Me: Aloha, readers of fanfics. =P Since it's amazingly hot where I live, I've decided to cast this terrible fortune on Manhattan. Sorry for not updating sooner, laptop is acting weird, as you'll find in the A/N at the bottom. ^^ So until then, enjoy this chappie!

[Sam]

It was 109°. My hair is plastered to my face, and I think I'm going to die of sweat overload or something weird like that. I had barely made it to work today, and the worst part was that the air conditioning was broken.

Everything was sluggish. The elevator seemed to move ten centimeters an hour, and nobody could get any work done. I trudged to the meeting room, collapsed in my chair, and waited for this horrible nightmare to finally end. Emilia was already there, and she looked worn out. Well, you would be, too, if it was a giant oven in your city.

"Sam," she moaned, laying limp against the sticky table. "What are we here for?"

I mumbled, "Something about a special report."

Soon, everyone had piled in, which made it even hotter with all the body heat. Frank Wardon stood at the front of the room, and you know it's bad when your neat-freak, tip-top boss is appearing exhausted and droopy.

"Alright," he spoke loudly. "There is an accident on the highway, and we need to get there first. You all have to come, because we need coverage on everything; injuries, damages, costs, even weather."

I smashed my face onto the smooth surface of the table, in sync with the many groans of complaint that echoed throughout the meeting room. We had to go outside, in blistering heat, and get proper news?

Why did I have to come? Who wanted to know what the weather was when an accident occured? They already knew it was hot, so there really was no point in me even being there. But Frank decided that was the end of the meeting, and we were to get to this highway ASAP.

I met Manny in the lobby, and wasn't surprised to see his cap still on. He wore that thing rain, shine, snow, hail.

"Ready to go, Manny?" I asked tiredly, and he nodded silently. We exited the building, and climbed into the van, with the Channel 8 logo on the side. I started up the engine, and both of us sighed in relief when the AC blasted us. I turned it up full-throttle, and we followed the other vans down to the sight.

Once there, we climbed out of the heavenly vehicle and I was astounded at the grotesque scene.

One silver car was overturned, the window smashed in and shards of glass littering the pavement. The right side was dented so far in that you could fit a dead body in it, but I couldn't see any driver. A red semi-trailer had skidded into the grass on the side, the cab practically bent into the trailer. One of the rearview mirrors had flown dramatically, and ended up in the windshield of a black Hyundai. I grimaced - along with most of my coworkers - at the crimson liquid splattered across the highway, and swallowed down a vile taste.

Then the familiar sounds of interviews sprung up.

"When did this happen?"

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Are there any eye witnesses?"

"Who's responsible?"

I released a sigh, and took the microphone from my loyal partner. Manny started the signal, and right when I was about to say my regular line, the squeal of tires alerted us all. We turned around, and saw an all-too-familiar blue BMW speeding towards none other than me at a dangerous rate. My eyes widened, and I faintly heard the thud of the mic as it hit the ground.

I knew that people were shouting for me to move, but it seemed like my feet were permanently apart of the earth. The car was only a few yards away when somebody tackled me out of the way.

I half-expected it to swivel around and run us over, yet it kept going, and soon, it was just a dark dot on the horizon. A crowd gathered, but I shook off their offers for medical attention and looked to the person who had saved me.

Emilia.

"You alright, Sam?" she asked, helping me up.

"Yeah." I couldn't think of anything else to say, and then I noticed a white slip of paper on the rocky pavement. I picked it up, and glanced it over quickly.

The beginning of the end, Sparks. Be careful.

-Numbers

I blinked in confusion, and wanted to tear my hair out while screaming to the heavens above. The blazing heat was long forgotten, because who else would be 'Sparks' who's getting stalked by some group called 'Numbers'? I had a feeling that this also wouldn't be the last note, either. Maybe I watched too many crime shows.

Surprisingly, no one asked what the piece of paper in my hands was, and soon, things returned to normal. Despite Emilia, Frank, and Manny's objection, I did my weather report and headed home directly afterwards without so much as a good-bye to my coworkers.

As I laid in my bed, staring up at the gloomy ceiling, my thoughts drifted back to Flint. When would I get to see him again? I missed him, I missed Steve, heck, I even missed Mr. Lockwood. They were like my family, and being apart from them made me feel isolated in the world. It was a lucky thing that I had Emilia and Manny on my side. I would have gone insane.

I rolled over, pressing my face into the pillow, and clutched the sheets tighter. I never thought that life could be so cruel to humans when it felt like it. What about the note the blue BMW had unceremonially dropped on the highway for me. Who let them by? Wasn't the highway supposed to be closed off because of the gruesome accident?

Where was the justice in that?

With so many worries and nagging feelings swimming around my brain, I slept fitfully, tossing and turning throughout the night and often waking up in a sweat. The next day continued in a slow fashion, and I could only hope for one thing.

That things would turn out alright, eventually.

Me: Short chappie, I know, because my computer is being a prick and keeps cutting off in the middle of crap. Luckily though, my uncle is on his way to fix it, so I should be okay in a few days. The next chapter's gonna focus on our ChewandSwallow gang, to give Sammy a break. ;) Be there!

Ja ne.

-Peachuz =D