by Scott Todd
Jan was starting to understand, but I could tell she was a bit put out that I appeared to be more interested in the report than in her. She looked at me intently one more time, with the kind of stare that told me she had made up her mind, and wasn't taking no for an answer.
While Ben and I were still trying to understand and avoid impending death again somehow, the look in Jan's eyes at me was more like she had accepted death already, was over it, knew it was coming, and was thinking "So let's go have panic sex and then die."
My mind nearly exploded. I just couldn't handle all this at once.
"Marty knew," Terry said suddenly, interrupting my fixations, and looking back at her Dad. "Marty was really going ape shit about this, and he even called me once. I never told you about that Dad. But he said you were being too complacent, and trying to find too many reasons why that information was overblown. He insisted that the inflation data was very scary. He said it was right there in your face, but you were just not having it, no matter what."
Ben looked up at her in surprise. "He really called you?" he gasped.
"Yeah he did, Dad," Terry replied accusingly. "He had my number from that last time we went out there. Don't you remember when you lost your cell phone, how we were talking to him? We were using my phone. But I couldn't understand half the shit he was saying. Hell, I'm not into this crap, like you two are."
After a minute with no response, Terry finally concluded "But I guess I really AM into this crap now- for sure... Huh." It was one of those questions stated without a question mark.
Ben couldn't say a word, and continued with his calculations out of sheer nervousness. Terry looked back out the window into nothingness, while Jan didn't say anything. But she kept looking at me with that same look.
And then the calculator went silent. I kept waiting for it to resume. But it didn't. He wasn't even writing anymore. He finally went limp in his seat, letting out a concerning sigh. I braced myself. Because this wasn't looking good. Maybe for a short term fling, but not for life.
Chapter 22: Revenge of the Gods?
I just couldn't take it anymore. "Well, so what's the verdict Ben?" I asked nervously.
"You sure you really want to know?" he replied, with renewed fear in his voice. Terry and Jan snapped back from whatever they were thinking to pay all attention to Ben.
"No, I'm not really sure," I managed to get out. Jan looked at me upset. Terry's eyes got wider. The overhead lights were still on in the car, and Ben switched them off, putting us all in near total darkness again.
"I've got to... I've got to... Sleeeeep," Ben said stuttering, and he conked out with a brief snore that ended abruptly. He was out like a light, but in retrospect he had only four hours of sleep, and was clearly at the end of his waking rope.
Silence again ensued for a while, and my mind raced back to impending doom in the dark. If he had figured out that we had just been hit by only the first wave of flying debris, what was to follow would surely be worse. It would all just depend on sheer luck if our mountain was hit by massive fire boulders instead of the still deadly, but smaller size projectiles. I cursed him under my breath for not telling us, but hell, I could not fault him. He was just completely out and exhausted. The lack of food and sleep, on top of everything else... There was just no room to complain.
I tried to think for myself of how this could be possible. I guessed that he had probably figured out what the likely propagation radius of debris was, after calculating the force of a "theoretical" first explosion, and matched that with arrival times of the "first debris wave".
If the arrival times matched, we were most definitely in trouble. But only Ben knew at this point. And even then he might still be wrong, so I clung to every last bit of dying hope I could. Maybe he would run his calculations all again to double check when he woke up. But by then we could all be dead! I just didn't know. I sat in utter frustration, wishing I had gone to college badly. Though I knew enough to be dangerous, it just wasn't enough now.
I finally just gave up trying to think about it, and cleared out my head. I needed a serious break from all this, even though that seemed impossible. I tried thinking about everything else I could, reaching down deep into my memories. I thought of that girl and the parking lot, but quickly realized I wasn't in the mood. I thought of some favorite songs, and realized I'd never be able to hear them again. Then I thought of my family, and realized they were probably all dead.
Any thought I tried to think was just getting stifled by death, in one way or another. It was all gone. Somehow I was going to have to come to terms with this, or get my gun back out. It was really that simple.
So I needed something, ANYTHING to take my mind off all this, or I was going drive myself mad. And right about then, Jan laid her head down in my lap on her side, trying to find a more comfortable position. We'd been sitting in that car for hours on end, and everybody was getting restless. I put a hand on her hair and started caressing it gently but nervously, for pretty much a lack of anything else to do. It felt soft to the touch, even through all of the mess.
Terry finally got out, saying she was getting out to stretch- even though it was still raining- but lighter than before. I don't know why, but the vision of her fantastic breasts came flying back in, completely invading my mind. I slammed them right back out of my head, trying to feel whatever shame I could muster. Maybe I really was going mad. I couldn't understand how I could even be thinking anything of the sort. But that was until I realized how long it had been... And then it made a bit more sense.
Women just didn't quite understand the pressure us guys had. I mean they really just didn't. Society kept relentlessly pounding into our heads that men should be able to so easily control "menial" urges, and send any related thoughts right on their way. But being a man, I knew it was way different, and patently untrue.
