Future Heroes: Chapter One

Milo and the others remained hidden as the lights shone through the windows in the front of what appeared to be a type of old store.  They were crouched in the shadows, each of them breathing as quietly as possible to avoid detection by the guards outside.  “I’ll be lucky if I ever get out of this alive.  How could we be so stupid?!”

The lights faded into the distance and an eerie silence fell over the now darkened room.  One pair of eyes could still be seen in the darkness, however, and they shone bright like a cat’s.

“Can you turn those off?”  The voice, very male and hoarse,  had come from another corner of the room, but everyone knew who he was talking it.  The eyes narrowed, then a female voice spoke.  ”I can’t help it.  It’s natural.”

Milo’s eyes began to adjust to the dark room and the outline of six others slowly came into focus.  He was currently squatting behind a knocked over cabinet of some kind.  Slowly, he and the others began to relax.

“Are they gone?”  Another woman’s voice, this time from the front portion of the room.

“I think so.”  This time Milo spoke.  His voice was a bit harsh and raspy, mostly from the running he had done previously.  ”What is this place?”

“I’m not sure,” the woman with the glowing eyes whispers in response. ” This is the portion of the city that is off limits.” After a few more moments of silence, Milo stands.  There is an instant feeling of tension in the room, and Milo puts up his hands to show he’s not armed.

“Just trying to get an idea of where we are.”  He takes a deep breath, then starts to walk towards the window.  There is a rustle of something at his feet, and he stops.  ”There is something on the floor…”  He bends down and picks up a loosely bound set of soft cover books.  ”It’s some kind of book.  Come see.”

The man closest to Milo walks over and looks down on the bound set of books.  ”I’ve never seen this before.  There are some kind of drawings on the covers… What does it say?”

After a second of straining his eyes against the darkness, Milo stands up straight.

“It says… Batman.”

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24 Hour Previous

“Where are we having dinner tonight?”  Milo’s smile gleamed at the younger woman walking next to him, his eyes glittering in the light of the nearest street lamp.

“Don’t you mean where am I buying you dinner tonight?  You’re broke,” replies the younger woman with a smile, “but what else is new?”

“That is a lie.  I am not always broke…”  Milo’s voice trails away slightly before adding, “but I am right now.  Sorry, babe.”

The woman smiles.  ”It’s the only reason you stay with me, I swear.”  Milo laughs and gives her a quick kiss.  ”How’d you know?”  She gives him a playful glare and smirks.

“I’m just that smart.  And don’t forget, tomorrow we have a meeting with your mother.”

Milo’s smile wavers for a second.  ’Meeting with your mother’ was code for meeting with the resistance, and that was something he really didn’t want to think about at the moment.

“Let’s not bring her up.  Let’s just enjoy the evening.”  He places his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in close to him and giving her another light kiss on the lips.  ”I love you, Samantha Lee.”

“I love you, too, Milo Ross.”  She puts her arm around her fiance’s back and hoped this moment would last for a lifetime.

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12 Hours Previous

“Last, the Unified Forces capture five suspected terrorists last night.  The authorities believe this is only the first of many terrorists who will come into custody in the coming weeks.  The threat level has been lowered to code orange and the curfew has been pushed back a half hour.  But, as a reminder, anyone caught outside of curfew will be sent to detention camp and be held as a potential terrorist until further notice.” Samantha touches the corner of her eye as if to brush away something before continuing.  ”Next, Bruce will give the seven day forecast.”  She pauses with a smile until the cameras shut off, then sits back and sighs.  A technician walks over to her after a few moments and leans in.

“The director would like to see you in his office.” The man quickly walks away, leaving Samantha with a frown.  ’Shit,’ she says to herself, ‘if they’ve noticed the signals, I’m fucked.’  She stands and walks toward the producers office, taking deep breaths as she does.  The walk seems immensely long and difficult, with every step weighing her down a little more than the last.  Finally, after an eternity, she reaches the door.  She raises her hand and knocks three times.

A strong, deep voice sounds from within.  ”Come in.”  Sam gulps, taking hold of the door handle and opening the door as confidently as possible.  ”Yes, Mr. Producer?”

“Ah, Samantha.  I’ve been meaning to talk to you.  Come in, sit down.”  Sam walks slowly into the Producer’s badly lit office, taking a seat directly in front of his desk.  The Producer is leaned back in a very relaxed pose in front of his picture windows facing the city.  Her palms begin to sweat as the silence continues for a few more moments.  Finally, the man leans forward, a slight smile on his face.

“We’ve noticed a pattern with your broadcasts.  You, my dear, are the head newscaster of the biggest news corporation in the city.  You can’t really believe that we wouldn’t notice, do you?”  The smile on the Producer’s face grows as two men walk out of the shadows behind the young woman.  ”Where is the meeting being held tomorrow?  When?”

Sam’s muscles tense up.  ”I don’t know what you’re talking about… What pattern?  All I do is report the news, I just read what the prompter tells me.”  Her heart is beating a mile a minute as she tries to keep her cool.  The Producer just frowns.

“Wrong answer.”  He snaps his fingers and one of the figures behind Sam suddenly pushes her face down into the desk.  There is a cracking sound as her nose breaks on contact and she screams in pain.

“I don’t know anything!  I have no idea what you’re talking about!”  She begins to sob in pain and blood begins to pour out of her broken nose.  Again, the Producer frowns.

“You’ll talk.  They always talk.  Take her away.”  The two men grab the girl and lift her from the chair, dragging her out the door.

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Present

“Batman?  What is that?” asks the voice of the man closest the Milo.

“I’m not really sure.  There are lots of these books… Check them out.”  There is a general motion in the room to pick up the nearest book and look at it.  Milo takes the top one out and flips it open, skimming down a few of the pages.  ”They’re some kind of hero… But they wear some kind of outfit.”

“It’s to hide who they really are, I think,” says a previously unknown woman’s voice.  ”This one is about a woman named Seline, but she puts on this outfit and people call her Catwoman.”

‘Batman…‘  Milo rolls up the book, placing it in his jacket pocket.  ”We should all leave now while it is safe.”

“The rest of the resistance is captured… How can we get in touch with each other now that the signals have been found?”  It’s a man’s voice this time.  ”The newscaster is in custody now…  We’d be lost.”

Milo’s stomach feels instantly sick as he thinks of Sam in a prison cell.

“We should meet at my place in a week.  Be there before curfew.”  It’s the man’s voice closest to Milo, bringing him back down to earth from his nightmare.

“Who are you?  How will we know whose place to go to if we don’t know who you are?”  Milo asks.

“I’m Ed Manning.”

There is silence for a few moments before the woman with the glowing eyes asks the question on everyone’s mind.

“…You’re Ed Manning?”

He snickers.  ”Yes.  Now, a week from today.  My place.  We can talk about our next move.  I’m going to take a few of these books with me– This place was locked down for a reason.  I want to know why.  You all might want to do the same.  Now lets go, before the guards come back.”

XXXXX

I hope people liked this– Please, leave your feedback in the comments.  If you liked it, I’ll write a part two!