Adapt by Edward Freeland Read Free Book Online

enough, I couldn’t care less, I was only being sociable.” Daniel ignored them and scanned through the company letter he found in his pigeonhole.
Who the hell just barged me in the back?
“What did you do that for?”
    “I didn’t see you there,” said Noel.
    “That was quite a shove for an accident,” said Daniel.
    “I didn’t see you. Simple as that,” replied Noel.
There is something wrong with him today. I will ignore that, I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.
    Daniel left the mess room, checked over his bus and began his route. It was an early start and only few passengers in the stops.
It’s a quiet morning, but the people I am seeing are still looking at me
strangely.
He tried to dismiss everything he was experiencing but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. The morning continued in the same vein.
College run next on the duty, a nice easy route, no stops, just load up at the station and drop off at the college.
He pulled in to the pickup bay, and opened his doors for the college students.
    “That’s the driver,” said one student as he laughed along with his friends.
    “Is everything okay there guys?” asked Daniel. The four friends responded by poking their tongue out.
Not that bloody tongue out again.
Daniel checked his mirror to make sure everyone was seated. The bus was old, one of the few left in the fleet of its age. Many miles had been covered in its service life and it showed. Scratches decorated the panels, patched up seats and a demister lacking any demisting ability. It handled poorly compared with the newer vehicles, especially on the country lanes. The fifteen minute journey to the college took over twenty. The weather wasn’t an issue; over the proceeding few days a rise in temperature by a few degrees had turned the snow to sleet, which was slowly turning to rain.
    Whilst parked outside the old brick built college the students laughed at Daniel as they got off of the bus. The last passenger jumped off then turned to look at Daniel.
    “So was it all just a joke?” she asked.
    “Was what a joke?”
    “That whole thing you uploaded onto the net,” she said.
    “What thing?” he asked. The young woman poked her tongue out and walked off.
I’ve never uploaded anything.
His stomach began to feel uneasy.
I must have really been hacked. This is real. How could I be so stupid to have not realised what is going on? Someone did hack me that night.
His mind was fixated by the revelation that he had been hacked and that it was possibly uploaded onto the internet. He couldn’t think of anything else. On arriving back at the bus station he ran over toward the coffee shop to get out of the rain. The clouds above dark and heavy. He tripped. His mind was elsewhere and he fell to the pavement. An attempt to brush the dirt down was pointless as the soaked shirt absorbed the muck. The people waiting in the stop didn’t hide their amusement. He found refuge from the downpour in the shop.
    “Hello, can I get a large black coffee please?” he asked over the counter. A middle aged man to his right stared in his direction. Daniel looked away at his coffee being prepared. The woman serving him knew he always had two sugars. She guided the spoon around the cup and looked at Daniel.
    “I could stir up your troubles but I think you’re going to have enough of them,” she said. “As you’re a regular I will keep quiet.” Daniel didn’t answer.
I need to find Ian. He said I was all over Life’s Journal. He can clear this up.
Daniel left his coffee and made his way to the bus station.
    “Have you guys seen Ian?” he asked the five drivers standing outside of the cabin.
    “No. We have all seen something else though,” said one of them as the rest laughed.
    “What’s so funny? What have you all seen?”
    “Nothing,” another said.
    “Seriously, what’s going on? There’s a joke going around. Noel bloody shoved me this morning,” said Daniel.
    “You’re paranoid,” one said. Daniel ignored