The jog down the street wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it was downright enjoyable. Aided by the pull of gravity instead of working against it, my feet felt light despite my growing fatigue. The wind caressed my hair as the end of the street grew ever closer in my vision. A tentative smile creased the corners of my lips.

There was freedom in letting go I suppose, in letting yourself fall to your destination. There was danger in letting go too, unfortunately. Case in point, I felt myself losing control of my speed as I jogged, hurtling towards what I knew would be a painful tumble down the street.

I tried to keep myself in check and slow down, but it was harder than I thought it would be. I’ve built up too much momentum. Besides, wasn’t I worried about making it in time for the presentation? Jogging at this speed should be fine as long as I don’t fall and injure myself.

The added challenge of balancing speed and self-preservation took up most of my attention, warding away more distasteful thoughts.

I passed by a few other pedestrians, skillfully weaving my way around them as if I’ve spent my whole life doing it. The pedestrians didn't give my passing figure anything more than a glance, gazes fixed firmly to the distance.

I briefly thought about and dismissed the idea of stopping so I could borrow a phone from one of them. I’ve had enough trying to rely on others. It never worked. Still, it was comforting to finally see some pedestrians. For a moment, I really thought that there was something seriously wrong with this street. The only other people I’ve seen were that crowd of people at the construction site and the boy with the balloons. The boy…

On second thought, there was indeed something slightly off about this street. The cars were going too fast for comfort. Was there no speed limit here? Isn't that dangerous? An accident was bound to happen at this rate. In fact, an accident had already happened, hadn't it?

No, maybe I remembered it wrong. Maybe there was already spilled red paint or some other red liquid next to the boy back then and I just didn't notice it. Typical of me, really.

Yes, I just didn’t notice it and spooked myself. The boy just got on the bus, and when the bus departed, it splashed red paint all over. Doesn't that make more sense than a school bus running a child over? It would also explain how the boy disappeared afterwards.

I should still notify the authorities once I’ve reached the tower, just in case. It would also put the last of my worries to rest. What was this street called, anyway?

I shot a glance to my right at the closest street sign: 10 Amberhill Avenue.

In the brief moment I looked away, I slipped and lost my footing. I stifled a scream as I tumbled down the street painfully, hoping I hadn’t injured my feet. My heart pounded furiously as I tentatively stood up. That’ll teach me a lesson about getting distracted while jogging downhill. I walked a few steps to check my condition. Fortunately, I only picked up a few bruises and could continue on foot.

I suddenly noticed that there was a soft drizzle of rain pouring down on me. I picked up my briefcase from the slick sidewalk and glanced backwards curiously. There was a clear line of wet and dry area on the sidewalk. That was the first time I’ve seen anything like it. I crossed the line to the dry section and saw the rain stop falling in front of me.

I stepped backward, and it started raining again. Huh? What the hell?

A step forward. No rain. A step backward. Rain.

What the hell is this? Wait, I don’t have time for this.

Whatever weird weather was going on here, it doesn’t change the fact that I need to reach the tower before noon. I turned and jogged onward down the street, lifting my briefcase above me to shield myself from the rain.

I had to slow my pace to prevent another sleep, but eventually I approached the end of the street. As I neared the end, I encountered more and more pedestrians.

I heard the chatter of the crowd before I saw it. A cacophony of voices mixed into an indecipherable buzz. Desperate to be proven wrong, I sped up my pace. Soon enough, I reached the end of the street and stood at the end of the left sidewalk as the 4-lanes street branched split to the left and right.

My shoulder slumped as I took in the sight of the right branch. The path was absolutely packed with people. It wouldn’t be appropriate to describe it as a crowd at this point. A sea of humans drowned the right branch path as far as I could see. There were so many people that they spilled over from the sidewalk into the street, blocking vehicles from passing through.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I turned my head to look at the left path—it was deserted. I had only taken a few steps to the left path when I stopped in place. A plume of black smoke was rising in the distance.

A fire? But it’s raining though? Must be a big fire then.

I checked the time—it was 11:45.

A chill ran down my spine.

Left or right? I don’t have much time left. Just decide. The bridge I need to cross the river was on the right path, right? The crowd would slow me down, but at least I won’t be going in the wrong direction. Right path it is.

That meant I had to cross the street. I only had half the distance to cover since the street had split to the sides, but I was reluctant to cover any distance on the street. The memory of being almost run over by that black sports car would haunt my nights for sure. What was I thinking, really.

