"Bart’s Tale, or countdown to hell…"  by Chris McWilliams

Bart got in early in the morning as he had been doing just about every morning since he, CJ and those two faggot rookies Ben and Terry had been stuck with the nightshift.

Every morning was the same, by the time nightshift was over and Bart’s piece of shit car drug him home he had been on the third chorus of ‘it’s all Ben and Terry’s fault’.     Bart was convinced that their punishment of being stuck on nights was connected to them two.      After all, the claim from the bitch that ran Metropolis was that they had items stolen and that the incompetent guards had ‘let it happen’.       To Bart’s mind the only way that would happen was if it was Ben and Terry’s fault.

By this point his mind would be so spinning with ideas how to prove what he suspected and any other slight (real or imagined) done against him by those two in particular that his head would be virtually buzzing like an angry swarm of bees.   However, his body would be tired and in need of sleep.   Knowing he would never be able to get any sleep without it Bart had stopped on his way home and bought some liquid sedative, a few beers and he would at least be able to reach something passing for sleep.

Taking the six-pack with him to his bedroom Bart slipped off his shoes and pulled off his work clothes sliding underneath the nice cool sheets.     Moving the pillows around so he could half sit up and half lay down he opened the first bottle of beer and decided to scan the channels to see if there was anything on this time of the day.

Most of what he found was news reports, rebroadcasts of what had been shown the night before and nothing that Bart found remotely interesting.     Finally, he settled on something he found promising: A cartoon show about robots that could change into cars and stuff, he watched it growing up and seeing it again no matter his current age made him feel like a kid again.

As Bart watched the robots fight each other and he drank his beer the little trip down memory lane the cartoon provided began to tug his fatigued mind into other directions.   Bart actually remembered seeing this very episode one distant and misty Saturday morning of his long lost childhood.

Bart’s dad had skipped out when he was still an infant and he had he had no memory of him (or so he thought, in truth he did have a kernel of a memory of him that would pop up from time to time always unnamed and unknown, but he would see it in people around him sometimes, which lead him to form friendships with them where they called all the shots and he pretty much did as he was told, this was true of his older brother Roger, several best friends he had through out his younger life and even now of CJ at work even though he wouldn’t be nearly self aware of the pattern to see much less understand it, they were all his surrogate father figures).

From the time his father left Bart had been close to his older brother Roger, they were more like best friends than brothers and as they both got older they spent a good deal of time together, even when Roger began to date he would more often than not take little Bart with him (the girls thought he was cute and it helped soften them up) and let him run wild while Roger and the girl in question would ‘play tag’ in the back seat of his car.

Once Bart got old enough to find girls himself he had a hard time as the cuteness they saw in him only a few years before had apparently gone the way of his youth, but when he DID get a date (usually with some chick no one else would touch) they would double.

Then Roger finished high school and got the football scholarship he had been trying to win (after all a single mother with two sons and a deadbeat husband who was gone off the face of the Earth wasn’t going to be in any shape to pay for collage) and was prepared to go as far as NYU.

In the end however, the fanfare was short lived.     Early on Roger blew out his knee and was told playing football anymore was out of the question.       The school DID give Roger a chance to stay purely on his grades but they were just not good enough and with all the bad news he had lost his interest in even trying.

Roger came back home a fallen hero but his old friends and of course his family gave him the welcome of a conquering hero, this didn’t help as much as was hopped because he just ended up storming out and spending the night at a corner bar getting drunk and shooting pool.

After only a few days Roger fell into a routine that involved drinking all night and sleeping most of the day.    In the end their mother didn’t give him much choice.   The money he had with him was quickly running out and she made it clear as long as he was unemployed and drinking all the time she wouldn’t give him a dime.

This lead to a lot of tension, Roger was still filled with a lot of self pity and having his own mother more or less cut him off as well a throw in a few good shots about how he was ‘just like his father’ didn’t help.     What no one knew (until one day he came clean and told Bart) was that at that point he was thinking about killing himself.

Then, like and answer to a prayer, an old friend of Roger’s came along and asked him to work with him in a garage he was opening up, they had both spent countless hours in their youth working on each other’s cars, as well as occasionally helping others out for beer money, so he said yes.

