Friday

It was difficult to tell how long he’d been asleep but when Erick woke up he didn’t think it had been very long. He was tired but not sleepy, if that made sense. He tried turning over to his other side but that did nothing for him. Was there much point to even sleeping right now? His energy was full, it was dark outside, and he wasn’t going to do any more training. Should he just go and try to rescue his family now? Attacking at night was what he had planned on doing anyway so all he’d be doing if he waited was sitting around not doing anything until night came again.

Erick sat up. His pack was mostly ready to go. All he needed to add to it was his cot and sleeping bag. He got up and grabbed some food to eat while he considered his options. It was seeming less and less likely that he’d be able to sleep any more tonight and the longer he waited the more tired he’d be from lack of sleep. Really, what was the point in waiting? He was afraid and that was why he delayed but more and more his excuses felt weak.

At last, Erick began to roll up his sleeping bag. He stowed it and the cot, now folded, into his pack and then slung the whole thing onto his back. He’d leave it outside the fence of Fort Stag and return for it if he could once he’d rescued his family. It was a faint hope that he’d be able to get it again but he didn’t want to waste it if he didn’t have to.

Without his enhanced sight, the night was deep and almost impenetrable. Still, he knew the way to the trail that would lead him to the fence of Fort Stag. It took just under an hour to get there and once he arrived Erick stowed his pack beneath some shrubs so it wouldn’t be immediately visible to anyone who might wander by.

This was it. Erick hopped back and forth from one foot to the other to get his blood pumping. He shook out his arms and stretched his neck from side to side. He knew that the moment he started using his powers they would know he was here. Speed was needed here, as was flight to get him up and over the fence. As long as he kept moving it would be difficult for anyone to get a bead on him, though if they did open fire he’d likely need to drop his flight and use his shield to keep from being shot.

Don’t think about that, he told himself as images of Sarah, dying, came to his mind. Fixating on that wasn’t going to help him now.

There wasn’t anything else to do but to start so Erick took in a deep breath, steadied his pulse, and gathered his energy.

All at once he launched himself into the air as the world around him slowed. He was up and over the fence and halfway to the security building before the alarm began to blare. It sounded low and strange to Erick in his sped up state but he knew what it meant all the same. That was fine. He knew they’d be on alert and this was all still according to plan.

A moment later, he reached the security building and blasted his way through the front doors. Immediately inside was a pair of soldiers in the process of standing up and drawing their guns. No longer flying, Erick threw an energy blast at them and the resulting explosion sent them flying. None of the information he’d gathered said which floor the holding cells were on so Erick began to search the building, floor by floor. It was three stories tall and had no basement. On the first floor Erick ran into no other soldiers and only found offices, conference rooms, and an armory.

There was an elevator as well as stairs and Erick opted for the stairs. As he reached the second floor he saw that it opened up into a wide foyer of sorts and was greeted by several soldiers in strange body armor, all stationed behind barricades and ready with their guns aimed at him. Erick threw up his shield as the first few bullets were fired at him. One struck him in the shoulder and another grazed his side. Erick dropped his speed and threw himself back down the stairs while at the same time he sent an energy blast at the soldiers. The gunfire was deafening now that he wasn’t sped up and landed hard back down the stairs. He waited for his energy blast to explode but only a faint pop sounded and he wasn’t sure what that meant. Either way, the gunfire cut off and Erick used the brief reprieve to heal. When he peeked back up the stairs, the soldiers were still there, waiting for him.

“Surrender!” one of them shouted.

Erick threw another energy blast and this time he was there to see what happened. The barricades and even the soldier’s armor absorbed much of the energy, resulting in another pop that didn’t do much to any of them.

How did they have armor like that? They’d known about Erick’s powers for practically his entire life but to build that armor they’d need to test it, wouldn’t they? Erick didn’t know what his energy blasts were made of, and how could they? Well, now wasn’t the time to stop and ask questions.

Speeding back up the stairs and into the lobby, Erick dove behind the soldiers. They were slow in moving to reorient themselves compared to him and in that time Erick dropped his shield and instead bolstered his strength. His fist slammed into the nearest soldier, sending him flying into his neighbor and the two of them collided with the wall. Erick body slammed the next soldier then picked up a third and threw him into the soldiers opposite him. He had to keep moving because even though he was fast, they would eventually get their guns trained on him again and without his shield up he was vulnerable.

Soldiers cried out as Erick fought among them. It was almost surreal, throwing grown men and women around like they were rag dolls. Erick tried not to think about the injuries he was creating during this fight. He tried to just render them unconscious or at least unable to keep fighting. Killing them was off the table.

Before long, the last soldier was down and none of them was getting back up any time soon. Erick let his powers drop and he took a few deep breaths. The fight had drained him substantially and he used a few of the unconscious soldiers to recharge.

“Impressive,” a voice said from behind.

Erick spun around and a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair stood there with Erick’s mom in front of him and a gun to her head. He wore the same type of body armor as the soldiers but there was no visible rank insignia on him.

“You’re fast,” the man remarked, “but I’ve seen faster and I guarantee you I will not hesitate to kill your mother if you so much as twitch in my direction.”

Erick’s mom looked terrified and she whimpered softly as the man pressed the barrel of the gun even harder into the side of her head.

“Good,” the man said when Erick stayed where he was. “Now let’s talk about how you’re going to surrender and, eventually, work with me rather than against me.”

