Code, p.12
Code, page 12
He wanted to see what he could do, so he picked up his heavy chair with one hand, something he wouldn’t have been able to do without the serum. He let go of the chair and effortlessly jumped up onto his desk. When he leaped off, he misjudged his strength and collided with the wall. To his surprise, he made a dent, and he felt no pain.
Remarkable. He felt amazing.
Suddenly the room spun. Blood rushed to his head, his heart hammering. The muscles in his arms twitched, his vision unclear. Overwhelming rage came forth too fast, an aggressive madness taking over.
His hands trembled, his body shook. He rammed his head into the wall, over and over, blood coating his forehead and dotting the white polished floor. The need to hurt something or someone controlled him. He stormed to the nearest desk and slammed his fist in the middle, breaking it in half.
This strength—incredible.
Stumbling back, he collided with something. The window. Glass splintered like long spider legs. For the hell of it, he jabbed his elbow into the middle of the original point of the crack, and glass rained down, a few shards cutting him in the fall.
No throbbing. No slicing ache. He felt nothing. Just pure rage to dominate and hurt.
Stop! I shouldn’t be doing this. The wrath shouldn’t be the source of his power. The walls spun, the earth tilted. Darkness flashed across his eyes, but he clung to the light.
He had to get the counter serum. How could he have done this to himself? What if CHB19 didn’t work?
Almost at the brink of losing his mind, he stumbled with pure will to his desk and inserted the CHB19 in his arm. Within seconds, his rage deflated and he slumped on his chair. He was exhausted but in control. But the lab was a mess—the desk broken in half, shattered glass door, the dent in the wall. Zen had to come up with a good explanation
No ... ISAN wouldn’t care.
ISAN would be proud of the mess and the items he had destroyed. Zen had just perfected CH. CHB19 no more. CHB20 now.
Zen left a message for Dr. Hunt, assuming he was already asleep. Seconds later, his chip chimed and Dr. Hunt’s face appeared. His gray eyes gleamed against the backdrop lighting. Walls and monitors like his own came into focus behind him.
“I’m in my lab, Zen. What’s this about CH? Tell me what happened.”
Zen described the sequence of events from when he’d taken the serum and left out no details.
“This is great news.” Dr. Hunt smiled. “Your accomplishment will help me push forward with mine. Good job. We should meet up and celebrate.”
Dr. Hunt’s approval meant everything to Zen. That man was one of the greatest scientists of their time. Perhaps experimenting on himself hadn’t been a misstep after all. Zen had gotten Dr. Hunt’s attention. Together they could make history.
“Zen.” Frank gripped Zen’s arm, snapping him out of the past.
The wind had picked up and a tornado was approaching. Not one big enough to bring them down, but it would take them on a violent ride if they got caught in the center.
Zen guided the aircraft to the side, and saw something—a dome-shape.
“What is that?” Frank said. “Do you see it, Zen?”
Instead of going near it, Zen backed away. He didn’t have a good feeling about it.
“Hey, Zen. Something is lifting from the ground. There’s another one. It looks like—”
A red laser beam from a hidden arsenal punctured through the dirt and hit their glider smack in the front. The front shield shattered, shards raining all around. Zen tried to focus, but he was in too much shock.
Their aircraft plummeted. Down, down, faster and faster.
Zen reached for the mic to call for help, but he couldn’t stretch his arm. Still, he managed to slam the emergency button.
“Mayday. Mayday. This is Zen. Frank and I are at the meeting point. We’ve been hit. We’re going down.”
“I’m trying to pull up. It’s not working.” Frank groaned.
“Hold tight, Frank,” Zen hollered over the transporter that screamed with warning beeps.
Their glider whirled like a cyclone as it free fell.
“Eject. Eject!” Frank’s desperate command reached Zen’s ears, but executing the action became impossible. Everything spun. So dizzy. Zen wanted to vomit.
He had no choice but to succumb to the darkness. Amid the confusion and terror, his last thoughts were of Cleo.
