Yield

 

I pick up my notebook and lean it against the steering wheel. I read the list.

"Napalm. Here it is." I checked the box next to the word napalm. "Driver." I glanced at the other seat. "There it is." Another cross. "Beer... Of course there is. Time for fun."

I got out of the car and opened the trunk. I closed the backseat, giving myself enough room to sit in the trunk and lean comfortably against the napalm tanks.

"Suppa, losers. So you're already at school." I checked my watch. It was almost nine-fifteen. According to my calculations, the busiest time was right now. "Let's flip a coin," I said aloud, realizing I hadn't brought the special coin I'd prepared earlier.

"Damn! I knew something had to go wrong." I grabbed the beer and popped it open in one swift motion. It hissed pleasantly. As I brought it to my lips, my gaze fixed on the pin. "Right," I thought. The world's first school barbecue will begin with a beer pin. "If you fall upside down, this barbecue will be quick and painless, but if you don't, everything will be slow and cruel. "

I threw it.

"You're out of luck! Motherfuckers. See? That pin fell down honestly."

I downed the beer in one gulp and grabbed my little controller.

"Wonderful. I'm a genius."

I examined this little device I'd built. It looked like a laptop, but it didn't unfold. A ton of little lights, some glowing red, others green, and a few didn't glow at all. There were also a dozen or so buttons and switches. Because it was my device, I knew what it was.

"OK. Now let the fun begin." I deliberately pressed the button. I could almost hear the sparks fly. All the locks in the school had just welded shut, except for the exit doors. I'd connected every window to the mains. That button activated a small device that turned on the power. Some of the lights changed colors.

After a moment of contemplating my own genius, I pressed a second button and looked toward the front door. The entire room, including the door, was filling with liquid Cartex, a clever substance used in mines. Cartex fills all available space and solidifies, creating a wall as hard as coal. True, you can break through, but only with a pickaxe or a machine.

I saw a snot immobilized by the rising level of Cartex. He had a great expression on his face as the substance began to force its way through every orifice. For a moment, I wondered if he'd suffocated or died of a heart attack. "Oh, never mind," I said. Now they know something's going on, they'll probably want to call the police.

The next button controlled two events. First, a landline relay station exploded, and then a wave generator located in the basement activated. It was my little invention that effectively jammed all cell phones in the entire building.

I hesitated for a moment. I was in a quandary about what to do next. I'd placed a few more toys around the school and didn't know where to begin. I had a brilliant idea.

I pulled a camera out of the trunk and turned on the relay. I also activated the monitor to see the reaction. As expected, they noticed my face on the TVs and monitors.

"Hello, friends, and neither do you. Maybe you know who I am, or maybe you don't. You may or may not be panicking, but I have a piece of advice for you: Don't panic, or you'll die anyway. Use the time I'm giving you"—I glanced at my watch—"which is a whole five minutes—and pray to your gods, say goodbye to loved ones, friends, and enemies. Last chance. Oh, and I'm the one who turned off the phones, so you won't be calling anyone anyway." And you have no chance of using the radio station. My invention will jam it anyway." He detected the waves and created anti-waves. "So, as they say in the civilized world. Have a nice death... That's not how they say it, sorry, but I wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood a bit. You probably feel like you're in a tomb there." I changed my tone. "Good. You can see what I'm doing now; just look at the street."

I put the camera down and looked at the monitor. Everyone who could, moved towards the windows. Some banged on them with their fists, but I effectively secured them. I have to admit, that plastic wrap is pretty cool.

I grabbed the napalm canisters. "Oh, I forgot!" I pressed a button on the controller. As I approached the walls, I noticed everyone was staring at me. I put the canisters down and elegantly bent down.

I sprayed napalm around the school, followed by hundreds of pairs of eyes. Some were familiar, and some I'd never seen before. I poured it to create a strip about a meter wide around the edges, and I also poured it over the walls. Just for effect. I even made myself a napalm fuse, a piece of road doused in the liquid, to safely ignite it.

I turned the camera on again.

"Hello." Everyone turned away from the windows to look at the television. "You're probably already smelling a rather strange, slightly aniseed smell. It's a gas invented by the Nazis, I think. I don't remember the name, but anyway, it causes increased pain, so don't be surprised that another person's touch is like a hammer blow." I smiled and adjusted my chin. "So... What am I... Oh yes. Well, this gas is only for my pleasure, but it's not my fault, because it was a beer cork that fell upside down... You're probably wondering what I spilled around the school? Well, of course you are. It's napalm..." I waited a moment for a reaction. "Yes, that highly flammable napalm." Only now did flashes of real panic begin. "That's all... It was nice talking to you, but you weren't happy to meet me. Chus." As I put the camera away, I heard isolated, muffled screams. People were screaming in pain, colliding with each other.

I walked to the edge of the napalm and pulled the wrapper from my pocket. I unrolled it and tucked the paper back in.

I smiled at the audience watching me through the glass.

I held a cut cigar in my left hand and a stylish lighter in my right.

I lit it with my thumb and lit the cigar. I took a drag and put the lighter away. I glanced sideways at the glowing tobacco. I flashed another killer smile at the audience. Wanting to add to the drama, I said,

"Burn..."

I dropped the cigar and watched it dance across the asphalt. It landed unlit and bounced into the air. It spun around and landed right side up.

In a second, the entire building was engulfed in flames.

A single scream, composed of many smaller screams, reached me. Some seemed familiar, but most were unfamiliar. I watched for a moment as the building changed color from light blue to dark brown. I watched the burning school with a certain sentimentality, knowing this event was unprecedented. I had to pack up and leave.

I couldn't see anyone beyond the several meters of flames. The fun was over, as I wouldn't be watching the cameras. I knew what was happening inside.

This promised to be the beginning of a wonderful friendship, a friendship between death and me.