Why wasn't he already back in his own world?
Joachim sat motionless in his seat.
As soon as everyone had left the bus, his 'quest' should be over.
Unless...
His 'quest' wasn't over yet, or he should have done something else.
Panic rolled through Joachim's veins, what should he do now? Should he wait? Should he get off the bus?
He searched through all the lessons he could remember, but he couldn't find anything that resembled this situation.
"Please all thank Mr. Smirnov for the tour."
Joachim jolted up from his thoughts and looked down at the open door of the bus.
He could make out the slender back of a woman, and a flock of children, probably around 6-8 years old, behind her, a few of whom looked up at him curiously, but most of whom looked to a man wearing a uniform who waved at them with a smile after he and the woman saluted each other.
"""Thank you for the tour."""
The children thanked the man in chorus and began to wave as well, the woman nodded in satisfaction. The man turned around after a while and jogged towards the stadium.
Only when the man was already a little distance away did the woman turn to the children, "Well, we'll go back now, please all find your previous seatmates."
Obediently the children followed her instructions, after a while, and some reprimanding, they had finally formed a neat row of two.
"Good, now you can get on the bus one after the other, but watch out for the steps and also sit in the seats you sat in when we arrived."
Joachim watched the process in fascination. Pair after pair boarded the bus, holding hands, and greeting him, some more shyly than others, before taking their places in a wide variety of seats on the bus only to burst into excited conversation.
„…, 18, 20, 22, 24! Everybody is here!"
Joachim removed his gaze from the children and looked towards, most likely, the teacher. As soon as all the children had safely boarded the bus, she also entered the vehicle.
The teacher stood in front of him and saluted. Joachim was caught off guard by her speed, he quickly rose from his seat and followed her example.
"Good afternoon, thank you for driving us today. You're here a little earlier than expected, though?" the teacher had a friendly look in her eyes, her smile was contagious. Her brown pupils under her large, round glasses sparkled happily.
...Was this his actual 'quest'?
"Ah, yes, it just happened that way...," he replied hesitantly, returning a smile.
As he spoke, the roaring engine of a speeding car sounded, interrupting his speech. Embarrassed, a little blush rose to his cheeks.
But the teacher didn't seem to be bothered by it, she quickly wiped a stray strand of her short-cropped black hair from her forehead before continuing, "Your co-worker already told me about your situation, so you don't have to worry."
His situation?
He didn't know anything about his situation himself!
He nodded quickly, his gaze lowered.
With clacking heels, the teacher walked to the front seats. The seats where Aaron and Steffen had been sitting just a short time ago.
From a small bag hanging over her shoulder, she took out a bottle of water.
Slowly Joachim sat back down in his seat.
The children behind him were shouting, but with a "Be quiet, show a little consideration for the dear Mr. bus driver!" from the teacher, it immediately became quiet, only now and then a little excited whispering could be heard.
Joachim hesitated a bit before finally turning the ignition key and bringing the vehicle to life.
"You need to get on the high street over there."
Joachim followed the teacher's instructions, carefully turning the bus around and heading in the direction indicated by the teacher.
They had almost reached the main road when suddenly a man in a black suit ran in front of the bus.
Startled, Joachim braked. Fortunately, he had not been driving fast.
The black-suited man ran to the door of the bus and banged violently on it, his stern, fierce gaze directed at Joachim. Quickly, Joachim opened the door.
"Are you insane?! Why are they running in front of a driving bus?!" the teacher shouted in shock.
The man ignored her and stood directly in front of Joachim. He grabbed him and pulled him from his seat. Joachim hit the ground hard.
"What are you doing?!"
The teacher was horrified, some children had already started crying, incited by their teacher's mood.
Wordlessly, the black-clad man stepped on the gas pedal, the bus accelerated, and Joachim, who despite the pain could just barely push himself up with his arms, fell back to the ground.
The teacher screamed and the children joined in.
The bus curved through intersections, speeding past any kind of traffic, regardless of the consequences, and Joachim was repeatedly thrown against the seats of the bus.
An orchestra of honking and sudden braking followed them on their way.
Not once was Joachim able to get up, and they only got faster and faster.
Until finally all sounds subsided, only the growl of the engine seemed to threaten to devour them.
At full speed, the man dressed in black opened the door of the bus with a lever, wind rushed in, ran cold through the hair of all passengers.
The children shouted and cried, even the teacher screamed in panic.
But the man did not even glance at them, he left his seat and jumped out of the door.
Driverless, the bus continued moving forward.
"Do something!" although the hulking, probably very strong man was now gone, the teacher did not feel better, quite the opposite!
Joachim was finally able to get up, he ran to the driver's seat.
He pushed the brake all the way down, but inertia pulled the bus onward.
Joachim looked up, through the front shield.
They were approaching a black car dangerously fast.
Fear clenched his heart, no sound escaped his throat, he could only watch the impact with widened eyes.
BOOM!
The bus crashed into the side of the parked car.
Everyone was thrown forward, Joachim hit his forehead on the steering wheel.
But they still kept going.
The car in front of them was dragged along.
...until it fell off an edge.
The bus tilted.
Almost endless blue.
