Precursor to the actual chapter:<\/p>\n
Except the hospital!<\/p>\n
There it was, shining in the distance. The UCLA Medical Center. It wouldn\u2019t take too long to get there, either. They were moving much more quickly now since Vikki had picked up the pace and toned down the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. It was probably because her arm, which had no doubt been at least bruised in the fall back at David\u2019s house, was now seriously broken and misshapen. She was in real pain, and she couldn\u2019t afford the energy to sustain her previous performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a little farther,\u201d Lisa implored, even though Vikki\u2019s stride was longer than Lisa\u2019s, and the shorter girl had to scramble to keep up.<\/p>\n
Yet Vikki\u2019s eyes were starting to glaze over. I\u2019ve got to keep her moving, Lisa thought. She\u2019s going into shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2026 how much farther?\u201d Vikki asked, her voice tiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust until we can get to the hospital,\u201d Lisa said. \u201cIt\u2019s just up ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow far up ahead?\u201d There was a note of muted panic in her voice. She thinks it\u2019s too far, Lisa thought. And she\u2019s probably right.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s where you need to be, sweetie,\u201d Lisa reassured her, trying to sound as soothing as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis sucks,\u201d Vikki sulked.<\/p>\n
Lisa nodded. \u201cIt sucks big time,\u201d she said, all the while trudging forward.<\/p>\n
____________<\/p>\n
The girls passed a handful of people along the way, and none of them volunteered to help them, despite the fact that Vikki clearly needed medical attention. She was starting to weigh heavily on Lisa\u2019s tiny frame, and Lisa wasn\u2019t sure how much longer they could maintain forward motion. They were passing under some fairly bright street lamps, which was not, in Lisa\u2019s mind, a good thing. It made them more visible than when they had walked past the dimly lit running track. Lisa would have stopped to rest, except she knew that Vikki was being propelled by pure inertia now. If they stopped, she would pass out, and this would all be over.<\/p>\n
Lisa kept scanning behind her, praying not to catch a glimpse of David, or, at the very least, to see him before he saw her. She did her best to stick to the shadows. Part of her brain was telling her that surely they were safe, that David had lost their trail and given up.<\/p>\n
Her gut told her otherwise, so they kept moving forward toward the bright red sign.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hurt me,\u201d Vikki muttered to no one in particular, no inflection in her voice. She was on autopilot now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, honey,\u201d Lisa said, sympathetic for the first time. \u201cHe hurt a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s far from being done, she thought, as they made their way forward.<\/div>\n
The truth was that David had<\/span> just about given up.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t because he had lost his murderous intent; it was that there were simply too many places they could have gone. He was slightly worried about the scene back on Sunset, but he thought it highly unlikely that he would actually be caught. The police would have a hard time imagining that a scrawny kid could have tossed cars aside like playthings. They might, however, want to ask him some questions, and he was in no mood for interrogations. The guilt he had wrestled with back at his father\u2019s house had receded into memory, or someplace deeper. He felt none of it, anyway, and it was almost as if it had belonged to someone else. In a few more minutes, it would be gone completely. David already had a hard time even recalling what it had felt like.<\/p>\n Instead, he was enjoying moving beyond David, or beyond what David had been before. Now he was something Other, something new, yet ancient, something with a destiny he could embrace, or, at the very least, a destiny that had embraced him. There were no more doubts. All that was left was a bright, shiny purpose, gleaming like a diamond in the noonday sun, leading him through the darkest places of his soul.<\/p>\n It all begins, he thought, with the death of those girls. Then we\u2019ll see where the wind takes me. He smiled as he savored the possibilities. There was no door closed to him now. At least, no door that he couldn\u2019t rip and tear and power through with his bare hands.<\/p>\n There\u2019d be time for that later, he said. First, I\u2019ve got a couple of girls to kill.<\/p>\n Wait a second, he thought. Is that a hospital up ahead? <\/p>\n \u201cLook, I\u2019m not trying to make fun of you,\u201d Jeff assured Walthius. \u201cI know this is serious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSerious as a heart attack, my friend,\u201d Walthius agreed. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to do this hero thing, you\u2019re going to do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d Jeff said. He stepped back from the fantasy, with the option to return when the moment presented itself. \u201cSo now we\u2019re talking,\u201d he said, as much to himself as to Walthius. \u201cNow we\u2019re getting somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, with all things considered,\u201d Walthius continued, \u201cit sounds like you\u2019re going to need some help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight.