He was in a hurry as he crossed the busy four-lane road. As he passed the median, coming from his right were two cars and a bicycle abreast of each other. He carelessly stepped out in front of the bicycle, causing the rider to swerve in front of one of the cars. The car hit the bicyclist and sent him hurtling through the air into the windshield of a car coming from the other direction. That car lost control and veered off to the right, plowing into some pedestrians and another car coming out from a side street. These two wrecked cars suddenly blocked traffic. A speeding tractor trailer carrying a tank full of gasoline had no time to stop and rammed into the two cars, causing it to slide forward on its side across the median and into an oncoming bus full of people. The truck and bus went up in a gigantic fireball, sending flames two hundred feet into the air and blowing out the fronts of four apartment buildings.
The man stood dumbfounded for a moment and surveyed the carnage. People were wailing as their loved ones were so suddenly and violently ripped out of their lives. Others were running around on fire, screaming amidst the mangled corpses and maimed survivors. The whole scene unfolded in less than five seconds. The man looked around for another four or five seconds, looked at his watch, and then continued hurrying on to his appointment.
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