The Superhero

Chapter 13

I told everyone to step away from the windows, which of course they did. I peeked through the the front window, and coming out of the trees was four SOW troops. One of them opened the suit with a hiss and said, "I need a breath of fresh air gentlemen and in 10 minutes, the president's head comes off." It was Derek along with other three troops. But as they were talking, one of them spotted the lights off in the cabin. I immediately ducked before my head was seen. "Why the hell are lights off? Those idiots are supposed to be guarding the cabin." I steadly turned the door lock to the left, locking it and spinned my head to the militia and signaled for them to exit the window on the right side with the family. Danielle, the interpreter, and I exited the window on the left as Derek knocked on the door and shouted, "Hey open up, it's Derek." Then we heard something break inside the cabin with a CRASH. "Someone must be in there," said Derek. "Break the door down." With great mighty force, an SOW troop kicked the open, damaging the metal and shattering the glass. Derek leaped for the light switch as I peeked. The translator and I radioed for the others to get the family to the shipping containers. As Derek hit the lights, no one was there. He unleashed a long scream. "Find them." He cried. "Find them now!" "Time to go," I said in a panicked voice. We dashed for the long trial in the woods as the three SOW troops bolted out the door and caught both of us groups going in separate directions. We were compromised...sort of. Since it was dark outside and there were no lampposts that shed light, the troops did spot us but couldn't our faces. After hearing them informing their boss, he replied, "Two of you go after the group exiting the park, and you after the one heading for the trial. I'll join you once I get my suit back on."

The interpreter, Danielle, and I ran through the trail, shooting and missing that gigantic SOW troop. With best effort, we pressed through shrubbery and broken sticks and twigs. We stopped firing our flamethrowers as to not risk starting a wildfire. Danielle pulled a smoke grenade and threw at the troop, where it got lodged between the helmet and chest and exploded. He stopped, waved, coughed and gagged. We turned and hid behind a tree that was knocked down. "How clever of you," said the troop when he stopped. "I'll give you that. But it's too late. Once we destory all of you, this pitiful world is ours to heal it's existing wounds." The troop turned on a integral flashlight and pointed everywhere. "WHERE ARE YOU!?" Then the interpreter whispered to me and Danielle and ordered us to get out and he'll hold him off. We were about the protest but he reasoned that he's got it and we have to trust him. With no other way, there was no choice. I shook his hand and Danielle gave him a kiss on the cheek. He waited for the troop to turn the other way and the interpreter pulled out his flamethrower crept toward him. When he was well near the troop, he pulled the trigger on the flamethrower. It flushed out fire but it ran out of propane. The troop, with the fire dancing on his suit, turned and grabbed the interpreter. We assumed he was done for, so we ran away but then we heard a explosion and it rained pieces of steel and guts on us. When I caught a gut, I nearly fainted but Danielle caught and slapped me and told me to keep going. 

When we were out of the wood, we reached a large area with miminal grass and rough dirt. "Hang on, Danielle," I said. I tried contacting the other team. But I received nothing but static. I did the same thing with the superhero. Also static. We grew nervous and concerned. What if our other team and the president and her family didn't make it to the shipping containers? "We have go back then," said Danielle. "It's a long way. We'll never make it," I replied. "We have to try at least," insisted Danielle. But as we started back, we heard some loud thumps in the woods. Then something jumped high out of the trees and landed right in front of us. With one knee and hand planted on the ground, it rose up and it was a SOW troop. This one was different though. The suit was 7 feet tall, 35 inches wide at waist, and 50 inches wide at the chest. He walked a few steps, and opened his helmet. It was Derek! "Nice to see again," He said with a smirk. "Don't you fucking move." said Danielle as she and I pointed our flamethrowers. Derek zoomed straight at us, grasped the flamethrowers and bent them, leaving them inoperable. Then he grabbed us by necks and began to crush them. "You are really ungrateful, aren't you. The president's death could've been quick, now but it's going to be...ssssslllloooowww." I grabbed a flashbash and tossed at Derek, it exploded and it all went pure white. We were dazed for a few seconds. When we snapped back, Derek in his big suit wasn't facing us. I ran and jumped the suit, intending to unbuckle Derek from the suit. But before I could reach his straps, he grabbed me with one large arm and flipped me onto my back. "You first." Derek said as knelt down as he lifted me up over his shoulder. With much force he dropped me onto his shoulder and I felt a crack in my lower back! I let out a painful scream. "James!" cried Danielle, who recovered from the flash. 

