We Could Be Heroes

by Harmon Cooper

  “Well, when you put it like that… You know what? Fine, let’s do it.”

  Helena rolled a large medicine ball over and instructed Zoe to bend backward over it.

  “I don’t want you to make a bridge as much as I want you to let the ball sculpt your pose,” Helena explained.

  “Sculpt my pose?” Zoe asked with a huff.

  “Hold still.” Helena crouched before her, placing her hands on Zoe’s body. “This may hurt a little.”

  She told Zoe to put her feet on the ground, her hands on the other side of the ball.

  Once she was stable, Helena told her to let go of her feet, to literally try to wrap backward around the large medicine ball. To help, Helena put pressure on her hip and on her shoulder, pressing them down, increasing her pressure as Zoe grew more used to the pose.

  “Okay,” Zoe finally said. “This is actually kind of hard.”

  “Good, because that’s just the warm-up.”

  ***

  By the time Sam woke up, Zoe and Helena had trained for two hours. Zoe’s body was covered in sweat, a towel on her shoulder as she stepped into the living area, letting everyone know she’d be ready to go after a shower.

  She was followed by Helena, who smiled from Sam to Ozella, both of whom sat at the dining room table, Sam picking over a piece of bread, and Ozella eating a grapefruit.

  “So, regarding uniforms,” Helena said as she stopped in front of her bedroom. “I know a very good tailor, and I’ve already made an appointment with her, but it won’t be until later today. So we should check into this lead that we have first. We are doing something today, right? Or are we planning to stay here all day? I’m down for either or.”

  “Let’s do something,” said Sam. “No sense in letting our lead go to waste.” He could smell Ozella’s fruit, the citrus tickling his nostrils, telling him a story of how the fruit was grown in the Northern Alliance, how the crop this year was smaller than last year’s, but these grapefruits were juicier, sweeter, and more pungent.

  It was definitely overwhelming, and it probably wouldn’t have been strong if he hadn’t had a heightened sense of smell.

  “Great, I’ll make sure Bryan contacts her,” Ozella said, again referring to this mysterious assistant Sam had yet to meet.

  “We’re going to need some masks before we go and try to get information from the guy,” said Sam.

  “We can arrange something,” said Helena. “I have a lot of clothing in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”

  “Including costumes?” Ozella asked.

  She was in a different school uniform this time, with a black dress, and matching black scarf tied tightly around the collar, the white fabric of her shirt accentuating her cleavage.

  “There’s a little bit of everything up there, and we should be able to find something to cover our faces with.”

  “We’re really doing this,” Sam said, rubbing his hands together. “Goodbye yesterday, hello tomorrow.”

  “That’s been the plan since…” Helena smirked. “Two days ago?”

  “Seems fast,” Ozella commented.

  “What can I say? We move fast around here,” Sam said with a playful shrug. “After all, we’re already engaged, and we’ve barely known each other a week.”

  “Sam,” Helena said, her smirk melting into a genuine smile. “We really need to start planning that wedding of ours, don’t we?”

  “It has to be something big, something really grand,” Sam said, continuing the joke. “I want to ride in on elephants and have huge fruit baskets on everyone’s table and wine and…” He started to cringe. “Sorry, just thinking of all those smells together at once is making me not want to have such a big wedding.”

  “We will try to be sensitive to your nose,” Helena said as she turned toward her bedroom. “I’m going to take a quick shower and get dressed, see you two soon.”

  “She sure is nice,” Ozella said once Helena shut her door.

  Sam couldn’t see all the details flashing before Ozella’s eyes, or whatever it was she had been conceptualizing since waking up early in the morning, but she looked rejuvenated for once, like she’d actually slept a little.

  “Yeah, I like her.”

  “You two make a nice couple,” said Ozella, a hint of sadness in her voice that Sam knew better than to pay attention to.

  “Anyway, hopefully this guy will be able to tell us what’s going on with the children we found in the crate, and if this really is about vampires.”

  “You saw the marks as well as I did,” Ozella reminded him. “It’s vampires. So the question now is where we find this vampire, are there more than one, and what can we do about them if there are.”

  “What do you know about these vampires anyway?” Sam asked, figuring Ozella had done some research.

  “What we call vampires originated from a single exemplar in the Western Province.”

  The country in question had been infamous since before Sam was born. The Western Province was a war-torn country, the site of dozens of battles between the five nations of their world.

  “Proxy wars” was the correct term for the wars that were fought in the West, as the Western Province usually didn’t have a role in starting the war, but they always got involved somehow, either supplying Centralia, or whatever side Centralia was secretly supporting.

  The country was also home to some of the more bizarre exemplars, like the vampire exemplar that Ozella was telling him about.

  “He infected his victims, and his victims went on to infect others,” Ozella explained. “They infected a person by drinking their blood using either the person’s neck or wrist. Drinking too much would kill the person; drinking a certain amount allowed them to imbue the person with vampiric power, creating another vampire.”

  “Yep,” Sam said, already aware of the events she was describing.

