A Knight in No
Man’s Land
Prologue
It
had been a normal day, just like any other. Well, normal enough for a city
ridden with the world’s most wanted criminals. But you get used to it. I mean,
you can’t help but get used to it – murder rates and gangs become commonplace,
corruption and outright crime is a ‘what else is new’ situation. And while
inside you wish everything would just fix itself and the universe would be a
safe place where you could actually go to sleep at night without wondering if
you’ll live to see the next morning, on the outside, for everyone else to see,
you shrug and act like it’s nothing. So that’s what all the bad becomes –
nothing.
Anyway, where was I? Oh right – normal. My older brother, Justin, my dad, and I were walking home from the movies. We were laughing as Justin imitated the corny villain perfectly.
My dad had the greatest laugh – low and loud and booming, like Santa Claus, almost – just not “ho-ho-ho” like. Get him going and he’d slap his knees and tears would form in his deep brown eyes. Justin’s laugh was different – of a bit higher pitch, and it’d come out fast with little pause for breath, unlike Dad’s slower pace. Before Justin hit puberty he laughed like a squirrel. But he swore he’d kill me if I ever told anyone that. Truth was, he could never hit me. Sure, we wrestled, played around, just like any brother and sister. But when he got mad, which really wasn’t that much, he’d just get all quiet and sulk while channel surfing. I couldn’t stand that. I’d need conversation, action – anything but the Silent Treatment. So I’d annoy him until he wrapped me in a headlock – by that time we would have forgotten what it was he was mad at me for.
Argh – off track again….where was I going with this? Now I remember – walking home from the movies – just me, my dad, and my brother. We walked passed a deli, a Laundromat, a comic shop…
Did you ever wish you had a special power? Maybe be a mutant, like an X-Men or something? Justin kept oodles of comics in his room, and for two years he had a crush on a character named Jean Grey. I really don’t get it, I mean, she’s a colored picture for goodness sakes! But she could read minds. And she was telekinetic. I often wondered what it’d be like.
I also wonder, now, if I’d had that power, if I could have been able to stop what happened next.
Reportedly, it only lasted twenty seconds. After it ended, thousands of people were dead or missing, and millions more wounded.
I couldn’t think of another time where I prayed so desperately to be Jean Grey. Maybe then I could have done something, maybe I could have --
The newspapers told the rest of the world by the next morning.
The Cataclysm. The 7.6 earthquake that
destroyed
The
government decided it was hopeless to try and rebuild it. They gave people
times to get out; one winter’s night, at exactly
I
had nowhere to go. Neither did a few thousand other human beings who stayed
behind, it seemed. I was fifteen and completely alone.
My family was gone, and
My best friend, Melanie, also lost her parents. I’m staying with her now. Amazingly her house survived the quake. One of those World War II houses – brick, sturdy, and cozy.
NML (No Man’s Land) has existed for roughly a hundred days, now. I have no idea how long it will last, and, honestly, I don’t know how long we will either. Supplies are low and hard to find.
I’m really scared, though I’d never admit it aloud.
I’m really, really scared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mother Nature must really love tormenting us, I thought as I stared out the cracked window. My breath came out like smoke and lingered in mid-air every time I exhaled. I tugged my leather jacket closer around me. I sighed. It was the middle of March and snow still covered the ground.
“Can’t sleep either, huh,” a voice said from behind me.
“You know I can’t these days, Mel,” I replied.
“You okay, Jess?”
Melanie knows what
I’m feeling even if I don’t – inside and out. Sometimes, she’ll finish my
sentences for me, or have the same dream as I do. More than once we’ve been
mistaken for sisters.
“I was just thinking,” I fumbled uncertainly, not really sure how to approach what I wanted to say, “…you seem so sure that we’ll be all right.”
“What’s yer point?” came the sleepy reply.
“What makes you so sure?”
“He’s always protected us,” Mel said simply, followed by a yawn. “We’ll be safe.”
“So?” My words dripped with malice. “He hasn’t been seen in over three months!”
Melanie shot me a dark look. I was pushing it, and I knew it, but I plunged on.
“He’s not here,” I stated, as if was fact and not opinion.
