OPEN REAR PLATFORM
Maybe the buses out here didn’t stink as bad, or at least not as bad as the nine circles of hell
known as the New York Subway. No corpses hopefully. A bus pulled up to the stop just as he let his
phone slip from his fingers and tumble into a storm drain at his feet. The stench hit him as soon as the
doors swung open. He climbed up the slimy stairs and moved slowly through the crowd. A young
technocrat without her virtual helmet, her spotless outfit standing out against the unwashed grey of the
serviles around her looked naked and exposed . She hung on to a pole with one hand and clutched a
pack wrapped in fabric to her bosom with the other. She furtively pulled out her phone from her purse
hung over her shoulder then suddenly looked around in a panic and shoved it back in. Charlie tried to
slip passed her but she wouldn’t move. “Lady with a baby!”, she blasted.
“I’m just
trying to get by you.”, He winced.
“For what?”, she bellowed. “There are no seats back there. There are no seats anywhere, even for a lady with a baby!”
“You aint’ got no mother fuckin’ baby, bitch!” A young woman with matted hair was staring hatefully at her.
“Shut the fuck up, you stinking servile!”, screeched the technocrat. “These fucking serviles wouldn’t care if I were a ninety year old cripple! I had to get on a bus!", she pleaded, grasping Charlie's arm. "The valet strike and retribution knocked the valet services out! Most of the valets are dead! Dead! Driver! It stinks in here. Driver, it stinks in here! Next stop, driver! Next stop!”
A hand reached out from a crowded bench and grabbed at her skirt. “Don’t you dare touch me!”, she blared. “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I am?”
A pair of hands shot out from under a seat and grabbed her ankles. Her mouth flew open and flapped in terror. She collapsed. A half a dozen serviles leaped on top of her. The bus pulled into a stop. The back doors swung open. The pile of shaking bodies rolled out.
Seats had been vacated. Charlie grabbed one before anyone could take it. A young man dropped down next to him. His fetid skin was oily. He looked like he’d escaped from a detention camp. He started grunting. “Uh! Uh! Uh!” His hands were twisted. His fingernails were long, sharp and jagged. “Uh!” His teeth were yellow and broken. His mouth was caked with dried saliva. “Uh! Uh!” The traffic was unbelievable. The bus crept and crept and the blood pounded in Charlie’s head and chest.
An elderly lady stood over the quaking monkey next to him. “Aren’t you going to give a little old lady a seat?” Charlie started to get to his feet. “Not you! I’m talking to the missing link.” She smiled sweetly and bent down. “Get off your ass or I’ll give you a blast of pepper spray.” Terror flashed in the young man’s eyes. He jumped up and moved to the back door. “Well, that was easy.”, smiled the woman as she sat down. She got herself settled and turned to Charlie. “Hello there, sonny. Got any spare change?”
“Do I look like I have any spare change?”, He snapped.
“Well for God’s sake, you don’t have to get all worked up. I say that to everyone I meet. It breaks the ice and sometimes I get some money. What’s your name? I’ll bet you’ll never guess mine. You look like a Herman. Is your name Herman? Mine’s Hermine. You look like you are in a hurry, in a hurry or depressed, or both. When you get to my age, if you do and you probably won’t, you will have figured it out that there is no reason to hurry and there’s not much time left to waste on being depressed.”
He offered her a pained smile. “That obvious?”
She frowned. “Hurrying is a waste of time and it can get you in trouble. Look what happened to that little arrogant technocrat. What the hell was she doing on a bus? Nothing left of her but a pile of shredded flesh, I’m sure. I gotta admit I never seen that before. Jesus, they practically ate her alive. There’s something in the air, I tell ya, something’s changed.”, She looked at her feet and shook her head. “Listen, sonny, if you get to where you want to go when you want to, fine. If you don’t, fine. You can always get there tomorrow and if you don’t get there, maybe you weren’t meant to. I don’t hurry even if I’m late for work. I tell them the bus broke down. I tell them the traffic was bad. I tell them some dumb ass technocrat got her head torn off. No lunch for you today, they’ll say. No breaks for you today. Fuck off, I’ll say. You’re just a servile like me so fuck off.”
