Arthur reached for the bathroom door handle, prepared to deliver his speech to Ruth, but stopped. Something was off he thought, or well felt.
This feeling lasted not more than a second before there was a terrible crashing noise and the wall and door blasted towards Arthur at a lethal velocity, pushing him forcibly into the wall behind him.
He felt both his forearms shatter as he instinctively shielded his face and his kneecap separate itself from the socket of his femur. The door lay against his face and he felt blood pour from the back of his head and chest.
He groaned and began pushing the door off of himself as his body instantly started using his reserve chemical energy to not only begin fixing damages and breaks, it also started creating new tissue to replace any damaged ones.
His lung reinflated itself and three ribs cracked into place as he stood up and surveyed his surroundings.
The bathroom was totaled; concrete and wood smeared across the floor and water pooling from damaged pipes. A hole where the door used to be was partially blocked by a concrete block four ft tall and wide. Arthur pushed this out of his way and stumbled back into the cafe front.
The damage here was way worse. And the cause of it was no more than two feet from Arthur. A large commercial recycling truck with the Logo of a smiling tree and the words GREEN TREE plastered above the the picture was wedged into part of the cafe's back wall. It was without a driver yet still revving continuously as it's automatic shutdown system seemed to be failing.
The cries and moans of the rest of the people inside the cafe caught Arthur's attention as he turned to survey everything else.
It was truly a scene of horror, and he no longer was thinking. Instead he was processing. Processing as quickly as a super computer making calculations and absorbing details at a analytical speed that surpassed decision making and instead courted the fine realm of impulsive decision making that he was only familiar in the times when he had to fight his way out of the compound.
Eleven bodies in total. Four in close proximity and the rest spread out across the rubble. Two were making their way to their feet. Condition. Fine, minor lacerations and a concussion. Same with the other except with a broken finger. Three of them were crushed under rubble with heat signatures decreasing. Condition. Deceased. Another who's leg was caught under the rubble was unconscious. Condition. Fine, medical professionals would tend to the leg better than A-4433-CDNO could. One was a mess of tissue smashed against the cafe's display case, breaking threw the glass and lacerating herself severely. Condition. Critical. Probability of life saving repair to broken spine, internal bleeding, external lacerations, removal of foreign debris and suturing of major arteries... very low. It would later pain Arthur greatly how quickly he dismissed this lady to her death. Something that was both cold and calculated, a snap decision that he would be better spent helping others.
One of the people near him was in the second most critical condition. A man who's arm had been destroyed below the elbow and was leaking blood at an alarming rate. He also had a piece of rebar impaled into his right side, passing through the kidneys and into his intestines. Condition. Critical. Probability of life saving repair to internal organs and extensive bleeding... high probability.
Arthur sprung into action. First he would kill the power to the remotely piloted garbage truck. He placed his hand on the hood, closed his eyes and focused on interfacing with its electronic systems. After several seconds the process was complete and he turned it off.
Stepping away from the truck and over the body of an older man who was unconscious but mostly uninjured he approached he man in critical condition.
This man was conscious and in shock taking a few seconds to notice Arthur as he crouched beside and placed his hand on his injured abdomen and the other and rebar rod. He stared at the man wordlessly and without hesitation pulled the rod from his body using his other hand to both keep him and place and supply enough force to remove the rod quickly.
It came out with a squelch and a scream from the man who tried moving from Arthur's grasp. Arthur paid him no mind easily holding him still and tossing the rod aside before shoving his index finger into the man's wound. He screamed again and tried to push away from Arthur before falling unconscious from the pain. Arthur didn't really notice but instead started to spray a medical grade foam agent into the man's wound which would seal the damage, stem the bleeding and administer a painkiller to relax the body.
With this done he pulled his finger out of the wound as the foam started pouring out and solidifying. He then grabbed the man's bleeding arm and stared st the wound. It was jagged and broken with a piece if the bone sticking out.
Arthur frowned. He wouldn't be able to repair this damage and most likely a doctor would have to perform some expensive cosmetic surgery to apply a prosthesis to his arm. The best Arthur could do is stop the bleeding. He achieved this by using the laser in his middle finger to slice the shard of bone off and then cauterize the arm, then spraying it with the last of his medical foam. He would have to acquire more a some point.
Arthur inspected his handiwork. The man would live and most likely regain the use of his arm with a prosthetic pretty soon. He looked wealthy enough. Satisfied Arthur stood up to leave. Best he not be around when medical attention arrived.
He only got half way to standing before two lazer rifle shots blasted through the window taking down both of the survivors across the room from him.
Arthur stopped down as two men entered the cafe through the giant wreckage the truck had made. They were wearing ballistic deterrent vests, face covered in masks and wielding military grade laser rifles.
They crossed the room towards the people they had just opened fire on, shooting at the other bodies as they passed. They were eliminating all potentials of survivors and witnesses. This wasn't an accident this was an assassination.
Arthur looked at the unconscious man below him... he could leave now and secure his own life as he hadn't been spotted yet, but he couldn't do that. He looked behind him at the other 3 unconscious people behind him. One of them was Ruth Blackwater... the other two perhaps just innocent bystanders to this assassination. He had to help them.
He looked up at the two hitmen, their backs were turned and they were walking away from him. He needed to do something and he needed to do it now.
Being extremely careful not to apply pressure to either the arm or abdomen Arthur scooped up the injured man like one would cradle a baby, and wheeled toward the truck. As quickly and quietly as he could he bounded over the other unconscious gentleman and proceeded to tuck the injured man into the passenger seat of the truck, quickly buckling him in making sure his arm wasn't loose to flop around.
He then made for the two unconscious ladies on the ground. One was Ruth, and the other was a licensed piliot who's name was Nora Huxter according to the badge she wore. He threw both of them over his shoulders and and brought them to the truck. He had little choice where to stick them and shoved them into the storage compartment, first emptying all the tools and cleaning equipment inside. It was a tight fit but they were both able to sit inside back to back as he closed the door.
He turned back to get the other unconscious man only to find the two hitmen facing him with their guns aimed. He dived low as lasers flew above his head melting holes into the rubble behind the truck.
Arthur regrettably realized he couldn't save everyone and that if he wanted to save anyone at all he would have to leave now. He leapt up and dashed into the driver's seat of the truck. He was already connected to the electronics of the truck and prompted it to turn on. With a jolt it revved up again this time in full reverse.
They slammed out the front of the cafe again causing more rubble to shake itself loose. Lasers flew towards the truck, some landing and melting holes into the body of the truck, before they zoomed away into the sky.
The machine was quite damaged Arthur realized and wouldn't be able to get them far enough away to guarantee safety for the passengers. Sparks flew from the hood of the truck and the entire machine groaned as Arthur commanded it to fly towards a field he was familiar with. He would have to crash land in the park and drag the passengers to safety somehow.
And he did just that... mostly. He managed to land the truck on the outskirts of the park scaring some pedestrians and wildlife. He leapt out of the vehicle and released the injured man from the passenger seat gently placing him down on the ground. He then hurried to get the other two out of the storage space.
He threw the door open ready to place the unconscious ladies on the ground and make an escape before peace enforcement arrived to the scene, but as he opened the doors he was taken by surprise as the piliot was not unconscious at all; she was very much awake and was pointing a small firearm directly at him with determination and the confidence of trained military personnel.
This was not good Arthur thought. He'd have to do some fast talking and some mighty convincing or else he would end up in custody... perhaps it would be best if he stuck to the truth, he saw no other way to avoid conflict besides the facts..
