“You remember what to do?”
“Yeah, I remember. You think I’m a total idiot?”
“Not total, no. Just remember not to get…”
“Too close to the fence. Yeah, I got it.”
Jimmy got out of the truck, dragging the chain towards the substation.
“Just remember to throw it underhand, nice and high,” Troy said. “And stay as far away from that fence as you can.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You sure he’s ready for this?” Larry said.
“Paul told us to let him do it, so we’re letting him do it,” Troy said. “You just keep your eyes on that road for anything coming.”
“No problem. It’s just, you know how Jimmy is. The last time we…”
“YEE HAW!”
“What the hell?” Larry said as both men turned to see Jimmy standing next to the fence, whirling the chain over his head with his right hand, rodeo-style, his left hand holding up his camera.
“The idiot is taking a selfie,” Troy said as the two men opened their doors. “JIMMY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM…”
Then the world lit-up.
They would argue later if they had ducked down or were blown down when things went white; then black. Both men had been in lighting storms before, but never quite this close. The flash had been lighting fast, as hot and bright as the sun, and left them both in pure darkness. Randy pulled a flashlight from the truck and they moved towards the fence looking for Jimmy.
Jimmy he wasn’t there.
The juice had jumped from a transformer to the chain, and then to Jimmy, tossing him some thirty feet across the lot. As they stumbled past the smoking sub-station, the first thing that caught their eye was Jimmy’s phone; melted in his charred hand. His pant leg was torn open to show another burn, as was the side of his shirt. What they could see of the side of Jimmy’s face looked like someone had melted the wax on a mannequin. The chain was laying next to his other hand, still smoking.
“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Troy said.
“What about Jimmy?” Larry said. “We can’t just…”
“He’s gone, man, and that blast is gonna bring people from all over the place. We gotta get out of here!”
Troy pulled the truck onto the gravel road and headed North.
“Paul isn’t going to like this one bit,” Larry said.