I have another new start for the novel. In this start the passengers of the bus coming into town discover that the town has been all but abandoned. This post will include descriptions of all of the characters boarding the bus.
Andrea board the bus to Kingsboro around 7:00AM. The driver, a thirty-some divorcee, stared out the front window not even acknowledging her entrance.
“How’s it going?” She said as she approached.
“I was bit by a frick’n dog this morning and now my head hurts like never before. Other then that I’m great.”
Andrea waited a couple seconds then dropped a dollar in change in the worn glass box that collected it. She stepped into the aisle and had to hold on to the first chair because the driver started forward. After she regained her footing she searched for a seat. The bus was empty for the most part but for a mother, child and another man she didn’t know. The woman had a child sleeping in her arms and the unknown man was splayed out on the brown plastic seat with his head against the window. The man’s long legs and feet lay in the aisleway and Andrea had to step over them to get to the back of the bus.
The first stop was a flag stop, a small abandoned railroad station just outside Junction Rd. A man, around 50 or so, stood uneasily outside the bus door. He wore an cowboy hat and held a large amber bottle in his right hand. The cowboy stepped into the bus and fell immediatly. His hat fell off his head and landed next to the driver’s seat. The driver looked down upon the hat and then slowly picked it up and set it on his own head. The cowboy pushed himself up the bus stairs and grabbed a silver bar that sat to his left. He lifted himself to his feet and then grabbed his large bottle. The cowboy stood and stared at the driver who had returned to staring out the front window.
“Who do you think you are?” said the drunk as he stood with his left hand holding the silver bar tightly. “Give me back my god damn hat.”
“You ain’t got any money old man,” the driver said with a severe tone, “just sit down and be glad I’m taking you anywhere.”
The old man stood scowling and just about fell back down the bus stairs when the driver lurched the bus forward. The driver reached out instictively and saved him. He then let go and the old man stumbled into a first row seat.
The next stop was at the corner of Water and Junction. A nurse in a blue uniform stood in front of the blue and white bus stop sign. The bus stopped hard waking the unknown man from his slumber and forcing the drunk to spill his bottle on the floor. The drunk swore loudly and the unknown man disappeared within his seat. The nurse stepped into the bus, paid her fare and walked toward Andrea. The driver threw the bus into gear and pushed forward with a loud chuckle. The nurse fell into the drunk causing him to swear again several times. She stood as the momentum of the bus matched her ability to fight it and continued down the aisle.
“What is wrong with that driver,” the said as she came closer to Andrea.
“I don’t know,” Andrea said, “he said he had a headache is all I know.”
“Must be quite a headache,” the nurse found a seat two row up from Andrea and sat down.
— Next stop is at the bus station. While at the station Andrea watches a dramatic scene of cops arresting an angry 20 something. The scene shows the 20 something face first on the ground. There are three cops around him with one on his back handcuffing him. While they are doing this the bus is being filled with passengers. When they leave Andrea notices the handcuffed man attacking the cops and biting one viciously. He tackles him to the ground and continues to try and eat them…
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