Being a Hero

Chapter 29

The song for this chapter is "Maybe They're On To Us" by Needtobreathe. (Honorable mention: "Man Bun" by Tim Hawkins for Boreas. The overall tone just didn't fit, but it'll definitely make you grin if you give it a listen.)

"Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." –Mary Anne Radmacher

*John's POV*

"Thanks for your help," Captain Scott said wearily. "The fire's about out now. Can you tell if the place is structurally sound?"

I nudged the burned-out shells of the two hospital wings with my power. They groaned a little but held. "Errr. I think so. Once Aftershock's recovered, I'll have him doublecheck."

"Alright." Before turning to leave, he clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Good work today."

I forced a grin. Scott walked off to join a team of firemen with a set of hydraulic shears heading back toward the entrance by the collapsed stairwell. I headed for my team. Most of them were huddled around the ambulance where Everett's group was getting checked over.

Everett must not have been in too bad of shape as he was off talking to one of the banquet guests who was still standing around. Will seemed the worst off, sitting hunched over in the ambulance with red eyes and an oxygen mask. Nancy stood politely still while a paramedic listened to her lungs. Her eyes were red too, but she seemed in decent shape. Another pair of women sat on the ambulance's back step. One wasn't older than 11 or 12 if I judged her age right and was largely unharmed. The other had very red eyes and was blinking repeatedly, and she was wearing a familiar costume.

"Gusan?" I asked, baffled as to why she was here. We never saw her in costume before sundown.

"Slingshot," She said by way of greeting, jerkily waving a hand at me.

"How are they?" I asked the paramedic.

The redhead gave me a weary grin and looked for the patients' nods of approval before answering. "Smoke inhalation for Aftershock and Nova, worse for the guy. They really should get a respiratory workup; some of the damage may not be evident for a few hours given the chemical fire. All five of them should get an eye exam to check for corneal burns, the sooner the better. This one," She said, pointing to Aftershock, who was trying to suppress a coughing fit. "I strongly suggest ride with me to St. Michael's."

I winced and looked around at the others. I really need to talk to Aurora about investing in breathing equipment. This is ridiculous. "Anyone else hurt?"

"Officer Andrews didn't make it out."

I turned to see Everett rejoin us. Then his words registered. "Wait, what?! When did he get here? And what—" Damn it! Someone died on our watch! "How?"

Nancy gave me the summary. Everett let her and waited for the paramedic to go back into the ambulance to whisper urgently, "It's worse than that. The two villains responsible for this? They took another hostage with them: Ethan."

"DAMN IT!" Not only did we fail a friend, but we failed Ethan...again!

"Slingshot," Tabitha whispered. "We'll get him back. Check in with Phoenix. There has to be some way to track them. Two new villains don't just pop into existence to cause trouble then evaporate into thin air."

I rubbed my eyes. "I've been trying to since hearing about the chemical fire. I haven't been able to get through. And now Aftershock needs to go to the hospital." I took a breath, trying to corral my runaway thoughts. "I'll try Mark."

A quick call decided that everyone who had been remotely near the chemical fire needed to go in for a cursory checkup. After conferring with the paramedic, she grudgingly allowed us to drive ourselves over there. Everett agreed to run ahead with Will, just to be safe. She almost didn't let us take the little girl out of her sight until Gusan had a whispered discussion with her. They seemed to reach an agreement, and we started loading up.