Chapter Nineteen — Distress Call
Rhett
Reyna escorted Nina and Cora to Jill as soon as Rhett’s team landed at the mountain base. After Zeke took off for the black market, Rhett headed to his room to get more supplies. The rest of his team waited at their glider.
Rhett halted. Momo and Coco stood in front of his door.
Momo frowned. “Why are you—”
“Come inside. We’ll talk in there.” Rhett didn’t have time to chat, but he didn’t want to brush them off.
“Wow. You have a cool room.” Momo glanced about and settled by the table near the back wall with Coco. “Ours is tight. Not that I’m complaining. And what are those?” She pointed at several old monitors and computer screens.
“Never mind those,” Rhett said.
He grabbed his backpack from under his cot and shoved medical supplies from the cabinet above him into it. He already had some in the glider, but he wanted more. Since he had to wait for Reyna, he might as well do something.
He opened another cabinet above the cot and pulled out a T-shirt and his cap, the black cap Ava had worn. Her scent still lingered on the fabric. Not long ago, he had kidnapped Ava and brought her to this mountain base. Not too long ago she’d slept in this room. Things had changed so much, too fast.
“Rhett? You okay?” Coco’s sweet, concerned voice brought him out of his reverie.
“I think he loves that hat?” Momo giggled.
Rhett had held the cap and his T-shirt like he would cradle a baby. He looked ridiculous.
“Hey, I need to change.” Rhett twirled his finger. “Turn around.”
“Oh.” Momo stiffened, then relaxed with a smirk. “Go right ahead. It’s not like you’re taking off your pants. I’ve seen a boy’s chest before.”
“I’m not a boy. Suit yourself.” Rhett gave them his back and changed his old T-shirt for the new one and put on the cap. When he turned back around, the girls’ cheeks flushed hot red.
Momo inclined her head. “You’re definitely not a boy. You’ve got lots of muscles.”
Rhett rolled his eyes playfully.
Momo leaned into her hip. “You know in six years, I’ll be like your age, and the difference in years won’t matter. So what I’m saying is, in case things don’t work out with Ava, you’ve got me.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Coco smacked Momo’s arm.
Momo bumped into the table and shrugged. “What?”
Coco rubbed her temple and avoided Rhett’s eyes. “Um ... what did you need to talk to us about?”
Rhett grabbed a towel from adjacent cabinet and rushed to the sink to wash his hands.
“You have a sink in here?” Momo asked.
Ava had asked the same question. Momo’s and Coco’s faces appeared behind him in the mirror. When he turned, he almost smacked into the girls.
“Sit over there.” He pointed to the cot. “You don’t have to be my shadows.”
“But you said let’s talk.” Momo sounded upset and stomped to the cot with Coco.
Rhett shouldn’t take his frustration out on the kids. Multitasking and rushing to get going to Ava wasn’t working out well.
“Yeah. Sorry.” Rhett washed his hands, readjusted his cap, and walked to the long cabinet by the door. “When you were in ISAN, did you hear anything about a secret base? Try to think. Anything that relates to a location or a place.”
Coco chewed on her bottom lip and peered up to the ceiling. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something but then shook her head.
A crease formed on Momo’s forehead. “You’re worried about Ava, aren’t you? You couldn’t find her.”
Coco fluttered her eyelashes, her hands on the mattress. “We’re worried about her too. We want to help.”
“Thank you, but not now.” Rhett withdrew cases of bullets from the cabinet and shoved them inside the backpack. “I might have to count on you soon so get—”
Alarms blared.
“We have incoming.” Nick’s voice echoed into the loud speaker. “Everyone to your posts.”
Timing couldn’t have been worse. Rhett prayed someone had accidently tripped the alarm. But from how today was going, he didn’t think so.
“Girls, listen carefully.” Rhett said. “You need to go to your positions.” He holstered his gun and Taser when they didn’t move. “Go to your team. Now. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay.” Momo gave him a curt nod, her expression serious as she tugged Coco out the door.
“Rhett.” Oz almost ran into him as Rhett stepped out. “Did you hear?”
Footsteps shuffled, his peers running to their posts.
