Leo woke up with a start as his alarm rang. He looked around the strange surroundings and wondered why he wasn’t at home. That’s when he remembered his parents had recently divorced and his dad had took him to Griffin, a new town where his dad found a job away from his mum. Everything in the town was just perfect, so perfect that there was a sense of creepiness. By the time he was down for breakfast, his dad had already left for work. Sighing, Leo took a bite of an apple and brushed his messy brown hair. He stayed in his room for the whole day, playing video games since it was the holidays. Leo checked his phone, but found out there was no reception and groaned. He just wanted to go back to his old home.
As the sun rose on the next day, Leo jumped out of bed and accidentally stepped on something uncomfortable. He stared down annoyedly and saw a USB with his initials. His curiosity took over his suspicions. Leo plugged it into his laptop and waited for any response. Immediately, the laptop’s screen turned black and after a while of glitching, it displayed the words, ‘countdown triggered, 100 days left until the end of the world.’ Leo’s mind buzzed with questions, “was this some kind of a prank?” He gulped and took big breaths. He was not going to let this bother him. Today, his dad, Robert, came home early from work and Leo told him all about it. Robert had given him a weird, almost guilty look with his green eyes and said nothing, like he always did. “Why are you ignoring me? What’s your problem?” Leo yelled. Again, that same look. Leo stormed up to his room. “Leo, wai-”
He continued to ponder over the next few days as the countdown was now down to 90 days. He didn’t realise that security guards from the Zeckleton Corps had been following and spying on him when he walked around the town. Over the days, Leo had listened to an anonymous recording of people planning to destroy the world from the USB file and determined it was no joke, though the recording gave barely anything away about the plan. He had also learnt that there were some answers to his questions of who caused this and what exactly is going to happen in the Zeckleton building according to the recording.
One evening, Leo received an ominous note telling him to meet alone outside the Griffin shops at 2am and that the writer knew everything about the countdown and would tell him all he wanted to know. That night, he could not sleep. He clutched the note in his hands as he waited and waited. Finally, it was time. Leo pulled his hoodie over his head and leapt of of the window, cautiously slinking to the shops. At first, he didn’t see anyone yet as the wind howled softly yet menacingly. Leo called out against the wind, but there was nothing. He decided this was all just a stupid prank and decided to trod back home but suddenly he noticed a lingering shadow behind him other than his own. Just as he was about to turn around, the figure wavered and he felt solid impact slam into the back of his head, then all was black.
He didn’t know how long he had passed out, but when he woke up, he was in a dark alleyway. Leo painfully got up and scrambled out. Strangely, nothing stopped him. That’s when he realised he was clutching a new note. He looked at it and it said two words. ‘Zeckleton Corps’. Leo shrugged helplessly as he tried to decipher the meaning. He didn’t know what it meant, but he had an idea of where he could find answers. The Zeckleton Corps building. Leo checked his watch. It was five am. He realised he had fainted for hours which slowed his mission down. There was no time to waste.
He entered the building as casually as he could. When security questioned him, he would explain that he was Robert’s son. Strolling around the various levels of the huge, luxurious building, Leo finally stumbled towards a building that had a sign, saying ‘restricted, no entry’. His heart pounding, he twisted the knob of the door easily as the door swung open silently. He did not stop to think why this door will be just open like that. Suddenly, the lights turned on and Leo heard the click of the lock. He stared, flabbergasted into his dad’s cunning smirk.
Nothing came out of Leo’s mouth as he stared gaping at his dad. His dad paced back and forth as he flashed cunning smiles. Leo’s dad explained that he was the CEO of Zeckleton Corps and he made the countdown to the release of poisonous gases around the world to kill everyone because of a few people who had deceived him and made him broke. They made his life extremely hard and he hated everyone in big societies from then on. Only this town would be protected. As his dad was droning on, disappointment, confusion, fear, anger and sadness rushed up Leo’s face as he realised all of this wasn’t a dream. “Why couldn’t they have not moved here in the first place? Why was dad doing this? I just want a normal life.” Leo’s thoughts spun in his mind so fast that it made him nauseous. He shook his head, tears forming as he refused to help his father. He was so disturbed. Robert threatened that if he told anyone, he would kill him. After a few minutes, Leo made an extremely hard decision and licked his parched lips as he falsely agreed to help keep a secret. Robert gave him the address of the machine factory and said he could visit if he wanted to. It was underground. Leo quickly nodded and as his father unlocked the door, he bolted outside, desperate to stop it.
