IMMOLATION: CHAPTER 37

The street lamps were just starting to turn on when Matt left his apartment. He'd spent the greater part of the day checking on his things, making sure nothing was missing or out of place. If the police had taken anything, he didn't know what it was because as far as he could tell everything was still there.

It felt good to walk. Growing up, his family had often gone on walks together. The little town they lived in was ideal for such a thing, and the nearby foothills provided beautiful nature hikes whenever they were feeling adventurous. The city was, by comparison, flat and gray and uninviting. But still, Matt thought a walk would do him some good.

His shoes scuffed along the ground and he kept one hand in his jacket pocket, holding the slip of paper that policeman had given him. The piece of paper with the phone number he'd been instructed to call, but not with his own phone. Matt looked around and there weren't many other people out and about on the sidewalk. Cars still passed by with some measure of regularity but he doubted stopping one of them to ask to use their phone would likely end well. Most of those scenarios that he played out in his mind ended with him getting run over by a startled driver. Matt wasn't even sure he wanted to call the number. It could be a trap, set by the police, to see if he would call the number, acting guilty for them and giving them an excuse to arrest him.

Matt saw a couple on the sidewalk ahead of him, walking with their infant child between them. The small boy, probably no older than a year, had to hold onto his parents hands to keep from falling over as he took uncoordinated steps. Matt walked passed them without a word, silently smiling at the little boy and his squeals of delight when his parents lifted him off the ground to swing him forward a couple of feet.

I'll ask the next person I pass, Matt told himself, I didn't want to interrupt their family stroll.

Matt passed the next three people he saw. Each time finding an excuse to not ask to borrow their phone. Too hurried...Too young...Too mean looking...

And still the slip of paper sat in his pocket like a weight, reminding him of what he'd done. The police were right to search his apartment, right to question him, right to think him guilty, and that thought terrified him. Matt looked around. There wasn't anyone on the sidewalk ahead of him and the guy he'd passed by earlier had already disappeared, but on the other side of the street was a group of teenagers just sitting on the steps of some apartment building. Matt pulled the piece of paper from his pocket and read it over one last time before jogging across the street.

“Hey,” Matt said, getting the teenagers attention, “I was wondering if I could borrow one of your cell phones so I could make a call?”

They stared at Matt for a few moments before one of them tossed him a phone. Matt dialed, all the while aware of the fact that the teenagers were all still staring at him. It reminded Matt of when he'd been in high school and why he'd been so excited to graduate early.

“Hello?” A voice said on the other line. Matt didn't remember hearing any rings on the other side before the voice answered.

“This is Matt Wellis,” Matt began, “I...um, I...” He didn't know what else to say, especially with the teenagers all right there.

“Where are you right now?” The voice asked.

Matt answered.

“Stay there,” The voice said, “A car will be there soon to pick you up,” And the call ended.

Matt stared at the phone for a few moments before handing it back to the teenager who had given it to him.

“Thanks,” Matt said and the teenager nodded.

Matt walked a short distance away to the next apartment over, sat down on its steps, and waited. The teenagers watched him for a little while longer before losing interest and they left, en mass, walking down the middle of the road and yelling at cars when they honked and swerved to avoid hitting the kids. Soon Matt couldn't see the teenagers, and not long after that he couldn't hear them or the offended cars.

A police car turned onto the street and Matt stiffened. The voice on the other line never said what kind of car was being sent. The police car drew closer and Matt sat petrified on the step. The only part of him that seemed able to move were his eyes as they followed the police car up the road and closer to where he was. Sure enough, the police car stopped right in front of Matt and an officer stepped out.

“Hi, officer,” Matt said, accepting his fate at last.

“You see a group of kids walking in the street?” The officer asked.

Matt paused as he was about to offer his hands up to be cuffed.

“What?” He asked.

“Did you see a group of kids playing in the street?” The officer repeated. “I got a call about them being in this area.”

“Um, yeah,” Matt said, shocked at his luck, “They went down the street that way.”

Matt pointed in the direction the teenagers had gone and the officer got back in his car and drove off. Before Matt could finish breathing out his sigh of relief, however, another car pulled up in the spot the police car had just vacated. The driver waved to Matt and motioned for him to get in. Matt didn't move. The car was not what he had been expecting. It was a gray, old sedan with nothing special about it. No tinted windows, no purring engine that bespoke power and maneuverability. Just an ordinary car.

The driver waved again and this time Matt responded. He got up and walked around to the front passenger door. The driver leaned over and unlocked it, no power locks, and Matt got in. The driver didn't say anything and they drove for several minutes in silence until they passed out of the city limits.

“Where are we going?” Matt ventured.

The driver pointed to just ahead of them to where another car was parked in the emergency lane. The driver pulled the car over and they stopped just behind the one the driver had pointed out. Matt, guessing what he was supposed to do, climbed out and walked over to the second car. This one was also fairly nondescript, though its windows were at least tinted. The back passenger door opened as Matt approached and he climbed in. Dr. Muto was there, waiting for him.

The car began to drive as soon as Matt's door was shut.

“What's going on?” Matt asked immediately, cutting Dr. Muto off from whatever he had been about to say. “When you said you were going to take care of Judge Dervin, I thought you were going to call the police, tell them that he'd attacked you and that –

“Things are not so simple,” Dr. Muto interrupted, “Judge Dervin knew things that he could not be allowed to tell anyone else.”

A chill ran down Matt's back.

“What do you mean?” Matt asked. “What did he know?”

Dr. Muto ran a hand through his immaculate hair.

“Matt,” He said, “This world is dying. We're killing it with our pollutants through our addiction to fossil and nuclear power. People like Judge Dervin are so addicted, that any threat to their way of life terrifies them. He knew we were building a Heat Machine, and he was determined to stop us.”

Matt shook his head.

“No,” He said, “If that were true he would have attacked us both. He was only interested in you.” Matt thought for a moment and then added, “You and someone named Early Bird.”

Dr. Muto rubbed his eyes as though exhausted but gave no other sign that this was the case.

“Matt,” Dr. Muto said in a softer tone of voice, one that Matt hadn't heard from him in several years, “You have to believe me, everything that I've done has been done so that your invention can succeed, and Judge Dervin was trying to stop me from helping you. By yourself, Judge Dervin didn't believe that you could succeed, but once I realized my past mistakes and began helping you...”

Dr. Muto trailed off and Matt looked out his window, watching as they returned to the city.

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Sorry for the awkward ending of this chapter, I'll see about fixing it soon, but until then, what do you think? Did I come into this chapter too soon? Too late? Did Matt respond appropriately to the secret message with his not wanting to call the number, etc.?