Week 27.4 – Plan D

Previously: Their stolen ambulance crippled, Cole is looking to get new clothes while Digger finds them a new ride. Or so Cole thinks. And now…

Cole ran to the clothesline, bare feet slapping against the pavement, trying not to think about the filth he might be running across. Which was ridiculous, he knew. You could not say with any certainty that this street in Shanghai was quantitatively dirtier than any given street back home in San Francisco. And besides, it wasn’t as if he could catch anything; Other than some super-bugs created by Rector Infector, he hadn’t been sick in fifteen years or more. He didn’t think he could get sick anymore.

And yet he couldn’t help feeling squicked out. The foreign street just felt so alienly icky against his soles. Too bad nobody hung their shoes out to dry on a clothesline.

Cole grabbed a pair of pants and hurriedly pulled them on as a door clattered open and a woman came out to yell at him. He let her get a good look at his silvery eyes and let a couple of sparks pop, and she ran back inside. Cole grabbed a shirt for himself, then looked over the other clothes hanging there to find something for Digger. He smiled.

When he turned around, he saw Digger’s feet hanging out the open back door of the ambulance as the sirens grew louder. “What are you doing?” he shouted as he ran back to the ambulance with the clothes tucked under his arm. “You were supposed to find us a car.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]“Run!” Cole said and darted up an alleyway, Digger hot on his heels.They dodged under clotheslines and hurtled garbage bins…[/blockquote]Digger backed out of the ambulance. “Looking for whatever they shot me up with,” Digger said. “Cause number one, it makes me awesome with my powers.”

“It makes you insane.”

“And number two, my head’s starting to hurt,” Digger finished as if Cole hadn’t interrupted. “Damn, it’s a mess in there.”

“Yeah, maybe because somebody kept flipping us.”

Police cars rolled to a stop just twenty feet away.

“Run!” Cole said and darted up an alleyway, Digger hot on his heels.They dodged under clotheslines and hurtled garbage bins before coming out into the next main street over. Digger ran to a blue compact, an old Geely, and got in. By the time Cole climbed in beside him, Digger had the car started up. He peeled out as Cole was shutting the door. “So where are we going?” Digger asked.

“West,” Cole said. He groaned as he pulled the shirt he’d grabbed over his head. “West out of town, then we’ll turn north once we get to Nanjing.”

“You don’t want to fly us straight there?”

“I’m not up to fighting any more missiles for a while,” Cole said.  “Time for a new plan. Keep your eyes open for a market. We need shoes and make-up.”

“Why?”

“Well, we’ve tried Plan A, Cooperating, and we tried Plan B, Fighting, and Plan C got us blown out of the sky. So it’s time for Plan D.” He tossed the other clothes he’d brought into Digger’s lap.

Digger looked down. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Cole shrugged. “What can I say?” Plan D for Drag.”

I have nothing more to add. Don’t miss tomorrow’s exciting episode!

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