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DOOM MAGNETIC!!! - CHAPTER TEN:
A CITY, VANISHED
William Pauley III
The world on the other side of the Doom Magnetic is a much different environment than what Maundin’s used to. Instead of the hot, dry desert air, everything was cold, wet, and polluted, the kind of air that sticks to lungs. The land here is paved with asphalt and concrete and the buildings all have indoor plumbing. There are no stars here. The pollution is so thick and heavy that it’s hard to tell whether it’s day or night. The sky remains a soft lit grey at all hours.
There are vehicles in the street, but none of them are moving or even piloted. Not a single soul is in sight. Even though Maundin is used to travelling sometimes for days without seeing another soul, he knows immediately that something is wrong here. Cities like this don’t just vanish into thin air. People don’t just leave their vehicles in the street like this. Something happened here.
A faint, but unmistakable voice shouts in the distance. It’s an electric voice, booming from a megaphone or loudspeaker or something similar. The voice is speaking in Japanese. Tokyo. Qoser had led them to Tokyo, capital of all of Planet Japan.
“You hear that?” Lady asks.
He nods. “Yeah, I hear it. Sounds like our man to me.”
Just then the doors of a place called Sakaba pop open and two tiny Asian people stumble out, tripping on the stoop and falling face first on the sidewalk. They burst into laughter. It’s a man and a woman, they seem to be a couple, and they also seem very drunk. They interlock arms, twisting like a pretzel, trying to help the other get to their feet and failing miserably.
Lady ignores the couple and begins to chase the voice echoing from the loudspeaker.
“Hold up,” Maundin says to her. “Wait a second now, be patient. Let’s let these two guide the way.”
Lady wrinkles her nose. “Why would we do that? Whatever’s going on, it’s happening right over there, just a few blocks away.
“Yeah, but if we ain’t smart about this, then we could be walkin’ ourselves smack dab in the middle of a hornets nest.”
“How do you know if they’re even headed in that direction?”
Maundin laughs. “Let’s just say, I have a hunch, alright? Just trust me on this.”
Lady shrugs her shoulders. “Sure, okay. Why not? You’ve gotten us this far.”
The two of them watch as the couple finally manages to pull themselves to their feet and stumble down the avenue, giggling all the way.
“Okay, let’s go,” Maundin orders. “But make sure to stay out of sight. The way we look, hell, I’d imagine we’d attract all kinds of attention our way. Stay in the shadows.”
Lady nods her head in agreement and the two go on their way, clinging to the walls of the city.
Paid subscribers! The next chapter of this story will be posted on July 11th! Stay tuned for The Voidoids.
A City, Vanished
© William Pauley III, 2011
All rights reserved.
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