That was a grand day, from that day forward things turned around for Roger and for the family as well.     

Not long after that if Bart’s turn, his time in school was ending and he needed something to do with himself.   Having neither distinguished himself to speak of in sports or grades college was out of the question (and something Bart didn’t want anyway).

Bart wasn’t really sure WHAT he wanted to do and once in his last year he didn’t seem to have time to think much about it.  Whenever he tried to concentrate too hard on what he wanted to do he ended up hearing about some function or party that he was invited too and it was all out the window.

Before Bart knew it school was over, the parties had at length tapered off and ended and now he was alone with his mom and his brother to try and figure out what he wanted.

In truth Bart had been thinking about the military or maybe even law enforcement but like other friends of his who had been thinking along those lines while in school he had some things on his record that closed that path to him, at least for the foreseeable future.

In the end he had spent months looking for something good when he happened to be in the local mall (doing some shopping) when he ran into a mall security guard with the name CJ sown into his shirt.       Something about him made Bart go over and try to start talking to him, he found himself asking about what it was like to work there, what the qualifications were and how much it paid.

As it turned out this CJ seemed to like Bart as well as he pulled him aside and told him there was an opening and even gave him some pointers on how to get on the interviewer’s (some weasel of a pencil pusher from the home office) good side.      Bart couldn’t help but think it was like it was ‘meant to be’ or something; it was so easy he was hired on within the hour.

When Bart turned up bright and early the next day he was pleased to see he had been paired with CJ (CJ had arranged this for the same reason he ‘pulled some strings’ to help the kid get on, because he would rather have someone like him than one of those snotty kids looking to pad their resumes so they could go into the military or become cops) so he could show him the ropes.

At this point Bart jolted awake.     The cartoon he had been watching apparently had ended sometime ago and he had drunk a couple of more beers without even really realizing it.      Setting the nearly empty third bottle on his nightstand next to the six-pack itself, he turned over and let sleep come back over him.

Bart and CJ had really hit off, CJ saw Bart as a younger brother he had never had and Bart (even without knowing it) saw CJ as his missing father figure.   He found that all he had to do was whatever CJ told him and follow his guidance and he would have a long and productive career (at least as much as is possible) working security for Crossroads Mall.

The next thing Bart knew his alarm was going off, it was time to get up and start the whole day all over again.   Bart had gotten used to using beer to help him sleep on this nightshift hell but the one thing he hadn’t gotten used to yet (and probably never would) was how deeply he could SEEM to sleep but how little rest he could actually FEEL like he had.

After a few minutes he was able to drag his ass out of bed, one good thing about getting up late in the afternoon to go to work was that his brother and mother both were already out at their jobs so he didn’t have to explain to either of them AGAIN about WHY he was on nightshift (his mother in particular seemed almost pathologically convinced that it was his fault).

Finally, Bart was moving so slowly and had such a hard time getting started that he decided to take a nice brisk shower to wake up.   The cold water on his head and skin was just the wake up he needed, it wasn’t his most favorite way to take a shower but it did the job.

Afterward he quickly dressed, except for his uniform shirt, which he kept on the rack for later.        Going into the kitchen he made himself a couple of pop tarts and flopped down in a nearby chair to see what was on the TV.

Bart had just finished the last of his pop tarts when the phone rang.   It was that fat chick that worked at the Dairy Queen a few blocks from the mall.   Shit, Bart thought he had forgotten about making a date with her for that night.

“Hello, Bart” she said in what was supposed to be her ‘sexy’ voice but really came out like she was drunk or something.     “Hello,” Bart said trying to keep the edge out of his voice, he may not have been ‘head over heels’ but he still wanted to get her heels over her head so he had to keep on her good side.

“So,” she asked “what are the plans tonight?    I haven’t heard from you in awhile.”   “Bad news, I am afraid.”    Bart said trying and succeeding in sounding disappointed “I have to work.   The reason I haven’t being calling is because I have spent the week working nights, and I am going to stay on nights until sometimes early next week.”

