MAN FROM TOMORROW
CHAPTER 9: FRIEND IN NEED

“Move back! I’m here to rescue you!” Kevin shouted against the door. The beating against the door didn’t stop at first, and he waited a moment to be sure whoever was inside would be out of the way. Then he pulled the door down with the force of his entire body, opening the dark, musky closet to the world of heat and smoke that surrounded Kevin. He spotted three children inside, two probably about the age of eight, and one much younger.

He immediately charged inside to embrace them, all three of which were crying and gladly flew into his arms. There was no time to spare, however, and he opted to secure them against his body before they knew what was happening or thought to run from him. After turning around to make sure there weren’t more kids, he raced out of the classroom, but only into a wall of smoke and fire. He’d only been in the room for about a minute, yet the fire had grown exponentially. The flames that began to surround him before, now barred his every path, and the heat no longer just pressed into his clothes, but his skin and muscles as well. The children began to fall limp in his arms, the lack of oxygen stealing all their strength.

There would be no safe way through the fire, and because of how fast it had grown, there was no time for him to check for any more survivors. No matter how badly he wanted to rescue everyone, the lives of the three children in his arms depended on him. If he were to save them, at the very least, he needed to get out and get out now. It was a tough decision, but it was one that had to be made.

Kevin covered the children with his arms, trying to guard them against the fire. He braced himself, and then dashed through the fire; the flames licking at his skin and clothes. It burned his clothes and ate through his skin, but he didn’t let it get to the children. He kept them in his arms, even if it slowed him down, even if he had to take the fire’s wrath for them.

There was too much running, and finally, he collapsed. The heat was still around him, the children still in his arms. His eyes closed.

Martin has been already on edge, but his eyes widened when a man burst through the flaming doors of the school. He barely made it out into the courtyard before collapsing, but there were children in his arms. Three tiny bodies protected by the giant of a man whose flesh was blistered and red and blackened from the heat, flesh practically on fire like the building itself.

To him, the body shape was unmistakable; there was no one else who could survive such a task. He watched in awe as several medical personnel ran out to the man with a stretcher and struggled to lift him onto it. Someone else dealt with the children, moments later. All of Martin’s guilt washed away. If Kevin was the one who saved the children left inside, then there was no way he started the fire.

Anita had moved long before Martin had; her eyes had found Kevin. She was following him to the nearest ambulance, Martin was slow to follow behind her. She spoke to the EMT while Kevin was being loaded inside, convincing them that she was related to him and wanted to go to the hospital with them. After a bit of a debate, they allowed Anita to be seated inside as a relative. Martin, on the other hand, had other plans.

The driver had hopped inside when Martin held the door open. The driver’s eyes widened with fear when Martin put a gun up to his face.

“Get out of the vehicle,” Martin demanded. The man didn’t argue with the gun. Once the driver was out, Martin jumped inside and flicked on the sirens, driving off through the path that’d been cleared for the ambulance. Anita didn’t realize what happened at first. She looked away from Kevin into the front of the vehicle to see where they were. Seeing Martin instead of the ambulance driver, she panicked, knowing what he intended to do.

“Martin! You have to take him to the hospital! He’ll die!” She screamed at him, furious that he was willing to risk the man’s life.

“We can’t take him to the hospital. There’s... there’s something different about him,” Martin paused, not sure what else to tell her. “It’s him that everyone is after; the hitman, the FBI, the Korean goons and god knows who else. We could put a lot more people at risk by taking him somewhere public,” Martin shouted over the rumble of the siren. It was only part of the truth- Martin was insanely curious about what made Kevin different. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get the information he wanted if he handed him over to the state’s doctors.

“A-alright,” Anita stuttered after a long silence. “I- I have a friend who works in the medical field. He’s not a traditional doctor, but he may be able to do something for him. If you are lucky, he might also be able to replace out more about Kevin and whatever it is you think makes him different.”