\u201d Jeff was nodding vigorously. \u201cThat\u2019s right. Help. So what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, step one is pretty obvious,\u201d Walthius said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know it is.\u201d He breathed out a sigh of resignation. \u201cI just have no idea what to say to her. \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer?\u201d<\/p>\n Her? You idiot! Not her! Think, Jeff, think!<\/p>\n Walthius regarded him coolly. \u201cSay to her? Say to who?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSay to them<\/span>!\u201d Jeff said.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s them?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean, who\u2019s them?\u201d Jeff said, far too defensively. He needed a \u201cthem,\u201d and then he came up with one. \u201cMy parents! Them! I totaled the car! And soon everyone at school is going to hear about this. You should have heard Lisa Meyer after I fell off the bleachers. \u2018You sure are a good jumper.\u2019 Like I\u2019m a kangaroo or something. What a \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n Walthius interrupted him with a clean slap across the face.<\/p>\n \u201cOw!\u201d Jeff said. \u201cThat really hurt!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Walthius said, \u201cit hurt me<\/span>.\u201d Walthius was now clutching his own hand in agony.<\/p>\n Jeff rubbed the side of his face with his hand where Walthius had made contact. Of course it hurt! Didn\u2019t it? He couldn\u2019t tell. If there had been any pain, it was gone now. Maybe he only thought it had hurt because Walthius had taken him by surprise. And Walthius was now opening and closing his fist, apparently trying to shake off some of the sting. \u201cIf someone doesn\u2019t believe you, just have them slap you. One time. That\u2019s all it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you do that for?\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius started wincing. \u201cI may have broken something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFocus, Walthius!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou<\/span> focus!\u201d Walthius shouted back before returning to wincing. \u201cFocus on step one,\u201d he said in a pained voice.<\/p>\n \u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you\u2019re not. You\u2019re blubbering about your little personal kerfuffles. I\u2019m talking about step one.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll right,\u201d Jeff said, humoring him. \u201cI\u2019ll bite. What\u2019s step one?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStep one: tights.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWHAT?!\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius reached under his seat and, with his good hand, he pulled what looked like a shirt box. He tossed it into Jeff\u2019s lap.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen it,\u201d he said. Jeff complied, and then he gasped.<\/p>\n He lifted out a gold and brown unitard with a large sunburst on the chest. It was attached to a white, nylon cape. Jeff let out a long, low breath. If anything, this was an even more surreal moment than the first time he flew.<\/p>\n \u201cSo?\u201d Walthius asked. \u201cYou like?\u201d<\/p>\n Nope. He didn\u2019t.<\/p><\/div>\n Lisa kept glancing behind herself. Did she hear something? Was she being followed?<\/p>\n She had tried to stay off the main path, cutting through bushes and the darker parts of campus. She knew she had gone too far when she hit Sawtelle, which was too far west. To the right of the girls, bathed in creepy moonlight, was the veteran\u2019s cemetery, which struck Lisa as a bad omen. She could see the edges of nearby Westwood Village and the throngs of people crossing Wilshire from the Federal Building. She felt her heart skip a beat as she realized she was probably more exposed than ever, and too far away from her goal.<\/p>\n \u201cAre we there?\u201d Vikki breathed, barely able to get the words out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re almost there, honey,\u201d Lisa lied. \u201cIt won\u2019t be long now.\u201d<\/p>\n Vikki ignored her and kept going straight on her originally programmed course. Lisa had to grab her to get her to make the sharp turn back toward the hospital. She shifted her sideways, which jostled her broken arm. Instinctively, Vikki let out a blood-curdling scream.<\/p>\n They could hear that from a mile away, Lisa thought.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d Jeff demanded. They were about a mile away from the Wilshire onramp, just on the other side of the Federal Building.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t get it. I made it,\u201d Walthius said. \u201cThat\u2019s bending the rules, I know. Even Peter Parker made his own suit. I should have let you make it. But circumstances being what they are \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cYou made this<\/span>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t get something like that off the rack,\u201d Walthius said. \u201cYou gotta have your own colors.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou made<\/span> this,\u201d Jeff said again, still disbelieving. The thing was, it was actually pretty good. It had clearly taken some time and effort \u2013 more time and effort than Walthius would have had after he had gotten the phone call.