share any kind of information is a miracle."
"They know about Egypt. They know about the time Death was killed-"
"Oh my god, stop talking!" Bobby shook his head and walked directly in front of William. "I know, I know, you're desperate, aren't you? You're trying to delay my plans. Well, I've gave you a bit of conversation but I must be getting on… Guys!"
"You'd kill yourself as well!" William said, taking a step away from Bobby. He looked to each of the students. "You would kill yourself… You would really throw away your life?"
Bobby started to raise his hand but then stopped. He seemed to be thinking of something and looked away from William. "You're right… It would be throwing away my life, wouldn't it? All I've ever done in my life is listen to the voice in the sky… I've only ever done what they have told me…" He looked down into his hands with a strange expression. "Am I just a tool, to be used on a whim? Do I not have a mind of my own, can I not make my own decisions… hahah… am I… am I having an… existential crisis… hahahahah… Christ, Bludworth, really!?" Bobby let out a bark of laughter again and tapped William on the chest.
"You think I came down here, broke into the morgue, got into the maintenance rooms, and burst open that pipe just to bow out now? Come on… You think you could say anything to dissuade me? Fact is, Bludworth, it's already been decided and you, my friend, forgot one simply thing. Sure, these idiots will die… sure, you will die… but me?" Bobby's eyes gleamed. "I've gone through it before, you know. This dying thing. It's not all that cracked up to be. So… you may be going to Hell but I think I'm gonna stay up on this world and see how it all pans out." He grinned a wild grin and threw his arms out again. "Light it up!" He demanded and all as one the students clicked their lighters.
William barely had time to even think about what was about to happen before the open flames touched the gas that had been slowly filling the room and in an instant a ferocious fireball bloomed, taking the students, Bobby Yates, and William Bludworth in its fiery grasp before blowing outwards in an instant.
The first explosion had sent the entire hospital room shaking and the survivors instantly clutched for anything in sight to stay upright. Naomi put her hands against the wall as Lacey and Jade held Lucas in place on the bed. Carol managed to grab Tanzi just before she fell while Timothy helped Jeffrey stay upright. Jeremiah looked desperately around the room.
"What was that?" He asked just as the room shook again as another explosion roared from somewhere underneath them. They could hear screaming from below now. Timothy quickly moved over to the door and flung it open, looking up and down the corridor. A third explosion from somewhere underneath them caused a massive crack to run through the corridor, sending Timothy to the floor.
"A bomb, it's a bomb," one of the nurses cried as they ran down the hallway, completing ignoring Timothy sprawled on the floor. Other patients and staff ran desperately down the hall. Timothy watched, his mouth agape, as the floor opened up at the end of the corridor and a patient in a gown plummeted down with a scream. He finally gained his senses and stood up. "We need to move! Carol, get Tanzi. Lucas, can you stand?"
"What's going on?" Tanzi asked as Lucas nodded weakly. She walked over to the corridor as Lacey and Jade helped Lucas painfully to his feet. "My God…"
The floor seemed to split open near them and the room seemed to start falling away. "Go! Now!" Timothy yelled desperately as he grabbed Tanzi and practically threw her across the widening gap. Everyone was speechless among the sound of screaming below them, the crumbling of the walls and the floor, and the strange crackling that must have been fire from below. Timothy next helped Jeffrey across with an assist from Carol. The two police officers helped Naomi then Jeremiah across before taking Lucas from the two girls.
"Go on, across, now!" Carol said and Jade didn't wait to jump over the gap that was now a good metre wide. "Lacey, come on, go."
"L-Lucas," Lacey muttered, her face completely pale.
"Go," Lucas said painfully and Lacey bit her lip before being helped across by Carol from one side and Naomi from the next.
"This is gonna hurt but we got to get you across," Carol said as she and Timothy boldly lifted him and carted him over the gap into the waiting arms of the survivors. The boy let off a cry of pain but he was passed over safely.
There was a great roaring of tearing concrete as the whole room lurched again as it fell away from the corridor. Carol and Timothy managed to hold onto each other to stop themselves from falling and Timothy pushed Carol. "Jump!"
Carol jumped and managed to land on the relative safety of the now torn apart corridor. She turned to help Timothy but the room suddenly lurched one more time. A large section of ceiling collapsed with sparks from the lighting and Timothy looked up just in time to see the strip of plastic whack him upside the head. He cursed and fell backwards and then the room tore completely from the foundations.
The survivors could only watch open-mouthed as the room fell down in a crumbling heap of concrete, plaster, and flooring; Timothy was completely covered in debris as the whole side of the hospital fell into itself, sending a great plume of dust up and out.
Inside the police cruiser was a silence that stretched across the whole vehicle. Nathan Furrow was silently driving, his lips thin and his eyes staring straight ahead at the now clear road. Both Ruby and Zach sat in the back of the cruiser, silent as corpses. Ruby was staring out the window, her eyes moving rapidly as if she were reading an invisible book. Zach had crossed his arms and his foot was slowly tapping up and down on the floor.
Much as the Oracle had said, once they had told Nathan Furrow that the officer name Carol was in danger, he had practically thrown them in the cruiser and drove off. He could only assume that there was some kind of bomb at the hospital judging by the fact that they had said that all the lives would be in danger at the hospital. The last few hours had completely turned everything upside down and while he wasn't certain what was happening with Tanzi Sakamoto and now this threat at the hospital, he knew that he had to get there. Thankfully, the weather had cleared quickly and he was able to put the sirens on and drive as fast as was safe through Eastbourne.
As they drove down the main road that split through Eastbourne and headed for the General Hospital, Ruby suddenly pressed her hands against the window.
"No…" Her voice wavered as she looked ahead. Nathan and Zach both followed her gaze to see a massive amount of black smoke coming from the direction of the hospital and they could also hear a strange sound, like repeated muted pops. It wasn't only the hospital, though. There was black smoke coming up from various other spots in the horizon.
Nathan focused back on the road and his eyes widened a moment. At the end of the road, a fireball had suddenly blown out a hole in the tarmac, showering the sidewalk with debris and flame. He barely had time to comprehend the fireball before another one blew out a hole in the tarmac ahead of him. He finally realised what must be going on.
"…Gas pipes…" he muttered to himself and then had another realization; he was driving straight on top of one of the main gas pipes… that was what those smaller explosions on the road were! "Hang on!" Nathan exclaimed to his passengers, wrenching hard on his wheel and stepping on the brakes, throwing his car into a drift. Just as he pressed the accelerator to drive down a smaller side-road the ground suddenly erupted down underneath the car. For a moment flames licked at the window before the whole car lurched up into the air.
The police cruiser and its three occupants span three times in the air before crashing down hard on a low brick wall as fireballs erupted all around them, tearing through the road and the houses surrounding them.