Spirals

by Scott Bergin

  "O.K., smart guy, can we go now?" Gabrielle asked. Alex said nothing, he simply started to follow Thomas. Alex was so focused on Thomas that he tripped over a body laying on the sidewalk. He stood up, disgusted by falling on the badly decayed corpse. He brushed himself off, but still kept an eye on Thomas.

  "Well, we certainly have a world class reporter here." Gabrielle began. "Not only does he need to trip over the bodies to find them, but he seems to know which people have criminal potential before they commit a crime." Alex glanced over at Gabrielle, unamused. Gabrielle was pointing back at Thomas, who had passed by the bank completely.

  "Well then, let's see where he does go." Alex remarked. They watched Thomas walk along the street, passing several buildings. They were shocked to see him stop, and dart into one. Alex looked to the top of the huge stone building, and he read its name out loud without even realizing it.

  "The National Museum of Cameroon." He said softly.

  "Well, you were almost right." Gabrielle replied. "I'm almost positive that he isn't going in there to take pictures."

  "No." Alex said. "But I am." Alex and Gabrielle darted into the street, then across it. They ran along the path Thomas had taken only moments before. They rested once they reached the corner of the museum.

  "You wait out here." Alex ordered.

  "What are you, nuts?" Gabrielle asked. "I'm going in with you."

  "No." Alex insisted. "I need you out here."

  "Why?" She persisted.

  "In case he comes out before me." He replied. "I'll need to know where he goes." Gabrielle reluctantly agreed, and hid around the side of the museum. Alex took only one camera, and a couple rolls of film. Then he ran up the steps, and into the museum.

  Alex slowly stepped through the open doorway. He looked around the great hall, just inside the doorway. Then he cautiously entered it. The grand ceiling was forty feet above the ground, and it was capped off in a dome. The whole building was huge, and it was all stone. Alex looked around, half in amazement, the other half looking for Thomas. He spotted Thomas heading down a small corridor far off to his right. He quickly followed, making up ground and remaining undetected. Alex stopped at the entrance and peer around it. Thomas was stopped at the far end. Alex ran down the side of the corridor as quickly and quietly as possible. At the end of the corridor there was a vase on a small pillar, one on each side of the opening. Alex hid behind one and watched Thomas. Thomas ducked around the back of an information booth, and vanished from sight. Alex got his camera out, and prepared to shoot. When Thomas reappeared, Alex only stared at him through the lens. Thomas quickly jumped the rope to a small exhibit in the center of the room. An old book sat encased in glass and alarms, on a small pillow. The book was in poor shape. Alex assumed that meant it was old, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He swung the camera around to find a plaque. The only plaque in the room was most of the way around the exhibit, and all Alex could see was its back.

  Alex shuddered as he heard the sound of breaking glass. Thomas had smashed the case, but had sounded no alarms. Alex glanced over to the information booth, it obviously controlled the security as well. Quickly, Alex zoomed in on the book, which Thomas was now pawing through. Why he didn't just take the whole book was as baffling to Alex as what the book was. Thomas stopped at one page, and tore it out. He held it up like some sort of trophy, high above his head. Alex snapped two shots of it. Then Alex noticed that Thomas was lighting the book on fire with his other hand. Alex snapped two shots of that as well. That's when Alex realized that he was out of film, at least for that roll. He rewound the roll, and the fire proved enough of a distraction for Thomas. Alex knelt down and stuffed the film into his pocket, and retrieved another roll. After loading it as fast as possible, Alex stood up behind the pillar again. He took pictures of the entire area. He photographed the book, the museum, and most importantly he photographed Thomas' face. Thomas continued to stare at the book, watching it burn to almost nothing, then he blew it out before it was completely burnt. Alex was still not satisfied with his pictures of Thomas' face, since they had all been profiles. He placed his hand on the pillar, and leaned around it. The pillar rocked back and forth. It was not marble, as it appeared. It was some sort of lightweight plaster. Alex was relieved that Thomas had not turned around to see the pillar wiggle. That's when the vase fell off the pillar, and smashed on the floor.

  Thomas turned around in a heartbeat, and was staring right at Alex. Alex looked up, and was stunned to see Thomas pointing a gun at him.

