Barcode: Cavern of Youth (43 page)

The roof on my strange carbon body ball opens. Angie flaps her wings over me. I catch another black feather that feels like a durable rubber. While rubbing it between my fingers I recall, “That’s a fifty yard course and two plane free falls. I’m ready to move up to the big leagues. Rocket jumping.”

The dark angel laughs while reaching for my hand.

Thirty

We spend twenty minutes collecting both pieces of Kongō. Exhausted and dehydrated from the humid weather and dense smog, we find cover in an old Marriott Hotel in Saint Petersberg.

We decide to avoid hunting until we’re absolutely starving. The animal blood will only attract attention. Someone could rescue us long before that. There’s no need to start trouble.

I already sent a distress call to our friends. The satellite service was all I needed to send a simple text message.

The surrounding area is infested with wild creatures. There are two girls camping out not too far from here, but trying to get to them may be too much work.

We secure the first floor and hide in one of the suites. The room has one bed frame, but most of it has been burned. This entire section was torched at one point. There isn’t much to look at.

“Hey,” I say to the stunning warrior peeking out of the window. “There are creatures on each floor above us and one just made her way down here. She’s harmless, and dinner if it comes to that.”

Angie shakes her head. “I can make it through tomorrow, for sure.”

“There are two people not far from us.”

“Someone actually lives out here?”

“I guess. Do you remember the girls I saved from the cave last year?

“Stephanie and Trinity?”

“It’s them. They have food, but we’d have to cross a lot of strong beasts to get to them. The fifteen foot monster I see killing a bear-looking creature is what I want to avoid at all cost.”

“It’s fine. Let’s hang out for the night.”

“You’re not trying to talk are you? I have enough women in my life for that.”

Angie walks over and kicks my foot before sitting between my legs. I lean my head back against the door and hold her tightly, trying to remain perfectly still.

The animal walking through this floor senses something and we both can tell. Twenty minutes of dead silence pass with us controlling the sounds of our breath. Finally the creature makes her way back up to the third floor.

“I can’t believe you think it’s the women that talk. You’re the one that never stops with the questions and sarcasm. You could always type faster than I could speak.”

Pushing her head away I say, “Don’t even start.”

Angie lightly taps the side of her head against mine. Instead of pulling away, her cheek gently rubs against my own.

She turns just enough for her lips to tease me. Tease me? What the hell am I saying? I need her to get away.

Moving her long hair behind her ears, she mumbles, “Kode. I want to talk to you about Monte and—”

“Angie, the girls are straight up Ulmerton Road. The creature that killed the bear is on forty-ninth. Run past the street quickly.”

“Kode. I said I want to stay here.”

“Once you get to Faxton, make a left. They’re in the white barn.” Angie stands up and tiptoes to the window facing the street. “There’s a lot of debris flying around right now and you’ll have a hard time seeing, but I’ll be right behind you. I swear.” I convert Shiva into my large sword, jamming it in front of the door.

Angie waits by the window for my mark and I need the pig skin panther outside the window to get away.

A group of creatures rush down the stairs. There are twenty-three of them. The white fox with a snake’s tail that roamed the floors earlier is their leader. They begin ramming into the door. The sound was enough to scare the panther outside.

With a thumbs up, Angie takes off down the street. I count to twenty before following her.

She doesn’t get as far as I’d hoped. The weather on this part of the country is disgusting. Smog and debris cover every part of the city. My mouth tastes like cigar ashes.

Once I catch up to Angie, I grab her hand and lead her the rest of the way. The group of animals follow us, but many turn around after the gusty wind intensifies. The fox is the last one left and eventually she gives up. Not long after, we turn left on Faxton.

When we make it inside the building, Stephanie and Trinity are holding guns up. They’re drinking some dark fluid that smells like tea and eating an animal that resembles a skunk.

I display my gloves so the ladies can see the trishula symbol. They slowly walk towards me. Stephanie keeps her gun raised until she notices Angie. Then, she releases a sigh of relief.

The two ladies quietly walk back to their seats.

Following them I utter, “Wow. I
still
haven’t heard you speak.”

Stephanie asks, “How did you get Tartarus off, and why are you so small?”