Martin considered her proposal for a moment. It was more convenient for all them if Kevin was kept alive as long as possible, and if he was going to do that, the man needed medical attention.

“Alright. Tell me where to go.”

And she did.

The sirens were turned off. “Martin, you know he didn’t do it, right?” Anita mumbled from behind, still sitting beside Kevin in the back of the ambulance.

She’d repeated the question several times over the course of their drive, but Martin wasn’t interested in responding. While Anita was aware of Kevin’s status as a terrorist, Martin wasn’t convinced that she understood everything about his actions.

Was she aware that Martin had already realized Kevin was innocent? He figured that he’d leave that for her to discover on her own, because if he told her he already knew, he may need to explain other things to her that she didn’t need to know.

On the side of the highway, he saw a sign that said ‘Welcome to Winchester’. Anita hadn’t said which city her friend lived in, but assuming her directions were correct, they couldn’t be much farther.

“Take this exit,” she said. She sounded a bit upset, but upset in a way that she was trying to hide. Martin stifled a sigh; he knew there was something she wanted to say, as his wife exhibited similar behavior.

Anita’s directions were specific. He followed them as he was instructed, but his thoughts were far from Anita; instead, he was thinking about Kevin. Martin felt guilty over the fact that he was hoping the man would die. While it would leave the little possibility of him learning more, the case would be over. He could take Kevin’s corpse to the FBI and let them deal with it. Perhaps, no more madmen hunting him and the woman he was starting to care about.

They’d already reached the city and as instructed by Anita, were driving into a moderately high-class residential area. The lawns were ridiculously well cared for, but Martin thought that the bright green, healthy grass looked out of place in the heat of the desert. All the houses were fenced off with their own security systems.

“The first house on the next street,” Anita said. Martin prepared to pull up on the street outside the house. But when they reached the house, he found that one could just pull into the driveway. It wasn’t because there was a gate in place, because there was- and it was a tall, cast-iron beauty at that- it had just been left open. Whether that was a regular thing, or it was left open by Anita’s request by phone in the ambulance, he didn’t really care. He was glad to be able to roll in without doing anything extra to hide the ambulance. An ambulance would be so easy to spot by their pursuers if they had any idea what happened at the school. Martin never doubted for a moment that someone knew.

Once at a full stop, Martin jumped from the vehicle and moved to swing open the large doors of the ambulance. He paused first, taking in the scene before him: Kevin laid motionless on the stretcher, and Anita sat by his side, both her hands wrapped around one of his.

Martin couldn’t help but wonder if she had feelings for the man. He shook his head, realizing that whether she had feelings for him, it didn’t concern him. Anita turned to look at him, her small body rising to help Martin slide the stretcher from the vehicle and onto the driveway.

Kevin grunted when the wheels touched the cement; it was the first sign of life that Martin caught since they left the fire. Martin and Anita looked at each other.

His flesh was blackened and blistering, the clothes reduced to cindering rags, his hair singed and melting. The odor of smoke and fire was thick on him, so thick that Martin retched. He turned away to take a breath of fresh air. Anita was jogging down the driveway and toward the gate, she closed the gate and latched it behind her.

She returned and worked with Martin to roll Kevin up to the top of the driveway, outside of the garage door. Anita walked to the side of the door, while Martin supported the stretcher. She opened a little panel on the wall and punched in a code. The door immediately began to rise, and within moments, they were pushing Kevin inside.

The place was almost dark. Only a few dull blue lights lined the room.

“Does your friend know we’ve come?” Martin asked. It was late to turn back now, and if they did, Kevin would probably die. They had to remove his oxygen supply when they took him out of the ambulance. Kevin’s wheeze was getting worse every time he breathed.

“Yes. I told him to be ready to treat a burn patient,” she said. Anita did something to make the garage close behind them; for a brief moment afterwards, the blue lights were all they had to guide them, Anita found the light switch.

