Lightning, Page 3

  ~~~

  “Sanders, no!” Bud shouted as he tried to reach his hand out and stop him rushing past. His fingertips brushed up against Sanders’ jacket, but that was it. Within moments he was gone – rushing to the pool and his 8-year-old boy swimming frantically for the edge there.

  “Billy!” Sanders shouted when he was still a couple dozen feet from the pool, but it did little good. The thunder overhead was a continuous cacophony and the wind was blowing hard. Rain was coming down everywhere and there was just no way anyone could hear anything over the din.

  “Billy!” he shouted again, now closer, running over the wet concrete and–

  Sanders’ foot slipped and he suddenly found himself flying backward through the air, his legs going up and his body going down. There was no way–

  UGH!

  He hit the cement hard and the blow knocked the wind from him. He lay there on the hard cement, just ten feet from the pool, staring up at the pouring rain while trying to suck in some breath.

  HNUH!

  Sanders sucked in a deep breath, ecstasy for his lungs. With oxygen flowing through his system again he could think straight and started to–

  “Dad!”

  The shout cut through the sound of the storm and Sanders suddenly found his strength again. He pushed himself up off the cement and onto his elbows and looked toward the pool. There was Billy, kicking and swimming frantically from the middle waterslide. He was still–

  “Billy!”

  Sanders spun about to see Bud running up from behind. He narrowed his eyes at the strange way he was running and hopping toward him, but then he realized Bud was running better on the wet surface then he’d been.

  “Bud, wait!” Sanders tried to say, but his words were still weak and the storm took them.

  Bud dashed right past Sanders and jumped into the pool. He landed fast and came right up on his feet, the water only reaching up to his waist.

  “C’mon!” he shouted, and Billy began half-swimming and half-walking toward him, trying to cover the distance to the edge of the pool as quickly as he could.

  “C’mon, Billy!” Sanders shouted, his voice now back as he rushed to the edge of the pool. Overhead lightning flashed all around.

  “Gotcha!” Bud shouted as he reached Billy and grabbed hold of his arm.

  Billy’s eyes went wide in fright, but also relief. Bud pulled him around and got him in front of himself then picked him up. With his long strides, Bud had him to the edge of the pool in no time.

  “Get him up!” Bud said through clenched teeth as he reached the pool’s edge.

  Sanders was on his feet and grabbed hold of Billy, who now had tears in his eyes.

  “Dad, I’m scared.”

  “Me too, Billy, me too.”

  Billy nodded to that as Sanders put his arms around him and pulled him from Bud’s hands. Overhead the lightning flashed.

  “Get over to the–”

  “Billy, c’mon!”

  Sanders and Billy turned about to see Donny coming down the hill.

  “Go, run!” Sanders said, and Billy took off toward the sergeant.

  “Now let’s get the hell out of here!” Bud said as he got his hands on the edge of the pool and then hoisted a leg up to pull himself out.

  Sanders turned toward him and grabbed one of his hands. Overhead the lightning flashed and Sanders just couldn’t wait to–

  BOOM!

  The loudest peal of thunder Sanders had heard yet pounded their ears. The flash of lightning that followed it was instantaneous. It struck the pool and in a fraction of a second upwards of 1 billion volts of electricity shot through the pool’s water.

  Sanders of course wasn’t thinking of any of that. When the bolt struck the pool he was still holding onto Bud’s hand. The electricity immediately shot into Bud’s body and then into Sanders’ from their grip. Both men’s teeth began to chatter and their bodies shake as 800 Watt-hours worth of electricity – enough to power a light bulb for two months – shot through them.

  HI…YA!

  Sanders didn’t know what happened. One moment he was staring into Bud’s eyes as they held the fear of God in them a well as all that energy, the next he was laying on the cement again, feeling like a freight train had just hit him.

  The sound of the rain was the first thing to come back to him, then Donny’s shouting.

  “Bud, Bud…Bud!”

  Sanders managed to turn his head to where Donny’s voice was coming from and he saw his partner crouching over the edge of the pool. The next moment he was reaching down and then pulling. Sanders first saw Bud’s arm come up and then his upper body. Bud’s head was lolling to one side and his eyes were wide open in shock. It was clear he was dead.

  “Ah…fuck!” Donny dropped Bud’s lifeless body and spun around to face Sanders. “Fuck, pal…you alright?”

