Freedom Fighter
Chapter 33: By any means necessary
Tadashi grabbed Aiden by the shoulders and shook him like a rag doll tossed into the washer. "What's going on, Aiden?! How did she know how to contact you?! Oh gosh! Hiro!" He turned around and ran to his brother.
The boy tilted his head and dropped his crayon. Tadashi stopped halfway and ran back to Aiden; stopped and turned back to his brother. His hands gripped his hair as he paced between the two of them.
Aiden got up and walked up the stairs and over to a room- he came back with weapons slung over his back- popping bullets into a clip. "We're going to keep your brother safe by any means necessary."
He slammed the magazine into the gun and pulled back the hammer. "You're using live ammo?!" The man put the weapons down on the table and checked them over. "Tranquilisers don't work and I can't use an EMP with Hiro around. I don't know the affects an EMP has on hybrids and I don't plan on finding out using your brother as a test subject."
Tadashi ran his hand through his hair. "You can't just shoot them!" Aiden put the guns down and faced him. "What do you want me to do, huh? Let them take your brother? Kill us? Hurt others while killing us?" He swallowed and stared at the man.
He looked over his friend's shoulder at the boy. Hiro was running crayons all over the paper. Red was used more than the others. "You can't hurt others at the expense of one person, no matter how much you love them." It pained him to say that about his brother.
Tadashi turned and looked at Hiro.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Aiden laid his hand on the young man's shoulder. "They're on their way. The lake won't stand in their way long enough- they'll get on the island and surround us. You two take the tunnel while I hold them off."
The man nodded at the boxes. "Take that with." He strode over to his computer and sat down. Aiden typed rapidly and the screen changed from the blood-stalling message to the camera's assessment of The Bunker's premises.
The sun bathed the grass in gold and the wind whipped it to and fro. Water rippled and looked like ember in the setting light. Beyond the watery depths fires were lit in trashcans and homeless people crowded around them.
"My scanners will pick up any unusual activity. Get ready to run." Aiden took his weapons, gave him a glance, and went back into his gun room. Tadashi breathed a sigh and walked over to the boxes. He picked them up and put them on top of each other.
"Where are the tunnels?"
"I had them installed after being told to not attach myself to things. A comrade of mine designed the escape route beneath the lake and into the sewer systems- all while the place blows to bits. There are bombs wired all over the place. I must admit the sewer ads a poetic flare to it- it is a shi..."
Aiden glanced at Hiro. "Filthy situation we're in, after all." Tadashi gave a short laugh. "Bombs." The man came down the stairs. "Yeah."
Hiro stood up and dragged his book with. He stood spot blank before his brother. He held up the book and declared with his chest puffed out: "Porn." Tadashi stared at the page and blinked. Red doodles scattered everywhere. Circles and odd lines. No picture- just lines.
He nodded at his brother. "Yeah- that's really something. Why not try drawing something else?" Hiro blinked and turned the book around. He stared at his picture for a while. "Like wha?" He shrugged. "I don't know- anything." Hiro frowned and looked back at the paper. "I thought 'Dashi likes porn."
He shook his head and sighed. Tadashi turned his brother around and guided him back to his corner. "Draw something." His eyes stared into the distance and he crinkled his nose. "But not 'porn'. And it's gotta be great." Hiro sat down.
He stared at the paper and pencils as his brother walked away. Hiro picked it up and stared at the blood-drawing sharp tip. With a crack of his neck he pressed the lead to the paper and started. 'Something great. Something that I know how to draw.'
The floor felt cold against his tummy as he lay down. Stale air licked his tongue as he stuck it out while he drew. He picked up the red; scrawled over the paper. Back to the pencil on paper. Hiro flipped the page.
Lead cracked from the pencil and rolled down the book; Hiro ignored it and continued drawing. 'Tadashi's in danger, so is Aiden. It's because of me that Trix is coming here. And it's me that's going to end this.'
Once finished he put the pencil down and snapped the book shut. Hiro glanced over his shoulder. Aiden was showing his brother where the escape tunnel was. He got up; his robotic fingers touching off the ground as his feet slipped under his body.
Walking over to the plastic bags he glanced inside. He swiped his beanie- Aiden must have salvaged it from after they fell- causing the plastic to crinkle. Neither of them turned around. Hiro let out a breath. Inside the bag was enclosed his comic- Superman in battle with the metal menace.
He touched his access port. 'I'm the good guy- like Superman- I only use my powers for good.' Hiro steeled his face and tugged his hat on. The console beeped and flashed red. Like alert sirens in an army base that swiped over the room.
Tadashi and Aiden ran over to the computer- staring at the monitors and videos. "They came sooner than expected. I'm deploying my defence system, get ready to run. When in the tunnels follow me and don't get lost. I know a quick way out of them." His brother nodded and they both stared intently at the screen.
Hiro made his move. His feet weren't even audible as he made a break for the escape tunnels. With a last glance at his brother he ran into the darkness. It was hard to see and he bumped into the wall. Hiro pressed his hand up against the wet stone and felt for anything.
His fingers came in contact with ridged metal. He took in a breath. 'A ladder'. He took the leap and jumped onto the steps and climbed into the shadowed darkness to the top.
He closed his eyes as he finally reached the top.
Hiro struggled to get the escape hatch open- it felt like there was a heavy weight on top of pushed and the weight gave way- the hatch swung open. When the sun glared in his eyes and the shots rang out he was back home where he belonged. 'If they want me they're going to get me- then they'll leave Tadashi alone. I'll be the hero, just like Superman.'
He felt his blood run cold at the voice. "Well I'll be damned."
Hiro swallowed. 'Trix'.
"If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people."
-Virginia Woolf
END ACT 3
¤CM¤