by Joshua
"I was just saying that it's weird because I'm used to looking over at Vaughn."
"Look," she said, turning her head toward him. "I don't want to be here, OK? I put in a transfer because this asshole is tearing up the city. The people who live here need help. I didn't come to chase after a goddamned supervillain that we have no way of catching. Do you understand how ridiculous this assignment is? Detective work won't lead us to his 'secret lair' or stop him from crushing us if we do. We should be out here helping the people who are left while Alpha Male takes care of this guy."
"Jesus," he said, under his breath.
"Yeah, 'Jesus' is right," she said, turning back to the wheel.
"Why are you so damn uptight?" he asked.
She scoffed at his question and rolled her eyes. "You think I'm uptight?" she asked, her voice hurried. "Well, you're right, I am uptight. And that’s OK, because uptight it works for me. It keeps assholes from wasting too much of my time."
Reedy didn't respond. Instead, he sat in the seat and peered out the window as she drove. The city streets had few cars, but many pedestrians traveled up and down the sidewalks. Some carried signs in protest, while others carried them for charity. One sign in particular caught Reedy’s eye.
Red paint had run down the white poster board in beads like deep red blood.
"You ever come here before all this?" he asked, not looking at her.
"When I was in college," she said.
"So, you remember how it was."
"Yep," she said.
"It's a shame," he said. "I kind of want to leave myself, but I can't. I can't leave the city like this."
"That's stupid, and misguided," she replied. "You have a wife and kid on the way. You need to do what's best for them."
"I am," he said. “I’m doing my part to make sure Alpha Male can take this guy down. When that’s done, this city will be safe for me and my family.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Whatever.”
“Eh, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Cause I’m not a local?” she said, raising her hand.
“Exactly,” he replied, crossing his arms.
*****
"What's he doing here?" Alpha asked Rose. He pointed at The Mech who stood behind her on the roof. The Mech walked forward with heavy metallic steps and raised the faceplate up. He greeted Alpha with a smug grin, showing his teeth.
"He's agreed to help us out," Rose said. "The city is too big for you to do it alone, and our force is still understaffed. The task force is trying to break up these gangs, but even they are swamped."
"I see you got some new stuff," Alpha said with a derisive smirk.
"Better than ever," The Mech replied, pounding on his chest.
"Put your dicks up," she said. "We've got more important things going on. Your patrols are helping, but we need you to focus on the task at hand. We need you to find this guy before things can get any worse. Mech will be taking care of the groundwork for a while. He's been instructed to call you if we find this guy. You two are just going to have to work together for a while."
"That's fine," Alpha said. He glared at The Mech for a moment, and flew away.
"What an asshole," The Mech said. Rose sneered at him.
"Just get to work," she said, walking towards the door. "Take the big elevator in the back."
She went down to her office and sat down in the large leather chair. She exhaled and grabbed a piece of nicotine gum. She popped it from the back and tossed the gum into her mouth. She felt its mild sting as she chewed it a few times before shoving it against her gums. It sat there, secreting nicotine into her blood stream, but it wasn’t enough. She caught her fingers rising up to her lips every so often.
Picking up the picture of her and her husband, she gazed at the two of them on vacation for a moment and the set it down. She hit the enter button on her computer and watched the screen come to life. With a click of the mouse, she brought up the GPS tracking program. The blue dot showed exactly where Alpha was. She watched it move across the map, almost hypnotized.
*****
Al pulled the mask down over his head and peeked out of the dark shadows of the alleyway. The main street was lit up by the lights overhead, casting their glow along the sidewalk. Since the gangs had come around, few people roamed around after dark.
The only movement came from the desperate citizens with no other means of getting around. They traveled to and from work, constantly looking over their shoulders.
He watched the building across the main road until he saw a man leave from the front door and walk toward him. Al slunk back into the black of the alley and waited. It wasn't long before the man was standing just a few feet away.
"Good to see you again," Rob said, staring around. He was nervous, and anxious. This made Al feel the same, and sweat began to collect under his mask.
He cleared his voice and said, "Did you bring it?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Rob said, reaching his arm out, while keeping his distance. Al grabbed the brown paper bag and looked at its contents. Three wide stacks of money filled the bottom.
"It's all there," Rob said, sniffling. "It's crazy. Just like Eddy said. You'd think that with the city as rough as it is, things would slow down. People really need their junk, I guess."
"Yeah, It seems so," Al said.
"We can't meet here anymore, OK?" Rob said, looking over his shoulder. "I was thinking a weekly dead drop or something. People been saying that anyone caught associating with you is a terrorist. That's way worse than just slinging some dope, ya know?"
"What's a dead drop?" Al asked.
"I leave the money somewhere and you pick it up, you know?"
"OK," Al said and turned to walk away.
"Yo," Rob said, and Al turned back to him. "We cool?"
Al took a second to think. He looked Rob in the eyes and said, "Yeah, we're cool."
The man's footsteps echoed in the cramped space as he walked away and it wasn't until he was back in the building that Al made his way to the open manhole. It was almost a block away, and the night was beginning to take on that cool chill that comes in the early hours before dawn. Pulling off his mask, he hurried his pace.