  "Come out where I can see you better." Thomas demanded. Alex obeyed, walking into the open with his hands raised.

  "Set the camera down on the floor." Thomas ordered. Again Alex obeyed without a word.

  "Now kick it over to me." Thomas said, placing the folded page into his pocket. Alex kicked the camera over to him gently. Thomas bent over and picked it up. He opened the camera up, and exposed all the film.

  "What's that book your burning?" Alex asked, realizing that his pictures couldn't help him.

  "You're in no position to be asking the questions." Thomas said. Then he let the camera fall to the ground, and smash.

  "Move over toward the booth." Thomas ordered. Alex walked over toward the information booth. Now he was exactly opposite the plaque that told what the book was. He noticed that there was a dead guard behind the booth. The guard's skin had been burned off. At first, Alex thought of Thomas burning it, like he had the book. Then he remembered the cloud, and the body outside.

  "Go over to the guard." Thomas demanded. Alex walked over to the guard. Now he had his plan. He would grab the guard's gun and run down the hallway in front of him. Though that hallway might be a dead end, at least he would have a fighting chance against Thomas.

  "Kneel down beside the guard." Thomas ordered.

  "He doesn't have a gun." Thomas said, after seeing the glint of hope in Alex's eyes. Alex realized that he was in deep trouble, because Thomas already had the guard's gun.

  "Handcuff yourself to the guard." Thomas ordered. Alex did so without questioning him, though he wondered why. Why didn't Thomas just shoot him now, there was no need for any of this. Alex swallowed hard when he thought about the possibility of Thomas torturing him, for information or pleasure. Alex knew he would probably crack in an instant. He didn't have a high threshold for pain.

  "Now, where is that pretty little partner of yours?" Thomas asked. Alex said nothing, preparing for the torture to being.

  "I guess it doesn't matter." Thomas said nonchalantly, kneeling down beside his knapsack. He pulled out the explosives and detonator. In less than a minute he had the whole thing assembled in front of him.

  "You're going to die." Thomas said. "And if she's around here, she'll die too. Maybe she'll even try to save you." Then he pressed a couple of buttons on the bomb.

  "You've only got thirty seconds to save him, Gabrielle!" Thomas shouted.

  "Ready!" Thomas hollered, looking around for her.

  "Set!" He hollered, stilling looking around. Thomas paused, and looked at Alex sweating profusely.

  "Go!" He shouted, pressing the final button on the bomb. He slid the bomb on the ground between his legs, like a football player hiking the snap. As the bomb slid past the exhibit, Thomas started running back out the corridor he had entered. Alex was instantly on his feet, dragging the guard's body down the nearest hallway. The bomb continued sliding passed the exhibit, stopping only when it hit the plaque. Alex saw this as he ran backwards down the hallway, dragging the body. When Alex reached the end of the hall, he saw a room full of sarcophagi. He quickly noticed one that was open, and headed for it. He dragged the body up next to it. Then paused before getting in. The thought of climbing into his own coffin was very unappealing to him. The sound of the explosion changed his mind. Alex dove into the sarcophagus, pulling his handcuffed arm in as far as he could. The shock wave of the explosion rocked the huge stone coffin enough to make its lid fall shut. As the cover landed on the sarcophagus
it cracked in two. Alex felt his handcuffed arm fall limp by his side. His arm might be broken in several places. His hand might even be severed at the wrist. Alex had no idea, but he didn't care. He didn't try to feel if his arm was even there. He was just glad he had survived.

  Gabrielle was leaning against the building when the blast hit. At first, it felt like an earthquake. She only realized that it was the bomb when she turned to see the museum's entrance. Thomas ran out the doorway and onto the steps. A horizontal column of fire bellowed out the opening behind him. After that, there was only smoke and debris. Alex was still inside somewhere, and chances were he was either badly hurt, or dead. Gabrielle didn't even want to think about the possibility of finding him dead. But as she watched Thomas, it was all that she could think about.

