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Infinity Chronicles
Part 2
By
Scott "RaZrEsHaT" Hall

Her reflection in the window masked the country side as it sped by. Sara wasn't sure why her own reflection was so interesting to her at this moment, it just was. Her blue eyes seem distant even in the reflection inches away from her face, and while many men had found her blonde hair and captivating looks enticing, she felt like the last couple of days had added years to her face. Chicago lay ahead of her and Kansas City behind. She felt there was a certain amount of symbolism in that fact. Her life as a wife and mother was back in Kansas City and was being buried in the graves of her husband and children. While her future remained uncertain, she knew that it included embracing her mutant gift to right the wrongs of her family's death.

The bus shifted slightly as it went around a curve and Sara's bag pressed up against the inside of her right calf. She had been too paranoid to put it in the lower compartment. The bag contained the last mementos of her family and she feared anyone stealing or accidentally taking those away from her. Reaching down to grab her bag, she momentarily thought back to the end of her last conversation with Detective Miller.

"I can't stick around," the detective whispered over the phone. "I'm not sure who to trust and I think I need to disappear."

"I understand," Sara felt a twinge of anger at Detective Miller, "I wish you were coming with me to Chicago."

"I know, but with my injuries and I will only hinder you." The detective had been seriously injured during the attack on the police station.

The two of them had a near death experience together, and she could tell that the detective was scared. Miller offered to set her up with a friend of his in Chicago who could probably help; a police captain name Michelle Peters. The fear in his voice let Sara know that she would probably not hear from him again soon, maybe not ever.

The bus jerked again and the pressure of the bag between her knees brought Sara back to the present. Reaching down into the bag, Sara felt around for the mementos of her family.

The picture of her and Matt didn't not bring the tears as she had expected. It did make her sad however, and she was beginning to feel more and more fueled by the mementos than saddened by them. The loss of her family was beginning to motivate Sara. Michelle's doll reminded not only of her children's innocence destroyed, but of her own stolen innocence. Finally, Sara picked up Jonathan's comic book.

The cover of the well worn comic book depicted some sort of titanic struggle between two muscular, larger than life characters. Leafing through the comic, Sara superficially followed along as the characters faced off in a depiction that drew heavily from what she thought were stories of ancient Greece. The hero appeared to resemble Hercules and he faced several equally stunning challengers in front of a tapestry of Greek Mythology. Half way through the book a specific character and name caught her attention, Sisyphus. The doomed king forced to role a boulder up hill into infinity. This metaphor for a never ending task intrigued Sara and she thought about it as she fell asleep.

********************

Sara stepped into the dimly lit parking lot of the Dixie Diner. The Chicago night air felt charge with energy. Detective Miller had identified this as the time and place he would set up the meeting with police captain Michelle Peters. Even though Miller trusted Peters, Sara was not sure about the situation. Scanning the parking lot, Sara identified Captain Peters almost immediately; however the police officer was not alone.

Slowly and unsurely, Sara crossed the parking lot to where the pair waited. Scanning the surrounding area as she moved, Sara detected no signs of danger.

Captain Peters appeared be nearly half a foot shorter than herself, but that was not unusual. Sara had always been tall and athletic, only really giving up sports when she became a mother. The police captain was in uniform; however it was partially concealed by her dark trench coat. Her brown skin made her facial expressions difficult to discern at their distance at night.

Standing beside Captain Peters was a caucasian man taller than the captain, but still slightly shorter than Sara. While dressed in civilian attire, the man looked serious enough, but was somehow still disarming to Sara.

"You must be Captain Peters,' Sara announced as she reached the strangers at the far side of the parking lot.

"And you must be Sara. You know Miller and I go way back, otherwise I might have told him to get lost." The comment set an uneasy tone for an introduction. Sara took a slight step back at the negative inclination of her only local contact.

"Who is your friend?"

"This is District Attorney Alex Murphy. I asked him to come because Miller said you were the key to some Chicago connection to the murders happening in Kansas City."

Sara looked at the handsome face of the DA and felt somewhat reassured, at least momentarily.

"However," the police captain continued, "I think that the best course of action is for you to go back to Kansas City and cooperate with the police there." Sara sensed an almost palatable anger coming from the police officer.

"Did I do something?"

"Miller told me what you are," Sara did not know if she should feel betrayed by Detective Miller, or relieved that she wouldn't have to hide her abilities from the pair in front of her. "Until today I might have met you with a more open mind," the Captain outwardly brimmed with anger, "however the events in San Francisco today have made it more than clear that so called "mutants" are a danger to everyone."