“Who are you?” Erick asked, more to buy him some time to think than anything else.

“You don’t recognize me?” he asked. “You were young but I thought someone with a mind like yours would remember that far back. No?” He chuckled to himself. “I’m Dr Spielman.”

He looked younger than Erick had expected but it made some sense that he would be here.

“What do you want with me?” Erick asked, again just to stall for time.

Regardless of what Dr. Spielman had said, Erick could probably get to his mom in time to keep her from being shot but it would be close and he didn’t want to risk it. He needed some other way to get her away from Dr. Spielman, or else prevent him from using his gun.

“I want what I’ve always wanted,” Dr. Spielman said, “to study you.”

“You’ve had all this time,” Erick replied, “why wait until now?”

“Because it seemed as though you’d lost your powers and I was quite busy with other things. So I kept tabs on you in case you ever became interesting again and, well, here we are.”

Erick reached out cautiously with his mind, wondering if he could influence Dr. Spielman’s mind enough to get him to let Erick’s mom go. However, he ran into such a strong wall of resistance that he knew at once he’d never be able to get through. Dr. Spielman smiled and tapped his head.

“I can feel you trying to get in here,” he said, “but I’ve had a few…modification, shall we say, and I’m quite well protected. Now why don’t you go over to that cell there and shut yourself in. It’s quite well designed to contain someone like you.”

He motioned towards a cell to Erick’s left. As if on cue, the door to the cell swung open. Seeing the door open like that gave him an idea. He reached out with his mind once more but instead of focusing on Dr. Spielman’s mind, Erick concentrated on the gun instead. He held it immobile, preventing the trigger from being pulled. Dr. Spielman noticed almost at once and his expression changed to outrage.

“NO!” he shouted and moved to draw out another weapon, this one looked like a baton of some kind.

Erick raced forward but Dr. Spielman already had the baton raised and a blue glow emanated from the tip. An energy blast from the baton caught Erick in the chest and threw him back into the wall.

“I really don’t want to fight you,” Dr. Spielman said, “but I will if I have to, and I’m pretty sure I’ll win. Now get into the cell.”

Dr. Spielman had moved almost as fast as Erick had done, even with using his powers. Had Dr. Spielman figured out a way to give himself powers? If he needed the baton to fire energy blasts then he couldn’t have figured it out completely.

Dr. Spielman had let go of the gun so Erick tossed it aside before Erick dashing forward again. Dr. Spielman sent another barrage of energy blasts at him but Erick, now expecting them, threw himself out of the way, bursting through the wall on his left and then coming around again and back through the same wall. Dr Spielman had peppered the wall with energy blasts but all that accomplished was showering the hallway with debris. As Erick came back through the wall he tackled Dr. Spielman, pulling him away from Erick’s mom, and delivered an enhanced punch straight to his chest. The two of them tumbled through the air. Dr. Spielman absorbed the hit better than Erick had hoped but it had still clearly hurt. Erick didn’t stop, though, and he kept striking Dr. Spielman, never giving him a moment to retaliate. In their close quarters, Erick switched to hitting with his elbows and knees until they rolled to a stop against the far wall. He grabbed Dr. Spielman by the shoulders and slammed him back down onto the ground over and over again, stunning him. His head lolled and before Dr. Spielman could recover, Erick dragged him back and threw him into the cell intended for Erick. He pushed the door shut and heard the lock engage.

There was a small window in the door and for a moment they both looked at each other. Dr. Spielman wiped some blood from his nose and lip.

“I’m leaving,” Erick finally said, “and I’m taking my family with me. I didn’t kill any of your soldiers and I didn’t kill you.”

“You’re a saint,” Dr. Spielman said with heavy disdain.

“All I want is to be left alone,” Erick said. “As long as you leave me and my family alone, I won’t bother myself with whatever it is you’re doing here. But if you do come for us, then I will destroy everything. I…I’ll kill you.”

He knew it sounded weak but Erick meant it all the same. Dr. Spielman didn’t respond other than to spit on the floor and wince as he felt at his ribs.

More soldiers could still be coming so Erick didn’t waste any more time. He moved over to his mom who had slumped to the floor during the fighting and gave her a hug.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said on the verge of tears. “Are you okay?”

Erick nodded.

“Where’s Rachel?” he asked.

His mom pointed to another cell and Erick ripped the door open. Inside, Rachel was sitting on the edge of the small bed inside.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asked.

Rachel nodded as a wide smile spread across her face. She rushed over to him and gave him a big hug.

“Jack’s in the next cell over,” their mom said, pointing.

Erick and Rachel both looked at her for a moment, wondering what to say to that but ultimately decided to just ignore it. It was clear to them, at least, that Erick wasn’t here to save Jack. Their mom understood after an uncomfortable pause and let the subject drop.

“We’ll go out this window,” Erick said instead and walked them over to the large window overlooking the training yard outside. It was already cracked from being hit by shrapnel and all Erick had to do was give it a strong push to knock the glass the rest of the way out of the frame. Then he picked up his mom in one arm and his sister in the other. “Hold on tight,” he said.

No gunfire came from below as they fled Fort Stag. Erick found his pack exactly where he’d left it and with it added to his back, they flew away. Erick didn’t know where they’d stop or what life would look like for them, but he knew it would be free from Dr. Spielman and his plans. For the first time in a week, he breathed easy and felt the tension in his body leave him.

The End