Doggedly maintaining his station at the bottom of the stage stairs, he watched as Brittany and the mayor discussed something, the mayor's hand covering the microphone until he was ready to address the large audience.
"Merry Christmas," Mayor Thorn said, his greeting prompting a return call of "Merry Christmas" from those in attendance.
"Everyone having a good time tonight?" the mayor continued, pumping up the crowd like the opening act at a rock concert. "We hope everyone is having a good evening and for some lucky person out there, well, they're really going to have a very Merry Christmas."
The mayor's comments brought cheers from the audience, all obviously anxiously awaiting his announcement of the cash winner. Meanwhile Brittany rolled up a large cylinder containing all the entries from the Shop Centertown First contest, placing it behind the mayor on stage. Taking the handle to mix up its contents, Brittany spun the tube several times before stopping, opening the door and reaching in to pull out the winning ticket. A hush fell on the crowd, the anticipation palatable as Brittany handed the winning entry to the mayor. You could have heard a pin drop.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, our lucky winner is ..." The mayor's words stopped suddenly as the lights went out, plunging the civic center into darkness, gasps and a few screams coming from the thousands in attendance.
In the distance a loud boom could be heard, suggesting immediately to Joe that an electric transformer had exploded perhaps after being hit by a falling tree branch broken by ice or the weight of the snow.
"Please remain calm," the mayor could be heard yelling from the stage. His microphone had been cut off by the loss of power.
The center remained in pitch darkness for about ten seconds. The sounds of a panicked crowed could be heard in the darkness, punctuated by the occasional cry of a frightened child. Then the back-up generator kicked in. Dim emergency lights cut through the darkness as the sound of the heating system, also kicking on, could be heard along with what Joe thought was another distant boom.
With the power coming back on to the microphone, the mayor began to speak again trying to reassure the issue was only a minor problem that would be corrected in a few minutes. His promise was premature. He was cut off by the sounds of gunfire.
Joe saw the flashes of the automatic weapons as the men entered the packed arena like an invasion force, dark ski masks shielding their faces, tucked underneath ball caps, their midsections bulging suggesting they were wearing body armor. The gunmen pushed their way past those at the door, one taking a woman by the arm, his rifle pointing under her chin as he walked toward where Joe was standing. Another continued firing rounds into the air, the sound almost deafening inside the closed gym as pieces of the roof fell into the crowd.
Looking around the arena, Joe tried to get a count of the gunmen. Besides the two walking in the front entrance, another had slipped in from the back, his gun now spitting fire, ripping holes in the ceiling and roof.
"On the ground!" the gunman in the rear of the room yelled in a gruff commanding voice. "On the ground now or people start getting shot."
In unison, the thousands of people inside the arena hit the ground. Joe took a knee next to the stage, afraid the gunman would next train his weapon on the crowd. Another boom could be clearly heard outside, this one closer.
"All heroes and law enforcement officers, any tricks and we start killing people," the man from the back continued as he moved through the prone crowd. "We have snipers upstairs. Any of you cops start anything, we start shooting women and children first."
The announcement brought frightened gasps from the crowd, many people just now beginning to grasp what was happening.
Lost in his focus on the man in back, Joe looked back to see the two who had walked in the front door were now upon him, brushing past as they climbed the steps to the stage, the one gunman pushing his female hostage to the ground in front of him. Joe reached out to catch the woman, keeping her from slamming against the floor as she let out a cry from the fear of being manhandled.
"Who's in charge here?" came the commanding voice of the first gunman on the stage.
The mayor, who had been on his knees along with Brittany on the stage, responded in a low tone.
"I'm the mayor of Centertown," Mayor Thorn said as he was pulled rudely by the collar toward the lead gunman.
"Okay, Your Honor," the gunman began mockingly. "I want you to tell all the police officers out there to throw down any weapons they have on them. I know there are officers out there and if we don't start seeing weapons and radios then people start dying, starting with you and your pretty little assistant here."
The threat chilled Joe, imagining the gorgeous woman shot in the head, her blood pouring out of her on the stage. It wasn't happening, Joe thought to himself, as long as he was here.
"Officers, do what he says. Throw down your weapons," the mayor ordered.
The uniformed officers in the room obeyed to the mayor's command. They didn’t have much of a choice since the gunman who had come up from the back already had his weapon trained on two of Centertown's finest.
Another explosion could be heard outside as the officers were surrendering their weapons. The gunman from the back walked around and picked them up before placing them in a bag he had slung over his shoulder.
Looking around the room, the gunman near the stage issued his next order.
"Very good. Now, I want every cellphone in here thrown to the side of the room," he ordered, pointing to the east corner of the arena. "If one person, and I mean even one person, has a phone on them after this, your mayor is a dead man."
The sounds of hundreds of phones sliding across the floor could he heard as the stunned crowd obliged his directive. The sounds of plastic and metal hitting the floor were accompanied by whimpering from many in the crowd. As the last of the phones were sliding across the floor, the chief gunman resumed talking.
