Barcode: Cavern of Youth (4 page)

Three men, dressed in all black sniper armor, dash out of the building. A final man exits seconds later, casually dragging a woman crying desperately for help at the top of her lungs. I doubt the older lady has ever experienced something so brutal as a business professional. She looks like a CEO or President of some very wealthy company.

Each man is dressed in sniper gear, a frightening technology that offers a stiff layer of protection. It weighs a ton, but feels like cotton. The largest man, I assume the leader, holds the woman’s neck tightly while saying, “I came here—on time, I should add—to get the funds you deposit into the money truck every morning at nine, and you’re telling me the one day I come to rob you, it’s not here?”

He holds a very barbaric weapon, known as a spruce, to her head. Spruces are like guns, but more simplistic. They are short, steel poles, generally no longer than a foot. They fire projectiles attached to long wires that wrap around their targets while stabbing them. Criminals use them for their brutality, but they’re meant for long-range hunting.

“We never have the money at nine.”

“What?”

“We never have it. I’m not supposed to say, but the money travels underground. The trucks are to deceive robbers.”

“Dammit.”

The masked man lets the woman go. She runs back into the debris, but once he hears the police sirens, the leader fires the spruce at her back. He clicks the trigger at the end, activating barcodes that reel her in. She wails loudly as she’s flung into the air.

He whips her body seventy yards away, onto a police officer’s window.

Two of his henchmen, completely indistinguishable in their suits, launch several grenades into traffic. As cars flip, screech, and halt, the leader starts an argument with the other criminals.

“Who the hell had the intel?” While turning his head to see all three men, Ahmed crosses his sight. The leader’s head follows Ahmed as he stands up and stumbles to find cover from the mayhem.

“Me,” says the last man to throw a grenade. “My girl works here. I guess they didn’t tell most employees—” he’s interrupted by the spruce shot into his chest.

“I’ll kill her tomorrow.”

The other man of same height and build howls, “That’s my brother!”

Releasing the spruce from the first man’s chest, the leader whips the wire until it wraps around the sibling’s neck. The sharpness of the wire is enough to end his pain quickly. His last teammate tries running away, but the leader removes a large ax with a seven foot handle.

He throws it at the man while chasing him down. It horrifically slices his victim in half.

He recovers the weapon and returns to Ahmed, who is still hiding in the middle of the street behind an overturned car with a woman and child completely unconscious inside.

“Ahmed, where’s your van?”

Closing his eyes, Ahmed folds his hands tightly and prays to The Writer.

The leader leans over and taps Ahmed with his ax. “Where the hell is your van?”

Frightened, Ahmed hops up and rushes to it. The duo shuffles into the vehicle and speed off while the police are still trying to recover from the bombs. They zoom past several cops without even one officer firing a shot.

“Tint the windows. I want to take off this stupid helmet.” As Ahmed complies, the man continues, “Whose idea was it to use sniper armor?” He pushes a button, and the suit camouflages itself inside the car. I actually can’t see him at all. “Great, I’m invisible, but it’s damn bulky.”

Ahmed waits for him to remove his helmet and says, “Monte, there’s a problem.”

My brother takes a deep breath while scrutinizing the round man. “You didn’t kill her?” Sirens follow, but the van’s faster than it looks.

“No. We got killed.” Ahmed giggles nervously. “Well, not me obviously, but my boys. My boys are—”

“Shut up. By who?”

“Some tall guy with a serious weapon. He was a big black guy. Really big. He was your height, but a little slimmer. But not too slim. Really big for the most part. Freakish power. You know Tyrone’s shield?”

“Yeah.”

“Cut through it, like butter. He was even faster than Ravi.”

“You begged me to bring those prissy Indian gods in for nothing.”

“Prissy?” Ahmed zooms around Grand Avenue and hops on the level three freeway where he blazes at two hundred and seventy miles per hour. “I told you not to kill Dustin. It took two men to replace his power. And the
Hindu
gods I came with could trump any Olympian.” Monte glares at him. “Except you. Obviously.”

“Obviously not. They lost to a guy with barcodes you haven’t mentioned yet.”

“None.”

“What the hell? Are you sure?”

