We were hanging out in my lab, just like we’d done all day the day before. Most places were closed down after the incident and school wasn’t going to open for another week. Mar was sitting on the arm of the couch strumming on her guitar, Emily was sitting to the left of me on the couch drawing in her notebook while I watched. Danny was sitting to the right of me flipping through tv channels. Mar’s dark brown hair was starting to grow a little.
It wasn’t super long or anything, but it was longer than her normal haircut. She was wearing a pink Nickelback t-shirt and black shorts with little bits of white. Danny was wearing his glasses and a blue t-shirt with black shorts. Emily’s blonde hair was held tight in a ponytail. She was wearing new red glasses, a white Ronald Reagan t-shirt that looked like it belonged to her dad, and black shorts identical to Mar’s. She looked more comfortable than I’d ever seen her. She was drawing the alien from a horror movie in a cutesy cartoonish style in her notebook.
“Guys, check it out.” Danny said abruptly. Mar stopped strumming and Emily stopped drawing to look up at the tv. It was the news show I was watching the other day with the four commentators.
“We’ve just received a leaked video of the interrogation of the criminal now known as Cement Suit. We’ll be playing it shortly.” The host said while smiling at the camera.
The screen flicked to security camera footage of a muscular bald man sitting in a chair across from an FBI agent. The agent had dark hair and was wearing a blue uniform that said ‘FBI’ on the side. The bald man looked sinister, his face twisted into a snarl. He stared at the agent with dark eyes. I realized, after a moment, that the bald man was the same as the one I busted my first night out in my suit.
How’d he get powers?
The agent picked up a folder, quickly scanned it, then placed it down. He looked at the bald man with a big grin and held his hand out.
“I’m Agent Johnson. Nice to meet you Jones. Can I call you Jones?” The agent said with a big grin on his face. The bald man continued to scowl at him without responding. Eventually the agent dropped his hand. “Right. So…” The agent said while drumming his fingers. “You’re a mass murderer and something of a genetic aberration. Care to confess where your abilities came from?” He asked. The scowl on Jones’s face morphed into a smirk. The dead look in his eyes didn’t change at all. He leaned in close.
“I’m one of those mutants you hear about on tv.” Jones growled.
“Right. Well, where did these powers come from? We don’t have much information on these mutants.” The agent asked.
“Don’t know. I was in solitary, then all of the sudden my back started to hurt, and this dust came out.” He shrugged. “Then I could do everything I can do.”
“Right. Well we’ve contained three of your kind already and we’ll contain you as well. I can tell you don’t intend to give me any useful information.” The agent stood up and walked away.
Jones looked up at the security camera and stared at it with his dead eyes. The screen flipped back to the talk show with its four commentators sitting in a circle around each other. Joel seemed focused on something, Tommy and Terry looked excited, and the Host stared directly at the screen with that same unwavering smile. Danny turned off the tv.
“So that’s the thing that attacked our school.” Mar said in a flat voice, her eyes not leaving the empty tv.
“It’s not a thing. It’s a guy.” Danny said.
Right after he turned it off he was in such a state of shock that he had to adjust his glasses because of how far they had slid down his nose without him noticing.
“Oh cut the shit, Danny.” Mar fired back defensively.
“Language.” Danny scolded.
“Don’t language me. That thing killed our classmates!” Mar yelled.
“Calm down.” Danny said quietly.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” She yelled back.
“Ooookay. How about we take a breather.” I recommended.
“How about we watch some more tv?” Emily spoke up.
“Sounds like a great idea.” I said while staring at Danny.
He flipped the tv back on. It was the news channel again, this time it was a female reporter talking to a scientist that the banner at the bottom said was Dr. Norris. He was sitting in a metal chair across from the reporter in what could be assumed was the office of a lab, explaining his findings. Danny quickly changed the channel. I reached up and grabbed his shoulder and pulled on his shirt sleeve.
“I wanted to watch that!” I scolded him. He just sighed and changed it back.
“-ound that the organism is some sort of hive creature. It’s microscopic but in large clusters it looks similar to a dust coming off of him. We’ve analyzed it and it appears to break down concrete into cement dust, and somehow it reproduces by converting that dust into a living organism. They’re still carbon based, and seem similar to other living organisms, but they appear to at least be partially made of cement. We still don’t have any idea how this works. We’ve also learned that they have the ability to instantly solidify into a concrete substance, a process which kills them. They’re really quite fascinating.” The doctor sounded extremely excited.
“Okay. I think that’s enough.” Danny talked over the tv.
“Shhh!” I pointed a finger in his direction. He looked slightly offended. The tv cut back to the people sitting around the table. “Okay, you can turn it off now.” Once the tv turned to black,
Danny got up and went over to the tables full of experiments I had set up, Mar went back to strumming her guitar, and Emily started drawing once again. I watched her as she finished drawing the expressive eyes on the brutal alien monster.