  A lone army supply truck with wooden sides in the back rounded the corner, and started down the street. Gabrielle wanted to run out into the street and beg for help. She wanted to tell the man driving, that Thomas had done this. That he was a murderer and a thief. She didn't though. Part of her was wondering what Thomas had even stolen. The rest of her was telling her that this man might even be with Thomas. The truck stopped next to Thomas. After a quick look through the boards in the back, Thomas forced the man to get out of the truck at gunpoint. The man knelt down in the street, and Thomas shot him point blank in the face. Gabrielle almost screamed. The back of the man's head tore off his body and was spread across twenty feet of the road. Then the man doubled forward, and his face hit the ground next to Thomas' feet. She was horrified at the fact that Thomas had waited until the man hit the ground before Thomas even made a motion toward the truck. It looked like he was enjoying it. Gabrielle watched Thomas drive to the end of the street, then turn toward the southeast corner of the city. She noticed what Thomas had noticed before shooting the man. The back of the truck was empty. The man had been alone. Gabrielle ran up the steps to the museum, and ran in without even thinking about where she was headed. She ran down the corridor to her right, where the destruction looked worst. When she reached the end of the hall, she saw no signs of Alex. All she could see was the destruction, and the continually falling debris.

  Alex rolled onto his back, and noticed that he could feel his arm perfectly. Apparently the lid must have closed on the handcuffs, freeing him. He put his feet on the lid of the sarcophagus and forced it open. The lid slowly rose, then fell away. It opened the opposite way from its original position, and the lid landed with a dull thud on the guard's corpse. Alex let out a huge groan. It was due partially to the effort involved, and partially to the relief of not being trapped. Alex let his feet fall back into the sarcophagus, and he realized how lucky he had been that the lid broke in two.

  Gabrielle heard the scream, and ran down the hall it emanated from. She was relieved that Alex was still alive. When Gabrielle reached the end of the hall, she saw the body laying under the lid, and screamed. Alex sat up instantly, hitting his head on the remaining portion of the stone cover. Then he laid back down and put one hand on his ailing forehead.

  "Ow." He said, making sure it was loud enough for Gabrielle to hear.

  "Who said that?" Gabrielle asked, sounding panic stricken.

  "Well, it ain't king tut." Alex replied. Gabrielle walked over to the sarcophagus and looked inside.

  "You're alive." She said, smiling with tears on her face.

  "Are you O.K.?" Gabrielle asked.

  "Well, I was up until you screamed." He replied.

  "I saw this body laying here with no arm." She began. " And I thought it was you."

  "No arm?" Alex asked. As he carefully sat up, he realized where the arm was. The guard's arm had gotten crushed by the lid. It was still handcuffed to him. Alex looked at the arm and saw that it had been severed near the elbow. Pieces of flesh and bone hung out of the open end. Even to look at it made Alex sick. Then Alex noticed that Gabrielle was staring at it as well.

  "Don't ask." Alex said, climbing out of the sarcophagus. "Just don't ask."

  Alex and Gabrielle ran back down the hallway that lead to where the bomb went off. There was nothing left of the room. Alex looked around for the book, or the plaque. He saw neither one. They continued to run the rest of the way out of the museum and into the street.

  "Well, where did he go?" Alex asked, looking around in the middle of the street.

  "He stole that guy's truck and headed out of town." Gabrielle replied, pointing to the dead man in the street. Alex noticed a car, with a dead man still in it, parked on the side of the road.

  "We'll take this one." He said.

  "O.K." Gabrielle replied. "If you get rid of the body."

  "All right, but you're driving." Alex said. Then he ran over to the car. The man sitting in the car was badly burned and decaying, like many other victims of the cloud. One of his hands held a cigarette, the other a lighter. The cigarette was only partially burned. It had been snuffed out by the lack of oxygen, just like its owner.

  "Don't you know these things will kill you?" Alex said to the dead man. Then leaned in the open window and took the cigarette and lighter from him. The cigarette, he threw onto the ground. The lighter, he put in his pocket. Then he opened the door and dragged the body out.

  "Your chariot awaits." Alex said motioning to the car. It was far from a chariot, and a lot closer to a lemon. However, they could not afford the time to shop around. This was the only car that they could be sure had the keys in it. Gabrielle got in the little two seater, and put her seat belt on. Alex got in the other side.

  "You put your seat belt on?" Alex said chuckling.

