Michelle Muckley - The Dawn - The Bombs Fall

Number two! We have a winner. Delta Tower, who is your winner? Is he there with you now?

As the final ball fell into the hole, with the orgasmic announcement of the last number, the woman and the man near the front of the Food Hall fell to their knees. Zack’s thumb pressed down harder on the tattoo, stifling it, smothering it. He covered the triangle, squashed it out, before closing his eyes. There was silence for the briefest of moments, before a bullet strikes, the look in the eye of a lamb before slaughter, the moment before impact when there is no turning back. The noise began to filter back in, the muffled sounds destroyed as Leonard shouted at him, his hands gripping Zack’s upper arms. He was shaking him.

“You’re in! You’re in, Zachary!” He was crying tears of joy mixed with tears of loss and sadness. He let go and threw his arms around him, his short stature causing his hairs to tickle at Zack’s slack jaw. “You’re in!” he said again. “You won!”

Zack’s knees buckled and he collapsed onto the bench, pulling the weight of Leonard with him. People nearby, red-faced and disappointed, smiled and congratulated him, satisfied that it was at least one of them. It was the selfless kind of happiness that a parent might feel for a child’s success at the expense of their own. They consoled themselves in the hope that the chosen one might share their dreams and help make their life better. Perhaps Delta would be remembered, unforgotten in the future of the Republic of New Omega.

Delta Tower, we have the name of your winner.

“It’s Zack,” somebody shouted.

“We already know it!” shouted another.

Zachary Christian, your moment has arrived! The future of your tower begins with you, right here on this night! It’s time to get to the lobby. We are coming for you!

The crowd in Omega Tower was clapping, their applause still controlled and the smiles on their faces measured and planned. The children were forming two lines, those at the front carrying the Omega flag, the green background and blue central diamond, topped by the yellow sun with eight rays to represent each tower. The crowd in Delta Tower was crazed. He heard somebody shouting, “It’s Zack, it’s Zack.” The voice was running away, filtering the news down into the lower levels. He started thinking about Leonard who was still crying, rubbing Zack’s arms from his position at the side. Nothing but pride on his face.

Get ready, Zachary. Tonight you sleep here with us. Omega Tower welcomes you!

Somebody pulled him to his feet. It could have been Leonard. He was walking, moving, being pulled. There were Guardians forming lines keeping the crowds away. One of them pulled at Leonard but Zack clung onto him. No Guardian would strike him now. Not before the cameras arrived in Delta. Nobody wanted a winner with a bloody face. Somebody guided him into the lift and he became squashed by bodies before somebody……….

Samantha was sitting on the dining table. She was wearing only her underwear and a shirt of Zack’s, blue stripes and oversized. She was balancing her feet on the bench seat and smiling over her cup of coffee. She was looking in Zack’s direction whilst he buttered the toast, her almond shaped eyes almost no wider than the slits of oysters. She looked at him with such cheek on her face, like they were both in on a joke. In this moment the world was their own. His hand stretched out and took the coffee cup from her before he took a sip. He pushed her backwards and she began to unbutton the shirt.

……….shouted that the lift had been over-filled and that it wasn’t moving. There were too many people and the Guardians were pulling people out. Zack saw an Assister rise up and strike somebody’s shoulder. Somebody was shouting that he didn’t want to get out and that he wasn’t the last in and that he was my friend and he wanted to…………..

Zack’s mother positioned the hat on his head, just to the side as he had insisted. She helped him drape the blue and red scarf around his shoulders so it hung properly over the black gown. His father watched. He was smiling and saying how proud he was. He was saying what a wonderful engineer he would make and that today was the first day of his future. His mum kissed him and his dad made a joke about the lipstick before rubbing his cheek with his thumb. Samantha was nearby with her parents. She was looking over her shoulder smiling too.

……….and the doors opened and Leonard was pulling on his arm saying that they didn’t have long. It was time to grab the things he wanted. He was asking where the bag was. They were on level thirty and somebody was shouting that they had the winner, like the celebration of a successful hunt. Leonard was shouting at somebody that there wasn’t time to do something like that, and that the idea was insane. There was no way they were doing a lap of every floor. The man looked angry and shoved Leonard, but then……….

Zack was standing outside his office block. His reflection was staring back at him in the mirrored glass. He was saying that he was sorry but it had to be this way. That he wasn’t ready. It wasn’t her fault, but he wasn’t ready for it. What was she supposed to do, she was asking. He was saying he would help her. He was saying that he would go with her and be there for her, and that afterwards they would still be together. He just wasn’t ready for the responsibility. She was crying, and he was making his excuses. He told her he would speak to her later. She told him she loved him. He repeated that he would speak to her later.

………Leonard was shouting at somebody to get out the way. He was still holding onto Zack’s arm and pulling him forwards and………

Zack went inside and put his telephone into his pocket. He took the lift up to the thirtieth floor. Leonard was there, younger with fuller cheeks. He asked him if he wanted to talk about it but Zack said that he didn’t, that it was personal. Leonard told him that if he changed his mind he would be there. He made a coffee. He sat at his desk and got out his diary. The office filled with light, streaming in as if every dawn was rising in unison. He ran to Leonard’s office. The floor beneath him rumbled, a sensation that he had never felt before, like the floor was resting on a surface of jelly.

……..then Leonard slammed the door shut.

“Zachary, are you OK?” Leonard was peering down at him, his eyes wide, and his smile fixed and tight. “You looked in a daze there for a moment.” Zack was sitting on the edge of his bed, his room, his home, his life for an unknown and poorly counted number of years.

“I can’t believe it, Leo.” Zack’s hands were resting on his chest, across his heart. He was trying to breathe, his lips pursed together like they were sucking on a straw.

“That’s it, Zachary. Just take a few deep breaths,” Leonard said as he sat crouched in front of him. His face was still red, his eyes swollen and sore. In that vision Zack realised that the only thing that matched his luck was the incredible loss of every other resident, not only in Delta, but the rest of New Omega.

“I’m sorry, Leo.” Tears welled in Zack’s eyes and a single droplet escaped onto his cheek which Leonard brushed away.

“Sorry?” Leonard asked. “Don’t be sorry. Come on now,” he said, resting a comforting arm across his shoulders as he sat at Zack’s side. He was the closest thing Zack had to a friend or a father left. “What could I do with a life in Omega Tower? I’m old. I’m not even sure they let old chaps like me in there. Now come on, they’re coming for you. It’s time to get yourself together. I’ve snatched you a few quiet moments by getting you here for your things, but we have to leave in a few minutes.”