by Roman Shepp
Chapter Eleven
The world had gone crazy in a matter of hours. Tony Jordan had seen his barren life turned upside down. Before, he was a simple 25-year-old working in a comic book store, dreaming of the day when his life would change, and his loneliness would end. Now, he was on the run with a baseball bat and a heavy, wounded dog by his side. Accompanied by a damaged man who had lost everything important to him, Tony was faced with the end of the world. He'd seen racists threaten innocent men, and boys making blood sacrifices. Now he was standing in front of a man who had been chasing a woman. A woman the man had called Jane.
She was against the wall, a distraught look on her face. The man cackled with laughter and wrung his hands together with glee. He'd promised Tony and Saeed their turns with Jane. Tony found this brutal side of humanity abhorrent. The air was thick with tension. In the distance the sounds of chaos reigned. Tony knew there were worse deeds occurring all over the city, but he couldn't stop them all. This one he could stop. Destiny was placed before him and all he had to do was take a step. Already he had done things he never would have imagined himself capable of doing. He was becoming a hero, because that's what was needed of him.
The woman glanced back and forth among him, Saeed, and the other man, her eyes wide with panic. She only had one shoe on. Her hands scraped at the bricks behind her as though she hoped to find some way of escape. Her mouth moaned, pleading for mercy. She was too afraid, too tired to scream. Time seemed to move slowly for Tony. He could see the sheer terror in her eyes. It was much like the look that had been on Saeed's face when the man had sprinted into the comic book store, looking for safety. It was a look that spoke to the fear of loss. Saeed had had his family ripped away from him. This woman was in danger of having her freedom and more taken from her by this predator. By the way the man was talking to her it seemed as though the two of them had had a history that stretched beyond this period of madness. Still, that didn't matter to Tony. He wasn't about to let the man get away with harming this woman.
“Stop,” he said, his voice sounding loud and imposing, even though inside his chest his heart pounded.
With every new encounter he thought he would become braver but, if anything, his fear only grew. Surviving these situations was a blessing, a matter of fortune, and he knew his luck would run out at some point. Every time he involved himself in something such as this it was a risk, but people needed his help and he was not going to turn his back. For too much of his life Tony had lived in the shadows. Now it was time to break out into the world and fight.
As soon as he uttered that word the man paused and looked at him. His eyes gleamed. His hair was dusted with silver at the temples, but there were also crimson stains at the base of his head. He looked exhausted, too, disheveled. Tony wondered how long he had been chasing this woman.
“You want to tell me to stop, boy?” the man gasped, pointing a finger toward Tony.
Jane seemed as surprised as the man. Tony hoped Saeed wouldn't jump in recklessly again. It had worked last time, but a plan like that was doomed to fail eventually, although Tony had to consider that's what Saeed had wanted. He had managed to talk Saeed down from killing himself, but perhaps dying in a fight was more honorable.
“Yes, I do.”
The man smirked. He looked Tony up and down and evidently wasn't impressed with what he saw. “Stay out of my way, kid. You either can enjoy the view or you can keep walking.”
“You're going to stop this now. You're not going to hurt this woman.”
“You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. You have no idea who I am,” the man said, his face twisting in a grisly manner. Tony's heart thundered. He was not going to be cowed by someone like this. Men like him had to stopped, no matter what.
“I know you're a bully. I know you're a predator. I also know I'm not going to let you get away with this.”
“What are you, some kind of hero?”
“Better than being some kind of monster,” Tony said through gritted teeth.
The man looked at him carefully, squinting. His gaze darted to the baseball bat and then back to Tony. For a moment Tony thought he was going to back down, but then the man scoffed at him.
“You're just a dumb kid. Stop living out your fantasies and go enjoy the world,” he said, turning toward the woman.
He reached out his hands. The woman screamed and sank to the ground as the man placed his hands upon her. He went to slam his fist against her face, but she managed to dodge him, and his hand hit the brick wall behind her. In one fluid motion Tony whacked him hard on the back with the baseball bat. The man howled and convulsed in pain. Groot scrambled forward and began biting at the man's heels, his sharp teeth tearing at his pants. Tony brought the bat crashing down again on his shoulder and the man fell to the ground, clutching his wounds, trying to pull his feet away from Groot’s snapping jaws. The woman had regained composure. She pushed herself up and towered over the man.
“Don't you ever think about touching me again,” she said tersely, and kicked him with her bare foot. The man clutched his stomach and curled up into a tight ball.
“I know a safe place,” Tony said.
“I bet I know an even safer one,” Jane said. Tony wondered what she meant, only for her to reconsider.
“Could we go to your place?” she asked.
Tony glanced at her and Saeed. Rarely did he ever have anyone over to his place. He almost was ashamed of the state of it. Saeed and Jane were basically strangers, even though he had been through more with them than with anyone else he could remember.
“I guess we can, although I don't know if I really can call it home anymore. So many things have changed...” As he mentioned the word “home” Saeed mumbled something morose. Jane looked at him, then looked at Tony.
