Heroes Chapter 6

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap! Actually, what I was really thinking was a little more, um, colorful than that. You get the picture.

I mean, here I was, in a tiny town, where everybody knows each other, and here comes FBI Agent Alan Walker digging my hole for me and making it look like I did it myself. My stunt to save everybody back home was enough for him. What I call an "opportunity to stop murder," he calls an "Action of a Vigilante," and he has enough lawyers to lock me up for life and make my mother's life hell.

That's why I ran away. Without me, mom doesn't have to go through any of it any more. She can forget her old life, and live on without me to worry over. I can take care of myself.

Or...so I thought.

I ran away from the building, and through an alley between two buildings. I could hear Walker's cries after me. "Hey! You! I know you!" I risked looking over my shoulder to see him stumbling his way towards me. It's enough to keep on my tail. Come on. Come on. There has to something I can hide in to get away from him.

I saw a ladder. Too much time. I saw a dumpster. He's not that drunk, he's twenty feet away from you!

I made a turn and then, suddenly, I was falling. I was falling through a hole and almost hit my chin on the way down. This is random. I thought to myself. I heard something slide back into place and heard a drunk's confusion and curses. I sat there in the dark, holding my breath. I heard him walk away. I sighed relief, only to realize the smell I was sitting in. Ugh. Of course, a sewer, with my luck, it has to be a sewer.

"How many times do we have to save you boy?" It was Ares' voice. I couldn't see him in the darkness, then a light lit up the room enough to see parts of everybody who was in the Punk Yard. I sat there in silence when I realized where the light was coming from. Mira's hands were glowing like a high voltage flash-light.

Ares gave me a look. "What?" he said, "We told you we had super powers. You think we were kidding?" He stood up and offered a hand. I took it and he hauled me up to my feet. He said, "Follow us. You'll be staying with us."

I hesitated, but I followed them through the sewers. I said, "So, since you aren't lying about the whole 'super powers' thing, what is it that you guys do?"

Jessie came up beside me. "We can each do something small. Kenny here has, uh, telekinesis? I think that's what it's called. Anyway, he can only push. He can't really move things around." Kenny said over his shoulder, "Oh yeah? Well, Jessie here can take over your brain. Except she can't do it without turning you into a zombie first."

I turned back to Jessie, and she stammered, "It's not like that! I can take over minds, but there's this weird......side effect. They follow whatever I tell them, but they act all.....damaged. If I hold on to them for too long, they start going crazy and......" She shut her mouth and didn't say anything else.

I could tell she was uncomfortable and decided to change the topic. "So, Mira, that was you with the whole 'Shazam!' thing? With the lights, I mean?" Wow. I am such a dork that I amaze me. She turned to me and gave me a look. "Well, I never heard it put that way, but yes, I can do the whole 'Shazam' thing." I looked at Ares. "What about you?" He stopped and looked at me. "I can pull simple weapons and tools out of thin air. As long as I know how they work." I was a little surprise by this. All I could manage was, "Oh, cool. That must be pretty handy."

In my mind, kids like that should not handle a gun......of any kind.