“Yeah,” Rhett said. “How many gliders? Are they close? Walk with me to the control room.”
“Three. They’re circling like they’re looking for something, but they haven’t landed yet.”
Rhett sprinted up two flights of stairs, forgoing the elevator, and pushed through the door. “Is this the best footage?” Rhett leaned closer to look at the aircraft on the old-fashioned monitor.
He wished they had high-tech equipment and drones to detect aerial movement. The gliders looked ordinary—not special, but bigger. Big enough to fit a dozen people at least.
“Yes,” one of the men said. “They keep alternating in and out of visibility. Maybe instead of shooting it down, we wait it out. They might leave.”
Rhett’s fingers moved along the keyboard. “Perhaps. Can you enlarge the footage?”
“What you see is what you get. We don’t have sophisticated equipment. I could try to—”
“Anyone there? This is Vince.” Vince’s voice boomed through the mic. “Zen gave me the coordinates. If you’re there and I’ve got the right place, please let us in. We’ve come a long way.”
Ozzie grabbed Rhett’s arm. “What if it’s a trap?”
It was Vince’s voice. Or at least it sounded like him.
“What’s the code word?” Rhett called through the loud speaker.
“The code is CODE. I repeat the code is CODE.”
Rhett sighed with relief and unclenched his jaw. He’d thought they had to place their emergency evacuation in action. He worked so hard to keep everyone safe, to keep this sanctuary off the radar, and he’d been successful so far. However, he had wondered if bringing friends from Hope City would attract attention. But he’d had no choice.
“Steady. We’re opening the door,” Rhett answered and pushed the green button.
“The code is code?” Ozzie gave Rhett an are-you-kidding-me look.
Rhett shrugged. “I didn’t make it up. Come on. We need to be down there.”
Two dozen of Rhett’s men surrounded the gilders, machine guns pointed. Rhett frowned at Momo and her friends. He supposed he needed to give Momo more specific directions. Go to your team didn’t mean get your team and meet him at the entrance runway.
Vince came out first with hands raised in surrender, then his men.
“Lower your weapons,” Rhett ordered his people. “Vince, it’s good to see you. Welcome.”
“Rhett. Ozzie. Pretty impressive.” Vince glanced about, then nodded at his men to confirm all was fine.
“Is Zen with you?” Rhett asked.
Vince’s eyes got bigger. “No. He told me he was going to meet you at the rendezvous. You didn’t see him?”
“No. I tried to send him a message.” Rhett’s nostrils flared and he closed the gap between them. “Where is he?”
Rhett didn’t mean to take his frustration out on Vince, but Vince had been with Zen last. And how did he know Vince wasn’t a double agent like Mitch, only for the other side?
“Whoa, Rhett. We’re on the same team.”
Vince didn’t sound threatening, but his tank size and the way a muscle on his arm twitched had Rhett thinking otherwise. Ozzie stepped forward when Vince reached for his gun and Vince’s men pointed their weapons at Rhett. Then Rhett’s team raised theirs.
Vince raised a hand. “This is all a misunderstanding. We’re on the same side. Zen asked me to swing by Hope City. He told me to bring the rest of your team here to save you a trip. Well, at least the ones that were healed by Marissa.” He jerked a chin to the man by the last glider.
When he opened the door, Jo, Marissa, and the wounded soldiers who had stayed behind exited. They looked fine and Jo lifted a hand to Rhett with a small smile.
Vince didn’t hold back his agitation. “If Zen isn’t with you, where is he? He went with Frank to find you. He never mentioned a different location.”
Rhett waved a dismissive hand to his team, a signal to drop their weapons. He had planned to send a team to Hope City and bring back those who were well enough to travel before he left again. Thankfully Zen had taken care of that.
“Come, follow me,” Rhett said. “Watch your steps. The ground isn’t leveled. Oz, come with us.”
On their way, Rhett gave Nick and Katina the floor to welcome their new guests and get them settled.
“How do we find Zen?” Vince jogged to catch up with Rhett and almost plowed into a kid as he looked around in awe at the rocky walls and the high ceiling.