Release was a biological necessity, when it came right down to it. Without it for extended periods, all kinds of tension ensued, building up to desperate frustration, aggressiveness, and even violence. It really was just a question of how long each individual could tolerate it.
Some could for long periods, but others could last only hours without it. A tough problem that was difficult to talk about for every single one of us, in one way or another. We really could only just think about it to ourselves, trying desperately to extend our tolerances for it- lest we be deemed oversexed and abnormal. Living was constant pressure from below, and counter pressure from the outside.
And somewhere in between we each just had to find our own way of dealing with it. I could only wonder why women seemed to be able to control theirs so much better. Or was the truth that it only SEEMED that way? Perhaps thousands of years of societal oppression had suppressed this for them to more manageable levels. I just didn't know.
But at least I had something to think about to occupy my time, I mused, glad to have found a mental release from the day's events. As thoughts go, all of that went by in a mere minute or two. And back to reality I came.
Jan was just laying there with her head on my lap silently, and seemed to be a bit more relaxed with me stroking her hair. But she knew my mind really wasn't with her. At least not for those few minutes. Sensing my return, she tightened her grip around my waist in a brief, momentary hug. But then her hand started moving, and found itself dangerously close on my upper leg again. Feeling me tense up, she stopped. She raised herself up and moved back towards her window on the seat.
I heard her moving around in the dark, for several minutes. Right about then Terry opened up the door, which automatically turned on the light. As I was looking at Terry get back in, Ben turned a bit in his sleep, clearly uncomfortable. And then glancing at Jan, I saw her nakedness. She had taken off all her clothes and hung them on the back of the seat behind her.
"I'm going outside for a shower," Jan said innocently. The lights turned on once again as she got out, but she stood there for more time than was necessary with the door open it seemed. Maybe she
was reconsidering wandering around in the rainy darkness with bears about. Maybe. Then she slowly shut the door.
"You know, that's a great idea," said Terry in the dark, and I heard her start rustling around. "I need one too," she said, and with that she opened the door again to get out. I couldn't even stand to look, for it would be sheer self-torture. Even at a time like this.
"So why don't you join us," she said, standing in the car light naked with the door open. "Nothing much matters anymore, now does it? We're all about to be fuming piles of smoking, dismembered flesh, just like Sandra. So who gives a damn?" And she promptly shut the door. Ben was still out like a light.
Chapter 23: Only in the MC:TLSC- EXTREME Version
Chapter 24: Ben's Prophecy
Finally getting back to the car with Jan and Terry, the only thing I could think of was sleep. I was so exhausted from the whole ordeal I was ready to completely collapse all over again. But I was ready to finally face death a happier man- no doubt about that.
Last I heard from Ben, I was almost sure from the way he acted before he went to sleep that the news was not going to be good. I surmised that he probably calculated that there was going to be a larger, more devastating round of projectiles from the second, larger explosion if our theories were correct.
But I had a lot of questions about this, even as tired as I was. Why were they taking so long to get here? I needed to know more about his calculations. Could it be possible that the second explosion was so big that the projectiles could take a different trajectory and...
I was suddenly startled when the night turned into day for a few seconds, and the flash of light lit up everything on the hill.
"What the...?" Terry started to say as she and Jan started putting their clothes back on. They both stopped, still half naked, and looked up at the sky. I got back out and looked up too.
In what seemed like a movie, one by one we watched as the night repeatedly turned into day with the passing by, high above, of endless meteor-like fireballs, streaking across the night sky. Some of them were absolutely monstrous, with huge dark smoke streaks trailing behind them as they sailed over and past the mountain.
And then we started hearing the echoes of distant, muffled explosions. They were coming from the direction where the fireballs were headed, and obviously some of them were exploding- either in mid air or in the ocean as they hit.
I immediately woke up Ben, and he came to with reluctance. "Ben, Ben, you've GOT to see this!" I exclaimed. "We might still make it. I think they are going to..."
"Jesus... They... ARE overshooting us!" he said slowly, getting out of the car and looking up in a wakening daze. "I was hoping for that. My calculations suggested it, but they also suggested the debris might directly hit us. Doesn't matter. We've GOT to get to cover. NOW," he demanded unequivocally. "You hear those explosions? If a big enough one of those..."
And in keeping with the now established tradition of tragedy-after-Ben-speak, no sooner had he gotten the words out of his mouth, one exploded a lot closer and louder- even as far away as it was. We felt the shockwave from it not long after, shaking the car and nearly knocking me off my feet. Terry let out a shriek, while Jan scrambled back into the car.
"The car isn't even safe," Ben said as he looked around inside. "A bigger one of those closer and all that glass from the windows and windshields is going to go flying. It could also rupture and explode the gas tank, and we'd cook in here like roasting pigs from the fire."
