《Mecha Dragons of Mars》Chapter 9: The Vice Villa Site
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I can't remember whose brilliant idea it was that we all pile into Laurence's jeep but there we were, squished in as he raced it off towards the source of the blood-curling screams.
"It must be coming from the Vice Villa site," he stated, concern to his voice, "but how the hell do I get over there from this direction?"
"The GPS says to go straight," answered Detective LaLouf, staring at her phone.
"Lola, honey, I CAN'T go straight, there's a mountain literally straight ahead."
"Then go around it and then go straight, Laurence!"
"That's what I'm trying to do, don't you think?!"
"Don't snap at me!"
While the married couple argued in the front, Dr. Snively, Cleetus, and myself were seated in the back from left to right in that order. Boom-Boom, stuffed tightly at my feet, let out a few sad mews in regards to her fate, but generally stayed calm. I would've offered her my lap to ride on, but with all the equipment Laurence had brought, we had to instead pile that on top of ourselves if we wanted to make room.
"Be gentle with that device on your left knee, Cole!" commanded Dr. Snively from behind his own lap full of equipment, "I plan to use that once we find the form again!"
"Okay," I answered but truthfully couldn't see what he was talking about though the amount of crap now resting on me.
Cleetus, sandwiched between us with his own equipment pile likewise was doing little to help me focus on the external factors. Sure, he was serving as a wind break from Dr. Snively's gastro-intestinal issues, but the way he had positioned himself his head and mine were nearly touching; with the heavy equipment on top of us, neither he or I really could move, but we could certainly talk.
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"Don't think you'll always have this safety in numbers to protect you," Cleetus whispered in my nearby ear, "the only reason I haven't told them you blew up the Earth is because I will not let the delight of sucking out your eyeballs as I bash in your nose be stolen from me by this farting lunatic. Mark my words, Cole, as soon as I can get you alone I am going to skin your ugly mug and make a new pair of combat boots out of it."
I would assume if Detective LaLouf had turned around that from her position in the vehicle it would have seemed like Cleetus was whispering sweet nothings into my ear. But this was not a tender moment: I could tell Cleetus was quite anxious to make his threats a reality.
Suddenly, the jeep slammed on its breaks. We all slammed forward as everything on top slammed back into us.
"Cole!" Snively snapped, "I said be careful with that device!"
"Meow!" called out poor Boom-Boom at my feet.
"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Laurence, our less-than-stellar chauffer. "What the hell has happened here?!"
I quickly freed one of my hands so that I could move things off of myself to get a better look, but I could already smell it- a smokey, cooking odor in the air. I was sad to think it, but Snively's farts almost were preferable.
There was no screaming anymore but there was slight moanings around. We finally got out and could see why- if this had been the Vice Villa site, there was not much of a site left at all. Everything was coated by black ash and still quite hot; bits and pieces of building materials lay strewn about, burned or melted. A lone yellow hard hat sat on the edge of the burn site, splattered with blood.
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And then there were people, or at least what was left of them.
As had been the case with Martha Ann and Dan's, there really was little human remains. The fire had acted quickly to destroy everything. A couple burly men, charred beyond recognition, lay at the end of a partial finished walkway- and that was it. They did not look like they had much longer to last, but they seemed to be the source of the moaning.
"Oh my God," Detective LaLouf exclaimed as she rushed over to help. I followed, more not knowing what else to do and wanting to escape Cleetus's company. But, of course, Cleetus followed me. Laurence stayed behind to retch by his jeep as Dr. Snively began pouring through the equipment in search of certain tools.
"Dr..dragon..." one of the burned men was murmuring as we approached.
"Sir, we're here to help," LaLouf did her best to be professional despite the horrific sight and smell, "what happened here?"
"Dragon..." he repeated.
"The fire..." the other surviving victim beside him uttered, "so hot..."
"How did this fire start?" LaLouf pressed. I stood watching, as, I mean, I hadn't become a firefighter overnight. Cleetus approached the first one and knelt down.
"You said 'dragon'- is that to say the fire came down from the sky like it came from a dragon?" He asked.
"No...it was a literal fucking dragon..." the man was in pain but very clear as he spoke.
"A dragon?" LaLouf cocked her head.
"The fire...so hot..." the other man repeated.
"I'm...telling you...with my dying breath," the first man started to shake, "It was...totally...a giant, fire-breathing dragon...that did this..." with that he collapsed.
"The fire...so hot..." his companion said again before collapsing himself.
LaLouf was back on her phone. "I need a medical and fire team here STAT!" she yelled into her phone, "at the Vice Villa site! Yes, right now!"
I looked about but all I could see was charred remains and carnage. Then, from behind me, I heard Boom-Boom's mew.
The cat had run over to a non-burned area close to the site and was jumping in and out of an odd hole. I hadn't noticed it when we first pulled up on account of so much more to see but in light of the recent events I froze.
"Hey, Cleetus," I said, speaking to him as if it were old times, "take a look at that."
"What?" He didn't seem happy to talk to me but looked anyway. He too froze. "Say, isn't that hole Boom-Boom's in shaped remarkable like a footprint? Maybe from a dinosaur?"
"Or a dragon," I remarked.
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