Charlie craned his neck over the passengers' heads and out the windows. He could see the railroad station. “If I don’t get to the train station in time, there won’t be a tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “If that’s the case, maybe you should have taken a faster means of transportation than a city bus. What are you on a bus for? Why aren’t you in a car?”
She had become invisible to him but her voice scratched at his exasperation and fear. “If I got in a car, I’d end up wrapped around a tree!” He wasn’t going to make it. He was going to miss the train and there wasn’t another one for hours, maybe days, plenty of time for Homeland Security to remember what a train was and then they would descend on the station in a fury.
The old lady was staring at him. “Wrapped around a tree? You must be important. They don’t just hack anybody’s car. Did you hear about that banker in Manhattan? Somebody skewered him on the bull at Bowling Green. When Security got to him, they were too late. There was hardly anything left of the body. Kind of like what just happened to that haughty hag in the back of the bus. Stupid cow. Nothin’ left of her but a few patches of hair and maybe a finger or two. Shit, I’d have had a piece of her myself if I were a couple of years younger. You’re on the run, aren’t you? Not much of future for you, I can tell that for sure. You’re looking at detention camp, torture chamber or bug splat. You know, I’m not as old as I look. How about a little fling, one last role in the hay?”
Charlie whirled around and looked at her in horror. She was grinning. “This is your stop. Have a nice trip.” He glanced back at her just before running down the stairs. Her eyes sparkled. She slowly mouthed "bug splat".
“For what?”, she bellowed. “There are no seats back there. There are no seats anywhere, even for a lady with a baby!”
“You aint’ got no mother fuckin’ baby, bitch!” A young woman with matted hair was staring hatefully at her.
“Shut the fuck up, you stinking servile!”, screeched the technocrat. “These fucking serviles wouldn’t care if I were a ninety year old cripple! I had to get on a bus!", she pleaded, grasping Charlie's arm. "The valet strike and retribution knocked the valet services out! Most of the valets are dead! Dead! Driver! It stinks in here. Driver, it stinks in here! Next stop, driver! Next stop!”
A hand reached out from a crowded bench and grabbed at her skirt. “Don’t you dare touch me!”, she blared. “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I am?”
A pair of hands shot out from under a seat and grabbed her ankles. Her mouth flew open and flapped in terror. She collapsed. A half a dozen serviles leaped on top of her. The bus pulled into a stop. The back doors swung open. The pile of shaking bodies rolled out.
Seats had been vacated. Charlie grabbed one before anyone could take it. A young man dropped down next to him. His fetid skin was oily. He looked like he’d escaped from a detention camp. He started grunting. “Uh! Uh! Uh!” His hands were twisted. His fingernails were long, sharp and jagged. “Uh!” His teeth were yellow and broken. His mouth was caked with dried saliva. “Uh! Uh!” The traffic was unbelievable. The bus crept and crept and the blood pounded in Charlie’s head and chest.
An elderly lady stood over the quaking monkey next to him. “Aren’t you going to give a little old lady a seat?” Charlie started to get to his feet. “Not you! I’m talking to the missing link.” She smiled sweetly and bent down. “Get off your ass or I’ll give you a blast of pepper spray.” Terror flashed in the young man’s eyes. He jumped up and moved to the back door. “Well, that was easy.”, smiled the woman as she sat down. She got herself settled and turned to Charlie. “Hello there, sonny. Got any spare change?”
“Do I look like I have any spare change?”, He snapped.
“Well for God’s sake, you don’t have to get all worked up. I say that to everyone I meet. It breaks the ice and sometimes I get some money. What’s your name? I’ll bet you’ll never guess mine. You look like a Herman. Is your name Herman? Mine’s Hermine. You look like you are in a hurry, in a hurry or depressed, or both. When you get to my age, if you do and you probably won’t, you will have figured it out that there is no reason to hurry and there’s not much time left to waste on being depressed.”
He offered her a pained smile. “That obvious?”
She frowned. “Hurrying is a waste of time and it can get you in trouble. Look what happened to that little arrogant technocrat. What the hell was she doing on a bus? Nothing left of her but a pile of shredded flesh, I’m sure. I gotta admit I never seen that before. Jesus, they practically ate her alive. There’s something in the air, I tell ya, something’s changed.”, She looked at her feet and shook her head. “Listen, sonny, if you get to where you want to go when you want to, fine. If you don’t, fine. You can always get there tomorrow and if you don’t get there, maybe you weren’t meant to. I don’t hurry even if I’m late for work. I tell them the bus broke down. I tell them the traffic was bad. I tell them some dumb ass technocrat got her head torn off. No lunch for you today, they’ll say. No breaks for you today. Fuck off, I’ll say. You’re just a servile like me so fuck off.”
