Tag: flash fiction

Ally tugged at the stethoscope around her neck and smoothed the stolen lab coat. The gray industrial carpet was hard under her feet. The tile floor of the crossing hallway was a few yards ahead. She looked at James. “Which way?”

In the hallway a few people walked by with morning coffee. The lingering caffeine in the air taunted them. James glanced at the emergency exit sign on the wall. The blue scrubs hung loosely on his shoulders as he pulled on a surgical cap. He pointed at the hallway. “There. Then left.”

I stopped at the penthouse window to watch the lava. It came down the mountain like God pouring molasses from the sky. A fast moving flow had erased the road. It had been there when I started up the stairs. The hotel was cut off from the highway. I stuffed a watch into my front pocket. “Time to roll,” I said to the empty room.

The lava came with the dawn. The tourists and businessmen left with the first alarm. They flooded the street in pajamas and robes. Without time to pack, the riches of a small city were left laying for someone to pick up. Today, that someone was me.

“I’m sorry sir. The medbay is out of bodies.”

I looked at the corpseman. He was about my son’s age, but breathing. “How long until the next batch of clones come online?”

“Soon. The vats are scheduled to pop tonight. We can start reanimating once the memories are trimmed.” He turned and walked towards the lift, not waiting to be dismissed. The damned Personnel Restoration unit didn’t respect the chain of command. I wanted my troops alive again, my son included. So I let them be arrogant as they wanted.

“Look lady—“

I was furious, “Don’t look lady me! You’ve had my car all day you can’t say what’s making that damn noise?”

The mechanic took a breath, “I’m saying I can’t duplicate it. I can’t fix something I can’t find.”

I looked at him. He had a rag in his right hand and a flashlight in the left. His name patch said “Walt.” He eyed me carefully. I had the feeling he was trying to get me to leave. It was almost closing time, everyone in the building wanted to be somewhere else. Including myself. “Seriously? You just don’t want start on at this hour.”