When Mr. And Mrs. Miller got home, David and Mari got the third degree over what had happened at the school. The news was reporting the fire alarm as a lucky accident, since all the students, parents and teachers who had been at the school had reported in, leaving nobody missing.
“So, what’s going to happen to the school?” Mari asked.
Her mom shook her head. “We don’t know, Mari. They’re going to have a board meeting about it next weekend, but the school itself is too dangerous to open.”
“Dangerous?” David looked over at them from where he was demolishing Kado at MechBattler. “Why? I mean, the multipurpose room and some of the other buildings were wrecked, but the portables were fine…”
“They don’t know how it was missed, but there’s a big void under the school.” Mr. Miller shook his head. “On the way home, we were listening to the news and they had a geologist mentioning that the only way he could see it forming would be by an underground river everyone missed.” He put his hands up to his eyes and groaned. “Which means since nobody yet knows where the river was, or if it’s still eroding more ground. The whole school is probably a write off. They’re going to be doing surveys in the area to make certain it doesn’t extend to other structures in the city. Hopefully, the city’s insurance will cover it.”
“It better,” his wife said. “Because I don’t think we’re getting a new bond issue anytime soon.”
David winced. Great, spend my last year in a bunch of portables—
“Ha! Got you!” Kado crowed, as David’s Mk 22 Deathdealer mech was pushed off a cliff to a cheery funeral march.
“Yeah, you got me,” David said, trying to keep a grin on his face. People running all over the town, looking for stuff. What happens if one of them runs into a breach?
“Congrats on your victory,” Mr. Miller told his son. “Now pack it in. I need to do some evening shopping, and you’re coming with me.”
“But Dad…”
“Mari and David have had a hard day and they can use some relaxation time.” Mr. Miller glanced over at Mari. “Within reason.”
“We’ll be finished by elev—” Mari stared at her mom. “Ten o’clock it is.”
Her mother nodded. “Good, since it’s a work night. And since Kado won’t be watching when he gets back, you don’t have to censor your movies.”
David shook his head about that. If his mom knew what he’d seen in the barn… From the look Kado was giving David and Mari, he was thinking the same thing. Fortunately, at least in this case, Kado was keeping his mouth shut.
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A few minutes later, Mari and David were sitting in her room, a big bowl of popcorn between them. “So,” David asked. “What classic of movie history are you going to show?”
“Why stop at one?” Mari asked. “First, to calm us down after that mess today, we’ll be watching a previous generation busting ghosts in New York. She held up one Blu-ray. “And you can pick the original theatrical release or the one with added parts…”
“And next?”
“Well, we don’t want to get too relaxed so, I’ve got a tale of an isolated polar camp facing… The Thing From Another World!”
David stared at Mari and chuckled.
“What?”
“You’re using a 2019 Blu-ray player to watch a film that was made before any of our parents were even born.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a classic if it wasn’t old.” Mari grinned. “Watch the popcorn and let me stick the first video in.”
David shook his head as Mari walked to the TV, Boris Karloff glaring down at her from his movie poster. She turned the TV on and then started fiddling with the Blu-Ray. David leaned forward as the screen came up, showing the local news.
“And we’re not only having problems with collapsing schools but apparently someone has decided to start robbing sporting goods stores.” The local anchor turned to another reporter and smiled. “But that’s not the strangest, is it?”
“That it isn’t Mary,” the younger man smiled. “Because whoever our thief is, they’re not a very good one. Dani’s Sporting Goods reported a break in an hour ago, and when police arrived, they found the rear door forced and a number of tarps, pots, and pans missing. Not only that, but two mechanical watches were stolen.”
“Why is that odd?” the anchor asked.
“Because they were right next to a rack of modern GPS units, night vision gear, and satellite phones, all of which were worth several thousand dollars. Why someone would take a pair of old and not particularly valuable watches has left the police scratching their heads. Oh, in addition, all the beef jerky was stolen. At this point, police are assuming teenagers or perhaps one of the local homeless.”
“Thanks, Jack. And now, we’ll be talking to Dr. Ryan Simmonds about the current issues with the financia—” The screen dissolved into the opening logo of the ancient black and white film as Mari came bouncing back over to sit beside David.
“There we go, got the drinks, the popcorn the movie… the friend…” Mari leaned into David. “I, sort of, um forgot to thank you, you know, for saving my life.”
“Yeah, well…” David paused. He really didn’t want to think about that too much. “You saved my life with the junk monster…”
“Yeah, I…” Mari bit her lip and looked away. “This is so weird. I never figured that one of my movies would show up and be real.”
“It’s better than busing tables,” David said.
“Yeah. Yeah, it is…” Mari stared at David, then shook her head and turned to the TV. “Oh, the film is starting! We can’t wait too long, or we’ll go past ten!”
“Right,” David said. Work tomorrow. But right now, he really didn’t want to think about that. He leaned back next to Mari as she dimmed the lights and they got ready to watch a film where the monsters and danger were safely on the other side of the TV screen…
What are we doing to do if this gets worse? David didn’t know. Worse, he didn’t think anyone knew. He glanced at Mari, his friend already leaning forward to watch the movie. Movie night. Normal night.
And right now, that was all David really wanted.