Blade
“The most dangerous human being is the one that no one considers a threat. When a terrorist pulls out a gun at an airport, people tremble in fear. What they do not know, is that they are relatively safe. After firing one or two rounds, the man will be shot dead. It is the man that you fly with, eat next to, the one that you never give a second glance which you should be afraid of. His power is as immeasurable as the seas, and infinitely as deadly.” – Marcus Black
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To say that the airport was loud would be a pitiful understatement. The noise cascaded around me like the deafening thunder of a waterfall. It was literally hard to hear my thoughts. My suitcase hummed along the tile as I made my way toward terminal B. I glanced at my watch. The hour hand was twitching towards the seven. My flight would take off in roughly thirty minutes, leaving me more than enough time to grab something to eat.
Ten minutes later, I was sitting alone at a table, chewing on a six inch sub from Quiznos. I had blatantly refused to accept the lower quality of Subway, and had received a couple extra blisters in pay. A few bites later, my cell phone vibrated against my leg. I pondered whether to answer it. Most likely, it was my mom, still worried about her little boy being in the busiest airport in the world. I was deeply tempted to hit ignore, but decided, for her health, to pick up.
“Hello.”
“David,” she began and took a deep breath, “I thought you weren’t going to answer!”
“It did cross my mind.”
She continued, ignoring my comment.
“Anyway, I was cleaning up your room, making sure you didn’t forget anything, you know, and I found at least eight pairs of socks! What were you thinking? You know what it’s like walking with no socks? Your feet will be meat slabs in minutes!”
I glanced down to my shoes and let out a silent grimace. Oh, I knew that all too well.
“It’s fine mom. I’m sure I can pick some up in Beijing.”
“What? That will never do! What if they don’t where socks in China?”
My hand covered the phone, muffling a laugh.
“Are you laughing at me? You’re lucky your father agreed to this!”
“It’ll be fine, mom. Hey, I gotta go. My flights boarding now.”
“Fine. Be safe. I love you.”
“Love you too.” I ended the call and admired it for a moment. The phone was a Droid, and brand new. We both hated Apple with the same fire. So, my dad had sent it to me with the invitation. Apparently he was taking some time off work and wanted me to spend some time with me. I admit I was surprised. He hasn’t ever shown any interest in me before. Before, it was more like, “Hey dad, you wanna play catch in the backyard?” “Nah, I have to hit the sack, early flight to Vancouver in the morning.” I don’t even really understand what he does. Some kind of sales I guess.
Taking in a sigh, I slipped it into my pocket, and dumped my tray into the nearest trashcan. I was about to board the plane when something caught my eye. A man was sitting in terminal C. He was about 5 9”, and had was dressed in a black suit and a vibrant red tie. But it wasn’t his clothes that caught my eye. The man was sweated like a pig. I mean, it was dripping down his face and soaking his collar. I heard somebody ask if he was feeling well, but I couldn’t hear his reply. I was actually feeling a bit chilly myself.
I decided that I should move on. He probably was just sick. Then, as I turned my back, I heard a scream.
“He’s got a gun!”
I turned toward the voice in an instant. The scene unfolded so quickly it seemed to melt together. The man in the suit was no longer wearing his jacket. Instead, a bundle of something that looked like clay was visible through his half unbuttoned shirt. In his right hand, he held a pistol, and in his left, two wires that trailed the object on his chest.
“Nobody move and nobody has to get hurt!” The man screamed.
If he wasn’t currently armed with a gun and with what looked like a bomb, I might have believed him. My eyes flickered around the terminal. Already, guards were had their guns drawn and steady.
“If you fire, this bomb will explode, killing everybody in this terminal!” the man threatened. I could see fear flicker in his eyes, like he almost didn’t believe the threat himself. My legs seemed to have glued to the ground when I was watching, because I tried to run away, but couldn’t. This confirmed every one of my mom’s fears. What if it blew me away and left my mom childless and practically husbandless. Somebody started crying.
It seemed like all we had to do now was wait for his demands. Thirty seconds later, the man obliged.
“All I need, before I let you all go back to your miserable life, maybe I should kill you,” His gun circled around us. “No, all I need is a person. He is here. I know he is. All I need, is Mar-,” The man faltered. His eyes looked blankly around us, then they rolled up into his head, and he fell to the ground. His gun rattled of a discharge as it hit the ground and havoc ensued.
Within in an instant the man was surrounded by armed guards. S.W.A.T soldiers were spilling into the terminal as well. Apparently they had been close by. My first thought was the bomb. Why hadn’t it exploded? As if he had heard me, a man in uniform kneeled over the body of the man and called to the room.
“Clear. It’s a fake.”
I let out a sigh of relief. The uniformed man rolled the body over on its stomach, revealing the silver handle of a knife between its shoulders. The man’s jaw dropped.
“Looks like the knife killed him, shattered his whole freaking spine.”
“Did you say a knife killed him?”
“That’s a positive.”
“Call an ambulance. Maybe they can revive him.”
The men conversed in hushed undertones. But the whole room was straining with me to hear them.
“Get everybody out of here.”
“But sir, they have flights.”
“I said get them out of here!”
A soldier who looked no older than eighteen led a group of other soldiers in ushering us out of the terminal. My phone vibrated again, but I ignored it. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion. Everybody was crying. I felt like crying. It was times like this that reminded you how thin the thread of life was. All it took was one, well-placed knife.
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