#this is it ! this is the whole light rail system of buffalo

[yokowan]

GREATEST LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM IN THE WORLD BAYBEEEE

THE CROWN JEWEL OF AMERICA TRULY THE PINNACLE OF MODERN ENGINEERING

NEVER HAS THERE BEEN A MORE INNOVATIVE WAY OF GETTING NOWHERE VERY SLOWLY

[markmceachran]

Everything Goes Wrong / Killing Spree

Angel’s head was once again in agony. It was like the concussion had revisited the worst pain upon him. His head was cloudy, vision blurry and he couldn’t move. Breaths were difficult and painful to take, ribs had been broken. He started to move a little, but couldn’t pull his arms out in front of him. Something had then bound behind his back. Through his blurry vision he could make out shapes, maybe people, in front of him, but it was dark. What light there was flickered and moved around. It was torches. The floor was cold and damp, his face pressed down against it. Legs were stretched out before him, bound to one another. Dry air scratched down his throat with every breath, and pressed out against his ribs. He kept is breaths shallow. His nose was clogged, full of blood and snot and possibly broken. Angel couldn’t be sure, his mind was not all there.

Visions of what had happened started to form inside his head. He remembered taking off from the Tevatron. He retraced his path from the Hanger in reverse, dangling the hunk of metal and rare-earth elements below. The expectation was that The Dragon would be spotted somewhere along the way. They had damaged the helicopter, after all, which left it spewing a smoke trail. It should have been easy to track.

There was no sign of them: no footprints, no burned out buildings, nothing. Even as they hovered over the hanger they could see nothing that suggested that The Dragon were even there. The dead were gone. The smattering of tracks around the hangar, nonexistent. Only a helicopter-sized hole in the top of the hangar showed them evidence that what they had experience over the last three days was real.

Three passengers in the helicopter left the scene baffled, and terrified. Their plan was to head back to Jim’s building, drop off the magnet, get it connected to the cooling system, and fire up the laser. It was predicated on the idea that their would-be assassins would be in the middle of the desert between the city and the Tevatron. They should have followed.

“They should have followed,” Jim said into his headset.

“They didn’t follow,” Angel replied. “Why didn’t they follow, Jim?”

“Maybe they gave up.”

“They walked all the way from the outskirts of Toronto to get here, Jim. They had us surrounded. They should be ravenous, not deterred.”

Jim grumbled something into the mic that stuck out like a twig from the hard-shelled audio ear-muffs and shook his head.

Angel passed over the rail yard to see the earlier battlefield. The demolished train car was there, as was Jim’s working train, parked right where they left it. None of it made any sense. The Dragon had a train. They had a really good vector on where the helicopter was going. They had options, and it looked as if they took none of them. It was as if they had vanished from the Earth.

“What now?” Angel said.

“We carry on. We don’t have enough information to do anything else.”

Up they soared ever so gently, Angel was still suffering quite a bit. The blades chirped away from the outside, overwhelmed by the engine noise on the inside. They were heading straight to Jim’s building.

* * *

“Angel, Hope?” Jim was regaining conciousness as well. His body faired better than Angel’s. A head-bleed that had already clotted, a broken arm, and a slight puncture wound in his abdomin that left a stain of dried blood on his plaid shirt.

“Hey Jim,” Angel said, still laying on the floor. “I think we have company.”

“Yeah. They were waiting for us.”

“I still think this is a terrible plan.”

“Lookin’ that way, bud.”

The Dragon were waiting for them at the building. As the helicopter hovered over the top floor, it gently set the magnet down. Hope slipped out to cut the cargo loose with her blade. It wasn’t the best way to drop the load, but without someone on the ground it was the only way they could do it. She clung to the landing rail and swung her nimble body so that she could reach the loosened cargo strap and cut through it. Just as the tether feathered its way toward the top of the building a beam of light slid across the bottom of the bird, carving a surface scar into the metal. It reached a spot within the radius of the propeller and stabilized on the blades as they spun about. They were sheared by a third, flinging the outer edges toward another nearby tower. The projectile metal swords stabbed into the building in a cluster, as if thrown by a dart champion.

Without the tips of its wings, the machine lost most of its loft. At first it fell slowly. Angel and Jim gasped for air while hope clung for dear life to the bottom of the machine. With the little control Angel had he tried to get to the edge of the building as not to land the whole machine on top of Hope. She managed to let go and drop onto the roof of the building as the machine slid through the air, down below the top floor. It was practically flying sideways, Angel was trying to save what little he had left of the blades and get some distance between the machine and the building before attempting to correct the flight profile.

Chirping blade sounds were replaced with an engine that was overrevving and a high-pitched whine caused by the uneven edges cutting through the air. With a little luck the machine moved away from the building and Angel leveled it out, but could do nothing to prevent the eventual meeting with the ground. He held the stick far over to one side to slow the increasing rotation speed of the machine. Without the full torque of the blades, the counter-rotation gearing to the rear rotor could only compensate so much.

There was no time to talk to Jim about how to crash in a helicopter, no time to regret not having parachutes, not that there was time to put them on. They only had time to fall, and for Angel to do his best to control the machine and coax whatever loft he could out of their shortened blades. Angel hoped that the sand was still soft, that it would absorb some of the force that was about to drop down on it. The storm wasn’t but a few days prior. The sand doesn’t completely settle. It’ll be alright, he thought.

* * *

The moving, flickering light was emitting some murmurs and whispers now. One of the whispers was a word Angel could just barely make out, “Hope.” He tried to look over at Jim, he tried to pull himself up. He could do neither. Every part of his body hurt, and what parts didn’t hurt very much were just numb from him laying on them.

“How long, Jim?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Could have been awhile. I’ve got dried blood on me already.”

“We crashed.”

“Wasn’t your fault. Or maybe it was. I blame you for my survival,” Jim joked, because what else could he do. He was bound on the floor just like Angel. They tied his hands in front of him to account for his broken arm, but they tethered them to his legs to prevent him from trying to hop away like an idiot. Joking was the only pleasure he had, and he needed some with all the pain he was in. His old body was bruised and sore.

Angel’s head was clearing and his eyesight grew sharper. He could make out figures of men with torches, and singed bar, half-burned curtains in front of a dented metal door. It was Jim’s bar. This was poetic for Angel, in a way. Hope and Cindy were sitting at the bar just as things started to go sideways. Maybe it wasn’t their fault, he thought. Of course it wasn’t their fault. They’re not maurading maniacs bent on destroying what’s left of humanity. Those two are just a couple of girls who fell in with the wrong crowd. He had heard the real history of how they got tangled up with The Dragon, but liked his shorthand version to be more playful.

He was beginning to understand how Hope initially worked her way into the good graces of The Dragon. She can be gentle when she wants to be, and probably when she has to be. Cindy’s involvement was obvious, why would you ever cast off a doctor. Medical care had gone way downhill since the fall of society.

Not that any of this understanding would likely matter. Angel was ready to accept his fate. This one-eyed Dragon was going to clobber him in the head again and put an end to his life. He’ll leave the face intact so that he can bring my severed head back to Tynon and show him how he killed the betrayer. Fair enough. I wonder if I’d be enough. Maybe if I tell him that I killed those men in Buffalo, and I shot the laser through the two at the hangar, would that be enough, would he leave Hope and Cindy and Jim alone? Or at the very least just kill me and Jim and call it a day?

Angel had nothing to lose. He was bound, bloodied and broken, fated to die under almost any circumstance. Perhaps going out in some noble fashion would help the world a little bit, help Hope and help Cindy and the women at the Tevatron. Put that out of your head, Angel. Don’t give up anything about the Tevatron and what’s going on there.

“Derrrrng!” the elevator shattered the quiet and mumbling in the bar. The doors did not open.

After a minute the slow, uneven grind of the doors on the tracks revealed that it was more than just a glitch. “Blerrasshhhhhhhhhhhhhhck!” said the garbled, deteriorated voice that matched the condition of its owner.

“Remind me to disconnect that,” Jim said. “She used to have such a lovely voice, but now she’s just some kind of mutant hiding in the speakerbox.”

Shuffling feet emerged from the elevator box. It was not the sharp clicking that one would expect to accompany evil, it was quiet, measured, and slow. Once the feet came to a halt the clicking actually did start up. It was not footstep, though. It was the sound of a skilled killer tapping on the ground. Not the man, but his club. It had seen blood, and bone, and muscle, and brain. It was a devious device put to devious purposes, weilded by a one-eyed maniac who was getting better and better at weilding it.

The torches and the mumbling in the background were silenced by the entry of this new person. They gathered close to Angel and Jim on the ground putting more light into the area allowing Angel to see clearly their adversary, the one-eyed man who bashed him on the head at the hangar.

“That’s the one, Jim. That’s the guy that got me,” Angel said.

“Ah, yeah. He’s only got the one eye, unless he’s just trying to be a pirate.”

Angel laughed, and whinced in pain from his ribs.

Neither Jim nor Angel had been tortured before. They didn’t know what kind of pain the one-eyed Dragon was thinking about inflicting upon them. The laughter they were experiencing would likely be the last bit of pleasure they would extract from the situation. As the room brightened with the torchlight, their chances of survival dimmed. This man was like no adversary they had ever even heard of. Their experience with The Dragon had been relatively benign compared to what was about to happen. They rightfully did not expect a sadist to be standing before them, so they joked.

They joked.

* * *

Hope watched it go down. She managed to swing from the bottom of the propellered machine and land on the roof of the building. It was one of those things that she had imagined she might be able to do in a dream, if she repeated the dream over and over again until she got it right. She hadn’t dreamed about this. She didn’t even think about this. Pure instict drove her to escape the falling machine even if it meant a mid-air swing hundreds of feet in the air. With subconcious confidence in her own body’s ability her instincts pushed her, like a father pushing a daughter in a swing. There was no choice, her body just did it.

Landing on the roof hurt. She was fortunate to be left with only scrapes and bruises given the awkward way she hit. It knocked the wind out of her lungs, leaving her gasping as she moved to the edge. She had to see the machine go down, to know if they made it.

It was all in slow motion. Tragedies often unfold at what seems like half-speed. She knew the machine would hit the ground; she was expecting it. As she watched Angel’s fantastic maneuvers that righted the bird during its descent, she didn’t realize that she couldn’t hear it, or anything. She was watching in silent as her mind shut out everything else except the vision of the helicopter falling out of the sky. A gasp of air, a dropped jaw, eyes welling up with tears, she lay there on the roof, head peeking over the side.

With a puff of sand and scattered metal, it hit the ground. What was left of the propeller continued to spin, but at an odd angle, as if it had become dislodged from the rest of the machine somehow. The tail was touching the ground and the booms were sticking up at odd angles.

For awhile there was no movement, nothing from the bird, nothing from the area around it. The sound of the quiet wind slowly emerged from the background and filled Hope’s ears once again. Then the voices came, not from the roof, but from the ground. The Dragon came, some from across the bridge and others from the building below. She waited and watched. Short of jumping from the building and having enough luck to land on one of them, she could do nothing for Angel and Jim at the moment, so she watched.

They dragged two limp bodies out of the machine and laid them on the sand. One of them purched over each body, examining them. She couldn’t make out any words, just the noises of men’s voices. As they dragged the bodies toward the building she had no idea if they were dead or alive, but in that moment she decided that she was going to find out.

A familiar rage awoke in Hope. It was the same feeling she felt when she killed the two Dragon in the helicopter so many weeks ago, rooted in her anguish from when they raided the medical camp, killing so many, but it was more complicated than that. She was angry at them, and angry at herself. She became the lover of the man who ordered the raid, the man who ordered her own capture. Her heart was burning with fire on both sides. The flames her chest and burned across her body, extending all the way to her fingertips. On her right she held the despise of the wicked men who have caused so much pain, on the left the grief and self loathing that accompanied the powerlessness of her situation, and how she found enough power in selfishness and self preservation that ultimately resulted in the betrayal of all those around her.

She was disgusted, angry, resentful, despised, rotten inside, and the rot was now burning out the puss and stink of her soul. Arms shaking, palms sweaty, she was ready. The fire in her heart energized her body. She had the strength of two men running through her, and the cunning of the finest killer The Dragon could bring forth. A rampage was coming like these killers had never seen.

Her mind filled with visions of killing them one by one. She imagined sneaking up on one from behind and stabbing him in the throat, holding his limbs until his brain drained of blood. An impaled skull awaited the next one, and the one after that would take a few kicks to the groin before she dispatched him by twisting his head around. Hope had all sorts of colorful ways to kill these men, and she was going to try each one.

Kills 1 & 2

Two Dragon stared out the blown out window of the garden, keeping watch over the activity by the helicopter. If they spotted anything unusual it was one man’s job to call the elevator and deliver the message to Jacko. The other man stayed behind to keep watch and relay the information to the messenger upon his return, and repeat the process. Jacko’s plan appeared to be working to that point, so there was for the men to do except watch.

They didn’t hear Hope slip through the stairwell door. The howling wind across the open windows kept them from hearing her tie off the cargo strap to the drain pipe behind them. Enamored by the vision of the shattered flying machine below, they didn’t notice her sneaking up behind them.

It wasn’t until the first man was noosed and kicked out the window that they noticed her at all. He fell 30 feet before the tether was taught and the noose tightened around his neck. It wasn’t as satisfying a kill as she had hoped. She didn’t hear the neck snap or any screams from him, just a grunt when she kicked him in the back and some scuffling of his feet on the ground when he tried to regain his balance. She enjoyed imagining his last thoughts, his terror and panic at the thought of the ground rising up to meet him, and the sadness at the sound of his own snapping neck. Would he know he was dead, or would it all just go dark? This idea gave her some pleasure, some relief from the burning in her heart. His death, however, was but a drop of water, a splash onto the fire. It reignited quickly.

The second man gave her a close kill. He saw his friend fly out the window followed by a slack, yellow cargo strap that chased him from behind. His eyes traced the strap’s route backward and met the vision of a woman with her leg slowly retracted from its forceful kick. He felt fear, and Hope could see it on his face, and he could see the rage on hers. She was not tall, but in that momen she was taller than he. His body grew small and week in the face of her impending slaughter. There was no fight in this man, he was paralyzed.

Hope imagined another version of herself taking pity on this man. He would see her softening and soften himself, dropping his club, dropping his guard. She would bind him to the drain pipe with the cargo strap and come back for him later. He would become her prisoner and, after awhile, she would free him after she felt he had served his sentence. They would go on living, never becoming friends, but not staying enemies either. He would live.

Someday she wondered if that version of her would ever replace the killer. Years from now, when the world begins to right itself, maybe, but not today. This Hope gave him no mercy. His throat was slashed before the noose tightened around the other man’s neck. The gasping of air, the choking on blood, these sounds gave her more satisfaction. Her fire cooled for a moment. She closed her eyes to feel it and inhaled deeply, growing strong in the process.

As the heat returned she clenched her fists and tightened her jaw. She had more work to do before this fire would go out. It might not even be completely extinguished when she finished. She would be satisfied to leave it smoldering, even if only for awhile.

