by J. B. Garner
I was so slow compared to what I had been capable of, even accounting for the weight of the shackles on my ankles. There was no time to unlock them now, but I had enough speed to eat the distance from cot to door as it finished its slow slide. Twister had a look of shock on his face, even though he was certainly getting a radio feed into the earpiece I saw. At least my reflexes weren't completely shot. Dr. Aziz looked even more surprised that the Crusader was; it was doubtful he had ever seen someone he thought was 'normal' move so quickly, even if he was an agent sent by Brooks and Choi.
The temptation to use the chains on my wrists as a weapon against the people who had put me here was great but I avoided it. The thing about the Pushed is the physical empowerment everyone else saw, the outer shell of the superhuman, to me was just as unreal as anything else created by the Whiteout. Inside Twister's rugged exterior that could have been pulled from a Western film, was the much older, but no less rugged, mortal man inside. A heavy chain might have hurt the superhuman shell, but it probably wouldn't have taken him out.
My two fists, however, ducked past Twister's guard and landed solidly into his chin, pushing through the phantasmal second skin like it was air. To my surprise, despite the crack I heard from his jaw and the busted lips, the lawman didn't fall. God, how sick was I?
"Guards, she's loose!" Leave it to the Pushed to give unnecessary exposition. Twister raised his hands as he staggered back, swirling winds instantly conjured up at his command around his body. To anyone else, they were an unbreachable barrier of tornado force gusts. Even at several feet away, the force was enough to hurl Aziz away. To me, it was just a mild breeze. I could have easily broken through and finished off the Crusader.
I didn't, though. The doctor, blown back by Twister's winds, was tumbling straight for the side of the airlock-style chamber right beyond my cell. More specifically, the hard, reinforced steel corner of the cell gate. He was a complete innocent in this and that impact, I knew, would be likely lethal. I had no choice as I abruptly stopped myself and shifted my weight, throwing myself to intercept the normal before his neck snapped.
Maybe I was only a shadow of my usual self but that was fortunately enough to snatch the doctor before impact. We turned during the fall, our landing cushioned by my own body. Aziz grunted in pain but seemed quite intact as I rolled though, clumsily coming up to my knees. As I tried to reorient and find Twister, my sluggishness bit me hard. I turned just in time to see that little white table that used to carry my food tray whipped at my head, a tremendous gust of wind behind it. In that brief moment of clarity before it hit me square in the chest, I had a strange surge of longing as the cup full of pills that had been sitting on the table flew wild around the airlock.
That longing passed as pain radiated out from my chest as the impact picked me up off my knees, throwing me against the hard steel wall. As quickly as it came, the pain was shut off by my supreme mental focus. It would make for a great bruise and maybe something inside was cracked, but I could still move and fight. I'd have to act fast though, before either more guards arrived or Twister found something far heavier to hurl at me.
The lawman wasn't being stupid and playing games with me. Even as I pushed myself off the wall, grabbing the table in both hands, Twister gestured into the cell itself. The creak of wrenching metal filled the air from the room. I didn't want to find out what he was pulling loose to throw at me next.
I threw the table at him as I sprinted. It was just meant as a distraction, buffeted away by the corona of wind around the Crusader, and it succeeded. Human instinct split his attention for just a moment. That moment was all I needed to throw myself at Twister, passing through the twisting shield and crashing straight into him. His head struck the floor violently but it was all of my weight dropping on his chest, his real chest, which made him cry out in pain.
With Twister's concentration broken, the majority of the winds stopped, along with the tearing of steel. A quick scramble brought my knees up, pinning the Crusader's shoulders to the ground. Raising up my fists, I looked down him. What did he see, I couldn't help but wonder? A fellow hero straying from the proper path? A wild-eyed psycho who needed to be caged for the greater good? Or just a desperate woman with no choices left?
"Stand down," I cried. "I don't want to hurt you any more than I have to. Just let me go."
