CHAPTER 3

Charley jolted awake, sitting straight up. Looking around, she realised she was no longer in the clinic, and the cat was nowhere in sight. What she saw was the side of a garbage disposal, in what looked like to be an eerie alleyway. Fear and confusion crawled through her like maggots feasting on a carcass. Like what was happening to a dead rat near her. Looking down on what she was wearing, her once sky blue hoodie was now partially shredded and brown, grey and black in areas. Her black Nike leggings had multiple holes in them, and her neon blue and green Asics sneakers were soaking wet and were now closer to the colour of puke than party signs. Looking into her hoodie pocket, scavenging around for her phone, Charley realised there were also a few more things that hadn't been there when she'd last been conscious (whenever that was): a pocket knife, stale bread, a pen and… were those teeth?! She threw them away, then checked her mouth to see they weren't hers. Seeing she was clear, she went back to her frantic search. Finding her prized possession, she pressed the 'on' button, still questioning whether or not it would work, when the date caught her attention.

'What the fu-…'

It had apparently been 608 days since she'd last checked. 87 weeks. 1 year and 7 months. A breath of air escaped her lungs, and with a new breath came a flood of questions. How was she still alive? Who'd been helping her while she was comatose? How did she end up where she currently was? Where the hell was she? They kept coming, one after the other. Charley stood up; she obviously had to figure out everything, and she wasn't going to accomplish anything by being a sitting duck beside trash. She had to woman up and set out. Checking that she hadn't somehow broken anything while she'd been half dead, she saw she had several mysterious cuts and scars, many had puss oozing out of them or grit and glass embedded in them. Others were messily bandaged, clearly suggesting that someone had been taking care of her. She had to find them, but there was no way she was waiting in that same awful spot, so without a second thought, she set out.

After walking the disgusting streets for 10 minutes, Charley saw what had become basically the Central City version of the Glades. Poverty terrorised the alleyways and haunted the faces of young children. Whenever a new alleyway or street appeared and people of them saw her, their miserable faces contorted into ones of pure terror. She had no idea why; she didn't look any better or worse than the rest of them. She peered into what seemed to be small, abandoned corner shops. They were either make-shift houses or food shelters, people crowding from both. As she walked into a big clearing, everyone laid eyes on her. Maybe they were a really tight community and didn't like any disturbances, or newcomers. But this wasn't annoyance written plainly on their faces, or even anger. It was that same terror that she had seen on the kids' faces. Everyone was backing away from her slowly, pushing their children behind them, whispering words of reassurance.

'Um, 'scuse me, can anyone tell me where I am? I don't mean any trouble.'

Shock was now plainly displayed on their faces, before confusion crossed it. An elderly man dressed in baggy sweat pants and an old sweater came forward, apprehension flowing from every part of him.

Finally finding his voice, he mumbled, 'He's coming for you, you know. He may not do much for us, but when freaks like you are involved, he'll be here. You've terrorized enough', he said, slowly gaining confidence through his small speech. 'Also, how can you suddenly speak English?'

Wild thoughts ran through Charley's head. What future had she woken up to?! It wasn't far from hell, whatever this new Central City was. What made her so different from everyone here? And what was this old man rambling on about her terrorizing them? She'd been in a coma for over a year!

Realising she was leaving the people on edge, she tried to think of something to say that couldn't possibly make things worse.

'Look, I don't know what you think I've done, and whatever has happened here, I'm truly sorry about it. I loved Central City, but I don't know this city anymore. But I'm not responsible for any pain or trauma inflicted on any of you. I've been in asleep for more than a year. I'm not bullshitting any of you, I swear.'

Looks and words were exchanged among the people. Were they about to spring on her, or maybe go at it a calm way. One teenage girl, maybe fifteen, walked forward, with an air about her that meant she didn't any crap.

'Really, what was the last thing you remember? 'Cause the last thing we remember of you was going on a killing spree, stealing or food? Care to explain how we have very different views to you?' the girl argued with crossed arms and a scowl.

'What? I would never do anything to hurt another being, that includes animals just saying. I'm a veterinarian intern. I work for Bluecross Vets near the Central City CBD. The last thing I remember was watching the Particle Accelerator turn on with one of the clinic's cats. I remember S.T.A.R Labs being… on fire, or something, then this wave of light hit me and the cat. I just felt every nerve in my body ignite for a millisecond, and then nothing.'

The girl uncrossed her arms, and… was sympathy in her eyes? She warily walked closer to Charley, and just stood there for a minute.

Charley grew tired of waiting, and no matter the trauma these people were going through, at least they had some sort of concept of time and place and what was happening.

'Can someone please tell me what's going on? I just want to go home and find my friends!', she screamed, before breaking down on the floor.

The girl crouched down beside her and cautiously put her hand on Charley.

'Look, there's no easy way to put this, but after the accelerator, these people emerged. People with powers. All of these people have decided to use their powers for crime and murder. Except one. His name is the Flash. He emerged around 9 months after the Accelerator exploded. He's been saving people from these… meta-humans.'

'He's so cool!' a young boy spoke up behind the girl. 'He saved the city from a black hole!'

The girl gave him a small smile, before turning back to Charley. 'Yes, Damien's right. He's actually had a day named after him. 'Flash Appreciation Day'. Lucky you, waking up on it. Anyway, getting back on topic… I think… you're one of them. You're a metahuman.'

Ooooooo! Probably predictable plotline, but oh well.