The Greatest Showman: March One-Shots

16. Backpack

"Thank you for coming, make sure you tell all your friends about how much fun you had at the circus, yeah? .... Hey, I like your hat! Oh, I remember you! This is your third time, isn't it? Glad to see we have ourselves a regular. .... New acts every night, be sure to come back to be amazed! .... No, thank you!"

Phillip watches the rest of the circus-goers file out of the building, the little ones bustling with excitement, and their parents smiling brightly. They're from far and wide, Phillip knows. The circus has become a real spectacle, especially now that P.T. has hit the road with Jenny. Although Phillip had been wary at first, it's actually boosted the circus' reputation and popularity.

As O'Malley closes the front doors once everybody's left, Phillip turns around and looks out at the empty ring, littered with confetti. He knows he's going to have to sweep that all up later on tonight, but he has no motivation to do so at the time.

With a sigh, he takes off his top hat and sets it down on one of the benches in the front row of the audience. Then, he drapes his coat beside it.

He's only walked a few more feet, headed towards backstage, when he sees a sole black backpack leaning against the barricade that separates the ring from the audience. He stops in his tracks, heart jumping into his throat. He vaguely remembers the protesters shouting at him from around this area, and he knows there's no way someone could accidentally leave their black backpack leaning up against the barricade like that.

He isn't sure what to do—his mind falls into momentary panic mode. He wishes there was a way he could make certain that there's nothing dangerous in that backpack, but he can't know for sure. He needs to get everybody out—and now. Who knows how much time they have?

"Hey, W.D.?" Phillip calls, his voice sounding a lot higher and frail than he would have liked. His eyes remain on the backpack.

"What's up?" he hears W.D. call from backstage, and then his light footsteps as he runs towards Phillip. He slows when he notices the bag, and he lets out a breath of air. "Oh."

"We need to get everyone out," Phillip says quietly, trying to keep his voice steady. "But I... we can't alarm them."

"We have to tell them," W.D. counters immediately. "It'll get everyone out quicker."

Phillip just nods, whispering an "Okay." He hears W.D. turn around and sprint back to the the wings.

Phillip goes around to the front to inform O'Malley, who, at first, gives him a skeptical look. Thankfully, he doesn't question it, though. It could just be nothing, a decoy that the protesters placed to mess with the young ringmaster and the oddities.

But they can never be too sure.

Phillip can hear W.D. informing the others as he and O'Malley work to set the animals free. They saunter—which makes Phillip's heart race—out into the front. The elephants look rather annoyed, he must say.

When he finally makes it outside, joining everyone else, he races over to W.D. "Is this everybody?"

"I..." Both men look around everyone, agitated and anxious, and do a mental head count. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Hang on..."

"Okay, well, let's move someplace else, then," Phillip says, then raises his voice to inform the oddities. "This may be nothing, but we can't be too sure. We're gonna move on down the block for a couple minutes to see if anything happens. I'll call the authorities once we're there."

As they start to move, W.D. suddenly shouts, "Wait! Where's Anne?!"

Phillip's heart jumps, and he can feel it against his ribcage. Oh my God.

The two of them immediately turn around and race back into the building, shouting at the others to keep on moving. W.D. takes backstage and the dressing room, while Phillip searches the ring and seats. Frantic. One eye always turned towards that black backpack, the ticking of a bomb ricocheting around his head.

And then he looks up, and sees Anne, still in her circus outfit, practically hanging out in the bars and ropes and rings high up above. Phillip can't believe it.

"Anne!" he calls, his voice ripping his throat.

She jumps, startled. "What?!" she calls back down.

"You need to get down here! We're all evacuating, there's a black backpack over there and we don't know what's in it!" The words sound much more normal than what they should be, than the fear that's tearing apart Phillip's insides.

W.D. races out of the wings to look up and see his sister gracefully, quickly flying back down to the floor. Her feet hit the dirt with a soft thump. Phillip only has a second to look into her frightened eyes...

Because that's when the black backpack explodes.