Just as Alex was fighting Superman out in the desert, Caitlin in the small-town hotel finally woke up.
The girl lazily stretched, then felt around on the bedside table until she found her sunglasses and put them on. After that she picked up the white cane beside the bed and, tapping her way forward, headed toward the bathroom.
The single room in the hotel wasn't big. There was only that much space altogether. Last night Caitlin had already felt her way around every corner of the place.
After reaching the bathroom, the sound of running water soon came from inside.
After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Caitlin called Mr. John in the room next door.
But no one answered.
"Mr. John probably hasn't gotten up yet."
"It's his first time 'sleepwalking.' He might not be used to it yet."
"I'd better not disturb him."
After thinking it over, Caitlin decided to take a bath.
It was one of her few hobbies.
She went into the bathroom, turned on the water, adjusted the temperature, and took out the clean change of clothes she had brought from home and prepared in advance.
Then she began taking off the clothes on her body one by one. Morning light cautiously peeked in from outside the window, falling on the girl's milk-white, smooth skin, making the fine soft hairs on her body tremble gently in the breeze.
A shadow that stirred the imagination appeared on the bathroom wall. Then the shadow moved, all the way to the bathtub.
Splash!
Amid the loud sound of water, Caitlin lowered herself into the tub. The hot water, at just the right temperature, made every pore in her body open with pleasure.
The girl let out a long breath, then contentedly put on the earphones she had prepared. As music began to play, she relaxed both body and mind.
She leaned her head back, resting it on a towel, gently swaying along with the rhythm of the music.
———
Just as Caitlin was enjoying her bath, the hotel's front door was suddenly pushed open. A fully armed squad rushed inside, startling the hotel auntie who was cleaning.
The auntie was just about to scream when a soldier covered her mouth. Then a colonel strode in quickly and showed his credentials.
"I am Colonel Ryder. There is a terrorist staying in your hotel. We are about to carry out an operation."
"Please leave the hotel immediately."
"Don't worry. The government will pay for all damages."
After saying that, Colonel Ryder waved his hand, and a squad of soldiers quickly rushed toward the stairwell.
After reporting the intelligence to the Pentagon, the colonel had swiftly received instructions. General Achir ordered him to capture Target Number Two.
The colonel followed the soldiers up the stairs and spoke as he went, "Listen. At present we cannot determine the target's level of danger."
"Although in principle this operation prioritizes capturing the target alive and making an arrest..."
"If the target resists and shows a certain degree of danger, I authorize the use of lethal force."
In the blink of an eye, the third floor came into view.
But just as they turned past the stair landing, the soldiers and the colonel all stopped.
At the top of the stairs, a figure appeared in the third-floor corridor.
It was a woman dressed like an acrobat from a circus. She stood balancing on a rubber ball. She waved at the soldiers, then lifted her foot and kicked the ball down.
Without hesitation, Colonel Ryder drew an automatic pistol and fired at the ball.
BANG! BANG!
The gunshots and the sound of the ball bursting rang out at the same time. Fragments scattered toward the soldiers. At the same moment, the acrobat had already slid down along the stair railing, then flipped nimbly and swept out a long leg.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
She struck several soldiers, kicking them right off the stairs.
"Fire!", Colonel Ryder was afraid the target might hear the noise and run, so he quickly issued orders to the soldiers. He raised his pistol and fired another shot at the acrobat.
At once a burst of blood mist bloomed from the woman's chest. The colonel's shot blasted her straight off the stairs, sending her falling down.
But when the colonel leaned over the stairwell to look, the woman had vanished.
"What the hell?"
The colonel looked bewildered, wondering if he was dreaming. Suddenly he heard the sound of wind above him. He hurriedly dodged to the side and saw a foot sweep past the tip of his nose.
If he had reacted a split second slower, he would have been hit already.
The colonel looked up and saw another acrobat jump down from the stairs above. She looked exactly the same as the woman just now.
As if performing an acrobatic act, she inverted her body, supporting herself on the railing with both hands, moving quickly toward the colonel.
At the same time, four or five more acrobats with identical faces appeared.
They looked like a set of twin sisters, or like clones. The sight made the colonel's scalp prickle.
———
In the third-floor corridor, the soldiers had already reached the door to Caitlin's room and were about to break it down to seize her.
Suddenly the wall behind them exploded. A figure burst through the wall. With large hands pushing or grabbing, he immediately shoved soldiers to the ground one by one or hurled them out the window, where they screamed as they fell toward the street below.
It was a stone man over two meters tall. Standing in the hotel corridor, he gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Several soldiers who had been knocked to the ground rolled aside, then turned and fired at the stone man. The stone man raised his arms to shield his head and chest, letting bullets pound into his arms and other parts of his body, blasting off sprays of stone dust.
He roared loudly. Like kicking a soccer ball, he lifted his leg and sent several soldiers flying down the stairs.
———
At the bottom of the staircase, Colonel Ryder had just had his pistol kicked away by an acrobat. He quickly grabbed a light machine gun and swept it from side to side, knocking two acrobats down with bullets.
At that moment, shouts of alarm rang out above on the stairs. Then his soldiers came flying down, crashing into the colonel.
Lying on the floor, the colonel grabbed his communicator and shouted into it, "Send all teams inside! We're under attack! We're under attack!"
———
[Inside the Hotel:]
The stone man and the clones were carrying out Alex's orders, clashing with the military.
Inside the bathroom of the room, Caitlin had no idea what was happening outside. She was still soaking in her hot bath.
After a while, she felt the water turning cool and figured she had soaked long enough, so she stood up from the bathtub.
She felt for a towel, dried herself, then put on her clothes and walked out of the bathroom.
When she took off her earphones, she heard someone knocking on the door.
"Who is it?"
Caitlin walked toward the door and heard a familiar voice outside.
"It's me, John."
"Caitlin, are you awake?"
"I just met some friends. They want to take us around town."
Caitlin opened the door with a bright smile.
"Mr. John, you're really impressive. You only arrived last night, and this morning you've already made friends."
Standing outside the door was Alex.
He smiled and said, "The people here are very warm and hospitable."
He glanced down the corridor.
Aside from Caitlin's room, the rest of the hallway was covered in cracks, holes, and bullet marks.
Even on the floor, brass shell casings lay scattered everywhere.
Looking at all that, Alex added another sentence.
"The folks here are also very simple and honest. You don't need to worry at all."
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