"So soon?" I knew in my heart we couldn't evade them now. I was cold and exhausted and so were my two companions. "Any ideas?"
To my relief Lois nodded. "I found a cave. We might be able to shelter there until morning. Maybe even light a fire. Hopefully, farmboy will be feeling better by then." She didn't look convinced. "We have to hurry, though."
Reluctantly, I prodded Clark from his healing slumber and we trekked laboriously onward.
In the dark, the mouth of the cave appeared heavily concealed by branches and overhanging flora, and I wondered how Lois had ever discovered it at all. Still, that was a good sign our pursuers wouldn't find us, wasn't it?
I clambered over loose, slippery rocks that were covered in slime, trying to avoid making any noise that might draw attention to us. Then, at the fissure's entrance I turned to hold out my hand and steady Clark as he struggled to make the journey. Lois brought up the rear.
"How do we know there isn't a bear or something in here?" I asked shakily as Lois guided us deeper into the cavern.
"Maybe there is," Clark quipped, holding his side through gritted teeth. "But I doubt it would face you two…"
"Ha ha, Smallville. Nice to see your sarcasm is returning," Lois winked at Clark and then slid through a tight cleft to reveal a larger inner chamber. We followed into the gloom and I began to search for bats or any other nocturnal creatures that might freak me.
Lois had already gathered a few sticks and pieces of timber and brought them in on her first reconnaissance mission, and was now busily making a small fire to keep warm. Without the protection of the cave, any kind of fire would have been out of the question, but we had gotten lucky, I hoped.
I perched Clark down on a large boulder nearest to the now smouldering twigs and looked him over again. Some color had returned to his cheeks now, although he still appeared far too lethargic.
He noticed me scrutinizing him. "I just need to sleep, Chloe. Why don't you read through those files and get warm while I take a nap…"
I put an arm around him and waited until he began to doze, letting my head lean on his shoulder and feeling his presence. With the steady rise and fall of his chest I was tempted to sleep myself, but instead I decided it was high time to discover what Schenkel had been up to. Later, we may need the information as a bargaining chip for our lives, so I planned on knowing all the details.
Lois cocked her head as I opened the first file. "Time to find out what 'Project Smallville' was all about?" She asked as she put more kindling on the fluttering flames.
I nodded and began to read Schenkel's notes in my head.
Day One
The subjects were brought to me late this afternoon in varying degrees of health. The explosions had caused more physical damage than I was initially informed of, and I fear that at least one of their number will eventually succumb to his wounds. It is a pity, as I suspect he would have been the most promising subject of the group. Already, he has exhibited some most interesting traits caused by the exposure to the green mineral within the meteor rocks. Traits, I might add that are most different to the physical mutations I have witnessed on my animal experiments.
Subject one, as Mitchell will be called henceforth has amazing mental abilities to move and interact with both objects and other humans. This afternoon, as his wounds were being treated, he managed to tip over an instrument tray simply using his mind to try and help his fellow inmates initiate an escape.
Subject two, Kent, appears to be the odd man out of the group. His exposure to the rocks seems to cause extreme pain, and as far as I can tell he is not manifesting any new abilities due to the Luthorcorp incident. I will bear him closer scrutiny tomorrow when I begin my first battery of tests.
Day Two
All the subjects, bar number two now appear to be showing increased mental abilities as we boost the amount of meteor radiation bombarding their cell. Number two, however grows weaker from the dosage.
This afternoon I received two's lab-work back and have made perhaps the most amazing discovery of 'Project Smallville.' I am as yet unsure whether or not to inform my superior of my findings for fear he thinks me insane. I have, however, made a record of my results and will continue to monitor the boy.
I stopped reading and glanced over to Clark. Schenkel knew how different he was, but had he since informed his boss, and was that boss Lex Luthor? I flicked through more pages, speed-reading for any further mention of Clark's secret or just who the scientist's boss might be. Unfortunately, there was nothing. As the project had continued, Schenkel had bordered on becoming obsessed with Rich Mitchell's gifts, and had pushed the dying man to his limits to see just what he could do.
