Joey started looking for the source of the sound. "I’m not sure, kid!"

The bomb had many different colored wires, but one of them was, again, big, red and on top of everything else. Joey started at it for a few seconds and then remembered the one from the fountain.

"An external wire!"

"What?"

"There was an external wire back in the fountain!"

"What are you talkin’ about?" Brandon was really confused and starting to get very nervous.

"Wait a sec!" Joey stood and began scanning the box, inch by inch. First on the inside, then along the outside.

"What are you lookin’ for?" Brandon closed the book. "I’m here to help, remember?"

"A wire. The last bomb we defused had an external wire painted the same color as the box. But it was a metal box, not wooden."

"Well, you can make holes in the wood..." Brandon searched the other side of the box.

Joey frowned, "I knew that!" he mumbled. Finally, his eyes found something odd and he examined it closely. "Here we go!" he said, triumphantly. "It’s embedded in a groove..."

"I told you!"

"God, you're starting to sound like my partner!"

Joey followed the wire all the way to the hole where it connected to the inside and then out again to the other side. Just then, an all-familiar 'Click' made him dizzy with the sudden adrenaline rush.

"Oh, no!"

"What?" Brandon jumped.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Joey went back to the front of the box. He was right. The timer was jumping forward.

"What is it?"

"We’ll run out of time too soon, kid!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it’s time you pack up and run out of here. Get to the street and run as fast as you can!"

"No! I’m stayin’ here! You CAN do this, right?"

"I can, but it’s complicated!"

"Well, you asked me to help you and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!"

"Well, I..." Joey stared at the kid’s eyes. He looked so lost!

Click.

"Shit!" Joey grabbed the lineman’s pliers. "All right, get that book!"

Brandon opened the book and waited for instructions. In that moment a far away sound made Joey shiver in fear. They both looked at each other and then stood up and scanned the cityscape. Far to the East a cloud of smoke marked the spot where a huge explosion had just occurred.

"My God!" Joey whispered.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Miles away, Levon Lundy got out from under the trailer and cursed repeatedly.

"I can’t believe it!"

"What the hell is happening, Levon?" Carla Green was more than scared now.

"I... I think we’re gonna have to try and evacuate the school. Maybe if we get’em all out runnin’ we can get’em to safety before this goes off!"

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse!"

Carla lowered her head trying to keep fear from taking over her mind. She just wanted to run away but she knew she couldn’t.

Levon looked at his old friend, his mind racing for a solution. Then it happened. How stupid could he be? The answer was standing right in front of him!

"Carla!" he exclaimed. "Carla Jane Green!"

"What?"

"Your dad is a mechanic!"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you used to help him, I remember!" Levon smiled in excitement. "You know about trailers?"

"Some... what do you need?"

"I need you to disconnect the speed meter!"

"I can do that!"
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

"Why is this happening?" a confused young man stood beside Joe La Fiamma as the smoke cloud rose in front of them.

"A guy... he planted seven bombs throughout the city. I guess..." he stopped, praying with all his might for a miracle.

"They couldn’t disarm one of them?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh." Brandon lowered his head. "I’m sorry!"

"Me too," Joey felt a strong pressure on his heart and quickly pushed it away, "Let’s get back to work!"

The timer had jumped forward but they still had a few minutes. Joey cut the second wire and turned to the young man behind him. "What does it say about interconnected series of explosives in there?"

"What do you need to know?"

"The sequence in which they are connected to the central box doesn’t match the sequence in numbers... I need to know why!"

"Okay!" he started flipping pages.

Just then, Joey touched a shining, silver colored cable and felt a numbing pain run through his arm and down all over his body. He fell backwards with a cry.

"Aaahh!"

"Hey!" Brandon quickly checked him, "You okay?"

"Oh, man!" Joey rubbed his arm and sat back up wearily. "That was a shock!"

"I can see that!" the kid helped him up. "You all right, Joe?"

"Yeah, just a little numb. That thing hurt like hell!"

Joey got back to the device, carefully avoiding the silver colored wires.

"Silver cables." He said, still wearily, "Why are there silver cables?"

"Hmm... let me see..." Brandon kept searching the book as fast as he could.

"Oh, very smart!" Joey exclaimed, "I see where these are going!"

"What?" Brandon asked without lookin up.

"The silver wires are the links to the explosives in every floor. The man would know I wouldn’t try to cut them with that charge!"

"Right!"

"But why silver? Why out in the open here?"
 
Brandon had stopped searching. A not so old memory was coming back to him. "Low resistance!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

"Silver... copper... they both have low resistance to electricity. They don’t get as hot as the other wires. That’s why you couldn’t anticipate the electrical current before you touched it. The cable isn’t that hot!..."

"Of course!" Joey slapped his forehead. "Very good, kid! I’m impressed!" Joey said, "And you know this because..."

"I went to school, man!... and besides, I’ve always been good at Physics!"

"Well, you make me proud, Brandon!" Joey began lifting the plastic insulator of the last panel, "I’m lucky to be working with you!"

