The Moon is Made of Green Cheese

Chapter 5

Edited: 8/20/18

Chapter 5

Monday starts with a beautiful alarm sounding off into my ears, waking me up at a time that would allow for me to achieve my daily morning activities without being late to work. But my days seemed to be straying away from the normalcy that had settled in a few years ago because the walk to work didn't go as planned, again.

Starting with turning the corner and spotting Batman lurking on the edge of the roof of a nearby building in broad daylight. I pause and consider my options, continue to work, or be reckless and climb up the side stairs before he leaves.

My choice: Reckless.

Batman was just too much of a curiosity.

I climb the stairs and reach the edge where he's sitting. "What are you doing here, shouldn't you be at the Station?" His deep voice scares me, and I take a step back before looking out to see what he was watching. Hie eyes were focused directly at my job.

"I was wondering why you were lurking on top of a building when you should be in your cave, sleeping." It certainly wasn't the first Bat jab I'm sure someone made at him but I didn't really care.

"The Joker has taken the Police Station hostage, and planted a bomb in the city." I turn sharply to look at him, I study him before looking back at the Station.

My voice is low and serious. "Where?"

"Wayne tower."

"And I'm sure he wants you to pick between them." I pause moving my gaze to the tower. "How much time do we have?"

"Less than thirty minutes." I'd need to get a move on now if I wanted to make it in time then.

"I'll take the bomb, you deal with the station." Without waiting for a response I turn around and am down the stairs in seconds. Before I know it I'm sprinting down the street pushing people out of the way and barely avoiding oncoming cars. Ignoring the burning in my legs I push forward trying to pull everything I can remember about dismantling a bomb from my memories.

'Heather, we'd all be dead by now.' The voice was calm but serious. 'Try it again, but this time, try to recognize the components of the bomb, no two people make them the same. Not even if they try.'

I turned the corner and stopped as I watched people flood into the building, talking about work or their families. I surveyed the building trying to find the best spot to plant the bomb to destabilize the buildings support. The reality was that Joker probably hadn't planted just one bomb, but I could only hope that I'd find them all in time.

I pulled out my badge and ran through the doors flashing it at security and heading towards the stairs. I ran down the stairs into the basement floors, figuring it was the easiest place to hide a bomb.

I moved through the rooms until I could hear a faint beeping sound. I froze as terror struck my core. I'd found it. Who knew the quiet continuous beeping sound could sound so utterly terrifying.

Taking a deep breath I followed it to an small air duct. I peered inside and spotted the rather large bomb a ways back to where the small duct opened up. Pulling off my coat and grabbing the swiss army knife from it's pocket I yanked off the grate and decided to squeeze through without trying to find the entrance to the big duct. I didn't really have the time.

As I pushed on through the narrow passage I felt my ribs smoosh into my body. The further I pushed the tighter it became and suddenly blinding pain erupted from my sides. I struggled to breath for a few seconds but pushed on, I didn't have the time to dwell on it.

I stopped when I was halfway through and my head came out to be just over the bomb. There was a bright red ticking timer at eleven minutes. It was just like the joker to pick up a bomb with a flashy timer. I pushed out the thought and surveyed the bomb. It didn't have any immediately defining parts that would clue me in to it's maker.

Carefully I opened the top of the bomb and surveyed the mass of wires in the bomb, it was far more than was strictly needed but it did give me a rather good idea of just who exactly had built this bomb. I gingerly moved the wires around searching for one that was actually connected to something important. May of the wires were tied together and proved to be for show so I began to cut them out of the way.

I looked back up at the timer and a four blinked back up at me. There was no way that much time had already past. Cheese. This wasn't good. I looked back down and squinted trying to pick out any wires that looked different. Suddenly I noticed a few duller wires that didn't hold the same shine the others did. Gotcha! Now just to figure out which one it was, I followed them back to their source, the first led into the timer and into the formula which was the wire that would cause the bomb to blow. I let go and followed another back into a battery. Finally!

I sucked in a breath despite the pain and cut it. I waited on for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. Slowly backing out of the vent I sink to the ground. Pain seared spots of color across my vision and my head spun. I glanced at my watch and wondered if I should head back to the Station or just go to the hospital. Suddenly there was a loud bang as the door slammed open and Batman burts through, he stopped when he looked at me.

I gave him a small strained smile. "You're late, missed all the action." I motion to the vent. "Took care of it."

His body visibly relaxes and his gaze rolls over me, obviously trying to find the source of pain.

"I take it you dealt with the Hostage situation. Is everyone okay?" He nods and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. He seems to decide something as he stands taller.

"I alerted the police about the bomb, follow me." He pauses. "I'll take care of your ribs." His words surprise me but I guess he must have blamed himself. I slowly stand and he reaches a hand out to help me up the stairs and out of the building. I watch as he call up his car from a push of a button. Wow, I wish I had could do that with my car, whenever I did end up buying one.