Just Another Job (35 page)

Authors: Casey Peterson

Tags: #superherocomic bookjob satisfaction

BOOK: Just Another Job

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“Really, Erik?” said Frank. “You're in plain
sight. We're only two stories up and there's a crowd and helicopter
watching all of this.”

“Didn't you just hear me?” said Erik. “I’m
fucking awesome. I control everything here. Just like I'm going to
control you're fate right now. I'm going to set this bomb off right
where you're standing and poof; I go and find three new Supers.
Excuse me. One Super and two sidekicks.”

Knowing full well what oncoming pain would
occur, Chris shrugged off Johnykin to put his weight on the bullet
torn leg while simultaneously bringing the shield from his back to
his hand. It was a last ditch effort that Chris knew had the
smallest chance to succeed but he stepped back and flung the shield
with the little strength left in him at Erik.

Everyone watched as the wind cut through the
holes and shredded metal to send the shield wobbling placidly to
Erik’s feet. The henchman and Erik burst out with a small fit of
hysterics before Erik kicked the shield out of his path with an
even slimier smile than any he wore before.

Chris regrouped on Johnykin's shoulder and
said, “There're too many witnesses today and too many who have seen
the truth on that video. You're bluffing worse than I did, Erik.
You can't clean up this big of a mess.”

“I cleaned up the mess in Syria. That was
pretty damn big, and guess what? I found a replacement for Klaus
too,” said Erik and he gestured to the remaining henchman to his
side. “Everybody wants to be a Super. And everybody wants to
believe in Supers. That’s why I’ve won.”

“Enjoy it,” said Chris. Then he turned with
Johnykin to face the open space at the edge of the roof. He grabbed
Frank’s arm to spin him around and spoke to the pair, “Come on.
We’re leaving.”

Chris looked down at the concrete walkway
below. There was no soft landing spot. The crowds across the street
exuded varying noises of excitement, confusion, shock, worry, and a
number of other mixed emotions at the sight of the three armor
wearing, pretend Supers poised to jump off a rooftop.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
said Erik. “There’s no net. You’re gonna break your legs.” Erik’s
mind quickly ran through the possibility of what their jump would
mean and shouted, “No!” before throwing the bomb at them.

As the bomb arced through the air and Erik’s
voice faded in frustration, Chris linked his arms in to Frank and
Johnykin’s, bent his knees, and leapt. The world froze…

Then gravity pulled Chris, Johnykin, and
Frank’s stomachs up into their chests while pushing the rest of
their bodies back to Earth. The unforgiving concrete did exactly as
Erik stated. It snapped the tibia and fibula in Frank’s right leg.
Johnykin’s ankles rolled underneath her with a pop and forced an
abrupt stop with her wrists, which also popped in an awful fashion.
Chris instinctively turned his weight onto the leg that wasn’t
missing skin and muscle and the concrete respected his decision by
breaking the femur of that good leg in half.

Luckily the helmets saved them from any head
trauma, although it might have been best to remain unconscious at
this point with the amount of pain signals going off in their
brains. But through the blinding waves of hurt Chris saw the flames
and smoke rising in the air on the roof they just abandoned. It was
hard to tell the damage the bomb did to the building, but Chris was
sure it would have done more to them than what they were going
through now.

Then the sirens came blaring against their
eardrums. The emergency response waited just out of reach of a
larger range explosion and rushed over only after the bomb went
off. Chris didn’t try to move and he could feel Frank and Johnykin
next to him keeping just as still.

The first paramedic ran up to them, “Damn
that was stupid.” He forced Chris’s eyelids open and then began on
the gunshot. Four more medics stomped over to attend them. In under
a minute, Chris was on a gurney. He looked over to see Johnykin and
Frank getting the same treatment.

Frank still didn’t say anything, but Chris
knew he would hear it all later.

Johnykin didn’t say anything either, but
Chris caught a smile through the tears rushing down her cheeks on
her way into another ambulance. Chris was pushed into the last one.
He knew this was how it worked. He had to be treated in a hospital,
but so much of him just wanted to go home.

The medic moved around the cabin, securing
the gurney and adjusting equipment. Then he sat down next to Chris
and attached an IV to his arm.

“You look dashing and all, but I’ve got to
take this stuff off,” said the medic and before Chris could respond
the medic peeled off the helmet and armor.

“Save that for me,” said Chris.

“No problem, dude. So I just watched the
video. That was you guys, huh? It’s still running.”

“Good.”

“I can’t believe they would do that. I’m not
like a conspiracy theorist or anything but that’s just crazy. Are
you feeling the morphine? What do you think you’re pain level is on
a scale of one to ten with ten being unbearable.”

“It’s working,” said Chris. He wanted to
close his eyes again and sleep through it all.

“Uh uh. Gotta stay awake. And I need a
number. You look like a five right now. Just nod if you agree.”

Chris nodded and kept his eyes open. The
medic gave a hand signal to the driver who shifted them in gear.
The movement lessened the effect of the drug, but Chris still felt
great when thinking on how beat up he was.