The room lit up, and for a moment, Martin was a slave to his awe. Advanced medical equipment lined the walls of the oversized garage; it was set up to be a mix of a laboratory and a hospital room, something that Martin only saw before on television.

Anita secured Kevin against the far wall with a set of strangely accurate belts, confirming his suspicions. Her friend was far from a typical doctor. He watched her pull an oxygen mask over his face before speaking up.

He couldn’t hold back his morbid laugh.

“What is it?” Anita asked.

“I think your friend is a little more than a practitioner. I guess he decided he didn’t want to be a real doctor, and that caused him to lose his license. This looks more like a laboratory than a clinic,” Martin mused. Anita shrugged, offering him a smile.

“He likes to say that the system limited his talents,” she said. “I, on the other hand, say he just likes to break the rules.” Martin laughed, but from genuine amusement. At that moment he felt the tension between them evaporate. They smiled at each other.

The door of the house opened. It didn’t surprise Martin to see an older man wearing large glasses and a long white lab coat, with a pair of goggles strung over his head. He looked like the picture boy for a mad scientist organization.

“Anita, dear! How long it’s been...” He looked over to Kevin on the stretcher, his smile fading to a frown. “Greetings can come later. Let me examine your friend here.”

The scientist waddled towards Kevin and examined his body, though he made sure to slide his goggles over his glasses before getting too close. He murmured several thoughts aloud during his examination, but soon turned from the man and pulled several large machines toward him.

“I recall you mentioning that there were, how did you put it... Sensitive circumstances preventing from taking this man to a proper care facility?

I’m baffled as to how this man is alive at all. It would be good if you began explaining what’s going on here.”

The scientist began to work on Kevin, sticking an intravenous line into his arm. He measured his vitals. He started to clean up the ash and other debris from his body. Anita helped treat the blisters on his flesh, and after stripping him of his burnt clothes and rinsing his body, she rubbed a cooling ointment given by the ‘doctor’ over the burnt areas. She remained silent while she worked leaving Martin to explain the situation.

Martin spoke. “This man is the target of several organizations, one of them being the FBI, to which I belong. I’ve received orders to apprehend him dead or alive. I was told he was a terrorist that needed to be stopped before he made his next move. While I tracked and interacted with him thereafter, I began to suspect that there was something more than what met the eye.”

“Go on, “the ‘doctor’ said. He didn’t look up from Kevin, still working with Anita to properly clean and dress his wounds.

“I don’t think he’s normal. At least... not normal like us,”

He had never admitted those thoughts out loud. If he wasn’t quite human, was he... alien?? He gazed down at Kevin, whose burns were more severe than any human could possibly sustain and hope to live.

“I could have handed him over to the FBI and never learned the truth. This was the only option.”

The doctor chuckled, but turned to Martin and offered him a hand. “I’m Professor Antonio. You and I seem to be more alike than you think.” His chuckle disturbed Martin, but it was not meant in a bad way. He knew what Antonio meant; he wanted to know what many others dared not ask or pursue. And that’s what he did in his garage... in his laboratory, away from the prying eyes of the world.

“I won’t be able to run tests on... what is this man’s name?” Antonio asked.

“Kevin,” Anita answered just as Martin uttered “Joseph” Martin and Anita looked at each other uneasily.

“On Kevin then-easier to pronounce. Burns are tricky, they can take ages to properly heal and even if healed burns such as these will definitely leave a bad scar. We could be waiting weeks before I’m able to give you any answers,” he said.

“It won’t take weeks, probably” Martín said. “He heals much faster than a typical human. Just yesterday, he was shot in the leg, and after a few hours of rest, he was able to walk, wrestle away my gun, fight back against our attackers, kill them and successfully escape the scene before I could apprehend him again.

Antonio raised an eyebrow. “Well, then. Perhaps it won’t be more than a few days. Regardless... I believe you have a story to share with me.”

Anita and Martin were about to open their mouths.

