Comic Superwoman Of Hope

She placed both hands beneath the fallen door and lifted. The door rose a little. Leo pulled his foot free and crawled out.

“Good job,” Hope said. “Are you hurt?”

Leo shook his head, though his eyes were wet. “I lost my shoe.”

Hope spotted the shoe under a piece of wood. She reached for it, but a small shower of stones slid from the climbing frame.

“Leave it,” Mina said quickly.

Hope paused. Mina was right. The shoe could wait. The children could not.

“Your foot matters more,” Hope said. “We can find another shoe later.”

Leo looked at his bare sock. Then he nodded.

Hope studied the playground. The gate was dangerous. The street beyond it was open, with no cover. Near the back fence stood a little storage shed. Its roof had fallen on one side, but its stone floor looked firm. Beside it, a narrow path led toward the library steps.

The path was blocked by a tall pile of broken boards.

“I can move those,” Tom said.

Hope shook her head. “Not alone. We will do it together, and we will watch the ground.”

She lifted the largest board. Tom pulled a smaller one. Mina gathered loose pieces and placed them in a neat pile. Leo held his blue scarf over his nose to keep out the dust.

“Teamwork,” Tom said.

“Teamwork,” Hope agreed.

For a moment, the path opened. Then a brick slipped from the broken wall and landed with a hard clack.

Everyone froze.

Hope felt fear rise inside her, quick and cold. In her comic book training, fear was drawn as a dark scribble. She imagined three bright panels.

In the first panel, she stood still.

In the second, she breathed in slowly.

In the third, she breathed out and looked again.

Hope took one slow breath. The dust smelled sharp. The ground felt rough beneath her boots.

“We move when the ground is quiet,” she said. “Small steps. Stay close.”

A low rumble rolled through the city.

Hope looked up. Far away, gray clouds of dust lifted above the rooftops.

“Was that another blast?” Mina asked.

“It may be,” Hope said. “That is why we need cover now.”

She led the children toward the storage shed. The narrow path bent behind the climbing frame, away from the cracked wall. It was not the fastest route, but it was safer.

Tom reached for Mina’s hand. Leo held the back of Hope’s cape.

“Do not pull,” Hope said gently. “Hold the silver star near the edge.”

Leo moved his hand to the star.

They took three steps.

A metal bar fell from the climbing frame and struck the ground behind them.

Mina gasped.

Hope turned. “Everyone is safe. Keep moving.”

The children hurried. Hope walked backward for a moment, watching the broken frame. Then she turned again and guided them around a wide puddle filled with bits of glass.

At the shed, she pushed open the door. It groaned, but it moved.

“Inside,” Hope said.

The shed smelled of old paint and wet wood. A few garden tools lay on the floor. The stone walls were thick, and the roof over the back half remained whole.

Mina stepped in first. Tom followed. Leo sat on the stone floor and tucked his socked foot close.

Hope checked the doorway. “This is cover, but it is not our final safe place. We need to reach the library shelter when the way is clear.”

“Can we stay here?” Tom asked.

“For a short time,” Hope said. “We will listen and look.”

She crouched beside Leo. “How does your foot feel?”

“Cold,” he said.

Hope took a soft cloth from the inside pocket of her cape and wrapped it around his sock. “There. Better?”

Leo smiled a little. “Better.”

Mina looked through the doorway. “My scarf is torn.”

Hope saw a long rip along the blue cloth. Mina had tied it around Tom’s arm while they waited under the platform.

“You used it to help Tom,” Hope said.

“He was coughing.”

“That was kind.”

Mina touched the torn edge. “It was my favorite.”

Hope pulled a silver thread from the trim of her cape. She tied the thread through the rip and made a small star-shaped knot.

“It is not the same,” Hope said, “but it can remind you of the brave thing you did.”

Mina looked at the knot. “I like it.”

A deep boom rolled across the city.

The shed door shook.

Dust slipped from the roof and sprinkled the floor like gray snow.

Hope bent low over the children. “Stay close to the stone wall.”

The sound faded. No one spoke for a moment.

Then Tom whispered, “The gate is gone.”

Hope looked outside. The cracked wall had fallen across the playground entrance. The easy exit was now a heap of bricks.

The children had reached cover, but the way she had planned to use next was closed.

Hope pressed her palm against the shed wall. It was cool and solid. She could hear a faint ringing from the library bell beyond the rubble.

The library shelter was still there.

“We need a new route,” she said.

“Where can we go?” Mina asked.

Hope looked toward the back of the shed. A loose wooden panel leaned against the wall. Behind it was a narrow opening leading to the library steps.

She moved the panel aside. Gray light shone through.

“This is too small for me,” Hope said. “But the children can fit.”

Tom peered through. “It goes behind the fence.”

“Yes. I will go first and clear the path.”

Hope crawled through the opening. The ground was cold beneath her hands. Broken branches brushed her cape. She pushed aside a fallen sign and found a small passage between the fence and the library wall.

“Clear!” she called. “One at a time.”

Mina crawled through. Hope helped her stand. Tom came next, then Leo. Hope lifted him gently over a low stone.

“Keep your eyes on the blue scarf,” Hope said. “Follow Mina.”

They moved along the narrow path. The library steps were only a few yards away.

A fresh rumble began.

Hope looked toward the sky. The sound grew louder, rolling over the rooftops.

“Under the steps!” Hope called.

The children ducked beneath the stone stairs. Hope crouched behind them, spreading her cape over their backs.

Another blast sounded in the distance. The ground bumped beneath their knees. Dust puffed from the steps, but the stones stayed firm.

Leo gripped Hope’s silver star. “Are we safe?”

“We are under strong stone,” Hope said. “I am right here.”

Mina held Tom’s hand. Tom held Leo’s sleeve.

The rumble faded, but Hope did not move yet. She listened to the small sounds around them: Leo’s breathing, Mina’s scarf brushing the stone, a loose pebble rolling to a stop.

Then she heard a child crying beyond the playground.

Hope lifted her head.

“Someone else is there,” she said.

Mina looked at her. “Can we help?”

Hope looked back at the covered path, then toward the sound. The children beside her were safe for the moment. The new route had worked, but more children might still be waiting near the broken playground.

Hope took one calm breath.

“Yes,” she said. “We will help them too, and we will do it carefully.”

Under the library steps, the children stayed close together while Hope reached for the next safe path. The stone shelter held firm, the blue scarf shone with its little silver star, and hope had found a way forward.

End of chapter one. 5 more chapters and about 10,421 words in the full book.