  “I read a lot about the Western Plague a couple years back, when I was going through a sort of dark phase,” Ozella said, looking away from Sam. “I kind of thought it was romantic, no idea why. Probably just some stupid teenage thinking. But anyway, from what I read, the main source of the infection was killed, and all that was left for the authorities to hunt were the other vampires he created.”

  “I’ve heard of those teams,” Sam said.

  There wasn’t a man in Centralia who hadn’t read diaries or war stories about the Western Plague. It was a popular genre of writing for men and teenage boys, with books, magazines, and comic books dedicated to the subject.

  Many of the stories were fabricated, or at least glorified, but there were some that were true, gritty tales about the team of exemplars the Western Province put together to hunt these vampires.

  “So maybe it’s related to that,” said Ozella. “Maybe there were a few that got over the border, and they have been lying low since.”

  “I don’t know why they would go after children though.”

  “It could be an older vampire, one of the first that turned, and maybe he has an affinity for young blood. Sounds crazy, but it’s a possibility. I’m just guessing here, maybe adding my own twist to it as well. Makes sense in my head, though.”

  Sam considered this for a moment. It was definitely possible, but until they dug a little bit deeper and actually met and interrogated one of the guys working for this organization, everything was speculation.

  “I guess time will tell,” Sam finally said.

  “If it is vampires, we’re really going to have to be ready. I don’t know about you, but I like being alive.”

  “Me too,” Sam said, watching as Dinah took shape directly behind Ozella, her hands at her sides and a woeful look on her face.

  Chapter Thirty-Six: Young Blood

  (Have masks, will hero? My God, these four are amateurs.)

  One big whiff and Sam Meeko knew almost everything, one big sniff and Sam Meeko knew where to turn.

  It was amazing what that sniffer of his could do; and true, he was getting better at controlling it by b
reathing through his mouth, but every time he did call upon it, he was instantly reminded just how radical his power was.

  Sam was an exemplar now, and he hadn’t been turned into an exemplar like the others, through a chemical explosion, not that this made him feel any different from them.

  He wasn’t the type to divide them in that way—all four of them had come from the same place, and as they fashioned makeshift masks around their heads, all four of them were going in the same direction.

  The masks weren’t elaborate, just bandannas with slits over their eyes.

  And remember, they weren’t that experienced yet (aside from Zoe who was fond of going off on her own and opening up cans of whoop-ass whenever possible), so no one said anything smart like, “Maybe we should do this at night.”

  Nope, it was a day assault, but the area Sam had picked out with his sniffer was known for its density of dark alleys and shadowy corners, so at least they had that going for them.

  The guy’s blood held all this info, indicating to Sam that he lived somewhere in the Robmon District, near a diner called Centralian Central, which had branches all across the country.

  “Everyone ready?” Helena said, putting on a pair of elbow length white gloves.

  “What are the gloves for?” Zoe asked, already in the process of rolling her eyes at whatever response Helena provided.

  “Just in case things get a little rough, I won’t leave any prints behind. I can’t really afford to, and besides, it’ll help prevent blemishes.”

  “Dinah can help,” Sam reminded her.

  “Let’s just get the information and go from there!” Ozella suddenly became shy about taking charge. She stepped behind Sam so he could finish.

  “Um, what she said.”

  Sam smiled at all three of them just as Helena’s private teleporter appeared, the man draped in gold, his hands in a prayer position in front of his chest. “Well, aren’t you four dressed up,” he said. “Going to an exemplar’s birthday party?”

  “Everyone, this is Lance,” Helena said, finally introducing him. “I decided to continue to employ him permanently from now on, rather than use anyone else from the service.”

  “Wow, she must really consider you friends if she’s introducing you,” Lance said with a bit of snark. “Where will it be, Ms. Knight?”

  “Soon to be missus…” Helena said, teasing Sam.

  Rather than listen to Zoe groan, Sam went ahead and told Lance the location.

  With a nod and a blast of golden sparkles, the four of them appeared on top of a two-story building. If Sam wasn’t mistaken, and one quick inhalation through his nostrils confirmed that he wasn’t, they were standing directly on top of the diner.

  “Call me when you need me,” Lance said, his hands coming into prayer position again as he flashed away.

  “Well, he’s efficient,” Zoe said. “I’ll give him that.”

  “Do you need to smell the blood again?” Ozella asked Sam, going for the folded piece of paper.

  “No, I know where he is,” Sam said as he stepped to the edge of the roof. He pointed at an apartment block, one that was seven or eight stories high.

  “Any idea which floor he’s on?” asked Helena.

  “The sixth.”

  “I can call Lance,” Helena started to say.

  “Or we could take the fire escape,” Zoe suggested. “That is, unless you three can’t keep up.”

  Zoe ran to the edge of the roof, and leapt onto an apartment building next to the diner. She pulled herself up to the top, dusted her arms off, and looked to the apartment building in question.

  The fire escape was within reach—that was, if she could jump about ten or fifteen feet out.

  “I hope she can do it,” Ozella said, her hands coming to her mouth.

  “I’m calling Lance,” Helena said, and as she spoke, Zoe shook her hands out, moved to the back of the rooftop and took a running start.