“He's been through a lot.” When he had left home he hadn't necessarily thought he would return there. So much had happened during a scant few hours and, given the state of the city, he was a little afraid to think about what could have happened to his apartment building.
The three of them turned away. Tony picked up Groot again since the dog still wasn't at his best and huffed as he did so. The dog weighed more than he looked, and it was starting to strain Tony's muscles, which hadn't been used to half their full potential. He looked around quickly while they walked away from the alley. As soon as Tony found a small shopping cart he placed Groot into it, instantly feeling the relief sweep through his body. The pit bull looked up at Tony inquisitively as the wheels trundled along the ground.
“I've half a mind to get in there myself,” Jane said.
For someone who so recently had been through such a harrowing ordeal she was dealing with it quite well. Tony wondered if she was just that tough or if she still was stunned. There was every chance that it all would hit her soon, and she'd be as messed up as Saeed. Tony almost felt left out, hollow inside, ashamed that he didn't feel the same as them.
“Maybe you should, that can't be good for your feet,” Tony said, nodding down toward Jane's shoe. She turned her head away in embarrassment.
“I lost it somewhere along the way,” she said softly.
“Who was that man?” Tony asked, somewhat delicately, after a few moments of silence. He knew from his experience with Saeed that it wasn't always a good thing for people to talk about their trauma.
“He was a mistake,” Jane said.
Tony knew enough from her tone not to ask about him anymore and assumed she would tell him more when the time was right. He noticed her glancing over her shoulder to see if he was following them. Jane wasn't making a big show of it, trying to hide it, but it was there all the same.
Tony walked through the city with the two broken people by his side. Was there any hope left for them? Totally out of his comfort zone, he had no idea how to handle them. He'd never known people like this before. He barely had any idea how to interact with normal people, let alone ones who had been through as much as Jane and Saeed had. Perhaps
going home was the best thing to do. At least then they could be in a place of comfort and safety where they could collect themselves.
Tony reached into the cart to scratch Groot's head. The dog also had endured suffering yet seemed to be recovering well. Even he had been through a traumatic experience, losing his owner. The sorrow of the world threatened to overwhelm Tony’s soul. It was as though he was Atlas, taking the world upon his shoulders. Was he strong enough to carry them through? Was he brave enough to endure all that needed to be endured? He wondered if his turn would be next, but he couldn't think of anything that would prove to be as traumatic as what his companions had endured.
The noises of the broken city were almost getting familiar to Tony, and thus faded into the general ambiance. He supposed it was better than the city being eerily silent.
In the gaps between the houses and stores, Tony could see the top of his building and it brought him a sense of comfort. Home. It made him think that as long he could get there everything would be okay. His heart surged with hope as they all rounded the corner and....they saw a group of people outside the building. About thirty of them had massed there. With nothing to distinguish them from anyone else, Tony would have been tempted to approach them if they hadn't been so deeply engaged in some kind of dispute.
There were a couple of familiar faces in the throng but nobody Tony would have called a friend. There was one woman who Tony always had seen as polite. She'd always smiled at him whenever they had crossed paths. Although now her face was twisted in agony and she was spitting vile words at others. Had this world really changed people that much or did it just bring out the worst aspects of humanity?
Tony found himself with many questions and too few answers.
The voices of the crowd all rose atop one another and thus it was difficult to understand what they were arguing about. It seemed as though they were at odds regarding where to go. Any reasonable person would have been able to discuss these matters calmly, but the end of the world had caused mass panic and none of these people were thinking clearly.
“I guess there's no getting home for you,” Jane said.
“Maybe I can talk to them--” Tony said.
He stepped forward but as soon as he did so one of the people smashed a bottle over another person's head. The sound of glass shattering was accompanied by a grunt of pain and a promise of more to come. A brawl broke out, with everyone piling into one another. It was as though everyone had lost their minds, but that was too easy an excuse. People were choosing to do this, and that was the saddest thing of all.
“Where can we go now?” Jane asked anxiously. The longer they stayed still the more agitated she seemed to get.
“We'll have to go back to the store,” Tony said.
Saeed still looked as though he was lost in another world. There were times when he was lucid, but most of the time he was staring off into space. Tony couldn't imagine the horror that was embedded in that man's mind. It was almost enough to make him shudder.
Pushing the cart quickly, Tony led the way back to the comic book store and away from the brawling mass of people. The short walk was uneventful. Tony was relieved to see the store still standing, still unharmed. It almost was a miracle considering what else was going on in the world. They went inside. Tony shut the door behind him, lifted Groot out of the cart and placed him on the floor. The dog licked his hand as though the world was normal. Saeed staggered to the counter and sat on one of the stools. Tony smiled at Jane and offered her some food and water. She gladly nodded, so Tony reached into the supplies they had gathered and distributed some of what they had. Saeed barely seemed to notice. Tony also gave Groot some biscuits. The dog hungrily ate them up.
“You're sure we're safe here?” Jane asked after she had gulped down some water. Her eyes continually darted toward the door.
“For the time being at least. I don't think he's going to follow us, Jane. If he is, then we'll see him coming.”
“I just don't know how safe it's going to be to stay in one place for very long.”