"We are the Free Citizens Army and we are here to liberate you from your oppressive government," the man announced in a commanding tone, his revelation conjuring up pictures of psycho militia groups in Joe's mind. "We are not here to occupy your town but we are here to free it from the bonds of the illegal federal government. We will require the President himself to come here to hear our grievances. Once our voice is heard, all of you will be free to leave and resume your normal lives."
As the man was delivering his manifesto, most of which sounded like maniacal babbling, Joe noticed something in the dimly lit arena. The other men, during the excitement of gunfire, had chained both the front and back doors when they entered. Joe didn't notice it earlier, likely because he was ducking for cover like everyone else when the shooting began.
Joe eyed the door on the west side of the arena which led to the player entrance. The door, which was often kept locked, was the only apparent escape from the room as no chain held it closed.
"If you do as we say, this will all be ..."
The gunman's diatribe was cut off by the sound of a cellphone in the crowd. From the sound of the tone, it was a teenager's phone. The annoying sound of a Justin Bieber song rang out from about thirty feet away from the stage. The sound was obviously not coming from the pile of phones surrendered by the masses minutes before. Someone had violated the gunman’s order.
"You were warned," the man said, his voice becoming more menacing as he shouldered his rifle and pulled out a pistol from a shoulder holster. The two other gunmen Joe could see from his vantage point leveled their weapons on the crowd. Screams pierced his ears as those on the gym floor again pressed themselves flat against the floor.
Grabbing the mayor by the collar and pushing him down before him, the gunman cocked his gun and put it to his head.
"This is what happens when you don't do as you're told," the gunman yelled.
The mayor started to speak in protest but he never got his words out.
Boom! The sound of the gun echoed around the arena as the gunman fired a single shot at point blank range into th
e mayor’s skull. Warm fluid sprayed across Brittany's face as she screamed in terror. She had been standing within arm’s reach of Mayor Thorn. Her boss had just been executed in front of her. Now she stood splattered in his blood.
The sounds of crying and screaming became louder. The gunman in the crowd fired another volley up into the air, warning the crowd to be quiet.
"And, just to show you I don't care if you're a man or woman, I'm going to give you another example for your own good," the man said, seizing Brittany by her arm, kicking the mayor's body out of the way so she could assume the position.
Brittany cried out as she tried to resist his grasp. The sound of her horrified cries sparked something deep in Joe's being. Without thinking, Joe sprang from his perch at the foot of the stage and ran directly toward Brittany. He threw a shoulder block into the gunman who was still holding the rifle pointing toward the audience.
The executioner, who was holding the pistol to Brittany’s head, was stunned by Joe’s sudden appearance. His eyes wide, he leveled his gun and quickly pulled the trigger. The surprise of Joe's charge obviously messed up his aim as he missed despite being just a few feet from his target. The errant shot gave Joe just enough time to whisk Brittany off stage and onto the ground. They landed on the other side of the speakers, giving him momentary cover as he pulled her to her feet immediately and sprinted toward the players' door.
"Please be unlocked," Joe said to himself as he pulled Brittany by the arm behind him. The sound of gunfire and screams from the crowd chased them toward the door.
Joe ran full speed into the door which, much to his relief, was open. He knew a locked door meant death as he and Brittany would have surely been made examples. It was the only possible way out of the sealed arena.
Sprinting down the straight hall, Joe knew he had only seconds to get out the door before his pursuers would get another shot. What if other gunmen were outside? It didn’t matter. There was no turning back now.
He didn’t hesitate as he pushed open the outside door. Joe was smacked by the bitterly cold and the feel of snow on his face as the door opened, freeing the couple into night.
"Quick!" Joe barked at Brittany as he headed toward the parking lot, hoping to take cover behind cars.
Even as he entered the lot, the sound of explosions could be heard. A car about a hundred yards to his left exploded in flames, followed by another about the same distance to his right. Fire erupted high into the night sky. Ducking behind cars in the lot, still grasping Brittany's hand, Joe felt himself wince, fearing the next car to explode might be the one they had taken cover behind. Then came another explosion from the lot, and another, and then another. The parking area was erupting into an inferno and they were in the middle of it.
"We have to get out of here," Joe said. He glanced over and looked Brittany in the face for the first time since his daring rescue. Blood and mascara ran down her cheeks. Her eyes were filled with fear and surprise. It was like she hadn’t comprehended what was happening to her. One minute she was standing on stage in a warm civic center about to make some lucky Centertown resident very happy and the next she was witnessing her boss’ assassination and running for her life. It was easy to understand her confusion.
Giving her a reassuring look, Joe held a death grip on her hand as they worked from car to car, weaving through the web of burning vehicles. They headed in a northerly direction as Joe was formulating a plan in his mind.
"We're going to make a break for the school," Joe whispered to Brittany. The campus was two blocks away. Joe had the keys to the school on his key chain. They could slip into the school and lay low until they figured out what was going on.
"Are you ready?" Joe asked as he looked into Brittany’s confused eyes.
