"FWLS64" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

"Typical reaction," he said. "Arms up in fear. Fear is good.
You'll notice your left wrist is twist tied to my right one... yes,
the same twist ties used on those silly real life police dramas.
They don't come off without the scissors I have back at my
encampment. Don't worry, it's for your own good."

"Who are you?" I asked, trying an experimental tug at the
happy yellow bracelet encircled around our wrists.

"Oswald P. Faraday," he said. "Controller of chaos. And
you?"

"St... Stacey Q. Victim. Santa's little helper," I said, kind
of embarrassed.

"Victim. How... cute. I could use the company; my men can
handle the organized looting, leaving me very little to do. I
planned to leave once they started to work, but it seems your
friend in the coat has stopped that plan. Take off the hat."

"Huh?"

"The santa hat. You look like an idiot. Plus, it'll peg you
as a store worker, and the last thing the mob wants to see is a
store worker."

I nodded, and ripped the silly hat off my head, tossing it in
the garbage can that had been knocked aside.

"Now, off into the fray," he said. "I'm wearing armor under
this coat, but I'm guessing you aren't. Try not to die."

*

Fingers clawed at me, shoppers fleeing the chainsaw-toting
looters under Oswald's control. Minor skirmishes stopped in a
global effort to stay away from these people, who didn't seem to
care if you were in the way or not; just nearby, within a rotating
chain's reach.

I tried to ignore the lumpy things I was stepping on, bumping
from shopper to shopper as Oswald kept up an even pace through the
carnage, facial expression unchanging.

I was trying to swallow down my fear. Fear in a situation
like this would only hinder you; if I succumbed to it, I'd be dead
in seconds. It took all my concentration to avoid having Oswald
turn around and see himself attached to a severed arm. The crowds
were crawling over each other like reptiles, biting, clawing,