New Years Eve

• Aiden Lindsay, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2019

Gunfire rattled through the air. Screams of pain rang out as bullets met their mark. The stench of the sewers underneath Time Square reeked of the worst smells imaginable. I ran through the grime in the tunnels, towards the terrorists. Whilst New York is celebrating new Years eve, the entirety of the NYPD is focused on taking out a threat, the exact information unable to be disclosed to the public. Whilst my girlfriend is waiting in Time Square I am running toward a bomb. Ticking underneath her feet. One that will go off if I don’t make it in time. As the engagement ring bounced in my pocket I think about all the things I’ll never get to say to her if I don’t get to the bomb in time. I’ll never get the chance to ask her to marry me. We’ll never get the chance to have kids. I dive down as a bullet whips past my ear. I quickly dash to the closest piece of cover, getting ever closer to the bomb. I hear shouts coming from further down the tunnel then footsteps running away. As I approach the small room where the terrorists are camped out I see only one guard. He turns around as he heard me approaching only to see a fist flying towards his nose. He was out cold before he hit the ground, with a wet squelch. Shouts ring out behind me, then I turn to see three more terrorists approaching. One terrorist swung out with a knife but I ducked underneath his swing and punched him in the gut. I pushed him into the next guy then punched the third terrorist in the throat. I pulled my gun out then hit each of the terrorists with the butt of the gun to make sure they wouldn’t disturb me while I defuse the bomb. It was just lucky that more terrorists weren’t guarding the bomb. I look for the tell-tale flashing light of the bomb, then spot it. Attached to the roof. A small step ladder was huddled in the corner of the room, so I run over and pull it out, setting it up underneath the bomb. I pull out the bomb defusing kit that was issued to each officer in-case they find the bomb, so I can stop it exploding. I grab the tweezers and survey the bomb, trying to remember the bomb defusing courses run by the department. Eventually I recognise the wire arrangement and the shape of the bomb. C4. I slowly go through the stages of defusing the bomb, then I notice the timer. 10… 9… 8… I try to remember the final stages of defusing the bomb 7… 6… 5… I suddenly remember! Cut the red wire – But which one. 4… 3… 2… 1… I choose one wire and cut it. Just as the timer hits 0.