The kid sat there in silence. Joey didn’t know how deep those words got to the young man. It had been such a long time since someone had felt proud of him...

"How about that sequence, kid?"

"Oh, yeah!" he came back to reality, "It says that the wires have to be sequenced from the bottom and up... it doesn’t say anything about numbers..."

Joey was half listening. When he had uncovered that last panel his life had suddenly changed. "It doesn’t matter anymore!" he said with a low, dark voice. "I found the problem!"

"What is it?"

Joey didn’t answer. He was too busy watching his whole life passing before his eyes.

Chapter 4, Lesson 1 – How to ideally transport an armed explosive device

"Why?" Carla was frustrated.

Levon closed the back doors. "I found something I can’t handle!"

"I saw that, you turned paler than a dead guy before!" the policewoman slapped her leg and followed Levon to the back of the trailer. The man kept silent.

She asked again. "What did you find back there, Levon?"

Lundy sighed. "A second timer!"

"A second timer?"

"That’s right!" Levon walked to the front of the vehicle. "It ain’t possible to disconnect one without makin’ the other one collapse, and that would make it blow sky high, no matter what you do!"

"Oh, no!" Carla realized what he was going to do, "Levon!" she exclaimed.

"I got more than twenty seven minutes. I’ll get to the intersection of Island Road, by the River and the 342 Highway to the Northwest. There’s a closed brick factory surrounded by a big, empty field. I’ll leave the trailer there."

"And how will you get out?"

"I’ll manage!"

"Yeah, right!" she shook her head, "I’ll follow you in the car and I’ll get you out!"

"Carla!"

"Come on! I'll call it in! Time’s runnin’ out!"

Levon knew this was an argument he would lose for sure, so he climbed into the trailer and hot-wired the engine. The trailer started moving. The bomb didn’t go off. He drove as fast as it was pertinent towards the 342 Northwest Highway with Officer Carla Green trailing him in her patrol car.

A block away a French man in a gray, 1988 Ford Lincoln swore loudly and began chasing the trailer.
 
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

"Get out of here, Brandon!" Joey pleaded. "Of all the ways to die, this is one of the least advisable!"

"You comin’ with me?" Brandon asked seriously.

"No. I’m going to try and disconnect the explosives in the other floors. I think I can get this thing to blow the roof alone!"

"How?"

"I’ll cut the silver cables."

"But... you don’t have the proper tools!" Brandon argued, "Those lineman’s pliers are too small to cut a wire that thick, you’ll have to use the cutter, and that won’t shield your hand from the electricity. You’ll be shocked!... And then, how will you get off the roof before it explodes?"  he paused. "Oh, Jeez! You'll be killed!"

"I’ll make it. Just go!"

"No... I’ll do it!"

"What?"

"I’m ready... I’m prepared. I was already on my way there when you came up here. I want to do it!"

"Are you nuts?"

"I wish!" Brandon whispered. "I wish I were!"
 
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Levon drove as fast as he could. He had entered the freeway at the first intersection and was now quickly approaching an old road that would take him to the main highway. Carla was behind him.

He exited on to the side and met something he hadn’t counted on: a closed road.

"Damn!" he swore loudly, slowing down and slamming the steering wheel. What now? He stopped, backed up a bit and continued on to the next exit. This one had a big sign that made Levon happy again. "To 342 ->"

He smiled and took the road... the next thing, he also didn’t count on. There was another big sign saying: "Cars Only"

"God damn it to hell!" He said, shaking his head. Time was running out, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. He thought of what La Fiamma did every time something like this happened and slamming his foot on the accelerator he took the road and prayed to God it would be clear.

There was no traffic around him, the way was clear allright, but a few moments later he passed under a very low bridge and understood the sign back there. The box passed inches from the underbridge. Levon hadn’t forgotten he was driving a big trailer but it was a complicated thing for a man who had done so only two or three times in his life. The next bridge, however, turned out to be lower and the top of the cargo box hit the underbridge and made a loud screeching sound.

Levon winced. The box almost failed to pass, but it did. Then he cursed, just as the next bridge came into view. It was difficult to calculate but it could be too low.

The Texan stopped the trailer to measure the distance.

He got out of the vehicle and Carla’s car sopped behind him.

"What is it?" she called from the car.

"The bridge is too low!"

"Maybe not! You passed the others!"

"I hit the last one!"

"Oh!"

Just then a gray car stopped behind the patrol car and someone started shooting at them.

Bang!

Bang!

Chapter 4, Lesson 2 – To cut or not to cut, that is the question
 

Joe La Fiamma couldn’t believe what this kid wanted to do. In all his life he had never met someone with so much determination and so little fear.

"Kid, you don’t know how to do this... and I’m NOT gonna let you, you understand?"

"You have no choice!" Brandon pointed out. "In fact, it’s your 'only' choice, unless you want to die with me!"

"Brandon!" Joe shook his head.

"Joe!" Brandon replied.

The Italian lowered his eyes and tried to find the answer... something to make this kid understand. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do to give the young man a will to live. No one could.

