by Bryan Davis
“Good luck with that.” I walked alongside a relatively undamaged street toward the police car, guided by its flashing lights. If Graham really was in cahoots with Mephisto, maybe he would stay away from the police.
When we arrived at the car, I looked through its open driver’s door, but no one was inside. Since the engine was running, the officer had to be close by.
I lifted Sam onto the driver’s seat, then climbed onto the hood and looked around. Across the street, a uniformed man lay facedown on the sidewalk, his body sprawled over a fallen power line.
I jumped to the ground, ran to him, and dropped to my knees, not daring to touch him until I was sure he wasn’t electrified. I jerked the laser pen from my belt and set the end against the back of his neck. The light stayed dark. No sign of electrical current in his body. I pressed a finger against his throat. His pulse thrummed, fast and jumpy. At least he was alive.
From the direction I had come, a shadow skulked closer. Could it be Graham? If so, I had to get back to the car and peel out as fast as possible, but I couldn’t leave this officer here. He could die without help.
I rolled him to his back and patted his cheek. “Are you all right?”
“What?” He blinked rapidly. “I … I can’t see. Everything’s black.”
“Blindness from electrical shock. Let’s hope it’s temporary.” I grabbed his arm. “I’ll help you get to your car.”
“Thanks.” He sniffed. “Have you been wading in a sewer?”
“Something like that.” After hoisting him to his feet, I held his arm as we walked. Every few seconds I glanced at the shadowy stalker. He now stood near a dark corner of a building, watching.
When we arrived at the car, I opened the rear door on the driver’s side and helped the officer get in. Then I jumped into the driver’s seat, pushed Sam to the passenger’s side, and slammed the door. Gasping for breath, I looked at the officer. “Should I radio for help? An ambulance or something?”
“No use. Ambulances are trapped all across the city. The roads are a mess.”
“I can drive. Just tell me where to go.”
“Straight ahead. We cleared a road to a triage unit next to the Bingham hotel. Two doctors are there and four nurses.”
“Bingham’s the hotel with the statues of ducks, right? About three blocks from Magruder’s.”
“That’s the place.”
“Perfect. Our mom works at Magruder’s. She’s probably stuck there because of the quake. I have to find her.”
“Hey, are you the kid with the sister who said she has cancer?”
“Yep.” I shifted the stick to drive, and the doors locked automatically. “What about it?”
“You’re too young to drive.”
“So write me a ticket when we get there.” As the car moved slowly forward, a hand slapped against my window. Another pulled on the latch.
Graham’s face appeared on the other side of the glass, and his muffled shout filtered in. “You can’t hide from me. I’ll find out where Damocles is.”
I extended a foot toward the gas pedal, but it wouldn’t reach. I pushed a button that scooted the seat forward. With both hands on the steering wheel, I pressed the pedal down. The car lurched forward. Ahead, jagged cracks ran in crisscrossing patterns on the dimly lit street. Flares lay on the pavement at intervals of fifty feet or so. I slowed to a crawl to stay as close as possible to the guiding lights.
“I heard a man’s voice,” the officer said. “Who was he?”
I glanced at his inquisitive face in the rearview mirror. “Some guy who’s been following my sister and me. He thinks we’re friends with Damocles. I guess you heard that part. He’s a nut case, I think.”
“Nut case or not, we sure could use Damocles right about now. Someone has to stop Mephisto.”
“Yeah. Someone has to.” I touched my belt. If only I could power the computer up and check on Damocles. He could tell me what to do. But even if it had battery power, would it work after getting wet? Maybe. Maybe not.
Sam opened her eyes and whispered, “Where are we?”
“In a police car heading for the Bingham hotel. We’ll be with Mom soon.”
“Good.” She grasped my arm with a cold, clammy hand. “I feel like a toothpaste tube someone stepped on. Like my stomach exploded and all my guts squirted out.”
“That’s … descriptive.”
“But I didn’t break the Princess Power Pledge. Honest.”
