The ride to Anniston is quiet. The terminal is closed when your bus arrives. Before anyone can decide what to do, about 200 angry people run out from behind the building.
A man lies down in front of the bus so it can’t drive away. The crowd throws rocks at the bus. A window shatters as you crouch under your seat. The crowd beats on the bus with pipes, baseball bats, and chains.
“Cowards!” the crowd chants. Finally the police arrive, and the crowd backs away. The bus tries to speed off, but its tires have been slashed. A parade of angry white drivers quickly catches up to the bus. Just a few miles from the city limits, the bus can go no farther. It must pull over.
The bus driver jumps out and runs away. The crowd starts to rock the bus. “Get out here and take what you’ve got coming!” Your heart thumps in fear.
Suddenly a firebomb smashes through the window. The air fills with smoke. You can’t breathe. You hear someone yell, “Burn them alive!” There’s a small explosion. You and the others manage to get out the back door.
Angry whites firebombed a Freedom Riders bus in Anniston, Alabama.
You are crawling away from the flaming bus when a white man runs up to you. “Are you OK?” he asks. You look up at him for help. He grins and smashes you in the face with a baseball bat. Everything goes black. You wake a few hours later in the emergency room of the Anniston hospital.