Part 7 - Guardians

Chapter 121 - Hot Snow

Gwen put her mask on and pulled her hood up, getting ready for her weekly date with Miles. Last week he had come to her dimension, so it was her turn to go to his. She put on her dimensional watch that had been a gift from Miguel a couple of years ago. When she was confident she was ready, she set the destination to Earth-1610 and pressed 'jump'.

The first thing that struck Gwen when she warped into Miles' home was how devastated everything was. Buildings were little more than piles of concrete and twisted metal and there wasn't a person in sight. The next thing she noticed was a thin layer of snow covering the ground, and more of it falling. That shouldn't be right: it was the middle of June. Miles would have been away on a cruise for the Summer holidays if it hadn't been cancelled. She set off in the direction she knew the Empire State Building had been, wondering if the boy she loved would be there.

When Gwen reached the ruin she knew had once been the iconic tower, her spider sense lit up like a music festival. She leapt out of the way as a green claw tried to snatch her and turned to find Doc Ock. She leapt up, dodging one of the claws and kicking Ock in the face. Another claw came for her, spinning its metal ends as if to cut her into pieces. She ducked and fired a web onto the ruin of the building behind Ock and swung round a pillar of concrete which was cut in half by the other spinning claw. She planted her foot in her adversary's face again, then swung a fist round and struck her in the side of the head which was more than enough to knock her out. Gwen landed and pulled her mask off, but kept her hood up to keep the snow off. On closer inspection, Olivia Octavius' suit had been buffed up quite significantly. It now had a mask which covered her face which explained why the first kick hadn't done quite as much as she had hoped. The spider looked around in case anyone else was coming. Some of the snowflakes drifted into her face and she recoiled: they were hot. She put her mask on just as the sound of web shooters reached her ears. Miles landed in front of her.

"We have to get inside. Follow me."

"What about Ock?"

Miles looked down at his old nemesis then picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Gwen raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not letting her stay out here."

"Miles, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you when we're inside."

They swung through the obliterated streets, heading for a building that still seemed to be standing. It was round and looked built from solid concrete.

As soon as the pair reached it, Miles hauled his suit off and threw it in a pool of water.

"Take your suit off, Gwen."

"Why?"

"So you don't drag any fallout in with you. Once we're through those double doors, there's showers. Wash up as much as you can and I'll meet you in the main room on the other side."

"OK?"

Miles sat in a large, circular hall. He tapped his fingers on the floor impatiently. Gwen appeared a couple of minutes after he had finished up in the showers. He stood up and walked over to meet her.

"Are you gonna explain what's happening, now?" She asked.

Her hair was soaking wet, and she clearly didn't like it that way, but it reassured him.

"Yeah. A few days ago, someone bombed New York."

"Must have been a lot of bombs.

"Nope, just one."

"One bomb to flatten an entire city?"

"I'm getting there. We don't know who it was, but we know it happened all over the world. LA, Hawaii, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, cities in Africa, Australia, everywhere."

"The same story in each place?"

"Yeah. One bomb."

"How?"

"According to the guy who runs this place, Professor Zumerwalt, it's called a 'thermonuclear bomb'."

"I thought atomic weapons were only theoretical?"

"Me too, but I guess not."

"So, what's with the whole ditching our suits and the showers and stuff?"

"That snow isn't snow."

"I knew something wasn't right. It's hot, and it's June."

"You touched it?"

"Some landed in my face."

"Did you wash your face?"

"Obviously."

"OK. Good."

"So what is this stuff, then?"

"Nuclear fallout. The fancy physics explanation is it's decaying atoms. It's really radioactive, although not so bad as it was just after the bomb fell. If you don't get it off you, it can burn you, poison you, cause cancer…"

"So basically don't touch it."

"Yeah."

Gwen sighed, looking around. Miles slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it.

"Are you OK?" She asked, turning back to him.

"Kinda shaken, but I'll be fine. Saving people is all that matters."

"What did you do with Ock?"

"Left her outside under the overhang so she wouldn't get exposed, but she looked prepared."

"You think she had something to do with this?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. Theoretical physics and death; right up her alley."

A girl approached, about the same age as the spiders.

"Hi Miles. Who's this?" She asked.

Gwen narrowed her eyes a little.

"This is Gwen. Gwen, this is Jessica." Miles replied.

Gwen and Jessica shook hands; Miles noticed Gwen had a slightly jealous expression.

"How'd you guys meet?" She asked.

"Well he's Spiderman, and who doesn't want to meet their heroes?" Jessica replied.

"Jessica thinks there's something going on in this tower. It's too convenient that it was designed in the perfect way to withstand the bomb and also has all the facilities needed to keep people safe." Miles explained.

"Right."

"I did that sneaking around you said I should do. The top five floors of the tower are locked; you need a key card to get up." Jessica said to Miles.

"Seems normal for a corporate office. Keep looking."

"Will do. Hey, you guys wanna grab some dinner? You look famished."

"Sure. I'll bring Gwen up. We'll meet you there."

"Cool."

Jessica disappeared again leaving the spiders alone again.

"What's the deal with her?" Gwen asked.

"She's just a friend I made in the last few days."

"Are you sure it's just friends?"

"You think I'm cheating on you? Is that what that look was you gave her?"

"It's possible. You wouldn't be the first guy."

"You know, I was wondering if it was time to drop the three words since we've been dating for nearly three years. Now I know you don't trust me…"

"That's…ah crap…"

Miles narrowed his eyes.

"How the tables turn." He muttered.

Gwen groaned, struggling to find the words that might undo her lapse in judgement. Miles crossed his arms, trying to suppress a grin. She turned back.