“That’s my job. To know codes. He had none. Even when Carmen kissed him, she couldn’t find them. They would have automatically activated.”

“She kissed? Damn! He’s really going to give it to me now. Don’t you understand I have to go back with this information?” Ahmed shifts in his seat queasily and Monte notices. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Say it now,” Monte demands. The wind he releases from his tattoos cracks all the windows inside the van. The surprising force causes Ahmed to swerve.

“He was blind. Kept his eyes closed.”

“Shit.” Monte rubs his temple. “You’re sloppy.”

“
I’m
sloppy? You kill everyone we work with.”

“Except you.”

Ahmed presses down on the gas as hard as he can. “But you’re going to kill me now, aren’t you?”

Monte slowly places his helmet back on. Leaning back in his seat, he coldly replies, “Yep.”

As sirens close in, Ahmed jerks the wheel into the freeway’s shoulder launching Monte and himself from the third level, nearly six hundred feet in the sky. 

Four

“Interesting?” I echo. Dennis slaps a patch on my back forcefully. “That hurt.”

“You deserve it.”

“I said I didn’t mean to kill them, kinda. But what’s so damn
interesting
?”

Dennis walks in front of me, holding his right hand. We’re in a dark room on the seventh floor. I had to blast my way out of the rubble while hiding myself. Then I carried Carmen all the way here, with Dennis in hot pursuit.

Everything on the seventh floor stinks. I think it has to do with the disgusting prison that Dennis refuses to have sanitized. The custodian team at the school is known to clean classes while we’re in them, but not even they step foot up here.

The mutated rat-infested room we’re hiding in was once home to Professor Gonzales’ behemoths; the ones that were “mysteriously” set free on my first day of school. Now, it’s an empty mess of green and greener tiles. The walls are black, but not from paint. I believe the grainy material is dried blood.

Dennis tilts his head. He’s probably wondering why my eyes are open around Carmen.

“She figured it out on her own after licking me.”

He dismisses my assumption, “I know.”

“There’s no point in hiding.”

“I know.”

“Well, what are you looking at me for, and why aren’t you answering my question?”

“Somehow you managed to block my ability. I can only see what happens up to your conversation with Richard. How are you doing that?”

I shift on the metal stool, and point to Carmen nonchalantly.

He whispers, “She taught you? Not possible. If it weren’t for some connections she has, she’d be the only god level student with all demigod classes.”

“Connections?”

“You like her. Don’t you?”

“She definitely does fun things with her tongue.”

“Spare me the details, but I’m going to enjoy this.” Dennis walks to a black lab table and throws a long brown cloak to me. “You enjoy pissing people off, right?”

“I consider it a hobby.”

“Then, I’m going to leave you in the dark on this one, but...” No longer whispering, he turns to the quiet girl and says, “...Carmen.”

“Mr. Colt?” She jumps up so nervously that she slightly trips over her feet.

“I’m going to give you the opportunity to choose your full-time security. You’ll have to live, eat, and sleep very close to that person. Is that fine by you?”

Bowing her head, she mumbles, “Yes, sir.”

Turning to me he asks, “Kay. Will you volunteer your services?”

Carmen’s eyes are already radiating brilliantly due to Dennis’ misreading of a situation. Cleaning some of the blood from the Hindu gods off of my neck, I take my time to reply, “No.”

The way Carmen shudders makes me notice her intricate armor. It’s classical. The chest plate is sturdy, and made of a steel and Kevlar combination. Like Angie’s armor, there’s a long gap in the middle that stretches down to her navel. The space is stitched together by threads the size of shoe laces. The red cape wrapped around her waist falls to her calves, and her silver boots stretch to her thighs. It’s superior Moreno—the premium badass crap that only senior ranking officials receive. Either she’s someone special or her father is.

“Hmm. I didn’t expect that,” Dennis groans. “Oh well. I’m volunteering him. When I present your student security, Kay, will be one of the options.”

Carmen gently shakes her head. “It’s okay, Mr. Colt. You can choose whoever is suitable.”

“How many times will we go through this Carmen? You’ll never get anywhere with passive aggression. Kay is specifically someone who won’t be convinced by a weak voice or batting eyelashes. Believe me.” How do they know each other on such a personal level? I’m amused. Dennis watches me silently for a few seconds. “Where did the assassin go?”

