29:16:04:59 by Joshua Johnson Page A

Glasses demanded. Kyle and Susan gasped in distress. Ricky held his snide comment back. Jamie said nothing. The Pamlers cried. And Olivia watched in silent admiration, wishing she was there.
                  “ What is it?” they repeated.
                  “It’s my birthday, my twenty-sixth. My turning,” I answered. The timer aligned to the exact second, or so I assumed. I knew it was only a month away for sure, but this was irrational. The world went black. I slid into inaction, losing any ability to remain standing. My feet slipped from the ledge, and I flew down head first.

 
    Chapter 8: A Party for Someone we once knew
                 
                  My head was pounding before I even opened my eyes. When I did, a starry night awaited. My body ached abnormally. Not like it hurt from a two-story fall, but ached like I had been lying in bed for days. My back was stiff and my neck was cinched, but nothing was broken. I laid atop a pile of bricks covered by a tarp. Looking up and behind myself, I saw the theatre doorway I’d fallen through.
                  I pushed myself up on my elbows. The red timer in the distance continued its pursuit of reminding me my time was short. How the heck the others hadn’t found me on the side of the theater fully comatose was beyond me. How no bones were broken was even stranger. Even the door above was still wide open, begging to be looked out.
    Down this side of the building, the standing water still circled around, but the pile of bricks was large enough to at least keep me dry. I pushed myself upright and brushed off the dirt while twisting and cracking my back.
                  “Damn it all,” I swore under my breath. I must have been out for hours, so I was running far behind schedule. The night was dark, and the moon was high enough to be late in the hour. My little girl would be worried, but hopefully Susan could comfort Olivia. I knew she’d do her best to try.
                  “We’re not done here yet,” I thought. I needed to figure this out, to get closer to the tower and that timer. Questions needed answers, especially why the hell that backwards tick lined up with my twenty-sixth.
    “Sorry Olivia, I’m not coming home just yet,” I said with a sigh.
                  The water was only an inch deep as I climbed down the brick pile and into the street. The water level dropped lower and lower as I moved a few hundred feet closer to the illuminated tower. Thankfully, the red numbers even being two blocks away made a typically dark night a little lighter.
                  I turned a corner and had to pause. There was a party up ahead, with everybody that still lived Downtown dancing in the streets. The main street was lined with tables and drinks, a usual custom when someone turned. They were celebrating, and ultimately saying goodbye.
    The people left would bring out the alcohol and drown in it. They would get hammered in an effort to celebrate and forget the person who walked into the center of this dark city. Everyone knew everyone. When someone turned, it was harder to take, as if a piece of you was breaking off. Of course I didn’t feel the same way. With any luck these people had forgotten about me, but I sure as hell hadn’t forgot them. Rage filled my stomach again, and I had to push it down. I couldn’t let myself drown down here.
                  I hid behind some bushes and watched on in silence. Even if we were dying off every day to some strange event, there were perhaps a few hundred still celebrating underneath the stars. That might not even include those who didn’t partake in the festivities. I had to be more careful this go around. Or did I? They were drinking, and it was dark. All I needed was something to cover my face.
                  The closest table was empty, and no one was close by. I took a seat at the