The construction area was assigned a security group of members from The Organization. After spending so much time and effort to get the bridge plan in motion, Gil wanted to make sure that plans went through without a hitch. It was predicted that the Black Diamond planned to somehow interfere with the construction of the bridge. As everyone knew, once the bridge was finished, The Organization would grow much wealthier and stronger than before.
Several weeks went by and the bridge began to span over the waterway. MC was stationed where the bridge began to climb over the water just at the edge of the city. Almost a full city block was closed off for the construction. A ten foot high chain link fence surrounded the area guarding the equipment and keeping people out. There were dump trucks, cement mixers, forklifts, and several other heavy machines. A few trailers had been brought for the construction teams to have a sort of home base. They were just large enough to house the team of workers for meetings and lunch breaks.
Piles of rebar, bags of cement, and various other supplies were carefully stacked in preparation for future use. About a dozen construction workers were brought in for the project, led by their foreman. He was a respected businessman usually clad in blue overalls and a hard hat. He was friendly enough and often worked hard along with his trusted team that he’d been with for over a year now.
That was an important factor. If a random assortment of new hires were on the job, that would open up the chances of a Black Diamond spy. If they were infiltrated, who knows what could happen.
The plan for the bridge was for it to span just under a mile across the water and reach land on the other side. It was going to be wide enough to house four lanes; two in each direction and a sidewalk on each side. It really was a massive project.
The construction began by placing large concrete piles deep into the ground under the water. The piles were like concrete poles that served as a sort of skeleton for the rest. The piles were driven into the bed of the river until steady. Once all of the piles were in place, they began to place a base layer on top which took on an actual bridge shape. This part was held together with large steel beams that were linked together like building blocks. After this, concrete reinforced with rebar strands was added to shape and mold the project into a bridge shape. The final task was adding asphalt to the top which they did in block-like sections as they went. With everything slightly past halfway done, construction was going smoothly and according to schedule.
MC, GM, and two other teams from The Organization were inside a trailer on the construction grounds making a total of eight people for security. Everyone except for MC sat around a circular table with cards in their hands.
“I cant believe we’ve been able to sit here and do nothing for this long. Easiest job I've ever had,” said one of the members as he drew a card from the deck.
“That’s for sure. We’ve been able to stack paychecks and play cards for days now,” said another member. “Bit boring, but I get paid the same whether I’m out doing dangerous missions or lazing around like this. All that’s missing is the beer,” he laughed.
“For a while I was really on edge. I thought the Black Diamond would be out here every day trying to sabotage the construction. I thought we were going to have to fight, but we can just sit here and keep watch out that window there.”
“Look at how smoothly this has gone. Maybe they really didn’t care as much as we thought.”
MC sat away from the table staring out the window. His leg rapidly bounced up and down with impatience. “Gaahhhh!” he suddenly erupted. “I can't take this. This is the most boring thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m wasting my time here.”
The team paid little attention to him. “He’s at it again,” said one of the members.
“Yup. Third time this week. Poor guy doesn’t know how to relax and chill out,” said another member.
MC continued to have a fit until finally calming down into a sulk where he went back to bouncing his leg and staring out the window with a frown.
GM turned to him. “Come on MC, why don’t you join in the next game? I’ll deal you in.” He showed the deck of cards in his hand. “You’ve been complaining like this for almost a whole month. It’s starting to bring the vibe down.”
“No kidding,” another member chimed in.
MC glared at the group and then stood up. “I’m going to go see if the construction crew needs any help,” he said. “The faster we get this project done, the faster I can go on an actual mission.”
“Oh not again. Come on dude, haven’t you ever heard of milking it? We’re milking this job. Some of us would rather not be sent on death missions you know.”
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MC got up and walked out of the trailer.
“There he goes, boys,” said GM. “You gotta admit he’s got spirit.”
MC set out to talk to the foreman. He found him with another worker explaining a blueprint attached to a clipboard. “Foreman,” he interrupted. “Where can I help out today?”
“Ah, MC. You’re ready to work again? Great! We want to be able to finish this before August ends and the rainy season sets in. You know how bad it gets that time of year. Miserable working outside when it comes to that. Why don’t you go out towards Samuel’s crew and see if they could use a hand with the asphalt work.”
“Will do,” said MC.