Charlie craned his neck over the passengers' heads and out the windows. He could see the railroad station. “If I don’t get to the train station in time, there won’t be a tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “If that’s the case, maybe you should have taken a faster means of transportation than a city bus. What are you on a bus for? Why aren’t you in a car?”
She had become invisible to him but her voice scratched at his exasperation and fear. “If I got in a car, I’d end up wrapped around a tree!” He wasn’t going to make it. He was going to miss the train and there wasn’t another one for hours, maybe days, plenty of time for Homeland Security to remember what a train was and then they would descend on the station in a fury.
The old lady was staring at him. “Wrapped around a tree? You must be important. They don’t just hack anybody’s car. Did you hear about that banker in Manhattan? Somebody skewered him on the bull at Bowling Green. When Security got to him, they were too late. There was hardly anything left of the body. Kind of like what just happened to that haughty hag in the back of the bus. Stupid cow. Nothin’ left of her but a few patches of hair and maybe a finger or two. Shit, I’d have had a piece of her myself if I were a couple of years younger. You’re on the run, aren’t you? Not much of future for you, I can tell that for sure. You’re looking at detention camp, torture chamber or bug splat. You know, I’m not as old as I look. How about a little fling, one last role in the hay?”
Charlie whirled around and looked at her in horror. She was grinning. “This is your stop. Have a nice trip.” He glanced back at her just before running down the stairs. Her eyes sparkled. She slowly mouthed "bug splat".
Charlie hit the pavement racing for his life. He bolted into the derelict waiting room ankle
deep in trash rustling with rats. Ragged children stepped from rows of benches and waded toward him. He breathed a sigh of relief
when he saw that Facial Recognition was down. A louder rustling behind him
caught his attention. The children, some of them teenagers, were moving closer. There was hunger in their eyes. The lone TSA agent in the station scanned his ticket. Her hands were
black with ingrained soot in every wrinkle and caked under every fingernail.
She stank. The children were beginning to surround them. The agent grinned
sadistically at him, patting her sidearm as he sweated and fidgeted. "Running late. are we? The train's been in the station for fifteen minutes. We wouldn't want you to miss the train." She took her time frisking
him and searching his bag as he sweated and
fidgeted. “Where’s your phone?” Her breath reeked of beer. “You aren’t carrying
a phone!”
Charlie feigned shock. “It’s in my pocket! Oh my God! I must have been pickpocketed on the bus!” He looked over her shoulders at the crowd of vacant eyed children closing in behind her.
“Good thing you got a paper ticket. Gimmie it and get a replacement phone by the end of the day! Twenty-four hours without a phone means detention. I don't have to tell you that.”, she tossed her head toward the platform. "You better run."
Charlie feigned shock. “It’s in my pocket! Oh my God! I must have been pickpocketed on the bus!” He looked over her shoulders at the crowd of vacant eyed children closing in behind her.
“Good thing you got a paper ticket. Gimmie it and get a replacement phone by the end of the day! Twenty-four hours without a phone means detention. I don't have to tell you that.”, she tossed her head toward the platform. "You better run."
He ran for the
doors to the platform. He burst through the doors but not alone.
A large man was right behind him. He ran past Charlie almost knocking him
off his feet with a huge suitcase under his arm. They were the last
passengers on the platform. The two of them dodged piles of debris as they ran
for the train. The servile and technocrat cars, covered
with oily dust were closed. They began to creep. He’d missed the train! It was all
over He was fucked. He looked everywhere in desperation. His eyes lost focus. He
saw the man with the suitcase running in slow-motion along side the last car,
different from the other cars. It looked like an antique, an
antique in a slow-motion dream. A porter on an open rear platform reached down
and pulled the man onto the train. The man with the suitcase turned and looked
into Charlie’s panicked face. He nodded to the porter before disappearing
inside. The porter leaned down and offered his hand.
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