by Unknown
“I’ve spotted him,� Joseph said through the receiver. “Coming up in front of you, near the yogurt shop.�
Jonathan surveyed the people coming from that direction and spotted Trenton almost immediately—only he didn’t look like Trenton. What has this stuff done to you? Jonathan thought. Trenton looked like a first rate, psychopath gang member, right out of Donalee. Men, and women, doing the mall-walking routine, gave him a wide birth. He wore all black attire, and his thick hair was greasy, slicked back, falling in curls upon the collar of his leather trench coat.
As he sauntered toward Jonathan’s table, Trenton stuffed an entire half of a sub sandwich into his mouth and chewed it. He washed it down with an upended two liter bottle of soft drink. Trenton tossed the empty bottle aside. He slapped his hands down on the table and took the seat opposite Jonathan. “One thing about it, cousin, being a god sure does make you hungry.�
Jonathan baulked at the remark. “You’re not a god, Trenton. I mean look at you…you’re a highly acclaimed geneticist, top of your field, and here you are dressed like a thug. Not to mention, you’re a wanted killer.�
“Don’t cry for those people, Jonathan, they were only criminals,� Trenton explained. “I did the world a favor.�
“What about Detective Link? What about the police officers you killed at Genetic Corp while trying to get your files?�
Trenton smirked. “Heard about that did you?�
“You’re all over the news, Trenton!� Jonathan said. “Don’t you realize what you’re doing?�
Trenton leaned forward. “They were expendable, along with anyone else who would keep my research from the world.�
Jonathan leaned forward as well. “Including me, I suppose?�
Trenton cracked a smile. “It doesn’t have to be like that, cousin. Let’s play nice. You have the kid unlock my files, and I’ll save you from a short life.�
Jonathan’s expression remained stoic. “My life isn’t what’s important here. You’re a threat to everyone around you now.�
Trenton reclined in his chair, surveying the mall around them. “If I’m such a threat, then what’s to stop me from killing everyone in this mall, right now? Maybe I’ll decide to show them all just how powerful a man can become—�
“—I wouldn’t let you do that,� Jonathan said. “I’d stop you.�
Trenton grinned. “Maybe, but some of them would die anyway…or you could simply do this the easy way and give me back my formulas.�
Jonathan grew tense, getting ready for a fight. In his mind he was already rehearsing aikido moves in order to take Trenton down fast and subdue him.
Trenton focused his attention behind Jonathan. “Or I could just take them back myself.� Trenton kicked the table into Jonathan’s stomach. The table pinned him against a column as Trenton leaped over two other tables and a display. Jonathan whipped the table away and stood up. He saw Trenton running for a nearby escalator. “Joseph, he’s spotted you!� Jonathan said into his transmitter. “Get Jay out of here!�
Jonathan saw Joseph pull his handgun and pull Jay away from the second floor railing where they had been keeping an eye on him and Trenton. Jonathan took off after Trenton, only half realizing the people around him had pulled guns from their shopping bags, purses, and coats.
“Freeze Hallowed! This is the police!�
Trenton and Jonathan both stopped. When Jonathan saw Detective Stamos as one of the disguised shoppers, he realized he wasn’t the man the police were after. Trenton laughed when he saw Michael revealed. “You again, Detective? Didn’t I teach you well enough the last time we met?�
Trenton disregarded the police presence and sped up the escalator, leaping over five and six steps at a time until he reached the top. Detective Stamos, and a hundred other officers in disguise, surged after him.
•••
Joseph held tight to the hoodie Jay was wearing as they retreated from the escalator where Trenton had stopped when the police revealed themselves. Police officers on the second level ran past them trying to intercept Trenton coming up the escalator. “Freeze!� one of the officers yelled. “Trenton Hallowed, you’re ordered to surrender, or we’ll open fire!�
Joseph turned in time to see Trenton reach the top of the escalator. He stopped, glaring at them. From what Joseph could tell, the police really meant business. They brandished submachine guns, pistols, shotguns, and Tasers, in addition to the body armor they all wore.
Trenton sneered at the police, then lunged forward after two SWAT officers. They fired on him, but didn’t slow him at all. He punched one of the men through his riot helmet, cracking it into two pieces. Trenton snatched the man’s submachine gun and shot the officer next to him at point blank range. The officer went down as bullets strafed his body. Even with a flack jacket on, he had been hurt bad.
The other officers used caution, considering their two fallen comrades lying on the floor in front of him. Trenton opened fire on them all. The officers scattered for cover as submachine gun fire erupted between the two sides.
Joseph pushed Jay down, behind a nearby bench, and took aim with his own 10mm Glock. He touched the trigger, and a red laser sight activated. He placed the beam on Trenton’s head, then fired. The first shot hit Trenton square in the temple, getting his attention. He screamed, then staggered, and grabbed the wound. He looked at Joseph—vengeance burning in his eyes—then evaded the next two shots and ran wide in an attempt to flank Joseph’s position.