“We have enough supplies for a few days at least. There are some other stores around here. I think there's even one that sells shoes. So, you should be able to find one in your size. I'm tempted to stay here and wait for the craziness to die down.”
“If it does,” she said in a hollow voice.
Now that she was sitting down Tony realized how exhausted she must have been. Her hair was matted to her face and her clothes were a mess. She was beautiful in that natural, unassuming way, but her eyes were faraway, like Saeed’s. Tony felt it was inappropriate to think about her like that in the current circumstances.
“Would you like something to read?” he offered, gesturing to the thousands of comic books and graphic novels they had in stock. She looked around, as if only just realizing where they were and smiled softly at him.
“Maybe later,” she said. Jane leaned forward against the counter and hung her head. Her hair fell over her face, obscuring her expression for a few moments before she brushed it back and looked at Tony. At least she was more willing to talk than Saeed.
“How much do you know about what's going on?” she asked.
Tony shrugged. “Not much at all really. I woke up and everything was dark. I came down here to make sure the place was okay and then everything seemed to have gone crazy. I've been so busy trying to survive that I guess I really haven't been able to think why it all happened.”
“The power grid,” Saeed said, surprising both Tony and Jane. It seemed he was paying more attention than Tony had thought. “The men told me that terrorists had attacked the power grid.”
Jane looked at him curiously, as though she wanted to ask more questions of Saeed but had the wisdom not to do so. She pressed her lips together and exhaled slowly. “Whoever the men were, they were right. There was an attack, swift and brutal. They...they finally managed to bring us to our knees.”
Tony wondered how she knew all this. “What's next? Is this war? Do we fight back? What are the hopes for the world?”
“There aren't many,” Jane said. “We're faced with an apocalyptic event. If this was a war, then we've lost. We lost before it even really started...” she said, trailing off. Wiping her eyes, she sniffed.
“People aren't handling it well,” Tony said. Groot moved forward and nestled against Jane's leg. “If only we could have seen this coming. If we had been warned maybe we could have done something to stop it. At least we might have been able to prepare for everyone going crazy.”
Jane moaned at this and placed her head further in her hands. As she did so an ID badge fell out of her shirt, tied to a lanyard. It was a government ID and it showed her full name, Jane Watson. For a moment Tony believed in fate, for her name almost was identical to that of Mary Jane Watson, or MJ, the love of Spider-Man's life. Was it beyond the realm of possibility that this broken world had thrust him together with the woman he was meant to be with? Maybe it was just a glimmer of hope through the bleakness. Jane began sobbing. Everything evidently had caught up with her. Tony wondered if he should offer her an arm around the shoulder, but that seemed too intimate for people who just had met.
“It's going to be okay you know. You're safe here. We can defend ourselves, together. You don't have to worry about that man anymore,” Tony said.
Jane wiped her eyes and looked at him. He could see the red rivers in her bleary eyes. “Thanks,” she said.
By the way, I'm Tony,” he offered.
“It's nice to meet you, Tony. I'm Jane. Thank you for saving me.”
“This is Saeed. He's...he's been through a lot.”
“Haven't we all?” Jane said, with a wry smile.
It all had happened so quickly that Tony barely had had time to think. However, now that they were alone, he remembered what Jane had said earlier. If she worked with the government, maybe she knew of a secret plan to save everyone.
“What did you mean earlier when you said you knew of a safe place? Is it
better than this?”
Jane chewed her lip a little. She glanced at both men, as though she was considering whether to tell them the truth. Eventually, she hung her head. “Yes, it is. There's a bunker. I... I'm not sure where it is exactly, but I know the general area. We should try getting there.”
Tony looked at Saeed. He doubted the man would have any reason to say no or yes. He seemed happy to be led wherever they went without any argument at all.
“That sounds like a good place to me. We need some place to rebuild and wait for all of this to blow over. We'll rest here for a moment. Let me go get you a sneaker or something. What size are you?”
“You don't have to do that. It's too dangerous out there.”
“Nonsense, it's okay, I know the area and the store is just a few doors down. I'll be back before you know it.”
“Okay, I'm an eight and a half,” she said as she glanced down at her foot.
It was dirty and mangled. Some of the skin was hanging off. She'd need something to protect her if they were going to be walking long distances. Tony grabbed his baseball bat and made his way out of the store. Groot waddled after him, but Tony told the dog to stay and guard the store. He left Saeed and Jane there alone, and then he was gone, alone in the outside world.
As soon as he stepped outside he was thinking about what a foolish decision it was to be alone out here, especially leaving two strangers in the only place he knew was safe. He had to trust them, though. They hadn't given him any reason not to do so, and from their point of view he could have been dangerous too. He wanted to make a good impression on Jane as well. If she knew of this bunker, she might know more things as well, and there was something about her that made Tony want to take care of her.
He stealthily walked outside, holding the baseball bat tightly. There were a few sounds around but most of them were in the distance. He walked up the street and entered the shoe store, rummaging around the boxes until he found what he was after. They fell all around him, opening up, shoes pouring out, and the longer it took the more frantic he became. The last thing he wanted was to be ambushed.