Highway To Armageddon Read online

  “Don’t be stupid, boy,” Machete growls. “You know how good Arrow and I can be in a fight, so drop the macho act and let’s get a move on.”

  Lance clenches his fists. I grip his shoulder and give him a quick, gentle massage. He instantly relaxes. Arrow’s not the only one who can manipulate people. I know what makes Lance tick, and I know what relaxes him. I also know Lance would never allow me to go off on a dangerous mission without him. If we’re all going to be working together, we need to learn to coexist somewhat peacefully.

  Machete points at her car. “We can use my ride. Yours is a piece of crap.”

  Lance tenses up again, so I dig in deeper. He exhales as my fingers work their magic.

  “Okay,” I say. “So when do you want to head out?”

  Machete blows more smoke rings into the night sky. “At the crack of dawn. Don’t worry about accommodating us. Arrow and I can sleep on the roof. It’s a nice night out.”

  “Good,” Lance says. “We weren’t going to let you sleep in our place anyway.”

  “Lance,” I whisper, pinching the back of his neck.

  Machete narrows her eye, but thankfully she doesn’t toss a dagger or anything. “I’ll wake you up at dawn. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get a little shut-eye.”

  Machete starts marching toward her car when Arrow clears his throat.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something, Mom?”

  Machete grumbles and plungers her hand into her pockets. She withdraws a tattered wallet and whips out several bills.

  “Here,” she says, thrusting the money into my hand. “Ten $10,000 bills. It’s part of the money we got for Remy.”

  I stare at the money in total shock.

  “I… I don’t know what to say,” I whisper. “T… thank you.”

  Machete blows smoke in my face, forcing me to cough. “Don’t thank me, it was Arrow’s idea.”

  Arrow places his hands over mine, closing them around the crinkled bills.

  “Consider it a token of our gratitude,” he says, gazing into my eyes. “For helping us take down Remy, and for accompanying us on our mission to take down Rasputin.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper again, blinking back tears. Arrow has no idea how much this means to me, or how badly we need the money. Or maybe he does. This $100,000 is a godsend. It’ll help us cover our $25,000 rent, and it’ll cover the $5,000 monthly fee we must pay per person just to live behind the Sanctuary walls. When Dagger was around we always had a ton of money in the bank, but these past few months have been tough… real tough.

  Machete continues grumbling and hops into the back of her Moon Cruiser.

  Arrow bumps into Lance as he walks by. I try to grab Lance’s arm, but I’m too late. He shoves Arrow from behind, causing him to stumble. Arrow spins around and grabs Lance by the front of his shit. Both of them pull back their arms and engage in an intense stare-down. They’re mere seconds from initiating a full-blown brawl.

  I squeeze myself in between both of them. “Knock it off!”

  Lance and Arrow back away so they don’t hit me, but the stare-down continues.

  I press my hand against Arrow’s chest. “If you expect us to help you and your mom, you’re going to have to keep your temper in check.”

  Arrow looks down at me and all his anger fades away.

  “You’re right, Red. I’ll try to behave from now on.”

  He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close. My chin bumps into his chest. I suddenly realize just how tall he is. And his body is so hard.

  Arrow brushes his lips against my ear. “That is, until you want me to be bad again.”

  My knees buckle. My heart is like putty in Arrow’s hands.

  Lance gags and pretends to vomit. “For the love of God, stop it. You guys are about to make me lose my lunch!”

  I glare at Lance. “Are you three?”

  Arrow rubs my lower back, causing my knees to buckle once more. “Don’t worry about it, Red. Do yourself a favor, though, and keep your boy in check. If he keeps running his mouth, he might just wake up with an arrow in his chest.”

  Arrow twirls around and lays on one of our lounge chairs. “If you don’t mind I’m gonna sleep on this tonight. My mom is a loud snorer.”

  “Actually we do mind,” Lance says.

  I grab his arm and pull him to the far side of the roof. He glowers at me and says, “You are unbelievable, you know that.”

  “And why’s that?” I say angrily.

  “You just are. Machete and Arrow are scumbags, and yet you’re practically throwing yourself at them. And how come you don’t get mad when Arrow calls you Red, but you throw a fit when I call you Firecracker?”

