Cheap Thrills (6 Thrilling reads)

by Luis Samways

  An alarm is going off, along with a continuous flashing red light that’s flickering on top of the blast shield. A few hundred people rush around the complex looking busy. Some have clipboards in their hands, other have radios. The operation seems to be going well, everyone is looking proactive and ready for whatever lies ahead.

  Miss Harriet on the other hand is hiding. She has placed herself near the blast wall behind a pillar. She watches on as the complex empties as people go through the exits in an orderly, if not slightly panicked fashion. She watches the electronic ticker count down the numbers until launch. It reads one minute, thirty seconds. She braces herself against the pillar and reaches into her pocket. She pulls out a futuristic looking device. It has a flipping front panel, much like a Motorola phone from the early nineties.

  ‘One minute until launch,’ says the man behind the blast shield. He has his hand on a lever, he pushes it and above the tall standing nuke, the roof opens up like an iris. It takes a few seconds until the night sky is visible from inside the complex, but Miss Harriet doesn’t bother looking. She’s too busy mashing in some numbers.

  ‘Thirty seconds until launch,’ says the man, accompanied by an electronic speaker system counting down the numbers within every second that passes.

  ‘Twenty eight’

  Miss Harriet is still mashing down on some buttons when the LED screen that is attached to the gizmo flashes bright red. Under the red screen a little message pops up.

  “EMP” it reads.

  ‘Twenty’ the robot voice says, counting down through the PA system in the complex. By now, even the man behind the blast shield is making his way out through the exits. Now it’s Miss Harriet’s chance.

  ‘Fifteen’

  She runs across from behind the pillar and up to the nuke. She sticks a Velcro square onto the metal base of the warhead and proceeds to stick a complementing strap onto her device.

  ‘Ten’

  She puts the device onto the base of the missile

  ‘Nine’

  She hits a green key on the device

  ‘Eight

  She types in a code

  ‘Seven’

  She pins in another code

  ‘Six’

  “Denied” it reads on her device

  ‘Five’

  She tries to override it

  ‘Four’

  She pins in 0.1.3.4.7.9.876.453.2

  ‘Three’

  “Granted. EMP ENABLED”

  ‘Two’

  She runs as fast as she can

  ‘One’

  She jumps behind the blast shield

  Luis Samways

  Beacon of Light

  Episode Four

  One

  Deshaun opens his eyes and looks up at the plush looking ceiling. He tries to catch his breath as the sweat runs down his brow and down the crevice of his nose, dripping onto his top lip. He smiles as his heart rate slows down a little. He turns his head slightly and see’s Peter lying next to him, he too is sporting a smile on his face. They both lie their naked, covered in sweat, panting in exhaustion.

  ‘Was it good for you?’ asks Peter

  Deshaun smiles as he runs his hand up Peter’s firm and muscular thigh.

  ‘You are pretty big after all,’ laughs Deshaun.

  ‘They do say that size doesn’t matter, you know!’

  ‘Well, they obviously haven’t had sex with you,’ says Deshaun

  Both men lie on their backs, staring up at the ceiling for what seems like a long while. Peter finally gets up from the couch and goes over to the mini bar, grabbing himself a cold soda. He turns around, bare fleshed, mimicking a drinking motion, Deshaun declines.

  ‘Not thirsty,’ he says, still lying on his back smiling to himself.

  Peter shrugs and comes back over to the leather couch sitting down on the side next to Deshaun.

  ‘So when did you know?’ he asks, sipping on his soda.

  ‘Know what?’

  ‘That you were gay,’ says Peter, downing some more cold drink.

  ‘I’m not…’ says Deshaun

  Peter starts laughing hard.

  ‘Well you could have fooled me!’

  ‘Just because we had sex doesn’t mean I’m gay,’ says Deshaun

  ‘Bi?’

  ‘Maybe,’ agrees Deshaun who gets up from the couch and stretches out in front of Peter.

  ‘You have a wife or something?’ asks Peter

  ‘Nope,’ says Deshaun, putting some clothes on.