  “Where’s…where’s…”

  “Billy’s fine – he dashed back to the changing rooms…can you do the same?”

  In the distance more thunder sounded and more lightning flashed overhead. Sanders began pushing himself up off the cement.

  “C’mon,” Donny said, standing back up and then reaching down to give him a hand, “let’s get the hell out of here, huh?”

  “Best thing I’ve heard you say all day,” Sanders said as he got up and started moving, slowly at first but a little faster as Donny began pushing him.

  “Hey, I’ve got it,” Sanders said, pushing his hand away, “I’m not sure about others, but that electricity I just had flowing through me wasn’t that bad.”

  “Shit, wait ‘till the morning when you feel that kick I gave you!” Donny scoffed as the two began to jog. The changing rooms were just two dozen yards away now.

  A tingly sensation overtook Sanders and he put his hand to his head and felt his hair standing up.

  “Oh, fuck…”

  BOOM!

  Thunder directly overhead and a moment before a flash. Donny’s eyes went wide as he saw a bolt of lightning shoot straight down from above and connect solidly with Sanders’ head. It happened in a split-second and the bolt sent Sanders right back to the ground.

  “Fuck, Sanders…you alright!”

  Sanders stared wide-eyed up at the falling rain and dark skies overhead. He’d never felt worse in his life, or looked it from the way Donny was staring at him. Donny shook his head. Sanders’ fingernails were all black and his hair was standing on end. The toes of his cheap Payless shoes were charred open in front, smoke curling out from the holes. Most startling of all, however, was the snow-white streak now showing on Sanders’ right temple, just above the ear.

  “Am I gonna live?” Sanders asked as he stared up at Donny.

  “Fuck, Sanders…I don’t think anything can kill you.”

  Sanders smiled at that, and Donny wished he hadn’t – his teeth were all black. He was about to–

  “Daddy!”

  Sanders spun around and saw Suzy standing there, ready to bolt toward him from the changing rooms, the young lifeguard’s hands holding her the only thing from bringing that about.

  “C’mon,” Donny said, and pulled Sanders up to his feet. The two ran the rest of the way and were soon in the safety of the changing rooms, and Sanders in the arms of his children.

  15 – After the Storm

  “Mommy!”

  Suzy shouted the word before the car had even come to a stop and was running to her mother’s arms before Sanders had put it in ‘park.’

  “Honey!” Pamela shouted, and took off down the flower-lined stone walkway, heedless of the rain still coming down overhead, or the occasional flash of lightning far out over the ocean in the distance. Her hair was long and blond and her tits were bigger than ever. But God damn she had a mouth and attitude to go with that set of curves, and Sanders felt pity for anyone suckered in by the outward package.

  He turned his head and looked down at the Pacific, a view he always enjoyed this far up on El Cajon Mountain. There was little
else he enjoyed about visiting the new home of his ex-wife, which really belonged to Estabon, the hot-shot Peruvian lawyer that’d assured Pamela he’d supply her every want and need so long as his cock was sucked each night.

  At least that’s how Sanders figured the arrangement had been made, one that allowed Estabon to insist upon a pre-nup. At least that’s what Billy had said when Sanders had pressed him enough.

  “You gonna be alright?” Sanders asked, looking at his son in the rearview mirror.

  “Yeah…I think so,” came Billy’s weak reply.

  Sanders turned around and looked at him over the seats. “I love you Billy, I want you to know that.”

  Billy smiled. “I love you too, dad.”

  With that he opened the door and bounded out the car. Sanders started the engine.

  “What, you’re not even gonna say what happened?” Donny asked.

  “And get my head chewed off in the process?” Sanders said as he threw the car into ‘drive.” “I’m gettin’ the hell out of here as fast as I can!”

  Donny just scoffed and shook his head but said nothing while on the sidewalk Pamela frowned at the car, shouted ‘hey!’ and then turned the kids around to head inside, with several dirty looks directed over her shoulder for good measure.

  “So back to the station, huh?” Donny said with a sigh as they started down the mountain on their way back through Lakeside and then the Bay Area of San Diego.

  “Oh, maybe for you,” Sanders said as his eyes darted to the large duffle bag now sitting in the backseat, “but I think I’ll hit the gym.”

  THE END

  The Sanders McGee Adventures Continue with…Fire!

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