In the distance, a few voices echoed. At first, they were low and steady, but they became loud and erratic. He wanted to keep walking, but the sudden scream pulled him off course. A strange, instinctual urge forced him to pull the mask back over his face.
He rushed into a small alcove and found a man lying atop a desperate woman, fighting her for control. She flailed about, but he held her wrists against the ground and butted her in the face. Her head dropped to the concrete with a thud.
The man rolled her over and started working at her skirt, pulling it up above her ass. He ripped her panties away with one pull, yanking the fabric from her skin. He undid his own pants with a menacing chuckle and pulled his flaccid cock free. She tried to fight back, but she was disoriented from the blow.
Al raised his hand and picked the startled man up into the air. He felt the familiar surge of rage rush over him, and without another seconds hesitation, he flung the man against the wall. The body crunched and fell limp upon the ground next to her. Dazed, she looked over at the man's bloody, distorted face and screamed. It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t hurt before stopping. Once she calmed down, she looked around and saw Al standing near her with his hand out.
"It's OK," he said. "He won't hurt you anymore."
Chapter Twenty-Six.
Rose took a deep breath and nodded at the man across from her. Both arms were tight against her chest as she held her gun. She was sweating in the full swat suit, and her hands trembled in anticipation.
The man across from her, Sergeant Blake, was one of five soldiers from the tactical unit that had joined her in the cramped hallway. He turned to his men, nodded and kicked the door in with one thrust. He rushed in, screaming for everyone to hit the ground.
Inside, there was an immediate scrambling as everyone lunged for their weapons. The five-man unit rushed through the door, one at a time, in tactical formation. Rose brought up the rear, startled by the sudden explosion of gunfire. She didn't even have time to ready her pistol before it was over. Three laid dead with a fourth on the ground, surrendering, as blood colored his white shirt red.
"Everyone alright?" Blake asked. Everyone nodded except Rose. He noticed the distraught look on her distant face, and made his way through his men towards her.
"You gonna make it?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Yeah, yeah, it's just been awhile."
"Why don't you wait outside while we cuff him," Blake said with a slight smile.
"Sure," she said, and walked out as one of the men pulled out some zip ties.
She leaned against the wall and exhaled. Her hands were still shaking so she began to rub them together. A noise from the stairwell grabbed her attention and she looked up just as a tall black man bolted down them. She dashed after him, without a word to the tac group.
The runner rounded the corner taking two steps at a time. She hit the first floor landing at top speed, but he was already out the back door. With gun in hand, she followed him out into the bright light of the midday sun. Her eyes took a moment to adjust as she emerged into the back alleyway. She looked left, and then right, and saw him. She pulled her gun and yelled, “freeze”, but he didn’t stop. He took the turn without slowing, forcing her to follow.
She came around the corner, trying to catch a deep breath. She bent at the waist and rested on her knees, huffing. Looking up, she watched as he disappeared and cussed herself.
"Damn cigarettes," she said, hand on her heaving chest.
"You gonna make it?" Blake asked, from behind her.
"Yeah, bastard got away."
"Maybe, but we know who he is. Name's Robert Paulson. He's the dealer we've been looking for."
"And I let him get away," she said, turning to leave. Blake let out a short chuckle.
"In that get up? I'm surprised you made it as far as you did," he said.
"This shit is heavy," she said, pulling at the neck of the vest.
"This was a victory,” he said. "We got a name, and a guy that may be willing to give us more information. We need to celebrate."
"I tend to do most of my celebrating alone these days," she said.
“Not today,” he said.
“No, seriously, I’m not in the mood. I don’t feel like celebrating,” she said, and walked away.
“Jesus,” he said under his breath.
*****
"I know it's been a while," said Vaughn’s voice over the phone. "But I've been doing some digging, and I've found something useful. Our boy, he was a professor for a short while over at Yancy Street University. The classes he taught were Biology, and sometimes genetics."
"Genetics, huh?" Reedy asked in a whispered tone. His hand cupped the mouthpiece to help muffle the sound of his voice. He looked around before speaking again. "That could explain where his powers came from, right?"
"I guess it's a possibility," Vaughn said. "One of many possibilities."
"So, what else?" Reedy asked.
"For now, that's it. You're gonna have to do some actual detective work at some point, you know?"
"I'm getting around to it," Reedy said, his mouth curling into a slight grin. "Look, I've gotta go. Wife's coming."
"Day off, huh?"
"Yeah, thank god," Reedy said. "Wife’s been begging me to leave all this at the office for just one day. I'll call you soon." He hung up the phone, and left the kitchen.
Reedy's wife was sitting on the chair near their bed with both hands on her growing belly. She rubbed it with a thick lotion that smelled of rich cocoa. He smiled, gazing at her exposed stomach. Knelling down beside her, he put his head down on the arm rest.
"This whole father thing really brings out a new side of you," she said, with a warm smile.
"I can't help it. I'm gonna be a daddy," he said, placing his arm on her leg.
"I don't know how much longer I can stay here," Hope said.
"I know," he said. "Hopefully things will be over soon.
“This city,” she said.
