Cheap Thrills (6 Thrilling reads)

by Luis Samways

  Ray looks up at the dark sky and breaths in a cold mouthful of air. It hits the roof of his mouth like popping candy, a feeling that awakens his senses for the time being. The dark sky is a strange off purple tonight. It possesses an aura that seems to fit the occasion well. On a night where beacons of light are penetrating people’s bodies and killing them in a blaze of gore, the night sky over New York City is a kin to a horror movie. Ray knows that the answers to this mystery lie in the skies. For years man has wondered what lies beyond the stars. It could be a lot more than space rocks and satellites. It could be the secret that Ray has been looking for all these years.

  He doesn’t have time to contemplate the meaning or origin of these strange lights. Sure he has an idea, but who doesn’t. Some may think it’s the Rapture, others may think it’s a hostile takeover. The only thing Ray is thinking about is finding the nearest drain grate. Maybe the sewers are the answer.

  He spots a glistening metal grate a few feet away from him. He smiles as he realises that maybe he has found what he’s looking for. Sure the sewers are dirty and dank, but anything is better than above ground. Ray quickly moves closer to the grate and kneels down. He pops his rucksack off his shoulders and gently puts it on the ground. He grips his fingers around the big round grate and attempts to move it. He doesn’t budge it one bit. He starts to sweat as he strains while trying to move the heavy sewer lid off its socket. He gives up and looks around. He spots a fire escape staircase that the city is famous for and runs over to it. He sees the ladder dangling down and pulls at it. It seems locked in place but a tad bit frail. He grabs at the wonky ladder leg and bends it. It bends easily and after a few minutes of labour Ray manages to snap the ladder leg off. He palms the metal leg and runs over to the drain. He slots the leg into the grates round key socket whole and pushes. The grate starts to shift gradually as Ray starts to sweat. He doesn’t realise but the flashing in his wrist is growing faster and more rapid. The grate finally shifts and clangs out of place revealing a round bottomless pit with a ladder attached to the inside wall. Ray laughs out loud as a bead of sweat drops down his brow. He quickly grabs his rucksack and puts it back on. He manoeuvres himself onto the ladder and catches a glimpse of his wrist. The LED style light is flashing faster than before. He starts to panic and moves down the dark ladder at great speed. The flashing starts to slow down and a sigh of relief is heard out of Ray’s exhausted mouth. The deeper he goes underground, the slower the flashing in his wrists is. Maybe he was right to go underground.

  Sixteen

  ‘What the fuck are we going to do, stay down here forever?’ asks David Seal as he throws his hands up in the air.

  Mitch doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to the big shot lawyer’s outburst. They have been acquainted now for more than six hours. That’s more than long enough to get to know a man.

  ‘We just sit here and wait. Maybe someone will find us and point us in the right direction,’ says Mitch in a calm and collected manner.

  David laughs at Mitches’ tone.

  ‘You surly don’t think things are going to return to normal do you?’

  ‘Why wouldn’t they?’ says Mitch

  ‘Because of these fucking lights in our wrists. That’s why we are down here isn’t it? It isn’t because we like hanging around human faecal matter for the fun of it’

  ‘I don’t see these so called “Lights” as anything to worry about’

  ‘Are you crazy Mitch? These lights must mean something. Goddamn government is taking over, that’s what it is. Must be some chip or something, commands us to self-destruct. I saw it with my own eyes. My best friend blew up in front of me’

  Mitch smiles as he looks across at his two sleeping girls curled up on the floor. He wrapped them up in some newspaper and laid out his rucksack as a pillow for the both of them. The sight is a mixture of sadness and family spirit as the warm glow of the blazed oil drum peppers the sewer in a dim but welcoming light.

  ‘Maybe it isn’t man made,’ says Mitch

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’m just saying. Maybe these lights are something to do with a higher power’

  David’s eyes roll at Mitch.

  ‘A higher power? Like what?’

  ‘You know, God,’ Mitch says quietly

  ‘For fuck sake man. Why would God be blowing people up?’

  ‘The Rapture. It says in the Bible that people will be taken up to heaven in a flash of light’

  David’s eyes narrow as he stares at Mitch.

  ‘I hardly think that people blowing up all over the place is a clear indication of them going to heaven. I mean, don’t get me wrong. You can believe what you want. But something is telling me you don’t believe that or you wouldn’t be down here trying to escape it,’ says David as he brushes some dirt of his pristine suit.

  ‘True, but who said I wanted to go to heaven?’

  Seventeen

  ‘Give me the fucking money! Or I’ll cut your damn throat,’ the man in the hood says to the young black teen.

  ‘I aint giving you shit. You better run motherfucker, these streets aint too kind to your type,’ the young male says to the knife wielding robber.

  ‘Oh, you done did it now you stupid kid,’ the man says as he raises his arm out as if he is about to strike.

  Suddenly the man with the knife hits the floor with a thud. Where he was standing, behind him stands a tall man in the shadows. The man is holding a large tyre iron. The young kid breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of the tall man.

  ‘Damn you took your time son,’ the teen says as he brushes himself off. The alley lights glisten off the kid’s jewellery.

