No Man's Land

Chapter 3

With a loud thud, the slab of cement crumbles as the Huntress and the survivors break through to the surface of Gotham. They slowly lower the steel beam that had been used as a battering ram down to the ground. She coughs as the smoke from above rushes into the caved in subway tunnel.

What happened? A bomb? A gas explosion?  Superman crash landing into the subway?

She taps on the device in her ear, hoping that something comes through other than silence. She could really use some help right now. Her jaw drops as she leads the others further and further from the tunnel.

"Oh my god!" One woman screams at the flaming buildings that stick out along the pitch black skyline. Gotham is on fire.

"What the hell happened?!" A man shouts amongst the cries of the survivors.

"I... I don't know..." Huntress frowns; the answer scaring her just as much as the people she rescued. Her eyes fill with tears as she starts to recognize her surroundings...or what's left of them, and can only think of one thing:

Sal.

She breaks away from the others, stopping in the middle of the street to turn back to them. "You'll be safer together. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"How the hell are we supposed to be safe without you?!" Someone shouts as she dodges sparks shooting from a fallen power line.

She continues to move forward, wondering the same thing. She is only a few blocks away from her townhome near Gotham University. She keeps running north, tears streaming from her eyes as the smoke from the fires on either side of her burn at her pupils. She can't stop. She has to get there.

Unfortunately, the giant gap in the street forces Helena to come to a stop. She stares down into the fifty some foot drop. She looks across to the other half of the street. She might be able to jump it... but it would be certain death if she didn't. As she catches her breath, her gaze falls onto a collapsed building that is now leaning towards the chasm in front of her. She shakes her head.

Today is not a day for resting.

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Downtown, Dinah Lance climbs onto an abandoned apartment building to catch her breath. She manages to chuckle; it is the most stable building she has run on all night. Her smile falls as she can see the scope of the damage. It just keeps going.

She is driven out of her thoughts by the shattering of glass. There is laughter on the street below her as she stands her ground.

Observe, Dinah, observe. She thinks to herself, her heart rate spiking.

She looks down to see five or six silhouettes against the fire-lit street. They laugh as they throw a piece of a downed stop sign through a storefront window, shattering it to pieces. She bites her lip as she watches them stalk towards the now defenseless convenience store. There is no way to know how many of them there really are...

A woman's scream drives her from her thoughts, and immediately she leaps down with guns in each hand. She scans the front window for any sign of the woman and the group she saw outside earlier.

She freezes around the outside corner as she hears a man's voice inside: "Give us everything you have, and we will consider not hurting that pretty face of yours..."

Dinah quietly leaps over the broken window, and weaves through the aisles towards them.

"Go to hell!" The woman shouts.