"You see another solution?" Brandon asked, his eyes back on the still thick cloud of smoke on the east.

"You got twenty million dollars?"

"Yeah, I do!"

"On you?" Joey was half amused.

"No, not right now!"

Joey sighed. He knew he hadn’t much time, but he just couldn’t let this kid blow himself up and live with it. He could never do that, it was not in his nature.

"What?" he finally asked the kid. "What can be so bad to make you feel like that?"

Brandon still watched the far away sky. He took a deep breath and hugged the Teddy bear tucked inside his shirt.

"You’ll think it’s silly!"

"Maybe, but I’m listening!" Joey tried again

"You wouldn’t understand!" he finally answered.

"Try me." Joey pleaded.

The kid felt a little bit of the pressure that constantly crushed his heart, lift slightly just by being able to say it, to tell someone.

"Loneliness!" he confessed narrowing his sad eyes. "I’m so alone, I can’t take it anymore!"

Joe La Fiamma thought he’d been struck by another shock of electricity. Loneliness. God! Joey knew about loneliness, he had the scars all over his soul to prove it.

He stepped on the edge of the building and looked down to the far street. It was a long way down. Then he saw something interesting.

Seven floors! Still, the kid had been willing to do it... he had been decided to jump! He’d decided to die... alone.

Well, nobody deserved to die alone!

In that moment, Joe La Fiamma knew what he had to do.

"Come on, kid. It’s time to take it away!" He grabbed the cutter, picked up the book and handed it to Brandon

"What?" The young man was very confused.

"I know... I do know what you’re feeling and I refuse to allow you to die because of it!"

"But..."

"No buts, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll cut the silver wires, you help me. If I fall, you pick me up."

"But..."

"You grab those pliers over there and cut that external wire when I tell you. Are you ready?"

Brandon was appalled. They were really going to do it!

"I thought you didn’t want to die!"

"I thought you did!"

"I do!"

"Well, then, Brandon, my friend... Let’s go out with a bang!"
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Bang.

Bang.

"Who is that guy?" Carla shouted.

"I bet you my hat it’s the French guy!"

"The one who set the bombs?"

Levon nodded, searching for a way out. He finally came up with an only choice.

"Carla!" he shouted over the shooting noises, "Cover me! I’ll try to get the trailer away!"

"But, Levon! How will 'you' get away?" she asked as she reloaded.

"I’ll think of something! You just don’t let him follow me!"

"Are you out of your mind?" she took over the shooting as Levon reloaded his own gun, "What if the bridge ain’t high enough?"

"Well, sugar, time’s runnin’ out!" Levon was dead serious, "If I don’t try it we’re dead anyway!"

Bang!

Another shot ricocheted on the pavement and Carla let out a cry of pain.

Levon screamed. "No!"

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

"Okay, on three!"

"You sure about this, Joe?" Brandon was definitely not comfortable with this. He felt like he was dragging a strange guy to his death. A guy he 'd grown to admire in the short time they've known each other.

"I’m sure!" Joey replied.

Click. The timer jumped again.

The kid tucked the book inside his shirt with the Teddy Bear and tried again. "But... I don’t want you to die, Joe I like you, you’re a good guy!" Brandon pleaded with all his heart. "You deserve better than this!"

"Funny!" Joey smiled, "You’re echoing my sentiments!"

"Joe!"

"We’ll be fine, Brandon!"

"Joe!"

"One!"

"Please!"

"Two!"

"I beg you!"

Joey gave the kid his best Italian look and smiled. "Three!"

He cut the first silver wire. The shock went through him like a thunderstorm and he hissed.

"Oh, shit!" Brandon cried out and ran to help his new friend.

"I’ll live!" Joey mumbled wearily, he grabbed the edge of the box for support and went back to cutting.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Brandon yelled.

Joey cut the second one. This time he let out a cry of pain. Brandon helped him sit up.

"Do I cut it now?" he asked

"When I’m through!" Joey said weakly. He cut the third one and the shock made him fall painfully to the ground again.

The young man cursed again. "Oh, God damnit!"

Joey closed his eyes and fought a wave of dizziness, Brandon took the opportunity and snatched the cutter from his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I’ll cut them!"

"No, you have to cut the other one!"

"I will do it!" the young man gave Joey an almost Italian look.

"Fine," he caved in, "Do it! Get the fourth one!" Joey pointed at it.

Brandon cut, and instantly wished he hadn’t. The shock sent him to the ground beside Joey.

"Happy?" Joe said, snatching the cutter back.

"Oh, Man!"

"Yeah, I know." He went back to the box, the timer jumped froward again.

Click.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Joey cut the fifth wire, holding on to the edge for support. His body was numb already and he only closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"You okay?"

"... Ouch!" he just mumbled, seeing bright spots before his eyes.

"Let me!"

"Uh- uh... no way! You get ready for the external... one!" Joe grabbed the edge of the box harder, he'd almost lost his balance. He knew there was only so much electricity his body could take.

The Italian braced himself and reluctantly cut another one. A cry escaped from his lips.

Brandon grabbed him by the arm and got a shock himself. "Oh, Man!"

