Saturday, April 18, 2020

Miley Virus in "Sick Powers - #3"

A fire engine screamed past just as Miley emerged from the side street.

Guess that accounts for the siren.  Not the hospital cops after all.

Still better keep moving.

She walked along the main street, quickly as she could without appearing to be running.  No need to attract attention.  The face mask was more than enough.

Her eyes kept down at the sidewalk, she hoped to minimize the impact of the mask.

I wish I had one of those high-collared trench coats.  That would be perfect.  Other than making me look like a flasher.  Not exactly the look I’m going for.

She stuck to cover as well as she could.

Blend in with your surroundings, Miley.  That’s right.  You’re a chameleon.  Invisible.

“Pssst.  Hey, face mask.  Yeah you.”

She stopped and looked up.  So much for invisibility.

“Pssst.  Over here.”

Somebody was beckoning her into another dark side street up ahead.

Her antenna went up immediately.

She started walking again.

Maybe I should just keep on going.

“Face mask!  Quick, get in here!”

The boy was waving her in frantically.

Her gut told her to go with him.  She was as surprised as anybody.

No sooner had she disappeared into the side street than she turned back and saw the procession of hospital security vehicles pass.  They were rolling slowly at search speed with amber lights flashing.

“See what I mean?” the boy said. “If you stay out in the open they’ll have you for sure.”

“Thanks.  I owe you one.”

“That’s right. Remember that.”

“Okay.  Why did you help me anyway?”

“I saw how you handled Brick and everybody before.”

“Oh.  You’re with them.” She turned to leave.  Open lighted spaces and hospital security be damned.

“No man, you got it wrong.”

She stopped. “I’m not exactly a man, so I guess you got it wrong, kid.”

“Kid?  I’ve been taking care of myself since forever.  I ain’t no kid.”

“What’s your name?”

“Rufus.  What’s yours?”

“Miley.”

“What were you saying to Brick and everybody?  You’re sick or something?  That really what’s up with the freaky mask?”

“I … carry a virus.  I’m not sick like I don’t feel sick.  But people can catch it from me.  Even my dog caught it from me.  He died too.”

“Seriously?  Damn.”

“Yes.  Exactly.”

“Am I gonna die?”

“Eventually.”

“Right now?  From you?”

“You should be okay.  As long as you don’t touch my skin.  And as long as I don’t breathe on you.”

“So far so good then.”

“Best if you keep you distance,” she said.

“Thanks for the tip.  I think I’ll do that.  We’d better get going.”

“Going where?”

“Let’s get off the street,” he said. “It’s gonna be morning soon.  In the light there ain’t nowhere to hide.”

“Sounds good to me.  I could use a little rest.  Do you have any … food?  I’m starved.” Her stomach had been growling so loudly it was embarrassing.

“Not really.  Don’t suppose you have any money?”

“Not really,” she said.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning no,” she said, “I don’t have any money.”


“That’s okay Miley Virus.  We’ll get some.  We’ll just have to employ some alternative methods.”


###
By Harlowe Pilgrim

Copyright 2020 Cock and Bull Publishing, LLC

Harlowe Pilgrim’s books are available at Amazon, iBooks,
Smashwords.com, Books-A-Million, and most other online booksellers.

“There’s more to life than dodgeball, you know.”


###

“There’s more to life than dodgeball, you know.”

“You’re waxing philosophical today.”

“Hey,” Ben said, “I saw it in a fortune cookie or something.”

Jake picked up a ball and bounced it off the wall.
“It’s just that … it’s discouraging.”

He bounced another ball off the wall.

“I hear you,” Ben said. “Of course it’s discouraging.  That’s what being an teenager is all about, Jakey.  At least, it’s one of the things it’s all about.”

Another ball bounced off the wall, harder.

“And it’s frustrating,” Jake said, sounding angrier.

“What I just said,” Ben said. “Same thing … just insert the word ‘frustrating’.”

“And I know …” Jake wound up to throw again.

Ben’s eyes grew large as saucers, the rubber ball in Jake’s hand having become engulfed in a glowing, multicolored sphere of energy.

Which his disgruntled friend didn’t seem to notice.

“Ummm …” Ben said. “Jake?”

Jake didn’t hear him.

“I know … I’m not … A LOSER!”

He heaved the glowing ball.

And it smashed through the block gymnasium wall like a wrecking ball.

Jake and Ben looked at each other.

“WHOAH!” Jake said. “Did you see … that?”

I would never call you a loser,” Ben said, eyeing his friend’s handiwork. “Please don’t throw anything at me.”

###

Superhero Story 2 is 100% fun, and appropriate for all ages!

Available at AmazoniBooksSmashwords.com,
Books-A-Million, and most other online booksellers.