That made her mad. It always bugs her that I don’t share her belief, while she always seems to have this unshakeable, solid faith in him. To me, the Bat is a legend, a myth. If he really existed, he’d be here – and all of NML would know of it.
“And the fact is, he’s not coming back,” I finished coldly.
Fire flashed in her blue eyes. I’d gone too far, but there was no way I was going to back down. Dad always teased me about my temper, said it was a good thing Justin hadn’t inherited it, or else he’d have to install sound-proof walls. I hated backing down from a fight, even more I hated admitting I was wrong.
She stared at me for a full minute, seething silently. “You never believed in him in the first place.” Her tone was icy and empty of everything but anger.
I glared back at her.
She stood and threw on her jacket.
“Where are you going?” I asked her, not really caring.
“Away from you.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
I turned back to the window. I heard a door slam, and soon spotted her kicking at a can in the middle of the street. She was facing the house, so I could see her muttering to herself.
Suddenly, she halted, staring straight at the building. “Jess, get down here!” she exclaimed. “You gotta see this!”
Yeah, we’d just been in the middle of a fight, but the longest we’ve ever been mad at each other was for three hours in the fourth grade, when Buddy Baker picked her to be on the soccer team instead of me. And she didn’t even like him.
I was out the door in a heartbeat.
It was even more freezing outside, but any thoughts of frostbite quickly vanished from my mind as I looked towards what Melanie was frantically pointing at.
My jaw dropped open. I was dreaming – had to be. On the brick wall of Melanie’s home was a symbol spray-painted in gold. The symbol was an outline of a bat.
***
These days, when you pass a sign on the street, it usually means on whose turf you’re intruding. Sort of an “Enter at your own risk” type of thing. But this – this was a sign of protection.
“He’s back,” Mel breathed.
I couldn’t say anything. The cold had gotten to me and frozen my nerves. My throat was raw, my vocal chords icicles. I opened my mouth to speak, but I found myself speechless, my lips numb – from shock or cold I don’t know. I continued to gape at the yellow silhouette – the sign of the Bat.
A shot thundered, reverberating throughout the abandoned buildings. Now my blood froze, but it wasn’t from the cold. A little bit more than terrified, Mel and I slowly turned around.
LoBoys – the gang that’s been overrunning our part of the district these past few months. They demand sustenance or weapons or shelter for their “protection”. Only we can’t protect ourselves from them.
“Food,” one LoBoy commanded. He had a Mohawk, and was carrying a smoking shotgun. Four more stood behind him. Two of them held baseball bats.
I gulped, feeling my head detach itself from my body, all limbs refusing to move.
“W-w-we don’t have anything!” Melanie stammered. She grabbed my elbow and dragged me backward carefully against the wall. I stood stupidly like a statue. The hair on the back my neck stood straight up, and I could feel Mel shudder as a cruel look came over the LoBoy’s face.
“Wrong answer.”
The gun exploded, and then Melanie was on the ground; her arm was bleeding and she was biting her lip. Tears poured down her face, but no sound came from her mouth.
Then the gun was
pointed directly at me. My mind was screaming a thousand different things – to
run, to yell for help, to get Mel out of here, to do something!
But I didn’t even dare to
breathe.
“Wanna try again?” the LoBoy inquired. He cocked the gun.
I told my muscles to move, but they wouldn’t obey.
His fingers moved to pull the trigger, and then everything started happening all too fast.
Something came whizzing, literally out of nowhere, and a black object hit the LoBoy’s hand. He cried out, clutching his injured wrist. The gun was in the snow.
I gasped as a black shadow dropped from the sky like lightning from the clouds. Already, a couple of LoBoys were cowering in fear. They didn’t run, but the horror in their eyes was obvious.
The shadow landed in front of me unnaturally silently. It stood there, tall, dark and foreboding. Then it spoke.
“Back off, kid.”
But the voice didn’t sound like it should. It was cold and unfeeling, just as I imagined, but not as deep and spooky as it was rumored to be.
The two LoBoys with the baseball bats moved forward to attack, the others hanging back with their leader.
But you can’t attack a shadow.
