Unexpected

Playing the Hero

I know I was talking big. I know that I wouldn't leave them here to fend for themselves and be slain, even if the familiar young man continued to frustrate me so! I just had to assert myself and make myself the leader here in this situation. It was odd though, since I was often so submissive and soft-spoken when coming up against confrontation, to try to make myself rise up and take charge instead of shrinking away and following the leadership of another. In any other situation I would follow their original plan of hiding and waiting for the police, but we couldn't do that this time. None of the rest of them knew the full danger of the Chitauri and their invasion and I knew it far more than I would have wished. I had to become the leader of this tattered, terrified group of refugees.

I maintained eye contact with the guy until he was forced to drop his gaze, "No. No problem with that."

"Good." I answered, softening my voice and looking around the group, all of whom still looked to be on the wall, until my eyes landed on the infant.

The dark child was now lying complacent in its mother's arms, comforted by her shushing. It was so young, so defenseless and cute. What if a Chitauri did come in here and... no, I couldn't even think it.

"What's its name?"

"Peter." The mother said, apparently surprised at my question and the quiet, sweetness of my voice.

So it was a boy. "Peter." I repeated, "That's a handsome name."

"Thank you."

I nodded. As I looked at it I felt all myself deflate, my shoulders slumping and my muscles going limp. Suddenly I could feel all my hurts. Out of the corner of my eye I looked in the mirror again and really took a look at myself. I looked entirely defeated right there. Saying that I'd come from the Hunger Games was no stretch of the imagination. I had a cut running from my hairline to just above my right eyebrow and a lump growing on the side of my left eye with a matching knot on the back of my head. My lower lip was busted, probably from me biting it in my fall or sometime during my battle with the alien. Another gash ran down the inside of my left arm, my elbows were all scraped up and darkening bruises were forming all over my exposed skin. The knees of my jeans were ripped open, showing large bloody scraps from my falls and I could feel a huge bruise growing on my side from falling on my knife after being shot by the Chitauri out of the sky. The splattering of alien blood and the thin coating of dust and dirt from rolling around on the ground finished my sorry appearance. Returning my gaze to the baby, I made a resolution, looking at the innocence.

Standing up straight and quickly wiping away some blood from falling into my eye, I spoke again to the group. "I know you're all scared, I am too. I'm not a leader. About three weeks ago I was nothing if not ordinary. The fact of the matter is we're in danger. In a moment all of us could be dead, even little Peter there." This made the mother hold her son closer to herself, "But I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to get you below ground to safety if you'll follow me... will you?"

There was silence.

Just as I was giving up hope that any of them would let me help them, the mother took a step closer to me. "I will."

I smiled and watched as each of them, even stubborn guy said that they'd come with me.

"Good. Now, we need to move fast. Who knows when a Chitauri will fly by next? Mark, if you'll un-gag that woman, I'll check to see if the coast is clear. Everyone, we need to be quick and silent." With that I marched out of the changing room area and across the boutique to its shattered window front. The sky above was still brilliant blue with only the plumes of smoke and dust hiding the clearness of the sky from sight. Straining my ears above the distant mumblings as the group tried to calm the panicked woman as they ungagged her, I couldn't hear the strange engines of any of the alien crafts, nor any footsteps. The battle sounded far away.