This has got to be the worst day of my life. I missed my deadline for my mechanics project, I am late to my date with Sarah, and to top it off, the worst thing of all, I'm on a bus that is being hi-jacked, heading to some god-forsaken location.

It started when two goons, already on the bus, pulled out guns, pulling white masks over there faces. They shouted for everyone to not try any funny business or they will blow up the bus. They revealed they had bombs strapped to them aswell as a bomb in a bag. They waited until the bus was travelling through the countryside, as close to their destination as possible before they started the hi-jacking. As evidenced by the fact that we are only roughly thirty minutes away, according to the driver.

The taller of the two won't stop trembling, something which I noticed since they got on the bus. I wondered if they were okay, but from the current circumstances, I think it's clear that they're at the end of their rope, desperate enough to perform this stunt.

To start with, I tried deluding myself that this was all a dream, that I would wake up with a hangover in a bar, or at my friends or something. Just as I was mentally scolding myself for drinking too much because my friends didn't turn up, a metaphorical cold bucket of water is poured over my head.

*BZZZ**BANG*

"AAAAAAHHH!!", a teen screamed in agony, blood gushing from his shoulder as he clasps it with his right hand. I freeze just staring at the boy, not thinking the bus-jacker had could do that.

I look at the taller goon in horror, not realising how far they were willing to go for whatever the goal of this bus-jacking is. That is all that goes through my head as they pull out another gun and point it at me, their hand shaking.

"G-Get that bag", the taller goon stutters motioning to a bag with their foot."E-Everyone else put y-your phones in the bag, a-and n-no funny business."

The taller goon then points the gun forwards, ready for any foolish resistance.

I quickly gather the phones and other items from everyone, I can see the panic and fear in the rest of the passengers faces. Some of them glare at me when I take their phones. I try not to think about it too much, I don't want to die after all.

The taller goon is still pointing their gun at the teen, their hand still trembling a bit from before.

“A-A-Anyone who tr-tries any fu-funny business and you-you'll e-end up like thi-this- l-like this kid!”, they stutter."A-a-a-and don't m-move o-or talk either."

The rest of the seem to have gotten the picture. I feel slightly more relieved , after all, we should all be able to leave after this is all over, if no-one forces the twitchy trigger goon to set off the bombs.

Silence fills the bus for the next fifteen minutes or so, when I hear them mumble, “J-Just a-a little further. J-Just a little further and this'll be all over.”

Almost as if they jinxed it, sirens started blazing and red and blue lights start flashing from behind. I hear some of the passengers sigh in relief, but the police aren't going to help much when this bus could be blown up any time.

"Fuck!" the goons shout, "How did they find out‽"

One of the passengers, a man in his mid thirties with short black hair and glasses, charges the taller goon pinning them to the ground. I get knocked over as well in the process as a few more people find courage and form a pile on the other goon. The bus stops suddenly as I, and all the others in the pile, are pushed forward from the momentum. I manage to look forward as I see a police barricade.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE!" a police officer demands through a megaphone, "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED, DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!"

"I was so close", a tearful whisper comes through the pile of people,"I was so close, yet the bomb was a-"

*BOOOOOOOO-*

A blinding white fills my vision as a searing heat rips through my body, the pain unbearable. As my sight goes dark, I see my life flash before my eyes, my birthdays, schooldays and holidays all flash before me. Happy memories of my family and friends, even my first love. Bad memories of the bullies, deaths of loved ones and more. From my childhood I see everything, even some things I thought I'd forgotten, until finally I see memories of yesterday, of how I was forced into hi-jacking this bus and the mastermind behind it all.

It was a perfectly normal day, I'd just got back from an interview, which I probably failed miserably, but I guess I'll never know now. I was preparing the final touches on my present to Sarah for her birthday tomorrow, a surprise vacation after exams finished. Just as I finished checking the schedule for tomorrow, I received a strange text.

Come to Salters Road Car Park alone before 19:00 or there will be consequences

From 14:13

It was obviously junk mail, or one of those not-so-funny joke texts Donovan sends me, or maybe one of his puzzle messages which he sends that absolutely nobody ever solves. So I ignored it, I didn't have much time to sort everything out for my date tomorrow. Even after that, I had to finish my mechanics project that needed to be handed in first thing in the morning.

Having finished around six thirty, I decided to go to the Hancock, a pub near the university, to meet my friends and have a drink.

Around five-to-seven, I got to the pub and none of my friends were there. I buy a carlsberg and try to think of where they might be. Daniel, on the same mechanics degree as me, is probably gonna be up all night working on his project. Allan and Ron are probably going to arrive in ten minutes, finishing there work shifts at six-fortyfive. Jamie only ever turns up if Donovan sends.... well I guess that text probably wasn't from him then. Jamie always liked to try and figure out those messages, they were usually broken into different parts and sent to different people in our group. He was really close to solving the last one, I think.

I have another look at the text, it was sent at a time when Donovan should be in his mathematics lectures. Probably overthinking this, I rang Donovan, but it only went to voicemail. I tried my other friends numbers but it went to voicemail each time. However when I called Daniel, I noticed that the voicemail was different to what it normally was. Although I found it strange, I decided to wait for my friends till half seven, maybe a little later, nursing my beer.

I awoke the next day, gagged and tied to a chair in a room with a dozen other people in the same state I was in. I didn't know how I got there, as the last thing I remembered was being in the bar. The room had off-white walls on all sides with a hanging filament light in the middle.

The door slammed open and three men wearing hooded cloaks and masks, making it impossible to make out any details, entered. There voices were distorted and unclear. They told us this was our punishment for ignoring their call, they put explosives in us, and to demonstrate blew up one of the others here.

We were handed guns and each pair of people was given a different job, although I don't know what the other jobs were, or why this happened. All I do know is that I messed up because I was scared of death, instead I became a goon to those people and lead other people to their graves with me.

If their is a hell I'm probably gonna end up their. Come to think of it, I no longer feel the pain from before, nor can I sense anything. What is going to happen to me now?