“I know.” I focused straight ahead at the line of flares. “Hang on. We should get there soon.”
After a few minutes, I stopped where the flares ended in front of a huge statue of a decapitated duck with a police motorcycle parked next to it. Beyond this point, the pavement buckled everywhere, water spewed from deep cracks, cars lay on top of each other in a jumbled mess.
From a lamp atop a pole, a bright light streamed through the driver’s side window, and noise from a generator drilled into my ears. “We’re here,” I called, loud enough to overcome the noise.
I shut off the engine and took the key, then opened my door and jumped out. About twenty paces away, even bigger light standards surrounded a massive tent. Under the canopy, dozens of people scurried around cots filled with moaning bodies. Other victims stood or sat with bandages wrapped around their heads or limbs.
An empty wheelchair stood near the closest tent. I dashed to it and rolled it back to the car. After I helped the officer get out, he grasped the chair’s handles and braced himself. “My eyesight is starting to come back. I can wheel your sister to triage while you go and find your mother.”
I glanced toward the path I had driven. “Will you stay with her? That stalker might show up.”
“I’ll stay. She’ll be safe with me.”
I helped Sam get out of the car, guided her into the wheelchair, then took off toward Magruder’s. Once I had passed the triage area’s perimeter lamps, the moon provided enough light to find my way down the street. Broken pavement, exposed pipes and wires, and a few shallow streams forced me to create my own meandering path. Fortunately, the electricity was off in this area, so I didn’t have to worry about getting electrocuted.
When I reached Magruder’s, I stopped at the front and looked through its big picture window. Light from a hundred candles flickered inside. Customers sat in every seat at every table, and two waitresses hustled back and forth. At least fifty people stood in the waiting area and formed a line that led out the open door.
I spotted a server who looked like Mom, though in the dimness I couldn’t be sure. I headed straight into the waiting area and began muttering “Excuse me” as I squeezed between bodies. Just when I broke free and passed the cash register and its attendant, someone grabbed my arm.
“What’s the hurry, Eddie?” I jerked loose and turned. Milligan stood next to the register. Still wearing a fedora and a gangster suit, he peeled a few bills from a roll and laid them in the attendant’s hand. “Looks like you went for a swim.” He inhaled through his nose. “In a sewer?”
“You’re not the first person to ask me that.”
“Where have you been?”
I growled, “None of your business.”
“But it is my business, Eddie. I came by to get some food and had a nice chat with your mom. I told her I checked your apartment, and I couldn’t find you. The quake broke your door, so I had a look around, but no Hertz kids.”
I again spotted the server who looked like Mom, but she was someone else. “Where is she now?”
“She went home to find you. Just a couple of minutes ago. I told her I’d come and help as soon as I finished my midnight snack.” He snatched a toothpick from a dispenser, poked it between his teeth, and stepped out of the way for the next person in line. “If you run, you might be able to catch her. I’d give you a ride, but my car’s upside down on the corner of Kenne
dy and Fifth. A friend borrowed my motorcycle, so I had to walk here. Your building was on the way, so being a friend of your father’s, I decided to check on you.”
I looked at the register attendant and read her nametag — Judy. I had seen her a few times before. “Judy, is my mom still here?”
She shook her head as she collected a payment. “Like this guy said, she left a few minutes ago to look for you.”
“All right. Thanks.” I spun and headed straight for the door.
“Hey, Eddie,” Milligan called, “Let me walk with you. The streets are getting dangerous.”
“I’ll take my chances.” This time the crowd parted for me, remembering my odor.
When I got outside, I bolted to the triage area. I ducked under the tent and found Sam sitting in the wheelchair, slurping purple Gatorade through a straw from a plastic bottle. The officer lay on an elevated cot while a tall black woman wearing green scrubs bent over him, looking at his wounded eyes through a scope.
I snatched the Gatorade bottle from Sam and whispered, “You’re allergic to the dye.”