They offer us food, but we both decline. Starvation currently seems like a privilege compared to skunk, but if we’re stuck out here for longer than a day or two, I’ll probably change my tune.

Trinity uses the side of her mouth to tear into a large piece of the burned meat. “And is Angie finally your girl? You two have the most ridiculous sexual tension.”

Angie walks through the room and checks in dark corners while saying, “I don’t know how he removed Tartarus, but he’s still not my boyfriend. He’s not the type. I’ll consider us official when we
finally
kiss or he takes me on a date.”

“What’s a date for you?” Trinity ties her hair in a ponytail and slaps Stephanie on the leg before continuing, “A trip to the sport’s outlet and picking a fight with wannabes in East LA?”

Stephanie laughs under her breath.

Bouncing uncontrollably, Angie claps and shakes her hands. “Sounds perfect. When are we going, Kode?”

Ignoring all of their comments, I explain, “Spencer got Tartarus off by accepting the demon inside.” The girls stop eating and activate their tattoos. In the past, they would always check to see if I were telling the truth by scanning me with their data. Stephanie’s barcode is on her left inner thigh and Trinity’s is on her right. What most people don’t know is they share half of the same goddess, Amphitrite, and they’re not even related. The two girls naturally attracted each other.

They don’t know that I’m aware of this. I learned about it through one of Dennis’ conversation with the school psychologist.

“You were right,” Stephanie says to Trinity.

“What?” Angie inquires.

“I guessed that he killed Spencer. But when he didn’t come back after the battle, we thought something happened to him.”

I yawn, “I was hiding, mostly in the dungeon.”

The ladies quickly glance at each other. Stephanie’s the more attractive of the two, but both look like rugged men. They’re wearing the same exact armor, dark orange jumpsuits as plain as Dennis’.

They look alike, but Trinity has brown hair and Stephanie’s is blonde. Their fat noses and thin, dry lips are dead-on. They could almost pass for twins.

“You two were used to the dungeon, so you came here. I get that, but you could’ve just gone back down.”

Stephanie shakes her head. “The dungeon is a bit boring. Out here it’s easier to risk your life and a better place to get food. Plus, eating humans never feels right.” She shivers.

My phone beeps and I receive a satellite message from Seth that says they’re closing in on us. He wants us to hold out a little longer.

The two girls pack up their meals into backpacks on shelves by the door. Now, Stephanie ties her hair into a ponytail. They check their guns, tiptoe to the exit, and wave for us to follow.

Angie jogs towards them. “Why are we leaving?”

Trinity cautiously peeks through the exit. She leads us out and loads their things into a black SUV. There’s very little air in the tires and many scratches on the door. Once we’re all in the truck, she says, “The phone message Kode received will bring trouble. Beeps are like blood out here. Talking is too. We had to leave the second you walked in. The animals pick up on different things. Now, we have three types coming after us.”

She starts the ignition and drives down the street. We hardly make it a block before the car is rammed by a deer-looking creature. The attack runs us off the road, but it doesn’t do much damage.

Stephanie wipes blood from her head. “It was good seeing you two again, but if you want to survive, we’ll need to split up. We have uncooked meat with us and we’ll just draw more attention to you.”

I convert Shiva into a gun once I hear an ape with massive wings flying over us. Trinity reaches back and places her hand on Shiva while shaking her head. I try warning her, but it’s too late. An arm reaches in the car and pulls Stephanie out. She punches the creature in the gut while being dragged between two buildings.

Trinity opens the driver side before calmly saying, “This happens every day. Just stay away from forty-ninth and avoid spilling blood. But be careful. He may be coming for your phone.” Then, she kicks the deer in the throat and chases down the winged ape.

Angie keeps her eyes closed and uses my hand as her guide. We run up the street for nearly five minutes. But we’re cut off by a swarm of monsters. Even worse, another group approaches from behind. Kneeling to the ground, I convert Shiva into a combat rifle.

Shockingly, the wind and debris stop. The silence and clear skies are nerve wrecking.

Without saying a word, I point to the overpass ahead of us. Now that the winds have settled, Angie should be able to see it.

