Chapter 9- A Strange New Gotham

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The next day, Ebony sat crosslegged on her sofa

Tick….tock

She glanced at the clock.

It was 1pm.

If she were to leave, she should do it soon.

She fidgeted nervously.

Tick… tock…

2pm.

Should she stay or… go….?

Ebony shook her head.

After actually giving it some serious thought, stubbornly, Ebony decided against going to the safehouse.

No matter what happened, she would stay right where she was, in her family's home.

And that was that.

xxxx

Driving urgently with sirens blaring, Blake had finally figured it out as he spoke quickly into the radio receiver.

'Patch me in to Foley… They're heading into a trap!'

Foley answered.

'It's a trap, pull everyone out!' Blake spoke desperately.

'Bane has been pouring concrete laced with explosives.'

'Where?' Foley asked.

'There's a ring around the tunnels. They're gonna blow it and entrap the cops underground.' Blake replied.

After not listening to Blake in the past, he couldn't risk being wrong again so that was enough to convince Foley this time.

'Pull them out… pull them out now!' Foley instructed the lead cop beside him.

But it was already too late, thousands of cops were deep into the tunnels by now…

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Watching a sitcom on the flatscreen as she was lounging on the sofa, Ebony had long forgotten about the time.

Ebony did a double take when there were suddenly explosions and tremors.

Distant at first, but then closer and more ominous.

The noise alone was terrifying.

Her whole apartment shook momentarily as it seemed as though an earthquake had rampaged through the whole city at once.

Xxxx

As Blake continued driving, the patrol car was hit by multiple explosions coming up from under the road.

Trying to avoid them, the car flipped as it was lifted off the ground by a powerful explosion.

Rolling completely the vehicle landed back on its wheels as the siren begun to die.

xxxx

What the fuck just happened?

Just as Ebony was deciding whether to hide under the table or run outside, Bane's face appeared on the tv.

Ebony's eyes widened.

Wearing a high collared shearling coat and his usual armored vest, his presence was undeniable.

He was at the stadium, with Barsad and multiple men, holding everyone there with armed men scattered amongst the crowd.

A captive audience.

What the hell was he doing?

A huge nuclear bomb…

Was he going to kill everyone?

Not yet but it was a serious threat.

Leverage.

Ebony watched Bane kill the only man that could disarm the bomb.

Something about Gotham's liberation…

Didn't quite add up.

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'Foley!', Blake spoke into the radio.

'Jesus, Blake.' Foley exclaimed in shock. 'Every cop in the city's down in those tunnels.'

'Not every cop.' Blake answered.

Blake knew where he had to go.

Blake had to get to the Commissioner… before it was too late.

Xxxx

Ebony spent the rest of the night on edge, huddled on the sofa wrapped in a blanket.

The explosions and Bane's speech had left her rattled and a little apprehensive when not much usually scared her.

And then there were the replays, media analysists with dire predictions for Gotham.

Glad and surprized that her apartment and seemingly the whole complex was still intact, she wondered if there would be any more earth-shattering explosions.

Raising herself off the sofa, Ebony peered out the window.

She couldn't see much but some small spot fires and smoke rising into the dark sky.

At first light, Ebony decided she had had enough of hiding in her apartment.

She couldn't help herself, she had to venture out.

To see for herself what was going on.

Just like the rest of Gotham, she had heard Bane's dictatorial speech.

It was on every channel.

Screw Bane and his orders.

She had followed instructions enough.

After seeing him kill that poor man in front of a stadium of frightened onlookers, that cancelled out everything in her book.

She wasn't working for Bane anymore.

Ebony would just avoid him for as long as possible.

If she wasn't before, she was convinced that Bane would kill her when he was finished with her too.

Between Bane, the bomb and her own current reckless lifestyle, it didn't matter what she did, she probably wouldn't be alive for very long.

xxxx

Lacing her combat boots, Ebony slung her camera around her neck as she headed for the door.

