Barcode: Cavern of Youth (29 page)

Stopping, she shakes her head and relaxes her breath. Once her heart rate lowers, she removes a glass from a drawer and fills it with water.

Though her lips are still red, they’re much paler.

She spews out three times the amount of water that she had in her mouth. As it strikes my stomach, it turns into a frosty foam, which freezes the wound. The material creeps inside and begins healing whatever damage was caused. The ice cold pain causes my leg to twitch uncontrollably. I grunt and clench my teeth as my internal wounds are sealed.

Whatever she did took a lot of energy because she passes out. I have just enough strength to jump up and catch her. “My turn, sweetheart.” I grab the glass before it hits the ground.

Laying her on the floor, I pour as much water in my mouth as possible and swish it around. It mixes with a small amount of blood from the cut on my cheek. I spit the water on her face and intensively focus on the wound.

Don’t form barcodes. It’ll ruin her beautiful face. Just heal the wound. Heal it. Come on.

As her skin replenishes, mine does as well. Once it’s completely back to normal, I splash the remaining water on her face. “Now. Wake up! We have practice.”

Carmen whimpers while sitting up slowly. She follows right behind me as I enter my room to grab my jacket.

Little to no sound creeps from her lips as she cries, “Why couldn’t you hear him?”

“Even when I blinked, it was like he wasn’t there. I don’t know why.”

At the top of her lungs, she screams, “Why’d you jump in front of the knife?”

“I’m supposed to protect you.” Her tears won’t stop. I try zipping up my jacket and realize that I’ll need to wash up again. “Go take another shower and wipe off all the blood. I’ll do the same later.”

“Why?” she screams frantically. “Why? I don’t want you hurt. Why Kay?” Carmen’s trembling so much, she can hardly stand. “Please don’t do that again,” she yelps while taking a step forward. She remembers how distant we are right now and takes two steps backwards. “I’ll hire someone else and we can go back to being friends. I don’t want you to get hurt, or to be mad at me.” Her voice raises an octave near the end of her sentence. “We can be friends at school, right?”

“No,” I reply coldly. “Now go get dressed.”

“Why, papi? Why?”

“Because I love you, and I’ll protect you. Go.”

My words cause her to cry more loudly.

During her mental breakdown, Dennis bursts into the living room. He’s fully suited in a very sleek and tight armor. There are no designs. It’s a simple one piece jumpsuit. It’s much more advanced than the one he wore at the hospital. I wonder if it’s one of Seth’s designs that adjusts to the user’s abilities.

Dennis’ muscles sound much more rigid as he dashes towards my room. He’s possibly gained ten pounds.

I hold up my hand to stop him.

Carmen wails without restraint. Dennis’ mouth drops. He peeks through the door and relaxes once he sees that she’s safe. He sneaks back into the living room and Carmen rushes me.

The goddess crashes into my arms, hysterically whimpering. Her legs give in and her weight nearly drags me to the ground with her. I wrap one arm around her thigh and the other around her waist to hold her up straight.

Slowly, I ease her on the bed. She kisses my face for at least one minute. I doubt she notices, but the more she kisses me, the more both our wounds heal.

Then, something strangely erotic happens. I can feel her body against my own. I know that I’m only wearing bandages and her clothes were ripped off, but it’s as though nothing were between us. Her data slowly seeps into my own. This must me the data programming I heard about.

If she continues, Carmen will align herself with my codes. I’ll carry a piece of her with me forever.

Without her knowing, I completely delete her data by focusing on something else. Angie.

“Does any part of your body hurt, papi?” she asks with her beautiful and full lips only inches away from my face.

“No. I was pretty good after the cold water, but I’m much better now.”

“Okay.” Carmen stands up and runs into the bathroom.

Once she’s finally in the shower, Dennis calls the security in the building and lets them know that the other guests and employees are allowed to leave their rooms. Then, he embraces me.

I hold my arms against my side and take notice of the sunset. Thoughts of Angie still linger in my mind.

Like always, Dennis activates the barcode on his pinky finger. He grunts and grits his teeth. Dark veins become visible on his face and his heart completely stops for seven seconds. When it finally kick starts, it races manically and he falls to his knees.