…
Everyone left later than usual. Maybe because they wanted to spend more time with me, maybe because the cement monster had them a little spooked. Once I made triple sure that Danny had left, I pulled out my backpack.
I separated the suit into its different components: The mask, the frame, the polymer covering, and the tail. The tail was unharmed, so I set it aside. The frame was bent in several places. The polymer had very little damage, but I had to replace a few places where the sheer force had caused damage. As for the mask, the ceramic face was completely shattered.
I’d just have to make a new one. The interior of the mask was also in ruins. The lenses were shattered, a lot of the needles that bonded with my face were damaged, bent, or completely broken off. I imagined they were still in my face somewhere, just too small to make a difference. As for the frame, I’d have to repair it which would take a couple hours at least. I walked over to the couch and threw myself onto it. The lights in my lab flickered and buzzed. I stared blankly at the stone ceiling.
What am I doing with my life? Am I seriously considering fighting that thing again?
I forced myself up off my back and got to work fixing the suit. However small the chance of his escape was, I wanted to be ready for it.
…
I was sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean, gently rocking. I was sitting on the guard rail of the front deck and looking out into the seemingly endless ocean. The boat appeared to be abandoned, save for me. I almost jumped when I heard footsteps coming from behind me. Hard, loud, and rhythmic. Like localized thunder. I had to force myself to face him.
The stone man was approaching me. His suit covered every inch of him, leaving no openings to attack. Not that I was in a position to, anyway. One of his hands was a giant spear, the other a large hammer. Everywhere behind him was covered in mutilated bodies. I saw kids wearing school clothes, nurses, cops, soldiers, babies.
All ripped to shreds, smashed or bashed to pieces, or just laying in a puddle of their own blood. All of them, no matter how damaged, were staring directly into my eyes. Some had gaping bloody cavities where a face should have been. The golem continued his constant march to me. I didn’t move from the guard rail.
“Come to finish me off?” I asked him.
Lightning struck in the distance and thunder bellowed far too close for comfort. A tropical storm was nearing, no doubt. The golem stopped marching with the thunder. He looked at me with two vacant hollow holes in a concrete mask. He moved his head to the side without saying a word and continues to stare at me.
“Say something!” I shouted and lightning struck again. The boat rocked intensely for a few seconds and I thought it was going to capsize. The wind was becoming a fierce force, and the rain was pouring down.
The waves were punching at the sides of the boat and growing larger with each second. The figure turned his head. He began walking towards me again. Once he was within spear length of me, he sliced out in my direction. I threw myself backwards over the side of the boat, gripping onto the rail with only my fingers.
The golem moved closer. The waves were getting big enough to cover me entirely. My fingers felt like they were being smashed by the sheer force of the boat rocking. I looked above me and saw the golem raising his hammer fist down upon my fingers.
“No!” I yelled. I was thrown back six feet by the sheer force of the boat being ripped apart. My body skipped on the surface of the water and I was subsumed by a wave. I tried to swim to the surface but my arms and legs couldn’t move at all. I looked over and all hope left me as I saw the shattered, sinking, remains of the boat. I lifted my head above the water for one last gulp of air and then I just… Let go.
As I sank lower and lower into the abyss as I looked up above the surface. I saw the sun start to shine above me. I felt my ankle being crushed by sudden weight, and I looked down into the darkness. I saw a stone mask with two vacant holes staring back. His gauntlet hand gripped tight around my ankle, dragging me into the depths.
Below him was a burnt couple. Below him were my classmates with spear holes in their chest. A burnt baby and its mother. Soldiers with every kind of injury you could imagine. Their skin was green and flaking off in long moist strips from the water. Exposed bones and muscle pulsated and small fish chipped away at their flesh. Their hands reached for me. Trying desperately to grab me.
…
I woke up screaming. I was clutching my sheets tight, covered in sweat. I rubbed my eyes and let out shallow breaths as I pulled myself together. The window behind me told me that it was mid afternoon. Mom and dad were probably already at work. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom.
I brushed my teeth and made sure to smile at the mirror.
Psychologists say…
I made my way to the living room and dug through the pantries for cereal. I grabbed one and made myself a bowl. I watched a movie about a bunch of criminals while I dug through a milkless bowl of cereal with my hands. It was a clever movie. I’ve always preferred movies that were clever as opposed to mindless action. I turned it off and grabbed my bag. In my grey sweatpants and Star Wars shirt that I’d been using as pajamas, I walked out the door and headed over to my lab. Luckily none of my friends were there when I got there.
They were probably all at church. I took off my comfy slip on shoes and took a second to adjust to the cold stone lab floor. I walked over to a mostly clear table and laid out my suit. I double checked each of the components to make sure it was working. Then I triple checked and quadruple checked. Finally I refilled the painkillers and charged the battery. While I waited I sat down and watched tv.
I’m really not ready for this.