Joseph grabbed Jay up and ran toward a department store ahead. He didn’t want to think about how Trenton had just survived a direct hit to the skull with a 10mm round. He had to get Jay away from him.
Taser bolts punched through Trenton’s leather coat, instantly sending current through his body. He stumbled and fell, skidding across the newly waxed floor under his own momentum. The female officer, holding the Taser gun, approached as Trenton tried to get up. She lit him up again with another burst of electricity. Trenton growled at her, raising his weapon despite the officer maintaining the voltage.
More police officers shot him with Tasers, doubling, tripling, and quadrupling the voltage delivered. Trenton buckled under the electrical load and spasmed upon the floor. The submachine gun fell out of his hand, and one of the officers kicked it away. Joseph turned to watch, after entering one of the department stores.
“Jay, keep going,� Joseph instructed. “Hide in the sporting goods department and find a weapon if you can.�
Jay resisted. “What about you and Jonathan?�
Joseph spotted Jonathan topping the escalator with Detective Stamos and smiled. “I see him. He’s all right. You’re the one we have to keep away from Trenton. Now go! He might still escape the police.�
Reluctantly, Jay turned and sprinted through the forest of clothing racks and disappeared. Joseph watched the officers close in on Trenton. After what they had all seen, they weren’t about to stop pumping him full of voltage. Joseph instinctively kept his weapon ready, although he wasn’t sure what good it would do him at this point.
Detective Stamos called out to the officers. “Don’t get near him, he’s still dangerous!�
As if on cue, Trenton exploded off the floor, sweeping his arms out, sending Taser wielding officers in every direction. He ripped the wire leads from his body and picked up one of the Taser guns. Trenton fired it at Detective Stamos, when he and Jonathan got within range.
Michael tried to get off a shot, but the Taser leads connected first. The shock sent him tumbling to the f
loor. Jonathan leaped toward Trenton, hammering him with a flying kick. Trenton slammed into a heavy, urn shaped trashcan. Jonathan didn’t even give him a chance to recover.
He jumped after him, but met Trenton’s Gortex boot with his chest. Jonathan fell backwards, then rolled up to his feet again. Trenton got to his feet, and they squared off in the middle of a group of wounded officers. Joseph put a bead on Trenton again, but Jonathan was still too close. Even with his expert marksmanship, Joseph wouldn’t take any chance of hurting Jonathan. More officers moved into position, but Detective Stamos instructed them to hold their fire while Jonathan stood in the fray.
•••
“You shouldn’t have done this, Jonathan. I’ll make you regret it,� Trenton said.
Jonathan shifted his stance and waited. “While you were in the lab, I was learning how to fight. Take a look around you. If anyone is outmatched here, it’s you.�
“Whatever happened to that turn the other cheek stuff, cousin?� Trenton taunted.
“You’re a murderer, Trenton,� Jonathan said. “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else, if I can help it.�
Trenton looked around at the police officers surrounding them, then to Jonathan, and smiled. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.� He tapped his temple with a bloody index finger. “We may both have brawn, cousin, but I’ve still got brains over you.�
Trenton produced what appeared to be a cell phone, then pressed a button on it.
An explosion ripped through the food court behind them. Glass storefronts shattered everywhere as the concussion wave threw people to the floor. Jonathan hit the ground instinctively, then looked up, searching for Trenton. He was gone.
Jonathan got to his feet, searching amid a cloud of gray smoke rapidly filling the area around them. He remembered Joseph and Jay, then ran toward the department store up ahead. When Jonathan got within the entrance, he found Joseph lying among a group of shattered glass, display cases. He knelt next to this friend. Joseph was unconscious, battered, and wheezing.
Jonathan had never expected to see Joseph in this condition. His balled fingers appeared broken—perhaps he’d gotten a few punches in after all. Within seconds, Trenton had nearly killed a man trained in some of the most lethal techniques used by any military.
Jonathan searched around for Jay, then he heard the police firing on someone. He saw Trenton burst through an emergency, exit door like a deranged elephant and disappear. He did not have Jay with him. Jonathan sighed, returning to his inspection of Joseph.
Jonathan emerged from the smoke, carrying Joseph in his arms—something he had never had the strength to do before. Jonathan spotted Detective Stamos and walked toward him. When Michael saw Jonathan, he holstered his sidearm and ran to help, instructing one of the other officers to get paramedics inside at once.
“Jonathan, let’s lay him down. I already have paramedics on the way,� Michael said.
Jonathan laid Joseph down gently. Detective Stamos bundled his own jacket and slipped it under Joseph, cradling his head and neck.
“Trenton did this to him before he escaped,� Jonathan said.
Detective Stamos nodded gravely as he inspected Joseph’s wounds.
“Will he live?� Jonathan asked.
