Combustion
Page 27
Whack. Judd swings his mallet again and dislodges another chunk of the wall. Once he’d passed the counteragent to the federal authorities they’d synthesised and distributed it. The petroleum companies began adding it to their supplies five weeks after 7/27, though it was another month before people felt completely comfortable about driving or flying again, particularly in Southern California, where winds and weather had spread the virus widely. With its fifteen-year half-life, the counteragent would be in use for the foreseeable future.
If anyone stopped to ruminate on the planet’s reliance on fossil fuels, it certainly wasn’t obvious to Judd. People were just happy to get back to business as usual. So Zac Bunsen had caused a great deal of heartache and almost destroyed the city, but had failed to change much of anything.
If Judd and Corey had been famous previously, they were bona fide superstars now. Even before the Atlantis 4 movie started shooting, Twentieth Century Fox signed them for a sequel based on their adventures on 7/2.7. There’s no title yet but Judd is leaning towards Ignition, the studio likes 7/27 and Corey thinks Combustion could be a goer.
Principal photography on the Atlantis 4 movie is slated to begin next week. The announcement, which brought them to LA in the first place, was rescheduled for next Monday. That’s why Judd and Rhonda are in town - and how Corey lassoed them into helping with the reno.
*
Ding dong. The doorbell rings.
Lola pulls the dust mask down around her neck. ‘I’ll get it.’ She moves through the house and opens the front door.
On the stoop stands Scott Ford, movie star, the Blue Cyclone, looking sheepish. Lola regards him blankly. ‘What?’
‘I just - I came to apologise. Your assistant told me where you were.’
‘Well, I will kick his arse for that. I’m taking the week. No work.’
‘This isn’t about work. This is - I’ve been trying to contact you for three months. You didn’t return my calls or texts or anything.’
She stares at him. ‘Gee, I wonder why.’
‘Look, I was hoping we could have lunch and talk about it —’
‘You went sailing while I was trapped under a beam in a building. There’s nothing to talk about.’
‘I’m sure we could find something, sweetness.’ He leans in, lightly touches her forearm, smiles his four-billion-dollar smile.
Her tone remains even. ‘Get your goddamn hand off me.’
He removes it. ‘There must be some way I can walk this back?’
‘There really isn’t. But there is a way you can stop me telling the world what happened.’
Scott’s smile vanishes. Instantly. ‘You wouldn’t.’
‘Really?’
He studies her, realises she would. ‘What do you want?’
‘Three times in the near future I will call on you with various projects from my clients. They’ll be quality projects and you will say yes to starring in each one of them. You will make each movie for fifty per cent of your current quote because you “love it so much” - and you will do it with a smile.’
He looks at her, clearly chilled and excited in equal measure. ‘You are the devil.’
‘If that means I own your arse, then yes, yes, I am.’
‘Lola, is there a vacuum cleaner somewhere? There’s so much bloody dust…’ Corey rounds the corner, his dust mask around his neck too.
Scott sees him and gets very excited. ‘Oh, man. Corey Purchase! I just finished your LA Times profile. What you did on 7/27 was amazing. You saved the city - the world, really.’
‘Oh, no.’ Corey waves it off. ‘You’d have done the same thing, mate.’
Lola looks at Scott, her expression inscrutable. ‘Yeah, you would have, wouldn’t you? If you hadn’t gone sailing?’
He ignores her. ‘So, how do you guys know each other?’
‘Corey’s my boyfriend.’
Suddenly Scott’s very uncomfortable. ‘Oh. Right.’
Lola isn’t. ‘Actually, Corey has an excellent movie concept he’s working on at the moment. A zombie-vampire mashup.’ She grins at Scott. ‘We should set up a meeting.’
Scott forces a grin right back. ‘Sounds great.’
‘I’m sure it will be.’
Scott jabs a thumb over his shoulder. ‘I should get…’
Lola nods. ‘Yeah, you should.’
Scott holds out a hand to Corey. ‘Really great to meet you.’
Corey shakes it. ‘Pleasure’s all mine, mate. What was your name again?’
Scott keeps shaking, crestfallen. ‘Scott. Scott Ford.’
‘Oh! Sorry. Didn’t recognise you without your tights.’
Scott pivots and leaves. Lola closes the door behind him. ‘Ba-bye.’
Corey watches him go. ‘Well, he seems pleasant enough.’
‘He’s a complete wuss, but he’ll be perfect for Zompire.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah, and I have a feeling he’s going to love it. You should write it up.’
*
Corey takes this in, intrigued by the idea. The movie had completely slipped his mind since 7/27. ‘Maybe I will.’ Maybe that’s what he’ll do after the reno.
They move back into the living room, where Judd reaches into the wall cavity. ‘There’s something in here - I can’t quite - my arm’s not quite long enough.’
Spike barks. He also wears a dust mask.
Corey suppresses a smile, but everyone sees it.
Judd’s not amused. ‘Ha ha. What did he say?’
‘Nothing.’
Lola leans in and Corey whispers it to her. She laughs.
Judd sees it. ‘Yeah, yeah, very funny - oh, got it!’ He pulls out a wide, flat, circular tin. ‘What is this?’
Rhonda knows. ‘A film can. Looks like 16mm.’ She turns to Lola. ‘Is it your grandfather’s?’
‘Don’t know. Never seen it before.’
Corey gets excited. ‘Maybe it’s a home movie.’
Judd brushes dust off the can. ‘Why would a home movie be bricked into a wall?’
‘Maybe it’s not very good.’
Lola takes the tin from Judd. ‘Only one way to find out. I saw a projector around here somewhere. Think it’s in the garage.’
*
Lola threads the film onto an old Elmo film projector. She follows the diagram on the side of the machine and after a little trial and error gets it right. On the opposite side of the room Corey and Judd finish clearing up the last of the debris.
‘Here goes.’ Lola flicks the switch and the projector clatters to life. Rhonda pulls the faded curtains across the window and the far wall is illuminated. All that’s projected is white film leader marked with a series of random letters and numbers in black felt tip marker.
Corey whispers to Judd: ‘No wonder it was cemented into the wall’
Rhonda turns to Lola. ‘So what did your grandpa do?’
‘Worked for the government. Something in the Department of Agriculture, I think. He never really talked about it.’
The white film leader ends and an image is projected on the wall. It’s in black and white and there is no sound. They all watch it.
Lola takes in a sharp breath. ‘What the hell is this?’
Corey’s eyes don’t leave the image, his words slow and surprised. ‘I don’t think it’s a home movie.’
Lola frowns in confusion. ‘I don’t think it is either.’
Rhonda takes a sharp breath. ‘What the hell is this?’
Judd steps forward to get a closer look, to make sure his eyes aren’t playing tricks on him.
They’re not.
Stunned, Judd turns to his friends. ‘Did we just find proof the moon landings were faked}’
THE END
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