  “Maybe because he uses it as a term of endearment while you only say it to get under my skin!”

  “It’s not my fault you’re so damn sensitive,” Lance barks.

  “I’m sensitive? Are you freaking kidding me? You’re the one who loses his mind when another guy so much as looks at me!”

  “Oh, you don’t do the same when another girl looks at me? You just about tore those strippers’ heads off in Detroit! And besides, Arrow didn’t just look at you. You guys practically fornicated right in front of me!”

  “Oh that’s ridiculous. I’m surprised you even know what ‘fornicate’ means.”

  By now Lance’s face is bright red. I’m sure mine is as well. Every time Lance does something sweet to make me wonder why we ever broke up, he does something like this to make me wonder why we got back together three times.

  Lance takes a deep breath to quell his swelling rage, as do I. In a slightly less-hostile voice, Lance says, “Boom Boom, you know we can’t trust them.”

  I sigh and reply, “I know, but they’ll be invaluable in a fight. You can’t deny that.

  You saw how they saved our asses in Detroit, and last month in Seattle.”

  “They also stole our captures,” Lance reminds me. “Remember when we hunted down Alberto El Delrado at the Mexico City Oasis? We nearly got killed 100-times over during that shootout in the streets, and Arrow and Machete swooped in at the last minute to steal our $500,000 bounty.”

  “Yeah, but if it weren’t for them ‘swooping in’, our carcasses would currently be rotting in the Mexican desert. Which is my point. When the going gets tough, we can always count on Machete and Arrow to stand their ground and slug it out. They made not be particularly pleasant people, but they have more guts than anyone we know.”

  Lance’s cheeks bulge out as he rolls his tongue around in his mouth. He always does that when he’s struggling to win a losing argument. He finally throws his hands in the air. “Alright. But if this backfires, I’m never letting you hear the end of it.”

  I scoff and leap through the skylight to tell Krystal about our impromptu plans. Lance follows after me.

  “Hey Krystal!” I shout over the booming TV. “Arrow and Machete are going to join us on our manhunt for Rasputin. Is that cool?”

  Krystal flaps her wrist. “Yeah yeah, I don’t care. Now shush, you’re interrupting my show.”

  I smirk at Lance. “See, Krystal doesn’t care.”

  “That’s because Krystal has mental problems,” Lance retorts.

  He’s not going to get an argument out of me about that.

  Harpoon walks over to us and asks, “Are you guys really going on another mission?” She doesn’t sound particularly happy.

  I kneel beside her and say, “Unfortunately we have to, sweetheart. But don’t worry. If things work out, we’ll never have to hunt down bad guys ever again.”

  Blade makes his way over. “You guys said the same thing about that Caesar dude.”

  I run my fingers through Blade’s messy hair. “This time I mean it. I promise.”

  Lance pulls the kids in for a hug. It’s like he’s already forgotten about our fight. It’s one of the things I love most about him. He can drop a petty feud or fight in an instant if something more important comes up. And for us, nothin
g is more important than Blade and Harpoon.

  “When we get back with our bounty, we’ll be able to go on all sorts of vacations,” Lance says with a grin.

  “Really?” the kids blurt out simultaneously.

  “Yep,” he says, his grin widening. “We can go to ball games, amusement parks, cruises, you name it.”

  “Well in that case you guys should get a move on!” Blade shouts.

  Lance and I burst out laughing. Even in the face of such danger and peril, the kids always find a way to make us smile.

  Lance finally stops laughing and becomes deadly serious. “I’m not sure how long we’re going to be gone, Blade. Hopefully we’ll be back within a week. But until then you’re going to have to be the man of the house.”

  Blade stops smiling and nods solemnly, as if he’s honored to be granted such immense responsibility. “I know, Lance. I’ll take good care of Harpoon and Krystal’s grandma.”

  “I know you will, bud,” Lance replies. “I’ll ask Mrs. Madison to stop over once a day to check on you guys, though, just in case you need anything.”

  “No, don’t do that!” Harpoon wails. “She’s mean!”

