Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
~ Zone A ~
I was born near the equator, where the northeast and southeast trade winds come together. What a beautiful area to come into the world. As I rose from the sea, I stretched myself from north to south, looked around a bit and then, natural traveler that I am, decided that I wanted to look for new horizons, just like my ancestors had done. So westward I went, like all tropical waves.
I don't like to rush things, so I crossed the Eastern Caribbean Sea very slowly, bringing cloudiness and thunderstorms to all those picturesque little islands. The Western Caribbean was so pretty, I decided to linger there for a couple of hours, gathering strength. Thunder and lightning are such wonderful playthings…
Near the Gulf of Mexico I found an extremely low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures – what a gift! Vapor rose from the ocean as I passed, joined me on my way to the west, cooled down as it traveled upwards inside of me and finally turned into clouds so huge, beautiful and massive, I couldn't believe I was producing them myself. And what a feeling when they started swirling!
As I slowly moved towards Jamaica, I finally began developing an eye, so I could see for myself how strong I had grown ever since I had left my home. With my winds blowing at 99 mph, I headed towards Kingston. It's been a while since one of us visited here – twenty-four years ago Cousin Gilbert had been the last to say hallo. Time for a reencounter!
Oh how those roofs went flying in the eastern part of the island! Not to mention what a wonderful massage the crop fields gave me as I plunged into them on Haiti. Pity these plants are such fragile toys; they get destroyed so easily.
Landfall unfortunately reduced my wind velocity, but once I was on my way to Cuba I was compensated for that – my eye grew to 23 miles in diameter and I travelled at 135 mph.
When I hit solid ground once more a little west of Santiago de Cuba of course it slowed me down again, but nevertheless I made it from Cuba to the Bahamas in less than five hours. I couldn't get enough of watching the waves I was creating on the sea – twenty-nine feet! And a six foot storm surge! How funny to see all those cars floating around on the flooded streets.
I could have happily stayed there for a while, but something was drawing me away, in the direction of the east coast of the USA.
… … …
The NYC mayor's office has its own twitter account.
ZONE A INCLUDES BRIGHTON BEACH MANHATTAN BEACH CONEY ISLAND RED HOOK THE ROCKAWAYS HAMILTON BEACH ALL COASTAL AREAS IN STATEN ISLAND BATTERY PARK LOWER MANHATTAN, they wrote.
And a little later:
THE LAST SUBWAY TRAINS LEAVE IN 90 MINUTES. LEAVE ZONE A NOW.
Which was almost immediately followed by:
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO SEE MAP OF ZONES
And in addition to that:
IF YOU CAN'T EVACUATE YOURSELF, CALL 555-300-555 FOR ASSISTANCE NOW
A very short time later a whole array of tweets came rolling in:
BRIDGES AND ROADS MIGHT CLOSE SOON. BE AWARE LAST SUBWAY IN 80 MINUTES
MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR ZONE A. LEAVE NOW
HUGH CAREY BROOKLYN BATTERY TUNNEL AND HOLLAND TUNNEL CLOSING AT TWO
SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED TILL TUESDAY
#SANDY IS DANGEROUS. LEAVE ZONE A IMMEDIATELY
PETS ARE WELCOME AT SHELTERS. FOR SHELTER NEAR YOU CALL 555-300-555
… … …
Meanwhile, in a moldy cellar underneath an office building in Lower Manhattan, the huddled figure of a womAn in ragged clothes slowly stirred.
Almost immediately her head started aching. It felt like a thunderstorm coming down in her cerebral cortex. No surprise after the heavy blow she had received. Her vision swam and suddenly her stomach seemed to roll over. Making harsh retching noises, she crawled a few inches towards one of the cellar's corners and then threw up violently.
Delicate fingers brushed strands of hair out of her face.
"You've got a concussion", a soft British-accented voice murmured soothingly. "It's best you lie down again."
"This", Connie Pucci hissed between two bad fits of gagging, "is all your fault, Ilsa. It's all your fault."
… … …
CONCENTRATE ON KEEPING YOURSELVES AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE, tweeted the mayor's office.
FLOODING AND POWER OUTAGES ARE ALMOST CERTAIN
A minute later, that message was followed by:
TIME WINDOW FOR EVACUATION IS CLOSING RAPIDLY
And:
ALL FOUR EAST RIVER BRIDGES WILL SHUT DOWN: BROOKLYN MANHATTAN WILLIAMSBURG ED KOCH QUEENSBORO BRIDGES
For two minutes nothing. Then:
TIME FOR EVACUATION IS OVER. WHEREVER YOU ARE, STAY THERE. DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. DO NOT TRY TO LEAVE.
… … …
"It's a HURRICANE, Guerrero, for heaven's sake! You can't threaten it, you can't blackmail it, you can't kill it! It's a goddamn force of nature and it is already hitting the city!" Winston was shouting at Guerrero at the top of his lungs.
The fact that no unfazed "Dude, you're yelling", came in reply, spoke volumes.
"She's in Zone A", was all Guerrero said.
"Yes, and I am very well aware that that zone encompasses the area which is at highest risk to get hit by the brunt of the storm." Winston gave up shouting, hoping that a more civilized tone would get through to Guerrero. "But there is nothing, absolutely nothing you can do for her now! All bridges are closed! All tunnels are closed! You can't get to Manhattan!"
Yeah, sure, getting through to Guerrero when he had set his mind on something.
"Sorry, Winston", he said.
Winston was still wondering what he meant by that when Guerrero's hand seemed to be coming out of nowhere, delivering a karate chop that sent him directly into the realms of unconsciousness.
Putting on his jacket, Guerrero walked towards the door when suddenly Chance appeared, almost leisurely leaning in the frame, arms crossed over his chest. "So are we gonna go now or what?"
Guerrero raised an eyebrow. "Ames allowed it?"
"She's taking a nap. Teaching Ilsa safe-cracking 101 was quite exhausting."
Chuckling, Guerrero walked past his friend, stepped into the corridor…and realized too late that that had been a mistake.
The taser's shock, delivered straight to his spine area, paralyzed him immediately.
"Sorry, bro", Chance murmured as he stepped over him on his way to the exterior door. "Can't risk losing you both."
"You goddamn bastard!", Ames, having gotten rid of her gag but still solidly chained to the heating, yelled after him.