Derek tossed me on the ground and to my horror, I couldn't feel my legs. Derek has crippled me! As Derek lowered his helmet and lifted his left spiked foot to finish me off, Danielle fired a grenade launcher at him; his foot missing me by an inch. He walked away from me and toward Danielle, taking as many grenade hits as he could, until she was out of ammo. Derek chuckled and raised his arm with a retractable machete. "See ya." 

Suddenly, we heard a faint BOOM in the dark blue sky. We stared at it and it seemed to be coming toward us. It came closer and closer until Derek was knocked back into the woods. We were bewildered of what happened until someone emerged for the trees. It was the superhero. "You thought I abandon you? Ha ha." he chuckled. We were relieved until Derek bounced out of the trees. He latched himself onto the superhero. The superhero yelled, "GO! NOW!" Danielle ran straight toward me, and she grabbed one my legs and rolled on my torso until I was on Danielle's back and she got up and darted for the woods, carrying me away from the fight. Derek punched the superhero, sending him through dozens of trees, nearly missing us, but Danielle tripped on a stump root and we fell. And I fractured some of my fingers in the fall. When she turned and saw Derek leap right at us, the superhero kicked him out of sight and danielle picked me back up and continued. 

Finally we were out of the park when Danielle spotted the sewer that we once hid in. "We'll be safe in here," she said as Danielle set me down and dragged me into the sewer pipe. "Let me see your legs, she added. But I could show them to her, an ear-splitting boom fell near the sewer pipe, it was Derek and the superhero. Derek, with his helmet was torn off exposing his head and ches, had the advantage was beating the superhero. "We got to go," said Danielle. But before she could she drag me out I cried, "Wait." Using my right index finger and thumb, I carefully picked up my handgun from my holster and held it up. "Here, take it now." Danielle grabbed the gun. "You only got one shot." As the superhero and Derek kept punching and kicking, Danielle positioned the gun directly at Derek. When Derek grabbed the superhero, threw him to the ground, and used both both spiked feet, he pinned one of the superhero's arms down so he couldn't budge it. Then he Derek rose his right foot to finish him off. But...BOOM, Danielle fired her gun at Derek, and the bullet flew out of the barrel and into Derek's chest. He wobbled off the superhero and collapsed with a CLANK. 

Assuming Derek was dead, we got out of the sewer pipe with Danielle dragging me to the superhero. We approached the superhero, now battered and bruised, with his suit torn and his gone lying on the ground. WIth one arm around his chest, he groaned and gasped in pain. "Whoa, easy tough guy," Danielle said. "Thank you," the superhero said. But then someone coughed. We looked back and it was Derek, bleeding out in the damaged steel suit. Then he took one glance at us and muttered, "Game Over." And he pressed something on his suit arm controls that went off with a beep, and he went let his last breath. Suspicious, I crawled to the deceased Derek, using my arms, to find out what he did. "What is that?" asked Danielle. I stared onto a pixelated screen on the arm controls and it projected a some kind of space station labled SOW, that looked like it was entering Earth and it was aiming for Mexico. But I remembered what happened early before I re-entered Earth. "Damn!" I exclaimed, "Derek just set the SOW space station into deorbit, and it's headed for Ensenada! And thats not the worst part. There's a nuke armed inside the station, so what the station hits, everyone dies." "Then override it, James!" said Danielle. But there was no override. The superhero pushed himself up and stumbed to his feet. "I gotta destory the debit!" "No Superhero, you can't. you're wounded." "Then everyone will die," replied the superhero. He told us that it was our turn to continue helping people and he gave us a smile and took into the sky. 

We looked at Derek's suit screen to watch to the station be blown to pieces. It descended from 80km with the help of boosters, and we watched as space station continued to desend while disintegrate, realeasing the nuke. But at 50km, a man with a cape appeared out of nowwhere on the screen and punched the nuke, erupting it. We knew it was the superhero who stopped it. "Superhero? Superhero?" I contacted through my radio earpiece. I got no answer. We burst into tears and embraced each other.

As we were mourning the superhero, we heard a whirling sound. "Do you hear that?" Danielle asked. We looked up into the bright sunny sky and we spotted two Boeing CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters. "It's the US Marines!" exclaimed Danielle. We waved in the air and screamed for help. Finally the helicopters stopped moving and the one of their side doors opened where a trooper stuck himself out and using a electric megaphone shouted, "Hang in there, we're coming to get you guys!"