On Hiatus

The Samaritan Project is currently on hiatus.  It will resume as soon as the author can make time for it.  In the meantime, check out No Man an Island, which continues to update daily.

35. Mystery Man – Under Attack

 Dorothy led the way, up the steps of the station and into the mall.  She marched down the mall corridors, forcing Rebecca and their guest to keep up.  The mall itself was slowly gaining people, as it was just opening. 

            “We need to blend in, disappear.  They’re not likely to do much in a crowded space, and I don’t think they know what we look like.  Once we’re certain we’re not being followed, we can find somewhere safer to hole up.”

            “I don’t think we should be talking about this out in the open,” Rebecca said, her eyes going from side to side.  She took Dorothy by the elbow and nudged her towards a bookstore.  “We don’t know who’s after us.”

            “After him, you mean.  They don’t know we exist.  Let’s try and keep it that way.”

            “I’m sorry to be such an inconvenience.  Perhaps it would be better if I left.”

            “Oh, no, buddy, you’re not getting off that easy.  We’re already in this, they trashed our apartment with your help.  We’re going to figure out what’s going on.”

            “I don’t think blaming him for the situation is going to make figuring it out any easier,” Rebecca said softly.

            “I’m not blaming him.  I’m just frustrated with the fact that he has no clue why people are trying to kill him.  Seriously!”

            “I don’t want to make the two of you fight.  I don’t intend anyone any harm…”

            He tilted his head to the side, like a dog catching a far away sound.  Suddenly the glass skylight on the mall ceiling shattered, and someone screamed.  He pulled Dorothy and Rebecca with his strong arms, knocking all three of them to the floor behind a book display.  A split second later gunfire started, ripping apart books and shelves in a cacophony of chaotic noise.

34. Mystery Man – Time to Plan

 They drove recklessly down city streets.  The car swerved and screeched around corners.

            “Dee, slow down!”  Rebecca shouted, “I don’t think anyone is following us.”

            Dorothy turned onto another street, and looked first into the rear-view, and then over her shoulder at the back window.  She eased up on the gas.

            “Maybe you’re right.  No point in attracting a cop’s attention, if we can help it.”

            “How did they find us?”  Rebecca asked.

            Their male companion shrugged.  “They had guns, so I hurt them.  Other than that, I don’t know where they came from, or anything else about them.”

            “Your inconvenient lack of memory is becoming a royal pain in my ass,” Dorothy snarled as she steered the car.

            “Dorothy!”  Rebecca admonished.

            “What?  It is.  These people are after you for some reason.  You need to remember what it is.”

            He rubbed his face.  “I know, you’re right.  I wish I could be more helpful.”

            “What do we do now?”  Rebecca asked.

            “I’m trying to think,” Dorothy said.  “We need to find a place to disappear.  I don’t know if we’re being followed, but I wouldn’t be surprised.  It’s definitely possible that they know this car, so we need to ditch it.”

            “How are we going to get around, if we do that?” Rebecca.  “The only thing I can think of is the subway, unless you plan to steal a car.”

            “That’s a brilliant idea!”  Dorothy said, smiling.  “We’ll take the subway to the mall, and lose ourselves in the crowd.  Anyone following us will be unable to guess where we’ve gone.  From there we can figure out the next step.”

            It seemed, like most plans do, a good idea at the time.          

33. Mystery Man – Retrieval Operation

 Retrieval Operation

He heard them before he saw them.  Someone in the hallway, and someone else on the balcony.  He didn’t know why he could hear them from within his room.  He didn’t know why they were after him.  But one thing he was sure of:  they were here for him.  He could feel it.

            He slipped into the living room and closed his door, and checked to make sure the girls’ room was closed.  His eyes were shining blue in the dark, and he could see everything.  Somehow, he knew that normal people couldn’t see the way he did.  He concentrated, and made the blue light go away.  The room was suddenly very dark.  The person in the hallway was at the door now, and the one on the balcony was doing something to the glass. 

            He dropped back further into the shadows.  He listened, and realized there were two on the balcony.  He had to move fast.  The blue light had come on its own because he needed to see.  Now, he needed to hide.  There was nowhere safe.

            Then he looked up.  He jumped.  His hands and feet grew a barely noticeable blue lining of light, and he was holding onto the ceiling, in the darkest part of the shadows.  No one could see him up here.  It was like the blue light did whatever he needed.

            Once they entered the apartment, and stood beneath him, he knew exactly what he had to do.

            One stood by the couch, while the other two headed for the doors to the bedroom.  He had to move quickly.  As they moved to open the doors, he fell from the ceiling amidst them.  He struck fast, kicking one in the stomach towards the balcony.  He grabbed hold of the second one and threw this intruder after the first, with such strength that they slammed together.

            Their combined momentum sent them into the glass window and then through it.  Glass shattered with tremendous noise, and the two intruders sprawled across the balcony unconscious.

            The third man fired his gun, but his target was moving too quickly.  He sprinted and closed in fast on the one with the gun.  He caught the man’s arm, snapping it before throwing him towards the door to the apartment.  He could not believe his own strength:  the man went through the wooden door as if it were paper, and then collided with the wall beyond.

            The girls emerged slowly from their room, aroused by the noise. 

            “We have to leave,” he said.