Free As The World Burns by Roger Hayden

said. "Nothing at all. Just some cross-chatter I'm getting on the radio."
    "Don't sound like no cross-chatter to me," black baritone said. "Sounds like you said a nuke hit Philly. Now did it or didn't it?"
    "Look, there’s nothing to worry about. Just keep quiet back there," Davis responded defensively.
    "I heard it too, man, you just said a nuke hit Philly," the hobo said.
    Murmurs of agreement soon followed as the prisoners grew unruly, much to the delight of the mysterious mechanic, Roy.
    "What the fuck is going on?" the middle-eastern man asked.
    Other passengers followed in their objections. Several rose from their seats and shook their fists in the air. Some pounded the windows. Others shouted to be freed. Sergeant Davis carefully concealed his growing nervousness. Their behavior was clearly getting out of control.
    "I want off this bus," Roy said, speaking for the first time following the outcry of the prisoners. "I want off this bus now!" he added, standing up.
    The other passengers joined him in protest. Everyone, but Sacha, was standing, even the cuffed prisoners.
    "You think you can keep us here locked up like wild animals?" Roy asked, staring at Sergeant Davis through his thick, dangling curls.
    "You dumbasses, we're trying to get you to safety," Davis shouted.
    But it was no use. The passengers chanted and yelled, forming the assemblage of an angry mob. It didn't take long before every prisoner turned into one collective voice of protest. Many, who faced actual charges, were more than happy to join in. The tide began to turn against Sergeant Davis, and there was little anyone could do to stop it. Sacha remained in his seat, even as the black-bearded man next to him tossed up his thick, hairy arms up in protest. He shouted in a native tongue that Sacha couldn't decipher.
    Sergeant Davis spoke into his handheld radio, requesting backup with fear in his eyes. Black beard pushed passed Sacha and joined the others as they marched towards the front. As Sacha sat quietly, he tried to grasp how things could have spiraled out of control so quickly. It occurred to him that most of the anger had originated from the man in the blue jumpsuit. A closer inspection showed that Roy was stoking the fire in a stealth-like manner. Roy stood on a seat in the middle of the bus, overlooking the prisoners below. To Sacha, it was no longer a suspicion, Roy was leading the charge. He shouted to the men below him. They collectively chanted back while pumping their fists in the air simultaneously. Whatever Roy chanted, they chanted back.
    "NYPD let us go! Let us free! End your hateful tyranny!"
    The prisoners who couldn't speak English simply chanted in their native language. Sacha had to admit that it was a catchy tune, then it dawned on him that the inside of the bus was now more dangerous than outside. And he was trapped.
    Mel looked into his large rear-view mirror with deep concern.
    "You gonna do something about this?" he asked Sergeant Davis nervously.
    Davis nodded and spoke into his radio.
    "The prisoners are not cooperating, I'm requesting immediate backup."
    The gate was all that stood between them and the prisoners, and Mel knew that it could only protect them for so long. They weren't any closer to crossing the Brooklyn Bridge than when they first started. The main exits to the bus were at the front and the emergency exit, impenetrable in design, in the back. The windows were made up of thick plexiglass with bars on the outside. The only truly feasible escape route for the prisoners was the front of the bus. Mel looked ahead; they were almost on the Brooklyn Bridge. The traffic congestion before them was no ordinary rush hour traffic. There was zig-zag patterns of cars filling all conceivable openings. It would take hours, Mel thought, and with the threat of a nuclear attack in the air, things could only get worse.
    Sergeant Davis stood up, pointing his shotgun past the gate.
    "That's enough," he yelled over the chanting. "Take