April 10, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, David, Dawn, Drabble, The City
Dawn took off her goggles and stretched. It felt good to stand. There was a knock on the door, and her father walked in without waiting for her to answer.
“Donna Marie Jones,” he said, glaring at her messy desk.. “Just because you’re on summer vacation doesn’t mean you can spend all day wasting time online with your friends. You are going to do something with yourself this summer. Get a job, or volunteer. And clean this room, young lady!”
“Yes, dad.”
“That’s right. It’s time you started doing something worthwhile with your time.” She smiled. If only he knew.
The end.
April 7, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Lacy, The City, The Smiling Man, Zombies
After finishing with Renee, the zombies chased after Tucker, their programming more attracted to his movements.
“You’re out of options,” Underwood said to the dwindling Daytrippers.
Dawn shook her head. “We’ve still got one left! The City’s realistically modeled physics!” She signaled with her arms, and Lacy dropped the swat van’s accelerator to the floor. She barreled through the gate and into the mansion without aiming. She was a siege weapon. She just wanted to do as much damage as possible. The front door splintered, and the pillars collapsed. Underwood’s smile fell, and then so did the rest of him.
Start from the beginning!
Support The City on Patreon!
March 27, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Connie, CPD, Darryl, Dawn, Drabble, The City, The Daytrippers, Victoria
Darryl backed up his partner. “Citizens should find a safe location and shelter in place,” he said. He left his feelings towards Daytrippers unspoken. Dawn scowled.
“There aren’t any safe places left. This is the end of The City. And it might be the end of the world if we don’t boot this guy!” The police drew their own guns. “You will stand down or be booted.” There was a cry from farther up the hill. The zombies were coming. “I will count to three. One. Two.” Ingmar fired first. Darryl and Victoria were already booted before Connie returned fire.
Read from the beginning!
Patreon
March 26, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, CPD, Dawn, Drabble, Ingmar, The City, The Daytrippers, Victoria
The Daytrippers reached the Beach House at just about the same time as the cops did. Traveling on foot had reduced their numbers, even with Dorothy’s traps and the Cat Lady’s spies. The original group of fifteen was down to eleven, but they had managed to protect Ingmar and his boot gun. Victoria practically jumped out of the swat van when she saw them.
“Where did you get that weapon?” she demanded. Ingmar froze. Dawn stepped in.
“That’s not important. The CEO is the cause of the virus.”
“This is a police matter,” Victoria growled. “You will stand down, now!”
Read from the beginning!
Support the author on Patreon!
February 11, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Michio, The City, The Daytrippers
“We’re getting distracted,” Dawn said. She was only fifteen, but determined to take charge, as usual. “We’re safe here from the Zombies for now, but we need to figure out what’s going on here before we can stop it.”
“From my data a virus was released into the system on corporate channels at three PM City Local.” Michio said. He was one of Hiro’s buddies. “About an hour later, a second vector spread the virus in the from of a programmed explosion, that also created the rip in the sky above Midas Tower.”
“So Midas is the source, but why?”
Patreon
January 2, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Kaboom, Midas Corp, Mildred, The City, The Daytrippers, Zidane
Summoned by the CEO, Zidane muscled his way into the office. His own physical size was impressive. He found that he intimidated even here in The City, where such things were of no consequence. There was no inherent value in his strength in the digital environment, it was merely an accurate representation of his stature. But it made people nervous, and it made them forget how smart he actually was. The interviewer girl looked suitably impressed, certainly.
“Ma’am?”
“Ms. Evans was just leaving.” Dawn began to protest, but stopped. Together they watched the top of Midas tower erupt in flames.
January 1, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Mildred, The City, The Daytrippers
The investigation was not going well. Posing as a magazine interviewer, Dawn had talked her way into the office of the matronly CEO of Nexus Software Solutions, a data management company that was both a contractor and a competitor of Midas. From this nearly as loft perch, there was quite a good view of Midas tower.
“You seem awfully young to be a journalist,” Mildred O’Dell said. Dawn squirmed in the simulated leather chair.
“It’s the newest thing in avatars,” she said. It was not a particularly good lie.
“Is it?” Mildred said, and pushed a button on her desk.
November 7, 2014
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Ingmar, Paulo, The City, The Daytrippers, Xue
Paulo nodded at the American punk girl.
Do you think the one has to do with the other? Is Midas screwing with the trains to manipulate the market?
Xue shook her head.
Too expensive. Midas owns too much of The City to wreck it’s productivity.
Maybe a rival? Ingmar offered.
The timings too close. The announcement about the trains came before the sale.
I got a peek at the meeting. The new CEO’s avatar looked weird.
Weird how?
I don’t know. Out of sync. Kind of creepy.
I’ll look into it. Paulo offered. He was always trying to impress Dawn.
November 6, 2014
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Hiro, Nora, The City, The Daytrippers
Nora frowned after the cat and sat down on the bench next to Hiro. She furiously typed into her messenger. Between the six of them, they spoke ten languages, but there was not one they all shared fluently. So they typed, and used translations to be understood.
Paulo and I had an awful time getting here. The trains are all shut down. Nora wrote.
A woman got hit by one. Hiro replied.
Impossible.
Is it? Dawn typed. Or is it just so unlikely that it never happened before? The Man sold out and the trains stop. No such thing as coincidence.
October 30, 2014
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Dawn, Drabble, Ficiton, Hiro, The City
They gathered in Midas Park. It stretched for miles, in the middle of The City, a patchwork of famous public spaces from a hundred terrestrial cities, and more so fanciful they could only have been designed there.
Hiro waited in front of Osaka Castle. There, the cherry blossoms always fell, and it had an excellent view of both the Sphinx and Old Faithful. Plus, he could see the building-sized screens covering the announcement. A crowd of milling Daytrippers and uncertain Citizens was already gathering beneath them. It was several hours before Dawn and the others arrived, looking completely frazzled.
Older Entries
Hugh J. O'Donnell 