Hero Engine (27 page)

Ann steps forward and gives Sam a small hug between her parents. “Listen, I need you to get inside and keep Sam tucked away until Jim or Vince come to talk to you. You can do that, yeah?”

John Higgins gives a stiff nod while his wife scratches at her neck.

“Everything is going to be okay, we just need to smooth everything over,” I say.

John reaches out a hand for a shake. I take it and he simultaneously pulls me in for a bear-hug while fracturing half the delicate bones in my hand. After a hearty couple of pats on the back, he lets me go. “You’ll never know how much we appreciate what you’ve done for our family, both of you.”

Ann makes a half-curtsy motion and wraps an arm around me. “Sorry to run, but we’ve got to explain this mess away.”

The Higgins family waves their goodbyes, and once again, I’m back on a roof in New York. No use standing on ceremony now, so I puke all over the ground. I hack and spit the last of my guts down the hole with Fogo’s dead body. When I straighten up, I wrap my hands around my stomach on instinct. My equilibrium doesn’t give a fuck right now, so I step away from the hole in the roof and rest against the air conditioner that Ann lifted earlier.

The helicopters are landing in the field next to the hyper-speed jet we borrowed. Men clad in tactical black rush out like ants.

“They’ll be up here soon,” Ann says.

“Lucy, we’ve sure got some ‘splaining to do.”

The corners of Ann’s lips fall. She blinks a few times before she says, “I’m sorry, Jim, you are going to have some explaining to do.”

I don’t know what the fuck that means. I almost feel like I should reach for the gun at my waist, but Ann continues.

“I can’t stay here. Not like this. I’m too powerful. I’ve taken in the essence of four heroes, plus my own weird blend of powers. You saw what the power did to the other heroes. I can’t risk that happening to me.”

What’s the old quote? Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yeah, that’s it, I think, but I don’t want to believe it. Not to Ann, I’ve been by her side for days. Sure, she’s got a bit of a violent streak, but given our company over these past few days, I can’t blame her. “That won’t happen to you.”

I don’t know that I completely believe it, and it must show, because Ann doesn’t look convinced. “You and I both know that’s not necessarily true, Quig. I get it. There are no more heroes left. I am by all means the most powerful person on the planet. I can’t be trusted here, among Humanity.”

The realization hits me like a right hook to the jaw. No more heroes? “You’re the only one left?”

Ann ticks off attacks on her fingers as she speaks. “Two died in Seattle, three died in Houston, four died on the attack at SHI Headquarters, and eight died today, plus Flaura is powerless. Sam is human now. That’s nineteen of the twenty-one acknowledged heroes either dead or powerless.”

Holy fucking shit. “Who’s left?”

“Me, Medica, and Lady Atlas.” Ann’s eyes are on the ground as she speaks. The names come fast, she’s been thinking about this. She knew we would come to this moment. “They won’t be trouble, Medica can only heal and Lady Atlas is strong, but could easily be brought down by human weaponry. SHI can figure out what they want to do with them. I’m the only one of any concern.”

Through the hole, I see a soldier bust into the room on the floor below. He turns his gun toward me, says something into his headset and turns back out. “Where will you go?” I ask without taking my eyes off the empty room below.

When Ann doesn’t say anything, I turn to her. She’s looking at the moon, hanging low in the afternoon sky. “Heroes have spent too long as gods on Earth. Maybe it’s time for a hero to rule as a god in the heavens.” She still won’t look at me.

I watch the moon with her. “I know you’ve got some pretty boss new powers, but can you survive up there?”

Ann shrugs; the gesture is minute. “Either way, the solution is the same. Humanity is safe from the heroes.” She gives me a hug, kisses me on either cheek. “Good bye, Jim, it’s been a pleasure working with you.”

The door to the roof crashes open and a SHI SWAT team scrambles out in every direction, surveying the area. I turn back to tell Ann goodbye, but she’s gone. Hopefully, wherever she goes, she’ll be okay. Godly power or not, she’s good people.

Vince powers through the open door and out to the roof. He comes straight up to me. “Quig, what the fuck happened here?” His cool demeanor is gone. I swear I can almost see his heart beating through his shirt.

I sigh, try to think about how I’m going to explain this whole fucking mess.

“…and where is Ann?” I think I may have drifted, because I didn’t hear anything that came before that, but Vince is looking at me like he expects an answer.

“I need a nap, a shower, some food, and some goddamned caffeine. Give me these things and I will give you every detail in triplicate.”

Vince stares.

“Leave your men here to clean up the mess, there’s a lot of it. And you have a burned-out hero in the lobby if you didn’t already find her.”

Vince’s head drops to the side.

I reach into Vince’s jacket pocket and take out his gum. I pop two pieces of spearmint out and say, “Listen, Vince, I’ve got one hell of a story to tell you. When I’m done, you’re going to be jumping over the moon.” I look up and wink at Her in the sky.

I don’t know if you’re up there Ann, but I hope you saw that.

The End

I'm a writer. I know these ‘about’ things are usually written in 3rd person, but I have this thing about hating people that talk about themselves in 3rd person. So I'm going to talk about me. I am a married father of three. My wife and kids are awesome and I love them. I've got a couple day jobs. When I'm not working at those, I work on my writing.

I've completed a handful of novels ranging in quality from 'awful' to 'not too bad'. One day I aspire to be a full time writer or at least only have one job plus writing. That would be a dream come true. Until dreams come true, I'm going to keep jotting my thoughts down around this here internets and see if something catches on.

If you like what you see you can find more at my website AlexanderNader.com or follow me on Twitter @AlexNaderWrites.

Beasts of Burdin books:

Beasts of Burdin

Burdin of Choice

Burdin's End

Possessed: A Tale of Whiskey & Wheelguns

The Graduation Present
by J.T. Twissel
(Action and Adventure) An unexpected gift. An unforgettable adventure. A young woman's eyes and heart are opened.

Wednesday
by Dennis Sharpe
(Action and Adventure) Sometimes reclaiming your life requires a body count.

GOTU
by Mike McNeff
(Action Thriller) When a drug cartel attacks a cop, the rules apply. When they attack a cop's family? There are no rules. An action-packed thriller written by a 40-year law enforcement veteran.

Project Northwoods
by Jonathan Charles Bruce
(Superhero Fiction) Heroes and Villains Aren’t Born…They’re Certified.

Taxicab to Wichita
by Aaron Asselstine
(Fiction) Quinn Jacob is a drug-addicted taxi driver with no options, no money, and no destination. Rocky is a thief with no getaway car, no driver, and no time. In the gathering darkness of a perfect storm, can they trust each other, risk it all, and recreate themselves on the high-wire roads to Wichita?

Discover more books and learn about our

new approach to publishing at
booktrope.com
.