The explosives on the lower floors had been disconnected.

"Get... back!" Joe ordered with difficulty. "This... is... it!"

"What about the other floors?"

"The charges are... disconnected... but when we... cut the last wire and the neutral... service wire outside... the circuit will collapse, the second timer will jump... and the roof will... blow!"

"So, you’re sayin’ that... this is it!"

"Sarcasm don’t.... suit you, kid!"

Brandon smiled, he actually smiled! Joey shook his head in defeat.

The young man grabbed the pliers. "So, I cut the wire?"

Joey could barely speak. "We cut... at the same... time!"

"Okay!" Brandon frowned. This was it. They would cut... and they would die.

"Then... we run... and jump over the edge!"

"What?" The kid was confused now.

"I promised... my mother... I would leave a body to be buried!" Joey smiled, "I don’t want to be... cremated... do you?"

Click. Another timer jump.

Brandon just shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. Then the time came.

"Ready?"

"Uh-huh!"

"One"

Both men prepared themselves.

"Two"

They looked at each other and frowned at the same time.

"Three!"

They cut. Joey fell backwards and Brandon just stood there. The Italian gathered all his remaining will and pulled himself up, then he grabbed Brandon by the collar and they both jumped from the edge of the building. They hadn’t even begun to fall when the whole roof exploded.
 

KA BOOM!
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

"Carla!" Levon cried out, his friend had fallen beside him.

"I’ll be fine." She said, "It just nicked me!"

"Oh, God!" Levon felt another bullet fly by his ear and ducked. The next one hit his white hat and it flew towards the trailer box. The wind carried it away and it got stuck under the tractor.

"Shit!" Carla got up grabbing her injured side.

Just then, a bullet hit the trailer dead on.

Levon cursed. "I have to get out of here!"

Carla winced at the pain and shot back. "Alright, but ya better be careful, I’ll try and radio someone to help you!"

"You’re help enough, darlin’!" he smiled. "Will you be okay?"

"I’m a cop!" she said, "I’ll be just peachy!"

"Just... shoot his ass if you can!" Levon put a hand on her shoulder. "He's an evil bastard... If he moves, kill him for me!"

"Will do!"

"Stay down, honey!" he gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled.

She smiled back at her blond friend as he started running towards the truck tractor. The French guy shot and was answered by Carla’s furious automatic weapon.

Levon moved the big vehicle forward. He had been right, the bridge was too low. There was a loud screech as the semitrailer box went under the bridge, and Levon felt the pull and pressure of the trailer trying to get through. A loud noise came from the back of the tractor and Levon winced. Something had just broken. For a second he thought he would fail, then the trailer was free and he raced towards the still far away highway.
 
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
 

The explosion shook the earth, everyone around the building had been cleared except for the fire department, but Smalley knew they had until three o’clock. What in the world had happened? He and the rest of the firemen below the building took cover beside their trucks. Then someone screamed as two bodies plummeted down along with ashes and debris.

Captain Smalley cursed. "Oh, Shit!"

There was a microsecond of silence and then the two men and everything else hit the huge air cushion they had placed there for the suicide guy.

More debris fell to the surrounding street. Miraculously, no blocks of cement or stone hit the two guys who had fallen. The Captain recognized one of them as the cop who had come to defuse the bomb, the other one could be the jumper.

As the cloud of dust cleared away, the confusion began. As fast as they could, the firemen and the paramedics on the scene raced to the fallen men laying on the air cushion. One of them was unconscious, the other one was dazzled and weary.

"Joe!" he mumbled.

No answer

"Hey!" A fireman climbed on the cushion and held Brandon down. "Stay still, are you okay?"

"Joe!" Brandon asked again.

A paramedic checked for vital signs on Joey. "He’s alive!" She finally said.

"Joe!" Brandon was getting anxious now. Why wouldn’t he answer?

Then suddenly, Joey woke up and cried out. "Aarggh!"

"Sir!" the paramedic said, "Stay still. We’ll take you to the hospital!"

"No!"

He sat up and regretted it. "Woooh!"

"Lay down!" she ordered.

"Lundy!"

"Who?"

The paramedic turned to Brandon. "Are you Lundy?"

"No!" Brandon sat up slowly. Everything ached. "Hey! You okay, Joe?"

"My partner!" Joe continued. "He’s defusing another bomb... It might also have two timers!"

"Oh, shit!" Brandon tried to get up.

"I have to help him!" Joey pushed the paramedic’s hands away and painfully moved to the end of the cushion.

"You are in no condition to go anywhere!" she screamed.

"I’ll manage!"

"Listen to her, Sergeant!" Smalley said, helping Joey off the cushion.

"Help me to that truck!" Joey replied, his mind still numb.

"You can’t drive like this!"

"No, but I can!" Brandon’s voice came from behind Joey.

The Italian looked up. That roof had been very high. "Did you get everyone to the basement?"

"Mostly!" Smalley said. "They were in the first floor and down below. How did you manage to blow up only the roof?"