  "Ever ride with me before?" Gabrielle asked.

  "No." Alex admitted.

  "All right then." Gabrielle said, starting the car. She threw the car in gear and spun the wheels pulling away from the curb. She accelerated all the way until the end of the street. When she reached the intersection, they were going forty miles an hour. Gabrielle lifted her foot off the gas only long enough to down shift, then she swung the car around the corner. Alex had expected her to brake, at least slightly, for the corner. He was plastered up against the door, as they screeched through the intersection. Almost immediately he was fumbling for his seat belt.

  "Way to go Andretti." Alex said. "How do you even know which way he went?"

  "There's only one way out of this city to the southeast." She explained. "And I'm betting this car can catch that truck."

  "Well with you driving, sure." Alex said, clutching the upholstery as they rounded a corner. Alex held his balance as best he could. He was simultaneously trying to free the dead guard's arm from the handcuffs. It was no use. The arm was severed too high up on the elbow, and the man's arm wouldn't fit through the opening of the cuffs.

  Several miles down the road, Thomas was busy backing his truck off into a large group of trees. He recalled seeing someone outside the museum, and wondered if it might be Gabrielle. Thomas was certain that she would try to follow him, once she found out that Alex was dead. He knew that this was the only road out of the city to the southeast, and he knew she was aware of that as well. Thomas parked the truck, and decided to wait a few minutes. He didn't want her to be able to tell anyone what he had done. For all he knew, she might even have photographs of him. They could be of him entering with his knapsack on, and leaving without it. Once the police found the remains of the knapsack, they would know it was him. Thomas couldn't afford that risk. He would have to kill Gabrielle when she came down the road. After several minutes of patiently waiting, and plotting, Thomas was starting to lose hope. He started the truck and was about to pull it out of hiding, when Gabrielle and Alex drove by. Thomas clearly saw both of them in the car. He was furious that Alex was still alive.

  Thomas pulled the truck out right behind them. He knew they would see it, but he didn't care. He knew there was nothing they could do to stop him.

  "Ut oh." Gabrielle said, quickly glancing over her shoulder.

  "What's ut oh?" Alex asked.

  "That l
ooks a lot like the truck Thomas stole." She replied.

  "Ut oh." Alex said. Thomas pushed the gas to the floor and hit the small car in the rear end. The car's bumper lifted off the ground, and locked on the top of the truck's bumper. Gabrielle tried down shifting, and she realized that the rear wheels were not touching the ground.

  "I thought you said this thing can go faster than that truck." Alex said. "Because I gotta tell you, he is right on our ass."

  "We could go faster if our tires were touching the ground!" Gabrielle barked.

  "They're not touching?" Alex asked.

  "Not at all." Gabrielle replied, pulling up the emergency brake to prove her point.

  "Ut oh." Alex said.

  Thomas rolled down his window. He picked up a tire iron from beside him on the seat. Thomas forced the tire iron between the lip of the seat, and the gas pedal. It was a comfortable fit, though it didn't keep the gas all the way to the floor. Thomas could find nothing to secure the steering wheel with, so he left it. He hoped that they would do all the steering necessary from the front vehicle, though he doubted Gabrielle's ability. He figured Alex had to be injured, to be letting her drive in the first place. As he climbed out the window, he couldn't help but snicker. He thought of the argument that had to be taking place in that car. Alex trying to explain how to drive, when there is really nothing either one of them could do to free themselves anyway. Thomas continued chuckling as he worked his way into the back of the truck. The truck swayed back and forth across the entire width of the road. Thomas was glad that the road was completely abandoned, eliminating the possibility of a head on collision. Once he was safely in the back, he tried to look into the car. He thought he might see a frustrated Alex grabbing at the wheel, or perhaps a flustered Gabrielle throwing her hands in the air. Thomas knew that something was making the truck and car swerve all over the road.

  In the car, no such thing was happening. Gabrielle was doing all she could to control both vehicles. It was actually easier when they were going faster. Now that the truck had slowed, it started to weave randomly. Alex sat motionless. He watched Gabrielle's every action, and the car's reaction. Alex was in awe, and he wondered if he would have been able to control the car so well. He doubted it.