She was obviously very upset but before she could start one of her well know ‘temper tantrums’ Bart explained to her what happened with the manager of Metropolis and it helped sooth her temper, Bart was able to seal the deal by telling her that he had a break and she could come out then and they would hang out.     That did it, now all he had to do was find a quiet corner and he could get some as well, which was all he really wanted, CJ would cover for him he was sure of that.

By the time he was able to pull himself away from the phone it was nearly time for him to get to work so he cleaned up from his meal, slipped on his uniform shirt and headed out.

Bart’s rusted piece of shit car was waiting there for him when he got outside (although there was always part of him that wished someone would be dumb or blind enough to steal the thing), he climbed in and after a few tries it started up.

The drive in was very uneventful as usual and as normal he parked his car in the underground garage next to CJ’s worn out old mustang, of course compared to Bart’s bucket of bolts CJ’s mustang was in it’s prime.

When Bart went inside he made a point of taking the front entrance rather than the employee entrance so he could stop by the Hallowed Grounds and get himself and CJ their standard start of the day coffee.

As normal he got CJ a piping hot cup of plain black coffee (CJ hated fancy coffee) and himself some sort of coffee they were having on special.      Bart had some crazy idea that he could catch the eye of this chick that worked at Hallowed Grounds by ordering the most fancy coffee he could find on the menu, it was his way of looking classy and sophisticated, but in the end it never seemed to have an effect.

The chick behind the counter got him his coffee in a timely manner and Bart was able to make his way to the security lounge in time to clock in, he was the first one there which was not normal, normally he and CJ hit the security area at about the same time.

After clocking in Bart settled in and began sipping the horrible monstrosity of a coffee he had bought himself setting CJ’s aside to await his arrival.       Sure enough CJ turned up a few minutes late (Bart knew he resented the change to night shift and being a few minutes late was one of his attempts to make his displeasure clear), clocked in and after a minor argument with their supervisor went to greet Bart taking the cup of coffee he had waiting and drinking it down to get his mind in gear.

It was no secret that Bart and CJ had been fast friends from Bart’s first day, however neither of them particularly liked Terry and Ben and CJ involuntarily choked on his coffee when the two of them come breezing in.

Despite the fact that Bart had helped Terry get his job here (they had gone to high school together, although they were not in the same grade and had barely spoken two words to each other) Bart had never been close to Terry and had little contact with Ben.   Ben was the owner’s kid and was spoiled rotten so Bart decided the further way from him the better.

After a few high tension moments and a cup of coffee each the day team had finished clocking out and it was time for them to start their night shift with rounds: two of them would make the rounds while the other two manned the monitors.      As was normal CJ and Bart chose to patrol the store (mainly to get out and away from Terry and Ben and to allow them stretch their legs a bit).

Bart and CJ were walking the store keeping their eyes peeled for any shoplifters among the last minute shoppers.     It was at this point that Bart decided to fill CJ in on his theory about why they were stuck working nights, he said “You know it was Ben and Terry that let those two shoplifters go… Don’t you?”     CJ simply replied “and how do you know that smart guy?”    “Simple,” Bart said very proud of himself and wearing one of his shit eating grins to show that pride “I know I didn’t do it and I know you didn’t and it just the four of us on duty.”

The only reply to this he got from CJ was “Well, it doesn’t matter now… I talked to our supervisor for hours and like I said before it didn’t matter.      If it wasn’t this it would something else, he has it out for us.”     Bart knew that CJ believed that their supervisor hated them because he had been stuck in this job for all of his life and he resented the new ‘pups’ coming in and doing things there way.     In truth Bart was sure that Terry and Ben were the real cause, but he didn’t want to contradict CJ, HE HAD been working for the mall longer.

After awhile Bart and CJ had reached Hallowed Grounds, the unofficial halfway point of their patrol and stopped so Bart could flirt with that young girl who worked there again, this time he hoped things would go better.     

CJ ordered his usual, a plain black coffee.   Normally as long as CJ was around Bart would follow suit but he wanted to try once more to impress the coffee girl by looking like some kind of coffee expert so he ordered another fancy drink, this time some concoction that he had overheard her say was HER favorite.