  ‘Was this your first time?’ asks Peter

  ‘I’m not a virgin,’ says Deshaun

  ‘I meant first time with a man’

  ‘Well in that case, I guess I was a virgin,’ laughs Deshaun

  ‘You seem tense,’ says Peter

  ‘I’m not, just don’t know what to make of this,’ he says

  ‘What exactly is there to make out?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he says

  ‘We just made love,’ says Peter

  Deshaun looks at him in a stern manor.

  ‘Made love?’ repeats DeShaun

  ‘Yeah,’ says Peter

  ‘You’re nuts, we didn’t make love, we fucked each other, and that’s all,’ says Deshaun

  ‘But I think I….Love you,’ says Peter

  ‘What? Are you fucking crazy? We just met!’

  ‘I can’t help my feelings towards you Deshaun,’ says Peter

  ‘You are crazy aren’t you?’

  ‘Please…Please love me,’ says Peter with his arms out, trying to embrace DeShaun.

  ‘Stop it!’ says Deshaun, pushing Peter away.

  Peter starts laughing.

  ‘Gets them every time!’

  ‘What?’ asks Deshaun

  ‘You first timers! I’m just messing with you. I don’t really love you!’ he says

  ‘Good….Every time?’ he says hesitantly

  Peter nods.

  ‘How many first timers have you had?’ asks Deshaun

  ‘More than you!’

  Both men get dressed and straighten their appearances out. They comb their hair back with gel and put some fresh deodorant on from the spare bathroom in the safe house. They then go downstairs and start contemplating their next move.

  ‘Well, he obviously isn’t here is he?’ says Peter

  ‘Nope, so what do you suggest we do?’

  ‘Look somewhere else,’ he says

  ‘Any ideas?’ asks Deshaun

  ‘I might know just the place’

  Two

  London, England

  Steven Grimshaw reaches for the keys in his inside jacket pocket and pulls them out. The jangling sound echoes off the empty suburban street in which he stands in. Row after row of cars are parked up on the small street. They litter in both directions, adjacent to the fifty or something houses all lined up down the road. It’s a typical London residential area. Not quite squalor, but nowhere near the deprivation of a council housing estate that most people in the lower class of the spectrum find themselves living in. Steven jangles the key’s some more as he tries to find the right one. It’s a Yale key. He finally finds it; it’s brown to match his off brown coloured door. He slots the key in and turns the handle. He quickly makes his way inside slamming the door behind him. He stands in his narrow hallway for a few seconds while trying to catch his breath.

  ‘Steven? Is that you?’ a woman’s voice beckons from inside the house.

  ‘Yes dear, it’s me. No need to worry. Everything is going to be just fine,’ he says leaning against the door, as if he would collapse if it wasn’t there to support his weight.

  ‘What?’ she says as she comes down the stairs facing the hallway. Her face is flushed with curiosity and panic at the sight of her reeling husband.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asks

  Steven just stands there speechless as he starts to cry.

  ‘Steven? Tell me what’s wrong,’ she says

  He shakes his head i
n despair.

  ‘Steven!’ she says, almost shouting.

  ‘We need to pack. We need to pack now,’ he says

  ‘Pack what?’

  ‘Everything!’

  She stands on the stairs a myth to what is happening.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she says, slightly worried at the visible state of panic on her husband’s face.

  ‘It’s not for you to fucking understand! Just pack woman!’ he says while composing himself, rushing up the stairs in a hurry past her.

  Three

  Location classified, United States.

  ‘One’

  She jumps behind the blast shield …..

