The Unstoppable (Chapter Three)

The Unstoppable

Chapter 3: Making Friends Everywhere I Go

Cold, stiff, confused.

That was exactly how I returned to the world, left that way after four hours sleeping on the unforgiving park bench. It had been a sleep haunted by dreams. Some of them had been nightmares, but most were of normal life, the life I'd led. School, work, Kate, Texas. All gone now, it seemed.

I lurched into a sitting position, staring at the sky. All was shrouded by cloud cover. A light mist was raining on me, but I hardly noticed. For a moment, I had the strange, distracted thought to simply leap into the air and soar away.

I can fly.

The thought made no sense, and yet, there it was. Shaking my head, I rose to my feet, I needed a little time to figure all this out, somewhere I could think. I began wandering the streets, eager to stretch my legs.

Despite the rain and the cold, the city still breathed. I saw the homeless sheltered under eaves, cars bustling down the dark streets, and every once in awhile, an open shop with lights spilling onto the pavement through the windows. The light illuminated the rain. I wanted a diner, somewhere I could get a cup of coffee and a warm place to sit.

October 12, 2008, a Sunday. That was the date that greeted me from the newspaper dispenser outside an old corner drug store. I'd watched as an elderly man changed it out for yesterday's and then peered close to the condensation covered glass. I'd needed something concrete, to prove it was real.

April 3, 2006. That was yesterday, the carwreck. A Monday. I could hardly make sense of all that was happening to me. Too many odd details. Why didn't anybody stop for us on the bridge? Why didn't the trucker seem to even see us? Why was I in Chicago? Why was I in a coma for two years? Why, why, why. The questions would drive me mad if I let them.

I'd found a wallet in my jeans, but there was only 14 bucks inside. No credit card. Somehow I would have to get back out to Maryland, check all the hospitals. But then what if she was here in Illinois somewhere herself? I wanted to bang my head against a wall, it was all so disorienting. I didn't want to think about what I would do if I couldn't find her anywhere.

Nor did I want to think about the driver's license I'd found, for a Mr. Thomas Anderson, one with a picture of my face and the wrong birthday.

All in all, it took me nearly an hour's wandering to find a place to pass the morning. I felt like I'd explored half the city. The lights glowed onto the sidewalk just like everywhere else, lighting up the little diner in the night like a lantern. It drew me in just like a moth to flame.

The second I walked inside, a thousand pairs of eyes seemed to land on me, despite the fact that there were hardly any customers at this hour.

It was subtle, but everyone in the restaurant stopped what they were doing to take a good long look at me. There was only one person at the counter, a heavyset, older man in a cheap suit. He look a long sip of coffee before turning to size me up, but when he did, he nearly fell out of his barstool. As it was, he spilled coffee all over himself. Something about me seemed to startle him. To his credit, he recovered quickly, smiling briefly before reaching to the napkin dispenser.

A couple at a booth finished their bites and a shared a few words of conversation first. Their glances roved between me, and the old man, as if his offbeat reaction were the most interesting thing to happen to them in a long time. A younger blond girl at a table looked at me, began fiddling mindlessly with her cell phone and then turned back to gawk at me with a nervous air.

Everything continued as it was, but it also, for all intents and purposes, had came to a little bit of a halt. I did my best to shake it off, yet another strange occurance in a long, ongoing string of strange occurances.

I took my seat quickly, feeling fairly uncomfortable. The cup of coffee I ordered wasn't anything amazing but it took the chill out of my bones. The waitress, who spent most of her time behind the counter, had also seemed to be looking at me oddly as she slid my cup across the sticky tabletop. This was going from odd to downright irritating.

As I sat waiting for the sun to rise and an incredible plan to come to mind, I studied the room around me a little bit. There were nine people in the room besides me, as far as I could tell. Three employees plus six patrons.

All nine took time out of their busy morning to look at me at some point. Most took a couple of glances, as if they'd never seen a guy drink coffee before and it was an amazing phenomenon they all wanted to see for themselves, but they were afraid of scaring me away.

All nine took time to look at me at some point. Most took only a couple glances here and there. It was as if they'd never seen a guy drink coffee before and it was some amazing phenomenon. They all wanted to see it for themselves, but they were afraid of scaring me away.

I pictured a nature show, with one of those softspoken hosts whispering into the camera. "And here we have the rare creature known as the Adam. Careful now! We don't want to startle him. He might leave before he finishes his coffee!"

The cook came out from behind the grease pits or whatever in the back, wiping his hands on his apron. The busboy nearly dropped a glass. Cell Phone Girl walked by three or four times, pretending to need something in my corner of the diner.

It didn't take me long to get fed up. As soon as I finished my coffee, I made for the counter. As I waited for the bill to be tabulated, the old man at the counter gave me another glance and spoke. He was sweating, I could see it.

"Awfully cold weather to be running around in just a t-shirt like that, iddn't it?"

"I suppose it is, but I think I'll be alright." I turned back to the waitress to get my change, ready to book it.

"I don't suppose, you've got a minute to chat? I'll buy you another cup of coffee, maybe some breakfast." He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more.