Much to Bart’s disappointment the coffee girl didn’t even blink while she made the drink and worse yet when he tasted it he found out that he couldn’t even stand the taste, so much for a soy mocha latte with foam.   Once they were well out of sight Bart threw the coffee into a nearby trashcan and pulled a piece of cherry flavored hard candy out of his pocket to get the taste out of his mouth.

When Bart and CJ got back to the security room they found Terry and Ben sitting at the console talking like a couple of teenage girls about what they wanted to do with their lives and where they wanted to go, by the time Bart and CJ were within earshot the two of them were arguing about some band, Bart muttered the word “faggots” under his breath.

At lunch time the four of them sat at a little table in the break room, by this time the mall was closed and they had locked up and did the visual check to make sure that only authorized people were in the mall.     As the four of them sat around the small Formica table quietly eating their lunch they looked at each other but no one talked, as they were lost in their own thoughts.    It was obvious none of them WANTED to be on night duty but also it was clear they each had their own ideas as to who was to blame.     There were times you could cut the tension with a knife.

After a few minutes CJ took what was left of the burger he had picked up at the food court before it closed and said, “I am going to do another visual sweep and finish my lunch.”     Ben was about to remind him that they weren’t allowed to take food from the break room then he obviously thought better of it and held his tongue.

Once CJ was gone Bart picked as his beef burrito for a few minutes more then decided he was done so he tossed the left over in a nearby trashcan and went to watch the monitors.     Bart saw CJ come on to one of the downstairs cameras.   As Bart watched CJ moved through the dimly lit ground floor, suddenly he saw CJ jump for some reason then storm off camera toward the main doors.

At that point Terry came up and said “anything on the monitors?”   Ben turned his chair around to face Terry and did his best to stare him down despite the fact that he was sitting and Terry standing “of course not, night shifts suck because nothing ever happens.   I am sure I have either you or your little friend Ben to thank for being stuck here.”

Terry sat down at a chair across from him looking genuinely puzzled “what do you mean by that Bart?”    Bart scoffed “I know very well that either you or BEN or both are responsible for those shoplifters that hit Metropolis getting away.”

Terry seemed to be really hurt by this allegation and merely said, “I don’t know how you could think that.     I would never knowingly LET someone steal from this mall, that could cost me my job.”

Bart was about to really tear into the little shit when he heard a radio turn on.     He turned and found Ben messing with a small portable radio.      “Where the hell did that come from?” he barked.     Ben looked at him, not the slightest bit sacred by Bart’s tone.     “I found it in the break room, someone from the day shift must have left it behind.    Thought a little music would lighten the mood in here.”     Just as he said that the music stopped and Bart for a moment thought maybe Ben had finally shown some sense, no such luck instead it was a news bulletin irrupting the music.

Just then the elevator opened and out stepped CJ with one of the janitors, Mark was his name, following behind.      Mark had one of his sleeves rolled up and an old white (or at least it started out white) handkerchief pressed against his arm.     The dingy hanky was turning more and more red every passing moment.

CJ looked at them as if asking about the radio so Bart said, “we were looking for music or something and we found this shit!”    They all stood quietly as they listened to the voice on the radio “this just in, several area hospitals are reporting a rash of bite victims coming into their ERs.   Hospital sources say the bites seem to have some sort of infection and anyone with any kind of bite should treat it immediately and try to get to an ER if they start seeing signs of an infection.     In an unrelated story there are reports of violence from several area bars, while the police are unwilling to speculate on the upsurge of violence one eye witness blames it on local youths…” at that point CJ reached down and turned the radio off.     “Nothing to worry about” he said.

CJ took Mark over to the first aid kit allowing him to work on the wound himself.      Once he was done CJ sent him on his way and took a breath.

“OK,” CJ said to no one particular “we have done the rounds and been watching the cameras, we have some downtime.    Usual routine two on the monitors and two get some rest to take over.    In a couple of hours we go downstairs and do the big sweep.   Bart and I will take the monitors and give you two some time to rest your eyes.”    Ben was about to take the radio when CJ snapped “Leave that here!   You want to keep up with what is going on go over to the TV place and see what they have to say, just keep it down and try and get SOME shut eye.    See ‘ya in one hour!”

