Free The Dark Knight (Apocalypse Weird 2) by Nick Cole

again.
    And again.
    And every time, Cory would say, “I am vengeance.  I am the
night.  I am Batman,” as he struggled back onto his clumsy feet, sometimes just
barely before Bryan would push him, or hit him, and down he’d go again.
    It was funny, wasn’t it?
    Not so much.
    Again.
    “I am vengeance...”
    Again.
    “... I am the night...”
    And again.
    “... I am Batman.”
    “Just stay down this time, Cory!” someone said.  A girl
named Tara.
    The fun was over now. 
    Bryan had to start hitting Cory right in the face, y’know 
hard, to keep him down.  See, because Cory kept getting back up, saying, “I am
vengeance...” and Bryan couldn’t just stop because somehow that would be
letting Cory win.  Cory couldn’t win because he was... y’know, “special”.  If
he beat you at anything then you were worse than him.  You were worse than
“special”.
    Cory’s nose was bleeding now.
    “Just stay down, Cory!”  Even Bryan almost pleaded the next
time. 
    “I am vengeance...”
    Bryan socked him in the eye when a girl, a girl Bryan liked,
told him to stop bullying Cory.
    If it helps, at that moment, even Bryan Ratigan hated
himself.  If it helps.
    Cory thought it was all just a game.  Grunting, he struggled
to his feet again.  Blood ran down onto his chin.  His eye was very swollen and
turning blue.
    “Ewww,” someone screamed.  A girl.  “He’s bleeding a lot.”
    Kevin Casell who was playing soccer nearby saw what was
happening and ran to get a teacher.  When the zombies attacked the hospital
Kevin Casell would later work at as a physical therapist, he would die trying
to help a family get to the roof everyone was being evacuated off of.  He was
that kind of boy.  He would become that kind of man.
    But, back on that day in the last May of Childhood, later
that afternoon, Colin Banks, Officer Banks, showed up at the school.  Cory was
sitting in the front lobby, next to the door of the principal’s office.
    No, Officer Banks didn’t want to press charges.  Yes, Cory
was staying in school for what remained of the year.  What other choice did he
have?  Cory’s special school didn’t have room just yet, and when it did, it was
going to break Officer Banks, who was a single parent, financially and emotionally. 
    They drove home that afternoon.
    Cory ran to the front door, flung it open, and threw himself
in front of the TV.  Waiting.  Colin entered.  Turned on the TV with the
remote.  Hit play on the DVD.
    Remember that Batman cartoon from the early nineties?
    That’s Cory’s favorite show.
    Hence, “I am Vengence.  I am the night.  I am Batman.”
    Later, once Cory had finished the one episode he was allowed
to watch after school, the one in which... the Scarecrow made Batman very
afraid... as Colin sat in the kitchen dealing with his rage, which was to just
sit and drink a glass of water and look at a calendar that had a picture of
Hawaii on it...
    Later...
    ... he took Cory into the backyard.  It was almost summer. 
Daylight savings.  Colin brought out his old punching bag, setting it up under
a gnarled olive tree.
    “Cory,” said Colin softly.
    Cory never looked at Colin.  Always away.  To the side. 
Somewhere else.  He didn’t really look at anybody when he didn’t need to.  But
he was listening.  Cory always listened.
    Not being paid attention to sometimes upset people.
    Not those who knew and loved Cory.  They just accepted the
way he paid attention, which was different than how others paid attention.
    “Yeah, Daddy,” said Cory who was big for his age.
    “You had a fight today,”
    “Bryan and me were just playing.”
    Colin paused.  He ground his teeth.  He took a breath.
    “He was hitting you,” said Colin.
    “Yeah, Daddy.  We were just playing.”
    There is no modulation in Cory’s voice.  No inflection of
emotion.  Every spoken word is a statement.  He never asks questions.  He only
makes statements.  Everything is delivered