Coaster (2 page)

Ro
ger had been an employee of the park since he was seventeen. He began working there every summer when he was a teenager. He went to college on a football scholarship but after he got hurt his scholarship went down the tubes, so he returned to the park. He stayed until he went away to the Army two years later. Then after four years he came back older, sad, and with shrapnel in his leg. He went back to work at the park because it seemed like a place with little stress and the chance to work outdoors. Roger's dad had been in construction so Roger knew a lot about machines, building things, and how to handle himself around tools. This made an easy progression to work his way to lead mechanic. He liked the job because people were generally happy when they were visiting the park. He loved working on the massive machinery and the tracks the coasters ran on.

A lot of the park employees
had been there a long time and like a family they looked out for each other. The corporation had restructured a few times, but the higher-ups were the only ones that felt the change except in the last year. Big cuts had meant a lot of seasoned employees were let go with less than stellar retirement packages. It had caused a lot of talk and frustration for those left behind, but Roger stayed out of the gossip and bad blood. He just wanted to do his job and get paid; he never wanted to be a part of a cause.

Ro
ger was heading to the water ride to fix a leak that was causing water to hit the guests as they stood in line. As he maneuvered through the back walkways he thought about his morning checkout. Everything had gone smoothly and he'd spent some extra time at the highest point on their biggest coaster just enjoying the feel of the wind on his face and watching the sun rising in the sky. It was one of the perks of his job.

Walking
past the new coaster he noticed the line was long. He glanced at the trio of teenage girls and was reminded of his daughter, Tori. The girls were giggling, texting, and so very young, he smiled in spite of himself. As he watched them, one girl jumped off the railing and headed out of the line. The two other girls yelled at her and she waved, pushing past the people towards the entrance. Two teenagers dressed alike caught his eye, Roger knew they must be foreign because no American kids would ever dress alike, and also because they were ridiculously pale. It was fun to watch the people at the park, especially since they couldn't see him looking at them as he walked behind the netted fencing. Roger's radio crackled and he turned it down as he got to the water ride.

Chapter Three

The man on the hill co
uld tell by the position of the sun and the heat that the time was nearing. Yells and screams from below were louder now as the park was near full capacity. He felt his heart beating with excitement as his plan was about to come to fruition. He took his watch out of his backpack and observed the minutes tick by. He had set the detonation for a specific time so he wouldn't have to push anything and could just absorb the joy of the spectacle below him. He couldn't stop smiling. It had been a long haul and the planning had been not only meticulous, but really perfect. He knew that his device hadn't been found, because the ride had been running all morning. Now that it was around one o'clock he knew that people were in full ride mode and that the lines below him were long.

He
stood up feeling antsy and looked at his watch to see there were only five minutes until his fulfillment came. He opened the cooler and looked at the second bottle of beer waiting. The man wasn't concerned about getting away because no one could see him this removed from the park and his camouflage clothing and accessories would keep him from view. He knew he'd have about an hour to watch the aftermath before heading to his car and back to the hotel room.

                                                                      ****

The coaster was set up for only eight people to ride at a time. There were four lines available which is why the wait was so long.

Rachel and Mitch were
in the first line and Valarie and Michael in the second line next to them so they would be able to ride at the same time. Everyone in line was watching the process before them. When the ride stopped and everyone got off the next group sat down and attached the shoulder harness to the harness between their legs. By the looks on the faces of people getting off, this ride was more than worth the wait. Valarie and Michael were teasing Rachel and asking if she was going to barf. Rachel laughed knowing that she had an iron clad constitution and it was more likely that Mitch would throw up before her, but she didn't say that out loud. To the left of Rachel was what looked liked brother and sister in the third line. The boy seemed nervous as he caught Rachel's eye. She smiled at him. He nodded, but quickly looked away and Rachel was pretty sure that she had embarrassed him by seeing his feelings. She had to admit she was a little anxious too. She took Mitch's hand and he squeezed it as he leaned over and said, "You nervous?"

                                                                      ****

Heather and Megan were in the fourth line. Heather was still trying to catch the eye of the boy in the family. She told Megan that she thought he'd smiled at her as they waited their turn.

Megan turned to Heather
and frowned. "Lindy isn't gonna make it. They won't let her up here. She's gonna have to wait in line all over again." They had waited all summer to go together to ride this ride. It was something they had always done when the new rides came out at the park.

Heather shrugged her shoulders, "She shouldn't have left to pee. I mean we waited
a freaking hour and a half and then she leaves. Seriously? She should've gone earlier."

"I know
, but now she's gonna make us stand in line again." Megan flipped her phone out. "Wait, she's texting me. She said they won't let her catch up with us so she'll be waiting at the exit. Have fun and wave to her." Megan shrugged and turned towards the exiting riders in front of her. Heather grabbed her hand and her thoughts of Lindy were eased by the excitement of what was about to happen.