Once Ben and Terry had left CJ and Bart went over to the monitors CJ was sure to bring the portable radio and turned it on so he could listen some more to what was going on.

Apparently whatever it was, it wasn’t considered major enough to interrupt the regular broadcasts.   CJ had to search up and down the dial for several minutes before he was able to tune in some small local all news station…  The voice on the radio sounded tinny and distance as they listened to what the man was saying, “In case you are just joining us I will repeat.    The local ERs and hospitals are starting to get a rash of bite victims, hospital officials seem baffled but are reporting that the bites all seem to be infected with some as yet unidentified agent, there are sketchy reports that bite victims are going into some sort of shock.   After which they become violent.    It is urgent that anyone with a bite wound seek medical help immediately whether they have any obvious signs of infection or not.

Meanwhile, we are also currently following the reports of increased violence, as you may recall the violence was FIRST reported in the area bar and night club district, at the time it was attributed to drunken youths but now the violence has escalated and spread to the point where it is being classified as an all out riot.   Although the police refuse, at this time, to speculate on the motives for the rioting, racial causes have not been ruled out.”

“Jesus!  Bart said “sounds like all hell is breaking loose out there…” CJ scowled “Don’t worry about it, our responsibility begins and ends with this mall, besides like I always say ‘America always sorts this shit out’.    

Bart noticed that CJ seemed to be deep in thought, and then he turned his attention to the monitors as if watching for something.     Despite the fact that CJ hadn’t called attention to it Bart realized that Mark had been bitten and that he was down their doing his cleaning.     If the stuff on the radio was true that could be a problem, but Bart was sure that CJ would handle it when the time came.

Suddenly, Bart’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Terry’s voice “What?” CJ asked not hearing what he said the first time.   Terry looking worried repeated, “I said ‘come take a look at what is on TV’!”   Bart saw CJ shoot Terry his ‘this had better be good’ look and Terry stood his ground… so CJ gave in and went to see what he was talking about.

Bart wanted to go with CJ and see what all the fuss was about but he knew that one of them had to stay and keep his eye on the monitor, not to mention listen to the radio.

After awhile CJ came back Bart asked him what was going on.    Bart was about to make some crack about Terry and Ben sucking each other off when he got a good look at CJ’s face and realized now wasn’t the time.   “Hey man,” he said, “what is HAPPENING”…   CJ just shook his head “the same shit we have been hearing on the radio… only it’s not just HERE it’s EVERYWHERE.”

Bart was shocked “what do we do?” he asked in a low almost inaudible voice.     CJ replied, “There is nothing we can do about that crazy shit out there, that is the job of the authorities, the government, the cops.    We can only do our part, which is to hold the mall.    Keep the looters out, there are bound to be looters, and keep ourselves alive.”

CJ tried to listen to the radio some more, even managed to find a station that was reporting the full scope of the situation, but after only a few minutes he seemed like he couldn’t stand to listen anymore and Bart was almost sure he could hear him muttering to himself “America always sorts this shit out” over and over again.

Almost before Bart knew what was happening it was time for Terry and Ben to take over the monitors and give CJ and Bart some time to rest up before the four of them were supposed to make their big sweep.    Even though at this point none of them really felt that sticking to their schedule was worth the effort they still went through the motions if for no other reason than to try and make the night seem real and too keep what was going on outside as something unreal and distant, something happening in places far away from them to people they would never know.

CJ tried to catch some shut eye but Bart wanted to see what he could find out from TV news, unfortunately the information seemed sketchy so he ended up switching from one channel to another looking for something, anything to tell him what was going on.

The whole time Bart was watching the TV with one eye and CJ with the other, as he sat there eating peanuts and apparently thinking about what was going on.

By the time the hour passed and it was time for them to make their round CJ got the others together and made an announcement “We are not going downstairs to make our rounds.” CJ said it plainly and simply with no preamble or explanation.     To say the others where surprised would have been an understatement.

Bart could tell that Ben was puzzled and despite all logic was about to confront CJ “Why not, it’s out job, it’s the mall regulations that…” Before Ben could go any further CJ turned on him with an angry face unlike anything Bart had ever seen and said, “Because I say so that is why!   I don’t give a shit what the regulations say, those fucking regulations don’t cover what is going on out there… and the janitor I brought up here before was bit on his way here.”

