“I’m glad they gave you back to me,” she whispered and leaned in for a kiss.
I guess I owed the Hero Society more than a debt for bringing me back to life, although I know it wasn’t their main priority. Because they did, I got a chance to meet and be with Gwendolyn, something I didn’t have before, because my eyes weren’t open, and I wouldn’t have seen her for the beauty she was. She deserved this me, not the asshole me.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the fun part.” I stood and held out a hand to help her up. My “date night” plans were fairly simple: we’d eat the enchiladas I’d made then we’d paint. She’d have her canvas, and I’d have mine. The robots in the warehouse were working on their own masterpieces that I’d laid on the floor for them, which was quite comical to watch. Cora would step in paint and then walk all over the house, which drove Teddy mad. But it kept them occupied, so when Gwendolyn and I switched from painting blank canvases to our bodies, they never even noticed what was happening in my bed.
Chapter Thirty
Gwendolyn
My cozy robots were doing great, Arthur was slowly integrating himself into my life, and I had officially gotten another save-the-day badge.
This time it had been a sinkhole that appeared on the outskirts of the city, taking down a building full of people. Of course, they ended up being stuck inside. My job was to keep the building’s metal structure intact while Leon raced around with his lightning-fast speed to save everyone inside.
As soon as the work was done, and everyone was being checked out by paramedics, he gave me a wink and sped off. I got to use my new getaway motorcycle. I tossed the bag toward the ground and used my powers to put it together.
I was off in no time and, not ready to let go of the high from saving those people, I kept riding instead of heading for home. I found myself going over the bridge to get off Seahill Island and heading to the national parks by the big mountain.
The cold wind was nipping at my face, and I made a note to next time make sure I had a helmet. Safety had not been my main priority this time, as it normally was. I just wanted a way to sneak from the crowd quickly, and now I had that.
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was driving, my mind occupied by my thoughts, until I noticed I was nearing the building where Terratrex had been dumping chemicals into the river.
Maybe subconsciously I wanted to do more hero work? I was oddly at ease with that. Bravery was running through me, and I just wanted to roll with it.
But as I drove closer, I realized the place looked different. It looked deserted.
There were no guards at the gate and no lights on at all. The whole scene before me was strange. Compelled to investigate more, I crushed the lock between the gates and pushed it open. No one came running out at me, so I took that as a good and a bad sign. Good because I wasn’t getting arrested right now, but bad because this place might very well be abandoned and we’d never know what they’d been doing or why.
I parked the bike and turned it back into my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder.
Quietly, I walked around the building and saw nothing out of place. The river even looked to be cleaner than it was before. The whole situation was odd, and I had an uneasy feeling, telling me I should leave, but I was too curious to do that now. I needed to know what was happening here. So, I slipped inside and continued walking around. It was completely empty. Computers were gone, all signs there had been experiments happening had disappeared. Only things left were a few trees that had some fruit sprouting out of their limbs and the dirt.
I grabbed my phone and started recording what I was seeing so I could look back at the footage later with fresh eyes.
Something was wrong here. I could feel it in my bones. Then I felt it—a wave of foreshadowing energy that told me to get out of Dodge.
Without thinking, I dove into the river with a large breath in my lungs. The metal on my back dragged me down to the bottom, but I was grateful. The building above me was exploding before my eyes, and fire caressed the water, warming it even at the five-foot depth where I was.
Debris started dropping into the river, and I knew I had to swim out of here before I got pinned by something and drowned.
Not a way I wanted to die. My head was frantic, and I was trying so hard to push back the panic that threatened to turn into a meltdown.
I took the backpack off—it was keeping me down like an anchor—and took off toward the exit of the river through the building. I bumped into a grate and felt my lungs start to burn. I’d never been the best swimmer, and now I was driven by the fear of death. Not a good combination. Placing my hand against the metal, it began to melt in the water, but the surrounding water was cooling and solidifying the metal faster than I could liquify it. The water was too cold.
Trying something different, I changed the properties inside the structure and then hit it with my hand. I’d made it brittle and soft, like gold, and was able to climb through a hole I’d made by hitting it repeatedly.
Air. I needed air, or this place would be my grave.
I felt the ground shaking around me, so I still ran a risk of getting hit by a part of the building, but it was either risk it or drown.
My head popped out of the water and I took great gulps of air as I looked to the building and saw nothing but ruins and flames. The evidence of what Terratrex had been doing was gone. I prayed it would be enough to stop the toxins in the water from spreading, and nature would filter out the bad. But man had a way of turning something as beautiful as nature into a downward spiral of extinction.
I swam further down the stream and climbed out of the river, freezing, and without my transportation, which now lay with the rubble of the building.
Thankfully my phone was waterproof—thank you, creators of the newest smartphone, for thinking of moments like this. I called Phillip first, to let him know what happened. He told me that help was almost there. How he knew I’d need it, I didn’t know, and right now didn’t care. I’d survived the explosion and avoided drowning. But if that help he told me was coming didn’t, then I was going to be taken by hypothermia.
My teeth were chattering, and my body wouldn’t stop shaking as the gleam of a black SUV drove fast past the gates. It skidded to a stop, dust from the gravel swirling around the tires.
I felt relief in my bones at the sight of that familiar SUV, but I couldn’t move. My body was so cold that I was stuck there sitting on the ground, curled up in a ball for body heat.
“Fuck, Gwendolyn.” Arthur was out of the car and running to me as fast as he could. My hero, coming to save me from becoming a Popsicle.
I tried to say hi, but my mouth wasn’t up for talking. It was too busy clicking my teeth together.
“Okay, I’m getting you out of here.” He lifted me up and walked me to his SUV, gently setting me in the back seat where he slid in next to me.
The heat was on high, and I already started to feel better.
“We have to get you out of those wet clothes. You’re not going to warm up while all that cold water sits against your skin.” His movements were slow as he reached for my hero mask and started helping me out of my suit, piece by piece. Naked, I had even more of a chill until he pulled my body onto his and wrapped a thick blanket around us.
“Are you okay?” I asked him, with a stutter.