The figure punched one in the stomach, then dropping to the ground, kicked his legs. He fell instantly.
The other hoodlum swung his bat, but found only air. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and saw the shadow’s fist as it connected with his nose. He stumbled back.
“Wanna try again?” the dark figure asked. I could almost sense it smile, a mocking smile.
That was when they ran. If you’ve ever heard a storm end, then you know how the air is so still and quiet, you can hear a person’s heartbeat. And for a moment, that’s all I could hear – the throbbing of my temples and the sound of the bitter wind.
My own heart slowed. Then I remembered Melanie.
I dropped to my knees, helping her to sit up. I wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be all right. I couldn’t, though. I wasn’t sure…not about anything.
“T-t-told you,” she whispered weakly, and passed out.
I glanced up at the costumed figure before me, pleading with my eyes for some kind of help. I saw a yellow outline of a bat on its chest – but it wasn’t a man.
It was a woman.
The Batgirl knelt down next to me, examining the wound. She reached under her long, coal-black cape, and brought forth some bandaging.
“It’s only a flesh wound,” she told me. Her voice was gentle now, soothing. Even behind the mask, which covered her entire face, her eyes seemed to soften.
I could feel the tears welling up, and I knew the Batgirl could see. Embarrassed, I turned my head and blinked them away, focusing my attention to the white powder that was soaking my knees. I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Where are you staying?” she asked when I glanced up.
I pointed to the brick house. She nodded slightly, as if memorizing it. I watched her through my blurring vision.
“Are you alone? Besides your friend?”
It was my turn to nod, as my tears finally spilled over my cheeks. My voice was utterly useless. Batgirl carefully lifted Melanie’s limp body.
“Do you know where the MASH units are?”
Again, I nodded.
“She’ll be safe there,” she said. “You may go as well. No harm will come to you there. But know this sector is under my protection.”
She handed me something warm and soft. Gloves. I hadn’t owned any since the last pair was stolen from me in January. I stared disbelievingly at them. I looked up to thank her, but Batgirl had disappeared without a sound. Gone – just like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melanie recovered after a week, and so she returned home. We never saw the Batgirl again. But after a few weeks Mel got a bad case of food poisoning, so she went back to the MASH sector for treatment. She’s been there for two days.
It’s April, now. No Man’s Land has now existed for about four months. I was thinking about making one of those paper chains – the ones that second graders make to count down the days till Christmas – but, you guessed it, paper is extremely hard to come by.
Oh, did I mention? There’s talk that the Batman has returned.
But that’s mostly what any news is – just plain rumors. This rumor has actually been around for a couple of months now.
The Batman – yeah right. He’s abandoned us. Can’t anyone get that? All this stuff about him being back is just lies. He was probably smart and left with the rest. Yeah, the Bat’s back to restore order – and No Man’s Land will be over tomorrow and everything will be just the way it was before.
Note the sarcasm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I carried a small loaf of bread in my hand – the last of my dinner. I was craving butter, but didn’t have anything to barter with. I was walking back from the MASH units, where I had tried to gather any real information. My primary reason had been to visit Mel – she was doing a bit better, but was still weak from all that lovely vomiting.
“How are you feeling?” I had asked, though I’d known how stupid the question sounded.
She had smiled weakly, whispering, “Better, thanks.” She had then begun to cough, and reached for her glass of water. I had looked at her sadly – what had she done to suffer so much? What had any of us done?
After a few more minutes of frequently interrupted conversation – her hacking had been worse than usual that day – I stepped out to let her rest, promising to return the next day.
As I had started to find my way through the sick-inhabited tents, I caught a snippet of a conversation.
“More and more
come every day,” a woman was saying – I recognized the voice as that of the
kind Dr. Leslie Thompkins. She had founded this haven for the ill and wounded,
or those in need of a home. It – according to a tacit,
unwritten law of No Man’s Land – was the one safe place within the entire
vicinity of what once was
A man, sounding just as fatigued and worn replied, “And yet many leave healthy and happy thanks to your good services, Leslie.” He had a British accent and a warm tone to his voice, and it reminded me of my grandfather, who’d died a few years back. I immediately liked him. “You don’t give up.”