Saturday, April 11, 2020

Miley Virus in "Sick Powers - #2"



The security motorcade pounded through the streets, tires squealing and amber lights flashing, a posse in hot pursuit.
Head of Security of Bollinger was at the wheel of the lead car, accompanied by Doctor Stone and the nurse.

“Explain to me,” Stone said, “why the laundry company’s security cameras work but the hospital’s do not?”

Bollinger did not answer, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

The road ahead, in particular the alarming at which it approached, held the attention of the nurse in the back seat as well, wide-eyed and gasping when she wasn’t covering her eyes and trembling.

“Bollinger!” Stone said. “I asked you a question!”

“What?” His focus broken, the car veered into a mass of 
trash cans arranged alongside the road.

The impact sent cans and their filthy contents flying into the air and raining down upon the rest of the security parade.

“Keep your eyes on the road!” the nurse screamed. Doctor Stone turned back and glared at her. “Please.  Please don’t distract him right now.”

She could see Bollinger peering back in the mirror.
“Looks like that was a … strike,” he said. “No … wait … only a spare.”

“I’m sure, Nurse Hatfield, that Mr. Bollinger can drive and respond to inquiry at the same time.”

“That’s right,” he muttered. “Race car drivers get interrogated all the time while they race.  All in a day’s work, Bollinger.  Trash can bowling with cars and whatnot.”

“Whatever it takes,” Stone snapped. “That’s your day’s work.  It’s either your day’s work or I’ll get somebody else.  Understand me?”

“I understand.  Don’t tempt me.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

Nurse Hatfield noticed his glance back at her in the rearview.

“Just please be careful,” she pled. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“That’s why we’re all here nurse,” Stone said. “To save lives.  Precious little lives.”

Nurse Hatfield sunk back into the seat and looked for something else to focus on.  The view through the front had become too much.  And likewise the company.

“To answer your question, Doctor Stone.” Bollinger took care not to allow his attention to wander from the road again as he spoke. “As I explained before, the hospital’s camera outage was due to a network issue or a software problem.  Just a hiccup.  Anyway, the laundry did not have one.”

“A hiccup.”

“Exactly.  Fortunately.  Because the laundry place did not have a hiccup, we do know that the target emerged from a laundry cart and fled their establishment.  Nobody saw her but … the cameras did.”

“The target?” Nurse Hatfield said. “She’s a young girl.  I’m not comfortable with you using such terms to refer to her.  Targets get shot at.”

“That YOUNG GIRL,” Stone said tersely, “became a TARGET when she escaped.  She might as well have stolen a weapon of mass destruction.”

“A WMD?” Bollinger said.

“She’s no less dangerous.  And she’s rogue.  Completely out of our control.  But not for long.”




The girl stopped to rest and look around.  It felt like she’d covered a lot of ground.  She hoped she really had.  But probably not enough, she thought.  Better press on.

While she hung back in the shadows, ahead of her the cityscape opened up into a bright thoroughfare, bustling with cars and people even at that late hour.  Her stomach growled as her eyes went from fast food place to fast food place.  Seemed like it had been weeks, maybe months since she’d last tasted a decent, greasy meal.

“Fat chance,” she muttered. “Probably clear out the whole place.  Maybe infect the whole place.  Maybe the drive thru if I had a car.  If I had some money.”

CRASH!

She turned back to face the noise behind her.  Straining her eyes into the darkness, she could make out nothing.

CRASH!

Still saw nothing but the black of night, and didn’t like it a bit.  She started in the other direction, away from the noise, toward the light at the mouth of the side street.

Then she stopped.

Filing across the street ahead of her were several shadowy figures twilit by the glow wandering in from main street.  The figures were of varied shapes and sizes, all menacing to a girl who was where she did not belong.

Anywhere.

Must be some kind of street gang.  Maybe, she thought, they were a nice street gang.

Be serious, Miley.

The reek of danger and desperation penetrated her facemask.  Probably not a great sign.

She retreated a few steps.  Her inner voice said, “Girl, you’d better run.”

CRASH!

They must be behind me, too.

The figures she could see on the light side were approaching.

Nowhere to run.  She felt movement behind her as well, their closing footsteps a tightening noose.

“Your noose, not mine.”

Their footsteps shuffled to a stop.

“What did you say?” One of them demanded.

“I was just talking to myself, I guess.  No.  I wouldn’t have said it aloud if I hadn’t wanted you to hear.  So … I guess I was just letting you know.”

“Letting us know?” one of them said. “HA HA!  Letting us know WHAT?  You don’t wanna share, little sister?  We might have guessed THAT.”

They surrounded her in laughter.

“But if you don’t wanna share … see, it might not be your lucky day.”

More laughter.

She sighed.

“Don’t feel bad about it little sister.  Life has its little ups and downs.  Even for rich girls lost in dangerous neighborhoods.”

“Hey Brick,” someone else chimed in. “What makes you think she’s rich?”