Kill 3

“Dinnnnnnnnnnnck,” went the bell on the 35th floor. The door opened on the opposite side of the elevator shaft. Whoever was on it couldn’t see how Hope had desecrated the two scouts. He would not suspect.

She slinked up to the rear of the elevator’s column and listened. The man called out to his friends, but recieved no answer. He walked around one side, she moved to the corner and waited. He called out again, still no answer. The fool, he arrived at the corner of the shaft where she was waiting, and he looked away. This fool of a man was looking the other way, unlike any other normal human. It was as if he didn’t want to see her. A fleeting sensation of dismay brushed across Hope’s mind as he finally turned his idiot head the other way and saw her, arms outstretched grabbing for his head.

The idiot would be looking the other way for the rest of his short life as she twisted his skull around to make it so. Cracking neck bones and the snapping spine gave her the sick sensation of pleasure for much longer this time. Her body cooled with the beading sweat that was developing across her skin, and the dousing of the flame from this kill. This poor, dumb man who had managed to survive in a killing community, how could he be so bad at staying alive?

Kills 4 & 5

She knew better than to take the elevator, there was no telling what she might encounter when the doors opened, if they opened. For all she knew the machine would finally give up and leave her stranded in the metal box to burn from the inside out.

The dangling man inched his way up the side of the building, Hope thought she might need the cargo strap again and she didn’t see any point in announcing her presence to the rest of The Dragon just yet. She also grabbed one of their clubs. The malet felt heavy in her hands, not just in weight but in what it had done and what it represented. It was their chosen killing machine, and this one had the weight of one that had taken a lot of lives. Stained brown with dried blood and heavily dented, she wondered how many souls this filthy beast had freed from the earth. How many skulls shattered, bones broken, muscles destroyed along with their owners had been left in its wake?

Her eyes shifted focus from the club to the man she had pulled it from and whatever pity she had for any of them evaporated, leaving her like a possesing spirit giving up on its host. Like Jim, she saw only one way for this to end, and she wanted to bring it about. They all have to die, all of The Dragon. They will kill and maime and destroy until there’s nothing left of humanity, and if that means that Hope had to give up her own, she would make that sacrifice. She would become a killer, just as they are. No more flourishes of pity, or remorse would ever make their way into her heart for any other Dragon’s death. Her hardened heart could burn forever so long as she was putting an end to them.

Floor by floor she made her way down from the 35th using the stairwell near the elevator shaft at the center of the building. Most levels had some desks, a lot of wheeled chairs, and the higher ones still had many windows intact. For all the damage the structure had endured, it was in surprisingly good shape looking at it form the inside. Hope wasn’t there for a tour, though. She painstakingly stalked through each and every floor looking for an opportunity to sneak up behind another Dragon bastard and gut him.

34 – nothing. 33 – nothing. 32 – nothing. She spent 10 minutes on each floor, and that was too much time. She had seen them dragging Angel and Jim into the building. She didn’t know which floor they were on, but she knew where they weren’t. Alive or dead, she was committed to finding them and and creating a trail of bloody bodies along the way, but which would it be: alive, or dead?

If they’re dead, they were already dead, she thought. And if they wanted them dead they would have killed them right in the helicopter. They wouldn’t have bothered dragging them around. If they were already dead, then they’re already dead. She wasn’t sure if her logic was sound, but it gave her comfort to think that Angel and Jim were still alive. It gave her rage a noble purpose, and this made her feel better. Her bloodlust was in-line with what she thought was the higher objective of saving them. With so many floors to clear, she had quit a lot of time to reconcile her feelings on the matter.

More than three hours had passed since she started down the stairs. When she go to the tenth floor she noted that, while the desks and scattered cubical walls still provided a maze of hiding places for potential assassins, most of the chairs were missing. Nine, eight, seven, none of them had chairs at all. Another hour had ticked by when she arrived at the fifth floor where the mystery was solved.

Jim had thrown all the chairs down the stairwell. Nine office building floors worth of wheeled chairs were clogging up the stairs below the fifth floor, like hair in a shower drain. There was no climbing over, or around, or through he mesh of five-pointed star legs, hydrolic pressure plungers, cushioned and mesh seats and backs, and adjustable arms. If it went all the way down to the ground level, Hope imagined that it would take her several days to clear them all. Burning them would be simpler, if they would burn. In all likelihood the materials would melt into a solid brick of stair-well molded plastic blocking the first and second floors.

Like the floors between 35 and six, floor five offered no satisfying kills. The Sun was getting low in the sky now, and Hope was feeling the fatigue of her long day. Her muscles ached. She walked to one side of the office and propped herself up on a desk. Closing her eyes for a moment, she enjoyed the sound of the wind across the hollow of the window panes. Breathing became slow and heavy. While her body rested, her mind was still imagining more killing. Three was not enough, she wanted more. More, she whispered to herself, and she thought she heard something whisper in return. Her head cocked sideways instinctively to give her ear a better angle on the sound. More whispers, she heard, but they weren’t whispers, just a faint conversation.

Down below her were two Dragon standing on the train platform. They didn’t see her, they weren’t looking for someone from up above. These two men were standing guard at the train platform in case Jim’s train showed up looking for trouble.

Hope’s body re-energized with a new rush of adrenaline and her mind assigned each of the men a specific way to die. She was eager to kill, and her brain was on automatic as it sorted out how to get down to them. Over on a side of the building, just out of view of her prey, she tied off the cargo strap to a heavy desk and lowered it down. These men were on the third floor and after she used a little bit of the strap to fashion a sling for the club, she had just enough to get down to them.

She had never repelled before, so her descent was awkward. Wisely she chose to do this out of view of the two men, as they would have surely noticed her lack of stealth on the way down if she tried to drop in directly behind them. She found her way in to the building and set up the kill.

Her luck continued as they were assigned to look out for a train, not look behind them for someone sneaking up. Excitement filled her as she was about to inflict some new damage with the club. A smile spread across her face as she approached the two men standing at the edge of the platform.

The first man would have to wait his turn. A little push was all he needed to fall down onto the tracks. It was an odd landing for him, hitting his head on one of the rails. By the time he pulled himself up it would be too late for his partner.

Swinging low and wildly with her new weapon, she struck the second Dragon on the front of the knee, buckling his leg in the opposite direction of its normal operation. He screamed at the sight of his retreating shin and thigh and fell to the ground grabbing at the demolished joint. Hope was swift and more precise with her next swing. The man stopped screaming when the club came down on his head. She was beginning to understand the appeal of these bloody mallots. Cracking sounds of bone and tendon were very satisfying.

As she wound up for her third swing, which she wasn’t entirely sure was necessary, but was going to take anyway, a pair of hands wrapped around her ankles and yanked them out from under her. The man down on the tracks had recovered a little more quickly than she expected. Her body came down with a heavy thud and the man started to drag her down onto the tracks.

Hope was nimble, and her mind was sharp. She had lost her club, but not her wits. Using her arms, she popped her body up off the platform, putting all her mass into the air, and shoving herself right into the chest of the man below. He crashed down on the tracks once more, dropping his club, as Hope had dropped hers just seconds before. Her landing was soft, and had the added benefit of pressing all the air out of her adversary’s lungs. When a man can’t breath, his first priority is to breath. This gave Hope the advantage becasue her priority was still to kill the man. As he struggled to push her off, now quite disoriented from two falls on the train tracks, she grabbed his club and started to bash him in the face with the narrow end. This was an interesting experience for her. To this point she had snuck up on all of her victims and dispatched them before they really understood what was happening. This man that she was sitting on was fully aware of her, and that he was about to die. His armed flailed about as he tried to block the club’s hilt between each blow. Blood flowed into his eyes giving him no chance at any meaningful counter move.

With panicked lungs, no vision and a face that had been turned into a ball of beaten meat, he started to choke on the blood that was running from his nose down his throat. He gasped and flailed more slowly as she continued to bash his face. As his efforts became more futile and weak, Hope smiled again. More than any of the others, she enjoyed killing this man. His suffering doused the flame in her heart for a good while.

Kills 6 & 7

Hope worried that the scream of the first man might have alerted others to her presence, but after several minutes no one came to the third floor looking for trouble. She lurked around the third floor, wiping her bloody hands on the walls, desks and any other thing she felt like. Outside of the bloody trail, she scouted the floor just like the others, but it was just a habit at this point. She was just going though the motions. If she really wanted to complete the job she would have gone up to the fourth floor and checked it out. She was no longer interested in clearing the building so much as she was interested in finding another Dragon to kill.

Jim had done a great job of blocking off the main stairwell with chairs, and that would do well to keep people below the fifth floor, but there were a set of escalators that went between the third and ground floors. They were well beyond functional as time had broken almost everything, but a broken escalator is not really broken, it just becomes stairs. With her favorite club and two holstered blades, she crept slowly down the escalator stairs. Stealth had been her best ally so far, and she wasn’t about to give it up by clumsily swooping down to the ground floor.

The ground floor was not at all like the ones above. It was an open, spacious lobby with decorative marble and massive desks. In the dim light of the setting sun it reminded her of the old bank she used to hide out in before those bastards took it from her, before the beat her to within an inch of her life. That brutal memory lodged in her head as she skulked around each corner of the lobby, looking for Dragon. She was binding it with her time as Gannon’s concubine, with the attack at the medical camp, the death of her friends, her betrayal of the rest, the killing of the men in the helicopter, at the hangar, and all those she killed at Jim’s building. All of the pain she inflicted, and that was visited upon her hardened into a lump in her chest at the center of her burning heart. It invigorated her.

When she spotted the two Dragon standing guard at the top of the stairs to the bar, she didn’t bother with stealth. It was casual, the way she walked up to them with her club. One of them had set his on fire to cast light in the area, the fool. He was so close to the flame that he could barely see how she bashed his friend to the ground. He thought he was good at killing, and maybe he was, but he wasn’t ready to kill in that moment. This little woman walking up and crushing his friends skull like an egg was not what he expected. Nor did he foresee her smashing his hand with her club, breaking his fingers and knocking his torch away.

The fire flickered in the darkened city, half buried in the sand. Protected from the wind, and with no rain to douse it, the fire would keep burning into the night, until the weapon was consumed by it.

The post Everything Goes Wrong / Killing Spree appeared first on Mark McEachran.

https://j.mp/3d36FU1 November 23, 2017 at 08:30AM

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fengg2030shann Plastics clothing rack clothing clothes child support clothing hanging dry clothes frame household clothing shelves clothes child support slip hanging clothes shelves. Clothes ha

fengg2030shann Plastics clothing rack clothing clothes child support clothing hanging dry clothes frame household clothing shelves clothes child support slip hanging clothes shelves. Clothes ha -Support clothes hangers hangers child support material plastic length 41cm.

Artmoon Buffalo Heavy Duty Steel Clothes Rail Closet on Wheels with 2 Shelves and Cover

Artmoon Buffalo Heavy Duty Steel Clothes Rail Closet on Wheels with 2 Shelves and Cover -Heavy duty clothes rail, 2 shelves, 1 hanging rail, cover holds up to 50 kg. Nonwoven beige dust protective cover with two zippers and fixing velcros for easy access. Made of chrome plated steel water resistant, reliable and sturdy. 4 rotating wheels for easy movement (2 with stoppers). Dimensions 75x45xh150 cm.

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 5-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Brown

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 5-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Brown -5 spacious & easily access shelves equipped with 5 shelving units measuring 12 l x 115 w x 84 h each, this hanging closet organizer offers ample space for storing clothing and accessories like sweaters, towels, pajamas and hats, maximizing vertical space usage in your closet the open design gives you a quick access to each category. 2 sturdy velcros on the top maidmax hanging sweater organizer comes with 2 extra-wide velcros, which fit most closet rods and help secure the shelf firmly by providing strong support for the weight underneath. Additional mesh side pockets 4 mesh pockets on the both sides of this hanging accessory storage shelf provides you additional space for storing small items like ties, belts, gloves and socks no need to search for the missing piece any more. User and eco friendly non-woven fabric this hanging shelf is made with non-woven fabric, which is soft, breathable and non-irritating, protecting both your hands and clothes besides, its a recyclable material which wont do much harm to the environment. Collapsible design the foldable feature of this closet shelf organizer means that its space-saving and convenient to take along you could simply fold it up when you dont use it or when you need it for travel use.

Asatr Portable Rolling 3-Tier Wire Shelving Clothes Shelf Garment Rack + Side Hooks + Wheels Type 1(US Stock)

Asatr Portable Rolling 3-Tier Wire Shelving Clothes Shelf Garment Rack + Side Hooks + Wheels Type 1(US Stock) -To make the smart life easier and advocate environmental protectionthat means starting with affordable, high-quality gear and ending with a commitment to 100% user satisfaction after all, were customers too. No any rusting issues, no high humidity, there are 4 types for your choice heavy duty garment rack with 1 or 2 clothes hanging bar and 1 or 2 side hanger for hanging coat, hat, bag, etc. This shelving system is built with a heavy duty durable and adjust steel construction, allowing the every each tier hold up about almost 400lbs, 133lbs per shelfthis type of rack is great for guests who need a place to hang and shelve clothing, as well as for use as a spare clothing closet, so dont worry about it will not load too much. 3-tier large organizing clothes hanging rack with wheels,side hooks includedadjustable leveling feet for your needs to store different sized itemsthis durable shelving is the ideal storage solution for organization your bedroom. Durable and sturdy you can store a large amount of clothing on the two racks the hooks on the side provide additional ways to store the bottom racks are perfect for shoes.

Generic YC-US2-160411-93 Rod USrtable Clot Portable Clothes Closet Organizer Hanger Home Garment Storage Rack Shelf Rod US Closet Orga

Generic YC-US2-160411-93 Rod USrtable Clot Portable Clothes Closet Organizer Hanger Home Garment Storage Rack Shelf Rod US Closet Orga -5x67. 3 package included 1 x closet. Description double rod closet offers you a sturdy option for creating garment and accessory storage durable environmental friendly chrome plated tubing made with black coated steel and heavy duty resin connectors strong enough and light enough to move store and organize your wardrobe efficiently use these for sweaters, hats, gloves, purses shoes and even totes hanging rods support full-sized jackets as well as fabric shelf towers center hanging rod is removable for longer garments easy to assemble 2 hanging bars 5 small wire closet shelves and two large shelves size 45x17.

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 6-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Beige

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 6-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Beige -6 spacious & easily access shelves equipped with 6 shelving units measuring 115 w x 12 l x 85 h each, 51 inches high totally, this hanging closet organizer offers ample space for storing clothing and accessories like sweaters, towels, pajamas and hats, maximizing vertical space usage in your closet the open design gives you a quick access to each category. User & eco-friendly non-woven fabric this hanging shelf is made with non-woven fabric, which is soft, breathable and non-irritating, protecting both your hands and clothes its also a recyclable material which wont do much harm to the environment. Collapsible design the foldable feature of this closet shelf organizer means that its space-saving and convenient to take along you could simply fold it up when you dont use it or when you need it for travel use. 2 sturdy velcros on the top maidmax hanging sweater organizer comes with 2 extra-wide velcros, which fit standard closet rods and help secure the shelf firmly by providing strong support for the weight underneath. Multipurpose for various settings this closet shelf organizer is not only designed for home use its portable and slim design makes it perfect for applying in places where room is limited like a dorm or a travel trailer with a maximum weight load of 2kg (44lb) each, its ideal for storing sweaters, shirts, pajamas, baby clothing, towels, blankets, accessories, etc.

