Dark Hope
[Ch. 1: Night]
Milo and the others remained hidden as the lights shone through the windows in the front of what appeared to be a type of old store. Each of the strangers were crouched in the shadows, each of them breathing as quietly as possible to avoid detection by the guards searching outside. The lights faded into the distance and an eerie silence fell over the now darkened room. One pair of eyes could still be seen in the darkness, however, and shone bright, as if they were a cat’s eyes.
“Can you turn those off?” The voice, clearly male and very hoarse, had come from another corner of the room, but everyone knew who he was talking to. The eyes narrowed, then a female voice spoke. ”I can’t help it. It’s natural.”
Milo’s eyes adjusted slowly to the dark room and the outline of seven others came slowly into focus. Milo was hidden furthest back in the abandoned shop, located behind a large knocked over bookcase. After a few minutes of silence, he and the others began to relax.
“Are they gone?” Another woman’s voice, this time from the front portion of the room.
“I think so.” This time Milo spoke, his voice a bit dry from the running. ”What is this place?”
“I’m not sure,” replied the woman with the cat eyes. ” This is the portion of the city that is off limits.” After a few more moments of silence, Milo stood, his knees cracking as he did so. There was an instant feeling of tension in the room, and Milo put up his hands to show he’s not armed. “Just trying to get an idea of where we are.” He takes a deep breath, then starts to walk towards the window. His foot catches on something and he kicks is accidentally across the floor.
The object skids to a stop in front of the woman with the glowing eyes. She picks it up, then holds it up for the group to see.
“It’s some kind of… magazine.” She flips the book open, skimming the first few pages. ”It’s some kind of picture story.”
“The shelves are lined with them.” The voice, male, comes from Milo’s right, and there is the quiet rustle of paper as magazines are pulled off from the shelves.
“I’ve never seen this before. There are some kind of drawings on the covers… What does it say?”
After a second of straining his eyes against the darkness, Milo stands up straight.
“It says… Batman.”
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24 Hour Previous
“Where are we having dinner tonight?” Milo’s smile gleamed at the younger woman walking next to him, his eyes glittering in the light of the nearest street lamp.
“Don’t you mean where am I buying you dinner tonight? You’re broke,” replies the younger woman with a smile, “but what else is new?”
“That is a lie. I am not always broke…” Milo’s voice trails away slightly before adding, “but I am right now. Sorry, babe.”
The woman smiles. ”It’s the only reason you stay with me, I swear.” Milo laughs and gives her a quick kiss. ”How’d you know?” She gives him a playful glare and smirks.
“I’m just that smart. And don’t forget, tomorrow we have a meeting with your mother.”
Milo’s smile wavers for a second. ’Meeting with your mother’ was code for meeting with the resistance, and that was something he really didn’t want to think about at the moment.
“Let’s not bring her up. Let’s just enjoy the evening.” He places his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in close to him and giving her another light kiss on the lips. ”I love you, Samantha Lee.”
“I love you, too, Milo Ross.” She puts her arm around her fiance’s back and hoped this moment would last for a lifetime.
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12 Hours Previous
“Last, the Unified Forces captured five suspected terrorists last night. The authorities believe this is only the first of many terrorists who will come into custody in the coming weeks. The threat level has been lowered to code orange and the curfew has been pushed back a half hour. But, as a reminder, anyone caught outside of curfew will be sent to detention camp and be held as a potential terrorist until further notice.” Samantha touched the corner of her eye as if to brush away something before continuing. ”Next, Bruce will give the seven day forecast.” She paused with a smile until the cameras shut off, then sits back and sighs. A technician walks over to her after a few moments and leaned in.
“The Producer would like to see you in his office.” The man quickly walked away, leaving Samantha with a frown. ’Shiiiiit,’ she said to herself. She stands and walks toward the producers office, taking deep breaths as she does. The walk seemed immensely long and difficult, with every step weighing her down a little more than the last. Finally, after an eternity, she reached the door. Sam inhaled a very deep breath, then rose her hand and knocked three times.
A strong, deep voice sounds from within. ”Come in.” Sam gulped, taking hold of the door handle and opening the door as confidently as possible. ”Yes, Mr. Producer?”
“Ah, Samantha. I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Come in, sit down.” Sam walked slowly into the Producer’s badly lit office, taking a seat directly in front of his desk. The Producer leaned back in a very relaxed pose in front of his picture windows facing the city. Her palms began to sweat as the silence continues for a few more moments. After what seemed like a lifetime, the man leaned forward, a slight smile on his scrawny face.
“We’ve noticed a pattern with your broadcasts. You, my dear, are the head newscaster of the biggest news corporation in the city. You can’t really believe that we wouldn’t notice, do you?” The smile on the Producer’s face grew as two men walk out of the shadows behind the young woman. ”Where is the meeting being held at tomorrow? When?”
Sam’s muscles tensed up as her stomach dropped like a rock. ”I don’t know what you’re talking about… What pattern? All I do is report the news, I just read what the prompter tells me.” Her heart beat a mile a minute as she tried to keep her cool, knowing deep down that this was the end. The Producer frowned.
“Wrong answer.” He snapped his fingers and one of the figures behind Sam suddenly pushed her face down into the desk. There was a cracking sound as her nose broke on contact. Sam let out a cry in pain, her hands flying to her now-broken nose.
“I don’t know anything! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” She began to sob in pain and blood began to pour out of her broken nose. Again, the Producer frowned, but this time there were flames in his eyes.
“You’ll talk. They always talk. Take her away.” The two men grabbed the girl and lifted her, without hesitation, from the chair, dragging her out the door. She began to kick and flail her legs in an attempt to fight off her restrainers, but after a few seconds, her legs went limp and she lost conciousness.
___________________________________________
Present
“Batman? What is that?” asked the voice of the man closest the Milo.
“I’m not really sure. There are lots of these books… Check them out.” There was a general motion in the room to pick up the nearest book and look at it. Milo takes another one and flipped it open, skimming down a few of the pages. ”It’s some kind of picture story about people who wear something on their faces. “
“It’s to hide who they really are, I think,” said the glowing-eyed woman. ”This one is about a woman named Seline, but she puts on this outfit and people call her Catwoman.”
‘Batman…‘ Milo rolled up the book, placing it in his jacket pocket. ”We should all leave now while it is safe.”
“The rest of the resistance is captured… How can we get in touch with each other now that the signals have been found?” It’s a man’s voice this time. ”The newscaster is in custody now… We’d be lost.”
Milo’s stomach felt instantly sick as his thoughts filled of Sam in a prison cell, or worse…
“We should meet at my place in a week. Be there before curfew.” It’s the man’s voice closest to Milo, bringing him back down to earth from his nightmare.
“Who are you? How will we know whose place to go to if we don’t know who you are?” asked Milo.
“Well… I’m Ed Manning.”
There was silence for a few moments before the woman with the glowing eyes asked the question on everyone’s mind.
“…You’re Ed Manning?”
The older man snickered. ”Yes. Now, a week from today. My place. We can talk about our next move. I’m going to take a few of these books with me– This place was locked down for a reason. I want to know why. You all might want to do the same. Now lets go, before the guards come back.”
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