Arriving at his house, he quickly checked his computer and realised today was the last day of the countdown. No wonder why his father had let his guard down so easily. Leo ran as fast as the whistling wind as he arrived at a manhole and desperately pulled at it. It did not budge. That’s when he realised it had a password. He looked desperately at the address sheet but it gave him no clue. Leo angrily stomped on the ground as he balled up his fists. He tried his dad’s favourite numbers and birthday but none of them worked. He even tried his own birthday and didn’t expect it to work, but it did. So his dad really did care about him. He had used his birthday!
Leo’s brows were knitted together as he considered helping his dad. If he helped his dad, his dad would love for him and care for him! Everything would be so awesome and also could finally spend time with his dad like he’d always wanted. Leo’s legs itched to run away from the manhole, to the future he craved. It was so easy to just let his dad continue the countdown, but something within the depths of his heart stopped him. No, that is not right. It would be so selfish to just let all the innocent people outside Griffin die while he enjoys watching a movie with his dad. Leo clenched his teeth, forcing all happy thoughts that contain nice things he could do with his dad. He didn’t need a cruel dad like him anyway. He wrenched open the manhole and leapt, shivering into pitch black.
Leo’s feet landed on a smooth surface. The impact was not great at all. He stumbled around blindly, until his hands felt the knob of a modern door. Leo pushed it open with might and found himself in a colossal factory with dozens of scientists bustling around. In the centre was a huge red button with a label saying to not touch it. There was also electric wires around it. Leo inhaled sharply. He had no idea what the red button did, but if the scientists weren’t meant to touch it, then he knew he was supposed to press it as it might help him stop the countdown. Leo strolled as casually as he could across the factory. The scientists glanced curiously at him but they knew not to mind the business of their boss’s son, since Leo had the exact same brown hair and green eyes as his dad. Arriving close to the electric fence, he turned around and saw the furious glare of his dad just as he had just entered the area. Robert fumed and he darted towards him. “Don’t you dare Leo! Come back here now!” Leo felt cold sweat trickle down his face when he realised Robert knew he was going to press the red button and would try and stop him. He hesitated. After all, he didn’t actually know what the red button was for, but it was the only choice he had to stop the countdown. “Try and stop me!” He screeched just before he briskly crawled under the lowest wire and hurriedly pressed the red button determinedly. At the last second, he saw his dad’s face instantly pale and felt a twinge of regret while the platform within the electric wires shot up out of the factory. The factory itself, exploded with a deafening boom. Shock and tears were displayed in Leo’s eyes as the purpose of the red button was now known. He fell off the platform as it broke the surface of the ground. A blinding light attacked his eyes, then he was submerged into and endless void of darkness.
When Leo woke up, he was in a hospital and a familiar face he craved for was staring at him worriedly. His heart sang as he broke into a grin at the sight of his tears mum. His grin then faded, as all the memories of the explosion rushed back to him. “Mum, I-” He opened his parched lips to explain, but his mum shushed him, shaking her head as she hid her tears and smiled, saying that she already knew everything. “It’s alright Leo, everything’s gonna be fine. I wish you could’ve stayed with me so none of this would’ve happened. You’re a tough guy.” Leo shook his head guiltily, tears forming in his eyes as he remembered the pale face of his father as he was lost in the explosion. The police have investigated the broken pieces of the lab and found vital but broken pieces of the plan, so they had a vague idea of what happened. They had scheduled an interview with Leo next week when he recovers. As for those gases trapped in places around the world, their operating factory was now a wreck and the gases will be taken by scientists to be destroyed.
Leo sighed with satisfaction as he was back home, the home he liked. This was the place where he had spent all his childhood and had the most precious and joyful memories. He was ready to push the past behind and get over all the bad times in Griffin. After all, he had saved the world and vanquished that selfish, reckless man who was never a good father.
16/3/2020
雨蛙