In a way, Clark had been lucky that the meteor rocks had suppressed his own abilities, or he may have been the object of Schenkel's fixation. As is was, the teen's cellular make-up had fascinated the scientist, but not nearly as much as Mitchell's mental projections and psychokinesis- gifts that had brought Lois and I out here on our mystery hunt.
Clark moaned in his slumber and I huddled closer to him, wondering what he was dreaming about. Was he still tormented by being in the lab? I closed the folder and let it slip to the floor. There was too much in it about Clark to ever give it to the authorities.
"Interesting read?" Lois asked, nodding towards the file.
I shook my head. "Not really. There's nothing in it to implicate Lex. Mostly, it's about what Schenkel did to Rich Mitchell." I shivered, finding the cave just a little too cold for comfort, even with the fire. "Maybe we could use it for something to burn? I'm freezing and Clark feels like ice." I felt at his forehead for dramatic effect. He wasn't too cold, despite the fact that he had no shirt, but I wanted the record of his cell make-up burning as fast as I could. Pity I don't know where Schenkel kept those other files he spoke of…
Lois clambered over and tossed the folders onto the fire without further word. Then, she decided to check Clark out for herself. Typically, the farmboy let out a tiny snore as she neared him and Lois couldn't resist a grin.
"I think he's a little too cosy with you wrapped around him," she joked. "At least he's looking better than back at the lab. I really thought…"
I'd known what she'd thought. For a while I'd feared it too, but the ever-resilient farmboy was back with us now, and that was all I cared. "He'll be okay if we can get him home to Martha's cooking. If we get home at all…"
The dark cavern became silent. Lex, or whoever was responsible for White Summit wouldn't want us getting back to civilization to blab. I suddenly felt like I was acting out scenes from 'First Blood.' Here we were, trapped in the wilderness in a cave with no real means of survival, being hunted by Lord knew who- we probably couldn't even trust the local cops or rangers. Yeah, well Rambo won. Right, Sullivan, but that was a stereotypical Hollywood movie.
Lois noticed I'd gone into a world of my own and decided I needed a prod. "Chloe, I hate to mention it, but we really need to take turns at lookout duty at the mouth of the cave. Smallville's not exactly in any shape, so that just leaves the two of us." She clicked on the automatic's safety latch and offered it to me. "Want me to go through the basics with you before I take first shift?"
I took the weapon and sensed its weight in my hand. I knew if Lois had offered it to Clark he would have refused. He hated guns and what they stood for, but could I afford to be so like-minded? A small grunt came from his lips as he shifted in his sleep, and I noticed his eyes darting too and fro under their lids. What atrocities was he dreaming of back at the lab?
"I'll handle it when the time comes," I told Lois. "Uncle Sam showed me a few tricks when I visited you, or had you forgotten," I reminded my cousin.
Lois sighed and took the gun back. "See you in a couple of hours. Don't you and Smallville get up to anything while I'm gone!" She winked and then disappeared back out into the bowels of the grotto at a sprint.
I don't know how long Lois had been gone. I think the warmth from the open fire along with Clark's body heat had lulled me into a false sense of security and I too had dozed.
When I awoke, it was to the unwelcome sound of gunfire. I jumped up, startled and was shocked to find Clark was no longer with me. Had the bad guys taken him? Where was my cousin? I panicked and wondered what move would be best to make.
Rubbing my bleary eyes, I headed towards the cave mouth, trying to keep my back to the cold cavern walls. It wasn't easy, but it gave me some camouflage in the shadows. I inched forward slowly through the narrow fissure and almost walked straight into a masked gunman.
Only one thing saved my life- Clark. He too was somehow using the darkness as cover, but when he saw me emerging into the path of the killer, he darted forward and blocked any chance of the man getting a good aim. I wouldn't have called his spurt exactly superspeed, but it was certainly more than a mere human could manage, and it took our pursuer by surprise.