  “Exactly,” Lance says. “She’ll stab anyone who tries to mess with you guys. But most of the time you’re going to be all alone. And we still have that bounty on our heads, meaning people may try to break in looking for us. And if they do…”

  Lance grabs Krystal’s handgun off the coffee table. (She’s too busy laughing at her trashy TV show to notice.) Blade gasps as Lance hands him the firearm, as do I.

  “Lance, I don’t…”

  Lance raises his hand, cutting me off.

  “I want the kids to be able to defend themselves, Boom Boom. Now Blade, I don’t want you to take this to school or show it to your friends. Keep it on your nightstand. But if anyone enters this apartment, with the exception of us and Mrs. Madison, you shoot them dead, okay?”

  “O… okay,” Blade says, still staring at the gun in awe.

  I can’t say that I’m thrilled Blade has a gun, but I know it’s a necessary evil. I would love for the kids to be shielded from the evils of the world, but that’s wishful thinking. They might as well learn how to defend themselves now.

  I glance at the TV. Krystal has stopped laughing, which must mean her reality show has been interrupted by breaking news. Sure enough there’s a report about another Purple Dragon terrorist attack in China. This time a shopping mall has been bombed, killing over 100. The reporter goes on to say the Chinese are ratcheting up pressure for the U.S. to hand over suspected Russian terrorists living in the country, including Mikhail. Several nuclear aircraft carriers have been spotted near Hawaii, a sign that the Chinese are not kidding about their threat to use force to nab their most wanted fugitive.

  That’s when it hits me. I mean really hits me. In just a few short hours Lance, Krystal and I are going to undertake the most perilous mission of our young lives. The dangers are many and varied, but the reward… enough money to where we can spend the rest of our days in peace and prosperity… is great.

  Tomorrow morning we go after the most wanted man on Earth. And the fate of the entire planet may depend on us finding him.

  Chapter Seven: Lance

  Machete lies about waking us up at 6am. She has our asses out of bad by 5. After we grab our weapons and slip into our body armor (and after Boom Boom and I kiss Blade and Harpoon goodbye), we stop at the ATM to deposit our $100,000. Shortly after that we head west in Machete’s Moon Cruiser. Machete flies and Arrow rides shotgun. Meanwhile I’m forced to sit in the back between Krystal and Boom Boom. I’ve had better rides.

  After flying nonstop for nearly 12 hours, we finally settle down in a meadow deep in the Canadian wilderness. The stars are already out by the time we set up camp.

  Apparently Machete is an expert at living off the land because she makes a campfire lickety-split. The five of us gather around the raging fire and have a meager supper of dried fruit and canned beans.

  Everyone is pretty quiet during our meal, save for Krystal. She feels the need to complain about us being outside when there are several motels only a few miles away. I listen as Boom Boom calmly explains we’re trying to avoid all the bounty hunters headed to Alaska who might be tempted to come after us instead. Krystal finally stops complaining and finishes her beans.

  Arrow wraps his jacket around Boom Boom’s shoulders. I do my best to ignore them as they talk quietly to each other and giggle.

  I eventually get bored and light up a joint to ease the throbbing pain in my head. I’m only able to take a few hits before Boom Boom says something.

  “Seriously, Lance? You’re going to do that in front of me?”

  I jab my joint at Arrow. “You’re seriously going to snuggle with the world’s biggest douchebag?”

  “Red’s looking out for you,” Arrow says smugly. “You’re poisoning your body with hundreds of carcinogens.”

  I gesture toward Machete, who’s leaning against a tree, chugging on her cigar. “What about your momma? Why don’t you harass her?”

  “Because he doesn’t want his ass beat,” Machete growls.

  Arrow and I start arguing. Machete finally stands up and says, “That’s it, I’m going for a walk. You kids are too damn annoying.”

  Machete disappears down a dark trail.

  “I’m going for a walk, too,” I say, adjusting the night-vision function on my shades.

  “I don’t think we should be going off on our own,” Boom Boom starts to say, but I ignore her and storm off into the forest.