"I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to think you're that much of a jerk. Anyway, you've got enough on your plate with New York being…trashed."

Miles let the grin through and burst into a fit of chuckles. Gwen sighed; of course he wasn't mad at her. She cracked a smile at how gullible she'd been.

"I hate you." She joked.

"Hate you too. Let's go get something to eat before we starve."

Jessica waved the pair over. One of the floors of the skyscraper had been converted into a canteen and food appeared to be plentiful. The spiders filled a plate each and sat down. Gwen's eyes fell on a necklace Jessica was wearing. The chain was silver and was attached to a large diamond shaped frame inside which was an emerald green gem. The gem seemed to glow a little and pulsed as if it were a beating heart.

"That's a nice necklace. Where'd you get it?"

Jessica looked down at it and took it off.

"My father gave it to me. He said to never let it out of my sight and to guard it with my life, so that's what I do."

"Is it a family heirloom?"

"I'm not sure. He just said I'd know what it was when the time came."

"Your father: is he alive or did the bombs get him?"

"He's alive. I'm pretty sure we'd all know about it if he died."

"Why? Is he the president or something?"

"No. It's complicated."

"Got anymore family?"

"Four sisters, five brothers. Pretty balanced family. What about you? What's your story? Where were you hiding until now?"

"It's…complicated."

"Is your family OK?"

"My mum died giving birth to me eighteen years ago and I never had any siblings. My dad's doing fine, though."

"Sorry about your mum, and that's good about your dad."

"Yeah."

There was a slightly awkward silence in which Jessica put the necklace back on and tucked the gem under her t-shirt. However, it seemed Gwen hadn't been the only one to spot it. A man rushed over and knelt down in front of her. Gwen thought he was going to propose for a second, but was wrong.

"My lady! Forgive our blindness!"

Jessica sighed.

"Go away, or I'll smite you."

"Of course, my lady! Your wish is my command!"

The man left in a hurry.

"What was that about?" Gwen asked.

"Miles can tell you. They exhaust me too much."

Gwen turned to her boyfriend.

"Have you got…heard of a group called the 'Church of Dei Volente'?"

"It rings some bells. Pretty sure they're a cult."

"They think she's one of their gods or something. They call her a 'Guardian'."

"Of what?"

"I don't know."

Gwen's spider sense told her there was something going on, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Just as the trio were finishing their dinner, a man entered the canteen with frizzy grey hair and small glasses. He wore a white lab coat.

"Why does he scream evil scientist?" Gwen whispered to Miles.

"He isn't. That's Professor Zumerwalt. Without him we'd all be dead from radiation poisoning. He owns this place."

"Jessica, you said something about sneaking around. Why are you doing it?"

"Because Miles said I should after I told him I thought it was all a little too convenient. I mean this building is perfectly designed to withstand a shockwave, heat, and to keep people safe from the after effects for as long as is needed. It's like they knew it was coming."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Zumerwalt and his company: Zumerwalt Industries."

"Any background info on them?"

"Not really. They specialised in weapons development. But like machine guns and stuff, not thermonuclear bombs."

Zumerwalt glanced in their direction as if he could tell they were making conspiracies about him. Miles sighed. That was all this could be: a conspiracy. In their brief talks, Zumerwalt had been a nice man. The professor came back and pulled up a chair at their table.

"Hello there."

Miles had a strong urge to reply with 'General Kenobi' but restrained himself.

"Hi, Professor." Said Jessica.

"I am just doing the usual rounds to check everything is OK." He looked at Gwen. "I do not believe we have met. Oscar Zumerwalt: lead scientist and CEO of Zumerwalt Industries."

He offered his hand which she shook.

"I'm Gwen. Miles rescued me from the wasteland about an hour ago."

"Ah, the resident Spiderman. Always doing the good work. Well, Gwen, you are most welcome here. Hopefully the fallout will stop in the next few days and we can start cleaning up and rebuilding this shattered world."

"Any idea who did this?" She asked, wondering if she could trick him into letting something slip.

"I have just as much idea as you: none. But whoever they are, their reckoning will come soon enough."

He sounded sure and truthful in his answer. It certainly shot holes in the whole evil scientist idea. Something caught the light, reflecting in the professor's eye. He looked and spotted the chain around Jessica's neck, and the gem which seemed to have slipped back out of its hiding place.

"What a beautiful necklace. Where is it from?"

"My father gave it to me. He never said where he got it."

"If you gave it to me for a couple of days, I could run some tests on it and see what I could find?"

Jessica hesitated, then shook her head.

"It's alright. I like the mystery."

"Very well. You know where I am if you change your mind."

The professor's pager beeped in his pocket. He pulled it out and sighed.

"I am afraid I must take my leave. Enjoy your dinner. And welcome to Zumerwalt Industries, Gwen."

With that, he stood up and left. Gwen sighed.

"He seems nice."

"Yep. Definitely no evil scientist vibes." Miles agreed.

"I'm still curious about that necklace, though. Maybe you should let him take a look?" Gwen suggested to Jessica.

"I'm not sure. Dad always said to never let it out of my sight. I feel like if I don't listen to him, it'll come back and bite me."

"Talking of biting, how'd Zumerwalt know you're Spiderman?"

"How do you think? I had to take my suit off. I'm not gonna endanger lives by dragging in a bunch of fallout just to keep my identity secret. The world's changing, Gwen. We have to change with it."

Crossovers in this Chapter

None! I haven't written that in a while...

Note

Welcome to part seven! This one's adapted from one of my own ideas so there might not be too many crossovers. But hey, who doesn't like a good old nuclear apocalypse story?