Trapped

Chapter 16

            “But what if it starts higher than two?” Gabe asked.

            “It doesn’t matter, if we get it down to one, he won’t break his pattern.  If we get it to one, he can’t add any more than one an hour which will allow us to keep the situation controlled.” Trinity explained.

            “Alright, how do you propose we kill these Exterminators, since we have no clue what they are?”

            “I haven’t figured that out yet.  I am working on it.  If it’s a person, shot them in the head.”

            “And if it’s not?”

            “Run like hell.” Trinity laughed and they turned the corner into another large room.  Stopping where they stood, Trinity surveyed the room and put her hand out to stop Gabe from taking a step forward.

            “Don’t something’s not right.”

            “Very good job Ms. Vega at figuring out my plans with the Exterminators, you are very smart for being a filthy street rat.” The man spat out the last part like the words were poisonous.

            Trinity ignored him and looked around the room again.  She pulled her gun out and pointed up.  Shooting out every single light in the room, a dense maze of lasers crisscrossed the entire room moving as a single cohesive unit.

            Trinity held onto her gun and cart wheeled into the laser grid.  Laser’s swept inches from her body constantly.  She reached up and fired a single shot and the laser sweeping for her neck vanished.  She spun up from her crouched position into standing position and fired another shot.  Back springing through some more lasers, she shot out several more lasers and flipped over one as she shot it out.  A laser sweeping over her tucked in head, sheared off some of her hair as she landed.  She shot another out and narrowly got her head sliced off.  Shooting the laser out as it brushed against her neck a slit was made in the left side of her neck going across the collar.  Her neck began to slowly ooze blood from the shallow cut.  She finished with the last one and she couldn’t see Gabe on the other side of the room.

            “Gabe?” she called.

            “Trinity?  Where are you?” Gabe responded.  Trinity didn’t have a flashlight with her nor did she know where the door was to let the light in the hallway spill into the room.

            “Pull your pen light out!” Trinity said.  Gabe pulled the pen light out and turned it on.  The tiny little beam did little against the darkness of the room. “The lasers are all gone, I promise.  You can just walk right across.”

            Gabe trusted Trinity and slowly walked across the room, waiting for the pen light to illuminate her.  His penlight beam landed on a lock of hair and them a few drops of blood.

            “Trinity?  Are you hurt?” Gabe asked.

            “I don’t think so,” Trinity said, “but I can’t see.”

            “Alright, hold on.” Gabe finished crossing the room and opened the door.  Light spilled into the room and Trinity grabbed Gabe’s arm.  He pulled her out into the hall and turned the pen light off.  He couldn’t see any visible cuts or lacerations, until he touched her hair.

            His glove came away covered in blood.  Brushing her hair out of the way on the left side, her neck was covered in a thin sheen of blood.  He pulled his glove off and ran his fingers over the scar from the capsule implant surgery.  The cut wasn’t deep enough to open or loosen the small metal capsule full of lethal poison.  The collar around her neck was sliced but still being held together on the ends.

            “I could rip the collar off right now.” He seethed. “All I would have to do is break millimeters of nylon fabric.  The two metal strips are broken, the collar is broken.  If I keep it on, it keeps you alive, if I take it off, you die.  This is complete bullshit!”