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen<\/span> did you make this?\u201d Jeff asked.<\/p>\n Walthius shifted in his seat. \u201cYou don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, that\u2019s not it. It\u2019s just \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the school colors, I know. I should have picked something else. And that sunburst on the chest. Let me explain. It seems a little gaudy, I know, but it will come in handy if you have to -\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you talking<\/span> about?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook, if you don\u2019t like it just say so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t say I don\u2019t like it. I just don\u2019t understand-\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you see the mask, too?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMask?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff fumbled around the bottom of the box and found a black, Zorro-like linen mask. Walthius had clearly thought of everything. It made Jeff unusually queasy.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething wrong?\u201d Walthius asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, there\u2019s something wrong!\u201d Jeff blurted. \u201cI\u2019m supposed to wear this?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you think you were going to wear?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, unlike you, I hadn\u2019t planned all this in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius let out a sigh. \u201cDo not<\/span> tell me,\u201d he said impatiently, \u201cthat you\u2019re not willing to do the tights.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you know \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever mind that!\u201d snapped Walthius. \u201cIt\u2019s the tights<\/span> that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff just stared at him with his mouth hanging wide open. Walthius broke away from watching the road and stared back. Jeff thought for a moment that he could establish some kind of psionic connection, where he could scour his friend\u2019s brain and discover something that might explain all of this. Maybe this is just one more of my superpowers, Jeff thought. I\u2019m sure it is. I know I\u2019m feeling a connection here\u2026<\/p>\n Then Walthius blinked. \u201cSo that\u2019s a no, then?\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cA no. On the tights.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally? That\u2019s what you were thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius turned back to the road and rubbed his face with his hands. \u201cYou can\u2019t read minds, you idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff\u2019s pride was bruised. \u201cWho said I could?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe tights, you moron! You\u2019ve got to wear the tights!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy should I?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause why?\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius began to sputter. \u201cBecause\u2026 because\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it\u2019s the tights<\/span>, man!\u201d Walthius said. \u201cThat\u2019s self-explanatory.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot to me, it isn\u2019t,\u201d Jeff said, \u201cWhy should superheroes was all feel this unyielding urge to dress up in silly clothes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re superheroes, you dolt. That\u2019s what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, yeah,\u201d said Jeff, \u201cI mean, sure, they can move mountains and everything, but can\u2019t you do that in a pair of jeans instead of a leotard?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook to the classics, my friend.\u201d Walthius said. \u201cThe classics<\/span>. If you\u2019re going to quote Peter Parker, you have to dress like him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t look like him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo he\u2019s got muscles that ripple when the wind blows. I\u2019m six foot four and weigh 165 pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo who wants to see a guy with a caved-in chest and a pair of chicken legs in a unitard?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you going to take this seriously or not?\u201d Walthius asked. They were finally at the onramp, at the end of the line to get on to the freeway. Jeff decided that the rest of the ride might go more smoothly if he played along.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I guess so.\u201d Jeff sighed, giving in. \u201cFine. What\u2019s a pair of tights between friends?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d Walthius said, satisfied.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, good.\u201d<\/p>\n They drove in silence for a moment.<\/p>\n Then Walthius spoke. \u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff stared at him. \u201cWell, what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, nothing!\u201d Walthius shot back. \u201cAren\u2019t you going to put them on?\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff looked like he\u2019d been hit in the head with a frozen duck.<\/p>\n ________________<\/p>\n David turned to face the noise. That was a girl\u2019s scream, he was sure of it. And it wasn\u2019t that far away.