Superman: Dawnbreaker (DC Icons #4)(69)

“What are you doing?” Clark demanded. “There are hundreds of people out there. Little kids!” Clark motioned toward the device strapped to Lana. “And you wanna set off a bomb?”

Corey shoved the barrel of the gun against Lana’s head. “I told you not to move!”

“Okay, okay.” Clark held up his hands. “But I don’t think you want to shoot that thing in this small space. Not with an explosive nearby.”

The man in fatigues lunged toward Clark, pinning his arms behind his back and looking to Corey. “What do you want to do with him?”

“Might as well tie me to the bomb, too, right?” Clark said.

Corey looked down at Lana, then back at Clark. “There would be a bit of symmetry to that.” He nodded to the guy in fatigues while turning his weapon toward Clark.

But Clark had no intention of resisting.

8:58

8:57





8:56


“Here’s what I don’t understand, though,” Clark said, looking at Corey. “Why sabotage your dad’s grand opening like this? Are you trying to undermine him? Put Wesco on top?”

Corey grinned and placed a hand on Clark’s shoulder. “We’re not pointlessly harming anyone. There’s something much, much larger at stake.”

Clark shrugged Corey’s hand away. “And how’s that?”

“Sir, we need to go now,” the man in fatigues said, motioning toward the ticking bomb.

Corey nodded before turning back to Clark. “You know, I actually sort of admire you, farm boy. Always trying to do the right thing. But you’re missing the bigger picture.”

“There’s no bigger picture than the hundreds of innocent people out there.”

“Wake up, Clark. Your beloved Smallville has never been anything more than a diversion to us.” He patted Clark on the head, and then he and the man in fatigues moved quickly toward the exit. Corey paused on his way out to study the mangled door.

He looked back at Clark once more, with less certainty this time.

An electric current shot through Clark’s body.

He’d restrained himself long enough.

He gritted his teeth and tore through the chains wrapped around his torso. Then he snapped the cuffs off his wrists and flung them against the wall.

Corey was so caught off guard that he didn’t even have time to raise his weapon.

Clark lunged forward and punched the gun out of Corey’s hand, then pivoted, disarming the second man with a quick swipe to the hand and wrist. He heard the crunch of bone as the gun went flying. Clark spun and slammed an open palm into Corey’s chest, sending him flying backward into the cement wall, where he slumped to the ground in a motionless heap.

The man in fatigues cradled his fractured hand to his chest and spoke swiftly into his radio, calling for backup.

Clark glanced at the big gash on Lana’s forehead before advancing on the man in fatigues. The guy had blood on the cuff of his shirt—maybe he was the one who’d hurt Lana. Clark wanted to obliterate the man. And it would be so easy. But if he acted on this impulse…he’d be no better than they were.

The man dropped his radio and swung wildly, just grazing the left side of Clark’s face, but Clark felt more at home in a fight now. He read the man’s eyes, knowing exactly what he’d do before he did it. It was in the way he leaned. Clark waited for the guy to throw a second punch, which he ducked easily. Then, using the man’s momentum, Clark shoved him headfirst into a series of metal pipes running from floor to ceiling. The man’s head clanged against two pipes before he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Clark spun back toward the bomb and Lana.

7:33

7:32





7:31


He had to get her out of here. Now. She wouldn’t be safe alone with Corey and the man in fatigues. And he knew reinforcements were already on their way.

But could he really save Lana and have enough time to save the town, too?

He’d have to move fast.

Clark pulled Lana out of the chains and tore off her handcuffs. He slung her over his shoulder and hurried out the door and into the hall. When he rounded the first corner, though, he heard the sound of boots rapidly coming down the corridor. In his direction. Maybe four or five people, by the sound of it.

Then he heard the click of ammo being loaded.

Four more men in black fatigues suddenly appeared, blocking Clark’s path. One of them was carrying a handgun. But it was the fifth man, dressed in an oversized blue suit and wearing glasses, who caught Clark’s attention.

Dr. Wesley.

But why would he be anywhere near the bomb if he’d planned this whole thing?





Clark gently sat Lana down, preparing himself for another fight. But this was the one he’d been waiting for. Here was the man ultimately responsible for the disappearing workers. For Gloria’s terror. For the blood dripping from Lana’s forehead.

“You stole people from their families,” Clark snarled. “That was a mistake.”

Dr. Wesley shook his head in disgust. “You stupid, stupid people. Meteorites land in several of your backyards, made up of the most valuable substance this world has ever known, and what do you do? Nothing.”

The men behind Dr. Wesley began to spread out around Clark. The one with the gun aimed it at his left temple.