The sight of a half-naked farmboy, whizzing in front of his eyes made the man blink in amazement, and the sheer act alone slowed his reflexes. He had no time to target me, and instead pulled back on his trigger instinctively, letting his first round barrel towards Clark.
I screamed then, and realized it was getting to be a habit I wasn't used to.
The spiralling bullet hit Clark square between the shoulders, and he went down hard, face first into the cave floor. All I could think of was that his strength wasn't back, and that I may have found him, only to lose him again. In my fear for him, I never considered the shooter now had a free shot at me.
"Clark!" I dived for the ground, my concern for the farmboy saving my life as a bullet zipped over my head, narrowly missing my right temple.
Clark didn't move and the masked man hovered over me as I crouched by his side. "Time to meet the whirlwind, Sister," he leered from beneath the ski hood.
I swallowed hard, feeling a lump in my throat that just wouldn't budge. This was the end, for both I and Clark.
The killer sensed my fear, and as I watched, mesmerized, I saw his finger inch back on the trigger to extinguish my life. I couldn't bear to see the projectile hurtle towards me, and closed my eyes.
Seconds later, I heard a yelp of surprise and opened them up again. Either Clark had been playing dead, or he had miraculously regained consciousness just in time to spin his body over and carefully whack the Berretta from the gunman's hand.
The man stumbled backwards, reaching for a knife at his belt to retaliate, but this time I was the angry one. I stormed forward like a girl-made tempest and slugged the fiend on the chin as he drew his weapon.
Still, the killer lashed out, and I felt the cool metal of the blade slice into my forearm. I felt the motion, but not the pain, so hot was my rage at that moment. This man had conspired to take and hurt Clark, he had trailed us, attacked us, and I was fighting back in true Sullivan style.
He lunged again, and had it not been for Clark I fear something more vital than my arm would have been cut into, perhaps even my throat. "No!" I shouted for Clark to back off, thinking he could be already seriously hurt, but he ignored me.
I watched in mortified horror as the two men slammed into one another and began to fight. I could hear Clark panting as he tried to subdue the man, but he was as relentless as I had been only seconds earlier.
The pair rolled on the cave floor, and I saw the flash of the knife blade again, heading straight for my man's heart. I didn't scream, but instead groped for the fallen Berretta and took aim. There was no time to think of the consequences, no time to wonder about taking a life. I closed both hands on the butt and squeezed hard, hoping my aim was good enough not to hit Clark a second time.
I didn't. The projectile hit the killer in his right shoulder and he spun away from Clark with the forward motion of the bullet. I watched him slump down; clasping the oozing injury, and guilt hit me. I was no better than them. I shot someone!
My regrets were short lived as I noted Clark stagger to get up. He was shot! I let the gun fall from my quaking grasp and grabbed Clark, supporting him until I could find somewhere to prop him. "How bad?" I asked in a panicked voice.
Clark winced and flexed his shoulders. "I'll be sore if I have to sleep on these rocks…"
I frowned, wondering if he was delusional, and then hurriedly checked his back, running my hand over his soft flesh. There was no blood, and no wound, merely a dark patch where his skin had already begun to show bruising. "You're gifts?" I queried.
Clark nodded, still panting slightly. "I think they're on there way back, Chloe, which is all the more reason for me to retrace our steps back to White Summit…"
That was it. I hit him square in the shoulder with my best right jab. After all he'd been through. Heck, after all we'd been through how could he even consider returning? "Are you tripping on meteor rocks?" I inquired incredulously.
Clark turned away, scrutinizing the man curled in a ball on the floor. Eventually, he spoke, but not to me, but instead directly at the killer. "Why don't you tell her what you've done?"
The mouth beneath the mask spat out blood and then coughed. I didn't think he would talk, but then he stared at me with ice-cold, piercing blue eyes and winked. "We took your little friend Lois as insurance in case you two played hard to get. If you ever want to see her ass again, meteor boy here goes right back to the lab." He spat more blood. "Right where he belongs…"
Clark smiled strangely, never taking his eyes from the injured assassin. "Then I guess I better give them what they want…"
TBC...