He prepared himself to make the dash from the parking lot and across the street. In the back of his mind, he feared snipers could be on the top of the civic center, waiting to pick them off once they made themselves visible. However, staying in the fiery parking lot was not an option, since the next car to explode could be the one they were taking refuge behind. Plus, Joe was expecting gunmen to emerge from the civic center at any moment to give chase.
With Brittany nodding her head to acknowledge Joe’s plan, the pair made their dash over open ground and across the street. Brittany slipped on the ice as she hit the shoulder, landing with a thud on the pavement. Joe paused to pull her back to her feet as the two slid into a front yard across the street from the civic center. They wasted no time dashing behind the house, putting the structure between them and any sniper who might be on the top of the arena.
The couple continued to work their way through snowy residential neighborhoods as they heard more explosions coming from the direction of the civic center. Looking behind them to make sure they were not being pursued, they could see a glow in the night sky.
"This way," Joe said as he and Brittany approached the high school campus, being careful to keep low in case more gunmen were around. "We can lay low in the locker room for a while."
Carefully making their way to the back area of the school which housed the football locker room, Joe noticed for the first time that it appeared the entire town was dark. Given the fact the school sat on a hill where he could usually see the lights of Centertown, it was almost surreal to see only blackness, the usually well-lit town feeling almost like the country. The blackout extended as far as he could see. The only lights, aside from the glow of the fires coming from near the arena, were from the hospital about three blocks away, its back-up power kicking on when the electricity went down in Centertown. The high school, which didn’t have a backup system, was dark.
Taking out his keys and fumbling in the dark for the one for the school, Joe worked on feel, finding the round topped locker room key. Looking over his shoulder to make sure he was not being watched, he unlocked the back door and the pair slipped into the dark building. The eerie glow of the emergency exit signs provided the only light inside.
"Wait here," Joe said as he sat Brittany down on a bench in the middle of the locker room. He then felt his way in the darkness to his office, taking bearings by the illuminated exit sign.
After rummaging through his desk, feeling through the bottom drawer, Joe pulled out a scented candle and then grabbed a lighter from his top desk drawer. Joe recalled he had bought the candle during one of the cheerleader fundraising sales, pitching it into his bottom drawer figuring he would never have a use for it. He was now glad he had made that donation to the cheerleading team.
He lit the candle and made his way back to Brittany. The flickering candle light danced on the wall as he entered the locker room where Brittany was waiting in almost complete darkness.
"You saved my life," Brittany said with a broad smile on her face when Joe returned. "Why would you do that? Risk your life? You could have been killed?"
Feeling his face getting red from embarrassment, making him almost want to say something like "aw shucks ma'am," Joe cut the tension with humor. He always fell back on humor when he was nervous. Humor was his defense mechanism. He figured in another life he would have been a comedian because he liked making people laugh.
"I couldn't hardly ask you out if you were dead," Joe laughed, immediately wondering if he joke had come “too soon” after escaping death. His attempt at humor was appreciated as it cut the tension and pulled a chuckle out of Brittany.
She was still shaking, perhaps from the cold but more likely from their near-death experience.
"So, all of this is just an elaborate way to get me to go out with you?" she smiled nervously. "All you had to do was ask."
Sharing the nervous laughter in the candlelit room, alone in the large school, the pair locked eyes. Joe caught a brief sparkle in Brittany's gaze before she looked down.
"Who are those men? Why did they kill Mayor Thorn? Why were they going to kill me?" Brittany asked, the last question choking her up.
"I don't know and I'm not eager to find out," Joe shot back. "I th
ink we need to hold up right here and let the police take care of it."
"But, the police, most of them at least, are in the arena," Brittany began. "Have you noticed something odd? There hasn't been a single siren this whole time. Where is everyone else? No fire trucks or ambulances. What about the sheriff's department? Where is everybody? We may be on our own."
LIGHTS OUT
The lights would not be coming on any time soon in Centertown. Jerry had seen to that. At exactly the stroke of eight o'clock, the entire grid that covered the part of town inside the bridges blacked out, plunging every man, woman and child into the dark and, with the mercury already dipping under twenty degrees, into the cold.
The blackout wasn't really a big trick for Jerry who, with the help of Randy, had installed an array of small explosive charges on utility poles ringing downtown. Over the course of the month, leading up to Christmas, no one had even noticed Jerry and an assistant on the utility poles. But then, why would they? Two men in Centertown Electric uniforms working on the lines was nothing unusual.
They had been free to plant the small charges. The explosives were small enough to avoid detection if there was an emergency service on the lines, as there so often was during cold weather, but big enough to sever key lines to completely black out the city. It was almost too simple, Jerry often thought to himself while he and Randy were planting the charges.
There would be no repair crews coming to turn the lights back on in Centertown. In an amazing "coincidence," the line crews which troubleshoot outages had been called into the office an hour earlier to work on a line issue. Actually, Jerry had carefully timed the line issue to make sure all available manpower was at the electric office at the exact moment of the blackout. After that, it was no problem for Jerry to usher the crews into the back storage area of the electric company, locking them away with the knowledge the backup generator there would keep them from freezing to death in their temporary holding cell.
Average Joe Page 5