I shove my hands in my pockets. “What’s wrong with you?”

He practically chokes up his answer. “I don’t know. I tried to read your data to understand what happened, but I was surrounded by darkness. There were screaming people and so much pain. It was like I traveled back in time to some kind of hell.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It’s just something I feel. Kay, are you blocking your thoughts that powerfully?”

I peer into his eyes so cruelly that his blood pumps feverishly. My eyes do scare him.

“It’s not on purpose. I just have a lot going on.”

“Do you know who broke in?” He asks as he stands up.

“Only a suspicion.”

“Are you wounded? Should I get you help?”

“No. But the next time I’m in a lot of pain and Carmen says she can heal me, let her.” I refocus my attention outside as the smog blocks out the sun.

“I would have, but I worry about her health. Her mother has similar powers. If they push themselves too far, they can die.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“You’re upset with me?”

“No. I’m just in a rush to get to practice.”

“I’ve seen your team’s fighting skills. You’ll need more than practice.”

His words agitate me. I guess that’s what Seth was trying to tell me last night. They’re not that weak. Richard’s power is pretty incredible. Seth works out in the hills every morning. No one’s actually seen Jamie fight. And Carmen just needs to be pushed. “They’re better than you think.”

“You say that with confidence, but can you make them believe it?”

“I’ll try beating it into them.”

“Have you heard of Mark James?”

“No.”

“He was the reason team matches haven’t returned to Colt Arena. He found a loophole that upset a lot of people. On Friday, he rested completely, forfeiting all of his fights. So on Saturday, he was given the underdog card and moved through the rankings. He actually won the tournament.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Sounds like something you’d do.”

It sounds like he cheated. I’d rather be beaten to death than to skip out on a match.

Carmen exits my room and joins us near the dining area. “I have practice, Dad. You can send scouts to watch over us in case he comes again, but I’m sure Shiva destroyed his suit and I left a pretty nasty cut on his arm.”

“I’ll send someone who can sense their surroundings, since you have the eyes and ears.”

Carmen gleefully follows behind me as I leave the building.

When we make it to the arena, I meet with our new team in Gonzales’ room. She gave me permission to train and torment the others in her labyrinths. A drunken Seth, a hungry Richard, and the silent Brit wait patiently at a few desks as I shift the classroom around to create a two layer maze.

While I’m still getting things done at the podium, Richard walks over to me and utters, “Looks like you’re having a shitty day.”

I chuckle at his ability to recognize a bad situation. “I am.”

“Are you going to keep pouting about it, or are you going to do something?”

“Is that a challenge?”

“I could smack you around a few times until you feel better.”

I blow him off. He laughs and places his thick palm on my head. “That’s better.” Richard moves his arm much faster than I knew he could and pulls me over the desk. The spartan wraps me in a choke hold that I’d struggle breaking even if I weren’t wrapped in bandages. We fight like brothers for a moment. He whips me over his hip and slams me on the ground.

No longer in his grip, I use my advanced speed to appear behind him.

That didn’t work.

As though he knew exactly where I’d stop, Richard ties his arms around me and crushes me with an endearingly painful hug.

“Whenever someone’s that fast, they always get cocky and show up behind you.” He squeezes me tightly until I tap on his waist. We both laugh at my loss. “Now teach me how to get faster, Carmen.” His eyes are still focused on me.

Richard nods his head and I return the gesture to acknowledge that I’m feeling better. A lot better.

My ribs ache. Ow.

Twenty Two

After weeks of very intensive training, Seth takes our group to Compton in order to show us around. We arrive after sunset on Friday. Dennis permitted me to drive everyone.

For now, I don’t have much to worry about. I made it through four weeks without watching Carmen have another breakdown or having to survive a knife jabbed in my gut. It’s been too long since I’ve had this much peace.

This time was beneficial for Carmen too. She’s learning a bit about confidence.

Since we started training, she’s been more willing to leave my side. Instead of sticking with Dennis as my backup, she often drifts to Seth, Richard, and Jamie, but only when all three are together.

