People were instead lined up at bus stops, counting their change or arousing their digital media players to find the right tune for the day. Every bus station was now a depot for commuters and every bus was full leaving commuters standing on crowded buses in inhumane conditions. There was nothing to be done, technology was moving too slowly and the price of oil had far surpassed it.
The day continued to move on, but he had barely moved. The clock suddenly rose to life and began to scream at him “Good Morning LA. It’s 8.45 on June 3rd, 2015 and boy is it hot outside. The temperature is expected to reach at least 114 today in the Valley so be careful. In other news, the FBI has released a report stating that crime in the Los Angeles Metro Area has drastically increased since 2010 with nearly 9,361 burglaries for every 100,000 people, this makes Los Angeles the most dangerous metropolis in America. Many blame the spike in crime on the increase in fuel prices which on average has reached $9.47 throughout the country. Now to traffic, the Harbor Transitway is slow moving due to an accident at Slauson…” His hand smacked the front of his clock to turn it off; it tumbled to the floor in a great crash.
He rolled his closed eyes and kicked the blanket off of his bed as the cold air of the night had since been gone and the hot summer temperature was rising in his room. The sunlight had soon entered through his open window and he was forced to wake up. Knowing he had to work at 10 he didn’t mind waking up early enough to get things done. He slowly raised his body from the bed with black sheets and white pillows, he looked around his room and realized that no one was home they had all left for work. He looked out of the window and stared at the sky, it was pure blue now without a cloud in sight. He thought to himself that today would be a great day and he didn’t want to waste it.
Grabbing his phone he considered calling in sick so that he wouldn’t waste such a great day at work, instead he texted his friends and planned to hang out at Universal City Walk later that day. He put his phone down beside him on the bed and walked away. His footsteps left impressions on the floor’s carpet as he walked about in his small room. There was silence around him, his suburban home felt like an isolated community and at certain times of the day he would feel completely alone. Suddenly there was laughter from outside as a few kids were making their way to school, he threw socks on the bed and walked out of his room.
The empty house echoed as he ran down the stairs into the kitchen to pour himself some cereal. The white walls in the kitchen showed his shadow as he walked from the refrigerator to the counter with his bowl of corn flakes, he stared down and listened to the crackling of his breakfast before he pulled the white headphones to his ears and listened to his iPod. Watching television was too expensive especially since the electricity bills had more than doubled in the last year because of the oil crisis.
He looked at the time on his iPod and realized it was 9.15 and he was almost late, he threw the bowl into the empty sink and ran upstairs to take a shower. A plane rumbled above as he made his bed and grabbed his clothes to take with him into the bathroom. He rushed through the hallway to get to the bathroom. The water began to run and he stripped down to hop in.
He walked out of the bathroom in his uniform gray collared shirt, black pants and black shoes. He threw his towel on the bed and grabbed a bag to fill it with clothes that he could wear with his friends after work. Looking at the clock he realized it was already 9.40 and he was late. Grabbing his bag and his keys he ran out of the house. Running past the milk he had forgotten to put back into the refrigerator. The door slammed behind him and the door was locked.
He walked to the car and got in, starting the ignition he sighed with relief as the air conditioner blew cold air on him. He had started to sweat from the hot air outside. He fixed his jet black hair in the mirror and pulled out of his driveway. He opened a bottle of water as he stopped for a few kids at an intersection. He turned the radio on to listen to the traffic on his way to work, the clock read 9.49 and he began to worry.
“…as we’ve been reporting for the last twenty minutes there has been an explosion at the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood. It’s been confirmed that one building has collapsed due to the explosion and there are reports that it was the headquarters of Occidental Petroleum. We don’t know any other information at the moment other than that the LAFD is evacuating the entire area. Please do not come to the Westwood area…”
He was fairly rattled by the news because he had heard rumors of people planning on attacking gas and oil companies and knew this wasn’t good news. He sighed as he passed the Wilshire Blvd exit and saw the smoke billowing from the street, the traffic had nearly stopped as people were slowing down to look and others were rushing on to the highway to get away from the area. He sat and stared as his car slowly made its way south. The gray air suddenly hovered above the highway and cut off the perfect blue sky.
