Day of the Dumpster - Part One of Four

When Angela opened her eyes that morning, her byfriend was nowhere to be seen.

"Zack?" she called.

And then, he burst in.

"Morning, beautiful!" he said. "Can I pull that off, by the way? Either way – it's time for toast!"

Angela sat up in bed as Zack passed her the tray.

"What on earth have I done to deserve this?" she asked.

"My way of apologising," said Zack. "I know I haven't been available much lately, between rehearsals and touring." He grinned broadly. "But today's different! It's Zack and Angela Day today, all day."

"That's great, Zack," said Angela between bites of toast. "And thanks for my breakfast." She reached over and grabbed his hand. Then, remembering something, she frowned. "Don't you think you should phone Bobby, though? He's been waiting to see you even longer than I have."

"Zack and Bobby Day's tomorrow, beautiful!"

"You really can't pull that off."

"I know," said Zack sadly.

+++

Even though it was early, William Cranston was already studying in the library. He was a hard worker – he wanted to do well in his major, and move away from home. His family hadn't been able to afford to send him anywhere else, so he'd been forced to stay in California.

As he worked, an oriental girl walked past, and William realised how narrow his horizons were. He'd barely left his home town, let alone the state or the country. What an experience it'd be to immerse oneself in a foreign culture, even studying in a foreign language.

But if he didn't stop daydreaming, he'd never get anywhere. He concentrated on his book.

+++

Miss Hart checked her watch. Eight minutes she'd been waiting for Eugene to sort out the television. Thank goodness for Mr Oliver, the teaching assisstant – he was currently taking the kids through the finer points of glaciation, giving her valuable marking time. But still, these kids' STAR exams were on the line, and she couldn't afford to wait around for faulty equipment.

She walked towards Eugene. Keeping her voice low so that she wouldn't be overheard, she said, "Any chance of getting this ready before tectonic plate movement renders the video obsolete, Mr Skullovitch?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Hart," he said. "It's old equipment. Wires are frayed." He jumped suddenly, having received a shock from one of the wires in question. "I'm sure I'll get it done by the next period."

"Alright," sighed Miss Hart. "But please try to get these things done on time in the future. You had over a week's notice."

"I'm sorry," Eugene muttered.

Miss Hart considered going on, but decided she'd had her say. Eugene frustrated her – he was poor at communicating, and unreliable. She found herself tempted to avoid all technology in lessons these days to avoid having to deal with the complications he caused.

She sat back at her desk, continuing her work, looking up every so often to keep an eye on her teaching assistant.

+++

Jason blew on his whistle to stop a man from running. He wasn't too keen on swimming pool duty, but someone had to do it. Weekdays were often like this – quiet, and no classes running.

By his nature, Jason liked to teach, so he much preferred classes. At three, he was scheduled for a fitness class for the over-sixties. That was better than nothing.

He turned his attention to the TV mounted in the gymnasium in the next room. He couldn't hear it through the glass, but he could see it was the news, reporting on the recent moon landing. Even the text scrolling along the bottom was too far away to read, and he quickly lost interest.

It'd be so nice to have something to do, he thought.

+++

Angela and Zack sat in the shade of the sentinel statue in the park. Shaped like a giant fist, it had been the location of their first date.

They ate their picnic, and Angela filled Zack in on what had been going on in the neighbourhood during his time away.

"Bobby still hasn't found work," she said. "Rent's been getting him down, and his housemates aren't happy. He sometimes stays in the spare room to get away from it all."

"Wish he'd find something he's good at," said Zack. "He doesn't seem to be motivated to learn anything new. No wonder he has a hard time finding a job."

"Not everyone has your natural talents," said Angela.

Zack grinned broadly. "I know," he said, jumping on her. "Or my natural charm!"

"Get off," she squealed, laughing.

He managed to pin her to the floor, and sat on her.

"You let me go right now, Mister," she cried. "You're so dumped, I can't even believe it."

"No I'm not," said Zack cheerfully.

"Yes you are! And stop shaking me!"

"I'm not shaking you."

Angela tried to control her breathing, but couldn't stop laughing.