"With a little help from my friend here!" Joey motioned to the young man. The kid blushed. A moment later they reached the Jimmy.

"I’ll be back later, Captain Smalley!" Joey said as he climbed on the passenger seat.

"Take your time!"

"You okay, Joe?" the kid asked, "You didn't look so good back there!"

"I'll tell you when the adrenaline rush comes down!" Joey strapped in, "Right now my mind's numb!"

"I know what you mean!" Brandon nodded, starting the engine, "My ears are still ringin'!"

Joey groaned.

A moment later, the Jimmy raced toward Alameda at top speed.

"Hey, kid..." Joey lay his aching head back, "You have a license?"
 

Chapter 4, Lesson 3 - Explosives under ten atmospheres of pressure

"Well, Officer Green here told me he said that the bomb couldn’t be disarmed, so they rigged the speed meter and Levon took the trailer to that Brick factory at the 342 Highway!"

"That’s the exit we passed back there!"

"Turn!"

Brandon stopped and the tires left a hot mark on the pavement as he made a noisy, full speed u-turn and headed back the way they had come.

Joey almost dropped the microphone. "Woah!"

"Hey, La Fiamma!" Esteban’s voice called again.

"Yeah, Esteban, we’re heading for... exit number five now!"

"You'll run into him! We’re on our way too... and Joe!" Esteban paused.

"Yeah?"

"The French guy’s after Lundy!"

"What?" Joey felt dizzy again.

"He was caught in a standoff with him and Officer Green under a bridge in Casasola, then Levon left while Carla here covered him!"

"And?"

"He escaped, but officer Green thinks she may have hit him, just before he got in his car!" Esteban paused to talk to someone and then spoke again, "She says he’s in a gray 1988 Ford Lincoln with bullet holes in it!"

"Okay, I’ll meet you up there!"

Brandon hit the brakes and made the car turn fast on the exit.

"Wooooh!" Joey held on, "You drive like me!"

"Is that a good thing?"

"Where did you learn to drive like that?"

"I watch a lot of Cop-shows on TV!"

"Oh, Jeez, kid!" Joey said, "Don’t you know those things are completely unreal?"

"They are?"

"Yeah! You do have a license, right?"

Silence

"Brandon?"

Silence

"Oh, my God, I forgot you wanted to kill yourself!"

"Hang on!"

Screeeech!

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Ignoring a detour sign that marked the beginning of an under-construction area, Lundy turned in the final exit and took Island road, a continuation of Peninsula Avenue. That left him going at top speed in an almost empty road beside a river. A big river.

The Texan couldn’t imagine that the trailer’s fifth wheel, the thing that held the front and the back together, had been damaged with the strain when he passed under that bridge, and now the joint between the tractor and the trailer box was inches away from breaking. The wire below the trailer was beginning to strain and the bomb inside the trailer kept ticking.

Tick

Tick

Tick

The fifth wheel kept rupturing with every bump on the road, and when it came apart the link would break. That would separate the cabin from the trailer... and break the connection that kept the second timer from coming alive.

The brick factory was still far away. Levon swore, he knew he was running out of time.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

The red Jimmy approached Island Road at full speed. Brandon glanced at the cop beside him and tried to say something.

"Hey, that Lundy guy!"

"My partner!"

"Yeah... I can see he’s a real friend, right?"

Joey kept silent. There was no way to describe the relationship between the two cops. On the one hand they fought a lot, every day, and sometimes they yelled and screamed so much, people ran out of the room in fright. On the other hand, they worked great together. Their partnership worked like a charm, they always knew what the other one was thinking and they could read each other's movements without speaking. They were a good team.

But were they friends?

"Sorry, I think I hit a nerve there!"

"No, it’s okay, kid!" Joey felt weak, "I was just pondering about it."

"And?"

"Well, I got banished from my home in Chicago a few years back. I fell down here... in Houston, and well, he was here... we got teamed up... fought a lot and all, but we did well together... but after some time I started goin’ crazy, you know? ‘Cause I couldn’t go home anymore... ever again! And I lost touch with my family... and I didn’t have any friends... I guess you could say I was lost. Then I felt it pretty bad, you know?

"I do!" he said softly.

"It got pretty damn bad... but just when I was about to call it quits, Lundy pulled me back. He showed me that not everything was lost, and I finally managed to stop thinking of home every day. He was there for me, and he’s been there ever since. How do you call that? Just friend?"

"Just friend!"

"Well, then I guess you could say he’s my just-friend."

Brandon kept driving.

"He’s my best friend." Joey added, almost inaudibly.

Brandon touched the Teddy bear still under his shirt and sighed. "I thought you were pulling my leg back on that roof... when you said you did know about loneliness. I guess you do, huh?"

The Italian sighed. It was time to lay it on the table. "Listen, don’t let it get to you, kid. Don’t drop the towel just yet." Joey tried to make his words mean something to this young man he'd grown to admire in the short time they've known each other. He felt an odd need to protect him and the last thing he wished was for Brandon to climb up to another roof and die. No way!

Brandon kept silent.