  ‘I ain’t your son, boy. You better watch your tone when you talk to me. You see that’s what gets you into trouble. That’s why that white man wanted to stab you, because of your foul mouth. No respect, that’s what it is,’ the tall man says

  ‘Okay man, chill Dwayne,’ says the kid

  Dwayne’s eyes widen accompanied by a smile.

  ‘I’m just kidding Tyrell. Good work,’ says Dwayne

  Tyrell smiles as he brushes himself down. He looks at the unconscious body of the robber on the floor.

  ‘Man help me turn this sucker over,’ he says to Dwayne.

  They both heave the man over and spot a flashing light underneath his clothes.

  ‘Man, this guy got something on him. Hopefully one of them iPhones. We can get some paper for that’

  Tyrell nods in agreement while checking the idle man on the floor. He pats him down and finds nothing. The light is still flashing, illuminating their faces in the dark alley.

  ‘Man, I aint found shit. This guy has nothing on him. Maybe we shouldn’t be targeting robbers like this. Nine times out of ten, they don’t have shit on them’

  Dwayne nods

  ‘What’s up with that light though? Check to see if it’s his watch,’ he says as Tyrell checks the man’s wrists. To their dismay they see a flashing light embedded into the man’s right wrist.

  ‘Holy shit, what the hell is that?’ says Dwayne

  ‘I don’t know, maybe it’s a bomb’

  The two of them back a few paces away and watch as the light in the man’s wrist pulsates violently. The man’s eyes open as he is met with the two men looking down at him in shock.

  ‘What the hell are you two looking at? Nice of you to stick around after knocking me over the head,’ the man says, not quite noticing the red light in his wrist that’s now illuminating his face. He suddenly looks down and notices it.

  ‘What the fu..’

  Just before the man can finish what he was about to say a huge ray of light runs through the middle of his body. A blinding light is seen as the man’s corpse splits down the middle and explodes outwards. Dwayne and Tyrell get the remains of the man’s body splashed onto their faces as they stare on in amazement.

  They remain staring at the pool of blood in which the man they had knocked out minutes before was lying. Al
l that remained was an oozing pile of blood and dust.

  ‘Looks like it was a bomb,’ Dwayne says out of breath

  Both men remain fixated on the dust pile in front of them until a red light in their vicinity starts to flash. They look around in panic as they realise what is happening. Both look down at their wrists and are met with the same flashing lights, just like the ones that had claimed the man in front of them and were about to claim the both of them as they look at each other in horror.

  Eighteen

  DeShaun enters the NYPD precinct with a coffee in one hand and a large folder in the other. He’s rushing towards the elevator when someone holds the button for him. He crams himself into the small elevator and waits for his floor. He watches the numbers on the digital dial go from one to seven. He waits for the guy in front of him to exit first and then follows. He turns down a few halls and walks into an office. He thumps the heavy folder down onto the table and takes a sip of his coffee. The two sounds alert the man in the office to the presence of DeShaun.

  The unaware man smiles at DeShaun as he gets up and shakes his hand.

  ‘Hey Sean, how you doing?’ the polite man says as he continues to grip DeShaun’s large hand.

  ‘Not so good Commissioner, not so good at all,’ he says as he lets the commissioner’s hand go and takes a seat at the table, opening his folder while gently sipping his coffee.

  The commissioner sits down as well and gives DeShaun a worried look.

  ‘Is everything alright?’ asks the commissioner.

  DeShaun looks at the man across the table and gives him a clear look of authority, as if he wants to put the reeling man in his place.

  ‘No, nothing is alright Mr Commissioner. We have a shit storm brewing and you don’t seem to be grasping the situation at all,’ he says

  ‘I do not fully understand you Sean, could you be more specific?’

  DeShaun gets up and thumps his fist on the table. The sound echoes off the walls and grabs the attention of the man and the stares of a few other people through the office door behind him.

  ‘We have a serious problem here. People are combusting on the streets of New York. The president wants answers. What the hell is going on?’

  The man looks puzzled.

  ‘Combusting? What are you talking about?’

  DeShaun grabs the remote control on the table and turns around to face the TV. He clicks the red button and the TV switches on and lands on the news channel. The headlines match the atmosphere of the room as the media reports on the strange going-ons of the night prior.

  ‘This is news to you?’ Asks DeShaun

  ‘Yes…I had no idea, what’s going on? How many people….’

  ‘More than you want to know. I find it hard to believe that the aid to the Mayor doesn’t know what’s going on’

  ‘I can assure you DeShaun that this is the first I’m hearing of it’

  DeShaun smiles

  ‘It won’t be the last’

  Nineteen

  ‘The government are starting to take notice of the beacons sir,’ Mrs Harriet says as she sits down across from her boss.

  Mr Conway smells his Cuban cigar as he watches over its brim and locks eyes with the beautiful Mrs Harriet.

  ‘What sort of damage are we looking at?’ he asks

  ‘None, they don’t know anything substantial. They just know something is going on. Apparently the White House thinks it’s a virus. They first believed it was natural and issued an advisory to the World Health Organisation, but when WHO got back to them, they realised that no virus in the history of mankind can in their words “Combust a Human”. So now they think it’s a terrorist plot, much like Anthrax or smallpox,’ she says

  ‘Terrorists?’