“I know, baby” he said. “But, you have to remember what it was like before. This was the safest place on earth to live. It’ll be that way again, soon.”
Her hand ran over his head, through his hair, and rested on his neck. “I hope so.”
*****
Ivy and Jon stood outside on a bridge, basking in the sun. They threw rocks into the moving water below and laughed when the fish would mistake the ripples for food.
"Watch this," Jon said and snorted hard, forming a nice wad of saliva in his mouth. He spit, and the white foamy thing hit the water. A large fish surfaced and sucked the loogie into its mouth. Ivy cried out in playful disgust as Jon started laughing.
"That's gross," she said, holding up her hand to block her face.
"I know!" he said, between chuckles. "God, it feels so good to get out of that dark subway station."
"I know, the sun feels amazing," she replied. "I was starting to feel like a vampire." She threw her hands up and made a hissing sound while exposing her teeth. They both started laughing at the ridiculous face she was making.
Ivy exhaled the last bit of laughter, and turned away from the water. Leaning against the railing, she stared at the city buildings off in the distance. The skyscrapers stood tall over everything; giants above the smaller brick buildings below. They were vast towers of glass and metal, reaching up to sky like monuments in a cemetery.
"Do you think this will ever end?" he asked.
"I hope so," she said. "I just don't see it ending well for us."
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Al's looking out for us."
"Yeah, but…Al's a hero to us, but everyone else thinks he's a bad guy. They want him dead. This is the government we're talking about. It's not like they are going to let him go, you know? So, what's all this amounting to?"
Jon's eyes went blank as he thought about it. "I always thought he'd just take care of us."
"Well, yeah, but he can't avoid Alpha Male forever," she said. "They will have to fight again, and eventually, one of those fights isn't going to end well for one of them."
"Al's powerful," Jon said. "He'll win, I'm sure of it."
"But then what?" she asked. "They aren't going to leave us alone, you know?"
"They aren't going to leave him alone," Jon said. "We're just people caught up in all this."
"No Jon, we're terrorists now," she said, her face sinking. "I don't think there's any winning for us."
"So, what should we do?" Jon asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "He's taking care of us, and keeping us from starving. He's our family now, you know?"
"Yeah," he said. "Let’s go get some food, I'm starving."
*****
Al skipped through the television channels with an irritable impatience until a news program came up on the screen. A female reporter stood there as a group of soldiers loaded a young man into the back of an armored truck. The camera zoomed out, showing the building, and a look of recognition came over Al's face.
"That's Rob's building," Ivy said, her eyes wide. In her hands, she held a large bowl of cereal that was so full, it threatened to slosh over the sides.
"It doesn't matter," Xavier said, lounging back on a dingy sofa. "His drugs won't sell in an empty city."
Ivy turned towards Xavier and said, "He's one of us now."
"No, he's not," Xavier said. "He's just a means to an end. With his money drying up, we don't really need him anyways. Sides, he's just poisoning the streets anyways. The fewer junkies the better."
"Watch your mouth!" she said. She rubbed her arm and looked down, her face awash in shame.
"Why don’t you make me?" he replied.
&nbs
p; "Enough!" Al said, raising his voice. "We've got enough problems right now. We don't need to fight each other."
The room grew silent, so Al returned to flipping through the channels. Ivy sat at the bottom of the dais and Xavier laid his head back down. After a few minutes, Al dropped the remote and sighed.
"The people up there, they hate us, and it doesn't seem like anything is going to change that. All I want is to feed and take care of the people down here, but they fight us at every turn."
"Eddy made sure of that," Xavier said, chuckling. "His plan was to bring it all down around Alpha Male’s ears. To make him feel what we felt. What's your plan?"
"I don't know," Al said, lowering his head. "Sometimes I think I shouldn't stay with you. That you'd be safer if I wasn't around."
"Maybe you're right," Xavier said, contempt running in his words like ice water.
“Don’t say that,” Ivy said. “You take care of us; we need you.” Her words said it, but Al could see the doubt on her face.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Al replied. “This city hates me for something I can’t control. It’s not going to stop until I figure out the connection I have with…him.”
“Then that’s your plan,” Xavier said. “We go after him until this is finished.”
Al slumped back into his seat, and sighed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven.
Alpha stood tall as a barrage of bullets pounded against his chest. Taking a few steps forward, he grabbed the gun and pulled, yanking the man with it. His body lifted up like a ragdoll and he screamed as his feet left the ground. He hit the pavement, scraping the skin off his elbows and hands.
Alpha didn't look back as he moved to the next target; a teenaged boy with an Uzi in his hand and large aviator glasses on his face. The boy’s teeth were gritted as he pulled the trigger and sprayed the hero with bullets. The boy on the ground screamed as the projectiles ricocheted off Alpha and pelted the ground near him.
With only a foot between them, Alpha grinned and pushed the boy to the ground with one finger. The third member of the Omega gang stood there, silent, with a knife held tight in her fist. She was a hard faced girl, but her eyes betrayed the fear she felt. Dropping the knife, she ran. Alpha watched as she collided with a trash can and toppled to the ground. He picked up the boy that had the Uzi by the pants and held him until they were eye to eye.