"Other mutants? What had happened in San Francisco?" Sara's mind began to reel, she had been out of touch with current events since she left Kansas City the day prior. "What are you talking about?"

"The mutant terrorist group Ground Zero attacked downtown San Fran yesterday. So I would suggest you get back on whatever brought you to Chicago and head to Kansas City." With that, Captain Peters turned and began to walk away.

Shocked at how her time in Chicago had begun, Sara turned and looked at the Chicago DA. Alex Murphy's sympathetic eyes caught hers and for a moment she forgot about the police captain.

"Is it true that your family was killed?"

"Yes," Sara felt strangely comfortable talking with the D.A., "and all I know is that I think it had to do with something a drug dealer named Barry Worthins said during a police interrogation." A slight frown appeared on the DA's handsome face.

"Really…Interesting! Do you have a place to stay? I could get you a room at the Hawthorn…"

"No, I have a room at the Coronet," The trashy motel near the bus station served as Sara new base of operations.

"Ok. Don't go anywhere and give me a day or so to talk to the Captain," the DA's smile reassured Sara somehow, "I am sure that I can talk some sense into her."

********************

The motel TV crackled to life and Sara quickly switched to one of the 24 hour news networks. Stunning images from a battle in downtown San Francisco played over and over again on the screen.

"The foursome known as Ground Zero gave no warning and no indication of their motive for the attack this morning," the broadcaster stated. "Damage to the downtown area is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars range and it is a miracle that there was only one confirmed fatality at this time."

Sara sat stunned and paralyzed at the indisputable proof that mutants were in fact real. Even with her own experience as a mutant, there always was the tiny voice in the back of her head that suggested that she might simply be insane. But now that was not a possibility. The news showed that the rest of the nation was reeling from a similar revelation. Before now, mutants had been considered as some sort of urban legend or folk tail. Now it was undeniable.

The fact that the mutants in question were also apparently acting against society troubled Sara very deeply. The news report focused almost entirely on the criminal acts committed, however as Sara lay down to fall asleep, a glimmer of hope appeared on the screen.

"Just when it appeared that the San Fran Special Crimes Unit would not be able to fend off the mutants, help arrived," the news anchor revealed. A couple of shaky videos ran of a man flying up the street and smashing into the side of the female member of Ground Zero. The sight of another mutant working for good eased the weight Sara felt in her heart and she was able to finally drift off to sleep.

********************

A light mist of rain began to obscure the view of the Coronet Motel. Officer Pitts sat in his unmarked car and wondered what cruel twist of fate had brought his career to this point. Being well liked and friends with a captain should have meant better assignments and easy promotions; however that was not how things worked with Captain Peters. If she liked you that meant that you were good and hard working; things she would then come to depend upon you for. Sure, his reviews were stellar, and thus helped to ensure his future promotion, but many of the tough assignments she gave him were also boring. But at least it got him out of the uniform and into some comfortable street clothes.

A flickering streetlight caught his attention and Officer Pitts stopped feeling sorry for himself. The light mist picked up pace and he made himself think of all the nights when he used to be forced to be out in the rain for work. Small perks.

Several windows on the front side of the shabby old motel exploded outward as flames shot out. Pitts nearly hit his head on the roof of his car as the explosion took him off guard. The woman that Captain Peters wanted him to keep tabs on was supposed to be on that floor and a cold chill ran down his back. Checking his sidearm, Pitts got out of his car and headed for the motel entrance.

********************

A slight thud brought Sara out of her light sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep soundly since the murders. The constant possibility of another attempt on her life kept her from ever becoming comfortable enough to sleep soundly.

The thud had come from the opposite side of the room, somewhere between the bathroom and the door to the hallway. The Coronet was such a disheveled mess that the sound could have come from any number of sources. Then came the banging.

Sara's door rattled with the sound of someone pounding on it with their fists.

"Mrs. Deworth! Mrs. Deworth! Are you in there?" The strange voice demanded. Between hearing the last name of the husband she would never see again and the lack of sleep, Sara confusedly answered.

"What? Who's there?" The noisy banging stopped and for a moment silence returned. Then, without warning Sara could hear a pair of feet sprint down that hallway and away from the door to her room. For a split second Sara sat confused on the edge of her bed facing the door. Then the deadly truth dawned on her. Sara grabbed the side of the mattress and leapt to the far side of the bed. The mattress came with her and fell on top of her as a makeshift shield.