12 Cube Closet Organizer, Garage Storage Racks Sets, Shelf Cabinet, Panels and Units for Books, Plants, Toys, Shoes, Clothes, for Bedroom & Living Room (Yellow)

12 Cube Closet Organizer, Garage Storage Racks Sets, Shelf Cabinet, Panels and Units for Books, Plants, Toys, Shoes, Clothes, for Bedroom & Living Room (Yellow) -Strong and sturdy design- made from select high-quality steel, environmentally-friendly resin and plastic connectors it is strong enough to handle whatever you throw at it this portable storage closet will meet your long term storage needs. Multi-function storage and display, interlocking cubes giving you multiple stacking options,great for office, dorm or childrens room. Spacious multi-function storage closet- not just for clothes can store books, shoes, kids toys, you name it ample room offers enough space for both longer outfits and folded clothes, for easy access to whatever you choose to store. Quick and easy assembly, assembly is tool-free and takes mere minutes,included 43 grid panels and 40 plastic connectors,comes with a wooden hammer in the package. Dustproof & waterproof doors- each cube features a door which can keep your items sealed away from dust and humidity manufactured with durable steel and dirt-proof, easy-to-clean resin for easy maintenance and care.

Hanging Closet Organizer Set Includes Hanging 4-Shelf, 6-Shelf and 20 Pocket Shoe Storage Set Space Saving Design for Bedroom Closet Organization Store Clothes & Shoes -3 Piece Set

Hanging Closet Organizer Set Includes Hanging 4-Shelf, 6-Shelf and 20 Pocket Shoe Storage Set Space Saving Design for Bedroom Closet Organization Store Clothes & Shoes -3 Piece Set -20-pocket hanging shoe storage features 20 pockets and 3 reversible s shape hooks each pockets are large enough to fit most shoes, flats, or sandals made of durable non-woven material and measures 53 x 22 inches. 4-shelf hanging organizer made of durable non-woven fabric, the 4-shelf hanging organizer hangs on standard closet rods and utilizes vertical space in your wardrobe as extra space-saving storage collapsible for easy storage when not in use measures 35 x 125 x 12 inches. Hanging closet organization set is the perfect space-saving storage solution for storing clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, and other odds and ends reinforced for great load bearing ability quick and easy set up. Bundle set includes 1x 4-shelf hanging organizer, 1x 6-shelf hanging organizer, and 1x 20-pocket hanging shoe storage. 6-shelf hanging organizer the 6-shelf hanging organizer boasts roomy shelves for storing clothes, shoes and accessories makes for a great closet organization idea for limited spaces to keep things neat and organized collapsible and measures 35 x 65 x 12 inches.

Bold stainless steel hanger multi functional drying racks adult clothes hanging anti skid clothes shelves,4MM-45cm,20

Bold stainless steel hanger multi functional drying racks adult clothes hanging anti skid clothes shelves,4MM-45cm,20 -Commodity gross weight 13kg. Material stainless steel. Hanger category hanger. Category hangers.

Unique Adjustable Rolling Corner Clothes Rack With Mesh Shelves

Unique Adjustable Rolling Corner Clothes Rack With Mesh Shelves -5w x 21d and includes 2 sturdy mesh shelves. Practical corner rolling rack is ideal for storing clothes, handbags, shoes, hats and more. Our unique adjustable rolling corner clothes rack with mesh shelves is a must have for those with limited storage space. 3h x 27. Chrome metal each measures 44 to 65. Includes 4 casters for easy movement. Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/15-top-clothes-shelves

[ecotone99]

[HM] Insert Quarter - Journey to Nostalgiatron

Insert Quarter - Journey to Nostalgiatron

CHAPTER ONE

“I’m gonna need that last Dragonball,” said an exhausted Goku. He was clutching at his scuffed up arm and hovering in the air over the smouldering crater that used to be New Chicago’s Optimus Prime Memorial Shopping Centre.

I fumbled around in my messenger bag, Pokemon Badge pins jingling as I searched. My prize wasn’t hard to find, it’s perfectly crystalline structure and impossibly smooth spherical face sang as my quivering fingers wrapped around it’s weighty shape.

“Goku!” I called out, thrusting the number four ‘ball into the air above me. “I’ve got it right here!”

I had just scrambled halfway up a broken radio mast next to the crater. Goku turned his head to look at me. His triceps were flaring, and his shoulder striations were insane. He saw the ‘ball in my outstretched hand and guffawed. He turned his floating body to face me, and, in slow motion, began reaching out a hand toward me. But it was too late.

“It’s going to take a lot more than that to defeat me.” The voice was familiar. Stoic, distinctly American. Humble, but backed by so much power. A hand burst out from beneath a pile of dust and rubble, then suddenly there was a burst of light and a shockwave blew the rubble pile away. When the dust settled, a lone caped figure stood clad in blue, with chest pushed out and a red and yellow “S” emblem emblazoned on his breast.

It was Superman, obviously.

You’re probably wondering what the heck is going on. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Slater Johnson. I’m just a regular high school kid who likes to play videogames and shred it up on my skateboard. And, oh yeah, and I’m the prophesized chosen one who’s meant to guide all mankind during the coming apocalypse-war. But let’s backtrack.

The year was 2013. I’d just won first place in the all-state skate competition and my crush, Yvonne Christiansen, was there watching me finish out my last fakie bigspin into a wallride, which I landed perfectly. I knew that my last trick would’ve set me so far ahead of the other skaters that I had no chance of losing. I skidded to a stop in front of her in the crowd. She smiled at me. I threw my thumb and pinky finger up, gave it a shake, and pushed off toward the podium.

After the last competitor went, the points were tallied and the placements were being awarded. 3rd and 2nd were called, but then it was the big moment.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” announced the mayor. “I’m proud to announce that your all time biggest and baddest winner of the all-state skate competition is..” My heart jumped. “Slater Johnson!”

The crowd went nuts. I gave my great looking hair a quick flip to keep the flow fresh, then sauntered up. I shook the mayor’s hand and stepped toward the trophy on the table. As soon as I set my hands on the gold plated winners cup, a sudden flash of light rushed out. There was a blast that threw me twenty, maybe even thirty feet away.

Long story short, all universes converged into ours. A portal opened up to the Sanctum (the place where I would later do all my martial training with Goku and Batman) and I was left standing there in front of Gandalf the White, who had also just appeared. He told me I was the Chosen One who was destined to save all mankind. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah right, geezer,” I effortlessly kicked up my skateboard into my hand and turned away. “I have to go to nationals now that I won state! Find someone else to do your prophecy, old timer.”

Gandalf didn’t look pleased. His brow was all kinds of furrowed, and he leaned forward on his eldritch stave. He closed his eyes and I could hear him mumbling just over the crackling hum of the Otherworld Portal.

“He’s the hero we need, but his reluctance to take the mantle worrying..”

At that moment, Yvonne, the hottest and most popular girl at the school (also my crush) came running up and hugged me. I was stunned.

“Oh Slater!” She said, through the tears. Just like all females, she was letting her emotions get the better of her. I didn’t blame her; this day had been nuts. I landed some fire tricks during the competition, and then also the whole universes thing was crazy, but I remained stoic and steadfast. I could feel her cans squeezing against my chest. Nice.

“Slater, I thought you were dead!” She looked up at me. “I was worried you would have died and we never even got a chance to be boyfriend and girlfriend!”

I tilted my head toward the horizon, the wind blowing my awesome hair softly. “Well, Yvonne,” I said, in gravelly tones. “After I turned down that whole chosen one thing just now, my schedule’s wide open. Wanna go to the mall sometime?”

“Like a date?” She asked, the sound of hope teased in that last escalated octave.

“Just like a date,” I said, turning to look at her. There was a halo’s glow emanating around her pretty face. It looked angelic, or like as if you turned on a spotlight right behind someone and then they obscured the light. Little did I know, in that moment, that this was the exact thing that was happening.

“So,” she said, wiping tears from her soft, girly cheeks. “I guess that makes me your girlfriend.”

The halo around her got brighter, and the sound of a gigantic transforming robot priming an arm-mounted serrated blade punctuated the tender moment. I smiled.

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess it does make you my girlfriend now.”

And literally the moment I said that, a gigantic robot hand reached out from behind her and grabbed her by the torso, lifting her up. It was Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, and he ran her through with his armblade. It was super gory, and unnecessarily brutal. Chunks were going everywhere. She seemed like a really nice girl. Now that I think about it, nothing this gratuitously gory or violent would even come close to happening during my following adventures. Even with the whole shopping centre crater thing, it was at least implied at the time that the city had been evacuated.

The sight of my eviscerated girlfriend’s body, rent asunder by the almighty power of the Dark Emperor of Destruction and scattered limp across the ground filled me with rage. Skateboard in one hand, clenched fist in the other (my fist, not Yvonne’s severed hand which was also nearby), I cranked by head over my shoulder.

“Wizard,” I barked toward Gandalf. “I’ll do it.”

CHAPTER 2

After the whole beginning part of my journey had finished, it was on to the exciting stuff. A year had passed, but the world had irrevocably changed. Firstly, I was a senior, applying to colleges and just really hoping to make the best of my last school year, which was starting in a few days. Also, the city of New Chicago had sprung up in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. A sprawling megalopolis, characterized by its crazy futuristic style buildings and towering towers, the city had become my new home in my quest to save mankind.

I grinded my hoverboard along the LightRail home after a long day of questing. Under my guidance, the Infinity Cabal had been scouring every swarthy hole and teetering precipice of New Chicago for the last Dragonball. We had six of them in our possession, which Goku was using to train with in the Sanctum. I liked to join him from time to time, sparring with him and Batman. They were worthy foes, and definitely tested my abilities. I count Goku as one of my best friends, and I’m grateful that he treats me just the same.

Life in New Chicago was rough. Gangs ruled the streets, which was fine by me because I skatejack the LightRails high aboveground, weaving in and out of the towers. Skatejacking is what you do when you jack your board onto the LightRails and skate it the hell up. It’s a super cool and dangerous way to get around the city, but the Infinity Cabal doesn’t mind. Being cool and dangerous is in our DNA.

Pulling around a long curve, I suddenly remembered where I was - rounding the corner of a building, the imposing frame of the Icecrown Citadel came into view. I knew that, on its mantel, Lich King Megatron was sitting on the Frozen Throne. An Undead horde shuffled around the packed-ice plaza at the base of the rock hard shaft. I could feel his cold gaze, piercing through me. I couldn’t see him from my great distance, but I knew he was looking. A feeling of dread washed over me. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest and a pressure building up within me. As the sensation crescendoed, and I continued skatejacking the LightRail, a building suddenly obscured the Icecrown Citadel from view. In that moment, I felt an immediate relief.

“Note to self,” I noted to myself. “Don’t stray too close to the Icecrown.”

After I recovered from my Heebie Jeebies, I kicked it into high gear and continued jacking to the extreme, all the way back to the hideout. I hopped off the rail and, flying through the air, grabbed onto a vertical pole, swinging around a corner and landing on my feet with my hoverboard in one hand. I flipped my sunglasses up onto my forehead and approached the 7/11 that was the front operation for our secret hideout. I filled up my Slurpee with Red Flavor Drink Type Slushed Ice Beverage and set it on the secret plinth that activates the hidden door, which then caused the entire wall to recess backward.The ten foot gear interchange system, now exposed by the wall’s recession, ground loudly and worked the clandestine door to the right. The stealthy process was slow, and shook most of the building. I took the time to snag a couple Buffalo Chicken Taquitos for the wait.

After only dozens of minutes, the hidden door was done churning open. I clambered over the rack trench, being careful not to get any limbs or digits caught in the pinion housing. While ducking underneath the input-shaft ports, I made sure to only utilize established handholds, clear of any hydraulic lines and out of the way of inner or outer tie-rods (which connected to the main assembly). Luckily for me, those handholds were delineated and painted in with Safety Yellow signage, so I knew just where to grasp. The rotary valve was still evacuating steam, so I was careful to note the times of discharge so as to duck through without being scalded.

After a close shave with a flailing pressure tube, I put both feet on the ground on the other side of the rack trench before letting go of the handholds. I patted myself down, realizing I forgot my hoverboard on the 7/11 side of the door and rack trench. I went back, got it, and returned to the hideout side, activating the quick release on the door which slammed the bolt catch roll pin out of place, allowing the takedown pin to fire the buffer spring and quickly haul the secret door back into place with a crash that shook the whole building. No one was the wiser.

“Slater!” Cried out a voice. I recognized it immediately. It was Ash Ketchum, The Very Best. He had his original style hat on, so you knew it was at least generation I or II. Ash was walking up to me, and Pikachu was bouncing around and being almost intolerably cute.

“Walk with me, Ash.” I said, hurrying down the corridor. I was jonesing for a bathroom break after those taquitos but all the single stall bathrooms were downstairs, and the stairwell was on the other side of the building. “How are the men?” I asked, as Ash got alongside.

“Well,” he closed his eyes and reached his arm over his shoulder and seemed to scratch the back of his own neck. It was a really annoying and over-the-top gesture. “I guess some of the guys are a little tired after all our recent questing and training! They sure could use a break.”

I handed Pikachu the rest of my Buffalo Chicken Taquito. “Well,” I grumbled. “You know who doesn’t get tired? Our enemy.” It was true, too. The NecroLeague of Doom seemed to have an infinite supply of energy. Their forces were many, and their plots dastardly. A complete roster of their troops is attached to this novel as ADDENDUM A, but a short-list is featured below.

Lich King Megatron (Combination of The Lich King and also Megatron)

Sinbad the Sailor (Popeye version)

Darth Vader

Hitler 2.0 (Basically also Darth Vader)

Bowser from Super Mario

Sauron

Frieza

Harvey Weinstein CBE (The Weinstein Company)

Lich King Megatron was their leader. He summited the Icecrown Citadel in search of Shia LeBoeuf’s grandfather’s eyeglasses, for whatever reason, but found only Bolvar Fordragon, wearing the helm and mantle of the Lich King. Encased in fel-ice, Fordragon didn’t stand a chance against the unbridled power of Megatron. In a less gruesome display than when he murdered my girlfriend (which was so brutal that I decided to accept my fate as awesome hero of the world), Megatron destroyed Fordragon and took the helmet for himself. He then became the new Lich King and would become unstoppable. Except I was going to stop him for sure.

Ash complimented me on my hair and cool moves. He also let me know he was having a few friends over for a birthday party next weekend, and I said I’d be down. I’m very thankful to have so many people who are friends with me and enjoy my various insights and jokes. I figured I’d go to his party since they all came to my surf competition last week (I won first place).

