The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller Read Online Free PDF Page B

distant, and his lips were moving rapidly. As other people began to crowd in, the other two police were ordering everyone back, and one, thinking ahead, radioed for backup to follow the Stone Man. Even in all the chaos, he’d realised that something was off. The boy hadn’t simply fallen; something had happened to him.
    There was nothing I could do for this kid, and the ambulance was on its way. I knew that I’d only be a hindrance anyway, and better trained men than I were already looking after him, so I decided to head back after the Stone Man. As I turned, however, I caught a bit of what the boy was saying. There were no words; just an endless stream of syllables, non-stop gibberish over and over that I then realised were individual letters. He wasn’t even slurring them either, as you would expect after a blow to the head like that; he was enunciating them perfectly, and in extremely rapid fashion.
    “ GCCAATTGAATTTGGCCCGTTAACTCAGG….”
    I barely had time to register this before one of the police came aggressively close to me, asking if I were deaf. I didn’t bother to respond, turning to chase after the mob along with everyone else who had stopped to look at the boy. I would later find out that the boy never regained awareness.
    The Stone Man was continuing towards the transport museum, and the people inside were clearly visible through the large, thirty-foot-high glass-and-metal latticed windows that covered the front of the building, almost pressing against them to see what was causing the commotion and crowd. A couple of them were laughing in astonishment, amazed by the wizardry of what they were seeing. Presumably, like me, they thought the Stone Man was heading for the transport museum entrance. This was not the case, of course. As we all drew closer it suddenly became apparent that, on its current trajectory, the Stone Man was going to miss the entrance by several feet, and was in fact in direct line with the glass frontage instead. As it drew a few feet closer, this was apparent to everyone, and a murmur of uncertainty began to emanate from the surrounding mob; nervous laughter and a few comedy Uh-oh! sounds as the Stone Man came within eight feet of the first window.
    Seven feet, six feet … the murmur became a swell of laughter and excitement, people thinking Surely not, but … I found myself caught up in it, laughing, feeling the thrill of imminent destruction but knowing it wouldn’t happen. Five feet, four feet … the laughter became laughing words, people hooting and whooping as the Stone Man marched on without any sign of slowing whatsoever.
    Three feet, two feet … the crowd stopped following at this distance, faced with a wall of glass, and the screams started; fun screams though, like people approaching the first big drop of a roller coaster, frightened and excited but fearing no real harm. The people on the other side of the glass suddenly started backing away, the same mix of uncertainty and excitement reflected on their faces. A foot away now, and the screaming suddenly pitched into sudden, genuine shock as everyone realised that the Stone Man wasn’t stopping at all, the people on both sides of the glass freezing as hysteria took over. This was happening so fast, and no one had to time to consciously process the excitement that turned into horror as the walking statue smashed straight through the glass wall of the transport museum without missing a step, effortlessly snapping the metal frames that held each enormous pane in place.
    Everyone inside scattered like ants, gasping or crying out in surprise as they staggered or leapt backwards to get out of the Stone Man’s path, as well as to avoid the spray of glass and metal that skittered across the floor. The people outside stayed frozen in place, stunned and silent now, as the three remaining police (one had stayed with green vest) ran past, radioing for assistance and shouting at us to stay outside. As a reporter, I admit my first