I fire off my first round, taking out all the creatures in front of us. We ignore the ones chasing us down. When we make it to the overpass, Angie boosts me to the top before flying next to me.

From the high area, I shoot down all of the beasts approaching. Angie stands on the opposite side and points out any that come her way. My rifle takes out any animal that comes near for over half an hour. Within that time, I slaughter nearly two hundred creatures. Blood attracts them more than I ever imagined.

Shiva returns to my hands as gloves and I fall on one knee. My heart has been beating at a rapid rate for thirty minutes and I’m sweating bullets.

Still trying to catch my breath, I wheeze, “I’m done.”

“You’re punking out already? Kode, what are we supposed to do now?”

“The next group of animals is five minutes away. I guess they’re coming for the blood. The plane is fifteen minutes out based on the time Seth said they’d arrive.”

“That’s ten minutes without anything.”

“Sekhmet.”

“I can’t. You said I can’t.”

“I’ll bring you back. Just let her out now and I’ll prep you.”

Angie’s barcodes are like alter egos. Artemis is playful, but determined. Hathor is motherly and protective. But Sekhmet tends to be more aggressive. The only thing I’m worried about is her raping me.

Angie clenches her jaw and her tattoos disappear. Her eyes shine a spectacular blue and her pupils change into arrows. She silently stomps up the overpass, openly displaying her attitude.

“Where are you going, Gigi?”

“Further up the road to delay some of the animals.”

“But there are more beasts up there.”

“Where’s the nearest creature on this overpass?”

“Nine minutes up.”

“We’ll walk slowly and I’ll start a fight there. The ones chasing the blood behind us will have to catch up. I’ll have more fights in the end, but we’ll go ten minutes without throwing a punch.”

“You’re sure you can handle all of them?”

“Why?” she blares loudly before controlling her volume, “Why do you keep hiding your eyes from me like I don’t know what they look like?”

“To increase the mystery.”

“Bull,” she snaps irately. Once again, she takes off up the road, keeping a large distance between us.

“Is this the slow pace?”

Angie takes a deep breath and grunts. “How many times will you need me to come save you?”

“After Helios and the wolves, I think we’re pretty even.”

“But I hate this stupid form and you know that. I feel all this hate inside when I’d rather feel horny or hungry.”

“You can’t multitask?”

“I’m not like you. I’m stronger—don’t get me wrong—but I don’t take joy in pain.”

“You shouldn’t be around me too much then.”

“Shut the hell up. You don’t cause me pain. I’m at peace when I’m near you. Ugh, I don’t like all this emotional shit either; stop talking and just walk.”

As planned, nine minutes pass before we run into three fox-crocodiles like the one from Gonzales’ classroom. Angie fights them for as long as possible without spilling their blood, but one comes near me and I’m forced to stab it with my trishula spear.

Angie sighs as mountains of beasts reveal themselves. There are some hiding in the area that I didn’t even notice.

She goes on a rampage, killing creatures left and right. The more blood that’s spilled, the more possessed and murderous she becomes.

Her massacre continues for four minutes, and in that time she kills five hundred and seventeen beasts with her bare hands while protecting me. The sound of propeller blades break the mournful cries of the dying creatures. Seth’s black helicopter stops over us. The chopper’s interior is half the size of the first aircraft that dropped us out here, but it’s still massive.

The gladiator princess fights off the last few beasts with all her might before falling to her knees. Though she’s tired, her eyes search for more blood. That’s Sekhmet.

I cautiously approach Angie in order to release the demon before we enter the plane. But we hear a sound that goes bump-bump in the night. The animal I saw on forty-ninth is raging our way.

There’s no way we’re beating that thing with both of us this tired.

I’m not sure if it’ll work, but I rush to Angie and turn the dial on her wrist, she’s quickly sucked up to the helicopter, but slows down when grabbing me. Knowing we’ll both die if I don’t do something, I punch her in the arm.

Angie screams vehemently as I fall right before the monster’s fangs. Just in time, I turn my own dial. I’m immediately drawn towards the plane, but the beast makes a highlight worthy jump. Its dagger like nails go in for the kill but it hardly scratches my leg.