Chronicles of the Supers (Book 1): Born From Darkness (The Story of Max) (17 page)

After
that was over Max moved to check on them all. She had no idea what
the sudden explosion was, but it had hit the guards very hard. Much
harder than she had liked. Thankfully all of them were at least alive
and would likely live through the ordeal as long as they got medical
attention soon.

After
checking on them all Max went and checked on the other prisoners she
had been getting to know before the ordeal started. She first checked
on Em, who appeared to be stirring.

"You
alright Em?" She asked the woman as she knelt down next to her.

"Max?
What's going on?" Em asked.

"It's
nothing. I'll take care of it.' Max replied. Em gave her a funny look
and opened her mouth to speak.

"Max,
why are you being so quiet? Tell me what happened."

"I
said it's nothing Em."

Em
looked horrified after Max finished.

"Max.
I can't hear you." Em said.

Max
looked at the woman and cocked her head sideways. When she did she
noticed the blood coming out of Em's ears. Max had to fight the urge
to gag as she thought about what had happened. Em's eardrums had been
blown out. She was effectively deaf now.

'Well
congratulations on dispatching my guards Miss Einhardt." An
ominous voice said. Max instantly turned to try and locate the voice
but she didn't see anyone.

"Oh
no you won't get to see me." the voice said. Then Max finally
noticed the voice was coming in over the PA system for the prison.
Whoever was speaking wasn't in the room with them. He likely wasn't
even in the facility at all.

"Who
are you?" Max asked bravely.

"Your death."

Chapter 22:

The Atomic Threat

Max turned and stared into the nearest security camera. She hardened
her stare and stood as tall as she could. This person was trying to
intimidate her and she wasn't going to stand for it. At least not
while she had other people to protect.

"Oh?
Trying to defy me I see." the voice said. "It won't matter
for very long. You see, I've already assured your death. It's just a
matter of time before your life is over. And with it, the lives of
those people you care about."

"I
doubt that's really the case." Max said.

'Yeah
asshole!' Milia yelled inside Max's head.

"It
doesn't matter what you think. It's the end for you." the voice
said. Max just smirked in response.

"Oh?
You thought your superpowers would save you?" the voice asked, a
disturbingly cold laughter dripping from it. Max suddenly frowned at
that and her eyes softened as the implications of what the voice had
just said hit her.

"Yes
I know about those. You're really not very discreet with their use
you know. Should be more careful in the next life." the voice
said. It laughed gently but evilly after that, sending chills down
Max's spine.

"It
doesn't matter. I'll still find a way to save them." Max
replied, but she said it without any confidence. Whoever this was
knew about her powers. And if they knew about them for a long enough
time, they may have found a way to stop them or to kill her despite
them. It was a worrying prospect to Max.

She
shook her head. Now was no time to get scared or worried. She would
win because she had to. If it meant saving the lives of the people
here then it would be worth it. And a chance to start making up for
her past and do some good in the world was always a good thing.

##########

"President Winters!" a man wearing a military uniform half
shouted with a salute as the President of the United States entered
the secure bunker underneath the white house.

"What's the progress on getting into the facility?" Winters
asked the man.

"We're still a long way off sir. At least another day to cut
through anything and get inide. And then we'll have to clear the
place, which could take hours." the man said.

"Well double time it. They've already had 2 whole days inside
that place. I'm surprised nothing's been launched yet."

"Aye sir. I'll tell the teams to get me a faster way in."

"Spare no expense. If we have to bomb the place out then we'll
do it."

"Yes sir!" the man said as he walked off. The President
went off in a different direction and entered his private bunker
office. He closed the door behind him and sat down at the desk.
Looking down, he sighed heavily and picked up the phone.

Without dialing a number the phone started ringing. There were
several tense seconds where no one answered, but finally the sound of
a receiver being picked up reverberated through the line.

"Mr Winters, I assume." Came a thick Russian voice.

"Yes sir Mr Vetrov." Winters said.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a phone call Mr. President?"
Vetrov asked.

"I'm sorry to inform you, President Vetrov, but we have a dire
situation here in the States."

"The World News informed me of such, but the details were
sparse. I have been eagerly awaiting an explanation."

"I'd like to apologize for not getting you one sooner sir. I
have been busy coordinating our people here to take care of the
situation."

"Think nothing of it. I am glad you forewent the niceties to
ensure safety. I take it you have time now to talk?"

"Indeed. But I'm afraid we don't know too much more than what
you've heard. An small band of terrorists have taken control of a
nuclear cache here in the States. Thankfully we had just finished
dismantling anything capable of reaching the European continent, but
our country and Canada are still in major trouble."

"If that is so, then why have you called me personally? You
could have just as easily sent me a message by courier."

"Indeed. I'm calling for another reason as well." Winters
paused for a long time before continuing. "We may need your help
dealing with this situation."

There was a long pause as Vetrov considered the plea.

"I see. And how would we be able to aid you?"

"Well the terrorists managed to use the bases security measures
against us. If it comes down to it, we may need you to send in a
small strike force to aid in destroying the base. We don't have the
level of conventional firepower to concentrate in one place right now
due to the war."

"Ah, I see. Very well, I shall see to sending aid should you
require it. I can't make any promises, but I am more than glad to
help if I can."

"Thank you. I'd also appreciate your discretion in this matter."

"Of course. As always, I shall insure that no one knows the true
purpose of this phone call."

Both men said their ending pleasantries and hung up their respective
phones.

