Coaster Read Free Page A

before, but after she got back to the line Heather and Megan were too far and the security guard grabbed her and told her she'd have to go to the end. She tried to explain her friends were up there, but he didn't care. He made her leave the line and told her to go wait at the exit for them. So now she stood here watching everyone come off the ride with huge smiles and exclamations of how cool the ride was and how scared they'd been. "Damn it." Lindy whispered under her breath. She texted Megan. Megan said they were getting onto the ride and they'd see her in a minute.
     
                                                                          ****
     
    Sitting in the ride was weird and Rachel felt like she was in a straitjacket. She was backward so she couldn't see anything. She strained her neck to see Mitch and he smiled at her and said, "Ready?"
    Rachel tried to see the kids behind her but she couldn't so she yelled, "Hey guys, have fun. See you at the end."
    "K, mom." Valarie yelled.
    Michael yelled back, " Don't yak on us."
     
                                                                          ****
     
    Christopher and Anne waited quietly. They felt the park worker pull on their restraints and Anne felt her heart beat quicker. She was scared. She would never tell Christopher that, but she knew it was true. Her hands were sweaty and she could feel a metallic taste in her mouth. But that didn't hide the exhilaration she felt at being scared. It was so intoxicating. She looked at Christopher. He simply looked panicked.
     
                                                                          ****
     
    The thumbs up meant the ride could move. Slowly it creeped out from the building and made its way up the hill. The full force of the sun beat down on the occupants. Sitting backwards everyone was straining their necks and a lot of silent prayers were being sent up. The creaking and clicking of the metal below the riders kept them focused, but most of them felt their mouths getting dry. As they reached the pinnacle of the climb they looked out at the park below them. They were so high up that many of them felt a horrible sinking feeling in their stomachs. In the momentary pause fear seeped in, until the ride lurched and swung them back towards the ground at almost eighty miles an hour. In a chorus a scream went up.
    Several of the riders began to smile while many held their face in a terrified grimace hoping that two minutes would go by fast. As they made the next turn there was a click. They all heard it, but it was lost in screams and other mechanical sounds going on. In less than a breath there was a detonation. Instantly, it felt like someone was pouring fire on them. The heat was puzzling. Confusion was combining with pain as the car was propelled upward into the coaster's structure. Those that had figured out something was wrong were screaming. Not the scared screaming of exhilaration, but the desperate scream of fear. The impact was fast and when they collided with the towering metal above them the pain of being burnt was forgotten as they were crushed. Their screaming stopped.
     
    Below the car, the heat from the fire bent the metal of the tracks. The car with the riders hit the metal of the coaster and all forward movement stopped. The shock of metal slamming into metal caused immediate death for those where the explosion had failed to kill them.
     
    The riders were gone and the world had changed for all that knew them.
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    The man laughed out loud. He 'd heard the explosion and imagined the heat that radiated through the metal. His binoculars were pointed at the place where just a minute ago eight people had been traveling through space enjoying getting the shit scared out of them. He didn't think