The idea of pouring and smoothing asphalt wasn’t particularly thrilling, but felt better knowing that any extra help provided would get the bridge done quicker. He walked out on the semi-constructed bridge past several workers mixing concrete and others carefully measuring different areas until eventually he got to the small crew of workers running the hot asphalt mixer. “Hey, we’ve got MC again!” A worker said in a cheerful tone. “Always good to have an extra pair of hands.” The worker grabbed a spare hard hat and a flat rake, then passed the items to MC. “How about you use this rake to help us spread the warm blacktop out.”
“Whatever’s going to help speed up this process. I need to stay busy Or I’m gonna go insane.”
MC put on the hard hat and began working alongside the crew. The lot was fairly quiet with everyone completing their individual duties and MC left his mind to wander.
In a way, he felt productive and valued. He imagined himself being a regular member of society working alongside them. He thought about each of them going home to their families and eating dinner together. Finding joy watching some meaningless sports game. Imagining it seemed such a strange and dull yet fulfilling harmony. He thought about having a family of his own one day, but it was almost hard to see what that would look like. His only views of proper family were from a decade ago. He was a grown man now. What did a family even act like? What would his role even be in a relationship with a spouse or children of his own. Sure he’d watched movies and shows before, but it left a lot to mystery.
For the next few hours he remained quiet and focused along with the rest of the crew. After some time, the clock struck noon and the crew left their equipment for a lunch break back at the trailers. They were all happy to get out of the hot sun and put some food in their stomachs. MC decided to stay behind and continue to work. He poured more asphalt and smoothed it out all by himself.
One of the workers came back from lunch. “Forgot something,” he said as he walked out past MC and continued on his way down the bridge. A short while later, he sprinted back past MC heading back towards the trailers. He ran past the trailers and out past the fence gate. He got in his car and drove off. It was suspicious behavior. A few of the workers questioned what he was doing. GM felt uneasy about the situation. He got up from the table that he’d been playing cards at and walked outside to see if anything was going on.
Just then, GM heard a loud bang. The sound came from far out on the bridge. The bang was followed by a cloud of smoke and debris. “What the hell?” He said out loud. Everyone came pouring out of the trailers to see what was going on.
“What’s happening?” yelled one of the workers in panic.
“Look, the bridge! It’s shaking,” yelled another worker.
“Where’s MC?” GM asked in a stern tone.
“He stayed out there to keep working on the bridge,” replied a worker.”
The ground began to shake and everyone watched as pieces of the bridge cracked and swayed. Chunks of metal and concrete fell into the water with great force. Eruptions from the impact on the water below sprayed into the air. It was a sight of pure horror as their days of hard work crumbled before their eyes. The bridge appeared to be completely collapsing.
There was still no sign of MC. GM scanned the bridge, but he was nowhere in sight. Whole portions of the bridge were now falling down into the water
“Hey look. I think that’s MC,” said one of the workers.
As the bridge collapsed behind him, it was without a doubt MC running for his life. Only feet behind him, the ground gave away.
“Waahhh!” he screamed as he ran and jumped across crumbling ground. His feet touched asphalt for only a second before it loosened and fell from under him.
“Come on MC,” yelled one of the workers.
“You can make it!” yelled another.
MC didn’t dare look back. For some reason all he could picture were those damned junkyard dogs nipping at his heels. He closed in on the last leg of the bridge as he felt the ground give way under his feet. He pushed off as hard as he could and jumped to the solid earth, tucking and rolling. Everyone stood there speechless. Mouths hung open in disbelief.
“What did you do?” yelled the foreman at MC, waving his arms violently.
“Me? I didn’t do anything. I’m lucky to be alive right now.”
“I know you criminals are responsible for this mess up! We should have never let you help out on the construction!” The foreman yelled with such force that his face turned red.
“Hold on now,” said GM, stepping in. “We saw one of the workers acting suspiciously. He came in for lunch and then went back out to the bridge. When he came back he got in his car and left real quick like.”
“Yeah, I saw him come out there. He went out past me on the bridge. I can’t say for sure what happened, but it did seem abnormal,” said MC.
“My crew has worked with me for more than a year now. You really expect me to believe someone I trusted did this? I don’t know what happened but I’m not going to be held responsible for this!” yelled the foreman, slamming his hard hat onto the ground.