Fortunately, I wouldn’t need to risk my life to cross the street. At the end of the sidewalk ahead of me were stairs leading up to a pedestrian overpass. The footbridge started at two places: the end of the left sidewalk where I was and the end of the right sidewalk across the streets to my right. Then the footbridge converged together in the middle, and terminated all the way across the street in front of me. From overhead I imagine it would look like an inverted letter Y.

I climbed the stairs to the footbridge two at a time, then paused in the middle intersection. From my elevated position, I had a clearer view of the right path. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The crowd seemed to converge on a mansion a bit further down the right path. I would make better time once I got past that point.

I finished crossing the footbridge, ran down the stairs, then strode to the right. Gripping my briefcase handle firmly, I took a deep breath and dove into the crowd.

Despite the rain, it was stifling hot from the body heat. The stench of sweat assaulted my nose and my ears were filled with the drone of the crowd.

"Excuse me, coming through!" I shouted as I slipped my way through.

"Excuse me! Excuse m-"

Ah fuck! Who just elbowed me? Fine, I don’t have time for this. I'll just force my way through.

I hunched down, hugged my briefcase to my chest with my right arm, and parted the people in front of me with my left arm.

It’s a bit like swimming. A sea of humans indeed.

Not that I had the time to go swimming recently. Not since I grew up, at least.

I swam in the sea of humans, collecting bruises and curses both. As I grew accustomed to the cacophony of noises, I made out snippets of conversation here and there.

“-terrible. Just terrible what happened to him…”

“-met 20 years ago. Just thought I’d give him a visit and…”

“Who would’ve thought he’d suddenly fall ill and…”

“Who am I? Who are you? I’m fast friends with him and haven’t never seen you before. It’s opportunistic bastards like you that…”

“Who the hell is pushing me?!”

“His children are fighting each other. It’s a bloodbath, I say…”

“Who do you support? Personally, I think the eldest son seem the most suitable for the inheritance…”

“Fuck!”

“Who are all these people? Seriously, a bunch of vultures…”

“Ah!”

“When are they going to let us in? What a disgrace…”

“Ugh, I think I’m going to be sick.”

A jolt of alarm ran through me as I heard that last one. I desperately moved to the side and away from the voice. I did not want to be covered in vomit.

The stench of sweat was bad enough without adding vomit into the mix. A pang of sympathy ran through me as I heard someone vomiting behind me. I thought I might be sick myself.

The crowd recoiled away from the vomiting man, and I allowed myself to be carried along onward to my destination. I glanced down at my wrist—it was 11:49. I was making surprisingly good time, and soon I would be past the mansion the crowd was converging on.

If I flat out sprinted afterwards, I could still barely reach the tower before noon. Maybe I’ll even have time to change my clothes.

I redoubled my efforts, pushing and shoving people away. Then a shrill scream rang out and the crowd grew chaotic. Like a raft at sea, I was tossed about in every direction. Before long I couldn't differentiate which direction was the right path. The crowd had devolved into a turbulent mess.

I hunched down and gritted my teeth, planting both feet firmly on the ground. In a flash of insight, I looked skywards in both directions. In front of me was a plume of black smoke, behind me… nothing but dark clouds. I turned around and headed away from the smoke.

I saw people getting trampled but looked away. I had no more time to waste.

The press of bodies overwhelmed all my senses. My head spun as I bulled my way through. The sea of humans seemed to have no end. The crowd was screaming, I was screaming too. An incoherent roar of defiance.

I can still make it!

At that moment, the watch on my left wrist vibrated with a soft beep!

The sound cut through the drone of the crowd and sundered my heart. Everything seemed to fade away.

I lost strength in my limbs and fell like a puppet with its strings cut.

It was 12:00. I was too late. My vision darkened and I fell forward.

Instinctively, I caught myself before my face could hit the pavement.

But something was wrong. I could no longer feel the crowd around me. No body heat smothering me, no sweaty scent assaulting my nose, no screaming filling my ears. My body felt amazing even, all the scrapes and bruises I’ve collected disappearing like magic.

I heard the hiss of a bus door closing behind me. Startled, I looked up from the pavement.

There was no crowd, nor rain. Sunlight poured down on the colorful but lifeless buildings on both sides of the deserted street. I recognized this spot.

I was somehow back at the start of the street. The exact spot I sprawled at after that damned bus driver pushed me off. In fact, wasn’t that the same exact bus I saw disappearing in the distance?

What the hell is going on?

I stood up in confusion, hands smoothing out my clothes and finger combing my hair.

Out of habit, I glanced down to check the time. My hair stood on end.

It was 11:00.