Ash told me that the boys were meeting in the Meeting Chamber and that I should get up there as quick as I could. Time was running out, so I powered my way up the stairs, kicking it into high gear and even taking them two at a time. I wasn’t even using the railing, just balancing myself as I throttled up.

I was taking it right to the edge, almost at my breaking point, when the last couple steps were in sight. With one last, desperate burst of raw power and energy I threw myself forward into the air and up three full steps. I landed with one foot on the precipice of the landing, and my center of mass teetered over my central axis. I repositioned my arms out in front of me, using them as a kind of ballast, and bent at the knees and lower back. With one last effort, I thrust my hips forward and settled myself fully. Mission accomplished.

“Nice moves,” said Kanye West. He was wearing the coolest sneakers you’ve ever seen.

“Thanks Kanye,” I said to Kanye. “All in a day’s work. What’s the situation?”

“I’m glad you asked,” said Kanye as he stood up and gestured to the viewscreen (basically just a TV). “LKM’s forces are on the move. He’s set up defenses here, here and here.” Kanye was gesturing to the huge TV (the viewscreen) at anywhere between two and four points on the New Chicago map. I squinted my eyes.

“Wait a second,” I commanded. “Computer!”

The lights around the edge of the display (viewscreen, or “teevee” as some call it) lit up and a gentle chime hummed.

“Draw lines between each of those points.”

“Okay,” said COM.P.U.T.er. “I’m drawing lines between each of the points on the map of New Chicago.”

Slowly, an eerie red pillar extended out from each of the points toward the direction of another. It was like a spider’s web of lines extending, except not as many as that. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A terrifying shape began to form. My jaw dropped.

“My god,” I said. “It’s a --”

“It’s a triangram,” said a breathy, incredulous voice with an english accent. The voice seemed to come from the ground somewhere. I looked around, then craned my neck and head forward, angling it toward the floor. Scouring that lower altitude in such a fashion was a strategy that bore fruit - there, at my feet, stooped Peter Dinklage. I called down to him.

“Peter!” I cupped one hand around my mouth so as to help project my voice downard. “What do you know of triangrams?”

He looked all the way up toward the heaven - up toward me. He was speaking again, but I could not hear. I bent down, descending from on high. His impish words became audible.

“Triangrams are a kind of runic, sacred shape produced by the culmination of no less than 3 points, except also no more than that either.” He looked back up toward the viewscreen. “They were used in pagan times as a cheaper and more cost effective version of the pentagram. The pagans of the time realized that something with five sides looks close enough to something with three if you just squint.” At this point, Peter reached both his arms out as if to behold the might of some vista or wondrous architecture. He squinted hard. “It is, as the Romans said, duabus partibus occultus...”

He dropped his arms back down to his side, formed a kind of grim countenance and threw his grim gaze up toward me. “The Two Secret Sides!”

I gasped. It made sense. Pentagrams have five sides and triangrams only had three! That was a difference of two. The implication being two other sides, invisible to the naked eye, hidden within the triangram. This revelation was totally nuts and I didn’t expect it.

Obviously I was worried about the sudden appearance of a triangram in New Chicago, but with school starting tomorrow, I had enough on my plate. I hit up Old Navy to put together a fire fit for the first day.

CHAPTER 3 In Progress

submitted by /u/mistercomputergames [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/35ck2xp

[railsroadsandreflections-blog]

Terminus

Welcome to Janta express, an extraordinarily ordinary 24 hour train ride, wide wheelingly rolling through open, vast fields and fascinating but forgotten villages. Mind your step and hop into SL, sleeper class, where you will be sharing a temporary home - a space with two opposite sides of three vertically placed benches - with complete strangers. Quite possibly, you´ll be sitting across an older woman dressed in a sari and dangling bracelets, hair dyed in henna and skin so bleached that Michael Jackson himself would´ve gawked, her husband in sober clothing seated calmy beside her. Always greeted by smiles – Indians on trains will stare and wonder but never fail to treat you as one of their own. Sit down, take off your shoes, and enjoy the ride.  

Nowhere can a Nordic girl feel safer than in this modest, light blue colored carriage, soothing but sometimes chaotic as the nosy, noisy Indian families settle in for a day on the tracks. A man in round glasses hands me two cookies: food is offered generously, and if not, every five minutes someone will pass by with a variety of treats and gadgets to sell. Whether it´s a masala or a hammer, the salesman will fish it out of his bucket and ask you 10 rupees for it. Any trash from the purchases may conveniently be tossed out of the windows, which remain open at all times. All day long, I sweat and pant like a dog in a sauna, but at night, the cold breeze brades my hair into an ice crown. A journey is never so beautiful as it is in afterthought… Have an acquired taste? Say no more, and tune into general class, unreserved and inexpensive. Bold and bravehearted you must be: this is no chocolate coated croissant. Stolen passports have been reported and rumor has it that the roof makes an excellent camping spot, but only a oneway ticket can solve the mystery.  

Close to me, a whole family has squeezed into one seat. The kids are acting rowdy and their caretaker is not impressed: she smacks the girls on the cheek rather violently. The train rolls off slowly, and as it does so, voices are swiftly raised, feet are on the go and a whole herd of Indians jump off the accelerating train. No need to hug goodbye on the platform: Indian trains are like an extended home, open for everyone. One of the mischievous girls suddenly finds herself on the other side of the metal window, teary eyed, gripping the hand of perhaps her cousin. They will very soon be separated by thousands of kilometers. As I watch I tune into her emotion: trains and goodbyes, lovers and letters – classic, nostalgic and purely sentimental.  

The day is spent gazing out of the windows at the snapshots, ephemeres of ordinary lives: Fieldworkers with wooden baskets, burning and basking in the afternoon heat, teenagers gathering, soon to be joined by their friends on bikes, hurrying to the cricket field from the mazy paths that separate the playground from their village. On lonely train stations, old men read newspapers and beggars of all ages push their faces against the prison-like windows of the carriage. The tracks whistle and hum while thousands of passengers roll forward into the neverending land. All senses aboard!

Sleeper is no luxury, but your olfactory system is about to have a first class treatment: a potpourri of stenches occupy the air in and around the train, urine being the most pleasant of them. At night one can expect to be woken, as if on a sweet Saturday morning, greeted by the pleasant smells of Mother´s cinnamon rolls. If Mother´s cinnamon rolls were made out of sewage and excrement, that is. Occasionally the reeks are disastrously dreadful and I conclude- hell musn´t be far. Not exactly helping the matter is the general and nationwide illusion that the tracks function as a trash bin, resulting in cows and stray dogs roaming about in the waste, feasting on plastic dinners. Speaking of dinner, the culinary festivities commence at 5 PM, even though Indians eat much later into the night. ”Chaaaaaaaaaaai!”, yells a guy, and the rest comes out in indecipherable hindi. The sellers hurry down the aisle in such rapidity that for once, I wish they would be a bit more insistant. Make a silly sound, grab them by the arm- anything! - And the spicy, steaming samosas and luscious lassis will be yours to devour. Simply by having a ball, you´ll be part of it all.

”I love Finland girls. You are so sexy”. It was my first train ride alone in India, and my good faith was about to come to a rapid end. Sure, looking back, I had been warned: Indian men have a tendency to behave inappropriately with solo women, but how could such a cliché turn out to be true? The subtler seducers settle for a wink, a thumbs up or the classic pursing of the lips, inviting one to a perfectly innocent public embrace in a society where holding hands with the opposite gender is considered improper (however both men and women hold hands with their same gendered comrades). I ignore the gentleman in the tuktuk, licking his lips and staring at me, immensely flatterered by the irresistibly charming man´s attention: tender seduction is a form of art in India. From now on - if anyone bothers to ask - I´m married. Once I was reading at a train station, when two female guards marched up to me, clearly a bit amused. They wanted to know -without further ado- if I had a son.

Hold your horses, there is more: while you are sipping your imaginery mojito, observing and obsessing over the excessive heat, your trainride may suddenly turn a teensy bit wild. For example, if you fancy a dinnermate, a monkey or a cow, sometimes even a knee-bending, giggling goat, will be happy to share your veg biryani. Ah yes, the animal kingdom has truly won my heart. A camel trotting down a busy street, a dog and a buffalo lying side by side in the middle of the road (because duuh, where else?), puppies, practically newborn, sniffing the odours of a new dawn, and a giant elephant parading down the street, dressed to impress. Indeed, nod your head a few more times, you are in for a terrifically dandy ride…and all of this for the price of a metro ticket in Oslo. Sadly though, the animals are exploited and maltreated, with the exception of the cow, which is holier than Mother Theresa. To say that vegeterianism is widespread in India would be an understatement, but though you won´t find any unethically considered egg or meat in a true hindu restaurant, milk always comes in bucketloads.

Ladies and gentlemen, our next stop is New Delhi station. Make sure you have all your belongings with you, and enjoy your day. I step off the metro train from the airport and gasp: all around me echos chaos. Yes, India can sometimes be a real pain In-di-a-ss, but also completely and utterly magical, unimaginable. Wisdom and willpower, thrill and taste, patience and persistense…these are some of my newly collected souvenirs. What can I say? Thanks. It wasn´t easy, but semi-permanent diarrhea and tinnitus aside, I have truly adventured. No country has left me standing in the middle of cow poo, alone, bag on back, tuktuks swarming around me like hungry sharks, clueless as to where to venture off, and for that I am strangely thankful. My first and last day differ not much, only my backpack and belly have gotten heavier (turns out, yoga does not cover for oily curries). No longer is India the scary, spicy threatening Asian subcontinent, but perhaps rather a frenemy: not quite a stranger, not quite a friend. The majority of the puzzle remains unsolved, but holi colors of the rainbow cover my body and musty incense forces its way up my nostrils: I have caught a sniff of magic.    

Tt.

Terminus

Bienvenue dans le Janta Express pour vingt-quatre heures de trajet extraordinairement ordinaire à grand train au milieu de vastes champs qui s’ouvrent à perte de vue, à travers des villages fascinants mais oubliés. Faites attention à la marche et sautez donc en SL, sleeper class, où vous partagerez votre logement temporaire – un espace avec trois rangées de bancs verticales qui se font face – avec de parfaits inconnus. Il est plutôt probable que vous vous retrouviez assise en face d’une dame âgée, drapée d’un sari, bracelets ballants sur les bras, les cheveux teints au henné et la peau si décolorée que Michael Jackson lui-même en aurait pâli ; son mari est calmement assis à ses côtés dans des vêtements sobres. Vous serez toujours salué par des sourires – les indiens dans les trains vont vous dévisager, vous décortiquer, mais ne manqueront jamais de vous accueillir comme l’un des leurs. Alors asseyez-vous, enlevez vos chaussures et profitez du voyage. Nulle part ailleurs une fille du nord ne pourrait se sentir plus en sécurité que dans ce wagon bleu clair, apaisant bien que plongé parfois dans le chaos de familles indiennes bruyantes et fouineuses qui se sont installées pour plus d'une journée sur les rails. Un homme aux lunettes rondes me tend deux cookies : la nourriture est offerte avec générosité, et dans le cas où cela n’arriverait pas, un vendeur ambulant passera certainement dans votre wagon toutes les cinq minutes pour vous proposer une offre variée de biens et de gadgets. Que ce soit un masala ou un marteau, le vendeur vous le pêchera d’un de ses grands baquets avant de vous demander quelques roupies pour ça. Si d’aventure vos achats vous laissaient avec quelques détritus sur les bras, pas d’inquiétude : vous pouvez simplement les jeter par la fenêtre qui reste constamment ouverte de toute façon. Toute la journée, je halète et je sue comme un chien dans un sauna mais dès que la nuit tombe, le vent froid tresse mes cheveux en une couronne de glace. Un voyage n’est jamais aussi beau que lorsqu’on se souviendra plus tard… C’est bon, vous avez une idée assez précise ? Attendez un peu, et réglez vous sur general class : pas de réservation mais pas cher non plus. Pour sûr il vous faudra un cœur hardi, car ce ne sera pas une partie de plaisir. On a rapporté que des passeports y ont été volés, et des rumeurs disent que le toit ferait un excellent lieu de camping… Seul un ticket pour un aller simple pourrait résoudre ce mystère. Près de moi, toute une famille se presse dans un seul siège. Les enfants chahutent bruyamment mais leur nourrice ne se laisse pas impressionner : elle gifle la joue des fillettes plutôt violemment. À mesure que le train ralentit, les voix s’élèvent, les pieds commencent à s’activer et, bientôt, tout un troupeau d’indiens bondit du train encore en marche. Pas besoin d’embrassades d’adieu, les trains indiens sont comme une grande maison, ouverte à tous. L’une des petites filles espiègles se retrouve soudainement de l’autre côté de la fenêtre en métal, l’œil humide, accroché à la main d’un peut-être cousin. Bientôt, elle et ses camarades seront séparées par des milliers de kilomètres. Pendant que je l’observe, je me branche sur ses émotions : adieux et trains, amants et lettres – classique, nostalgique, purement sentimental. La journée passe, le regard fixé sur la fenêtre qui voit défiler inlassablement d’éphémères tableaux de vies ordinaires : des travailleurs dans les champs, de grandes corbeilles en bois à leurs côtés, qui brûlent et se prélassent dans le chaleur de l’après-midi, des adolescents qui se rassemblent, bientôt rejoints par leurs amis en vélo, et qui se hâtent à travers le labyrinthe de maisons qui sépare leur village du terrain de cricket. Dans les gares solitaires, des vieillards lisent leurs journaux, des mendiants de tout âge pressent leurs visages contre les barreaux des fenêtres de votre cellule-wagon. Les rails sifflent et vrombissent et des milliers de passagers fusent à travers les terres infinies. Tous les sens en avant ! La sleeper class n’est peut-être pas luxueuse, mais votre système olfactif va recevoir un traitement de première classe : l’air autour et dans le train est rempli d’un pot-pourri de puanteurs dont l’urine est certainement la plus plaisante. Alors que la nuit s’avance, attendez vous, occasionnellement, à vous faire réveiller de la même façon que pouvaient le faire ces odeurs délicieuses qui s’échappaient du four où votre mère faisait, dans la tranquillité sereine d’un samedi matin, gonfler de savoureuses brioches à la cannelle. Sauf que dans ce cas, les principaux ingrédients de ces brioches viendraient de la fosse septique. Parfois, l’odeur est tellement épouvantable que j’en déduis que l’enfer lui-même doit être proche. L’idée générale et répandue dans l’ensemble du pays que les chemins de fer sont une poubelle n’aide pas exactement. Vaches et chiens errent en permanence dans les déchets, à se repaître de dîners en plastique. En parlant de dîner, les festivités culinaires commencent à 5h de l’après-midi, bien que les indiens mangent beaucoup plus tard que ça. « Chaaaaaaaaaaaai » hurle un type et le reste explose à mon oreille en un hindi indéchiffrable. Les vendeurs forcent l’allure le long de l’allée, à tel point que, pour une fois, j’aimerais bien qu’ils soient un poil plus insistant. Produis n’importe quel son, attrape-les par la main – tout ce que tu veux ! – et tu pourras librement dévorer les appétissants samosas, aussi fumants qu’épicés, ou les  lassis succulents. Un bon moment vous attend si vous décidez d’entrer dans la danse. « J’adore les filles Finlande. Vous êtes tellement sexy ». Mon premier voyage en train seule m’a vite fait déchanter. Bien sûr, lorsque je regarde en arrière, j’avais été prévenue : les hommes indiens ont tendance à se comporter de manière inappropriée avec les femmes seules, mais comment un tel cliché pouvait-il se révéler aussi vrai ? Les séducteurs les plus subtiles se contentent  d’un clin, un pouce levé ou d’un classique mouvement des lèvres, du genre qui vous invite à une étreinte parfaitement innocente dans une société où le simple fait de tenir en public la main d’une personne de l’autre sexe est considéré comme indigne (alors qu’il est au contraire très courant de voir, aussi bien un homme qu’une femme tenir la main d’un de ses camarades du même sexe). J’ignore le gentleman dans le tuktuk qui se lèche les lèvre en me dévisageant, immensément flattée par l’attention que me porte l’irrésistible charmeur ; pour sûr, la séduction en Inde est une forme d’art. À partir de maintenant, si quelqu’un demande : je suis mariée. Une fois que je lisais dans une gare, deux policières marchent vers moi, l’air clairement goguenard. Elles m’ont demandé – sans préambule particulier – si j’avais un fils. Mais attendez, ça n’est pas fini : alors que vous sirotez votre mojito imaginaire, alors que vous observez tout en maudissant la chaleur excessive, votre trajet en train peut tout d’un coup prendre un tour un tantinet plus sauvage.  Si vous rêviez de compagnie pour votre dîner, rassurez-vous : un singe, une vache, parfois même une chèvre cocassement posée sur ses genoux, se feront un plaisir de partager votre veg biryani. Eh oui, le règne animal a vraiment gagné mon cœur. Un chameau qui descend une rue passante, un chien et un buffle qui sont allongés côte à côte au milieu de route (ben parce que, voyons, où d’autre?), de jeunes chiots, pratiquement nouveaux-nés, qui reniflent les odeurs d’une aube nouvelle, ou encore un éléphant, harnaché pour intimider, qui parade le long d’une rue. Oui, vous pouvez hocher la tête encore quelques fois, vous êtes effectivement partis pour un tour effroyablement excitant… et tout ça pour le prix d’un ticket de métro à Oslo. En revanche, les animaux sont assez tristement exploités et maltraités en général, à l’exception de la vache, évidemment, qui est plus sainte encore que Mère Theresa. Dire que le végétarisme est répandu en Inde serait un euphémisme, et pourtant, bien que vous ne trouverez jamais d’aliments considérés aussi immoraux que des œufs ou de la viande dans un réel restaurant hindou, le lait y est consommé par baquets entiers. Mesdames et messieurs, notre train s’arrêtera prochainement à New Delhi Station. Assurez-vous de n’avoir rien oublié à bord et profitez de votre journée. Je descend du métro qui m’amène de l’aéroport et ma respiration se bloque dans ma poitrine : tout autour de moi se répercutent des échos de chaos. Alors oui, parfois vous aurez l’impression que ce pays vous la met bien prof-inde, mais la magie qui s’en dégage est tout à fait inimaginable à l’étranger. Sagesse et volonté, goût et frisson, patience et persistance… ce sont certains de mes nouveaux souvenirs. Que dire ? Merci. Ça n’était pas facile tous les jours, mais, si l’on excepte les coliques semi-permanentes et les acouphènes, je peux dire que j’ai vraiment vécu l’aventure. Aucun autre pays ne m’avait laissée debout dans les bouses de vaches, seule, le sac sur le dos, sans la moindre idée de la direction dans laquelle je devrais me mettre en route, avec des essaims de tuktuks qui me tournent autour comme des requins affamés, et pour tout ça, je me sens étrangement reconnaissante. Mon premier et mon dernier jour ne sont en fait pas si différents, si ce n’est que mon sac et mon estomac se sont plutôt alourdis (il s’est avéré que le yoga ne compense pas les currys pleins d’huile). L’Inde n’est plus ce sous-continent asiatique effrayant, aux épices menaçantes mais peut-être plutôt un étrami : plus tout à fait un étranger, pas encore tout à fait un ami. La majorité du puzzle reste évidemment irrésolu, mais les holies couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel couvrent mon corps et d’épais relents d’encens se frayent un chemin jusqu’à mes narines : j’ai pu saisir un parfum de magie.