<\/p>\n David ran out to the end of the street and turned on to Sawtelle, where he saw two girls crossing the street before the lights had changed.<\/p>\n They were at least three football fields away from him. So close, and yet so far. Too far to run and catch them unawares.<\/p>\n But close enough.<\/p>\n ________________<\/p>\n Jeff kept protesting, but once he realized that Walthius would not be denied, he began undressing in the passengers seat. His legs were too long to fully extend them as he removed his jeans, so he arched his back up and slid the wet, heavy denim off his legs. He was left in his soaking wet underwear, and realized he would have to take that off, too. He looked left and right, as traffic was moving too slowly to prevent any curious onlookers from peeking in on him. As soon as he was convinced that none of the other drivers were paying attention, he ripped off his undies and with lightning speed, he yanked on the tights, flailing against the space constraints and smashing his elbow through the window, sending shattered glass out into the street.<\/p>\n \u201cWatch it!\u201d Walthius shouted.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry!\u201d he said to Walthius, and then \u201cSorry!\u201d he said to the car next to him, waving and grinning sheepishly before slinking down and ducking his head below the window. He tried to scoop up the bits of broken glass that had fallen inside instead of out, and then he went to open the door to dump it all into the road. In his frenzied state, he lacked the control to keep from ripping the door handle clean off the side.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that\u2019s real<\/span> nice,\u201d Walthius moaned. He had to moan pretty loudly, too, since the newly absent window was welcoming in all of Santa Monica\u2019s nighttime cacophony.<\/p>\n \u201cI said I was sorry!\u201d Jeff yelled. \u201cI didn\u2019t do it on purpose!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course you didn\u2019t,\u201d Walthius yelled back. \u201cAnyway, how do they feel?\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff looked down at himself. The truth was they felt pretty good,. They were dry, anyway. And while there were no rippling muscles to speak of, his skeletonic frame meant that there were no unsightly bulges, either.<\/p>\n \u201cThey feel good,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cThey feel really, really good.\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius smiled. \u201cI thought they would,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere do you want these?\u201d he said, dangling his shredded briefs in his hand.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, man!\u201d Walthius said. \u201cYou were supposed to leave those on!\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff laughed. \u201cWhat, you think Superman leaves them on?\u201d<\/p>\n Walthius shook his head. \u201cSuperman wears those yellow things on the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, great,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cI\u2019m not wearing these<\/span> on the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToss them in the back, then,\u201d Walthius ordered. \u201cIt\u2019s time for step two.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis thing is okay now, but I\u2019m pretty sure that when I stand up it\u2019s going to start riding up my crotch,\u201d Jeff complained. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not long enough.\u201d He looked down at his exposed white, flabby thighs, and it undermined his confidence to leap tall building without looking like he was waiting for a flood.<\/p>\n \u201cWho cares. We\u2019re at step two now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, fine,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cStep two.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff tilted his head, \u201cThere\u2019s a step two?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStep two,\u201d Walthius said. \u201cA name.\u201d<\/p>\n ________________<\/p>\n There was a line of parked cars all along Sawtelle, the last bit of free parking available before heading into Westwood. David started running down the side of the cars, and in an instant, both of his arms had ballooned to giant size, along with, for the first time, his feet, which burst out of their shoes. They provided the power to dash down the hill at breakneck speed. He was definitely running faster now, picking up cars as he went and throwing them as he gathered steam.<\/p>\n He got it down to a pattern: two steps, throw car. Two steps, throw car. Soon he was lost in the rhythm of it.<\/p>\n The girls were entering the village now. He couldn\u2019t see them. He did see a few horrified people on the other side of the street, which made for good target practice.<\/p>\n You should all feel lucky, David thought. You each get a car of your own.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Precursorto the actual chapter: My wife, someone who's actually spent a good deal of time working as a physical therapist in Los Angeles' medical facilities, pointed out after reading the last chapter that the UCLA Medical Center would be directly visible from where Vikki and Lisa crashed, and the idea that they'd head to Westwood ... Read more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4824,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/4824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}