Read Online The Time Stone by Jeffrey Estrella - Free Book Online

nodded
gently.
    “ We have no choice” Mark
uttered empathetically.
    “ Hmm” Broad turned
smirking slightly and walked away.
    “ Time is on my side” Mark
whispered to himself.

CHAPTER 19
    “ This is reporter Sylvia
Armstrong reporting for Channel Nine news, Chronix Bay. The hustle
and bustle of the downtown streets continue to lay filled with
protesters standing tall amidst one of the worst economic climates
in US history, rampant lawlessness, unemployment, extreme
homelessness, rock-bottom housing prices, and shortages of basic
necessities like food, water, and gasoline, contamination and
recalls continue but amongst the worst are what has been coined as
the ‘law graduate job deflation and bust’ where many young lawyers
and seasoned, new and old, are continuously struggling to make ends
meet in a bottoms up economy. Those without jobs are quickly
turning in their law books for aprons at the local coffee shops for
the chance to earn even a meager income. ‘From Barrister to
Barista,’ says one recent law graduate, Marina Gomez.
    “ I am open-minded but I
can’t pay back two hundred thousand dollars in student loans on
minimum wage, unemployment, or food stamps. I like many others of
my brothers and sisters need jobs and good ones and we cannot
imagine a worse time now. We are not peons or slaves and not
illegal workers but we are people who deserve respect and need
truly gainful employment. There is nothing wrong with fighting now
for what is ours.” She marched on with others holding signs in a
circular picketing line chanting out loud at the top of their
lungs, “employment now!”
    “ There you have it folks,
the new movement for a new era.” The television set fizzled off as
the obese prison guard stuffed cheese puffs into his mouth
repeatedly with a redundant snort.

CHAPTER 20
    Several meters from the guard’s office
with chaotically strewn files and junk food wrappers, James and
Tina sought to escape their confinement.
    “ There has got to be a
better way!” Thought James thinking of his youth listening to the
Rolling Stones as he and Tina ran up the stairwell curving to each
floor circling frantic to get out to freedom.
    “ How many levels are in
this building?” Tina asked rhetorically as she fought to catch her
breath.
    “ Almost there”, James
answered her hypothesizing with a grinning grit of determination.
They turned the bend into the main landing of the ground floor and
approached a metal door with the number one on it.
    “ Thank God,” cried Tina in
a joyous voice.
    “ Wait!!!”James grabbed her
by the arm and pulled her down to a crevice underneath the stairs
and rolled on the ground besides her crouching down.
    “ What the..?”
    “ Quiet!” He held his
finger over her lip as the metal door swung open and a moment
later, two uniformed officers entered the stairwell.
    “ We got a level 31 on
system wide. That means no one leaves the building, no exceptions
until command says otherwise.” The two officers headed up
stairs.
    “ It’s gonna be one of
those days.” They continued their conversation changing the subject
as to who would beat the Chronix Bay Pirates in the next baseball
game until they were out of hearing range.
    “ They’re gone.” Tina
whispered.
    “ I can still hear them,”
said James.
    “ Huh?” Uttered a confused
Tina, “who are you, Bionic Man?” She asked as customary as it can
be and jumped out of the crevice to her feet. “Come on, we don’t
have much time.”
    James crawled out of the crevice
slowly following her thinking silently then spoke slowly. “You
heard what they said,” said James. “We won’t be able to leave the
building. No one can.”
    “ So we improvise and find
another way out of here.” Tina smiled.
    Then suddenly the metal door began to
open slightly. “Oh crap!!!” James uttered as he moved his arm up to
the door with a quick gesture and the door shut closed.
    “ How do you …?” Tina asked
perplexed catching