Golden Arrow

Ready

"Well, this is it." The four of us stand at the corner of Third and Forest the next morning and look up at the massive skyscraper, the tallest in the city. The huge letters that spell Sherwood are so high that even when craning our necks we cannot see them.

"Just be cool. We got this." LJ adjusts his backward facing baseball cap and pushes his fake square glasses higher on his nose. His raven colored hair pokes through the front of the cap.

"I look like an nerd!" I look to my right at Wilson's complaint. He is gingerly poking his hardened hair this is slicked back, which significantly contrasts his normal shaggy locks that droop in front of his face. If anything, the hairdo that he is upset with actually makes his eyes stand out even more and his jawbone looks like it could slice a block of cheese. His broad shoulders fill out the bright red t-shirt he is wearing and I again wonder how he managed to get the supermodel genes, while I got the plain Jane ones.

"That is the whole point, Wilson." I hand him his pair of horn-rimmed glasses. He groans as he sets them on his face. The sound of a camera flashing causes him to jerk his head up.

"Tucker!"

"Sorry," Tucker's cheeks redden furiously beneath his fisherman's bucket hat. He nervously rubs his fingers along the straps of his suspenders. "I just wanted to have pictures of all of us for posterity."

"I'll give you a picture for posterity...."

"Hey! Relax!" I put my hand on Wilson's chest. "It's only for a few hours. And the nerd thing is in right now anyways."

I feel Wilson's body unwind as he considers what I said. "I guess I can make it work."

Sighing at the ridiculous of Wilson's self-obsession, I look down at my own outfit. I'm wearing light brown lace up boots that come up a bit higher than my ankle, dark brown skinny jeans, an olive green long sleeve collared button up, and a light green fedora. All of the green makes my strawberry blonde hair look like fire and causes my emerald eyes to sparkle. I've slung a light brown bag across my shoulder that holds my flash drive, tucked away in a hidden pocket.

"Can I say a quick good luck prayer first?" Tucker looks to me expectantly. I give him a nod and he smiles as we huddle closely.

"Lord, I want to thank you for all you have done for us and all that you will continue

to help us do in our lives. I want to ask that you give us the strength that we need to make it out of this difficult moment in our lives. All I ask is that through your power and blessing that we are able to fulfill our potential. Amen!"

We all look up as Tucker finishes and silently nod in acknowledgement at each other.

It's time to do what we've been waiting for.

It's time to take from this rich jerk and give back to all the poor souls of the city.

Our plan starts now.

As arranged, we all enter the building separately to appear as strangers. We are just hackers who work solo and want to make it big.

Just like everyone else in the room.

The crowd shuffles in one direction, like sheep being herded, and excited murmurs traverse the halls. Everyone here wants prove why they are the best hacker, why they'd be an asset to Mr. Sherwood. Everyone here is seeking that cash prize and the fame and power that come along with it.