                                                                      ****

Lindy was pissed at herself. She'd been sitting in line for so long and they'd just had those frozen lemonades, and she couldn't hold it any longer. She should've gone before, but after she got back to the line Heather and Megan were too far and the security guard grabbed her and told her she'd have to go to the end. She tried to explain her friends were up there, but he didn't care. He made her leave the line and told her to go wait at the exit for them. So now she stood here watching everyone come off the ride with huge smiles and exclamations of how cool the ride was and how scared they'd been. "Damn it." Lindy whispered under her breath. She texted Megan. Megan said they were getting onto the ride and they'd see her in a minute.

                                                                      ****

Sitting in the ride was weird and Rachel felt like she was in a straitjacket. She was backward so she couldn't see anything. She strained her neck to see Mitch and he smiled at her and said, "Ready?"

Rachel tried to see the kids behind her but she couldn't so she yelled, "Hey guys, have fun. See you at the end."

"K, mom." Valarie yelled.

Michael yelled back, "
Don't yak on us."

                                                                      ****

Christopher and Anne waited quietly. They felt the park worker pull on their restraints and Anne felt her heart beat quicker. She was scared. She would never tell Christopher that, but she knew it was true. Her hands were sweaty and she could feel a metallic taste in her mouth. But that didn't hide the exhilaration she felt at being scared. It was so intoxicating. She looked at Christopher. He simply looked panicked.

                                                                      ****

The thumbs up meant the ride could move. Slowly it creeped out from the building and made its way up the hill. The full force of the sun beat down on the occupants. Sitting backwards everyone was straining their necks and a lot of silent prayers were being sent up. The creaking and clicking of the metal below the riders kept them focused, but most of them felt their mouths getting dry. As they reached the pinnacle of the climb they looked out at the park below them. They were so high up that many of them felt a horrible sinking feeling in their stomachs. In the momentary pause fear seeped in, until the ride lurched and swung them back towards the ground at almost eighty miles an hour. In a chorus a scream went up.

Several of the riders began to smile while many held their face in a
terrified grimace hoping that two minutes would go by fast. As they made the next turn there was a click. They all heard it, but it was lost in screams and other mechanical sounds going on. In less than a breath there was a detonation. Instantly, it felt like someone was pouring fire on them. The heat was puzzling. Confusion was combining with pain as the car was propelled upward into the coaster's structure. Those that had figured out something was wrong were screaming. Not the scared screaming of exhilaration, but the desperate scream of fear. The impact was fast and when they collided with the towering metal above them the pain of being burnt was forgotten as they were crushed. Their screaming stopped.

Below the car, the heat from the fire bent the metal of the tracks. The car with the riders hit the metal of the coaster and all forward movement stopped. The shock of metal slamming into metal caused immediate death for those where the explosion had failed to kill them.

The riders were gone and the world had changed for all that knew them.

Chapter Four

The man laughed out loud. He
'd heard the explosion and imagined the heat that radiated through the metal. His binoculars were pointed at the place where just a minute ago eight people had been traveling through space enjoying getting the shit scared out of them. He didn't think about their faces, their families, or anything about them. He simply felt glad. Felt revenge. He felt emboldened and strong. He was elated and wild with joy. He wanted to tell someone, but knew that was impossible. His joy was complete as he saw the fire growing and heard the screams that had begun small and he knew would grow swiftly. He pulled the bottle of beer out of the ice chest and twisted the cap off taking a deep draw on the liquid. It immediately cooled his throat as he continued sipping. At the end he put the cap between his thumb and middle finger and snapped it off into the canyon below him. After another long sip he burped and sat down in the chair waiting for the sound of sirens.

                                                                      ****

The screams began slowly as those waiting in line heard and felt the impact of the explosion. Not sure at first that it wasn't something from the television above them, they paused before looking towards the ride. Someone yelled, "Oh my God, the ride exploded! Get out of here!"

Then
panic began.

People i
n line tried to push past the people standing behind them to reach the small staircase to the exit. Everyone started screaming and yelling while energy moved like a giant tsunami through those still waiting in line. People had heard and seen the explosion, but in the moments after it had happened they were frozen to their spots. They stood there confused as if this might be part of the ride. It wasn't until the swell of people came toward them that reality surfaced and those still waiting began to run. Many fell down and tried to evade the mob moving over them. Cries of pain and fear were rising. Those that were hurt instinctively tried to curl into a ball and rolled towards the sides of the walkways to get out of the way. People were jumping over barriers and running as fast as they could. The exodus was massive and continually punctuated by shrieks of fear.

At the same time, the park's managers and team leaders were standing in various parts of the park as the code 1011 came through on their radios. 1011 meant that there had been a death. They had never had a code 1011 at the park. The disbelief was tremendous and many of the parks employees thought it must be some sort of joke. They looked for confirmation to other co-workers until they saw people running from the ride, and then they knew the code was real. Someone finally reacted and called for extra security and the police team stationed at the entrance to the park was summoned. Hearing the explosion, the officers had already made their way into the park and were cutting through the mass of people. Some individuals, out of curiosity, were heading towards the roller coaster on fire and others were sprinting away from it.

                                                                      ****

Roger heard the blast. He was pretty sure it was an explosion because there is a certain sound that explosives make. His time in the military had heightened his ability to know what a bomb sounded like and he was sure one had been detonated. "This isn't gonna be good." Roger mumbled as he grabbed his walkie talkie and buzzed his crew. "Did you hear that?"