It was in her blood to document anything and everything with her camera.

This time she was doing it for herself.

Stepping outside the apartment complex, she decided to make her way in the direction of the closest explosion to document the devastation.

Walking calmly through the streets that now looked more like a warzone, they seemed eerily quiet.

In the early light of the aftermath, it was a strange new Gotham.

Noisy streets usually bustling with traffic and pedestrians hurried to get to their destination were now empty and deserted.

Deep holes and cracks littered the streets along with abandoned cars parked every which way.

Only seeing a few souls here and there, people were panicked, scrambling to get home or looting stores for supplies.

Ebony took some snaps of the opportunistic, the scared.

Heading to a low rise building where she had seen an explosion in the distance from her apartment window, it had been badly damaged.

One side of the building had completely collapsed, leaving broken jagged walls, living areas and bedrooms exposed, like a dolls house.

Ebony took some snaps of the destruction, the rubble.

Surveying the extent of the damage, stepping closer, it was then she heard a young girl's sobs.

Looking up, Ebony followed the direction of the sound.

xxxx

After collecting Gordon from his hospital room where the commissioner had almost been taken out by two of Bane's men, Blake spent the night awake, on guard as the Commissioner gained valuable sleep.

First thing that morning, Blake called Ebony.

It went to voicemail.

Ebony had her cell phone on silent.

'Hey Eb, it's me… I know you probably still don't want to hear from me, but I need to know that you are okay after what happened. At least send me a text that you are alright.'

Reluctantly Blake ended the call, vowing that if she didn't contact him soon, he would head over to her apartment.

As Gordan sat on the sofa in front of the flatscreen, Blake packed some supplies by the kitchen bench.

It would be dangerous if they stayed in one place too long.

Again, Bane's ominous voice and masked face blanketed every channel.

Bane held up a picture of Harvey Dent, before ripping it down the middle.

A symbol of his two sides… two 'faces'.

As Gordon continued watching, Bane pulled papers out of his pocket and read from Gordan's unread speech.

Bane revealed that whilst the Batman took the blame for Harvey's crimes, Gordon kept it all a secret, a lie to keep the crooks locked up without parole.

Blake was shocked as he listened to this revelation.

Gotham was even more corrupt than he had thought.

He looked down on the commissioner with slight disgust.

'Those men locked up for eight years in Blackgate, denied parole under the Dent Act… it was all based on a lie?' Blake asked.

Deep down he knew all this time the the Batman couldn't have done those things he had been accused of.

Batman had taken the fall for Harvey Dent to keep Gotham safe.

'Gotham needed a hero.' Gordon started.

'One day, I hope you have a friend like I did. To plunge your hands into the filth, so that you can keep yours clean.' Gordan raised his voice.

'Your hands look plenty filthy to me, Commissioner.' Blake replied, remaining calm, gazing down at Gordon with a look of shock and dismay.

Turning back to the flatscreen, Gordon watched a hole being blown into the prison gate, before many men clothed in orange jumpsuits waving guns happily exploited their newfound freedom.

Bane was creating an army.

xxxx

Climbing up over segments of broken brick and concrete, Ebony clamoured into the exposed face of a first level apartment.

Cautiously moving towards the sound of crying as she walked through the living area, further in, Ebony found a little girl with dark skin and curly hair in high pigtails hiding under a small kitchen table.

With tears in her big eyes, the little girl of only 3 or 4 looked at Ebony, frightened.

Ebony smiled as she crouched down next to the table.

'It's okay, don't be scared.' Ebony said. 'I won't let anything happen to you.'

The little girl pointed, 'Mommy', she said sobbing.

Ebony shifted her gaze to see a woman lying unconscious further into the kitchen.

'My name is Ebony, what is yours?' She asked, calmly turning back to the little girl.

The little girl replied with more sobs before eventually saying, 'Ab-bey'.