"You know I can't do that," he said with a wheeze. "Any more than you would if the -"
For the first time in these past months, I hated having to shut up a soliloquy, but I didn't have time for it. I brought down my fists and Twister went limp under me. There was a moment of swelling panic when he seemed far too still, a moment drawn out by my own altered perception, but then, thankfully, came a shuddering breath. I hadn't killed him.
The sound of movement behind me caught my attention. I turned to see Dr. Aziz picking himself up, looking dazed. Good, maybe he could help me out further than just the key he gave me. Speaking of the key, I went wide-eyed when I realized that it had been knocked out of my hands. I stood and spun to look around the room.
Aziz was rubbing what was probably now a sore back. The glint of metal at his feet was the key. I must have dropped it when I tackled him. Letting out a sigh of relief, expecting a pack of guards any moment, I called out to the doctor.
"Come on, Doctor," I said. "We don't have much time. Get the key and get me free quick!"
"Huh?" The man was still a bit dazed. "What key? What are you talking about?"
"The key you hid on me. Come on, Aziz, it's at your feet and -"
"I did no such thing!" His eyes settled on Twister's unconscious form. "Dear God, did you kill him?"
"What?! No, of course not! I didn't even want to -"
"I don't care and I don't want to know. I'm no party to this and I don't want to be." There was fear in his eyes. "I only want to do what I need to in order to go home to my family tonight."
There was a moment as we stood there, looking at each other. He wasn't sent here by anyone and he hadn't slipped me the key, that was for sure. But....no. There wasn't time to think about it now. I could hear boots approaching.
"I'm sorry." It was an empty apology. Oh, I meant it, but what good did it do him or anyone else really? I ran towards the doctor and he flinched away, no doubt expecting another assault. Instead I snatched up the key and ran on, out the exit of the airlock.
The hallway was plain cinder block with a fresh coat of white paint. It could have been in any windowless municipal building or correctional facility on the planet. There were two other similar heavy steel doors before the hallway turned on either end. Seeing no immediate guns or superpowers pointed at me, I fumbled with the key and the manacles, fingers shivering from the edges of the chill I was barely keeping at bay.
The cuffs, then the shackles on my ankles, hit the floor with a heavy clunk. It felt like it was forever since my limbs weren't burdened by all of that metal. For the first time since this sudden escape attempt had started, there was a glimmer of a chance of success, at least if my body or my willpower didn't fail me.
That moment of distraction, fighting my own stupid fingers, had been enough. I hadn't heard those last heavy footfalls to either side of me and I certainly hadn't seen the four guards, two on each side, make the last careful turn around the corner and aim their rifles.
"Indomitable," came the shout that brought me back to the moment. Stupid Irene, I chided myself. "You will raise your hands above your head and surrender. Failure to do so will force us to use maximum force in taking you down."
They certainly didn't sound like your run-of-the-mill corrections officers. They weren't Pushed either. Just what the hell had gone on in the past week? What the hell was I going to do? At my best, sure, I wouldn't have been too worried. I could have fought my way out of this. In my current condition, though...
"You have three seconds to comply." I couldn't let them take me back in there. I would never get out.
"Three!" I made a show of slowly raising
my hands, hoping to make them slow the count as I tried to think.
"Two!" So much for that. In desperation, I formed a crazy plan in my mind. I slid my right foot ever so slightly under the chain connecting the two open ankle cuffs.
"One!" The moment the spokesman said that, I pivoted and kicked, my foot catching the chain. As I snapped the kick off, the momentum sent the chain and cuffs flying. The crude missile smashed into the guardsman's face mask, sending the man flying back with the sound of shattering plastic and pained screams.
The inhuman speed of the movement had startled the guards, giving me just a hair of a chance. I scooped up the other set of chains with one hand and swung them with an underhand toss, sending that pair arcing at the other guardsman on the leader's side of the hall. I couldn't spare the time to see if I even hit my target, instead turning to charge the other two gunmen.