“That doctor said I’m dehydrated.” Sam pointed at the woman in scrubs. “So give it back.”
She reached to grab it, but I swung it away. “We’ll find some water.”
“Is there a problem here?” The doctor stood facing me, hands on her hips. Her sour expression said she didn’t want to put up with any nonsense.
“No, ma’am.” I gave the bottle back to Sam. “I’m here to take my sister home.”
“Not a chance. She needs to stabilize. Her blood pressure is low. No sign of internal bleeding, but I still need to check her for infection.”
A bright light flashed through the tent’s canopy, and a voice boomed from the sky. “Damocles, I know you can hear me, so listen carefully.”
When the doctor turned her head, I wheeled Sam from underneath the tent and looked toward the light. Mephisto’s holographic face hovered over the city skyline. “The people of Nirvana think you’re a hero, but you sent two children instead of negotiating with me yourself.” The image let out a tsking sound. “How pathetic. The great Damocles has lowered himself to hiding behind a boy and a girl.”
I clenched a fist but stayed quiet. It wouldn’t do any good to shout a protest to a hologram.
“Damocles,” Mephisto continued, “I know who those children are and where they live, so they cannot hide from me for long. If you value their lives, return to the Stellar roof to deliver my price. Otherwise, they will die, and Nirvana will experience an earthquake that will make the last one feel like the beating of a hummingbird’s wings.
“As a warning, I will give the city another taste of my power. Set your watches. The warning shake will begin in two hours. If you don’t show up within one hour after that, I will hit the city with the big one.”
The hologram shrank and vanished.
I looked at my watch — 1:04 a.m. The warning shake would come at about 3.
“Damocles is a coward,” a woman said.
A man spat on the road. “I always said he’s nothing but a clown wearing a cowl.”
A second man shoved the first man’s arm. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Damocles saved my daughter from a mugger. He’s always been good for Nirvana.”
While several more joined in the argument, I grabbed Sam’s hand. “Stay quiet. We’re going home.” With the Gatorade bottle in hand, she rose from the wheelchair and skulked with me out of the light. As we drew close to Magruder’s, I searched the area for Milligan. Maybe he decided to try to follow me home. If so, I didn’t want to run into him.
I guided Sam toward a side street that led to an alternate route. It was a bit longer, but at least we would be alone. As expected, we ran into plenty of obstacles — downed streetlamps, water-covered roads, and huge cracks in the pavement.
Soon, three shadowy figures standing under a torn awning began following us. I touched my razor-disk gun. If I were alone, I could fight these guys, but I couldn’t risk letting Sam get hurt.
I halted and stooped low. “You’d better ride.”
Still clutching the half-empty Gatorade bottle, Sam climbed onto my back and wrapped her arms around my neck. The bottle’s plastic rubbed against my cheek, but if I told her to throw it away, that might start an argument.
I straightened, grabbed her ankles, and took off in a trot, glancing back. The shadowy figures accelerated. One carried a baseball bat.
I searched for a place to disappear — a fire escape, an open window, any cover of darkness. But every possible spot was easy to see from the road.
Focusing straight ahead, I pushed my legs harder. On my back, Sam trembled, but she stayed quiet. Her weight dragged me down. I couldn’t run much farther.
Just two blocks away, moonlight shone on the back side of our alley. Pounding footsteps from the rear fueled my jets. I rushed forward, turned the corner into the alley, and stopped under our fire escape.
As I reeled line from a spool on my belt, I looked back. Shouts and grunts erupted from around the corner, but I had no time to investigate. I slung the line’s clawed end up to our landing and waited while it twisted around the railing.
“Nice throw, Eddie.”
The call came from a dark corner. By now, I recognized that voice. Milligan. “Were you one of those guys following us?” I asked.
“No.” Milligan walked out of the darkness, a baseball bat in hand. “But I did make sure they stopped following you. One cracked skull, and the vermin scurried away.”
