Extinction Part 4

At the Smallville Cemetery….

Clark arrived at the Smallville cemetery using his superspeed. Van was standing over a grave, his hand on his rifle. Clark could only guess this was where Mr. McNulty was buried.

"Got to hand it to you, Kent. You've got everybody fooled. Even me." Van's eyes never left the tombstone. "I thought you were one of the good guys, taking Tina out. But you're just like the rest of them."

Clark kept his distance. Van's backpack leaned against the headstone and Clark knew there were multiple calling cards inside.

"Van, what happened to your father was tragic. My dad's sick and if I lose him, I can't imagine that feeling."

"You could have saved him!" Van shouted, tears streaming down his face. "You're fast. If you had stopped Tina before...he'd still be here."

Clark didn't know what to say as he watched tears stream down Van's face.

"Why do you get to decide! Why do you get to choose who lives and who dies!"

"I don't know," Clark confessed. He saw the pain in Van's eyes. In this moment, Van wasn't a killer. He was only a boy who had lost his father.

"I don't know why it was me." Clark thought to being the lone survivor of his home planet, Krypton. "I don't know why I have these powers. And I have to live knowing I can't save everyone. As much as I want to, I can't. And I won't be able to no matter how hard I try. People have died because of me. People I love get hurt because of me. And I live with that guilt every day. I'd like nothing more than to make it stop."

"Well, then," Van raised his rifle and aimed it at Clark, "you're welcome."

Van pulled the trigger. Clark's reflexes allowed him to go into superspeed mode at the exact moment the gun was fired. He saw the bullet come at him at a steady pace. Clark reached out his hand to catch the projectile.

Only the bullet didn't stop.

A pain erupted in Clark's hand and was pushed back from the unexpected force. The bullet passed through the meat of his hand and buried itself deep into his shoulder. Clark, in normal speed, cried in pain as he fell to the ground. He gasped in pain, trying to catch his breath as he tried to understand what had just happened.

"Missed, huh?" Van leaned over Clark's body and began to search his pockets. "That works for now. But if you know what's good for you, you'll bleed out."

Van kicked Clark in the jaw as he walked away.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Van drove the car he had stolen from Mr. Wallace's garage to a well-known intersection nearby the cemetery. He dialed Alicia's number from Clark's saved contacts.

"Hi, handsome," Alicia said on the other line.

"Hi, sweetie."

"Who's this?"

"Don't you recognize me? That's hurtful. It's Van. I need your help with something." Van smiled when there was only silence. "Before you hang up, don't you want to know how I got Clark's phone?"

"Where is he?"

"Why don't you meet me at the intersection of Spring Valley and Pioneer. I'll tell you all about it."

Before Van could hang up, the freak was already standing before him, arms crossed.

"Where's Clark?"

"I'll tell you. But first you're taking me and my gun inside the Luthor Mansion. You know, someplace quiet and empty."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I won't tell you where Clark is. And he really needs help."

"You can't hurt him," the freak said. But it was almost as if she were trying to convince herself.

"So, you do know. I shouldn't be surprised. Couple of freaks in love. Gross."

Alicia disappeared and Van felt his head be pulled back as something cold and sharp was pressed against his neck.

"Where is Clark?" she hissed into his ear.

"Careful. I shot him. Clark's bleeding out as we speak."

"You're lying!"

"Maybe. But if I'm telling the truth you don't have time to waste searching the whole town. What's it going to be? Tick tock."

There was the sensation of a faint tingle and Van found himself in a spacious garage. Alicia released the knife from his throat and Van was able to look around. He had never been inside the Luthor Mansion before, but he recognized the expensive cars Lex drove around town.

"Where's Clark?"

"Not so fast. My gun and bag, please." Van noticed his belongings had been left behind.

Alicia disappeared in a huff. She returned in a split second and threw the items at his feet.

"Tell me!" Alicia demanded as Van retrieved his weapon.

"Smallville Cemetery."

When Van turned around, all he saw was a cloud of green particles.

At the Kent farm…

Martha hummed quietly to herself as she went about making dinner. Her quiet afternoon was interrupted when she saw a green flash in her dining room.

"Alicia?" Martha went over to investigate and gasped when she saw her son lying on the floor. Clark was paler than she had ever seen him. His eyes were closed and there was a large red stain in the corner of his shirt.

"Where's Mr. Kent?" Alicia asked, kneeling beside Clark.

"Barn," Martha managed to get out as she rushed toward her son's side. Alicia disappeared and Martha ripped open Clark's shirt to inspect the wound. Clark bleeding was enough to cause concern, but there were veins of green spreading down his body.

"Clark!" Johnathan cried as he and Alicia came into the room. "What happened?"

"Van shot him."

"Okay, we've got to get the bullet out." Johnathan said. "I'll need a knife and some pliers."

Alicia popped herself into the kitchen and turned on one of the stove's burners. She sanitized a knife as Johnathan raced to the barn for some pliers. By the time he returned, the knife was ready.

Martha and Alicia held Clark down as Johnathan tipped the blade deeper into the wound, making it larger. Clark barely moved from the incision and only managed a small whimper.

"He's not breathing!" Alicia sobbed as she stroked Clark's hair.

Johnathan grabbed the pliers and began to fish around for the bullet.

"I think I got it. I got it."

A glowing green piece of rock, shaped like a bullet, was pulled from the wound. Martha grabbed it and rushed it to the barn, placing it inside the lead box. When Martha returned to the kitchen, Johnathan and Alicia were still around Clark's motionless body. Usually when the meteor rock was taken away, Clark recovered instantly.

"Mirrors," Alicia said, drying her tears. "Bring all the mirrors you have or anything with a reflective surface to your front yard."

Clark's body vanished along with Alicia's.

Without further questions, Mr. and Mrs. Kent ran inside to grab the mirrors from the bathrooms and bedrooms. Alicia had already grabbed some from what must have been her own house. Clark lay on the grass surrounded by the mirrors. Alicia had placed them in such a way they were reflecting the remainder of the sunlight onto Clark's body, bathing him in light.

"Come back to me. Clark, please don't leave me." Alicia pleaded over Clark's body.

Martha shielded her eyes from the gleaming light. In relief, she watched as the green poison receded and the flesh closed over.

Clark was breathing once more.