I simply answer, “Beijing Coliseum.”

“Who did he meet up with?”

I glance over at Carmen. The guilty expression on my face is too obvious. “One of the Paynes.” I can’t admit that it was Monte in front of her. He still attends the academy. That knowledge could make her uncomfortable.

“Was it her?”

“No.”

“Are you still looking for her?” Dennis’ pinky finger is capable of more than he’s willing to admit. I haven’t mentioned my desire to search and kill Eve once, but he constantly asks me about it. He knows too much.

“Hey, Dad. I can hear everyone getting off the elevator. The ceremony is about to start.” Dennis pretends to dust lint from his arm, but checks his watch. Instead of leaving, he props himself onto the dirty lab counter.

Eight male students exit the elevator at the farthest end of the hall, two doors away from the entrance to the prison. They trickle down the corridor. Some are laughing, and others look scared out of their minds.

Vincent leads them to a large steel door. The destructive crashing sound the garage door makes as he slams it open causes several of the guys to flinch. Malik points at Patrick, laughing at his shrieks.

The color in my eyes intensifies as I lower the radius of my sight. There’s a particular heartbeat that I occasionally enjoy listening to with limited interruption. Yet, the sound continues approaching me. That’s not a good thing.

“I know that look,” Dennis announces with a hint of concern prancing around each word.

“You didn’t say Angie would be here.”

Carmen’s muscles tense the second she hears the name.

Dennis shrugs his shoulders casually. “She’s overseeing the Seal of Solomon ceremony. It’s her responsibility to take the power if Vincent dies, though she’s struggling to learn the techniques. But don’t worry, the hood I got you should be good enough to hide behind. She obviously never saw your face.”

“Dad. She’s climbing the stairs right now.”

“Why didn’t she take the—”

“Listen. She can sense blood. She always knew who or what I killed. If she’s within twenty feet, she’ll feel Spencer’s blood on me, and maybe my own.” That really disturbs him. Dennis has taken serious precautions to hide me from Angie more than anyone else because he knows she couldn’t hold a secret to save her life. But this new information is good enough to spook him. “Five seconds.”

In the time it takes me to blink, Dennis is at the door. I take two steps back as Angie emerges from the stairwell. Twenty feet.

Her armor has received some amazing upgrades. The gear looks nearly as magnificent as Seth’s previous work. The black skin-tight armor lining her body sticks to her flesh like glue. It travels from her feet to her fingertips. The padding on her arms and legs is broken into sections: biceps, shoulders, forearms, hands, waist, thighs, and calves. Each segment glows with a faint green hue of the computer components shining within the dense padding.

Dennis leaves the door cracked behind him with Carmen in sight.

The pitter-patter in Angie’s chest slows. She doesn’t acknowledge Dennis. Instead, she peers over his shoulders at the room behind him. I take one more step back, just in case.

“Hey,” he says merrily. She doesn’t respond verbally. Her body does the talking. Angie takes an aggressive step forward, but Dennis interrupts her ungoverned advancement by clearing his throat. “You won’t be able to attend the ceremony today. There was a serious accident on the first floor, and I need you to lead the team searching for any students that may be trapped in the rubble.”

Her chest broadly expands and contracts. Her jawbone becomes visible every few seconds as she clenches her teeth together.

“Stay with the group clearing the stones away. I’ll inform your father.”

The fingers on Dennis’ left hand tremble, just out of her sight. I don’t blame him. Angie’s the only person in the world I genuinely fear. I mean, piss-my-pants scared. Because I can’t dream, I consider her my nightmare, though she used to be my best friend.

Angie slowly reenters the stairwell.

Dennis drags his feet back into our room. He forces a smile on his face as his hands quiver in his pockets. “There are obviously some things about my niece and son I don’t know about. You said twenty feet, but it looks like she noticed you.”

“Yeah. And she was ready to kill. Dad, if the bandages don’t change me enough, she’ll know I killed Spencer.” If she can’t distinguish between my blood and people I’ve killed, she’ll think Kay murdered Kode.

“That could be a problem, but we’ll have to discuss that at another time. Let’s head to the meeting.”