He felt the warm trickle of life’s fluid as he grabbed at his mid-section and stared dumbfounded at the unremarkable man below.
“Fucking pig! Worthless purveyor of the establishment’s fascist ideals!”
The guard dropped to the warm concrete, thinking thoughts of yachts sailing out in the ocean and movies that were set in New York. He was only vaguely aware of the man calling out. As he lay on the sticky pavement, with scenes of Taxi Driver running through his blurry mind, he heard the cries.
“Let’s go! Hurry up!”
He also heard the sound of many footsteps as they stamped past his body. He faintly heard and felt a few of them spit on him. He also felt the quick blows of a couple of feet kicking him.
His mind was blurry with images of Serpico when he died.
There was a knock at the door of the control room. Craig stood up. “I’ll get it guys.”
He wandered across the dim room. He flipped the lock then swung the door open. He smiled and nodded.
Craig stepped aside while the two men ventured into the smoky control room.
“Hey, who are you guys?” one of the control men said.
The one in front pulled a gun from inside his jacket. “Don’t any of you move or we’ll blow a hole in your fucking head.”
Craig shut the door and locked it.
“We’re running this show, now,” the one with the gun said. “Get your asses over in that corner.”
All four men looked over at Craig, their eyes brimming with confusion and fear.
“Do what he says,” Craig told them.
They all hopped out of their chairs and shuffled over to the designated corner. The second man pulled a rifle from his bag and held it at the small group. “Surprise!” he shouted. He cackled as they all flinched.
“Which one speaks to the cameramen downstairs?” the first man asked Craig.
“I’ll show you.” Craig joined his accomplices at the large desk and sat down. He slipped on a set of headphones. “What do I tell them, Flag?”
The man sat down and slipped on a second set. “Can you make it so I can talk to the cameramen?”
“Sam said I was in charge up here.”
Flag sighed. “Okay. Sam said just to use one camera.”
“Hey, you gonna let Shorty boss you around like that, Flag?”
“Shut the fuck up, Bobby.”
“Yeah, keep quiet,” Craig said.
Bobby sniggered and turned his attention back to the group in the corner. “Which one’s the director?”
“I am,” a small, skinny man answered. “Are you terrorists?”
“Hell no,” Bobby chuckled.
“Well, then what do you want?”
“To teach everyone the evils of tele…”
Flag whirled around. “I thought I told you guys to be quiet.” He gazed a warning at Bobby. “Can’t you keep quiet?”
Bobby nodded. “Sorry, Flag.” A raving grin spread across his chubby face. “Can we shoot ‘em? Huh, can we?” He jabbed the rifle towards the cowering men.
“Jesus no,” Flag sighed. “Sam said not to kill them. We will need their help.”
Turning back to the controls, Flag gazed at the array of small screens that relayed what each camera downstairs saw. On most of the screens, Marty Laffin was standing in the centre of the stage. One screen showed the band. There was also a regular TV, showing them exactly what was being broadcast into millions of homes across the country. Flag would have to keep particular watch on that screen.
Craig nudged Flag. “I’m ready. You call the FBI. The phone’s over there.”
“Okay,” Flag said.
The audience applauded and laughed. With two hundred ardent fans clapping and tittering, there was no need for canned laughter. The noise was so raucous, in fact, that the screams out in the corridor went unnoticed.
Marty Laffin grinned and waved for the audience to cease their ovation for a moment.
He waited until there was silence in the theatre, then pausing for just the right amount of time, quipped, “And that’s just this week.” The laughter went up a few notches with whistles and howling. He raised his arm and was just about to introduce Dave Morrison and the band, when the back double doors crashed open.
All heads turned and Marty chuckled.
“Well, what’s this?” he said, thinking perhaps this was a skit he had purposely been told nothing about. He looked over at the producer and expected to see his face trying hard to hide a sly smirk. Marty frowned to himself when he saw the producer looking just as baffled.
Marty guessed there must’ve been around twenty people. “Well, hey there kids,” he called. “A bit late aren’t we?”
Some of the audience chuckled, while others watched with interest.
Marty gazed down the camera and shrugged. “I knew I should’ve come to rehearsal.”
Some more nervous chuckles from the audience.
“Okay, take your seats,” Marty called, trying to reassure the audience.
A man came dashing down the theatre and up to the stage. Marty’s face dropped and he backed away.
“Hey, now. Just stay there, okay? We don’t want any trouble.”
Marty could hear, off to the side, the producer calling for security.
The scruffy man jogged onto the stage, carrying a shabby looking bag. The one thing that particularly unnerved Marty was the wild stare in the man’s eyes.
“Just stay calm, Marty.”
The man spoke with such coolness that chills prodded at Marty’s skin. Marty glanced over at the large cameras and saw red lights still glowing on all three.
Why haven’t they switched us off yet?
“Ah, we’ll be right back after these messages,” Marty said down the lens of camera one. But the cameras remained on.
The audience was restless. They muttered questions and most had confused looks on their otherwise unconcerned faces. They weren’t sure if this was part of the show.
Marty tried to get the attention of either of the cameramen, but stopped when the man brandished a large knife, one covered in blood.
On stage, under the lights, sweating and with nerves pulling at his gut, Marty Laffin realised then just how serious this situation was. He watched as the others in the group made their way to the entrances. He noticed they all carried similar bags.
Turning his eyes back to the madman on stage, Marty saw him wink.
“Just stay cool, okay?”
He then turned and faced the audience. “Good evening, television watchers. My name is Sam, although you all can call me Uncle Sam. If you all do as I say, you won’t get hurt. My family is currently presiding over all the exits, so if you wish to escape, I’m afraid you can’t. Not only are they locked, but if you do try, you will find yourselves on the wrong end of a bullet.”
All two hundred audience members gasped and turned to make sure he was telling the truth. Most began to cry when they saw the figures by the doors, bags by their feet, guns cradled in their hands.
Marty glanced up at the dark control room. He wondered why the hell the police hadn’t been called yet. And where in the hell were the security guards? He told himself he had to remain calm, do what these psychos wanted, and most of all, to try and save himself from these people.
“Ah… excuse me.” The meek voice came from the floor manager. He stepped away from the darkness. The plump man was wearing a fearful frown.
“Yes?” Sam said, smiling.
“I’ve, ah, got a message from… Shorty.”
“Is he on the headphones?”
The floor manager, Bill, nodded.
“Good. Tell him everything’s going to plan down here.”
Marty watched as Bill relayed the message.
“He said…same up here,” the floor manager said.