“Why did you help?” I grasped the spool line and gave it a tug. It was secure. “What do you care?”
“I’m sort of the neighborhood watchman. I take care of my friends ... and their kids.” He nodded toward the building. “Are you sure it’s stable? It might collapse at any minute.”
I scanned the structure. It seemed sturdy enough. Two kids weren’t going to make much of a difference. “Thanks for the warning.” I pushed a button on the spool. As I hung on, the mechanism reeled in the line and drew Sam and me up to the landing. I grabbed the rail and whispered to Sam, “Can you get to the platform?”
“I think so.” While I guided her, she climbed onto the landing, then I swung up and joined her. As I unhooked the anchor, I looked down at Milligan.
He stared back at me. “Now what? I don’t think your mom’s there anymore.”
“Maybe not, but I have to check.”
“Whatever.” Milligan shrugged. “If the building collapses on you, I’ll help dig your dirty, bloody corpses out for your grieving mother. And I’ll tell her I warned you.”
“You do that.” I tried to open the bedroom window. Locked. Barney must have fixed it, but that wouldn’t stop me.
I used the glass cutter to slice through the pane, reached in, and turned the lock. After helping Sam climb inside, I joined her in the dark bedroom and used my penlight to look around. Deep cracks ran along the ceiling and every wall. Another quake might make it crumble like a hammered cracker. I had to get the superhero invention out of my closet before that could happen.
I detached Damocles’s miniature flashlight and extended it to Sam. “Look for Mom, but watch your step. The floor might have fragile spots.”
As she took the flashlight, her hands trembled. The Gatorade in her bottle quivered with the motion.
“Hey.” I compressed her shoulder. “You’re Princess Queenie Unicorn ... Olivia ... whatever. You can do this.”
She whispered a weak, “I know.”
“Go on, then.”
She turned and walked toward our bedroom door. “Mom?” she called. “Are you here?”
Guided by my penlight, I slid my desk chair into the closet and climbed onto the seat. I pushed open the low drop-ceiling panel and loosened the wing-nuts that fastened my invention to the ceiling’s frame.
After unplugging the power cord, I grabbed the unit’s handle and hauled it down, careful to avoid scratching its ray-emitting lens. The size and shape of a portable search lamp, the entire module weighed only about five pounds. No problem.
The penlight’s thin beam landed on the A logo on the unit’s side, an adhesive decal I had applied to identify it if needed. I climbed off the chair and shifted the light toward the window. Lifting the unit through that opening wouldn’t be hard, but it would be even easier to take it through the lobby. Maybe Mom was looking for us there. Or Barney might be around, and he could tell me if he had seen her.
Carrying the superhero unit with one hand and pointing the pen’s light in front, I walked out of the bedroom and toward the outer hall. As Milligan had said earlier, our door was broken, barely hanging by a hinge.
Sam’s light beam flashed from the kitchen. “I can’t find Mom anywhere.”
“Let’s look downstairs. Follow me.” With Sam close at my heels, I walked to the stairwell and down to the lobby. Beyond the exit doors, Barney paced outside, a rifle propped against his shoulder as if he were a military sentinel.
Not wanting Barney to see the superhero unit, I set it down behind the lobby’s front desk, took Sam’s hand, and hustled outside with her. “Barney, have you seen my mother?”
He halted with a gasp. “Where have you been? Your mother was here looking for you. I took her up to your apartment, but we couldn’t find you.”
“I just got here.” I glanced around, but darkness veiled everything except the debris from the collapsed portico. “Where did she go?”
“Back to Magruder’s. At least she headed that way. I told her I’d watch for you.”
I squinted at the rifle. “Heavily armed, I see.”
“The building’s been evacuated. No power. No water. I’m standing guard against looters.”
“No power. That’s not cool.” I glanced back at my invention. Somehow I had to get access to electricity. “Do you have a generator?”
Barney nodded toward the lobby. “Next to the front desk. Not much gas left. I’m saving it in case of an emergency.”