"Then WHAT can we do?" Jan screamed, panicking and trembling once again.
"We should probably go to the OTHER side of the hill, opposite from the side where we endured the first round, since they are overshooting us this time," I suggested in earnest.
"Exactly," agreed Ben. "And try to find an indent in the hill somewhere where we can take cover. That side of the mountain will help protect us from any blasts, and we might make it. Come ON, let's move!"
So by the very light from the projectiles themselves, we hastily made our way through the trees towards the other side of the mountain- the same side I originally went to trying to gather sea water for extracting salt.
I remembered that a patch of land that had slid down, exposing the rock core of the mountain, and wondered if we might find a suitable spot there up against it. And sure enough, soon it appeared, and turned out to be the perfect spot. Assuming of course that none of them came down short, and kept going over us- that is.
"Ok, this looks pretty good," Ben said, settling down to ride out the fireworks. "But everyone stay at least a foot away from the rock itself in case a bigger one explodes closer and there is a massive shock wave. If the mountain moves with it, it will crush you if you are up against the core rock face, or up against any tree."
We all heeded the advise and sat there on a small outcropping keeping our fingers crossed and looking up at the incredible show passing us- well away from the side of the rock face and any trees. I was thankful that sometime before we got Ben up, the women had found the time to finish dressing after the rain shower. We had enough problems as it was without Ben freaking out over that.
All seemed to be going according to plan, but then all of a sudden a lower, much louder projectile came whizzing by with a roar. Ben looked up worried and said "Brace yourselves. It might explode, but it might not. It depends on its speed and composition, as well as..."
WhaBAM. We heard the noise and felt the concussion much stronger than the previous one.
"That one was probably within a hundred kilometers of here, just judging by the sound. I did spend five years in the military as a...
"Whoa, look at THAT one," Terry screamed, and pointed to an even larger one with a massive trail of smoke behind it. It was lower, and coming nearly right at us.
"Yeah, that's a big one alright. You better hold on. That looks like it might be landing close by here in the ocean, if it doesn't explode first. And if it does hit the ocean, we could be looking at a pretty big wave," cautioned Ben.
The sky lit up even brighter as it went streaking by, terribly low and close, sounding like a gigantic rocket. About twenty seconds later, we heard a large explosion. The side of the mountain shook from the concussion, and a minute or so later we heard the ocean upset all around us, as a big wave went flying by, colliding with the hill.
"I got that one on video," Terry said, holding up her phone, and trying to rewind for a playback.
Ben looked mortified. "Please sweetie, save those batteries. We are really going to need them later if we make it..."
"Oh, if we make it... If we make it..." ridiculed Terry. I'm tired of hearing that. I've already died a thousand deaths out here. I am just not afraid anymore. Screw it."
"You GO girl," exclaimed Jan, giving her a high five. "I'm with you. How many times can you die in a day? Enough of this." She stood up and looked up. "I'm right here...SO COME AND TAKE ME, you bastards!" she screamed at the fireballs in defiance, and shaking her fist.
Ben just looked at me, speechless. Of course I had no words either. A priceless moment you could call that one.
More time passed without further incident, and finally they started becoming more infrequent. But that also meant less illumination, and we were halfway down the other side of the mountain in the dark.
"Wow, so it looks like that second explosion was so big it may have blasted a lot of the ocean floor into literal orbit or beyond," Ben suddenly said, coming off a long silence of observation and thought.
"I remember there were big questions about whether debris from a Verneshot could reach escape velocity or not."
Jan and Terry looked confused, as another one lit up their faces faintly. "By 'escape velocity', he means reach a speed of about 11 km per second. That's theoretically the speed needed for a projectile to escape the earth's gravitational pull and reach space," I clarified to them. "But it is also better referred to as 'escape speed'... Right Ben?"
"Yes, that's true, because velocity implies directional vectors, and spe
ed better defines the scalar properties involved," Ben replied, and looked at me like I was trying to be a smart ass. But I could tell he appreciated the clarification, nonetheless.
"Oh, ok," Jan said, like she understood. "I guess that's pretty fast."
"Not to interrupt your little powwow here or anything, but are we going back to the car tonight, or are we sleeping here, or what?" Terry asked.
"Well that's a good question, sweetie," Ben said. "If we don't leave back for the car soon, we aren't going to be able to see to get there. The flashlight's pretty well done. And we really ought to save the lighter as best we can for starting fires."
With the noise from the fireworks nearly all gone, we were able to pay attention to our immediate surroundings more. We heard the ocean more clearly far below us, and a very slight breeze through the trees.
"If we head back to the car, we will not be very protected against one of those rogue fireballs," Ben continued. "But that's anyone's call. We just don't know how many more there are, or whether any of them could get close enough to hurt us. Maybe we should put it to a vote whether to go back or not just yet," Ben proposed.
