Time Spent by J. David Clarke Read Free Book Online

a
problem with them. If this were to be what public school boys were
all like, she would not make it here. "Look, I just want to get to
my locker, okay?"
    "Why don't you squeeze that skinny
body past me?" asked Brock. "You might feel somethin' you like."
His friends laughed louder.
    "Forget it," Mia said,
exasperated. She turned and walked off to class without getting her
book.
    A quiet girl in a baggy sweater,
watching the scene from nearby, followed after her.
    ______________________
     
    The chain link fence frosted over
and fell apart. Amber staggered through, white footprints marking
her passage.
    "Baby!" Mia called, following
behind her, but Amber did not acknowledge her presence.
    Amber walked into the street
outside the base, cars swerving to avoid her. One car stopped in
front of her, and the driver plunged his hand into the horn,
blaring it over and over. Amber stopped, and cocked her head in his
direction.
    "It's okay, Amber, I'll handle
this." Mia raised her right hand, the yellow energy balling around
it.
    Before she could swat at the car,
however, Amber's mouth yawned open again. The wailing sound
emerged, and Mia clapped her hands over her ears. A cone of frost
swirled forth from her open mouth, and spread out to engulf car and
driver. The sound built and built, until finally the car windows
shattered, sending bits of glass raining down on the street. Frost
built up on the driver, and within seconds he was encased in solid
ice.
    Amber turned, and continued
walking.
    "Holy shit," Mia said, looking at
the frozen driver. The energy around her right hand died away.
"Amber!"
    Amber shambled toward the
city.
    "Baby, stop!" Mia said. "What
happened to you? How did you get like this?"
    Words seeped from between Amber's
lips in a misty whisper. "The school bus."
    "Wha-? No, baby, you weren't on
the bus!"
    Amber cocked her head to the side.
"It hurts. Everything hurts."
    "Stop! Amber, stop walking and let
me help you!"
    "I can't stop," Amber said. "Can't
stop until I get there."
    "Get where? Where are you
going?"
    Her head waved from side to side.
"I just want it to end. She said it would end when I get
there."
    "She who? Who's 'she'?"
    "She said everything would finally
end."
    A voice blasted from behind them
as if over a loudspeaker.
    "OH YEAH WHAT WE GOT HERE? HOT
GIRL ON GIRL ACTION!"
    Mia turned, and her eyes widened
at the horrifying sight behind her.
    Who   it was was instantly
recognizable: Brock Kenney, gargantuan football player from her
high school.   What   it was, or what Brock had become, was a terrifying unknown.
Brock was naked, bigger than ever, at least eight feet tall, and
his body was lined with metal, which appeared to be embedded in his
skin. Spiked metal rings were set in his arms, legs, and torso.
Circuitry ran up his neck and around his face, and metal
protrusions jabbed from his shoulders.  A black metal dome
covered his skull, and what looked like glowing satellite dishes
sat where his eyes had once been. That was not the most
disturbing sight, however. The most disturbing thing was Brock's
penis, lined with jagged black metal, extended to nearly a foot and
a half, and whipping around like a live wire.
    "Oh Jesus," Mia said, disgusted
and horrified at once.
    Brock was holding a man with his
right hand, a soldier from the look of it. Circuitry covered the
soldier's face and hands. Brock pitched the soldier aside, and he
climbed to his feet and staggered away like a zombie.
    Brock's mouth opened, and without
his lips or tongue moving, his voice issued from a speaker
apparently mounted somewhere in his throat:   "imageanalysisfacialrecognitionengaged. Hey HEY! If it AIN'T
the littlest LEZBO I know! Come here GIRL I got a SURPRISE for YOU!
targetacquiredtargetacquired."
    "Oh, I got a surprise for you too,
Brock." Yellow energy crackled from her eyes. "A big
surprise..."
    ______________________
     
    The rooftop door buckled and fell
aside, doorjamb shattering under the assault of the yellow