Future Heroes: Chapter Two

FUTURE HEROES [PART TWO]
P u s s y c a t

[Part One: Rise of a Dark Knight can be found here: http://mlmoutsidethebox.com/future-heroes-part-one/ ]

[[In order to receive GP for reviewing this story, you MUST read part one.]]

Eliza shivered, crouched behind a dumpster in an alleyway.  There were the sounds of footsteps walking away in the distance.  'That was close,' the slender blonde woman thought to herself. 'I've been having too many close encounters lately.' She waited until the footsteps were completely gone before standing up and walking quietly to the street.  She walked as quickly as possible; her apartment wasn't too far ahead and she was determined to not get caught this close to her home.

An arm suddenly reached from an alleyway and grabbed her arm.  Eliza's heart began to pound as the massive arm, now joined by it's twin, shoved her against the alley wall.  The man attached to the arms was rather large and he had a large smile on his face.

"Now, now.  What are you doing out so late?  You know what happens to beautiful girls after curfew."  His large hand is able to fit around both of Eliza's wrists and he holds her with one hand.  His other goes down to his belt where he pulls out a shiny circular badge that read 'CGU'.  Eliza began to thrash against the civil guard's grip and the guard laughed.

"You really think your scrawny ass could get away?"  He tightens his grip on her wrists and laughs out loud as Eliza gasps in pain and stops fighting.  "So here is your choice; I could let you go in exchange for something else..."

Eliza feels his hand on her stomach and shuts her eyes.  She tries not to scream as his large fingers unbutton the top button on her jeans.  He snickers as--

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Eliza's eyes fly open and rest upon an older man standing by them in the alley.  The guard lets out a sigh of frustration, then turns.  The second his eyes fall upon the older gentleman, he starts to babble in protest.

"Let go of the girl.  Now."  The guard hesitates, then his grip loosens on the girl.  Eliza pulls her wrists back quickly, buttoning her pants quickly.  Her wrists ache due to the guard's tight grip, and she rubs them while the guard stands dumbfounded.  The guard begins stammering once again at the older man, who Eliza just now realizes is Ed Manning, a multi-billionaire man whose fame and fortune was known (and respected) by everyone.

"Mr. Manning-- I was just about to take her to the station-- she broke curfew--"

"Shut up.  You're a disgrace to the Civil Guard Unit.  Get out of here now, before I report you to your captain."  The guard pauses in shock of Manning's harsh words, then quickly runs out of the alley and down the street.

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45 Minutes Previous

"...You're Ed Manning?"

He snickers.  "Yes.  Now, a week from today.  My place.  I'm going to take a few of these books with me-- This place was locked down for a reason.  I want to know why.  You all might want to do the same.  Now lets go, before the guards come back."

"Now, just wait a minute.  You can't be Ed Manning."  Milo's head hurt from the thought of Ed Manning being in the resistance.  "You're the head of development for the CGU.  Your company develops weapons that helps find and kill our kind.  This just doesn't make any sense."  Eliza shifts uncomfortably, not really sure what to think.  Her head is spinning, and her back hurts from falling down while running away from the guards.

"Where else do you think you've gotten all of your funding?  I've been involved in most of the key moves to keep the resistance safe.  You need someone on the inside; I'm as inside as it gets.  Nobody would dare insinuate that I am part of any resistance movement."  Manning stuffs a few more of the comics into his jacket before zipping it up tightly.  "We can talk more when we meet; until then, stay safe.  Don't be seen by any guards tonight- with the rest of the resistance in custody, you will all be arrested and taken to maximum security just for breaking curfew."

"Mr. Manning... The woman from the evening news that got caught today... She was my fiance."  Milo sighs, his voice a little wavy.  "Is there anything we can do?"

Eliza's eyes begin to water at the mention of Milo's fiance being taken.  'It's not fair... So much pain.  This is so messed up.'  There was a long pause, then Ed's answer, which wasn't what Milo wanted to hear.

"I really hope so."

Ed was the first one to leave the abandoned store, followed by Milo, Eliza, the woman with the glowing eyes, holding tightly to a muscular man, then a soldier.  All that remained was Hillary. She smiled to herself, biting her lip with her front teeth.

"This couldn't have gone any better."  She laughed out loud, then heads off in the opposite direction as the rest of the group.

___________________________________________

Present

Eliza unlocks her door, pushing it open to a dark house.  Ed follows behind her, stopping in the doorway.

"You were there tonight, weren't you?"

Eliza turns and looks at him.  She nods, then replies.  "Yeah... Thanks for saving me from that guard.  You saved my life."

"It was my pleasure."  Ed purses his lips out of habit, nodding slightly.  "It's just a shame of what happened to everyone."  Eliza's eyes begin to water, then a flood of tears come flowing out.  She finds herself being held by Manning.

"My sister," Eliza tries to say between sobs, "she was there tonight... I convinced her to go... and now she's gone."  After a few moments she's able to pull herself together a little and pulls away from Manning.  "I'm sorry... I've been trying to keep myself together all night.  I'm really sorry."

He takes a few steps back, his lips pulled into a slight frown.  He starts to walk out the door, then turns back before he reaches the door frame.

"We'll get her back.  We'll get them all back."  He turns and closes the door behind him, heading back to his own house and out of reach of the long arm of the law.

___________________________________________

Present

Samantha's eyes opened slowly to a bright light shining right into her eyes.  She squinted and put her arm over her face.  After a few seconds her senses caught up with her brain and she cringed at the massive headache that slowly started to show itself.  Her eyes slowly came into focus after a few seconds.  Her fingers were covered in scrapes and cuts.  Her left eye was swollen nearly all the way shut, and her nose was extremely tender to the touch.  She lets out a little sob, her eyes watering.  She sits up, looking around.  The room was almost large enough for a person to lay down in in one direction and enough room to stand.  There was a large metal door on one end.  The ceiling was filled with some kind of spot lights pointed in every direction.  Samantha stood and stumbled to the door.  She knocked as hard as she could on the door, but barely any sound was made at all.

"Please, please let me out.  I didn't do anything... Please..."

She slid slowly to the floor, sobbing.  It hurt her to cry, but she didn't know what else to do.  Her head felt like it was splitting apart every sob.

"Please... Milo... Somebody...  Help..."

___________________________________________

15 Hours Previous

Hillary walks across a populated street in New York City.  She pulls out a cell phone from her purse and dials *711.  There is a pause, then a woman answers.  Hillary smiles.

"CGU Terrorist Lookout Hotline."

Hillary smirks, biting her lip for a second, then she says, quite simply:

"I'd like to report a conspiracy against the government involving Samantha Lee."

"I'm going to transfer you to an agent, please hold."  Hillary interrupts the woman on the line before she could transfer the call.

"I don't have time for that-- It's going to take place tonight."

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To read FUTURE HEROES [Part Three]: MAN OF STEEL, go to:  http://mlmoutsidethebox.com/future-heroes-part-three/
A new chapter of Future Heroes is released every Sunday.  You can view the next chapter a week earlier on the website than on Writing.com (meaning bookmark the website.)