"Please, believe me... You’ll see that just when you least expect it, that thing you’ve been looking for will fall out of the blue and right on your lap. Trust me!"

Brandon showed half a smile, "Well, I don’t think it fell right on my lap. Right on the air cushion was more like it!"

Joey’s face was lit up with a smile. He suddenly felt a little relieved. "Seven floors!" he said.

"Seven floors!" Brandon repeated.

"I’ll be damned!" Joey finished.

Then they turned on yet another curve and saw a white trailer heading towards them.

"There!" Joe exclaimed. He didn’t get to say anything else. The trailer hit a curve and just then, the back of the vehicle got half loose, tipped over and fell into the river dragging the tractor, with Lundy inside, down to the cold, deep waters.
 
 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
 
 

Inside the tractor cabin, Levon found his world spinning and his heart filled with dread as he realized what was happening.

The trailer box was loose. The whole thing hit the water and Levon cursed. "Oh, shit!"

Below the trailer, the external wire had broken. It sent a signal to the timer which, having been thoroughly disconnected before by the Texan, collapsed and activated the second timer. Five seconds.

Levon hit his head on the steering wheel and saw stars as the strong current ripped the remaining of the fifth wheel off the box and started dragging the submerged tractor down river. Water started flooding the cabin. Levon tried to get out and found the door jammed. The other door was against the floor.

He'd been dragged some distance and he was quickly going over his options when the second timer hit zero.
 
 

KABOOOOM!
 

"Nooo!"

Joey didn’t even notice when the desperate cry came out of his lips. Brandon had stopped the Jimmy and they were both out when the bomb went off, sending water, debris and fire in all directions. The earth trembled and both men staggered back and fell to the ground, hit with the force of the wave. The side of the road crumbled and fell to the river. Then there was just the remaining thunder. Joey didn’t know if it was the same thunder that he felt ripping through his heart.

"Oh, Man!" Brandon got up, slowly and turned to help Joey, but the man was already up, his muscles fueled by adrenaline, and beginning to run towards the explosion site.

Far away, a gray Lincoln stopped on the side of the curve and doubled back, then it entered a side road and hid.

Running along the side of the river, Joe scanned the savage waters. "Lundy!" he mumbled.

Brandon ran behind him. The explosion had destroyed the road and the damage ran across to the other side of the river. A brown car, followed by a patrol car arrived from the far curve and stopped when the road became impossible to cross. The door opened and Joe Bill McCandless ran out, followed by his partner.

"Oh, Shit!" he exclaimed.

Esteban saw La Fiamma and another guy trailing the edge of the river and suddenly realized that Levon was nowhere around. "Madre del Cielo!" he exclaimed, "Lundy!"

"Oh, NO!" Joe Bill ran as fast as he could trough the debris.

Joey searched the place where the wreckage should be. There was nothing of the trailer visible. "How deep is this river?" Esteban asked his partner.

"About 30 feet!"

"Damn!"

La Fiamma finally met his two friends, they didn’t have to ask, Joey’s eyes were clouded with anguish.

A few moments later Carla Green limped across the debris and shouted. "The rescue team is on the way!"

"What’s the use?" Joey said sadly. If Levon was alive he would have surfaced by now. He took his shoes off and prepared to jump to the river.

"What are you doing?" Joe Bill stopped him by the shoulder.

"I have to make sure." He said. His voice broke almost imperceptibly.

No one said anything, Joey approached the edge and suddenly stopped. Down river... carried by the currents, was a white hat. Joe wanted to scream, his heart breaking at the sight. Then another reflection caught his eye and he left the screaming for later.

"Oh, God!" he started running, "Please, God!"

Everyone followed him.

About 50 yards down river Joey stopped. The edge of something white was shinning. He couldn’t possibly see what was below the water, but the river turned around a big rock and the current slowed a little bit. There... right there.

Joey couldn’t actually see anything but an inner voice told him to jump.

He swam as strongly as he could, fighting the force of the current. His hand caught something and he grabbed it. There, below all that water was the trailer’s truck. And inside the cabin, quickly filling up with water, was his unconscious partner. His head was bleeding.

Joey tried to open the door and found it jammed. His lungs were getting tired and the cabin was almost completely flooded. He saw but one option. He knew that if he went back up he wouldn’t be able to get back to Lundy in time, so he did what he thought was right. He prayed with all his might and took his gun out. It might just fire!

He aimed at the lock, careful not to hit Lundy. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

He started beating the glass with it. It wouldn’t break. He put it away and took out his other gun, feeling the pressure in his lungs growing and growing. He fired the second gun. This time it went off. The bullet hit the glass. That’s all he needed.

With every ounce of strength he had he broke the pieces and grabbed his friend’s arm.

Up by the edge, Carla had gone back to her car to look for a fist aid kit, and Joe Bill and Esteban were quickly getting impatient.

"Where is he?"

"I don’t know!"

"Well, what’s he doing down there?"

"The question is," Brandon commented, "What are you two doing up here?"

The two cops looked at each other and felt stupid. "Shit!" they said in unison. Two seconds later they were in the water.