Tt.

[travelingactor]

Terrific Small Camping Stoves

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Under hiking, you will locate ultra light, single burner, tablet and other light weight fuels such as alcohol or propane and butane gasoline stoves. There are some ultra light two burner stoves, but they do weigh more. You may well be better with two, single burner stoves. Along with some of the very light fat stoves come in a kit type with a pan, lid and sauce pan, Some of the pans have graduated markings for more exotic cooking. One I have witnessed makes it possible for the stove to be folded up and fits under a pan which then fits within two other pans, therefore offering you a very light method if the pans are made of titanium or aluminum alloy. Some even are designed to hold heat and transfer it to the foods faster. Any are even Teflon coated to allow cooking with no a whole lot of washing.

Many organizations have a stove that fits on the prime of a gasoline canister. As a result you can effortlessly carry a canister for your cooking and for light, on a quick trip. These are light and easy to assemble. The pot and pans are typically separate. I have a light two burner stove that makes use of butane or propane. This stove enables for more cooking while being light weight. Thus bodyweight and space are crucial when we carry it, and further weight and more pans are a choice.

When we feel of camping stoves we look at the outdated camp internet site fire, that the old grizzled chief would prepare biscuits and gravy, or beans and other trail honest. With the advance to a safer setting, we have sought to construct a cooking machine that was both safe and practical. Coleman launched us to a stove that worked under strain, utilised white or un-leaded fuel and produced a excellent place to cook. Numerous other people have followed and a lot of different variations have been offered. Now we have the choice of many fuels, and programs. Some will burn up almost something. Some phone themselves multi-fuel while truly being very restricted. But most camp stoves will have one particular to two burners. Some have two burner heads, but both operate off the same fuel source. A single I know has a separate canister of fuel for each burner, thus you truly have two stoves in 1. But in a nut shell you have more cooking capability. They will boil water rapidly, have wind shields, some have variable burner controls to let simmer or max burner use. Some have a built-in-grill and other individuals have a detached grill that can be added. Yet another point you will locate is higher burner heads and cooking space, and the handle for both stove and pots will be produced so that they do not absorb heat, thus you can choose it up without burning your hand. Several of these stoves were tough to clean and sustain in the previous days (Last 12 months), but instances are altering and the techniques are enhanced virtually day-to-day. Like autos, a new model comes out virtually each yr. Some of the stainless versions are very straightforward to clean. Some use aluminum alloy or titanium which is very light and effortless to clean.

Thus the two burner stove has become a regular for the previous camp fire. The a single burner stoves are created more for individual use or for couples. This variety of one particular burners has so numerous stoves and so several fuels that it is very challenging to keep up with modifications and with the diverse fuels. Even new wood stoves are appearing which will not scorch the earth or depart a trace. The single burner also brings out the purest who seeks the best of cooking, with the lightest load and the smallest area and excess weight. There are even web sites where you will locate Zin Stoves and data for each along with fuels. If you are looking for the lightest and the best cookers, be certain and seem for these internet sites. They are not traps that will force you to a new religion, but genuinely some very good and thorough web sites about camp stoves, their use and the greatest for any provided scenario.

When we talk about cookers we are looking at stoves that can cook for lots of people are a whole lot of food at one particular time. There are higher BTU single burner stoves that can swift cook a turkey or 100 lbs of catfish. Camp Chief has built a 3 burner stove with each burner generating 30,000 BTU’s. This would cook a whole lot of food quickly, while allowing the cook to differ how much fuel he was making use of on each burner, and how significantly heat he required. Here we equal the restaurants as far as cooking capability. Also we see the stove in an outdoors surroundings which permits some selection in the meals ready and the varieties of spices utilised. Chili, comes to thoughts along with Catfish and some exotic brisket, hotdogs, hamburgers and a lot of other honest that have come about because of outdoor stoves and charcoal cookers that have been produced. Again require has essential a greater stove, not as transportable, but not fixed in the home. Years ago, Army National Guard Cooks in Louisiana were taking the old Korea war vintage water carriers, called water buffaloes, and were converting them into charcoal grills that could be hauled to anyplace, and unbelievable meals cooked. This was the early 1970’s. It was also a contained system. I have even witnessed some cooking on the street, while moving to a new internet site. Sounds more like right now.

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[thecaptainsdesk]

  Wherever you go around the world, you’re most likely to use public transport at some point. Once you get to the airport, taxis are normally the best option, especially if you have lots of heavy luggage. However, in most countries around the world – in my experience after 30 years of travelling – public transport is sorely lacking.

Here in the Philippines, it’s a very different story. I’ve travelled to every continent, and covered 132 countries, both as a tourist and a soldier, but in all of that time, there has never been a “public” transport system to match that in the Philippines. That’s not to say it is the same all over the country. There are many remote regions where public transport is not as good, such as remote areas of the provinces where people live miles apart, and riding your carabao (the Philippine domestic water buffalo) is still considered the fastest way to get around.

However, in the area where I live, in the Province of Laguna, public transport is unbelievable. Moreover, it is like that in almost every part of the country where there is a decent population. Everywhere I go around the world, I like to try out the public transport systems. From the rickshaws in India and Thailand (here we call them pedicabs or traysikels) to the dolmuşes of Turkey (a kind of minibus on a set route), I’ve tried them all. However, in none of the countries I have visited could you travel from door to door, on a motorized public transport vehicle, without walking more than a few yards. Here you can, and I will explain how later.

I use public transport here all the time, whether it is a journey north to Ilocos Sur, or a quick trip to bayan (town centre – pronounced buy-an) to get some groceries. After I first came here, I soon discovered that Filipinos drive like no-one else on the planet – with a complete disregard for any other road user, and an “I have the right of way” attitude that makes me want to blow up their car, with them in it! I had a few near misses in the first couple of years, driving the car, my motorbike, and my father-in-law’s traysikel, and finally decided that I was going to give up driving. Road rules are completely ignored, and it is not uncommon to have traffic driving contraflow and blocking the road for oncoming traffic, which they then blame for slowing them down. Safety first – let someone else drive!

Local Transport

So, let’s look at the forms of local transport we have here in the Philippines, and how each one works, both on its own and in conjunction with the other types of public transport.

Taxi

Metered taxis are common in Manila and most major provincial hubs. Flagdown fare starts at around P40, and a 15-minute trip rarely costs more than P150. Airport taxi fares usually start at a minimum of P70, then a per-kilometre charge.

Most taxi drivers will turn on the meter; if they don’t, politely request that they do. If the meter is “broken” or your taxi driver says the fare is “up to you”, the best strategy is to get out and find another cab (or offer a lower price). Rigged meters are also becoming more common, although it must be said that most taxi drivers are honest.

Though it’s not common, there have been cases of taxi passengers being robbed at gun or knife point, sometimes with the driver in cahoots with the culprits or the driver himself holding up the passengers. Get out of a cab straight away (in a secure populated area, of course, not in the middle of nowhere or in a slum area) if you suspect you’re being taken for a ride in more ways than one.

An alternative is to arrange a car and driver for the day – from P2000 to P4000 – through your hotel or another trustworthy source.

Uber

The Uber system of getting a car through an app on your smartphone has had major problems in the Philippines, as the whole concept of using a private vehicle for paying passengers is illegal. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has put a hold on new drivers, and wants Uber to disassociate themselves from drivers without proper documents.

Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) regulations state that in order to carry paying passengers, vehicles must have a commercial license plate, and carry insurance as well as the driver having a professional driving license. Uber drivers being able to continue in the Philippines is as yet uncertain. The costs are not that low either.

Light Rail/Manila Rail

Some parts of Manila are served by an elevated railway system, akin to rapid transit metro. Known locally as LRT-1 (the Green Line that runs north-south) and LRT-2 (the Blue Line that runs east-west), and MRT-3 (the Yellow Line, which runs along the north and south lanes of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, known locally as EDSA), these three railway lines transport more than 1.25 million passengers a day.

The major benefit of the LRT and MRT lines is the speed at which you can get from one part of Metro Manila to another. With Metro Manila comprising of 16 cities and the municipality of Pateros, this huge metropolis, known collectively as National Capital Region, covers an area of 619.5 km2. To complete the journey along EDSA by bus or car, from south to north, would normally take 4-5 hours, due to the immense volume of traffic.

The main drawback of the LRT and MRT lines is the crowded carriages. No matter what station you get on, chances are you will be standing the entire trip, and crushed up together with hundreds of other commuters.

Jeepney

The first jeepneys were modified army jeeps left behind by the Americans after WWII. They have been customised with Filipino touches such as chrome horses, banks of coloured headlights, radio antennae, paintings of the Virgin Mary and neon-coloured scenes from action comic books, as well as national flags and scenes from different countries, depending on the work location of the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) that paid for the jeepney.

Jeepneys form the main urban transport in most cities and complement the bus services between regional centres. The starting fare is usually P8, rising modestly for trips outside the primary distance allowed for that P8 fare. Routes are clearly written on the side of the jeepney, and signs in the windscreen show what locations the jeepney will pass through.

Jeepneys have a certain quirky, cultural appeal, but from a tourist’s perspective, they have one humongous flaw: you can barely see anything through the narrow open slats that pass as windows. The best seats are up front next to the driver.

Again, in most places, jeepneys can fill up fast, especially during rush hours, and sitting cramped with 10 other people on each side of the jeepney is normal. Drivers try to cram as many people in as possible, to get the maximum possible fare, and some passengers are even hanging on to the back, while standing on the step or the rear fender, although this is technically illegal. In more remote areas, it is common for jeepneys to have a roof full of passengers.

I have to say it, jeepneys are one of my favourite forms of public transport here, and I love to commute around the country. Although I can drive, I don’t like to here, and it’s much nicer to let someone else worry about the traffic while we watch the world go by through the small “windows”.

Traysikel

Found in most cities and towns, the traysikel (pronounced try-see-kell) is the Philippine rickshaw – a little, roofed sidecar bolted to a motorcycle. The standard fare for local trips in most provincial towns is P8, which goes up piso by piso the further you get from the pickup point. Traysikels that wait around in front of malls, restaurants and hotels will attempt to charge five to ten times that for a “special” trip, which is like hiring the whole vehicle. Avoid these by standing roadside and flagging down a passing P8 tricycle.