'Hi Abbey, that is a very pretty name,' Ebony said warmly. 'How about you come out of there and we go help your Mommy together?'

Reluctant to give up her safe hiding place, Abbey shook her head.

Unslinging her camera from her neck to place it down beside her, Ebony crawled under the table to coax Abbey out.

'I think your Mom needs our help. I can't do it by myself, she needs you too.' Ebony whispered, holding out her palm.

Abbey eventually nodded, grasping hold of Ebony's hand.

They moved towards the unconscious woman who was lying on her back.

She was bleeding from a cut to her forehead but apart from that she seemed unharmed.

Ebony shook the woman and waited but there was no response.

Ebony shook the woman more vigorously whilst Abbey crouched beside her mother.

'Mommy, wake up!' Abbey sobbed.

Looking up when she heard a strange sound, Ebony saw a large crack in the ceiling above.

Perhaps she needed to move more quickly, be more forceful for all their sakes.

Losing patience, Ebony slapped the woman firmly on the cheek, finally rousing her to consciousness.

'Wake up!' She said loudly.

Abbey followed her lead, speaking louder. 'Wake up Mommy, wake up!'

Abbey's mother finally came to.

Eventually sitting up, dazed and confused, she hugged her daughter tightly for some time.

'We need to get out of here,' Ebony said, hesitant to interrupt the meaningful moment.

Looking around in shock, the mother nodded, taking her time to get to her feet.

Moving over to the missing wall, the woman gawked at the extent of the damage as she carried Abbey on her hip.

Ebony scaled down the rubble first to a small landing halfway down and put her arms out.

The mother lowered Abbey downwards and she slid down a slide of smooth concrete into the grasp of Ebony.

Eventually they all made it safely to street level.

Still a little dazed, the woman leaned on some rubble to catch her breath.

'Do you have anywhere you can go? Any family or friends nearby?' Ebony asked, concerned.

The woman nodded still shaken.

'M…my mother lives a few blocks across town.'

Ebony nodded. 'I will come with you, make sure you get there safely.'

The woman shook her head as she raised herself once more.

'No, we will be fine. I cannot thank you enough for your help.' She replied.

Ebony smiled as she watched the pair make their way down the deserted street.

About to depart herself to continue her exploration and documentation of the destruction of the city, Ebony realized she had misplaced her camera.

Climbing back up the rubble, she entered the badly damaged apartment once more.

Picking up her camera from where she left it, Ebony looked around the living area.

She stopped momentarily to admire a framed photo of Abbey and her mother on a happier day on a picnic at the park.

Suddenly, she heard a noise above once more.

She had forgotten about the crack in the ceiling above her and it seemed it was about to give way at any moment.

Realizing that she had to depart quickly, Ebony headed back towards the opening but she was too late, the ceiling gave way.

Segments of drywall, beams and floorboards came down on top of her.

If that wasn't bad enough, the impact was significant enough for the compromised flooring below her to give way, causing Ebony and broken building material to fall to the ground floor below.

Ebony landed heavily, firstly on her feet but continued face first to the unforgiving concrete floor below.

She felt the weight of collapsed concrete and beams land on top of her.

Ebony found it hard to breathe from both the dust and the weight of a something resting heavily on her chest.

Pinned underneath the rubble, although she knew she was trapped, Ebony's first thought was to keep calm and think things through.

She should call Blake.

He would surely help her.

But… was he trapped down in the tunnels with all the other cops like Bane had said?

Was Blake ok?

Maybe he needed help too.

Either way, in the position she was in, she could barely move.

Ebony realized she couldn't reach her cell.

She couldn't call for help.

Blinking dust from her eyes, the pressure on her chest allowing her to inhale shallow breaths barely enough to stay conscious.

As she lay in the rubble, unable to move, one thought came to mind.

Perhaps it had been a good idea to leave that tracking chip in her camera.

It may come in useful to her after all…

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Author's notes- Thank you again for the reviews. Next up... one of my favorite chapters!