Winters breathed out very heavily and leaned over his desk with his
elbows. While it was true that the situation between Russia and the
United States were strained, every president of both countries always
talked about the necessary response to any situation like what
Winters was facing right now. It was to ensure that any terrorist
threat, like the one the United States was seeing now, wouldn't cause
a global thermonuclear war. Vetrov had been the first in the line of
Russian presidents to propose the idea of mutual, discreet
cooperation to end the situation before anything catastrophic could
happen. Winters had agreed and they had worked out an informal system
for responding to a threat. Neither of them had ever expected it to
actually come to use though.

Suddenly there was a very loud and urgent knock on the door.
President Winters stood up and rushed to the door, ripping it open
with a mild amount of force.

"Sir, we've just received a report." the woman on the other
side said. "There's been a nuclear missile launch."

##########

"So, by now you must be wondering how I'm going to insure your
death." the voice said to Max as she stood there staring at a
nearby security camera. "But first, I have a question for you."

Max glared at the camera. She really hated the slow nature of the
voices speech and wished the person would hurry up.

"Are you really planning on trying to save everyone?" the
voice asked. Max let her glare respond for her and didn't open her
mouth.

"Well you won't be able to." the voice replied. "You
see, I've done enough to ensure that you die. And even if you don't
die, they will. If you want to know what I've done just go grab the
remote and check out the television you have there with you. It's all
over the news right about now."

Max stood still for a moment and then turned. She cautiously entered
the control room nearby, where the remotes for the television were
kept. She had to dig through the rubble but she found one intact. She
pressed the power button and the television farthest from her turned
on. It was already on a news station, so Max didn't have to search
for very long.

"We've just received word on the coordinates programmed into the
missile. It appears to be headed for Wallbottom Maximum Security
Prison, just outside of Brittlewall North Carolina. Residents in
those areas are urged to evacuate immediately and get as far away as
they can."

The news swapped back to the news anchor, who had a very horrified
look on her face.

"I'm sorry but I have a sister in that area." the woman
said. With that she ran off the camera. There was a very short pause
as another anchor took the womans place and began to talk.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I'd just like to repeat the story for
those of you just now tuning in. We have received reports of a
terrorist organization taking over the United Nuclear Facility in
Arizona. It appears the first missile launch has been programmed to
land at the Wallbottom Maximum Security Prison near Brittlewall North
Carolina and..."

The anchor paused and turned sideways for a moment as he received a
small piece of paper. He paled as he read it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to inform you of this" the
man began, swallowing slightly. "But we've been informed of
another nuclear launch. This missile appears to be headed towards the
town of Brittlewall North Carolina itself. All residents are urged to
evacuate immediately."

Max turned off the television. She had turned completely white and
the blood in her veins felt like ice. This bastard had actually
launched a nuclear missile at her.

Max thought for several seconds about the situation. Her first
conclusion was that it made sense. She had super powers and the voice
clearly thought he knew which ones. Of course he'd launch a nuclear
missile to take care of the job. And it would work. Max wasn't
invulnerable. She had super regeneration sure, but invulnerability
didn't belong to her. She cursed under her breath.

Still she wouldn't allow the man to win. She had to think of
something. Anything at all to save the people in harms way. While
they were evacuating, there was no way they'd escape a nuclear
missile. It would land in only a few minutes. There was no way to
outrun that kind of firepower that soon.

'Well, I can think of one way to save them.' Milia said.

Chapter 23:

Sacrifice

'And what plan would that be?' Max asked Milia. She was desperate for
a way out. There was a fucking nuclear missile aimed at her, after
all.

'You're
not gonna like it.' Milia warned.

'If
it'll save all of these people, then I'll do.' Max replied.

##########

"We've already scrambled the jets to the location sir."
someone said to President Winters as he entered the bunkers
conference room.

"Good. I want them to converge on the one headed to the city
first. I want it downed yesterday. There innocent civilians there.
We'll wait until it's downed before going after the other one."
Winters commanded. Instantly the rooms activity changed as the orders
were issued to the appropriate people.

Within a minute the location of the missile headed for Brittlewall
was tagged and the fighter jets began to swarm towards it intent on
destroying it as soon as possible.

It took 5 minutes for the fighters to reach the location where the
missile would be passing them by. When it reached the location, the
fighters jumped it and began trying to shoot it down while the
conference room watched a grainy black and white video from one jets
perspective on their main monitor.

"Sir, we have a problem." another person said. President
Winters looked at her and she took that as her cue to continue. "The
missile is too small and moving too fast. The fighters are having
trouble targeting it."

President Winters thought the plan over for a few moments. While it
was true they were literally shooting at a nuclear missile, the
explosion mechanism was extremely delicate and difficult to set off.
That meant the fighters could use their missiles to take out the
weapon. But apparently the fighters couldn't get a good lock on the
missile in order to take it down.

"Tell them to keep trying. If they have to fire without a lock
then do it. I want that missile down before it drops too low for the
fighters to hit." Winters responded. In a little less than 7
minutes the missile would be too close to the target to risk firing
at it. Less than 5 seconds after that it would detonate and kill tens
of thousands of innocent people.

"Sir we're reporting the second team is gearing up now.
Estimates say they won't make it in time to stop the other missile."
a third person from behind the President said.

"Let's see if we can't prove them wrong. Tell the team to double
time it!" Winters replied.

##########

'We stop the missile ourselves.' came Milia's simple answer.

'Say what now?' Max asked, almost completely stunned.