The general rule is, if you flag down a passing traysikel it is single fare only. And they will normally slow down to ask where you are going as they go past. If they don’t, it usually means they are going home or are probably not for hire. Travelling on a traysikel can also be done from a terminal. Just like buses and jeepneys, traysikels have terminals (or should if they are franchised, although some “colorum” traysikels just roam around without the correct plates or licenses picking up passengers along the way). A trip from the terminal, unless you ask for the “special” trip, will cost a single fare.

For example, if I get a traysikel from bayan to the house, it’s P13 if it’s shared. The “special” costs me P52, the price of four normal passengers. Prices can vary from terminal to terminal, so it’s best to always ask the fare before you ride. Traysikels are my other favourite form of public transport here, and the drivers work hard to make enough to feed their families, but they will rarely try and rip you off, even as foreign visitors. If the single fare in your shared traysikel is P8, that’s what you’ll pay.

You can also charter tricycles for about P300 per hour or P150 per 10km if you’re heading out of town.

Pedicabs

Many towns also have non-motorised push tricycles, alternately known as Pedicabs or padyak, for shorter trips. Padyak is a the Tagalog word for stomping or forcefully stepping, which is the action used by the drivers when they are pedaling a pedicab with passengers.

Fares are really cheap, sometimes as much as a few pesos less that traysikels, but they will only go short distances. Many open subdivisions (our kind of housing estate) have Pedicabs at the entrance, as well as dotted around inside, for resident’s convenience.

Habal-habal

In the mountain barangays or in the countryside where roads are steep and unpaved, Filipinos always find ways to make things faster and easier to navigate. So, motorcycles are turned into motor-taxis to replace carabaos as a mode of transport.

The normal motorcycle or motorbike is enough only for a passenger and a driver. However, the “habal-habal” motorcycle can carry 2 to 8 passengers (if installed with wooden wings). They are most common in the Visayas and northern Mindanao, although the motorcycle taxi is making inroads in Metro Manila in recent years, just taking only one passenger at a time.

ONLY IN MINDANAO. A motorcycle with 6 passengers ply the Pagalungan highway in Maguindanao province on June 8, 2012 MindaNews photo by Ruby Thursday More

In some areas in the Visayas and Mindanao, “habal-habal” is the term used to call a motorcycle-taxi where the driver and the passengers are in “habal” (animal) position. “Habal” is a Bisayan term that literally means “the sexual (act) intercourse of animals” but now, it seems like the meaning has evolved to mean the mode of transportation… probably due to the “intimate” way passengers are crammed together behind the driver.

Kalesa

A kalesa (also known as caritela or karitela) is a horse-drawn calash used in the Philippines. It was one mode of transportation introduced to the islands in the 18th century by the Spanish, and was initially reserved for only nobles and high-ranking civic officials. These are rarely used in the streets today, except in the tourist-frequented areas of old cities and some rural areas.

A kalesa looks like an inclined cart, and is drawn by a single horse. It has two round wheels on each side and two rows of seats that can accommodate four persons. The driver sits on a block of wood located at the front of the cart near the horse.

Although the kalesa has become a rarity, century-old examples are still preserved in areas of the Philippines, such as in Vigan and Laoag. Kalesas can also be found in Intramuros, where they cater to tourists and Binondo in Manila, as well as in Iligan, where decorated kalesas can be taken for a ride along a specific street. In Cagayan, kalesas are common, especially in Tuao and other municipalities of the province. In Tuguegarao, the carriages are a part of the traffic along with private cars, motorcycles, tricycles, jeepneys, trucks, and bicycles.

Bus & Van

Philippine buses come in all shapes and sizes. Bus depots are dotted throughout towns and the countryside, and most buses will stop if you wave them down. Bus “terminals” also run the gamut. Some are well-secured large garage-like structures with destinations clearly signposted and even ticket booths, whereas others are nothing more than a few run-down outdoor sheds with drivers clamouring for your business. I have even known some locally that are “terminals” in the car park of the local Jollibee or SM Mall.

More services run in the morning – buses on unsealed roads may only run in the morning, especially in remote areas. Night services, including deluxe 27-seaters, are common between Manila and major provincial hubs in Luzon, and in Mindanao.

In NCR, there are normally two kinds of buses. The air-conditioned buses, with closed windows and cool, have their refreshing AC running at close to freezing all the time, while the “ordinary” buses are open, old and amazingly fast. Whereas the AC buses run along the highways almost following the road rules, the “ordinary” buses, which have no air-con except the open windows and rust holes, race along at breathtaking speeds, changing lanes at the drop of a hat, and not slowing down for anyone or anything smaller than them.

While it is nice to ride the AC buses in the hotter weather here, the “ordinary” buses have more character, are cheaper, and often get you there faster, unless it is rush hour in Manila. They look and sound as if they are about to fall apart, but I’ve not ridden on one that has… yet! And when they are going at speed, the open windows give you a cooling breeze, even if it is smog-filled from traffic fumes.

When riding the buses in Manila, especially the “ordinary” ones, be aware of the fares from place to place. It pays to listen to where the people around you are going, to know how much the ride will be, as the conductors will often add a little “surcharge” to foreigners who don’t know the fares. In more than a year of daily trips from Laguna to Makati, I was often told the fare was P10 more than it actually was.

Air-con minivans shadow bus routes in many parts of the Philippines (especially NCR, Bicol, Leyte, Cebu, Palawan and Mindanao) and in some cases have replaced buses altogether. However, you may have to play a waiting game until the vehicles are full. While they are a lot faster,  they are not allowed to stop anywhere in Metro Manila, unlike the jeepneys, and there are many that are run illegally, with private use plates instead of commercial plates.

Door-to-door Service

As I mentioned earlier, the Philippines is the only place I know where you can go door-to-door without walking more than a few yards. And I said I would explain how, so here it is.

The best example is going from my house, inside a subdivision, to my wife’s tita (aunt) who lives in Parañaque, Metro Manila.

From my house, I can get a traysikel just outside the house to the main highway. Since I live inside a subdivision, a little village of sorts inside the city limits, traysikels often drop passengers off inside, and then go back out. Since they are often not part of the TODA (Traysikel Operators and Drivers Association) for that subdivision or barangay, they cannot go to the nearest terminal, and will pick up roadside passengers along the way, to maximize their income for the trip.

From where I get dropped on the highway, I can get a jeepney across the road to take me to Alabang, in Muntinlupa, which drops off inside Starmall.

The terminal for the buses going all over NCR is right outside, and I can get on one that says “Ayala Ibabaw” on the signs in the windscreen. Conductors are always touting for passengers, and will help with which bus you need to take for people who are not sure.

The bus route takes me all the way to Parañaque along SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) and Metro Manila Skyway, and drops off at the Sucat exit.

Cross the road, and I get a jeepney going to San Isidro, which is a single fare price of P8. Get down from the jeepney at the BPI Bank at Greenheights Ave, and cross the road, to the compound where my wife’s tita lives.

The return journey is much the same. A jeepney going past the road outside the compound will take me back down to the Sucat exit, where I can jump on the first bus back to San Pedro, Laguna. Both AC and “ordinary” buses run the route, and there are hundreds of them going that way looking for passengers. (Alternatively, I can get the bus back to Starmall, and do the journey exactly backwards, but I prefer to get a bus all the way to San Pedro.)

At San Pedro, a jeepney passing by can take me into bayan, and drops off around 20 yards from the traysikel terminal for my subdivision. Another P8 fare for this part of the trip.

From the terminal in bayan, the traysikel takes me back to the subdivision, as a shared ride for only P13, and I can direct the driver on which turns to take to get to my house, though since most of them know me from the terminal, I often don’t need to direct them.

What about the other passengers in the traysikel? Well, it’s the norm here for traysikels to carry rideshare passengers (see, we had rideshare and pool vehicles years before Uber!), and there is a courtesy to let the closest one out first, even if it means travelling through many streets to get to your own house after dropping them off.

Another thing that we have with the traysikels is service. Traysikel drivers are some of the nicest people you can meet here, and will gladly carry your shopping bags and sacks of rice to your door, and even inside (if you don’t have nasty, biting dogs like I have), for no extra charge.

So, if you are thinking of coming to the Philippines, try to travel on the local public transport, and experience commuting the Filipino way. It really is “More Fun in the Philippines”.

Travel in the Philippines – Commuting like a Local Wherever you go around the world, you’re most likely to use public transport at some point. Once you get to the airport, taxis are normally the best option, especially if you have lots of heavy luggage.

[arplis]

Arplis - News: 15 Top Clothes Shelves

GFYWZ Retro Clothing racks On the wall Clothing store Hanger Hang clothes Shelf Clothes Display stand

GFYWZ Retro Clothing racks On the wall Clothing store Hanger Hang clothes Shelf Clothes Display stand -Delivery date 10-30 days. Size length 120 width 30cm. Description high-pressure style, slide and full of simple meaning, interpretation of the subtle romantic feelings, the eternal existence. Craft handmadeapplicable men and women clothing store, family cloakroom. Material high toughness quality iron.

Closet Organizer Storage Rack Portable Clothes Hanger Home Garment Shelf Rod G68

Closet Organizer Storage Rack Portable Clothes Hanger Home Garment Shelf Rod G68 -Sturdy silver coated steel frame with durable resin connectors. Get organized with free-standing closet, featuring dual hanging rods and 5 shelves. Easy to assemble measures 45 by 19 by 68 inches (wxdxh). Hanging rods support full-sized jackets as well as fabric shelf towers. Center hanging rod is removable for longer garments.

Simple and modern hangers standing coat rack in the Foyer floor bedroom creative fashion clothes shelf racks,White

Simple and modern hangers standing coat rack in the Foyer floor bedroom creative fashion clothes shelf racks,White -Sheet smooth, beautiful surface, super-density, waterproof and strong. Paint a new upgrade, resistance to color, anti-skid marks, anti-flooding, more environmentally friendly. To prevent wrinkling clothes, foyer, living room, bedroom, balcony placed at random. Thicker thick pillars, laminates, bearing more powerful. Simple style easy to ride, always easy to match your home improvement style.

S Hook 360 Degree Rotation Multifunction Clothes Hanger Hooks Kitchen Dishcloth Shelf Hanger

S Hook 360 Degree Rotation Multifunction Clothes Hanger Hooks Kitchen Dishcloth Shelf Hanger -Hook can be adjusted at any angle, various functions, simple and practical. Package contains three items. It is a good tool to make your home tidy and organized. Length130mm/51 inch small hook diameter23mm/1 inch large hook diameter28mm/11 inch. Material abs resin color random.

WOLTU Double-rail Garment Rack Clothes Rack on Wheels with 2 Tiers Storage Shelves

WOLTU Double-rail Garment Rack Clothes Rack on Wheels with 2 Tiers Storage Shelves -Maximum rear higher tubular steel657 (167cm),maximum front lower tubular steel59 (150cm). Space saver, this rack is tall enough to fit their costumes without the bottoms of the costumes touching the flooryou could also add a couple of bins or shoes for the accessories on the bottom of the rack. Maximum product size (lxwxh) 31 x 153 x 657(785 x 39 x 167 cm). Durable- made of durable stainless steel clad pipe, high quality grey abs&pp plastic partsgood weight bearing about 55 lbs while static. Classic wheels design, 4 wheels, 2 of them with brake, make this whole rack convenient to move and stay still.

fengg2030shann Plastics clothing rack clothing clothes child support clothing hanging dry clothes frame household clothing shelves clothes child support slip hanging clothes shelves. Clothes ha

fengg2030shann Plastics clothing rack clothing clothes child support clothing hanging dry clothes frame household clothing shelves clothes child support slip hanging clothes shelves. Clothes ha -Support clothes hangers hangers child support material plastic length 41cm.

Artmoon Buffalo Heavy Duty Steel Clothes Rail Closet on Wheels with 2 Shelves and Cover

Artmoon Buffalo Heavy Duty Steel Clothes Rail Closet on Wheels with 2 Shelves and Cover -Heavy duty clothes rail, 2 shelves, 1 hanging rail, cover holds up to 50 kg. Nonwoven beige dust protective cover with two zippers and fixing velcros for easy access. Made of chrome plated steel water resistant, reliable and sturdy. 4 rotating wheels for easy movement (2 with stoppers). Dimensions 75x45xh150 cm.

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 5-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Brown

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 5-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Brown -5 spacious & easily access shelves equipped with 5 shelving units measuring 12 l x 115 w x 84 h each, this hanging closet organizer offers ample space for storing clothing and accessories like sweaters, towels, pajamas and hats, maximizing vertical space usage in your closet the open design gives you a quick access to each category. 2 sturdy velcros on the top maidmax hanging sweater organizer comes with 2 extra-wide velcros, which fit most closet rods and help secure the shelf firmly by providing strong support for the weight underneath. Additional mesh side pockets 4 mesh pockets on the both sides of this hanging accessory storage shelf provides you additional space for storing small items like ties, belts, gloves and socks no need to search for the missing piece any more. User and eco friendly non-woven fabric this hanging shelf is made with non-woven fabric, which is soft, breathable and non-irritating, protecting both your hands and clothes besides, its a recyclable material which wont do much harm to the environment. Collapsible design the foldable feature of this closet shelf organizer means that its space-saving and convenient to take along you could simply fold it up when you dont use it or when you need it for travel use.

Asatr Portable Rolling 3-Tier Wire Shelving Clothes Shelf Garment Rack + Side Hooks + Wheels Type 1(US Stock)

Asatr Portable Rolling 3-Tier Wire Shelving Clothes Shelf Garment Rack + Side Hooks + Wheels Type 1(US Stock) -To make the smart life easier and advocate environmental protectionthat means starting with affordable, high-quality gear and ending with a commitment to 100% user satisfaction after all, were customers too. No any rusting issues, no high humidity, there are 4 types for your choice heavy duty garment rack with 1 or 2 clothes hanging bar and 1 or 2 side hanger for hanging coat, hat, bag, etc. This shelving system is built with a heavy duty durable and adjust steel construction, allowing the every each tier hold up about almost 400lbs, 133lbs per shelfthis type of rack is great for guests who need a place to hang and shelve clothing, as well as for use as a spare clothing closet, so dont worry about it will not load too much. 3-tier large organizing clothes hanging rack with wheels,side hooks includedadjustable leveling feet for your needs to store different sized itemsthis durable shelving is the ideal storage solution for organization your bedroom. Durable and sturdy you can store a large amount of clothing on the two racks the hooks on the side provide additional ways to store the bottom racks are perfect for shoes.

Generic YC-US2-160411-93 Rod USrtable Clot Portable Clothes Closet Organizer Hanger Home Garment Storage Rack Shelf Rod US Closet Orga

Generic YC-US2-160411-93 Rod USrtable Clot Portable Clothes Closet Organizer Hanger Home Garment Storage Rack Shelf Rod US Closet Orga -5x67. 3 package included 1 x closet. Description double rod closet offers you a sturdy option for creating garment and accessory storage durable environmental friendly chrome plated tubing made with black coated steel and heavy duty resin connectors strong enough and light enough to move store and organize your wardrobe efficiently use these for sweaters, hats, gloves, purses shoes and even totes hanging rods support full-sized jackets as well as fabric shelf towers center hanging rod is removable for longer garments easy to assemble 2 hanging bars 5 small wire closet shelves and two large shelves size 45x17.

