Part 7 - Guardians

Chapter 122 - The Ship

Miles struggled to get free from his mother.

"Be careful out there."

"I gotta go, Mum."

His father appeared.

"Remember, just because you're Spiderman doesn't mean you're above the law. Disrespect it and you disrespect me. Stay out of trouble."

"I know, Dad! I gotta go!"

"I love you, Miles."

"Love you too, Dad."

As a spider person, Miles had a higher tolerance to radiation. Where a normal person could only stay out for an hour a day at most right now, he could stay out for nearly three. Every day, he would put on his suit and go on patrol to check for survivors. Gwen had gone home, so he was on his own again. She had offered to let him stay in her dimension until things calmed down here, but he refused; his place was here, helping people in this world. He took a deep breath and opened the door. Technically it was a side door, but its immediate access to showers and changing facilities was exactly what was needed right now so the other entrances had been sealed. He took a running jump and fired a web at the ruined stump of a building. At the top of his swing, he twisted round and fired a web at the tower. He swung round and round until he was at the top. It struck him the windows on the top five floors were blacked out. Still, that was common on a corporate office. Miles looked out for any signs of survivors. All he could see was twisted metal, shattered concrete and the odd smouldering fire. It hurt to see his home city reduced to so little. Confident he couldn't see any survivors, he took a running jump off the side of the tower and swung through the ruined streets.

For an hour, Miles searched. He headed back to his home of Brooklyn, to where his house had once stood. It was just as much of a wreck as every other building, but something shiny caught the light. He looked, thinking it was just a piece of broken glass, but discovered a photo of him and his parents from years ago. He picked it up and dusted the mixture of fallout and rubble off it. He vaguely remembered this photo being taken: he was about five and his father had just got his job with the police. He held it close to his heart, knowing that his family was one of the luckier ones. If the bomb had landed the other side of the river, he and his parents would have been vaporised. Suddenly, he heard a distant boom. He hopped up onto one of the shaky columns of bricks that still stood and looked in the direction the sound had come from. A plume of smoke was billowing from the top of the Zumerwalt Industries tower. Miles' heart skipped a beat. He set off, swinging as fast as he could, still holding on to the photo.

An alarm was beeping. Jessica had felt the bang travelling through the building structure, and the lights had all gone out. Outside her room, people were panicking; running down stairs to get to the ground floor. It reminded her of some of the videos she had seen of people trying to escape from the 9/11 attacks. As she reached the entrance hall, the same vibe became stronger. Zumerwalt Industries staff, or just ZI as she called the company for short, were blocking the entrances telling people to stay calm and that everything would be alright. Suddenly, the door opened and Miles ran through. He was soaking wet, clearly in too much of a rush to bother drying himself off. He spotted her and pushed through the crowd to her.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I don't know. I'm guessing they'll tell us when they know."

"So long as the building doesn't come down."

"It was in the top floors. There won't be enough stress on the other supports for any of it to fall."

Miles heard someone call his name. He looked over to see his father waving desperately at him.

"I'll be back." The spider said to Jessica.

"Right."

Miles pressed through the crowd and finally came to his parents.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"We're fine. Are you?" His father replied.

"Yeah, I'm good. Cold cos I didn't let the shower heat up, but fine. What's going on?"

"I think the professor was about to tell us."

Sure enough, Professor Zumerwalt climbed on top of a chair and waved his arms frantically to get people's attention. An eerie silence fell over the hall.

"The first thing I need to ask is that everyone remains calm. There is no danger of the building collapsing, or of debris falling."

There was some muttering, but the professor kept going.

"While that may not be a danger, there is now a hole in the side of the building. This means there is a much higher risk of radiation exposure. That is the biggest risk at the moment, so we are working on a plan. In the meantime, the top ten floors are out of bounds, including the five corporate floors. Thank you, and please do not worry. We will have this sorted. Now, could Spiderman and all staff members please come forward."

The crowd slowly started to disperse. Miles turned back to his parents and handed the photograph to his mother.

"I found this at home."

His parents stared at it happily.

"I was so scared this had been destroyed." His father whispered.

"I have to dash."

"Go, Miles." His mother replied.

Zumerwalt nodded his thanks to Miles when he reached the small group of other people.

"As some of you will know, there is a plan. A ship belonging to the company is anchored not far off shore and is preparing to make for port. The plan is to get everyone aboard and take them to the bunker in Scotland. We will cross the Atlantic and dock in Oban where trucks will be waiting to take us inland. Does everyone understand so far?"