The explosion blasted fire and heat through the room and Sara's ears rang loudly. Fortunately the mattress had absorbed most of the shock of the blast.

Pushing the burning remnants of her bed out of the way, Sara stood up and looked around. Horror filled her heart temporarily as she scanned the room for the bag containing her family mementos. Sitting in the corner and shielded from the hallway door, the bag appeared to be undamaged.

Sara's peripheral vision registered a figure appear in the destroyed doorway. As she turned to face the person, she noticed his arms come up.

********************

Officer Pitts was smashing through the front door of the Coronet before he even realized that he had crossed the street to get there. The adrenaline in his system had him wired and ready for whatever was happening on the building's third floor.

The desk manager of the hotel was still staring in terror at the stairs in the lobby as Pitts sprinted past.

"Call 911!" Officer Pitts ordered without breaking stride on his way to the stair well. Sprinting up the stairs, again he wondered what the deal was with the woman that Captain Peters had assigned him to watch over.

********************

The pair of firearms in the darkly clad man's hands began to spit fire. Sara could feel the bullets pushing out of the weapons barrels and through the air. She turned to duck and reached out with her abilities. The familiar flames erupted in the air between her and her would be assassin and no bullets found their mark.

"God damn it!" The assassin cursed. "Not this time, not this time!"

Suddenly Sara recognized the man as one of the assassins who had tried to kill her and Detective Miller in Kansas City. The man stood his ground in the hallway and quickly reloaded his weapons with new magazines. Again the two weapons began to spit out their deadly rounds. Sara again pushed out with her abilities, however despite the eruption of the expected flames, these rounds impacted all along the front side of her body. Small bloody wounds erupted across her front and Sara instinctively dove for cover.

The sound of the assassin's weapons was temporarily replaced by the sound of a larger caliber weapon.

********************

The corner to his front would take him to the hallway that had rooms facing the street. Officer Pitts readied himself and double checked his weapon. It had been a long time since the last time he had been forced to discharge his weapon in the line of duty. Most officers acted cavalier about having to do that, however down deep they all took it very seriously. It took one time for Pitts to learn to never act cavalier about it again. With his weapon ready, he rounded the corner.

The hallway was filled with smoke and debris. Someone had set off some sort of explosive in the hall. The detonation had produced mostly fire damage and Pitt wondered why the fire alarm and sprinklers hadn't already gone off. Places like the Coronet often allowed their safety systems to degrade to uselessness rather than pay for the maintenance.

Midway down the hallway stood a man dressed from head to toe in black. His long trench coat was pushed behind him and in both hands were snub nosed MP5 sub machine guns. He continued to unload both weapons through the doorway of one of the rooms. Officer Pitts leveled his weapon and took aim at the chest of the man.

Breathing out and squeezing the trigger, Officer Pitts' weapon lurched in his hands as several rounds flew down the hall. The man in black spun sideways and looked down at his chest and side. Instead of falling to the floor, the man turned and looked toward Officer Pitts. Bringing both of his weapons back up, he began to pelt that end of the hallway with the two weapons.

Officer Pitts watched as the rounds walked up the hallway toward his location. He pulled himself around the corner and observed as the rounds began to tear up the walls near him. Suddenly a crash sounded out from that part of the hallway and the rain of bullets stopped. Thinking that the man might be reloading, Officer Pitts spun around the corner with his weapon level. The man in black was no where to be found.

********************

The floor of her room at the Coronet was dirtier than it looked. Sara found herself lying beside the bed with small bleeding wounds all across the front of her body. The ringing in her ears seemed to have gone away though. She could still hear the sound of the weapons fire, but for some reason the assassin in her doorway had decided upon another target.

Finding her feet, Sara looked to the doorway and found the assassin facing down the hallway to her left and unloading his deadly weapons. She realized that he had temporarily forgotten about her and that this was her opportunity.

Taking up a fast sprint, Sara headed straight for the merciless killer. The man was so focused on something at the end of the hallway that he did not notice her approach. Sara lowered her shoulder and rammed the man going as fast as she could. Before she knew it, they were on the floor in another apartment. Sara looked behind her and realized that they had gone straight through the thick brick wall on the opposite side of the hallway from her door.

Below her laid the unmoving form of her would be assassin. His shallow breathing indicated that he was still alive, but not in good condition. Sara began to stare at the man's face and lost herself wondering if he had been the assassin who had killed her family.

"No body move!" A voice behind her ordered. Sara slowly raised her hands.

"I'm not going to try anything," Sara began to explain, "this man attacked me."

Officer Pitts moved slowly around to where he could see both of their faces.