“Yes, but before that, both of you have something to eat and drink. Anita, my child, you know your way around the house. There is some food in the kitchen. I know, both of you must not have had anything to eat or drink. Go freshen up.”

The next morning, Anita returned to the garage where they had left Kevin the previous night. The previous night was a long one. After they had freshened filled their stomachs and freshened up, they narrated their story to Professor Antonio. Anita hardly remembered falling asleep. After the daily morning rituals, she sought out the Professor. Walking up from the side, she saw that Antonio seemed to be starting some of his tests. Kevin was still lying unconscious while the Professor worked at a nearby lab table. She did not disturb him.

A day passed. Neither Martin did not see the Professor in that period. The Professor had asked them for time to run tests on Kevin. Meanwhile, Anita made meals for both of them. Martin was mulling over what had happened the last few days. Most of his time passed near the window where he kept on fiddling with the drapes in an effort to keep an eye outside. All said and done, Martin was a cop. And his mind was trained to think of the worst. Half of Martin’s mind was occupied with whom would attack them and when. Other than making meals or skimming through books from the Professor’s formidable library, Anita spent her time watching TV. On Martin’s behest, she reduced the TV sound volume to as low as it was possible to listen. Martin did not discourage her from watching the TV altogether as there was the possibility that they would be mentioned in the NEWS. Strangely, there was no news of an explosion in the auto shop, or the murder of three strangers on the highway or the missing savior of the school children, nor of the missing ambulance.

Before driving off with the ambulance the other day, Martin had disabled its GPS tracker. As far as he knew, whoever was following them could not possibly trace them electronically. Though the absence of any news was strange, it was not surprising. Martin had a feeling that whatever game was being played was played at the highest level. Those involved had to be extremely powerful. Unsurprisingly, the NEWS or rather the absence of NEWS reflected that fact.

The next day Anita went to the lab. She expected Professor Antonio to be in the lab long before she woke up, and she was right.

“How is he?” She asked the Professor turned Kevin’s still-burnt-not-yet-healed head in her direction.

“I guess He’s alive, “he said. He was barely able to stifle a yawn, and it turned out to be only a temporary feat. Then the Professor turned from the desk and looked away from Anita. Antonio held several sheets of paper in his hand, and from the way he kept them close, she was sure he was having difficulties deciding whether to show her or not.

“Mr Phillips was correct in more ways than you may believe. Kevin here has recovered and healed approximately five per cent of his wounds overnight, an outstanding feat and something I’ve never before seen or heard of. I took the liberty of beginning the mentioned tests, one of which is an x-ray to determine any internal injuries.

Well, the ideal would be to get a CAT scan. But you know, in these circumstances, it is not possible.” Said Antonio shrugging his shoulders.

“Can I see?” Anita asked, holding out her hand for the pictures she expected the Professor took. Antonio met her eyes for a moment, his hesitation clear.

“Certainly. If you examine the pictures side by side, you will notice differences in every part of the body. The skull is thicker, he has more heavy-set arms and legs, and he’s missing two ribs. Quite remarkable, wouldn’t you agree?” The Professor said.

“What other tests have you run so far?” She asked, and handed him back the photographs.

“Not much as yet, my dear. I was planning on testing his muscle structure and DNA tests, but accurate tests and comparisons will take a few days to complete. I won’t have anything else until then, but guesses,” he said.

“No problem. I’ll relay this information to Martin and get his thoughts. Figure out what you can, any information may help him greatly, I’m sure. As well... thank you for helping us. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”

“Your father was more than a friend to me, a brother actually. And moreover, I would never turn down the opportunity to learn something new, “the man laughed and turned back to work on his computer. She knew Antonio well enough to know that it was the truth. He sought knowledge as a form of empowerment rather than to achieve raw power and money. Unlike them, Antonio was happy with his decisions; she was happy for him. Anita walked out of the lab and back into the house.