Ben apparently was going to say something else but this time Bart stopped him “CJ is the man in charge, he says we don’t go down, we don’t go down, end of story!”   That seemed to do the trick, but Ben flicked his eyes over to Terry to see whose side he would be on, if it came down to it.    What he saw seemed to surprise him.   Terry was obviously thinking that staying put was the thing to do; Ben could see in his eyes that Terry was scared and didn’t want to take any risks. 

Seeing he was defeated, out numbered and with no real recourse Ben finally let the matter drop.   “What we WILL do,” CJ said “we will keep our eyes on the monitors in shifts like we have been doing and IF something warrants our going down there we will, but only if we really NEED too.   I’m not going to lose anyone for nothing.”   That seemed to pacify Ben a little more, for now.

As the hours passed the four of them took turns watching the monitors and keeping an eye on the latest developments in the outside world.      Every time CJ was on monitor watch he was sure to keep an ear close to that portable radio, even when he and Bart would occasionally slip out of the room for a smoke (something they weren’t supposed to do while on duty).

After several hours Ben started up again about wanting to go downstairs and check things out.    This time nothing: Not CJ ordering him to stay put, and not even having his best friend Terry telling him it was a bad idea would make him back off.    So after arguing with him for twenty minutes CJ finally said, “look you little shit!   If you want to go down there go, but you are going on your own and if anything happens you are on your own.”

This seemed to shut Ben up for a few minutes as he tilted his head and seemed to weigh his options for a few minutes.   At length Ben swallowed hard and said, “Look CJ I am going, and it’s our duty we should be down there!”   At this point CJ was incredibly tense and tired of talking about it “WHY!   Why do you think we should be down there?   We have been watching the monitors for hours, no one is down there and we haven't seen anything.”

Ben seemed genuinely unable to answer that question.   Bart knew, he could tell, that CJ had finally put Benny boy in his place.

Finally, Ben’s eyes lit up as if he had finally remembered why they needed to go downstairs SO bad…  “What about the janitor?   They said on the news reports that if someone had been bit they should go and get treatment.   Shouldn’t we go down there and check on him and take him to the hospital?   CJ replied “you idiot!   That was hours ago when they said that, if that guy HAD the infection from what they have been saying he is already gone.”

Ben seemed to think about that a moment and seemed unwilling to stand there and debate “well you haven’t been able to see him on any of the cameras, so I am going out there to find out!”   CJ just sat down and snorted saying, “don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out!”    Terry jumped up, as if to go with him, only to have Bart grab him on the arm and say “Let the moron go, at least IF he comes back maybe he will have something to tell us.”

By this time Ben was in the elevator and on his way.   Terry seeing it was too late to stop it from happening sat himself down in front of the monitors and began working the controls until he could see Ben on one of them.   While he was going Bart slipped off for a smoke, on his way out he saw CJ sit himself in front of the TV display to watch the latest reports.

When Bart returned from his smoke he noticed that CJ had fallen into a light and fitful sleep in front of the TV so he went to the other room where Terry was watching the monitors and grabbing the radio sat in the corner listening intently to any broadcast he could find.

After awhile Terry said “Oh shit!   Bart come here!”    Bart was annoyed but went over anyway to see what the little shit was so worked up over.     Standing behind Terry he asked, “What is it?”    Terry replied “I was watching Ben on the monitors and everything was fine then he seemed to see something and take off.    Now I can’t find him.”

Bart rolled his eyes “don’t brown your shorts rookie!   You know as well as I do that there are blind spots, areas that for privacy reasons the cameras aren’t allowed to see.     He probably just stopped in a bathroom to take a piss or something.     Give him some time.”    Terry didn’t seem to have an argument against that idea so he shut up and returned to watching the monitors while Bart resumed listing to every bleaker radio reports.

As time ticked by and Terry didn’t see Ben on the cameras anywhere he got more and more worried, however Bart was able to calm him down for a while.    Finally, it got to the point were nothing Bart said would work.

