Chapter 06

The second story had collapsed, Dick was trapped beneath a wooden beam, the air was thick with cement dust,

“Dick” Barbara yelled “Dick, where are you?” Dick’s head span, he heard Alice coughing, he opened his eyes and it took a second for them to focus, there was a pain in his upper back,

“Hey, are you ok?” The boy had appeared out of thin air beside Dick, he was thin and had burnt red skin with sandy brown hair, “My name’s Garfield, I can help you”

“No, it’s too heavy, and you need to get out of here, I don’t think this place is stable” Dick pushed against the ground trying to slide the beam off himself, Garfield slid his fingers around it and pulled up, to Dick’s surprise it budged, after the slight movement it wouldn’t go any further,

“Ok, give me a minute” Garfield slowly set the beam back down before running off disappearing into the thick air.

Dick could feel his escrima stick pressing against his lower back, he tried to snake his hand up to grab it but his the beam restricted his arms and his fingers grasped at nothing, Garfield returned after a couple minutes, Dick heard and felt him approach behind him,

“Ok let’s try this again” He said once again wrapping his hands around the beam, Dick heard a loud grunting behind him and felt the heavy wood lift off his back, he scrambled out from under it and the beam fell a couple of feet away, he stared at Garfield who stood panting, his shirt torn and stretched.

“Are you ok?” DIck asked,

“I’m fine” Garfield nodded, trying to catch his breath, “You’re the only 1 in here right?” He asked, Dick shook his head,

“No, I need to find my girlfriend and a kid we’re looking after, but you should get out of here” Dick answered scanning the wreckage,

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“A redhead and a pale girl?” Garfield asked,

“You saw them?” Dick returned his attention to him,

“Yeah, they got out a window” Dick sighed in relief,

“Ok, then it’s time we make our exit, how’d you get in here?” He asked,

“This way, Garfield led Dick around caved in sections of the second floor to a small hole surrounded by wooden boards and chunks of concrete.

“I don’t think I’m gonna fit” Dick said studying the hole and testing the debris around it,

“Let me see what I can do” Garfield quickly worked his way into the hole, he began grunting as his body contorted, his skin began to glow green, his teeth sharpened, his grunting turned to growling as his body expanded, Dick noticed the hole around him begin to glow as it expanded, it widened several inches until there was enough room for dick to get through.

Dick took several steps back and then dove into the hole, his arm wrapped around Garfield’s waist, and he shoved him out from under the rubble dropping him onto the lawn outside where Barbara stood with Alice beside her, Alice had her arms outstretched toward the crumbling house and as it continued collapsing she fell to her knees breathing hard,

“Is everyone ok?” Dick asked, Barbara was already knelt down checking on Alice,

“I think so” She answered nodding her reassurance,

“I'm fine” Rachel said,

“You’re ok?” Dick asked turning back to Garfield, who had gotten to his feet, a small line of blood rolling down from his nose,

“I’m good, yeah” He answered wiping the blood away,

“We appreciate your help” Dick said offering his hand, Garfield shook it before Dick turned his attention to the rest of the neighborhood, the homes were new and most hadn’t been sold yet, large pieces of a spacecraft were imbedded in some of their roofs, a line of smoke led through sky toward the old city downtown,

“Whatever caused this landed in the city” He said looking to Barbara,

“It looks like the car survived,” She said, helping Alice to her feet.

Barbara swerved to avoid a downed power line as they sped toward the city,

“We need to find somewhere to stash Alice” Dick said,

“We can help” Garfield interrupted “I can help people”

“So can I” Alice agreed nodding,

“We’re not taking you into a danger zone, you’re kids” Dick said twisting in his seat,

“You saw us at the house, we can probably help more people than you” Alice argued, Dick looked to Barbara for assistance,

“She’s right Dick, they could help save a lot of people” She said hesitantly,

“Fine, but you 2 stay where we can see you” Dick agreed begrudgingly.