Aint No Superman

“Fuck, I hate this job! Twelve hour shifts sitting on my ass dealing with complete assholes.” Rob thought to himself. Just then a middle aged man, tall, with salt and pepper hair walked up to Rob’s taxi and hopped in the back. “556 Morris Ave, between 70th and Central”, he stated before Rob could even ask where he was going.

Rob let out a sigh as he flipped up the flag on his meter and began the drive. After a few minutes he retreated back into his own thoughts. “Roxie, that stupid bitch of an ex-wife, took my money and the kids. It sucks that I can’t even visit them anymore.”
This left coming up.” The stranger said.
“Then she pressed those erroneous charges, cost me my god damned job.”
“Here. Left.” The man in the back seat barked as he leaned closer to the divider.
“One day, this will all change. I’ll be free of this bullshit life. Maybe I’ll hit the lottery, or just move to another country and start over. I could just have her killed; No Rob, you know you could never…”
“Damnit! Nice going you dipshit! You missed my turn! I hope you don’t expect me to pay for this fucking cab ride.”
Rob slammed on the brakes, bashing the mans head against the plexiglass divider and yelled “Get out.”
“But..”
“No, just get the fuck out.”

After the man exited the taxi Rob pulled away down the street. From his breast pocket he removed a pack of Newport Light cigarettes. Removing one, he placed it between his lips and fished around in his pants pocket for a lighter. Finding it, he raised it up and brought a flame to the end of his cigarette. As he took a deep pull, his CB squawked to life, “Hey Rob, I need you head on over to the SuperSuds Laundry on 75th.”
Another sigh, “Sure Ralph, no problem.”

As Rob was finishing up his cigarette he picked up a can of Febreeze air freshener and sprayed down the inside of his car. Pulling up to the curb, he noticed a cute woman in her early to middle thirties standing on the sidewalk with several boxes. Rob rolled down the window and asked, “You the one that called for the cab?”
“Yes, I’m heading over to the movie studio over on Riverfront. Would you mind helping me out with these boxes?”
“Sure, but you know those will cost extra right?” Rob inquired.
“Of course.” She stated.
As Rob bent down to lift one of the boxes he joked, “Hope I’m not transporting any illegal here.”
“Oh no,” she smiled, “I work as a prop designer on the set of Luthor. I needed to take these props home to finish up some of the details.”
“Luthor? I haven’t heard of it.”
“Really? It’s the story of Superman told from the point of view of Lex Luthor. It is a pretty interesting concept.”
“Sounds like it. Must be some pretty cool props and sets involved.” Rob said as he put the last box in the trunk.
“Totally. I’m Millie by the way and if you want, after you help me unload the boxes, I can show you around a little bit. No one will be on set this early.” Millie said as she entered the taxi.
“Wow, that would be great, thanks. My name is Rob.”
“I know your name.” Millie said as she smiled.
“You do?” Rob asked, slightly perplexed.
“Well yeah, it says your name right here on your name card.” Millie said, still smiling.
Rob smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, smiled and said, “You know, the sad thing is that is not the first time I’ve fallen for that one.”
Millie laughed out loud, with Rob joining in.

Arriving at the studio after a ten minute cab ride filled with idle chatter, Millie leaned out of the window and showed her identification to the guard at the front gate. As they were waved through Rob said, “Tight security, eh?”
“Yeah, we constantly have paparazzi trying to weasel onto the sets to take embarrassing shots of the actors changing, eating, or doing anything for that matter. It’s kind of pathetic if you ask me.”
“I agree, the actors deserve privacy too. After all, this is just their job. I’d be pissed if I had someone following me around as I picked up passengers. Though, I have no clue who would want to read any of that.”
Millie laughed and said, “Come on now, I am sure you have your share of interesting passengers.”
“Quite A few, actually.” Rob took a deep breath and mustered up his courage, “You know, I would love to tell you a few of them, maybe over a cup of coffee sometime?”
Flattered, Millie smiled and responded, “Sure. I’d like that.”
Rob, ecstatic at landing his first date in months almost drove past the studio. Catching it in time, he slowed down and said, “Studio 08, here we are.”

