The Deathalator

by Daniel Shebses

conclusion

It was after 11 in the morning when Mike awoke. Throughout the night he had been tormented by bad dreams of George Parker’s severed head blaming him for his death. He also saw the X Phone in the dreams and it was laughing at him, mocking him and his inability to prevent Parker’s death. In a grinding voice it screamed “FAILURE FAILURE... YOU MIGHT JUST BE NEXT!”

He dressed though he felt like lying in bed till Monday. Adam’s bed was empty. He had not heard Adam come in last night, but as he listened at the door of his room he thought he heard voices in the common room. When he stepped out he met the gazes of Adam and Jose.

“How’re you feeling?” asked Jose.

Mike shrugged; hoping neither of them wanted an argument about the Deathalator. He hadn’t the strength to give them one.

“When did you get back?” Mike asked Adam.

“Only a few minutes ago. I spent the night in Julie’s dorm with some of her sorority sisters. They were pretty upset.”

Mike bit his lip, nodding. He slowly turned away from Adam hoping he had not noticed the red creeping up his face.

“Do you believe me now about the Deathalator?”

Adam grudgingly nodded and slumped onto the couch.

“Parker’s dead. I can’t really deny it now. What do we do about it?

“I don’t know,” replied Mike.

“You got a weird phone, Mike,” started Jose. “I called two buddies of mine that have the X Phone, and neither of them knew jack about the Deathalator. They thought I was nuts. There’s got to be something different about your phone. An anomaly in algorithms or some kind of major programming glitch or something.”

“Millions of these phones were made, and I get the weird one. It figures.” Mike began descending to the couch next to Adam when the grinding began again. Adam and Jose, never having heard it before, jumped six feet away from Mike.

“What the hell is that?” gasped Jose.

“Someone’s gonna die” replied Mike coolly.

“WARNING: A RECENT ENTRANT IS AT A HIGH RISK OF DEATH! CLICK ENTER FOR DETAILS.”

As Adam and Jose peered over Mike’s shoulders, he clicked enter, BILL WALSH: 15%.

“Where is Bill?” asked Adam.

Jose stepped back in terror and collapsed to the couch, tearing at his bald head.

“He got a call this morning from Carterville Airport. They were going to let him fly a different plane. He left a little while ago. He said the flying would help clear his head.”

“This plane isn’t good either,” said Mike.

“Okay, wait a sec... don’t panic... I’ll call him on his cell... Tell him not to fly.”

Adam panted hard as he pulled out his own cell phone. His fat face dripped with sweat and his shaky, moist hands had trouble with the phone.

“It’s ringing,” Adam said.

The three listened for a moment, not sure if they had heard what they thought they had. It was coming from Jose’s room. It was a song, a John Denver song. “Rocky Mountain High, Colorado.” They entered Jose’s room already knowing what they would find. Sitting on Bill’s desk next to the keyboard was Bill’s cell phone.

Mike never thought Adam could move so fast. He grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door, followed by Mike and Jose. They ran through the campus to the parking lot like a trio of bats out of hell. Students dove from their path as they ran, but none of them noticed the confused or irate stares coming their way. They piled into Adam’s car and were off to the airport, their mission clear. They could save Bill, they could. The Deathalator read 25%.

“I know where Carterville is. It’s not far; a small, local airport. We’ll make it.”

Adam’s words were confident but his teary eyes and excessive swallowing gave Mike serious doubts. From the passenger’s seat Jose was holding on for dear life, and Mike was beginning to feel carsick from behind. Adam raced down College Road and made a hard right onto Route 307. The speed limit was 40, but Adam’s sedan was going over 65.

They navigated the turns roughly causing other cars to weave and honk, but Adam noticed none of that, only Carterville mattered. He blew through a stop sign and made a vicious left onto Edison Boulevard. A car Adam had cut off honked furiously from the rear. Mike peeked at the deathalator, 70%.

“We’re almost there now,” shrieked Adam. “There’s an intersection up ahead, then just a quarter of a mile to Carterville. We’re gonna make it.”

Even from the back seat Mike could make out Adam’s possessed face. He and Bill were close and with Bill in trouble the rest of the world faded away. Adam was going to save Bill or die trying. Mike trembled at the thought.

As they approached the intersection, Mike was startled by the grinding X Phone in his pocket. He struggled to free it, but in his seated position it proved difficult. Finally, it popped out of his pocket but landed on the floor under the driver’s seat. Mike strained for it, but the X Phone was just out of reach. The grinding was loud, but Adam and Jose were so preoccupied with the road they didn’t notice.

Mike clicked his seatbelt off and retrieved the phone. The screen was blood red and the grinding was louder than ever.

“WARNING: RECENT ENTRANTS ARE AT A HIGH RISK OF DEATH! CLICK ENTER FOR DETAILS”

“Entrants? I already know about Bill,” whispered Mike. He clicked enter.

MIKE DEVLIN, ADAM MAYNARD, JOSE MENDEZ... He sat in wide eyed horror as the percentage rocketed past 70. They came to the intersection, and Mike looked up just in time to see the fuel truck bearing down on them.

to Challenge 360...