Brandon stared at the waters in a daze, barely noticing the loud sounds coming from the parked cars. A few moments later, Carla approached the young man who was hugging the teddy bear tucked inside his shirt. He couldn’t believe what was happening. She took him out of his stupor.

"Hey!" she said. "You okay?"

He nodded, his eyes never leaving the water.

"Why aren’t you in there with them?"

"I can’t swim!"

"Oh."

They stood there in silence. Carla was holding her injured side, she had been able to stop the bleeding but had refused to go to the hospital until Levon was safe. Now, she just looked at the moving river, the thought of losing her friend hurt a lot more than her wound. How could this have happened?

How?

Before she could start wondering about it three... no, four heads surfaced ahead.

"Levon!" she cried out.

Brandon started breathing again.

Joey and Joe Bill carried Levon’s still body and placed him on the ground. He was pale, he had a nasty cut on his forehead and his leg had some blood on it too. Esteban kneeled down beside him and searched for vital signs. Joey knelt down on the other side, breathing heavily. His lungs had almost given up and he’d been one second away from drowning. But he hadn’t, he was still breathing and the only thing he wanted in the world was for Lundy to be breathing too.

Esteban shook his head.

Joe Bill stepped in and started compressing Levon’s chest. Joey couldn’t stop praying. His world had stopped.

Then it happened. Levon began coughing.

Joey knelt there in silence and closed his eyes just as the world began to move again. Carla cried openly and, strangely, so did Esteban. Joe Bill put his coat below Levon’s head and asked him how he was doing.

"Oh, Jeez!" Levon whispered. "I feel like I got blown up!"

Joey smiled at his friend, his heart racing. The knot in his throat wouldn’t let him speak, but he didn’t have to, Levon could read his mind.

"I’m all right par’ner!" he whispered. "I wouldn’t break a promise to you, now would I?"

Joey just shook his head. Levon smiled and closed his eyes.

The Italian looked up and saw Brandon smiling. It wasn’t the same cynical smile he’d seen earlier, this one was real. It was the first time Joey had seen the kid alive.

Then his eyes darkened as he suddenly realized something.

"The French guy!" Joey looked for his guns. He had used them below but had taken them back up, he remembered that.

"He’s gone!" Carla said.

"No, he’s not!" Joey stood up and searched the landscape, "He just lost twenty million dollars!"

"He’s gone! I killed him!"

"What?" Now everyone stared.

"He’s back there, by the car!" she pointed at the parked patrol car. "He tried to sneak up on me but I saw him trough the rearview mirror. He didn’t give me a choice!"

"You killed him?"

"I was following orders!" She said, "Levon told me to!"

Everyone kept silent. Then a weak whisper came from Levon's still form. "Good job!"

Back down river, a siren was approaching, echoed by a helicopter above. The rescue team was here.

"Right on time!" Joe Bill said.
 
Joey glanced up to the sky. His strength was diminishing as the adrenaline rush slowly died down and his muscles began complaining. Every ounce of his body started aching, but he didn't care. For the first time since this whole thing had begun, he felt he could breathe freely again.

Chapter 5 – Lesson Summaries and Final notes

Joe La Fiamma sat in front of Levon down in Chicken’s Bar and Grill. Everyone was there, celebrating.

There were many good news to drink to. The first one being, of course, that they were all alive.

The second one came from captain Taggert, who said that the other two explosions had left less damage than they expected, many injured people but no one dead.

So, the French guy had lost that one.

Joe Bill approached the table after playing a game of pool with Annie and Carol and losing miserably. "Lieutenant Beaumont called," he said, "She’s on her way!"

"About time!" Levon replied.

"Hey," Joey grabbed another beer, "Tell me again, with details this time, how did you guys figure out where the other bombs were, Joe Bill?"

"See, La Fiamma, we did somethin’ called investigatin’!" Joe Bill sat beside Levon, who had a bandaged head and a leg propped up on a chair but was otherwise extremely happy.

"Yeah, right!" Joey said.

"We did!" Esteban cut in. "When you reported the location of that trailer, the Mayor was there in the office with us. He paled up so bad he had to sit down. It turned out his kids were in that school!"

"Yeah," Joe Bill continued, "Then he asked for the list and he recognized the restaurant. He went there every Sunday."

"His favorite restaurant!. A Mexican joint, I might add!" Esteban smiled.

"Then we started puttin’ two and two together. It seems that the guy chose all the Mayor favorite spots, plus the clinic where his wife was having therapy for a broken leg, then the flower shop his mother owned and so on...!"

"So we did some digging..."

"Investigatin’!" Joe Bill corrected.

"Yeah, and found the last bomb in the Astrodome!"

"The Astrodome!" Joey exclaimed. "Of all the places! Who did this guy think he was? Don’t he know baseball is sacred?"

"He didn’t!"

"The nerve!" Joe took a sip of beer and cursed in Italian.

Levon chuckled, glad to see all his friends together. It was going to take some time for him to get back to normal having lived through what had happened. He had almost died! He had the men before him to thank for his life and so far, he hadn't found the right words to thank them.