“We haven’t seen any sign of him for hours!    We have to go downstairs and look for him damn it NOW!”    Bart took offense to this and the pretense of trying to calm him down was out the window “Listen here ROOKIE!    Between the two of us I out rank you and I call the shots!    We are not going down there unless we are sure, so you keep watching those monitors until I say otherwise.”

Usually that rookie talk and authoritative tone worked like a charm on Terry but this time they had no effect “It’s been hours,” Terry said in a whining almost pleading voice, to which Bart replied, “you heard what CJ said we are not going down there unless there is a good reason!”   “And Ben being missing isn’t a good enough reason?” Terry said in an accusatory tone.

At that point CJ had entered the room and said, “no it’s not, I told him not go.   He defied by orders and went into a potentially life threatening situation because he thought he knew better.    As the old saying goes he made his bed now he can lay in it.”    At this point Terry realized arguing with CJ was going to get him nowhere, at best he would end up going down there by himself and as worried as he was about his buddy Ben he didn’t relish the idea of going without help, so he settled for checking the monitors again, using the controls to try and scan as much of the first floor as he could to try to find him.

Meanwhile, CJ and Bart snuck out their usual location to try and grab another quick smoke.    While they were doing that CJ casually as he could got Bart to fill him in on what happened with Ben while he was out “Well,” Bart began “for a while we had him on the camera, he seemed fine looking around for that janitor guy, but then he saw something or thought he did or something and went running into a blind spot and that was the last we saw him.   That was several hours ago and nothing.”

CJ closed his eyes,  “what about the news?” he asked knowing full well it wouldn’t be much better “It’s not good CJ,” Bart said “the whole mess is getting worse they’ve been calling it a race riot and saying it was just local but that was long ago blown, they were talking about other countries having the same situation: some places more than others”.    “Jesus,” CJ said closing his eyes again and apparently trying to think.

Suddenly, Terry started shouting for them to come and take a look at something on the monitors, when CJ and Bart got to the monitors and looked where Terry was pointing they saw a group of people in Metropolis: one of them looked like a bald black man in a cop uniform, there was also a blonde woman in what looked like bloody pajamas, a blonde guy and another black dude and a pregnant woman.

The three security guards watched the group for a few minutes until they saw one of them pick up a toilet and throw it through the glass “damn it looters,” CJ said under his breath, and they are trashing Metropolis, like they hadn’t had enough trouble with them.    Bart was about to ask what they should do but CJ waved the question off as they watched the group some more.

The group walked around the mall for a few minutes, finally sitting on the edge of the fountain in the front part of the store, the blonde guy seemed to be saying something and pointing in various directions.   After a few minutes he and the younger black guy walked off in different directions, and off to areas the cameras didn’t cover.

CJ, Bart and Terry kept watching the group at the fountain, then suddenly Ben Cozen came running out of the shadows from somewhere and attacked the pregnant chick, then the black cop grabbed him and struggled with him until they both fell into the fountain continuing to struggle… after a few seconds the blonde woman picked up the cop’s shotgun and fired at Ben, this upset Terry but in truth he already figured he had contracted whatever it was the bite victims were getting, hitting him in the temple and causing him to fall into the fountain thrashing like the death throws of some horrible beast.

Shortly, after that the blonde guy and the younger black man came running back and sprinted passed the other yelling to them (apparently to come with them since the others joined in the running as well)…  Bart could tell where they were running too and he could tell CJ knew as well.     “Get ready they going to try to come up here in the elevator,” CJ told them.

The three of them lined up in front of the elevator, CJ and Bart had their gun’s drawn but apparently Terry either didn’t comprehend that these people could be a threat or was still in shock at seeing his buddy Ben shot and thrashing around in the fountain, because he didn’t have a gun he just stood there with the others and braced himself for what was to come.

Bart was filled with both tension and dread, he hoped that whatever these people wanted that he and CJ could handle it, he knew Terry was a pussy and wouldn’t be of much help so he was determined to back CJ to the hilt, trusting in him to be able to size up the situation.     As the elevator made it’s way up to the second floor Bart watched and held his breath, he was ready for whatever came next….

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