"Shoot shoot shoot!" one of them ahead of me shouted. Without the burden of the shackles, I moved much quicker, though still not up to my best form. It was enough though. Before he could fully press his trigger, I was practically in his face. I wrenched the rifle aside and bullets fired wild down the hall. With a shove, I smashed the butt of his rifle, still gripped in both of his hands, down into his chest. The guard let out a pained wheeze and obligingly crumpled.
The other shooter though ... I heard the loud report of his rifle. At so close a range, there was no chance I could possibly avoid a fatal hit. Just to add to the surprises this day was giving me, I had no such bullet wound sprout in my body.
The guardsman next to me hadn't shot at me. He had shot down the hall, just as the man who I had missed with those cuffs had taken a bead on my head.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Dr. Roman?" the guardsman said. It wasn't a voice I recognized, but the very fact he called me by my actual name spoke volumes. "This isn't part of the plan!"
Chapter 3 Strange
I glanced the man up and down once. The facts were that he had saved my life right then, knew who I was, and wasn't Pushed. No, in fact, I could have sworn ... well ... I wouldn't know for sure until I saw him in action. Average height, wiry frame, but all of his features were concealed behind the paramilitary-style uniform and face mask. Considering the bad straits I was in, I would have to take a leap of faith.
"I don't -" I tried to say, but he cut me off.
"Nothing to do for it," he said with a surprisingly upbeat tone. "Improvisation is the finest quality of any cook." He turned on a heel and began a jog down the corridor from whence he came. The guard at my feet groaned and shifted, but was safe enough to leave behind. Summoning my own waning strength, I took off after my unknown ally.
"What about the others?" I called after him. It was obvious he was taking it slow to account for my condition.
"Don't worry, the cavalry is on the way." More boots were marching in our direction and, just as the hall my own cell had been on, this one was the same simple white-washed cinder block, just with a distinct lack of doorways.
"I don't mean help, I mean my-" I didn't appreciate being cut off again, but the shudder of chills kept my anger at bay. I was already starting to lose focus, which could be quite deadly.
"We can't."
There was no time to lodge a protest immediately. Up ahead, at the base of a flight of stairs, a small cadre of guards had set up a short firing line. They were mostly silent ... I assumed throat microphones and silent alarms at this point ... but the guns would speak plenty once they steadied their aim. With no cover, well, there was only one option.
I tried to will my legs to work like they used to, but I couldn't work a miracle. Yes, my surge of speed was still impressive, but it wouldn't be enough this time, not in the state I was in. It was only a mild surprise that the mystery man surged past me. It looked like Rachel had found another Natural somewhere.
It wasn't jealousy but honest appraisal that noted that he wasn't as fast as I was at my peak. Maybe Mackenzie had known about this man too, it would have explained why he had known so much about our particular brand of oddity before he disappeared. Still, it was more than fast enough to close in before the gunmen had a chance to open fire.
What did take me completely off guard was the fact that, instead of taking advantage of the moment to fire his own rifle to disperse the guards, Mr. Mystery hurled something produced from a vest pocket. It looked very much like a nine-volt battery, probably because that's what it was. It landed with a clunk in the middle of the confused guards.
"You're up, Vee!" the man said and shielded his eyes. There was something wrong about that battery, that much I could tell for the split-second before the air split with a flash of raw electricity, the sudden clap of thunder, and, more importantly to me, the sudden flood of unreality caused by the appearance of a Pushed.
It was all over as my eyes cleared. All of the guards were laid out, twitching from the residual charge running through their muscles, as if they had all been shocked by one giant taser, an experience I was intimately familiar with. Through the wisps of smoke and the acrid waft of ozone, a roughly humanoid shape hovered above them, a coherent form of dancing sparks and lightning. In the middle of that corona was an all-too human form, clean-cut with close cropped hair ... ex-military maybe? Just trying to make the two images, unreal and real, synch up made my eyes hurt even more.
"Hell yes! I am so glad to be out of that thing!" the figure buzzed, his voice sounding more like the hum of a power line than a human. If I hadn't heard the echo of his real voice behind it, I would have been lost in my somewhat addled state.