“But neither does he,” Dr. Leslie sighed. “And that’s what worries me. Every time he brings a new patient in, I wonder what the cost was to him and those involved.”
I inched closer to hear better. Who was “he”?
“He is the city’s hope, Leslie. Like you, he is one of few beacons of light this place has left. He’s doing this the only way he knows how – with the cape and cowl.”
My eyes widened. Peering though a small slit in the tent, I glimpsed a thin hand being placed on narrow shoulder – a small act of comfort that seemed to soften the good doctor’s temperament.
“I worry about
him, Alfred.”
A moment’s pause; I held my
breath.
“As do I.”
Though it was too late to remedy matters now that I had eavesdropped for a good part of their exchange, I felt like I was intruding on a private moment, and so silently slipped out.
So there I was, alone with my thoughts.
I passed a dark alley, feeling chills run down my spine – the kind you get when you just know that E.T. is hiding behind that closet door. I told myself I was just being paranoid, but started to lengthen my strides. I thought I saw movement from around the corner of my eye.
“Hey!” a voice from behind called out.
My pace quickened.
“Get her coat!” another yelled.
I ran as if my life depended on it. It probably did. I ran harder than I ever remembered. I rushed blindly through alleyways, leaping over garbage, losing my bread along the way, trying to evade them.
I looked behind me to see them gaining on me. I skidded to an awkward halt as I realized I’d raced straight into a dead-end street. Tremendous.
Five, six, eight of them were at the opening to the road. Slowly, they circled around me. I tried to run through, but they pushed me back to the ground. Closer and closer they advanced, surrounding me. I instinctively shut my eyes and put my hands above my head, as if that would do any good.
All of a sudden, I heard yelling.
“Run!”
“Get outta here, now!”
“It’s him!”
The sound of flesh pounding against flesh resounded throughout the alleyway. But who was doing the pounding?
I opened my eyes, and taking advantage of the distraction, kicked the nearest thug in the shins. As he lost his footing and tripped over my outstretched leg, I realized Justin had been right about bullies – as he’d told me the day Sarah Jacobson had teased me about my braces the first day of seventh grade – they’re really just wimps trying to feel better about themselves. Back ‘em into a corner and they back down real easy. I recalled laughing when Sarah got her braces right before freshmen year pictures, and I had just gotten them off. It was hard to suppress a smirk as I compared one of my would-be muggers to prissy Sarah Jacobson.
The guy fled, stumbling over rubble and debris. I moved to stand, but stopped abruptly as I observed the scene playing before me.
Another shadow – the Dark Knight himself.
He was different than I expected. But then, I never really thought much about him, so I didn’t even know what my expectations were.
He was really tall – that much I guessed. And, yeah he was intimidating – even I winced when his fist connected with a punk’s jaw – but…I wasn’t scared of him.
Because something in the way he moved, the way he fought, I knew somehow that this was his life. That he wasn’t doing this for the satisfaction of breaking bones, but for me.
And that meant something.
He was a hero not because I was gaping as he worked so swiftly and with such ease, and not because I knew if I was that piece of scum he was throwing into a wall just now I’d be terrified.
He was a hero because he could have done anything with his life, anything with today. He could have left No Man’s Land the day the bridges were blown. And maybe he did.
Immediately my admiration switched to accusation. So now he shows up. Leaving the rest of us hanging for how many months…What makes him think we’ll just forgive him all of a sudden? Simply kiss and make up?
But, that nagging voice in the back of my head rebutted, he chose to save me.
An awful feeling settled into my stomach.
Would he still have if he knew how much I’d doubted him? If he knew how much I’d hated him that he deserted us? How much betrayal I had just felt? How I hadn’t had the decency to even try to believe in him?
Yes, that voice said, yes, he still would have.
I swallowed the hot tears of anger and humiliation that had built up inside me. Tears I didn’t know had formed in the first place.
He expertly took down all eight of my attackers with rapid speed and precision. He wasn’t alone, though; another more brightly colored figure was also fighting, his movements fluid like a dancer’s, graceful and agile.