  She hit the parapet, sprung off it, her claws outstretched as she grabbed on to the fire escape across the street, swinging herself up.

  “Damn!” someone shouted from the street below.

  “She’s going to bring unwanted attention,” Sam said. “Attention we don’t need right now. Especially not dressed like this.”

  “We’ll be okay,” Helena said as she walked to the edge of the building.

  She whistled down for the man that had seen Zoe jump, and he looked up at her, Helena now in control of his mind. The man glanced away, scratching the back of his head as he walked off, looking like he was deep in thought.

  “That must’ve felt really cool,” Ozella said. “I wish my power was like that.”

  “It has its limitations,” Helena reminded her as Lance appeared, yawning this time and fanning himself with his free hand. “I was in the middle of something,” he started to say.

  “We need to get to the other building, that one,” Sam told the fancy teleporter in more gold than he’d ever seen a man wear.

  “That’s a big one.” The teleporter brought his hands together, and in a golden flash, the three of them stood on top of the building.

  “Took you guys long enough,” Zoe said, her hands on her hips. She was a little out of breath, and there were some scuff marks on her arms from where she had slammed into the fire escape.

  “Thanks, Lance,” Ozella told the teleporter as he disappeared, turning her focus to Zoe. “It looks like you could use some healing. Dinah.”

  As if she’d been there all along, Dinah was standing next to Zoe, an absentminded look on her face.

  Zoe lifted her arm in the direction of the ghost-like woman, looking away as Dinah went to work, sucking up any injuries the tiger girl had sustained.

  “I’ll never get used to that,” Zoe said after she finished.

  “So let’s get down there,” said Sam as he moved to the fire escape.

  “Is your wrist guard on?” Helena asked Sam.

  Sure enough, Sam had the wrist guard he’d taken off Dr. Hamza.

  It was a simple device that connected at his wrist, and latched just before his elbow. There was a trigger that went over his thumb and crossed his palm, allowing him to use the weapon by snapping his fingers back, and another on the side of the weapon.

  “Ready to go,” he assured her.

  It had been Helena that had gone over how to use it with him, and they probably should have practiced actually using it, but his father had a wrist guard, so he knew how they operated, which meant he was more confident than he should have been with the firearm.

  “I think we’re good to go,” Sam told her, making sure the safety was off.

  He immediately reset the safety, realizing he was going to have to climb over the ledge to get down on the fire escape, and that having an active weapon may hinder this.

  With the safety on, Sam let them go first, Zoe in front, then Helena, followed by Ozella.

  Once they reached the exit door on the sixth floor, Zoe went in first, nodding for Helena to go the other way.

  Sam was next up, his nostrils flaring as soon as he stepped onto the sixth floor; someone in the apartment to the left was cooking porridge, but it had a strange spice to it, which reminded Sam of food from the Eastern Province.

  He mentally had to cast that smell away as he focused on the apartment in question.

  This took utmost concentration on Sam’s part and in the end, he realized that the stink in the hallway was too overpowering, that he wouldn’t be able to know what was going on behind the doors simply by sniffing who’d recently entered.

  “Try pressing your nose up to it,” Zoe suggested.

  “If I do that, I’ll just smell the wood,” Sam told her, “unless you would like to know where the wood is from and what year it was cut.”

  “What good is your power if you can’t figure out what’s behind a closed door?” she asked.

  Sam shook his head at Zoe, not feeling like arguing with the tiger girl. She was clearly on edge, her claws exp
osed, a predatory look on her face as she stared at the door.

  “What should we do?” Ozella asked in a whisper.

  “We could always knock,” said Helena. “Step aside, and I will show you how this is done. And Zoe, move around the corner a little bit so they don’t see you.”

  Zoe moped as she stepped away, clearly hurt by the insinuation that someone wouldn’t want to see her.

  Rather than focus on his ex, Sam placed his wrist guard behind his back, realizing that no matter who was knocking on this person’s door, the fact that they were wearing masks would definitely make them look suspicious.

  “What about your mask?” he asked Helena.

  “I’ll send Dinah.” And as soon as Ozella said the woman’s name, the nearly translucent apparition took shape next her, Ozella communicating with her by nodding to the door and saying, “Tell us how many people are inside.”

  Dinah passed through Sam, which didn’t feel like anything at all, and through the door.

  She returned a few moments later, her face pressing out of the wall and stopping, her eyes opening as she lifted her arm and flashed the number three.

  “That settles it for me,” Zoe said. “Sam, blow the door handle off; we’re going in full force.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Sam started to say.

  “We need to act, and we need to do it now,” said Zoe. “This is what we signed up for, so let’s do it.”

  “Blow the door,” said Helena.

  “All-fucking-right,” Sam said as he spread his legs wide and pointed his wrist guard at the door, using his other hand to trigger it, a burst of energy blowing out the door handle.

  Zoe kicked in, Helena following her with a cartwheel. Sam entered next holding his weapon at the ready, scanning for any movement.

  He heard a shout in the kitchen and accidentally turned toward it, firing off a blast that tore through the wall, creating a hole into the living room, passing directly over the shoulder of a man who had just gotten to his feet to meet Helena.