The P Line
Sunrise, June 30th, a bus driver walks into the depot. The television news is saying how hot of a day it is going to be, record heat. He grabs a set of bus keys and walks out the parking lot where many busses are parked. He opens the bus door and slides into the chair, slipping a photo of his wife and son into the side of the window. The bus driver drives out of the lot and stops at his first stop. He picks up a guy in a drunken stupor who slams change into the payment thingy. The drunk man goes to the back of the bus, and falls asleep. The next stop he picks up a mother and her 9 year old daughter, and a 42 year old man (a manager) in a suit gets on. The next stop a 20 year old boy with a slight limp gets on and takes a seat towards the front of the bus, he is anxious about something. The next stop, a 26 year old man wearing a tie and a short sleeve button up shirt (unemployed), along with a 24 year old woman carrying a large purse (a teacher).
At the next stop the mother and her daughter get off the bus. 35 seconds pass, until the man in the coat with a limp asks the bus driver to stop the bus. "Buddy, you're gonna have to wait until the next stop, sorry." The man in the coat pulls out a gun towards the bus driver. "Stop the fucking bus!" The bus driver slams on the brakes, the back wheels slide a bit into the next lane, stopping traffic, and puts the bus into park. "Listen, fella, calm down, please, jesus christ, please." "Look, everyone, if you don't wanna die, just sit there and shut up, shut up!" The limping man asks. The remaining passengers, besides the passed out drunken guy, are shaken and scared. There is a woman in an SUV behind the bus and starts honking. The limping man starts yelling "stop honking!"; the honks continue; "stop honking!"; the honking continues; "stop!" He shoots his gun out the back of the bus, blowing the air conditioning unit of the bus and the honks stop.
It would be a long hot day.