"Alright," she said. "I give up. You win. You can stop now."

"Stop what?" asked Zack innocently. "And stop moving."

Angela stopped laughing. "I have stopped moving."

Zack jumped to his feet. He grabbed Angela's hand and pulled her up. The tea in their thermos flask was quivering. Zack leaned down, and felt the ground with his hand.

"It's vibrating," he said.

+++

Jason suddenly cllimbed down from his chair. The entire surface of the swimming pool was vibrating. Some of the swimmers began to notice, but none made any attempt to leave. Jason presumed they thought it was a wave machine or something.

He walked to the other side of the room, and opened the door that led to the front desk.

"Amy," he called. "Have you noticed anything weird-"

He was suddenly cut off as the ground beneaeth him shook violently, knocking him to the ground.

A second later, Jason was back on his feet, and facing the pool.

He blew on his whistle.

"Everyone, if I could ask you to step out of the pool until further notice."

And then the earthquake started properly.

+++

"Everyone stay calm," said Miss Hart loudly. "Follow Mr Skullovitch out of the building."

Eugene walked shakily towards the door, followed by the pupils.

"Make sure they're safe," said Miss Hart as they passed her.

Mr Oliver waited until they were all gone, and then asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"We'll check the rest of this building," said Miss Hart. "Make sure everyone's out."

"Dangerous," said Mr Oliver. "We ought to get right out of here."

"Do that, then," said Miss Hart. She turned on her heel, and headed through the door.

+++

William cowered under the table as books flew past him in all directions, knocked from the shelves by the quake. After a few minutes, he decided that all the heavy books were on the floor by now, and crawled out from his hiding place.

Everyone else had left the library already. Everyone except ...

"Are you alright?" she called. It was the oriental girl he'd seen earlier. Hearing her Texan accent, William was momentarily embarassed by having assumed she was an exchange student.

"I'm okay, yeah," he replied.

"There's a hole in the stairs," said the girl. "We can't get down."

"We'll head up, then," replied William. "This building connects to the math department on the top floor."

"Is climbing to the top floor a good idea during an earthquake?"

"Better than jumping from the fifth," William pointed out.

"Fair point."

+++

Zack ran through the park, clutching tightly to Angela's hand. Get out of the way of anything that can fall, his instincts told him.

They ran deeper into the park, finally reaching a clearing. This part of the park was kept clear of trees and statues, and was traditionally used by families playing baseball and sunbathers in the summer.

It was currently entirely empty, apart from a man dressed in grey in the distance.

The ground was shaking so fiercely by now that it was becoming difficult to stand.

"This is ridiculous," said Zack, struggling to maintain his balance. He felt Angela's hand slip from his, and turned around to check that she was alright.

"Zack," she breathed. "Can't ... keep ... running."

"Alright," he said. "We'll stay here. No problem."

"Look out!" screamed Angela suddenly.

Zack turned around, and the man in grey punched him in the shoulder. The force was tremendous – his shoulder felt as though it had broken on impact.

"What are you doing, man?" he cried. "We're all in the same boat here ..."

The man stepped towards him again, and aimed a powerful kick at his stomach. Zack managed to back away in time, but the shaking ground caused him to fall on his back.

He could now see that this wasn't an ordinary man. He wasn't wearing grey – he was himself entirely grey. He looked like he was made of rock, but far smoother. Rough features were carved into his face, and all over, the grey surface of the man was streaked with thin black lines.

The man also seemed to be entirely unaffected by the quaking ground.

Zack managed to get to his feet, and dashed backwards, keeping an eye on the man in case he turned on Angela. On the contrary, the man followed Zack, calmly and slowly. His hands – larger than normal human hands – were balled into fists. He stamped his way towards Zack, who now turned around to run properly.

+++

Jason reached the gym, and a quick check confirmed that no-one was left inside. He struggled to reach the television, taking care around the equipment, and checked all the news channels. None were reporting on the earthquake, so he assumed this must be reasonably local.