"Ok. You can get up, but don't do anything sudden."

Sara slowly stood up and looked over at Officer Pitts. His light skin and bald head made him look imposing. At a closer inspection however the young man appeared frightened but maintaining control. She looked down upon her attacker as he was beginning to slowly move.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Are you a cop or something?"

"Yeah, sorry." Remembering that he was not in uniform, Officer Pitts reached into his jacket and produced a badge. "I was assigned to watch you by Captain Peters." Sara wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign.

"Fine, but you can stop pointing your weapon at me. I won't hurt you and I AM going to get some answers out of this guy." Sara reached down and knocked the two sub machine guns away from the assassin's hands. Grabbing the man by the shirt she picked him up and held him so that his feet dangled several feet off of the ground. She could feel the body armor under his shirt as she held him aloft.

"Holy shit!" Officer Pitts was suddenly aware of Sara's special abilities.

"Who are you? Why are you trying to kill me? Why did you kill all those people in Kansas City? WHY DID MY FAMILY HAVE TO DIE?" The last question screamed out of Sara at the top of her lungs.

The assassin simply laughed. Blood trickled out from between his teeth and Sara suddenly became aware of the gunshot wound under his right arm. As he continued to laugh, she shoved him away crashing his body onto a table several feet from where she stood. Slowly Sara walked over to the man and pulled him back up by his collar.

"I'll tell you nothin," the man hissed into Sara's face. "He is going to kill you both now."

"Who? WHO?!?" Sara screamed into the face of the assassin. "Who sent you to kill me?"

"We can get you medical aid and protection," Officer Pitts had finally gotten over seeing Sara pick up and throw as 200 lbs man across a room with ease. "The police will…"

"The police can't do shit," the assassin interrupted. "You couldn't protect me if you wanted too. I'm a dead man, I failed twice. There is no way he won't kill me."

"Who?!" Sara was getting tired of playing this game. "Who?!"

The assassin simply laughed until he began to cough up blood. Sara dropped the man to the floor. Within a few seconds his coughs turned to gurgles as he began to pass. Soon his body quit moving and be became just another dead end in Sara's quest.

********************

"What's going on here?" Officer Pitts demanded from Sara. He had long since re-holstered his weapon, but he still didn't know if he could trust the woman before him. "Why did this man try to kill you?

"Have you heard about what happened in Kansas City two days ago?"

"Yeah."

"Well, my family were some of those killed." The revelation seemed to quiet Officer Pitts for a moment. "It seems that all the murders were in relation to a drug case that my husband was the Public Defender on. After the dirt bag was convicted, murders start to occur all over the city to people involved with or associated with people involved with the case. This…this corpse was one of the assassins that tried to kill myself and a detective IN a police station."

The news shocked Pitts. He had heard that something major had gone down in Kansas City; however he had been too busy to really look into the stories.

"What about you then?"

"What do you mean…?" it took minute for Sara to realize what the officer was questioning. "I am one of those mutants."

"Your kidding right?"

"Nope," she responded, "don't ask me too much about it because I simply do not understand it myself. So what now?"

"Let's check this guy out and make sure that he doesn't have anymore tricks up his sleeve." Patting down the corpse of the assassin, Officer Pitts found nothing to identify the man. Emptying his pockets resulted in several more magazines for various weapons, a couple of grenades and knives and a scrap of paper.

Sara picked up the scrap of paper while Officer Pitts consolidated the weapons and ammo. Looking over the scrap of paper Sara found felt a chill run down her spine at the sight of the Coronet's address: 1345 Paper Street. She sat there and thought about the hand that had written the address,

"Was it the hand of the person responsible for all the death that had come to surround her?"

The scrap of paper was from a piece of stationary and although the name of whom or whatever the stationary went to had been torn off, the address was still present.

"Do you know what is at 2800 Windward Boulevard?"

"I can find out." The plain clothes officer produced a small handheld radio and held it up to his mouth, but paused momentarily. "Are you sure you're alright?" The bloody holes along the front side of Sara's body looked painful. "I could get you to a hospital."

"No," responded Sara, "it is not nearly as bad as it looks."

Officer Pitts squeezed the transmission button on his radio and called to his dispatcher. He could hear the sound of sirens in the distance and knew that the police and fire departments were already on their way. Quickly he confirmed his status and informed the dispatcher of what had happened, minus a few specific details. Next he asked the dispatcher to relay to him what was located at 2800 Windward.

Sara stood stunned at the response.

"The Hawthorn Hotel."