Batman Arkham Knight Read Free

said.
“This demonstration used only five ounces of my latest toxin. Tomorrow this will seem like child’s play.”
Owens read the crawl again, and stared at the image, recognizing him from one of the daily briefings. That was the criminal known as Scarecrow.
“Gotham City, this is your only warning.”
    That hideous face seemed to stare directly at him, causing the blood to pulse in his veins. The huge screen crackled again with static, and then died as if the plug had been pulled.
    Our only warning?
    What the hell was coming next?

2
    Scarecrow’s threat worked.
    The lines of cars heading to the Mercy Bridge was backed up for more than five miles, some all the way to Memorial Park in City Center. From the bridge one could see City Island and Lady Gotham rising from it, torch held high, standing tall and proud. The great statue had been constructed decades earlier as a beacon, shining a light on Gotham City’s hopes and dreams. Sadly, over the years, that light had dimmed, until it illuminated little more than its endless failures.
    Police on motorcycles and horseback corralled the lines in a near-fruitless attempt to keep calm those desperate to escape. Repurposed school and city busses were packed to the bursting point and helped alleviate some of the traffic but ultimately they, too, were caught in the endless wave of frightened, fleeing humanity.
    Gordon orchestrated the city’s exodus as best he could from the back seat of his squad car. He was a blur of motion, switching between a half-dozen cell phones that connected him to his captains covering Gotham City’s key districts. The car drove most of its winding path on the sidewalks, its whooping blare of sirens sending already frightened citizens running to avoid being hit.
    “Sir.”
A frightened voice came over one phone.
“My men have cleared about a third of Miagani’s population, but there’s no way we’ll reach everyone in time.”
Jerome Finger, a twenty-two-year veteran of the Gotham City Police Department, was captain of the Fifth Precinct, and he was obviously afraid. But he was also struggling to maintain control.
“I don’t know what to do, sir. We really need some help here.”
    “Wish I had some to give, Jerry,” Gordon replied. Finger was one of the first cops he met when he came to Gotham City. There was no better or more honest officer anywhere, which is why he had been promoted to captain only three years later. “We’re down to a token force. I need you to get out everyone you can.”
    “What about those we can’t, sir?”
    Gordon hated the answer, but there simply was no other.
    “We can only do what we can do.” He clicked off the phone before Finger could respond, dropped it to his side, and exhaled. This job was impossible at its best. Today it was even worse.
    He watched as several school busses slowly edged past his car, filled with kids junior-high-school age and younger. They were heading north toward Mercy Bridge and Bleake Island. From there they’d go west and, if luck was on their side, they’d be out of Gotham City an hour or two later. The kids looked frightened, and they had every reason to be. This was, without doubt, the most chaotic event they’d experienced in their short lives. Sadly, Gotham City had a way of leaving its mark on even its youngest.
    “It always comes down to the children, doesn’t it?” he said to Bill McKean, his driver. “I can’t even imagine how frightened they are. I see those kids and remember what it was like when James Jr. and Barbara were that age.”
    McKean nodded. “Yeah, but you know something, Commissioner? Twenty years ago madmen like Scarecrow never existed. Today, they’re almost a dime a dozen. I can’t even count how many there are.” He shook his head. “I think these kids are growing up knowing way too much about how low humanity can get. Without realizing that life doesn’t have to be a cesspool, that this isn’t what’s supposed to be normal.
    “That’s