Tempting as food sounded, I was way too uncomfortable to stay a minute longer. "No thanks," I said quickly, trying to make my tone as firm as possible "I've got somewhere to be."

"Alrighty, son. Suit yourself. Have a good one." And then he mumbled something to himself that sounded a lot like "good luck dealing with them "

The bell was jangling as I pushed my way back out into the rain, as eager for fresh air now as I'd been for warmth before I'd found the place. Before the door could even close, a hand gripped my forearm tightly.

"We need to talk."

It was the couple. The woman had me by the arm, seemingly with no intent to ever let go. The man stood behind her, looking threatening. I'd taken no notice of either inside, but now that I looked closer, both were strangely dressed. All black leather. And they were both wearing sunglasses, despite the inclement weather.

"Come back inside with us," the woman intoned with a hint of an accent I couldn't recognize. "There are some things you need to know."

I didn't like their tone, or the way I was being pushed around. Something about them just bugged me. "I don't have to go anywhere with you," I growled irritably as I yanked my arm away.

As I freed myself, her arm spontaneously caught fire. I thought I saw my own and hand and forearm burning for a split second but then it was gone.

While they dealt with the mysterious fire, I took off, jogging at medium speed. I didn't want to attract too much attention to myself nor make an exit too slowly. Whoever these people were, and whatever that diner was about, I wanted no part of it.

Before I made it a full block, a blackness suddenly passed before my eyes, and a raging wind began to rip at my hair and clothes. The gust grew stronger and stronger till I felt I was about to be lifted from my feet.

As I began to fly into the air, spinning in crazy circles I realized I was trapped in some kind of whirlwind or tornado. It began to move backward along the sidewalk, the way I'd come. Back to the strangers I'd fled.

Six feet off the ground, the tornado dissipated, dumping me roughly to my rear. Right in front of my new friends. The woman wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, as if she'd just been concentrating on something difficult.

My eyes had to be as wide as saucers. For a moment all I could do was stare.

"Now...can we talk?" the woman asked, sounding a little out of breath. Still the man hadn't spoken. If she had some sort of special power to control tornadoes, I wondered what he could do.

I stood to my feet quickly, heart thudding. I unwittingly unleashed a massive burst of electricity as soon as I arose. A storm of yellow lightning leaped everywhere, the blast knocking all three of us in different directions. It blew out a streetlight above us, popped the tire of a car waiting by the curb, and caused a newspaper dispenser to explode.

Under the cover of falling papers, I dashed across the street, eager to take advantage of the short time I had while they picked themselves up off the ground. Rather than stay out in the open without cover, I made for a high rise office building.

Pushing through heavy glass doors, I found myself in a large atrium, a dizzying tile pattern leading the way to a massive desk. A huge black and white clock stood above it, ticking out the time. The receptionist at the desk could only stare openmouthed as I burst in. I still had my White Sox cap, so my hair wasn't standing on end, but my clothes had burn marks from the lightning.

For a moment we just stared at each other like gunslingers in the old west. Finally our staredown came to a close when I broke away and dashed for the elevator. I heard her calling for security behind me, but it was too late, I was already on the elevator.

It took off with a ding just seconds before my new friends slammed the glass doors open. Turning to the elevator's buttons, I noted there were 40 floors and selected the 36th, hoping that would be random enough to throw them off.

When I stepped out of the elevator, it was clear today was a Sunday. A vast array of empty cubicles and offices stretched out towards massive picture windows that displayed the Chicago skyline and a sky scattered with rainclouds.

I was about to look for a vending machine and a computer with internet access when suddenly one of the windows shattered, spraying glass and debris across the room. I ducked behind a cubicle as the Wonder Twins flew into the room, apparently riding some kind of whirlwind. I didn't get a very good view from my vantage point, but it was clear discretion wasn't in these people's agenda.

This was made all the more clear when they started knocking things around, kicking over walls and shoving desks, sending desk clutter and computer parts flying as they went.

"You may as well come out," the woman called. "We won't hurt you if you surrender, but if you keep insisting on running, Mr. Dekken here is going to have to eliminate you."

I wanted to defend myself, but I wasn't sure how. The lightning only seemed to come out when I was afraid. I thumped my head against the faded gray fabric material of the cubicle, wracking my brain for a way out of this mess.

The way I saw it, I had three options.

1. I could surrender, find out what these crazy people wanted, and probably die. Or get ripped apart in a labratory after countless horrifying experiments...

2. I could try to fight. But my newfound powers, if that's what they were, seemed completely beyond my control. I felt certain if I tried to use it in battle, I would probably die.

3. I could also make a run for it, try and get the heck out of here. The chances of death seemed pretty good, but I liked my chances better with running than anything else.

I would run. I played the thought over and over in my mind as I mentally prepared myself to flee. Suddenly sadness overtook me, seemed to drench my body. It overwhelmed me to the point I could hardly think. Sadness over losing Kate, sadness over what was happening to me, and that I was about to die.

The confusion and depression addled my brain to the point that when I broke cover and ran, I didn't sneak around furniture and plants as had been the plan, I just stood up and flat out booked it for the elevator.

"Enough of this nonsense. Dekken, take him down."

I made it all of ten feet before an energy blast slammed me from behind, and suddenly my body was no more.