Batgirl, this new one, even Dr. Leslie and Alfred were connected somehow. Wasn’t he supposed to like, live in a cave or something? You know, ultimate seclusion? Since when did he have friends? And did he congregate those people to himself, or did somewhere along the line they come to him?
I knew Justin would say I was thinking too much, and almost as soon as it had started, the fight ended. From out of the shadows stepped the younger hero, dressed in red, yellow, and green. He offered me his gloved hand. I took it, my hand shaking a little.
I remembered Melanie talking about this one – Robin, I think he was called. Black hair, with lean muscles and a quirky smile…From the physical standpoint could have been eighteen or nineteen, but he couldn’t be more than sixteen years old… Geez, how young were superheroes these days?
“Robin,” Batman ordered, his tone a deep growl, “take Jessica to the MASH units.”
HOW DID HE KNOW MY NAME?!?!
Robin must have read the panicked look on my face, because he then reassured me, “He knows everything. It’s something you have to get used to.”
It was quick, and I almost thought I imagined it, but I could swear I saw Batman show the faintest glimmer of a smile. Then he vanished, flying upwards with a noise that sounded, well, like bat-wings.
“So Jessica,” Robin said once the Bat had disappeared. “Wanna take the scenic route?”
I was about to protest – to say I knew the way well and didn’t need his company, but then I realized how dumb the comment would have been. He had just assisted in saving my life, which meant to him I was a magnet for trouble. Then my brain registered what he had asked.
The flirt!
Or maybe I was overreacting. All teenage guys acted like that anyway, so why wouldn’t a superhero? I almost smacked myself. He’s not a superhero, I told myself disgustedly, simply a friendly guy who just happens to have saved your life only moments ago…and wear tights, a cape, and a mask. I nearly groaned aloud. Mel was definitely rubbing off on me and the worst part was I was this close to actually liking it.
My attention snapping back, I gave him a questioning look. He smiled knowingly, quirking up an eyebrow, and lifted an arm. A line shot out and attached to the roof above. He chivalrously extended a hand.
I was rendered stupidly speechless once again. So much for the tomboy persona I was trying to keep. Smiling, half in a daze, I accepted his invitation without wavering, and soon found myself on a rooftop that overlooked our broken city. For a brief second, I wondered who the person underneath the mask was. Who had he lost along the road he had taken as an urban legend – not just in No Man’s Land, but throughout his career as Robin? I wondered what had made him choose this life. And I wondered why he stuck around. Or why he came back.
Whichever it was, I was instantly glad that he did.
“So.” He shot off another line to a building far away. “Ever flown before?” he asked. He seemed to be enjoying this, and I wanted to grin at this sign of “guyness” as Melanie put it. A spark of humanity in a person supposed to be unlike any of us normal citizens.
What about Batman, I wondered. To surround himself with such good people – people I knew couldn’t live talking in two-word sentences – he must have some humanity in him too, albeit maybe not so obviously as the boy giving me a ride home. I briefly thought about what it would be like to live with Batman…
I shook my head and gave a wry smile.
My gaze flipping back to my companion, I saw him grin, obviously thrilled.
We stepped onto the ledge. Looking around me, it took a moment to orient myself. Everything looked so small and insignificant. For once the towering, overwhelming sight was not crumbled buildings and broken glass, but sky – endless sky. I stood there, completely in awe.
I felt a strong arm around me and nearly fainted. It felt like a dream – like something from a movie or a comic book. I waited for an orchestra to start playing, or fireworks or something. No such luck, though.
I pinched myself. It was real all right. As my anticipation grew, I could feel myself start to grin back.
“Hold on…” he said, flashing another brilliant smile. He pushed off the roof, with me hanging onto his neck; his grip kept me from slipping. And just before the line started to slack so we could begin our swing...
We flew.
My smile spread across my face like wildfire. I heard myself laugh, and he with me. The wind whipped at my face, and my hair streamed back behind me. A warm feeling arose and engulfed me as we soared through the night – the same feeling you get while on a roller coaster as you hit the biggest drop.
We began our descent to the MASH units – to Melanie. And once we arrived, I’d tell her that I now believed…. That I believed in him.
Maybe there is hope for