Orange

Orange. The first colour visible on the 7th of August, 2007. At exactly 7:12a.m, the sun rose over the town of Herte. The paper boy, James, followed his usual route along Kings Road, through the alley behind Johanna Crescent, therefore eliminating the hill on Skaska Street.
The olds of the Herte Nursing Home had just arisen to the 7 o’clock morning radio show.
Jenny had her 2 sons, Riley, 8 and Scott, 11, up and out of bed already, trying to get an early start on the school run. She had to pick Harry up from down the road at 8.
John Hunter, manager of the local bank had arrived at work 12 minutes late, as the cappuccino machine at his home had broken the previous morning.
Three men, out of towners, walked slowly up the main street and sat on the bench, opposite the local Savers Supermarket.
By 8 o’clock, they were all dead.

  1st August, 2007
James awoke at 6 in the morning. He quickly had a shower and got ready for his morning paper round. By 6:30, he was at work. He didn’t mutter a word to the boss Gerald, not that Gerald could hear if he had. He loaded his bike up with the local newspapers. James left at 6:48. He had twelve minutes until the milk bar opened on Kings Road. He could then get himself some breakfast. Then he would complete his paper round, be home by 7:45, and be ready for school by 8:30 and leave.

Mr and Mrs Jones, who lived at the nursing home, awoke at 7:15a.m. They had awoken with the sun, and each other, as they had for the last 48 years. The nurse had arrived three minutes earlier, and was still working through the morning check up when they awoke. The radio had been turned on by the nurse, and the morning show had rumbled its way into their aged ears. Several comments were muttered about today’s youth and their dreadful taste in sound, as there always was. By 7:30a.m, Mr and Mrs Jones were well into breakfast.

Jenny had awoken late this morning. Riley had been sick for the last 2 days, and had kept her up all of last night with his coughing. Scott had resorted to cooking himself toast for breakfast. When Jenny finally woke up, at precisely 8:12a.m, there were several abusive messages from Harry’s mother on the answering machine. Riley was still asleep, and Scott had left a note saying Harry’s mother had taken Harry and himself to school.
Jenny, as if making a point, returned to bed.

John Hunter arrived at precisely 7a.m. He opened the bank, and Sherry, a worker, arrived 12 minutes later. They then had a short conversation about the weather before Penelope strode in. She then approached Mr Hunter and explained, half-shouting, that she would be late for work. Penelope was meant to commence work at exactly 9a.m every week-morning, but as Jenny, from down the road, had not awoken as of yet, she had to do the school run. John could have sworn her face had turned orange with rage. After Penelope had left, John turned to Sherry with a face of exasperation. Sherry nodded and walked away.

2nd August, 2007
James awoke at 6 in the morning, once again. After his shower, etcetera, he arrived at work to find Gerald was not there.
He returned home at 7a.m.

Mr Jones arose on his own, for the first time in 48 years. Mrs Jones funeral was scheduled for the 4th of August. The nurse spent the day with Mr Jones.

Jenny awoke on time, to find Riley was not in bed. She searched the house, and only found Scott. The police arrived at the house in Johanna Crescent at precisely 7:12a.m.

John Hunter appeared at the bank on time, to find Sherry already there. He then proceeded to join her in smoking a cigarette and having another conversation, this time about Penelope’s late arrival the day before. They then progressed opening the bank.

3rd August, 2007
James had decided to not continue his paper round any longer, as the newsagent had been closed all day yesterday and he had not heard from Gerald. He awoke at 6a.m, turned off his alarm clock and returned to bed.

Mr Jones had not been to sleep since his beloved wife had passed. The nurse was starting to worry about Mr Jones. Mrs Sampson, from room 11, came in to comfort Mr Jones when she woke to his sobs at 6:30a.m.
Mrs Sampson’s husband had passed the previous year.

Jenny also had not had any sleep in the last 24 hours. Scott had stayed with Penelope and Harry last night, and Jenny was still phoning all the members of the family, and community. No one had seen Riley in 2 days. As Jenny put the phone down after a lengthy conversation with Riley’s aunt, the phone rang in her hand. She picked the handset up, and raised it to her ear.

John Hunter called in sick. The assistant manager called in on his way to work, to see John not looking all that sick. He chose to say nothing, wished John well and continued on his way.

4th August, 2007
Mr Jones did not make his wife’s funeral. With Mrs Sampson’s persuasion, they postponed her funeral so that Mr and Mrs Jones could be buried together.

Jenny left at 6:30a.m. She drove for 2 hours to the town of Rinto, then turned around and came back. When she arrived home, the three men left her car, not muttering a word. Jenny went to bed crying, and in fact, cried herself to sleep.

John Hunter was once again sick. This time, when the assistant manager called in, he did notice that John was going orange. He encouraged John to stay at home until he got better, assured him the bank was fine, and once again continued on his way to the bank.

Three men walked into Saver’s Supermarket, bought the local paper, and left.

5th August, 2007
Jenny decided to stay in bed, after waking at 5:30a.m. When the phone rang at 7a.m, she answered, had a brief exchanging of words, and hung up. She then picked up the phone and called another number.

At 6:55a.m, three men entered John Hunters front door.

6th August, 2007
At 7:05a.m, the Herte Police Department received a bomb threat. No action was taken.

Jenny hung up the phone at 7:06a.m.

Penelope hung up the phone at 7:06a.m

John Hunter hung up the phone ay 7:06a.m

The three men arrived once again at John’s house, this time at precisely 7:14a.m.

Riley returned home at 8:13a.m.

7th August, 2007
James had received a phone call from Gerald the previous day, and so woke at 6a.m to commence his paper round.

The olds awoke, and prepared for the double funeral of two of their own.

Jenny, intent on continuing her routine before the incident, had the boys up at 7:12a.m.

John Hunter arrived late.

The three men sat in front of the Supermarket.

5th August, 2007
After Jenny had called the three men, she returned to sleep.

The three men, while in John’s house, had a good look around. They talked of the lost boy with John. John did not talk back.

6th August, 2007
Jenny and Penelope decided on Scott staying with Penelope until Riley was found.

John Hunter called the Police Department, supposedly anonymously.

The three undercover detectives arrived at John’s house, once again finding nothing.

7th August, 2007
The detectives sat in front of the Supermarket as police rushed through the main street.

Gerald was arrested for kidnapping at 7:43a.m.

The town rushed to see what was going on. James, on his way home, stopped to see what was happening, as did the elderly, on their way to the Jones’s funeral. Jenny, Riley, Scott and Harry saw the commotion on their way to school. Riley started sobbing, crying, and pointing.

John Hunter knew that he would be found out. They would find the money. He put the jacket on, ran out to the street, and pressed the button he held in his right hand.

Orange. That was the last colour seen by these people of Herte on the 7th August, 2007.
They were all dead by 8 o’clock.

THE END