There were nods in the group.

"I want all staff on alert. Keep people calm, and carry out your orders as you receive them, and we will get through this. Spiderman, we need your help to co-ordinate the evacuation. You know the best route directly to the harbour, and you know what to expect. Can I count on you?"

"Always." Miles replied.

"Thank you. Good luck, everyone."

The group dispersed, apart from one of the junior staff members who gave Miles a casual grin.

"Hey…err…I know this isn't exactly the best time but could I get an autograph?"

Miles grinned back.

"Sure."

He wrote his signature on the pad of paper the person offered. If it were possible, they probably would have exploded with excitement. However, they asked a question he did not expect.

"What happened to your new friend at dinner last night? I haven't seen her all day."

"Which one?"

"The one with the cool blonde haircut."

"I'm not sure. Maybe she's just trying to settle in? Why?"

"Just part of my job to keep track of people. Anyway, sorry to bother you. You've probably got loads of stuff to be doing."

"All good. See you around."

Miles spent as much time as he dared outside, making sure the route to the harbour was as safe as possible. He wondered what had become of Doc Ock and he started to wonder if she had had anything to do with the explosion. What was she even still doing hanging about the streets of New York. His spidey sense suddenly lit up and he looked around in time to see a black and white blur land gracefully behind him. Gwen looked at his handiwork.

"Clearing the snow? I see the fallout's stopped falling."

"Yeah. Feel like a radioactive snowball fight, or you want to help me clear the road down to the harbour?"

"Sure. Why you doing it?"

Miles explained the situation and the plan. She sighed.

"My offer still stands if you want to come to my world for a bit. Earth-65 is a lot less…explosive."

"Like I said before: my place is here keeping people safe. Or trying, at least."

"Keep fighting to the end. It's one of the reasons I like you. You got a shovel, anywhere?"

"I'm sure if you dig around the city a bit you'll find one. I'm just using a rock."

The ship to take the survivors across the Atlantic wasn't as big as Miles had pictured it being. It looked like a cargo ship which had been converted to hold people. He perched on a crumbling stone pillar, watching people make their way down to the harbour and board the ship. It was a miserable sight. Gwen swung down and landed on a wobbly pillar next to him.

"Anything to report?" He asked her.

"Nothing. Same as always, according to you. 'Always' being always for your dimension from now on."

"We'll rebuild…one day."

"Yeah. Miles, can we talk a sec?"

He turned to her.

"Always. And that always hasn't changed."

"Good to hear. Look, I can't go on the ship to Scotland or wherever it was going."

"Why?"

"Because if I do that, I'll be stuck in Scotland back home. I want to go with you and make sure everything's OK, but I can't. My dad will have a heart attack if I don't come home."

Miles sighed, turning back to watch the people still walking.

"I'll go it alone, then."

"You won't be alone. I'll figure out a way to come and help. Maybe Miguel can build a teleporter or something?"

"The first few days will be the hardest. For them I'll be alone."

"Zumerwalt seems to have it handled."

"Maybe. I just really hoped you'd be there."

"I'll do my best. I have to go home; it's getting late."

"Have fun."

He sounded disheartened, but there was nothing she could do.

"See you around."

He nodded at her, and she warped away back to Earth-65.

The ship departed New York harbour. Miles leaned over the edge of the railing, staring at the top of Lady Liberty's head that stuck out the water. He became aware that Jessica was nearby: she leaned on the railing next to him.

"Where's Gwen?"

"She stayed."

"Understandable. Whatever sunk that navy fleet a few weeks back is still out there."

"It's scary. Do you think what it was that did it was behind all the bombs?"

"It's a sound theory. Still, we might never know."

The ship arrived in Scotland four days later. At one point, Miles could have sworn he saw something following them but he decided he must just be going delusional. When he thought he saw a metal robot disappear right in front of him as he was disembarking the truck at the bunker, he decided it was time to go and get himself checked in case hallucination was a symptom of radiation sickness. Professor Zumerwalt was happy to direct him to the medical ward, but even with his directions Miles almost became lost. This bunker was enormous; it was closer to an underground city. When he had been checked and cleared for radiation sickness, he went off to explore. He found the main elevator and discovered the bottom fifteen floors were out of bounds. Still, this place was owned by Zumerwalt Industries and the corporation couldn't spill all its secrets to the public.

Crossovers in this Chapter

Still nothing...