“That’s a hell of a sniffer you have there. What you describe is probably some sort of accelerant. If you’re right, then the same thing was used at all three fires. But why New York? Seems like a bit of an outlier.”
“I don’t know. Just telling you what I noticed. Figured you could make some calls. If they’re all connected…”
“I see where you’re headed. Thanks for stopping by…and good job out there saving those people. Most of us think you’re pretty cool.”
“Most of you?”
“There are a couple guys around here worried you might become some kind of vigilante. There are some stories going around, couple incidents in Clifton.”
“Clifton’s a weird part of town, all those college kids.”
“Well, I’ll make some calls about the fires. You need anything else, stop by, or just give us a call.”
“Will do.”
“What did the cops say?” Franklin asked when Walter walked in the door.
“Said they’d take a look at it. I’m telling you, all those fires were the same. I don’t know why. I don’t know what kind of bastard would burn down apartment buildings. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Someone testing you?”
“Now that doesn’t make any sense either.”
“I don’t know. The first building, then another one right after that, then another? It would be a good way to see how fast you are.”
“It would, but I was hardly moving all out. Not as fast as I was the first time I went to Africa.”
“I’m just saying. That’s what I would do if I wanted to get an idea how powerful you are. Time how fast you move from one to another.”
“That hardly tests how powerful I am, only how fast I can move.”
“You don’t even know how powerful you are. We haven’t tested your strength.”
“I know I’m pretty strong. I’m afraid to punch someone now.”
“But we don’t really know how strong you are, or how invincible.”
“The bullets didn’t do much.”
“No, but what about larger weapons? You don’t want to find that out the hard way.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll go out later and try to lift some big stuff. Maybe start with that clunker I have parked on the street.”
“What if you drop it?”
“I have faster ways of getting around…but first things first. How are your studies coming along?”
“Well…I…got on the site.”
“That’s what I figured. Get on there now and get at it. I’m headed outside for a bit.”
Walter grabbed a leash and Otis stood up, anticipating a walk.
“Come on buddy,” Walter said, picking up the dog and carrying him out the door under one arm. It wasn’t until he got outside that he realized what he had done.
‘Otis has to weigh 250 is he weighs a pound,’ he thought.
His clunker was no different than lifting the dog. It was no more difficult than picking up a jug of milk. He tested that by picking the car up, flying to Kroger, putting the car in a parking spot, coming back out with a few bags of groceries, loading them in the car, and flying back home. He then took Otis out of the car and walked him around the neighborhood for a few minutes before bringing him and the groceries in the apartment.
“How’d it go, old man?” Franklin asked.
“That’s Mister Old Man to you, kid. The car was nothing, like picking up that lamp there.”
“Better not let Otis get used to being carried around. I might not be able to pull that off.”
“No, we had a good walk.”
“You picked the car up pretty easy?”
“Took it to Kroger and filled it with groceries.”
“Lot of people do that. Parking lot’s full every day.”
“You see anyone else carry their cars and set them down in the parking lot?”
“Can’t say I’ve ever seen that. You said it was easy?”
“Yeah, felt like it weighed five pounds.”
“And what have we learned from this little exercise? You can pick up a ton like it’s nothing, but we still don’t know really how strong you are.”
“And what have you learned while I was away?”
“Made some pretty good progress, actually. I remember most of the science stuff form school. Math…well…I best study up on the math. You know, I got okay grades.”
“Then why didn’t you finish?”
“That last foster home…let’s just say I couldn’t stick around there.”
“You couldn’t just report whatever was wrong and get put someplace else?”
“Maybe…I don’t know…had to get out fast.”
“You care to talk about it?”
“Not really. Maybe later.”
“You can’t keep it buried forever.”
“I said later, okay?”
“Okay, so about the test? You think you’ll be ready soon?”
“Yeah man, just gotta brush up on the math stuff. Give me a few days. How about you? Any more super stuff in the works?”
“You know how that goes. I see anything, I’ll do what I can do, but man I’m getting annoyed just going out in public. You know how it was in Kroger? Six people in the cereal aisle put what they were buying back and picked up the brand I bought. I turn a corner and there are another dozen people wanting something autographed. ‘Walter, take a selfie with me, sign my receipt’…man kid, it was tiring.”
“I told you about the secret identity, but you didn’t listen.”
“And that’s not the first time you’ve reminded me of that either. I just want to relax a bit before…what was that?”
“What was what?”
“A woman screaming, someone’s in danger.”
“Guess we can add super hearing to your list. Second time on that one.”
“Well kid, I’ll be right back. Care to put away the groceries?”
“Sure thing, Gramps.”
Walter left the apartment, checking to see if anyone saw him leave. The last thing he needed was for people to know where he lived. He could still hear the woman screaming. He flew up a thousand feet and tried to pinpoint the direction it was coming from. It seemed to come from the west. He flew that direction, homing in on the sound as it got louder and louder. He was near Delhi when it got louder and he came down to street level, eventually landing in front