"Change of plans," the mystery figure said. "Dr. Roman broke out early."
"How did she -"
"One of you guys gave me the key somehow." There was a blank look on the lightning man's face and the Natural stared in my direction, unreadable behind the mask. "Right?"
Shocked silence was their only answer. They didn't know about the key either? I didn't like it. Not one bit. My growing circle of allies continued to stare, despite our precarious situation.
"Don't stand there and gape. We can't have much time." The world spun for a moment ... all of the sudden exertion on top of a sudden turn of my stomach forced me to lean against the wall.
"Right, sorry, ma'am," the electric man replied and spun in the air to face the stairs. "I'm hitting the wires. I'll blow all the alarms and electronic locks on the exit and the rest of this floor, then meet back up with you. Should keep the guards down here busy."
"It's up one flight and through the main yard and we're out," the Natural in black assured me. "You can hold it together a bit longer, right?" There wasn't a hint of doubt in the man's voice. If anything, he seemed a bit ... awed to be talking to me. Damn reputation.
I could only grit my teeth and nod as the one called Vee broke into so many separate sparks of electricity, disappearing into the walls. I had to close my eyes to stave off another bout of illness at watching his natural form broken up into so many shadowy images. Fortunately, yesterday's meal, such as it was, stayed inside and, with a steadying hand from Mr. Mysterious, I stood up.
"Yes, but we can't run. Not yet." I pointed back down the way we came, where the other vault doors were. "There have to be more -"
"No, Doc, there aren't." There was something going on, I could read it in his voice. "Doesn't matter anyway. You're the most important person here anyway. We have to go."
I wanted to argue. The idea that I was so special pissed me off to no end and I had been forced to deal with it every day since Washington. Still, I had the sinking feeling that he was right. Not about me, but that we had no choice. Whatever plan these people may have had was shot now and there was sure to be more trouble the longer we stayed.
"...fine." I couldn't hide the venom in my voice. Even if I had been able to, I wouldn't have. I hated this whole set-up, but this was the one and only chance for freedom I had.
If anything, the man in black looked a little hurt, but responded with a quick nod. Without another wo
rd, we broke for the stairs.
I had imagined by his use of the word 'yard' that we would be coming out into the middle of a prison exercise yard, surrounded by walls and guard towers. What we came out onto after two flights of stairs and a now-unlocked hatch didn't match what I had seen in all those movies at all. It just was an abandoned lot by a train yard. The patchy grass was strewn with bits of trash and debris and a cheap electric fence wrapped around the irregular perimeter.
Two things immediately caught my attention, scattered as it was. The first and largest thing was the skyline. To see the buildings of good old Atlanta all around me was a great relief but that relief was greatly tempered by the semi-transparent golden glow that encompassed the sky in all directions. I couldn't tell if it was something physical like a dome of some kind or if the sky itself had changed. Either could be possible in the twisted reality we all lived in now.
As disturbing as the unnatural glow above was, the second thing presented a more immediate concern. Waiting for us were four figures, all immediately recognizable to me. There was a split-second of joy, but it was gone quickly.
They were my friends, my family. The Atlanta Five, well, minus one. Hexagon, the towering six-armed powerhouse with the manners of a Southern gentleman; the Human Tank, the hyperactive cyborg teen with a super-powered tank body; Medusa, my best friend and snake-woman with the power of petrification; and Extinguisher, ice-manipulating firefighter and, well, my other ex-boyfriend. There was no sign of Mind's Eye, Archer, or Alma and that was the first sign that something might be wrong.
All the same, my first impulse was to rush up and start hugging them.
Before I could move, the man in black put a warding arm in my way. I didn't need it, because I could see what had happened with my own two eyes. There were tight metal cowls fitted to each of their heads, though in Meds' case it was a mesh of metal to accommodate the writhing snakes on her head. To my eyes, they were simply metal and plastic, simple hats, but they were Pushtech and who knew what it was doing to them. From the naked aggression in their eyes, it couldn't be good.
