Water Fountain

Chapter 3 - The Scientist

It was 9:25 AM on April 4th, 2023. For nine and a half hours, Toby Winters had been diligently working in an underground lab, and now he was just waiting to go home at 10:00 AM. The ten-month high school graduate Toby was gifted both physically and mentally, having become one of the top junior martial artists in California, and while being accepted into Stanford University. Despite all of this, Toby left that life behind. He left that life for the sake of Mayor Clark, the man who insisted that Toby should work as a scientist for him.

The lab was hardly anything like Toby had imagined in June of 2022. As opposed to a white and clean lab like he'd see in movies, the lab more closely resembled a dungeon. It was about as big as a football field, and was constructed from rusting metal. The ceiling lights were blindingly bright. Toby Winters hated everything about his job, but he was assured that he was working towards something truly great. His job was to run tests on the water supply in that area, along with the minerals within that area.

What Toby found in the water supply was not only interesting, but downright insane. The water in that area contained a third element to join Hydrogen and Oxygen. This element had gone unidentified thus far, suggesting that it was a new element. The first discovery of a new element in twelve years.

The water source belonged to Freedom Miller High School, the place under which the water source resided. Mayor Clark had a meeting with Principal Jordan a day before about the water, and they made a decision which had not yet been revealed to Toby yet. Despite this, Toby had a suspicion it had to do with making money.

A great deal of Toby's time at the lab was spent doing anything but investigating the area underneath Freedom Miller High. At 9:25 AM, Toby was punching and kicking the metal wall, which was his way of practicing martial arts, until suddenly, Toby heard a loud BANG! He instantly became more alert and grabbed his phone, sprinting into the elevator and heading for the main floor. The last place he wanted to be when there was an explosion was underground. The main floor happened to be the high school, where Toby saw people screaming and exiting the school in a hurry. There were three boys pushing a troubled-looking boy out the door. It made Toby remember the days he went to Freedom Miller, the days before the $150,000 salary.

Toby almost blended in with the students. He had boyish features and a clean shaven face. Toby was only eighteen, and he still had a long way to go before becoming a man.

Toby casually walked out the doors of Freedom Miller High, making his way into his gray 2007 Toyota Camry. The traffic was horrid, and Toby was trying to get to his apartment, which was on the other side of the town. Toby took a right and above the AT&T building were helicopters. Gunfire rang from inside the building, and Toby was instantly struck with the fear of God. He had nowhere to go. Cars surrounded him, and he was too scared to get out of his car. He released his seatbelt and watched the incident unfold from a distance.

Suddenly, a Cadillac came rolling around the corner. It slammed into the Malco building, and a fire started. A group of people shot at the Cadillac from inside the AT&T building, and the driver was killed immediately, and the passenger was a man Toby recognized. The passenger was his boss, Mayor Thomas Clark, who began to crawl out of the burning car. The group of people came out of the AT&T building with their guns, and unloaded into Clark's head. Toby was forced to watch as his boss was slaughtered right before his eyes. Toby was only forced to watch further as the terrorists murdered the police that had arrived at the scene.

The traffic jam seemed unending to Toby. It must've been ten thousand cars, all in that small area. The terrorists started shooting the cars, and Toby had to watch, defenseless, as the driver of the car in front of him was filled with lead.

Toby had nowhere to go, so he slammed into the car in front of him, pressing on the pedal as hard as he could. Eventually, Toby escaped the traffic jam. He figured he may as well go down with a fight, so he drove straight at the terrorists, killing one, and driving away from the danger.