“I just know, HA HA!  She got to be richer than us!”
More laughter.

They reminded her of a howling pack of wolves.

“Hey Brick, you see her mask?  What’s going on with that crazy mask?  Some kind of freakshow?”

“You heard him, little sister?  What’s up with that freaky mask?”

“I tried to tell you.  I’m sick.”

“I’ll tell you what, we’ve been told the same thing, HA HA!  Ain’t gonna bother us any.”

“I mean, I have a sickness.  I’m Ill.”

“Yeah right, I bet.  Take off the mask.  Show us what you look like.”

“I can’t”

“I bet you’re pretty under there, come on.  Lose the mask.”

“If I lose the mask, you’ll get infected.”

“Ohhh, I’ve been infected before.”
“You’ll get infected and die.”

Somebody cackled. “You ever die before, Brick?”

The others laughed.

“Not exactly yet, I haven’t.  An I don’t believe that I’m gonna tonight.  The mask … take it off.  Now.  Let’s see.”

“I can’t.  I already have too much to bear.  You don’t understand, it would be a big mistake.  Too many have paid the price.”

“Get a load of this,” Brick said. “Are you serious or what?”

“What I have is dangerous … people have died.  My family … others … I’m sure there is … somebody … looking for me right now.”

“Looking for you?  Like there might me a ransom?”

“Looking for me like you’d better not give me any trouble or maybe I WILL take this mask off.  I’d feel bad about it … but if it’s a choice between you … and me …”

“Okay okay,” Brick said. “Take it easy.”

“You believe her, Brick?” one of them said.

“I don’t believe her,” another said.

“This chick’s a weirdo … let’s move on to the next one.”
Brick stared into her.  “Mmm … I don’t know.  I really don’t.  Tell you what.  We’ll let you go … and you just count yourself lucky none of us feel like maybe dyin’.”

“You made a wise choice.”

“Yo … weirdo … whatever.  Just get out of here before we change our minds.”

Just then the sound of a siren pierced the night.

“You guys hear that?” Brick said. “Geez … everybody scatter … I don’t wanna get PINCHED tonight either.”

With those words the gang was in motion and within seconds had melted into the night.

“I think they have the right idea.  I’d better scatter, myself.”

She was already moving, away from the sirens and away into the night.


“Nice place to take a walk.”

###
By Harlowe Pilgrim

Copyright 2020 Cock and Bull Publishing, LLC

Harlowe Pilgrim’s books are available at Amazon, iBooks,
Smashwords.com, Books-A-Million, and most other online booksellers.

"Business is about to pick up"


###

“Now listen closely,” The Boss continued.

“We’re listen’in, Boss,” The Rustler said.

“I know we’ve been lying low lately … but business is about to pick up.”
Powder Keg pounded his fist into his hand. “Sounds good to me—now you’re talkin’.”

“And the first order of business is, we have a chance to flatten our largest obstacle.”

“Captain Olympia?” said Ragnar the Red.

“The Machine Ranger?” The Rustler said.

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that two obstacles, Boss?” asked Powder Keg.

Obstacles, then.  It’s the FLATTENING of them … THAT is the important part, you see.  If we can eliminate those two despicable vermin … then we’ll own the city.”

“But Boss,” The Rustler said. “Don’t we already own the city?”

“A fair enough point.  Think of it this way: right now, we hold the city in our hands.  Once we eliminate those two, we’ll own it lock, stock, and barrel … nobody will be able to touch us.  No law enforcement … no nothing.”

“The Boss is right,” Powder Keg said, “that does sound better.”

“You think?” said Ragnar the Red. “Of course it’s better.”

“And once we own the city … we’ll expand throughout the country … and from there … THE WORLD!”
The villains clapped their hands and cheered.


“Thank you,” The Boss said. “You’re too kind.  Now knock that off, and let me tell you how we’re going to do it.”

###

Superhero Story 2 is 100% fun, and appropriate for all ages!

Available at AmazoniBooksSmashwords.com,
Books-A-Million, and most other online booksellers.


Saturday, April 4, 2020

Miley Virus in "Sick Powers - #1"






The cool night hit her like a breath of fresh air.  Through her facemask.

“I should lose the mask,” she thought. “But it’s not safe.  So much for being inconspicuous.” She ran for the dark alleyway. “If I’m gonna stand out, I’d better move fast.”

Once sheltered by darkness, her pace slowed to a brisk walk. “This will work until a get my bearings.  Where the heck am I anyway?”

###

“Gone?  How can she be gone? Are you sure?” The stern woman looked none too pleased.

The nurse braced herself like she was expecting a blow. “She is not in her room, Doctor Stone.  I’m sure of that.”

Stone growled. “We’d better find that girl.  Or else.”
“I understand.”

“Get finding, then.”