Jamie still doesn’t say more than a word or two per day, but she refuses to speak to the others. Strangely, she has an attachment to me. I still want to get her to talk more openly. I plan to find some alone time with her today. I don’t know how, but I’ll manage.

We’re at the cross street of Alondra and Atlantic. Cars zip by as we sit outside of a two-story yellow building, Dale’s Doughnut. A large and dirty stone doughnut rests on top of the structure. There’s a huge piece missing from the upper right corner as though a Titan took a bite of it.

As we wait for our treats to be brought to us on the street tables, I read the history displayed over the clerk’s head inside of the building. Supposedly, the gigantic doughnut is the original one from the twentieth century. Though most of the land was destroyed during the GAW, they salvaged the massive design and decided to place it back up without changing a thing.

As the hot treats are brought to our table, Seth does something surprising, he gestures for Jamie to take the first one. Richard does the same for both women, which I would expect. But even when Seth’s taking the proper amount of sips, he’s not that courteous.

Jamie bites into the glazed doughnut and her eyes sparkle.

“You like it?” I ask.

“Umm hmm.” Though her face is still expressionless, I can tell she’s enthused. Seth smiles at her before taking one of his own.

“Do
you
like it?” I ask Seth while motioning towards Jamie. He understands my gesture and turns red.

Still chewing, he fumbles, “The doughnuts are great. Try one.”

“Sure that’s what I meant. No need to avoid the actual topic at hand.”

Richard swallows two doughnuts within seconds. He taps his fingers on the table nervously. When he notices that we’re all watching him, he turns to Carmen and admits, “I’m still slow.”

“You’re getting better.”

Simultaneously, Seth and I contest, “No he’s not.”

“Don’t say that,” she whines. “He’s not improving in timing, but he has better balance and coordination.”

That’s true. “But you’re still damn slow,” Seth adds to complete my thought. I agree non-verbally.

I hand Richard another doughnut. “We’ll start helping. She’s good at strengthening your core, Seth knows how to make you light on your feet, and I’m the master of beating the hell out of people. I think we can get this to work if we all join in.”

Seth teases, “Then we can all hold hands and sing spirituals with Kay playing the guitar.” I throw a crumb at Seth and everyone laughs. “Seriously though Kay, if you make the training any harder I’ll die.”

“Then die.”

I definitely managed to get under his skin again. Jamie even notices with a mouth full of a chocolate doughnut. She looks to her left to see Seth fight his anger.

“Why would you say that?”

“If you’re not going to push yourself to be more than a drunk, die. But if you want everyone to know that you are better than Leonardo, stop bitching.”

A tour bus pulls up behind us. It’s red and looks a lot like the trams that travel around our school.

“Where does that go?” Carmen asks as Seth fixes his face on mine. “Hey Seth, where does the tour go?”

Finally noticing that she’s talking to him, he replies, “All around the local shops and a few attractions down by Watts.”

“I want to go,” she shouts while standing. “Come on you guys. We rarely get out of the school; I want to do something fun.”

Richard and Seth stand up and walk on her side of the table. Jamie undresses the final doughnut with her eyes.

“Kay,” Carmen says sweetly.

“I’m staying. I need to check out a place called The Darke Lord before I leave.”

“The weird hat shop?” Seth asks sounding confused.

“I think it’s a bar as well, but I need to speak with the guy that used to give me cigars.”

Carmen readily interjects, “But Hayley said you couldn’t have anymore.” The expression on her face says she’s not going without me and she hates that I want to stay.

“You three go. Call me when you’re done and we’ll meet at the arcade. You all can get embarrassed when a blind guy beats the hell out of you. And Seth, don’t trying bragging because Antonio’s been training me in all of your favorite games. You really pissed him off three months ago so don’t look confused either.”

He motions to say something with his finger raised, but it looks as though he remembered calling Antonio his “digital whore” before passing out on the couch and leaving a mess for the nanobots to clean up.

Carmen tries sitting back down at the table, but I grab her butt and lift her into Richard’s arms. He carries her to the tour bus kicking and screaming, “Well at least send Jamie!”