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 6-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Beige

Closet Hanging Shelf, MaidMAX 6-Shelf Collapsible Hanging Accessory Organizer with 2 Widen Velcros for Clothes and Shoes Storage for Gift, Beige -6 spacious & easily access shelves equipped with 6 shelving units measuring 115 w x 12 l x 85 h each, 51 inches high totally, this hanging closet organizer offers ample space for storing clothing and accessories like sweaters, towels, pajamas and hats, maximizing vertical space usage in your closet the open design gives you a quick access to each category. User & eco-friendly non-woven fabric this hanging shelf is made with non-woven fabric, which is soft, breathable and non-irritating, protecting both your hands and clothes its also a recyclable material which wont do much harm to the environment. Collapsible design the foldable feature of this closet shelf organizer means that its space-saving and convenient to take along you could simply fold it up when you dont use it or when you need it for travel use. 2 sturdy velcros on the top maidmax hanging sweater organizer comes with 2 extra-wide velcros, which fit standard closet rods and help secure the shelf firmly by providing strong support for the weight underneath. Multipurpose for various settings this closet shelf organizer is not only designed for home use its portable and slim design makes it perfect for applying in places where room is limited like a dorm or a travel trailer with a maximum weight load of 2kg (44lb) each, its ideal for storing sweaters, shirts, pajamas, baby clothing, towels, blankets, accessories, etc.

12 Cube Closet Organizer, Garage Storage Racks Sets, Shelf Cabinet, Panels and Units for Books, Plants, Toys, Shoes, Clothes, for Bedroom & Living Room (Yellow)

12 Cube Closet Organizer, Garage Storage Racks Sets, Shelf Cabinet, Panels and Units for Books, Plants, Toys, Shoes, Clothes, for Bedroom & Living Room (Yellow) -Strong and sturdy design- made from select high-quality steel, environmentally-friendly resin and plastic connectors it is strong enough to handle whatever you throw at it this portable storage closet will meet your long term storage needs. Multi-function storage and display, interlocking cubes giving you multiple stacking options,great for office, dorm or childrens room. Spacious multi-function storage closet- not just for clothes can store books, shoes, kids toys, you name it ample room offers enough space for both longer outfits and folded clothes, for easy access to whatever you choose to store. Quick and easy assembly, assembly is tool-free and takes mere minutes,included 43 grid panels and 40 plastic connectors,comes with a wooden hammer in the package. Dustproof & waterproof doors- each cube features a door which can keep your items sealed away from dust and humidity manufactured with durable steel and dirt-proof, easy-to-clean resin for easy maintenance and care.

Hanging Closet Organizer Set Includes Hanging 4-Shelf, 6-Shelf and 20 Pocket Shoe Storage Set Space Saving Design for Bedroom Closet Organization Store Clothes & Shoes -3 Piece Set

Hanging Closet Organizer Set Includes Hanging 4-Shelf, 6-Shelf and 20 Pocket Shoe Storage Set Space Saving Design for Bedroom Closet Organization Store Clothes & Shoes -3 Piece Set -20-pocket hanging shoe storage features 20 pockets and 3 reversible s shape hooks each pockets are large enough to fit most shoes, flats, or sandals made of durable non-woven material and measures 53 x 22 inches. 4-shelf hanging organizer made of durable non-woven fabric, the 4-shelf hanging organizer hangs on standard closet rods and utilizes vertical space in your wardrobe as extra space-saving storage collapsible for easy storage when not in use measures 35 x 125 x 12 inches. Hanging closet organization set is the perfect space-saving storage solution for storing clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, and other odds and ends reinforced for great load bearing ability quick and easy set up. Bundle set includes 1x 4-shelf hanging organizer, 1x 6-shelf hanging organizer, and 1x 20-pocket hanging shoe storage. 6-shelf hanging organizer the 6-shelf hanging organizer boasts roomy shelves for storing clothes, shoes and accessories makes for a great closet organization idea for limited spaces to keep things neat and organized collapsible and measures 35 x 65 x 12 inches.

Bold stainless steel hanger multi functional drying racks adult clothes hanging anti skid clothes shelves,4MM-45cm,20

Bold stainless steel hanger multi functional drying racks adult clothes hanging anti skid clothes shelves,4MM-45cm,20 -Commodity gross weight 13kg. Material stainless steel. Hanger category hanger. Category hangers.

Unique Adjustable Rolling Corner Clothes Rack With Mesh Shelves

Unique Adjustable Rolling Corner Clothes Rack With Mesh Shelves -5w x 21d and includes 2 sturdy mesh shelves. Practical corner rolling rack is ideal for storing clothes, handbags, shoes, hats and more. Our unique adjustable rolling corner clothes rack with mesh shelves is a must have for those with limited storage space. 3h x 27. Chrome metal each measures 44 to 65. Includes 4 casters for easy movement. Arplis - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Arplis-News/~3/2nB482fhB0c/15-top-clothes-shelves

[markmceachran]

Everything Goes Wrong / Killing Spree

Angel’s head was once again in agony. It was like the concussion had revisited the worst pain upon him. His head was cloudy, vision blurry and he couldn’t move. Breaths were difficult and painful to take, ribs had been broken. He started to move a little, but couldn’t pull his arms out in front of him. Something had then bound behind his back. Through his blurry vision he could make out shapes, maybe people, in front of him, but it was dark. What light there was flickered and moved around. It was torches. The floor was cold and damp, his face pressed down against it. Legs were stretched out before him, bound to one another. Dry air scratched down his throat with every breath, and pressed out against his ribs. He kept is breaths shallow. His nose was clogged, full of blood and snot and possibly broken. Angel couldn’t be sure, his mind was not all there.

Visions of what had happened started to form inside his head. He remembered taking off from the Tevatron. He retraced his path from the Hanger in reverse, dangling the hunk of metal and rare-earth elements below. The expectation was that The Dragon would be spotted somewhere along the way. They had damaged the helicopter, after all, which left it spewing a smoke trail. It should have been easy to track.

There was no sign of them: no footprints, no burned out buildings, nothing. Even as they hovered over the hanger they could see nothing that suggested that The Dragon were even there. The dead were gone. The smattering of tracks around the hangar, nonexistent. Only a helicopter-sized hole in the top of the hangar showed them evidence that what they had experience over the last three days was real.

Three passengers in the helicopter left the scene baffled, and terrified. Their plan was to head back to Jim’s building, drop off the magnet, get it connected to the cooling system, and fire up the laser. It was predicated on the idea that their would-be assassins would be in the middle of the desert between the city and the Tevatron. They should have followed.

“They should have followed,” Jim said into his headset.

“They didn’t follow,” Angel replied. “Why didn’t they follow, Jim?”

“Maybe they gave up.”

“They walked all the way from the outskirts of Toronto to get here, Jim. They had us surrounded. They should be ravenous, not deterred.”

Jim grumbled something into the mic that stuck out like a twig from the hard-shelled audio ear-muffs and shook his head.

Angel passed over the rail yard to see the earlier battlefield. The demolished train car was there, as was Jim’s working train, parked right where they left it. None of it made any sense. The Dragon had a train. They had a really good vector on where the helicopter was going. They had options, and it looked as if they took none of them. It was as if they had vanished from the Earth.

“What now?” Angel said.

“We carry on. We don’t have enough information to do anything else.”

Up they soared ever so gently, Angel was still suffering quite a bit. The blades chirped away from the outside, overwhelmed by the engine noise on the inside. They were heading straight to Jim’s building.

* * *

“Angel, Hope?” Jim was regaining conciousness as well. His body faired better than Angel’s. A head-bleed that had already clotted, a broken arm, and a slight puncture wound in his abdomin that left a stain of dried blood on his plaid shirt.

“Hey Jim,” Angel said, still laying on the floor. “I think we have company.”

“Yeah. They were waiting for us.”

“I still think this is a terrible plan.”

“Lookin’ that way, bud.”

The Dragon were waiting for them at the building. As the helicopter hovered over the top floor, it gently set the magnet down. Hope slipped out to cut the cargo loose with her blade. It wasn’t the best way to drop the load, but without someone on the ground it was the only way they could do it. She clung to the landing rail and swung her nimble body so that she could reach the loosened cargo strap and cut through it. Just as the tether feathered its way toward the top of the building a beam of light slid across the bottom of the bird, carving a surface scar into the metal. It reached a spot within the radius of the propeller and stabilized on the blades as they spun about. They were sheared by a third, flinging the outer edges toward another nearby tower. The projectile metal swords stabbed into the building in a cluster, as if thrown by a dart champion.

Without the tips of its wings, the machine lost most of its loft. At first it fell slowly. Angel and Jim gasped for air while hope clung for dear life to the bottom of the machine. With the little control Angel had he tried to get to the edge of the building as not to land the whole machine on top of Hope. She managed to let go and drop onto the roof of the building as the machine slid through the air, down below the top floor. It was practically flying sideways, Angel was trying to save what little he had left of the blades and get some distance between the machine and the building before attempting to correct the flight profile.

Chirping blade sounds were replaced with an engine that was overrevving and a high-pitched whine caused by the uneven edges cutting through the air. With a little luck the machine moved away from the building and Angel leveled it out, but could do nothing to prevent the eventual meeting with the ground. He held the stick far over to one side to slow the increasing rotation speed of the machine. Without the full torque of the blades, the counter-rotation gearing to the rear rotor could only compensate so much.

There was no time to talk to Jim about how to crash in a helicopter, no time to regret not having parachutes, not that there was time to put them on. They only had time to fall, and for Angel to do his best to control the machine and coax whatever loft he could out of their shortened blades. Angel hoped that the sand was still soft, that it would absorb some of the force that was about to drop down on it. The storm wasn’t but a few days prior. The sand doesn’t completely settle. It’ll be alright, he thought.

* * *

The moving, flickering light was emitting some murmurs and whispers now. One of the whispers was a word Angel could just barely make out, “Hope.” He tried to look over at Jim, he tried to pull himself up. He could do neither. Every part of his body hurt, and what parts didn’t hurt very much were just numb from him laying on them.

“How long, Jim?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Could have been awhile. I’ve got dried blood on me already.”

“We crashed.”

“Wasn’t your fault. Or maybe it was. I blame you for my survival,” Jim joked, because what else could he do. He was bound on the floor just like Angel. They tied his hands in front of him to account for his broken arm, but they tethered them to his legs to prevent him from trying to hop away like an idiot. Joking was the only pleasure he had, and he needed some with all the pain he was in. His old body was bruised and sore.

Angel’s head was clearing and his eyesight grew sharper. He could make out figures of men with torches, and singed bar, half-burned curtains in front of a dented metal door. It was Jim’s bar. This was poetic for Angel, in a way. Hope and Cindy were sitting at the bar just as things started to go sideways. Maybe it wasn’t their fault, he thought. Of course it wasn’t their fault. They’re not maurading maniacs bent on destroying what’s left of humanity. Those two are just a couple of girls who fell in with the wrong crowd. He had heard the real history of how they got tangled up with The Dragon, but liked his shorthand version to be more playful.

He was beginning to understand how Hope initially worked her way into the good graces of The Dragon. She can be gentle when she wants to be, and probably when she has to be. Cindy’s involvement was obvious, why would you ever cast off a doctor. Medical care had gone way downhill since the fall of society.

Not that any of this understanding would likely matter. Angel was ready to accept his fate. This one-eyed Dragon was going to clobber him in the head again and put an end to his life. He’ll leave the face intact so that he can bring my severed head back to Tynon and show him how he killed the betrayer. Fair enough. I wonder if I’d be enough. Maybe if I tell him that I killed those men in Buffalo, and I shot the laser through the two at the hangar, would that be enough, would he leave Hope and Cindy and Jim alone? Or at the very least just kill me and Jim and call it a day?

Angel had nothing to lose. He was bound, bloodied and broken, fated to die under almost any circumstance. Perhaps going out in some noble fashion would help the world a little bit, help Hope and help Cindy and the women at the Tevatron. Put that out of your head, Angel. Don’t give up anything about the Tevatron and what’s going on there.

“Derrrrng!” the elevator shattered the quiet and mumbling in the bar. The doors did not open.

After a minute the slow, uneven grind of the doors on the tracks revealed that it was more than just a glitch. “Blerrasshhhhhhhhhhhhhhck!” said the garbled, deteriorated voice that matched the condition of its owner.

“Remind me to disconnect that,” Jim said. “She used to have such a lovely voice, but now she’s just some kind of mutant hiding in the speakerbox.”

Shuffling feet emerged from the elevator box. It was not the sharp clicking that one would expect to accompany evil, it was quiet, measured, and slow. Once the feet came to a halt the clicking actually did start up. It was not footstep, though. It was the sound of a skilled killer tapping on the ground. Not the man, but his club. It had seen blood, and bone, and muscle, and brain. It was a devious device put to devious purposes, weilded by a one-eyed maniac who was getting better and better at weilding it.

The torches and the mumbling in the background were silenced by the entry of this new person. They gathered close to Angel and Jim on the ground putting more light into the area allowing Angel to see clearly their adversary, the one-eyed man who bashed him on the head at the hangar.

“That’s the one, Jim. That’s the guy that got me,” Angel said.

“Ah, yeah. He’s only got the one eye, unless he’s just trying to be a pirate.”

Angel laughed, and whinced in pain from his ribs.

Neither Jim nor Angel had been tortured before. They didn’t know what kind of pain the one-eyed Dragon was thinking about inflicting upon them. The laughter they were experiencing would likely be the last bit of pleasure they would extract from the situation. As the room brightened with the torchlight, their chances of survival dimmed. This man was like no adversary they had ever even heard of. Their experience with The Dragon had been relatively benign compared to what was about to happen. They rightfully did not expect a sadist to be standing before them, so they joked.

They joked.

* * *

Hope watched it go down. She managed to swing from the bottom of the propellered machine and land on the roof of the building. It was one of those things that she had imagined she might be able to do in a dream, if she repeated the dream over and over again until she got it right. She hadn’t dreamed about this. She didn’t even think about this. Pure instict drove her to escape the falling machine even if it meant a mid-air swing hundreds of feet in the air. With subconcious confidence in her own body’s ability her instincts pushed her, like a father pushing a daughter in a swing. There was no choice, her body just did it.

Landing on the roof hurt. She was fortunate to be left with only scrapes and bruises given the awkward way she hit. It knocked the wind out of her lungs, leaving her gasping as she moved to the edge. She had to see the machine go down, to know if they made it.

It was all in slow motion. Tragedies often unfold at what seems like half-speed. She knew the machine would hit the ground; she was expecting it. As she watched Angel’s fantastic maneuvers that righted the bird during its descent, she didn’t realize that she couldn’t hear it, or anything. She was watching in silent as her mind shut out everything else except the vision of the helicopter falling out of the sky. A gasp of air, a dropped jaw, eyes welling up with tears, she lay there on the roof, head peeking over the side.