Michael looked up and placed his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. “We’ll do everything we can for him.�
HALLOWED_BE_THY_NAME
18 UNDER LOCK & KEY
Jonathan sat on the edge of the hospital bed in an isolation room at Memorial Hospital in Branton. Doctors had already put him through a battery of tests. After being stuck numerous times for blood samples, Jonathan watched with fascination as the holes all disappeared within a few seconds time. Amazing.
Detective Stamos knocked on the door and then peeked in. “Are you decent?�
Jonathan tugged on his print hospital gown with a smirk. “As much as I can be.�
“Yeah, I hate those things. How are they treating you? Lousy food, I’d expect.�
Jonathan flexed his arm where the needle sticks had been. He felt stronger than he ever had. “I ate the food anyway, but you’re right—lousy. The mutagen has not only made me stronger and able to heal really fast; it’s made me hungry all the time too.�
Michael sat down in a chair and scratched at his five o’clock shadow. “I talked to the doctor about some of the test results they’re getting back. It seems your metabolism is running wild. Your heart rate is up, blood pressure is high, and of course your appetite is trying to compensate for all of the energy you’re burning. They want to do some strength tests on you later in the employee gym, after hours.�
“I want to see Joseph and Jay.�
“Joseph is still in surgery, but doing fine,� Michael said. “He had a punctured lung and a cracked sternum, among other things. Jay is in protective custody down at the station.�
“Which one?�
Michael sighed. “I’d rather not say, for the time being.�
“But Trenton is out there. He’ll try to get to him.�
“Not if he doesn’t know where he is, which is why I’d rather not say for now,� Michael insisted. “Just trust me. I don’t want that psycho to get the kid anymore than you do. We really need you to do these tests for us. Unless we understand what that mutagen has done to the two of you, we stand little chance of catching Trenton.�
“You mean, killing him, don’t you?�
Michael looked him in the eyes. “If that’s what it takes, Jonathan. We didn’t start this, but we had better finish it, or this guy is going to kill a lot more people.�
Jonathan lay back onto the bed. “I never would have imagined his research could cause all of this. You know Trenton actually believes he has jumpstarted human evolution.�
“Really? What do you think?�
“I don’t believe in evolution, Detective. I believe the Bible—that man was created upon the earth in the image of Almighty God. No. Whatever this mutagen is, it’s not something to make man better.�
A man pushed open the door to the isolation room. “I would heartily agree, Mr. Hallowed.�
Michael stood up. “Jonathan, this is Dr. Rico Vasquez. He’s the one responsible for all of these tests they’re running on you.�
Dr. Vasquez walked over to the bed, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Hallowed.�
“Jonathan, please,� he said, sitting up on the bed again.
“Of course, Jonathan. I’m sorry that we’ve been putting you through all these tests, but we need to understand what’s happened to you. Detective Stamos tells me it’s quite urgent we find a way to stop Dr. Hallowed. Incidentally, I’ve followed some of his research over the past year—very radical, to say the least.�
Michael inserted himself into the conversation. “So you’re saying it’s not this evolution thing?�
“On the contrary, Detective. I quite agree with Jonathan—man was created by God. This mutagen Dr. Hallowed has created is something far more deadly than some miracle strength drug. It somehow bypasses the regulatory functions at the cellular level, sending the body into overdrive—strength, agility, healing—it’s turned them both into supermen, of sorts. However the effect is short lived.�
Michael looked curious now. “What do you mean?�
“We read one of Trenton’s files labeled, Full Burn,� Jonathan said. “It talked about the same sort of thing—that years would
be taken off our lives by using these powers, unless the formula was altered to compensate for it.�
“I’m afraid it’s worse than that,� Dr. Vasquez said. “At the metabolic rate your body is being forced to function, it could kill you within a year.�
Jonathan sat there stunned—Dr. Vasquez’s last phrase ringing over again in his mind. Only one year to live! Lord Jesus, why is this happening to me. What have I done to deserve this? Please help me.
Dr. Vasquez and Michael both stood there looking as though they had already purchased flowers for his funeral. “Trenton said something about being able to counter that effect. Is that possible, Doctor?� Jonathan asked.
“I’m afraid genetics is not my specialty. I only know your body can’t run at this level indefinitely. As jacked up as you are, your organs will begin to self destruct. The harder you push yourself, the faster it will come. In the meantime though, I’d like to have you do a strength test for us. We won’t push you hard, Jonathan. I promise.�
Somehow, Dr. Vasquez’s promise wasn’t very reassuring right now, but Jonathan still felt led to cooperate. “All right, but then I want to see Joseph.�
Dr. Vasquez smiled and waved him toward the door. “Okay, but not until he’s in recovery.�
•••
Trenton pressed the channel up button on the television remote as he sat upon one of the double beds in room #32 at the Starlight Motel on the outskirts of Branton, bordering Donalee. There had been a single occupant staying in it when Trenton arrived. The man had cracked the door on the chain lock. Trenton simply pushed. The chain snapped and the door cracked the man in the side of the head with enough force to render him unconscious.