  Miss Harriet looks on as the nuclear warhead blasts debris off the ground and propels itself into the air. In a matter of seconds it has already escaped through the opening in the roof. She watches on in horror as the rocket blasters ooze hot smoke and the heat scorches at her clothes. She see’s sparks ignite in the air and starts to cough while trying to catch her already escaping breath. After no more than five seconds the missile has disappeared from view; all that remains of the signs of its existence is a trail of smoke in the night sky that arch’s into the west. She quickly composes herself and looks down at the LED device she has in her hand. It has a crude tracking dot on its interface representing the whereabouts of the missile at that moment in time. It has already travelled more than six miles in the little time that it has been air born. She doesn’t have much time to do what she needs to do. She gets up and rushes over to the stand in which the rocket was propped up on. She stands there, holding the little device she has in her hands, raising it up in the air, much like someone would do when trying to catch some signal.

  ‘Shit, come on you fucker!’ she says to herself.

  The device flashes green and she spots her opportunity. She keys in some numbers and an option pops up on the tiny screen.

  “Activate EMP?” it reads.

  She hits the touchscreen with her thumb and the little device beeps a few times.

  “EMP set” it reads.

  She smiles as she looks up at the opening in the roof. She can see the stars sparkle in the sky as she waits for the sign that her work is done. Suddenly a ray of light engulfs the night sky and a wave of electricity rushes through the blackness of the night lighting up the sky like a second sun.

  ‘Yes!’ she says, far happier than she has been in a long while.

  She knows she has just prevented a nuclear strike on US soil, and for that she is proud. She is just about to leave the scene of her crime when she feels the cold sensation of metal being pressed against her head.

  ‘Don’t you move bitch,’ the voice says behind her.

  Four

  Ray is pacing as he listens to David explain what the captive man had told him during the interrogation.

  ‘So they have nukes?’ asks Ray

  ‘Yeah, apparently they are going to launch one soon,’ says David

  Ray’s expression dampens as he looks down at the ground in frustration, not quite knowing what to do.

  ‘So, you think that rumble earlier on could have been a nuke?’ asks Ray

  ‘Maybe, it was quite low key though, so it might have just been a rocket attack,’ says David

  ‘Good, “just” a rocket attack,’ repeats Ray sarcastically

  David tries to comfort Ray with a candid smile.

  ‘Don’t worry man; everything is going to be alright. We will get through this, I can guarantee you that. We are down here, and we are safe. Nothing can get us, not even those fucking blinking lights’

  ‘That’s the problem man. We are down here in a fucking sewer, hiding out from rockets, nukes and crazy army guys that want all of us dead! And to top it all off, we have a paedophile living with us and a captured prisoner trying to rattle us by saying how powerful these so called people are and how much of a shit storm we are in. I’m just tired of hiding, and I’m tired of being scared. All I want to do is get out of here and bust some goddamn heads!’

  ‘We will get out of here one day Ray. We will, but for the time being we have the two little girls and Donner to think of. We can’t be dragging their asses into danger just because we are bored of sitting around and twiddling our thumbs,’ says David

  They both look at each other in anguish. Both men know how hard times are and how they are the only hope for the group. The thoughts of responsibility wash over David and Ray as they ponder their next moves. After a long moment, someone finally suggests something.

  ‘We need some food, and we need it fast. Didn’t you get anything from the vending machines?’ asks David

  Ray shakes his head.

  ‘There wasn’t much there,’ he says

  ‘So what do we do for food?’

  Ray shrugs his shoulders

  ‘Fuck knows,’ he says

  At that moment both men can hear Donner scream in fear. They look at each other momentarily and then swing into action, rushing over to Donner and the girls. What they are met with surprises both of them. A man stands in front of them with his hands raised in the air as if he is surrendering to something or someone. Ray and David look at the man and don’t recognise him. He is a young man, of African American origin sporting a basketball jersey and khaki pants.

  ‘I don’t want any trouble yo,’ the teen says

  ‘Well, I’m afraid you came to the wrong place if trouble isn’t what you’re looking for boy,’ says Ray

  Five

  ‘Are you sure that was a nuke?’ asks Ricky Pastori as he ducks for cover in the hardware store.

  Jesse Manteo and Gianna are also hiding behind a desk trying to scamper for safety.