  She nods her head

  ‘I’m afraid so sir’

  Mr Conway gets up from his chair and turns around to ogle his marine life in his aquarium styled walls. He strokes the glass as one of his small Hammerhead sharks passes by.

  ‘That’s the thing with the government. You stick them in a corner and all they do is blame someone else. I find it hard to believe the arrogance of these men and women of the state. How can they not see it? How can they not smell it?’

  ‘Smell what sir?’ asks Mrs Harriet

  ‘The blood in the water. You see Mrs Harriet, when there is blood in the water, a shark can smell it from miles away. Most Humans can’t smell shit on their shoe, but the almighty US government? Hell, they pride themselves on being able to sniff out an enemy attack. It’s just painful to know that my efforts are yet unknown’

  ‘They will know sir. The whole world will know, in time,’ Mrs Harriet says

  ‘Yes they will. For the time being, get the men stationed. It seems as if it’s time to show our hand’

  Mrs Harriet gets up and salutes her boss who remains fixated on his pet shark.

  ‘Will do sir’

  She walks out of the marina office and leaves her boss alone with his thoughts.

  Twenty

  Ray had made his way down to the bottom of the ladder, his feet hitting the cold dirty water with a splash. The spray of dirty water hits his nasal passage as a grim lingering smell of the environment chokes at his airways.

  ‘Shit…smells terrible down here,’ he says to himself as he tries to hold his breath.

  His feet wade through the filth as he moves on forward, trying to decide whether to go left or right at an intersection. He spots a faint glow of light to the right and decides that maybe it could lead to somewhere with more visibility. Ray’s rucksack hangs tight on his shoulders, while trying to minimise the amount of water residue he gets on himself. He’s brought his laptop and a networking dongle with him. He figures that the laptop may come in handy, but isn’t sure if the internet will stay on any longer considering the sort of interference he was experiencing in his apartment earlier that day.

  After around ten minutes of walking through slush he spots a group of people surrounding an oil drum in the distance. They haven’t seen him yet, so he moves in slowly, hoping to get closer before making himself known. Suddenly a man spots him and shakes the man next to him and points in Ray’s direction.

  ‘Hey you, don’t you move any closer,’ the man says

  Ray stops, fearing they have a weapon of some sorts.

  ‘I don’t want know trouble. I just came down here to find shelter from those things,’ says Ray calmly

  ‘What things?’ the other man asks

  ‘The lights…I gathered they can’t get me down here. I gathered they run on satellites. Going underground is safer than being up there for God knows what’s going to come next’

  The man smiles and waves him forward.

  As Ray walks towards the two men surrounding the barrel he spots two little girls lying on the floor, asleep. He feels better knowing these people are most likely normal. Bandits wouldn’t have little girls with them.

  ‘I’m Ray,’ he says as he moves closer to the men.

  ‘I’m David and this here is Mitch’

  Ray shakes David’s hand and goes to shake Mitch’s but Mitch doesn’t accept the invitation. David looks on in confusion but darts back to Ray who gives him a smile.

  ‘Man are we glad to see a new face. It’s just me and Mitch down here, plus his two girls there sleeping. We were wondering if anyone else would hit this part of the sewer. We thought that maybe people hit the metro and are hunkering down there, but we also gathered some people might come down here. Granted some people have not made it out of New York’s surface alive but some people must have had the same idea as us to come underground,’ says David

  Ray smiles

  ‘That’s good to know. I’m sure we will find more people, there has got to be more survivors’

  ‘Word is, not everyone has experienced this blinking light. Everyone I’ve seen seems to be around the same age. Maybe it only affects certain people,’ says David

  ‘Maybe,’ Ray agrees

  Mitch is s
till staring a hole into Ray.

  ‘Is there a problem,’ asks David as he looks on at Mitch

  ‘No, just wondering, that’s all’

  ‘Wondering what?’

  ‘If this here nigger is trouble,’ says Mitch in a cold voice

  Ray looks on in amazement

  ‘What the fuck did you just say?’ asks David

  ‘I’m just wondering if this guy is trouble’

  ‘That’s not what you said, you called him a nigger’

  Mitch smiles

  ‘I sure did, I just call it how I see it’

  Ray remains silent. He doesn’t know how to react; he just stands there observing the two men.

  ‘You’re a goddamn lawyer, you shouldn’t be calling people niggers,’ says David

  ‘You said I wasn’t shit anymore, like you. You said this world is done and it doesn’t matter what we was before,’ says Mitch as he remains locked onto the eyes of Ray.

  ‘If that’s true, then surely calling this man a name like that is backwards. It doesn’t matter what colour he is, he is a survivor just like us. Get a grip man!’

  Mitch nods his head.

  ‘Yep, that’s right. Protect this man. Protect this nigger we don’t know from nowhere. For all I know, he could rape my two girls down here. We know what they are like’

  Ray has finally had enough

  ‘I don’t know what experience you have had with black people sir, but I can assure you that no matter what colour you are, murderers and rapists come in all colours of skin’