  I keep walking until I reach a gushing stream. It’s so nice and peaceful that I can’t help but stop. The fresh, untainted water gives the forest a nice, clean scent. A cool breeze rustles my hair, sending chills cascading down my spine. Off in the distance crickets chirp, frogs ribbit, owls hoot, and a wolf howls.

  I lift my goggles and look up at the stars through the gaps in the treetops. The moon is nearly full, casting the valley in a silver glow. An overwhelming sense of peace and serenity washes over me. The urge to finish my joint fades away. I press the burnt end against my Kevlar vest, extinguishing it. I then flick the smoldering joint into the stream. I definitely don’t want to risk igniting a forest fire.

  I take a deep breath and exhale. The healing power of nature is amazing.

  Gazing up at the stars always reminds me of Dagger. He was always fascinated with astronomy. He’d take me and Boom Boom out to the countryside and show us all the constellations and star systems. Sometimes he’d bring along his telescope. I enjoyed those nights out in the middle of nowhere. It was one of the few times I was allowed to just be a kid. I do my best to replicate that feeling with Blade and Harpoon. I don’t want their childhoods to be as screwed up as ours.

  Green spirals materialize and dance across the night sky. It’s an Aurora Borealis, the fabled Northern Lights. I remember hearing on the news a massive solar storm was headed our way. It looks like it just arrived.

  As I stare in wonder at the spinning bands of light, I start to daydream about all the things we’ll get to do with the kids if we nab Rasputin. We’ll get to go to ball games, concerts, and amusement parks. We can get a membership to the zoo (Harpoon would love that more than anything). I’ll be able to afford all the toys and video games they want. We can even go to other Sanctuaries. A lot of them are way nicer than ours, especially Sanctuary 41. Only the richest people on Earth can afford to live there. It costs $10,000 a day just to visit… per person.

  But that’s not even what excites me the most. With $25 million we’ll be able to send the kids to the best colleges, so they can get real jobs and not have to follow in our footsteps. And we’ll able to travel the world. We won’t be heading east, of course. A trip to Europe, Africa, and especially Asia would result in instant death. But we can visit some of the oases in Mexico and Central America. We can visit the last remaining vestiges of the Amazon Rainforest in Southern Brazil. We can even visit the new American
colony in West Antarctica. There’s already talk that as the ice continues to melt, millions of people could relocate there. I want to check it out before it gets too crowded.

  I could also buy a new, super-powered telescope and place it on the roof of our penthouse. And I could get a boat! I love sailing in the open ocean.

  I’m just in the process of winding down my fantasy when a bloodcurdling scream snaps me back to reality. I would recognize that shriek of terror anywhere. It’s Krystal.

  I take off at a sprint, tripping over branches and upturned tree roots as I thrash my way through the forest. Birds fly out of their nests, perturbed that I interrupted their nocturnal slumber.

  As I stumble and tumble through the woods, the screaming and shouting gets louder and louder. There’s also a zapping sound. Someone’s being tased.

  I finally skid to a halt behind some bushes around the perimeter of our campsite. I’m tempted to rush in and rescue my friends, but that would be incredibly stupid and reckless. I need to get an idea of who I’m dealing with first.

  I get on my knees and peer through the brush. I’m not at all surprised to find Pitbull standing near the campfire. He has his cyborg hand gripped firmly around Arrow’s neck. Normally I’d love to see Arrow getting strangled, but obviously things have changed. Pitbull has Arrow high in the air, so that his feet dangle off the ground. Arrow claws at Pitbull’s metallic hand, but it’s to no avail. Ptibull has Arrow right where he wants him… on the verge of death.

  Off to the left are Yin and Yang. The only way I’ve ever been able to tell them apart is through their outfits. Yin’s ninja costume is black and her headband is white. She’s currently hovering over Krystal, who is sprawled out on the ground like roadkill.

  Yang is dressed in a white ninja costume with a black headband, and she’s standing over Boom Boom. She’s also clutching a taser, and the barbed hooks at the end are imbedded in Boom Boom’s neck. Boom Boom tries to get to her feet, but Yang zaps her. Boom Boom twitches uncontrollably as electricity wracks her body. Yang finally lifts her finger off the trigger and Boom Boom stops convulsing.