  ‘I’m not a nuke expert Rick, but whatever it was I don’t think it would go well with our plan for survival, hence why we are in here hiding away from it!’

  Another small rumble goes off, followed by a hail of gunfire.

  ‘What the fuck is going on? Is there some sort of war we are unaware of?’ asks Gianna

  ‘War? It’s probably just a bunch of New Yorkers killing each other. Wouldn’t really surprise me,’ says Jesse

  ‘Yep, just another day in the Big Apple,’ concurs Ricky

  ‘Come on guys! There is no way that the people of New York are shooting at each other in a time like this!’

  ‘Yeah, because the people of New York aren’t into looting the Sony shops and stealing high value goods like anybody else! It’s no secret sister that when tragedy strikes, humans tend to fend for themselves. The gunshots we are hearing are most likely the National Guard dispatching of the criminals on the streets, but I bet you that the criminals are fighting back!’

  ‘I doubt it,’ says Gianna, who is peaking over the hardware desk trying to see whatever is happening on the street.

  At that moment a man runs past the shop and down the road in the direction that Jesse and the others had walked through earlier on.

  ‘See, just some random dude running through the streets of New York,’ says Ricky

  Suddenly a large group of soldiers dressed in unfamiliar clothing run past the shop opening fire in the direction of the fleeing man. They then disappear out of sight of the shop front and continue down the road, firing some more rounds that are accompanied by the sounds of people screaming and pleading for their lives.

  ‘Who the hell were they?’ asks Ricky

  ‘I don’t know,’ says Jesse, shocked at the situation that’s unfolding.

  Another group of men rush by the shop followed by more pursuing soldiers. After a few seconds a massive black tank rolls down the street. The rumbling of the metal plated treads winding down the road ricochet off the ground and shake the contents of the hardware store in which Jesse and the others find themselves hunkered down in.

  ‘Holy shit!’ whispers Jesse, in awe of what he is seeing.

  Another marching group of the mysteriously robed soldiers walk by, one of them is holding a mega phone.

  ‘This is the New United States
of America brought to you by Colonel Conway of the New United Federation of Earth. We mean you no harm people of New York, but know that we are armed. If you do not pledge your allegiance to the New United States of America then we will terminate you. If we don’t get you by the means of our weapons, than we will flush you out with the beacons. You have been warned! Surrender peacefully and death will be quick!’

  The marching group continue to walk down the road until they are out of sight and all that remains is the echoing pleas of surrender from a distance.

  ‘We are fucked!’ says Jesse

  ‘You’re telling me!’ says Gianna

  ‘The New United States of America?’ says Ricky

  ‘This is some Stephen Spielberg shit!’ says Gianna

  The group remain silent for a little while until the sounds of the marching army have faded into silence.

  ‘So what the hell are we going to do? Asks Ricky

  ‘Fight,’ says Jesse

  Both Ricky and Gianna look at Jesse in disbelief

  ‘Fight….How?’ asks Gianna

  ‘We continue on our way to the precinct and when we get there, we arm ourselves and fight,’ says Jesse

  ‘Just the three of us?’ asks Gianna

  ‘No…I’m sure the guys at the precinct will help,’ says Jesse

  ‘If they are alive, that is,’ says Ricky

  Jesse smiles

  ‘Even if they aren’t, we will kill the enemy,’ says Jesse as his eyes narrow at the thought of doing battle.

  Ricky and Gianna look at each other in dismay, not believing the words that are coming out of Jesse’s mouth.

  ‘And how do you suggest we kill the enemy?’ asks Ricky

  ‘By any means necessary!’ says Jesse

  Six

  ‘You disabled the missile?’ asks Mr Conway

  Miss Harriet just looks down at the floor, trying not to get a rise out of her already risen boss.

  ‘Look at me dammit!’ he says, clenching his fist in utter anger as his breathing turns into a snarling of his throat. The sound frightens Miss Harriet but still doesn’t persuade her to look at Mr Conway.

  ‘Are you listening to me?’ he says, clearly ready to smack some sense into her.