With a puff of sand and scattered metal, it hit the ground. What was left of the propeller continued to spin, but at an odd angle, as if it had become dislodged from the rest of the machine somehow. The tail was touching the ground and the booms were sticking up at odd angles.

For awhile there was no movement, nothing from the bird, nothing from the area around it. The sound of the quiet wind slowly emerged from the background and filled Hope’s ears once again. Then the voices came, not from the roof, but from the ground. The Dragon came, some from across the bridge and others from the building below. She waited and watched. Short of jumping from the building and having enough luck to land on one of them, she could do nothing for Angel and Jim at the moment, so she watched.

They dragged two limp bodies out of the machine and laid them on the sand. One of them purched over each body, examining them. She couldn’t make out any words, just the noises of men’s voices. As they dragged the bodies toward the building she had no idea if they were dead or alive, but in that moment she decided that she was going to find out.

A familiar rage awoke in Hope. It was the same feeling she felt when she killed the two Dragon in the helicopter so many weeks ago, rooted in her anguish from when they raided the medical camp, killing so many, but it was more complicated than that. She was angry at them, and angry at herself. She became the lover of the man who ordered the raid, the man who ordered her own capture. Her heart was burning with fire on both sides. The flames her chest and burned across her body, extending all the way to her fingertips. On her right she held the despise of the wicked men who have caused so much pain, on the left the grief and self loathing that accompanied the powerlessness of her situation, and how she found enough power in selfishness and self preservation that ultimately resulted in the betrayal of all those around her.

She was disgusted, angry, resentful, despised, rotten inside, and the rot was now burning out the puss and stink of her soul. Arms shaking, palms sweaty, she was ready. The fire in her heart energized her body. She had the strength of two men running through her, and the cunning of the finest killer The Dragon could bring forth. A rampage was coming like these killers had never seen.

Her mind filled with visions of killing them one by one. She imagined sneaking up on one from behind and stabbing him in the throat, holding his limbs until his brain drained of blood. An impaled skull awaited the next one, and the one after that would take a few kicks to the groin before she dispatched him by twisting his head around. Hope had all sorts of colorful ways to kill these men, and she was going to try each one.

Kills 1 & 2

Two Dragon stared out the blown out window of the garden, keeping watch over the activity by the helicopter. If they spotted anything unusual it was one man’s job to call the elevator and deliver the message to Jacko. The other man stayed behind to keep watch and relay the information to the messenger upon his return, and repeat the process. Jacko’s plan appeared to be working to that point, so there was for the men to do except watch.

They didn’t hear Hope slip through the stairwell door. The howling wind across the open windows kept them from hearing her tie off the cargo strap to the drain pipe behind them. Enamored by the vision of the shattered flying machine below, they didn’t notice her sneaking up behind them.

It wasn’t until the first man was noosed and kicked out the window that they noticed her at all. He fell 30 feet before the tether was taught and the noose tightened around his neck. It wasn’t as satisfying a kill as she had hoped. She didn’t hear the neck snap or any screams from him, just a grunt when she kicked him in the back and some scuffling of his feet on the ground when he tried to regain his balance. She enjoyed imagining his last thoughts, his terror and panic at the thought of the ground rising up to meet him, and the sadness at the sound of his own snapping neck. Would he know he was dead, or would it all just go dark? This idea gave her some pleasure, some relief from the burning in her heart. His death, however, was but a drop of water, a splash onto the fire. It reignited quickly.

The second man gave her a close kill. He saw his friend fly out the window followed by a slack, yellow cargo strap that chased him from behind. His eyes traced the strap’s route backward and met the vision of a woman with her leg slowly retracted from its forceful kick. He felt fear, and Hope could see it on his face, and he could see the rage on hers. She was not tall, but in that momen she was taller than he. His body grew small and week in the face of her impending slaughter. There was no fight in this man, he was paralyzed.

Hope imagined another version of herself taking pity on this man. He would see her softening and soften himself, dropping his club, dropping his guard. She would bind him to the drain pipe with the cargo strap and come back for him later. He would become her prisoner and, after awhile, she would free him after she felt he had served his sentence. They would go on living, never becoming friends, but not staying enemies either. He would live.

Someday she wondered if that version of her would ever replace the killer. Years from now, when the world begins to right itself, maybe, but not today. This Hope gave him no mercy. His throat was slashed before the noose tightened around the other man’s neck. The gasping of air, the choking on blood, these sounds gave her more satisfaction. Her fire cooled for a moment. She closed her eyes to feel it and inhaled deeply, growing strong in the process.

As the heat returned she clenched her fists and tightened her jaw. She had more work to do before this fire would go out. It might not even be completely extinguished when she finished. She would be satisfied to leave it smoldering, even if only for awhile.

Kill 3

“Dinnnnnnnnnnnck,” went the bell on the 35th floor. The door opened on the opposite side of the elevator shaft. Whoever was on it couldn’t see how Hope had desecrated the two scouts. He would not suspect.

She slinked up to the rear of the elevator’s column and listened. The man called out to his friends, but recieved no answer. He walked around one side, she moved to the corner and waited. He called out again, still no answer. The fool, he arrived at the corner of the shaft where she was waiting, and he looked away. This fool of a man was looking the other way, unlike any other normal human. It was as if he didn’t want to see her. A fleeting sensation of dismay brushed across Hope’s mind as he finally turned his idiot head the other way and saw her, arms outstretched grabbing for his head.

The idiot would be looking the other way for the rest of his short life as she twisted his skull around to make it so. Cracking neck bones and the snapping spine gave her the sick sensation of pleasure for much longer this time. Her body cooled with the beading sweat that was developing across her skin, and the dousing of the flame from this kill. This poor, dumb man who had managed to survive in a killing community, how could he be so bad at staying alive?

Kills 4 & 5

She knew better than to take the elevator, there was no telling what she might encounter when the doors opened, if they opened. For all she knew the machine would finally give up and leave her stranded in the metal box to burn from the inside out.

The dangling man inched his way up the side of the building, Hope thought she might need the cargo strap again and she didn’t see any point in announcing her presence to the rest of The Dragon just yet. She also grabbed one of their clubs. The malet felt heavy in her hands, not just in weight but in what it had done and what it represented. It was their chosen killing machine, and this one had the weight of one that had taken a lot of lives. Stained brown with dried blood and heavily dented, she wondered how many souls this filthy beast had freed from the earth. How many skulls shattered, bones broken, muscles destroyed along with their owners had been left in its wake?

Her eyes shifted focus from the club to the man she had pulled it from and whatever pity she had for any of them evaporated, leaving her like a possesing spirit giving up on its host. Like Jim, she saw only one way for this to end, and she wanted to bring it about. They all have to die, all of The Dragon. They will kill and maime and destroy until there’s nothing left of humanity, and if that means that Hope had to give up her own, she would make that sacrifice. She would become a killer, just as they are. No more flourishes of pity, or remorse would ever make their way into her heart for any other Dragon’s death. Her hardened heart could burn forever so long as she was putting an end to them.

Floor by floor she made her way down from the 35th using the stairwell near the elevator shaft at the center of the building. Most levels had some desks, a lot of wheeled chairs, and the higher ones still had many windows intact. For all the damage the structure had endured, it was in surprisingly good shape looking at it form the inside. Hope wasn’t there for a tour, though. She painstakingly stalked through each and every floor looking for an opportunity to sneak up behind another Dragon bastard and gut him.

34 – nothing. 33 – nothing. 32 – nothing. She spent 10 minutes on each floor, and that was too much time. She had seen them dragging Angel and Jim into the building. She didn’t know which floor they were on, but she knew where they weren’t. Alive or dead, she was committed to finding them and and creating a trail of bloody bodies along the way, but which would it be: alive, or dead?

If they’re dead, they were already dead, she thought. And if they wanted them dead they would have killed them right in the helicopter. They wouldn’t have bothered dragging them around. If they were already dead, then they’re already dead. She wasn’t sure if her logic was sound, but it gave her comfort to think that Angel and Jim were still alive. It gave her rage a noble purpose, and this made her feel better. Her bloodlust was in-line with what she thought was the higher objective of saving them. With so many floors to clear, she had quit a lot of time to reconcile her feelings on the matter.

More than three hours had passed since she started down the stairs. When she go to the tenth floor she noted that, while the desks and scattered cubical walls still provided a maze of hiding places for potential assassins, most of the chairs were missing. Nine, eight, seven, none of them had chairs at all. Another hour had ticked by when she arrived at the fifth floor where the mystery was solved.

Jim had thrown all the chairs down the stairwell. Nine office building floors worth of wheeled chairs were clogging up the stairs below the fifth floor, like hair in a shower drain. There was no climbing over, or around, or through he mesh of five-pointed star legs, hydrolic pressure plungers, cushioned and mesh seats and backs, and adjustable arms. If it went all the way down to the ground level, Hope imagined that it would take her several days to clear them all. Burning them would be simpler, if they would burn. In all likelihood the materials would melt into a solid brick of stair-well molded plastic blocking the first and second floors.

Like the floors between 35 and six, floor five offered no satisfying kills. The Sun was getting low in the sky now, and Hope was feeling the fatigue of her long day. Her muscles ached. She walked to one side of the office and propped herself up on a desk. Closing her eyes for a moment, she enjoyed the sound of the wind across the hollow of the window panes. Breathing became slow and heavy. While her body rested, her mind was still imagining more killing. Three was not enough, she wanted more. More, she whispered to herself, and she thought she heard something whisper in return. Her head cocked sideways instinctively to give her ear a better angle on the sound. More whispers, she heard, but they weren’t whispers, just a faint conversation.

Down below her were two Dragon standing on the train platform. They didn’t see her, they weren’t looking for someone from up above. These two men were standing guard at the train platform in case Jim’s train showed up looking for trouble.

Hope’s body re-energized with a new rush of adrenaline and her mind assigned each of the men a specific way to die. She was eager to kill, and her brain was on automatic as it sorted out how to get down to them. Over on a side of the building, just out of view of her prey, she tied off the cargo strap to a heavy desk and lowered it down. These men were on the third floor and after she used a little bit of the strap to fashion a sling for the club, she had just enough to get down to them.

She had never repelled before, so her descent was awkward. Wisely she chose to do this out of view of the two men, as they would have surely noticed her lack of stealth on the way down if she tried to drop in directly behind them. She found her way in to the building and set up the kill.

Her luck continued as they were assigned to look out for a train, not look behind them for someone sneaking up. Excitement filled her as she was about to inflict some new damage with the club. A smile spread across her face as she approached the two men standing at the edge of the platform.

The first man would have to wait his turn. A little push was all he needed to fall down onto the tracks. It was an odd landing for him, hitting his head on one of the rails. By the time he pulled himself up it would be too late for his partner.

Swinging low and wildly with her new weapon, she struck the second Dragon on the front of the knee, buckling his leg in the opposite direction of its normal operation. He screamed at the sight of his retreating shin and thigh and fell to the ground grabbing at the demolished joint. Hope was swift and more precise with her next swing. The man stopped screaming when the club came down on his head. She was beginning to understand the appeal of these bloody mallots. Cracking sounds of bone and tendon were very satisfying.

As she wound up for her third swing, which she wasn’t entirely sure was necessary, but was going to take anyway, a pair of hands wrapped around her ankles and yanked them out from under her. The man down on the tracks had recovered a little more quickly than she expected. Her body came down with a heavy thud and the man started to drag her down onto the tracks.

Hope was nimble, and her mind was sharp. She had lost her club, but not her wits. Using her arms, she popped her body up off the platform, putting all her mass into the air, and shoving herself right into the chest of the man below. He crashed down on the tracks once more, dropping his club, as Hope had dropped hers just seconds before. Her landing was soft, and had the added benefit of pressing all the air out of her adversary’s lungs. When a man can’t breath, his first priority is to breath. This gave Hope the advantage becasue her priority was still to kill the man. As he struggled to push her off, now quite disoriented from two falls on the train tracks, she grabbed his club and started to bash him in the face with the narrow end. This was an interesting experience for her. To this point she had snuck up on all of her victims and dispatched them before they really understood what was happening. This man that she was sitting on was fully aware of her, and that he was about to die. His armed flailed about as he tried to block the club’s hilt between each blow. Blood flowed into his eyes giving him no chance at any meaningful counter move.

With panicked lungs, no vision and a face that had been turned into a ball of beaten meat, he started to choke on the blood that was running from his nose down his throat. He gasped and flailed more slowly as she continued to bash his face. As his efforts became more futile and weak, Hope smiled again. More than any of the others, she enjoyed killing this man. His suffering doused the flame in her heart for a good while.

Kills 6 & 7

Hope worried that the scream of the first man might have alerted others to her presence, but after several minutes no one came to the third floor looking for trouble. She lurked around the third floor, wiping her bloody hands on the walls, desks and any other thing she felt like. Outside of the bloody trail, she scouted the floor just like the others, but it was just a habit at this point. She was just going though the motions. If she really wanted to complete the job she would have gone up to the fourth floor and checked it out. She was no longer interested in clearing the building so much as she was interested in finding another Dragon to kill.

Jim had done a great job of blocking off the main stairwell with chairs, and that would do well to keep people below the fifth floor, but there were a set of escalators that went between the third and ground floors. They were well beyond functional as time had broken almost everything, but a broken escalator is not really broken, it just becomes stairs. With her favorite club and two holstered blades, she crept slowly down the escalator stairs. Stealth had been her best ally so far, and she wasn’t about to give it up by clumsily swooping down to the ground floor.

The ground floor was not at all like the ones above. It was an open, spacious lobby with decorative marble and massive desks. In the dim light of the setting sun it reminded her of the old bank she used to hide out in before those bastards took it from her, before the beat her to within an inch of her life. That brutal memory lodged in her head as she skulked around each corner of the lobby, looking for Dragon. She was binding it with her time as Gannon’s concubine, with the attack at the medical camp, the death of her friends, her betrayal of the rest, the killing of the men in the helicopter, at the hangar, and all those she killed at Jim’s building. All of the pain she inflicted, and that was visited upon her hardened into a lump in her chest at the center of her burning heart. It invigorated her.

When she spotted the two Dragon standing guard at the top of the stairs to the bar, she didn’t bother with stealth. It was casual, the way she walked up to them with her club. One of them had set his on fire to cast light in the area, the fool. He was so close to the flame that he could barely see how she bashed his friend to the ground. He thought he was good at killing, and maybe he was, but he wasn’t ready to kill in that moment. This little woman walking up and crushing his friends skull like an egg was not what he expected. Nor did he foresee her smashing his hand with her club, breaking his fingers and knocking his torch away.

The fire flickered in the darkened city, half buried in the sand. Protected from the wind, and with no rain to douse it, the fire would keep burning into the night, until the weapon was consumed by it.

The post Everything Goes Wrong / Killing Spree appeared first on Mark McEachran.

http://j.mp/2zwoeNa November 23, 2017 at 08:30AM