The nurse turned to go, but stopped short as a man in uniform came in through the door.

“Have you heard?” Doctor Stone demanded.

“Yes.”

“I spoke to the detail,” the nurse said, “on my way to see you.”

“That’s nice,” Stone said. “And appropriate.  The security should be the first to know.” She seethed. “In time to keep an escape from happening!”

The nurse and the man each took a step back.

“Bollinger.  Do you know anything?”

“Yes, I have some information.”

“Good.  Apparently how to run security at a hospital has escaped you, much like our patient.  What in the name of incompetence DO you know?”

“We have gone to the security footage.”

“Good, that seems sensible, every inch of our facility is on camera.”

“We don’t know how she got out of her room.  Those cameras were unfortunately … offline.”

The nurse braced herself again.

The head of security was placid.

Doctor Stone scowled. “Offline.  Of course they were.”

“Network issue, I believe.  Or maybe a software problem this time?  One of those, I’m pretty sure.”

“You must be kidding me!  So many heads to roll … so little time … we MUST track that girl down!  Her sickness makes her so dangerous … for the public … and for me … and for all of you!”

“I think I have a pretty good idea where she is.”


“You do?  Oh you’d better play your cards right here mister, you might survive this …”
###
By Harlowe Pilgrim

Copyright 2020 Cock and Bull Publishing, LLC

Harlowe Pilgrim’s books are available at Amazon, iBooks,
Smashwords.com, Books-A-Million, and most other online booksellers.


Sunday, August 27, 2017

Trouble South of the Border


###

“Kirk,” Doctor Rhoads said.

“Uh …” MacPherson picked his head up off the couch. “Yeah … I was just …”

“Meditating?”

“Yes, I was meditating … while I was sleeping.”

“Oh, so you were multitasking.”

“Absolutely.” MacPherson grinned. “On the inside.”

Rhoads drove his wheelchair into the room. “Where else would you expect to find inner peace?”

“I don’t know.  Where?”

“It was a rhetorical question.”

“So what’s the rhetorical answer?”

Rhoads smiled. “I don’t know.  But thanks for coming down, Kirk.”

“No problem, buddy.  What’s up?”

“I told you I was collecting intel on that soldier … the one who’s stuck in the Mexican jail.”

“Yeah, I remember.  So what did you find out?”

“Answers that lead to more questions, mostly.”

“Yeah,” MacPherson said. “What’s new?”

“Freddie, would you fire-up the presentation, please?”

“It would be my pleasure, Doctor Rhoads.”

A picture of a young man in formal military dress appeared on a large screen on the  wall.

Freddie then began, “This is Corporal Shiloh Steele, U.S. Army Ranger.  Corporal Steel was apprehended by Mexican Federales on the wrong side of the border, with a sidearm on his hip and a rifle on his shoulder.”

“That's bad news,” MacPherson said. “Mexican law is not too friendly to gun-toting tourists.”

“It's definitely frowned upon, sir.”

“Must be his travel agent forgot to tell him to leave his gun collection at home.”

Something happened,” Rhoads said. “We don't exactly 

know what went down or why—supposedly, they grabbed him alone, and he didn't have a good explanation for what he was doing there.”

“Could it have been … official business?  Government stuff?  Some kind of border operation?”

“Not that anybody will say,” Freddie said. “Nobody knows nothing.”

“Yeah?  What's new?”

“No kidding,” Rhoads said.

“The Corporal,” Freddie continued, “is being held at a prison facility located just over the border.” An aerial map appeared on the screen. “The ‘X’ marks the spot, sir.”

“Ooh … that looks like a nice place to visit … but I wouldn’t want to be detained there.”

“Exactly,” Rhoads said. “And our guy has been there for six months.”

“SIX MONTHS?  Are you serious?”

“Deadly serious.  Which it is.  There have been multiple reports of threats against his life … as if the living conditions in a Mexican jail aren’t bad enough.”

“Is the Embassy involved?  Or the Army?  Heck—where’s the President?”

“AWOL.  Nowhere to be found.”

“I can’t believe everyone would just stand by, while one of our own rots in some foreign hellhole.”

“Neither can I,” Rhoads said. “But it wouldn’t be the first time.”

“And that’s a country we own … you’d think all it would take is a phone call from a government bigshot …”

“Agreed.  I guess that speaks to the ineptitude of the powers that be.  Either that, or …”

“Their willful negligence,” Freddie completed his sentence for him.

“Which is why,” Rhoads said, “I’ve started looking so closely into this.  I’m thinking about …”

“Nooo …” MacPherson said. “You’re not …”

“Actually, I am.”


“You’re thinking of breaking him out?”

###

Superhero Story 2 is 100% fun, and appropriate for all ages!

Available at AmazoniBooksSmashwords.com,
Books-A-Million, and most other online booksellers.