Watching TV Together chapter 3

Just then, his phone rang. It was a colleague on duty at the company. The colleague said that the company had received an urgent task to deliver a batch of emergency medical supplies to a hospital in a neighboring city. All the drivers were needed, and Jack was asked to come right away. This was a serious matter, so Jack didn’t have time to be scared anymore. He grabbed his coat and rushed out of the door. While running, he was even glad that the wine bottle had been broken. If he had drunk that bottle of wine, he would have surely messed up this task tonight!

The next day, after Jack completed the task, it was already the middle of the night when he got back to his room. He was accompanied by his fellow driver friends. They had heard about the strange things in Jack’s room and came to give him courage and also to find out what was going on. They followed Jack quietly upstairs. When they reached the door and put their ears to it, they could really hear the sound of the TV inside!

Who were these people? Why did they all come to Jack’s room to watch TV? One of the driver friends curiously bent down and peeked through the keyhole. Oh my god! The room was full of people, old and young, men and women. The driver friend told Jack to quickly take out the key to open the door. But strangely enough, when they pushed the door open and went in, the room was empty. There was not a single person. Jack and his driver friends were stunned. How could so many people just disappear?

After a long while, one of the driver friends came to his senses. He looked around and his heart skipped a beat. He asked Jack, “Where did you buy this TV?”

Jack pointed out of the window and said, “At that bus station in front. The other day when I was taking a walk, I passed by there and saw that the station was going to be renovated and they were auctioning off these things, so I bought it. Why? Is there something wrong with it?”

The driver friend thought for a while and murmured to himself, “Could it really… really be such a thing?”

“What are you talking about?” Jack asked eagerly.

The driver friend patted Jack on the shoulder and said in a very solemn tone, “I had a friend who used to drive a bus at this bus station. One day when he was driving to the provincial capital during a heavy rainstorm, the bus plunged into a river when it passed by the Tianma Bridge on the outskirts of the city. There were thirty – six passengers on the bus, plus him. None of them survived! I’m thinking that these people must have watched TV in the waiting room before getting on the bus, and now you’ve bought this TV…”