“I have an idea.” Rhett took him to his room, straight to the ancient computer system on the back table.
Vince scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “What is ... How old is this monitor? This isn’t a TAB.”
“Don’t touch anything. Let me.” Ozzie pushed between them and tabbed the keyboards. “Um ... what are we looking for exactly?”
Rhett raked his hair back. “A distress signal from Zen.”
Ozzie’s eyes rounded, horrified, his voice softening. “Okay. I’ll do what I can.”
Rhett placed a hand on Oz’s shoulder. “Just do what you do best, Einstein. No stress.”
Ozzie’s fingers danced away. “I’m checking if any of ours recently called in.” After a heartbeat, he said, “None that I can tell so far.”
Vince planted his fists on the table and pitched forward. “This place is how old? You’re not going to be able to detect—”
“Wait,” Rhett said. “Zen took one of the old gliders. Say he flew over an area that had no reception, he could have called it in. He knows we have the older system. Ozzie, check the recording.”
Ozzie’s eyes gleamed as he pushed play on the recorder. “It’s beeping. It’s never beeped before.”
Vince leaned closer in anticipation.
A fuzzing noise. A crackling sound. Then Zen’s voice.
“Mayday. Mayday. This .... Frank and I ... meeting point ... been hit. We ... down.”
The words were broken, and the loud beeping from the aircraft made it difficult to hear, but there was no doubt who it was.
“I can’t believe it.” Vince backed away with his hands behind his neck.
“See.” Ozzie jerked his chin. “Don’t talk shit about my shit. Can your high-tech machine do that?”
Vince gave a defeated sigh. “Sometimes simple things are better. Can you pinpoint where he fell?”
Rhett scrubbed his face in exasperation. He wanted to punch the wall. “Yes. Zen is where I was supposed to be. Ava is there. Zen went to the original coordinates Mitch gave Zeke. My team and I were headed the same place but then we got a message from Zen telling us to go to a different location. We ended up at Pearl Valley. Only it wasn’t Zen who sent us the message.”
Vince pounded on the back of the chair. “We might be too late for the both of them. I’ll come with you.”
Rage coursed through Rhett at the time wasted and for being sent to Pearl Valley, then at Vince for coming at the wrong time. He needed to get going.
Then inspiration struck. Vince had some cool riders that would come in handy.
“No,” Rhett said. “I need you here, but I do know how you can help. I’d like to borrow a few of your Propellers.”
Vince hiked an eyebrow. For a second there, Rhett thought he wouldn’t hand them over.
“Fine.” Vince sighed. “Be careful with them. How many?"
“Perfect. Thanks. I’ll take five.”
Some things were worth the wait.
Chapter Twenty — CODE
Ava
Another day had passed. A day in which I sat on my bed with my doll and thought of Rhett, my friends, and my mom. Then Gene had come in. He’d made me angry with all his chatting about how great Novak was.
I’d pounced on him and, of course, he’d electrocuted me with a push of the gadget. I had yet again managed to get to the mattress and recover faster this time. The tingles from the aftershock had worn off and my mind was clear and alert.
The door whooshed open and Novak entered. I scowled and stroked my doll’s hair.
“You’re looking well,” he said as if we were friends. He kept three feet distance from me.
“What do you want? Why are you here?” I said in a flat tone and placed my doll on the pillow.
His facial muscles tightened, like he was biting back anger. I didn’t care.
“You will be kind, Ava, or I’ll have to—”
“You’ll what?” I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes. “Have me put down like an animal? Is that what you think of me?”
“No. You don’t understand,” he said calmly, but his cold, cruel eyes pierced mine.
“Oh, I understand. If you truly loved your wife and your daughter, you’d let them go. Let them live in peace.”
He dipped his head and met my gaze. “I can’t let you go. This is who I am, and you’re all part of the plan. You need to learn how to manifest your gifts. You’ve only touched the surface.”
I slid off the bed. “So it’s my fault I’m locked up here? My fault for being born?”