As Millie hopped out of the cab to unlock the studio door Rob opened the trunk and began taking the boxes out. He smiled as he sneaked a look at her ass as she walked away. Carrying the first box of props in, Rob was greeted to the sight of a large cavern filled with green and grey rocks. From above single bulbs were hanging from the ceiling attached to long cords, a mining cart in the center of the floor.
“Wow, this is amazing.” Rob said as he placed the box on a table.
“Yeah, this set is really cool, one of the biggest I have ever actually worked on.” Walking deeper into the cave, Rob following behind Millie, he asked, “So what’s this set for anyway?”
Millie continued, “As you probably know Superman is weakened by kryptonite.” Rob nodded along, “Armed with that knowledge Lex has been searching the globe for deposits to create a weapon against Superman.” Running her fingers over the rock she said, “All the green you see in here is kryptonite.”
Nearing the rear of the cave now Rob smiled and said, “Jeez, Superman better be careful, from the looks of all this, he’s about to be in a world of pain.”
Laughing, Millie joked, “Well I can’t tell you that, it would completely ruin the movie!”

Rob and Mille turned around to head back to the mouth of the cave when suddenly the world beneath their feet shook violently. The lights flickered and then went out completely plunging the studio into darkness. For what seemed like an eternity the ground continued to shake; the deafening sound of the earth fighting against itself filled the air. Suddenly a flash of light blinded Rob and the world went silent.

Slowly coming back to consciousness, Rob could feel the top of his head burning. As he opened his eyes Rob noticed parts of the roof had caved in allowing streaks of light to bleed in, giving the studio a faint glow. Reaching his hand up, Rob pawed at his head. A small gash could be felt and the surrounding hair was still warm and wet. Looking at his hand he noticed it was slightly bloody. Across his chest lay one of the speckled green blocks of prop cave rock.

Realizing they had been split up in the earthquake, Rob started looking around for Millie. Because his eyes were not yet accustomed to the lower than normal light, he could not see too far in front of him. As Robs eyes adjusted and relaxed, he could see Millie lying approximately fifteen feet to his right. He called out to her, “Hey, are you ok?” No response. Shouting louder now, “Millie, wake up!” Still no sign of movement or sound. Looking at her back now, Rob saw no sign of breathing; the rhythmic up and down motions he wanted to see were not present.

After coming to terms that Millie was lost and he was alone, Rob focused his attention on his own situation. An over turned mining cart proved to be Rob’s savior. The rock that lay across his chest was propped up enough so its full weight was not bearing down upon him. Pushing now with all of his might Rob tried to lift it just enough to wiggle out. Despite the rocks lessened tonnage which allowed him to breathe, the position of his arms did not grant Rob enough leverage to move the rock itself. “Fuck me.” Rob thought looking over at Millie. “Just when I get a date, I get trapped under a rock of kryptonite.”

Accepting the fact that all he could do was to wait for rescue; Rob tried to relax as best he could. Longing for freedom, he began to fantasize what he would do if he got it. “If I get out of here, I need to make things right with my kids, it’s been way too long since I saw them. Hell, I can even speak with Roxie, we’re both adults, we should be able to come to a mutual agreement that would let me see them.”

Closing his eyes, Rob took a deep breath. After exhaling he began to hear voices calling out. “Anybody in there?”
“Yeah! Hey! I’m in here!” Rob screamed. “Stop, please, help me!” Far at the front of the studio, Rob could hear people at the door. Items and rubble fell as the tried to come in. Just then the ground began to skake again. “Fuck, an aftershock.” Rob thought.

The ground beneath him moved, shifting the mining cart slightly, causing the rock to press down on his chest a little more. In an attempt to relieve this new pressure forced upon him, Rob pushed up as hard as he could. As the trembling continued, another one of the rocks attached to the wall fell. As it struck the cart, it simultaneously caused a spray of smaller stones to shoot into the air and pushed the cart completely aside. The rock across his chest now bore its full tonnage onto Rob’s arms, causing them to break in several places due to the excessive weight, pinning them to his side. As Rob closed his eyes and howled in agony, one of the small green airborne stones fell into his open mouth, halting his screams. Robs eyes shot open as he gasped for a breath; his mangled and immoveable arms were searing with pain as he strained to use them in any way.

Fighting to get precious air into his lungs, Robs mind now cleared. Flashes of his life danced before him. His parents, his childhood, his first kiss. High school, College, meeting Roxie, marrying her, having his beautiful children.
“Hang on buddy,” someone called out, “We’ll find you!”
A tear formed in the corner of Rob’s eyes, his lungs were burning, aching for a sweet breath of salvation. His vision slowly going dark.
“Damnit there is too much shit in here.” Rob could hear one of the voices say. “Hey pal, we need to go get some tools. But stay calm, we’ll be right back to set you free.”
As the last bit of darkness descended on Rob, a final moment of clarity rang out in his mind, “Too late.”