They didn't seem to care.

"It didn’t go off, y’know?" Joe Bill pointed out.

"The one at the Astrodome?"

"The bomb squad said it didn’t arm itself. Must’ve been a glitch and the French guy never noticed!"

"What did I tell you?" Joey made a toast upward, "There IS a GOD!"

"I’ll drink to that!" Esteban said.

"Here, here!" Lundy exclaimed.

There had been many good news indeed. Some they were not yet aware of, like, for example, the fact that Taggert had recommended Joey and Levon for a commendation, or the fact that the bomb squad had named them honorary members and were planning to use it as an excuse to throw a party. Or the fact that Carla Jane Green had just been promoted to Detective.

Or the fact that someone was just coming through the door.

"Yo! Brandon!" Joey pulled a chair for his friend. "You little prick!" he joked. "Why didn’t you tell me you were filthy rich?"

"I told you I did have twenty million dollars!" he said happily, "You didn’t believe me!"

"You have twenty million dollars?" Esteban asked.

"For the good they do! One more proof that money don’t buy happiness, right?"

"They would for me!" the Mexican nodded.

"Just try to use some of that money to take some driving lessons, will ya?" Joey asked.

"I will, if you stop jumping off buildings!"

"Deal!"

Everyone laughed. Levon had been especially impressed when he was told what had happened on that roof. Both Joey and that suicidal kid’s courage had saved hundreds of people’s lives, not to mention their own. The fact that the kid was recovering nicely was an added bonus to their triumph.

"You okay, Levon?" Brandon asked the Texan.

"I’ll be fine, boy!" he smiled, "I could ask you the same thing!"

"Well, I’ve decided to get therapy and when I’m declared sane again," he turned to Joey with a playful look in his eyes, "I will join the bomb squad!"

"What?"

"Ha, ha, ha!" he laughed. "You said I’d be good at it!"

"Hmm, as long as you don’t forget to bring your books!"

"I wouldn’t dream of it!"

Joey chuckled and then got slightly serious. "I'm just glad you're still among us, dude!"

"Yeah..." Brandon lowered his eyes.

"We're all glad!" Levon pointed out, "I don't know how you resisted the urge after spending five seconds with La Fiamma!"

"Well, it wasn't easy..." the kid smiled again. "He kept making fun of my name!"

"Shame on you, La Fiamma!" Levon said, raising his glass to Joey and smiling.

Joey raised his own glass.

Joe Bill was curious about one thing. "Hey, kid! Can I ask you somethin’?"

"Sure!"

"How come you stayed around after the roof thing?"

"Joe needed help!"

"But it wasn’t your responsibility, you coulda’ just walked away!"

Brandon smiled. "Well, I know what it’s like not to have a best friend," he paused, "I just wanted to help Joe save his!"

Levon blushed a little and quickly took a sip of beer to cover it. After all, they were men!

Joey smiled happily at both his friends. "I never thanked you, did I kid?"

"You did, many times! But Joe, there’s no need, I owe you my life!" the young man said. "I'm proud to call you my just-friend!"

Only Joey understood those last words, and he quickly took a sip of beer to cover his own emotions. After all, they were still men!

"Besides," the kid added, "You gave me the best treatment available under the circumstances, and it worked!"

"What was that?" Lundy asked.

"Shock therapy!"

Joey busted out laughing and soon everyone followed.

Brandon grabbed a beer and was thrilled to see that the bunch of cops around the table were ignoring the fact that we wasn’t over twenty-one yet.

Levon raised his glass, "To the only guy I know who stops a suicide by jumpin' off the damn buildin'!"

"Here, here!" everyone echoed.

Back at the pool table Carol and Annie cheered as they won yet another round.

"You did good there, Joe!" Levon told his best friend, watching Brandon cheerfully telling jokes.

"I know, man!" Joey passed another beer to his best friend. "So did you!"

The end, c’EST finis

Appendix

The names of the explosive materials, device components and volatile chemical substances have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty... and because I don’t know a damn thing about explosives. So, if you’re a bomb expert... don’t e-mail me with rude words, please, think about it: If I put the real thing, I’d be giving many deranged weirdoes free recipes for mindless destruction!! Now, Would you like that in your conscience? Well, I wouldn’t!

If you’re NOT an expert, please don’t try to construct the explosive devices described in the piece of fiction above. You’ll end up with something out of the Twilight Zone, and some fanfic writers may call you a deranged weirdo.

This story has been modified to fit your screen and formatted for content to fit the allotted running time. © April, 2000

Bibliography
 

• The very fictitious: ‘Norwell’s Connector Systems Manual’
• The quite fictitious ‘Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern Mass Destruction Devices and Falafel recipes.'
• The still exceptionally unreal ‘Houston Police Department Rules and Regulations for Strip Poker’

• The very much real "Encarta database CD Rom"
• The extremely real (and heavy) MacMillan's Visual Dictionary
• And the real, but yet unbelievable to any earthling sentient creature, movie: Speed, with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (I watched it for inspiration).