I awake to the sound of gunfire. I rolled to my side and came face to face with Raff. He was dead. My best friend had sacrificed his life for me. I found I could move. I raised my hand and gently closed his eyes. "See you on the other side pal." I said and got to my feet.
For a moment, I stood there trying to understand what had happened. I felt fine. In fact, I felt great. I found a gun and rushed towards the gunfire. The Dirty Desperadoes might be over. But I wasn't. I kicked open the doors and to my surprise found they flew off their hinges.
"What the hell." I whispered. My whole body felt more alive than it had ever been.
Up ahead I heard lots of gunfire, it sounded like there was a full-on battle raging. Which was fine by me.
I burst into the battle and found there were lots of allied forces around. I grabbed one and asked. "How the hell are you all here?"
He smiled and replied. "You're one of the Dirty Desperadoes. Hey guys." He then shouted to a group of soldiers nearby killing some Germans. "Look it's Green, right? Tom Green."
Before I knew it, I was mobbed by a crowd of cheering soldiers. It turned out the whole allied army knew us. And when they found out we had single handedly attacked this base they all left their posts to help.
The carnage was total. Hundreds were dead including Raff, Jimmy and Leon, and of course the good German Hans.
We buried them on a nearby hill under a single cross and I said the Lord's Prayer with a tear in my eye.
Looking back on those days, it seemed surreal like something straight out of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn book. It was pure adventure for young men. Less than a month later the war had ended.
I just wish Raff had got the chance to punch Hitler in the face.
The war had made me a braver man. It had also made me a stronger man for whatever was in that needle made me twice as strong as any man.
I needed less sleep and found I could run for miles and lift weights beyond my build. I was simply put a man made super.
Back in London I was nobody.
One night as I walked home to my digs, I saw a man mugging a man and wife at gun point coming out of a theatre. I moved without thought and struck the criminal down. The man thanked me and offered me a job. It was at his theatre.
I needed money and said yes. I kept the criminal's gun.
The job was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I loved working with the actors. I even had a knack for costume making and make up.
As the weeks turned into months, Mr Adams, the owner, asked if I wanted to live rent free in the attic. It seemed too good to be true so I did.
The place was a mess but there was one thing that caught my eye. There had been a group of American soldiers stationed at the theatre during the war, and they had left behind their comics.
I had never seen full colour comics before. The things bedazzled me. I would day dream at night looking out of my small dusty window about how I would be some sort of masked superhero defending the honour of London against all evil.
Then one night as I watched the sun set over a crooked London skyline, I heard a woman scream out. I rushed out onto the roof tops and followed the scream. I leaped high into the sky and was across three rooftops.
Then the scream came again through a bedroom window. I smashed through and there on the bed I saw a rough edged docker holding down a woman. I flew at him and hit him with all my strength, instantly he was knocked out.
I turned to the woman but all she did was cower from me in fear. I caught a glimpse of myself in her bedroom mirror. I was still wearing my costume a tight-fitting black cloak. I was playing an extra in the dark shadow play I was meant to be one of his assistants.
I had gotten so wrapped up in my thoughts of being a superhero that I forgot everything else. I gave the woman a friendly nod and left.
My mind raced. Could I really be a superhero? I was willing to give it a try.
Why I did this I guess it was very simple. It felt like I was born to do it.
The church steps.
The army.
Raff.
The Dirty Desperadoes.
The needle.
The theatre.
It all spun around in my mind and to me it made perfect sense.
It was November 16, 1945 and I, Tom Green, had decided to become a superhero.