“Can you call my wife?” Chris looked to his
hip.

“No problem.” The medic pulled the phone out
of the pouch on Chris’s side and deftly scrolled through the recent
calls. “Is it Sadie? She’s on here a lot.”

“Yep.”

The medic pressed the name, hit the speaker
button, and placed the phone on Chris’s chest. The phone rang and
the medic turned to check on some more equipment. It continued to
ring and Chris thought she wasn’t going to pick up until her voice
crackled through the tiny speaker.

“Chris? Oh my God, where are you? The TV and
internet are back up, but it’s a video. Did you do that?”

“I’m in an ambulance. We’re heading to…”

“St. Thomas General,” said the medic,
pretending to work on something all the while.

“What happened?” asked Sadie.

“Erik came after us. And a whole lot of shit
happened.”

The medic chuckled.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll talk to you at the hospital. I love
you.”

Sadie paused on the other line. Chris could
see the anger rising up in her cheeks at not knowing what was going
on right now but she hid it, “I love you too. I’ll see you soon. I
love you again.”

“Love you again too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

The medic stopped to grab the phone off
Chris’s chest and put it back. Then he looked at Chris warily to
see if it was worth pushing. “I saw a tank coming up the road too.
Is it for real?”

Chris laughed a little before answering. “I
wish it wasn’t.”

“Crazy.” The medic shook his head to force
out the difficult thinking involved with making sense of what was
right in front of him.

Chris kept his eyes on the ceiling of the
ambulance trying not to think as well.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Chris’s cast itched like hell but he kept telling
himself it was all in his head. The nurse told him his family would
be in shortly and then the police for questioning. The thought of
the police getting involved sounded ridiculous to Chris. It was
more likely the FBI or another agency in the government should come
knocking. But it didn’t matter right now. Chris couldn’t wait to
see Sadie, Louise, and Gerry walk through the door. He would then
know they were somewhat safe.

The door knob jiggled and the door opened
slightly. After a quick pause something hit the door to swing it
wide open. Frank moved inside the room awkwardly with crutches.
Just behind him were Gail and Simone.

“Oh my God, Frank. You can let me get the
door for you,” said Gail. “Hey, Chris.”

Chris’s face wasn’t exactly ecstatic to see
them.

“Don’t worry. They’re right behind us. The
security here’s a bitch to get through,” said Frank.

Seconds after the Janson family settled into
the room the door swung open with even more force. Sadie rushed
into the room followed closely by Gerry. “Where’s Loui —“

Johnykin rolled in next in a wheelchair
pushed by Louise.

Chris tried to sit up to greet them but
Sadie jumped on top of him in the tightest hug she had ever gripped
him with. The embrace tiptoed on the line between pain and
pleasure. Sadie’s decision didn’t take into consideration Chris’s
two injured legs, but he wasn’t anywhere close to being ready to
let go.

“Alright, already. There’re kids in the
room,” said Frank.

Sadie forced herself away and Louise and
Gerry took her place. Chris wanted to jump into the story of the
past day and all that happened to lead up to being in a hospital
bed, but Frank interrupted again.

“They took the video down,” said Frank, and
turned on the TV. “President’s going to address it soon.”

All of them looked on silently at the TV as
a commercial ran for a local car dealership. After it was finished
a familiar sitcom started. They relaxed and looked around the room
for something to distract them from waiting.

“I need a new truck,” said Frank to no
one.

Chris ignored the comment and squeezed
Sadie’s hand to gain her attention. She smiled and cried a little
at the gesture. “I wanted to tell —“

The TV cut away from the original
programming to a live reporter who garnered everyone’s eyes. “We
are getting notification from the White House that the president is
ready to deliver his statement on the video feed from earlier
today.”

The news reporter cut away to the East Room
and a podium with the presidential seal emblazoned across. Down a
red carpet in deliberate strides of confidence the President made
his way to speak to the nation. He turned at the podium keeping his
eyes down on his position before standing tall and raising his head
to look directly into the camera.

“My fellow Americans, most of you had
firsthand experience with the video that hijacked certain internet
lines and television feeds this morning but others still remain in
the shadows. In brief, the video depicted one of our countries
newest additions, the Supers, as fakes or an elaborate lie
concocted through the use of computer graphics and Hollywood
filmmaking techniques. The video also went on to show documents and
various pieces of evidence to this effect in a continuous visual
loop. As I am your president I feel it is my duty to mend these
idle dreams so that everyone may wake up to the truth. This video
and the evidence it proclaimed about our Supers is a fake itself
—

The End

About
the Author

Casey Peterson is a
first time author with the publishing of this ebook,
Just Another Job.
When he
’
s not writing his
next novel, he
’
s probably still
working at his day job of a junior high teacher. Beyond the work
day, he can
’
t get enough time to
read, or make Lego creation and race cars with his two boys. Read
Casey
’
s Smashwords Interview at
http://www.smashwords.com/interview/Capeterson1524