As he headed back outside, the ground lurched, and an exercise bike slid towards the entrance. Jason sighed, and started to move it. Last thing he needed now was to be killed by an exercise bike.

+++

Miss Hart was impressed by the resilience of the old school building. The entire structure seemed sound, and nobody seemed to be trapped. Finally arriving outside, she smiled at Mr Oliver.

"Great," he said. "Let's go see the others."

Miss Hart frowned.

"No, actually," she said. "There are more buildings to check."

"You can't," said Mr Oliver, looking horrified. "There are dozens."

"I've got to make sure nobody's trapped."

"Any one of those buildings could collapse!"

"Not coming with me then?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh," said Miss Hart, suddenly disappointed. "Right. Run along, then."

"You're coming with me," insisted Mr Oliver.

"No, I'm not," said Miss Hart. She gave him a final look, and headed for the art department.

"Psycho," muttered Mr Oliver.

+++

William clutched his side as he arrived the top floor. He had a stitch.

His companion, by contrast, seemed to be absolutely fine. She glanced around, spotted signs on the walls, and headed in the direction of the maths block.

"Hope the stairs are okay in here," she said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Yeah," agreed William, trying to force his legs to keep going.

The girl entered the building first, and William followed. When he entered the building, the girl wasn't there.

"Hey," he said. "Hello?"

And then he also vanished.

+++

Jason reached the main entrance to the leisure centre. The building itself was fine, but outside, he could see that the neighbourhood was going insane. Looters got in the way of the hysterical, and the ground was littered with glass from broken windows.

He was about to leave when he simply disappeared.

A mile down the road, Miss Hart arrived at the art department, and did the same.

+++

Zack couldn't see Angela anymore – he hoped she'd find a safe place. But who knew what was going on?

"What are you, then?" he asked the grey man. "Rock monster? Or ... is that super-skin?"

He ducked a left hook, running faster out of the creature's grasp.

"Are you one of the Hulk's villains?" he asked. "I never read much of his stuff."

The creature launched itself forward, and landed on Zack's left foot. Once again, the pain was unbearable. Zack screamed, and fell to the ground. He rolled onto his back, and saw that a second rock creature had joined the first.

"Well," he said. "Since you ask – I'm an Avengers fan."

And then he vanished.

+++

Jason was the first to get up. When he saw where was, he nearly collapsed again. He was in an oval room, with computer consoles and desks strategically placed. It looked like a submarine control centre, complete with screens showing readings.

In the centre of the room was a large, white sphere, with no apparent connection to the computers surrounding it. Against the furthest wall was a large, steel door. A pit was in front of it, blocking access. On the opposite wall stood a thick, transparent cylinder, that seemed to be full of water.

One of the others stood up – a blonde guy with glasses.

"Where is this?" he asked, in a daze.

"No idea," said Jason. "Who are you?"

"William Cranston."

"Jason Scott," said Jason.

"Take me back," came an angry voice from opposite them. A blonde woman of Jason's age in a smart suit. "The kids need me. Take me back."

She marched towards Jason.

"I don't know where we are," he said. "Can't help you."

She looked towards William, who looked terrified. She calmed down slightly.

"Right," she said. "We're all prisoners, then?"

"No idea," said Jason.

William crossed over to help one of the remaining two visitors – an oriental girl of around the same age. Jason examined the final guest – a short, muscular black guy.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"Earthquake, rock monsters ..." he said. "Weird sci-fi building. The logical next step."

"Are you alright?" asked Jason.

"My foot's killing me, and I think my shoulder's broken," confirmed the man. "I'm Zack Taylor, by the way. Are you from the IRS? 'Cause I swear my printer was broken, and my dog ate it."

And then, they heard a voice.

"Welcome." Ancient and pained. "My name is Zordon."

The three standing stepped forward. Zack craned his neck to see over a table, and saw a girl nearby stand up.

"Today is a grim day indeed," continued the voice, which seemed to be coming from the pipe. "The evil sorceress Rita Repulsa has been freed from her space dumpster, and has started her plot to destroy the world."

"Okay, guys," said Zack. "I think I speak for all of us when I say – what the crap is going on?"