Chapter 22 - [BT] Saving Uncle Ben..

[Before Transition]

Everything slows down and starts to move at a snails pace, I can see the scruffy man's hand holding the gun and slowly bringing it up to point it at the old man. I can see the old mans face slowly morph into an expression of fear and regret and I can't tell if he regrets not letting the scruffy man take his car or he regrets the scruffy man's chosen actions and the path he's chosen to take, either way the situation is looking bad for the old guy.

I can start to see the situation closer and closer and for a second I entertain the idea that this is a new power I've awoken, that I've gained the ability to zoom in on things with my eyes. It is only when I notice that my field of view is the same that I realise that I haven't awoken a new power, I haven't zoomed in on the situation. I'm physically moving closer to the ongoing altercation that looks like it's going to end in a few seconds.

I don't know why I'm moving closer, why I'm risking my life to save this old man, why I've suddenly had this bout of heroics. I just AM. It's akin to a man walking down the street and seeing a pram in the middle of the road, there are no cars coming from either end of the road and the man can't tell if there is an infant in the pram or not. Regardless of anything the man would walk to the pram and check if there is an infant inside of it and whether there is or is not an infant in the pram the man would still move it to the side of the road so it won't endanger anyone. The man loses nothing for doing this, it's an insignificant action for the man but it may be end up being a significant action for the child inside the pram or the person inside the car that ends up hitting the pram. Either way there is no danger involved for the man and no risk to him, he can easily do this action and then go about his day, what reason is there not to.

This old man is in the middle of the road and the road is actually the scruffy man, he poses no danger to me with my spider sense, my enhanced reflexes and speed but he poses a danger to the old man. I am simply going to move the old man out of the road but there is a car(a gun) traveling towards the old man and I have to act quickly, I am an enhance individual and I can easily outrun a car. What I just thought probably makes no sense but it makes sense to me and that's all that matters, a gun doesn't much scare me anymore and what is the point of having power if you don't use it and I would much rather use it to help people then hurt them, when applicable of course.

These are the thoughts that flicker through my mind in the mind numbingly slow state I am in where I can see all the micro expressions on the faces of the two men and I can see the gun raising and getting closer and closer to releasing the bullet of death from its merciless cylinder. I don't know if this slow state I'm in is some kind of power of mine or if I'm just hopped up on adrenaline and ultimately it doesn't matter, all that matters is saving this foolishly noble old man. It's at this point that I realise something devastating, I started to run too late and I might not make it in time to get the old man out of the way.

The pram(old man) is in the middle of the road and the car(the gun) is going to get to it before I can, I won't be able to get it out of the way in time. It's also at this point that I realise that in reference to the metaphor that if the old man is the pram and the gun is the car, what am I? I'm not a man in this metaphor, I'm a f.u.c.k.i.n.g TRUCK! I won't be able to get the pram out of the way in time but I can sure as hell ram the shit out of the car and change its trajectory so that it misses the pram. I put all my focus on the scruffy man and start to rush full pelt at him, ready to barge him.

Reality snaps back into place, everything going fast again, too fast. Suddenly it's all a blur, I shoot off and tackle the man just as he raise his gun halfway towards the old man, the gun discharges as I impact him but I don't have the time to worry about that. I realise I underestimated my strength, I'm not a truck, I'm a f.u.c.kin BULLDOZER! I can feel the scruffy man's body crumple and deform around my charging form, I can hear and feel the bones in the man's body break and fracture and I worry for a moment that I've killed him. The man's body flattens underneath me and I go flying over him and end up tumbling a few meters away, I lay on the ground for a moment before picking myself up and beginning to turn around to see what my actions have wrought, is the old man alive? Is the scruffy man dead? I dearly hope I didn't.. kill him.

The scruffy man is laying on the ground quietly m.o.a.ning in pain and I'm fraught with fear when I look at him. His right arm, the arm he was using to point the gun and the arm I first impacted, it's... It's twisted, it's clearly broken in quite a few places and I can see some bones jutting out through the flesh on his arm. His shoulder... His shoulder looks like it has a dent in it, I just can't believe that I've actually done this to someone and then I notice something else on the pavement. This scarlet red liquid pooling on the pavement, the life blood spreading itself on the pavement like jam on bread. I worry that I've killed him, that I've become a murderer...

And then I realise that although the blood is pooling near the scruffy man it's not actually touching him, he has some blood on him but he himself is not connected to it and I can't help but be frightened at what that means. My eyes slowly trail along the blood across the cracks and marks on the pavement, like the maze that you sometimes get on the back of a cereal box I follow it back to the entrance... or in this case.. Wound..

I go stark still as i lay my eyes on the body laying across the cold stone floor with blood pouring out of it but maybe it's not even a body anymore, the word corpse comes to mind. I stay there for a moment just staring at him, I'm not thinking, I'm not even sure I'm breathing. I just stare. I continue like that till the scream of a nearby women breaks me from my trance and I can't help but wonder if the scene this women alighted upon could have been different, if I just made it worse..

A cough..

It's small but I hear it..

And with that cough..

With the splutter of blood that spews from the old man's mouth..

My hope comes rushing back...