He finally made his way through the tie up and began to accelerate, every few seconds there was an ambulance or a fire truck speeding and flashing in the opposite direction. He wished that no one had been hurt but he knew that was unrealistic as the workday had already started and the building would have been full at the time. The car signaled to exit and make its way to Venice Blvd and slowly merged onto the ramp downward.
Minutes later he pulled into an ARCO gas station. Grabbing his bag and water bottle he closed and locked the doors behind him. The automatic doors slip open to welcome him into the air conditioned mini mart and he walked to the back after saying hello to the cashier. He opened his locker and pushed his bag in and grabbed his key for the cash register. The dim light flickered above his head and he thought it was odd because it was just replaced.
He walked out to the front of the store and began talking to the cashier who was ending her shift. She had heard about the explosion and said that the television had reported that PASS (Patriotic Americans for a Sustainable Society; a radical group that wanted all oil companies to cease business practices) had claimed responsibility for the explosion and that there had been other bombings in Houston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. She said they warned of more bombings and that no one who supported the “imperialistic actions of oil corporations that molest our planet and destroy the lower social classes” would be safe. They got into a conversation about the bombing and if it would help the growing problem in America. Someone walked in and bought a bag of skittles and paid $3.
Soon his co-worker had to leave and he was left alone in the store. He had to update the gas price sign and took out the digital touch screen as he logged into the BP network he looked at the sky that was now gray with smoke. He pressed the numbers on the screen in order to update them for the weekend. Regular was $9.84, Plus $9.96, Premium $10.13, and Ethanol $6.32 he saved the numbers and watched the digital signs outside change numbers.
He grabbed his water bottle and finished it; he threw it in the recycle bin. He thought to himself about how glad he was that his car was a hybrid and that he used ethanol because it would be impossible for him to get to school and work if he had to pay regular prices. He glanced outside to watch someone pull up and pay for ethanol, he waved to the man as he approved his transaction through the computer. He switched screens and went back to reading an article online about the shrinking market of gas stations around the country and how BP had closed 13% of its gas stations in America since February because it was not making money.
He smiled as the robot scooted past him cleaning the floor; he almost stepped on it because it was so small. He turned on the television to watch the coverage of the bombings across the country the president was supposed to make a speech in a few hours and it was going to be from an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
His phone suddenly lit up and it was his mother, she told him that her office was being evacuated because of a bomb threat and that she was going to leave and go home. He suddenly felt a sense of fear and began to worry if something could have happened to her. He texted his sister and told her to go home because she was out with some friends in Hollywood for the day. She responded by saying that the buses were too crowded and she was going to try and catch the Red Line and wait for him at Universal City.
He put his phone down to see someone pulling into the gas station. Then another car pulled into the station. Two men exited their vehicles and walked into the store. He greeted them and then turned back to the television. The men never made eye contact and slowly walked through the aisles. He looked up at the two men after a few seconds because it was oddly silent in the store.
He saw them standing next to each other staring back at him. He asked if he could help them and they didn’t respond. He began to get goose bumps and the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. Suddenly a minivan pulled into the gas station. Four kids jumped out and ran into the store screaming about getting candy, they where all wearing soccer uniforms that were covered in dirt followed by a mother who seemed frazzled by the day she had. Stopping to ask him where the Starbucks drinks were. He told her and then glanced back at the two men and asked them again. They broke into laughter and he felt relieved. Both of the men walked out of the store and walked back to their cars. He began to look at the kids who were yelling for slushees. He then locked back at the cars to see they had not yet driven off.
They had both opened their trunks and were reaching over for something; he thought it was odd they were both doing the same thing. Then they yelled something through the glass but he couldn’t hear over the loud kids. Suddenly there was a large bang and he was pushed to the floor behind a shower of glass. His back started to burn uncontrollably and there were screams all around him.
The building turned into a massive fireball that could be seen and felt from miles away. The fire department couldn’t get to the area for ten minutes because they were across town helping the collapse. The bright orange glow roared on for hours as the fuel beneath the gas station hemorrhaged out into flames. When the fire was put out there was nothing left, the fuel had destroyed everything in its path. There were no remains and everything had completely melted. In an instant it had all disappeared.
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