Chapter 74
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Note: The character of Bowman is from "Superman the animated series." This version of Superman is from the "Smallville" universe, but they confront each other anyway.
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Sharon brought Teri, Kim, the other three hostages, and Alicia back to Antarctica, then she came back to Hell. Liv was still searching for her zombie children, Bianca was still searching for her family. Blane's sources told him that much of Bianca's loved ones, including her daughter Gabby, were in George's mini-kingdom. Like most of the people here Bianca and her group were dressed in rags, but had visible firearms. This made them much less conspicious. There were so many people here suffering, it didn't bode well for Bianca's family.
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Soon the group was approached by three "police officers." Like most of the cops here, they cared more about their own fate than about actually protecting the people. Still, they were suppossed to kill any invaders, particularly from Mark's mini-kingdom. They were all former cops, but not good ones. Wes Slatterly was a sheriff in a small southern town during the 1960s. Wes was a racist, turned vicious dogs on children to suppress integration. Now he was the leader of this group. John Samson wasn't much better. In the 1980s he was a deputy in a small fishing town, terrorized vietnamise immigrants before he was fired and jailed. Before that, in the 1970s, Samson served in Vietnam, served six months for terrorizing vietnamise civilians. Zoey Kruger murdered her own husband and child, framed an innocent young man, all because she wanted to be free. Now these three tried to murder Bianca's group to boost their own standing. Clark's rags prevented them from realizing that he was Superman. He quickly saved his friends and knocked these three cops unconsciouss. Superman realized that, in Hell, cops like this who shot first and never asked questions, was hardly unique. He feared he might not be able to save his friends from the next one.
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As the group wandered in this mini-kingdom, it seemed clear that the local leaders were not particularly concerned with actually improving their community, only about maintaining their own power. And the people were mainly concerned with their own survival than about helping others. Often times, they weren't even concerned with their own families. A cop apporached the group, he seemed to want to talk, Clark hoped a confrontation could be avoided. But as this cop came closer, Clark got weaker. This cop was Bowman, and he hated Superman. This was a different version of Superman, but his enemy nevertheless. Bowman was a corrupt cop, murdered one woman to steal from her, framed an innocent man. But Clark Kent found the truth, Bowman put a bomb in his car. As Bowman was about to be executed he wondered how Clark could have survived that bomb. Only in his last moments did he realize that Clark Kent was actually Superman, a secret he took to his grave. Now, Bowman would have his revenge, make Superman harmless and destroy him. But Bianca shot Bowman, weakened him enough that they could get Clark to relative safety.
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As they searched, Bianca saw her daughter Gabby. As soon as Gabby saw her mother, she ran away. Bianca chased after her into the alley. Before she knew it Bianca had a gun being held to her head, a voice told her not to move. But Bianca recognized this voice, it was her sister Kendall. Kendall soon recognized her sister, and the two of them hugged.
