Excerpt: Noli Me Calcare

There wasn’t much in the car, as he had cleaned it the week before. He remembered that the trunk contained a bag with a bowling ball and a pair of bowling shoes and socks, and a plastic ice scraper. The back seat held only a jacket.

“ID please,” the soldier demanded. Gainor thought about questioning him again, but then thought about the thousands of cars lined up behind him and decided to get it over with for their sake. He wasn’t the only one who had to be somewhere on time – for that matter, who was already late. He fished his wallet from his pocket, pulled out his driver’s license, and handed it over. It was inspected and returned within a few seconds.

Looking up at the soldier’s face as he took the card back, Gainor glanced over the man’s shoulder and was greeted with an alarming sight. Up on the hill, on this side of the razor-wire-topped chain link fence, was a large gun aimed straight at his face. He couldn’t see anyone behind it, but he was sure at this point that someone was back there, probably more than one someone.

“Thank you,” he was told abruptly. The little car shook as the trunk was slammed shut, and a soldier on the far side of the barrier waved him through. Feeling as though he had just taken a trip through an alternate reality, Gainor drove out from the between the concrete pylons and onto the deserted far side of the highway. He reached the parking garage, left the car, and walked into his office in a haze.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, sticking his head into his boss’s office to explain, but Simon waved a hand at him.

“I know, I saw it. I was late myself. Half the staff still isn’t here.”

It was in fact much quieter than usual as Gainor walked to his cubicle. He thought Simon’s estimation of half the staff was conservative – he could only see or hear a few people in the room. The ones he saw looked as dazed as he felt. The image came to mind of the entire city having been put in a washer on spin cycle and then poured out into the streets, just to see what would happen.

This is the beginning of a wonderful day.

Sitting down at long last in front of his computer, he wondered what the soldiers had been looking for. Drugs? Weapons? Something entirely different? And what would’ve happened if they had found it? Would have been shot right there in his car? He shuddered at the thought, and then wondered where Joyce was going that day. It was definitely time to give her a call.