Colour Coded: The Black Bullet

by Katy Jordan

“Mate, don’t apologise, we didn’t know we’d need it for this,” Youth comforted a very pity filled Sparrow. “So, when the drone is fuelled up and the scanner’s attached, how long do we have roughly to find the hidden bunker?”

  “Probably about twenty minutes, maybe less,” Sparrow explained, hating himself more as he continued to answer questions about the drone that was his pride and joy.

  “The best way to find him quickly would be for me to shoot the drone high up over the warehouse giving a bird’s eye view, and then lowering it to the section that looks the most convincing for where Jack might be.”

  “Okay… so, we do that. Say we locate him… then what?” Tide questioned. “We can’t exactly just walk in the front door and we can’t use the sewage pipe again; they’ll be all over it.”

  “And it’s too late to get back to HQ and get the chopper to go in from the sky; that plus, we already ruled that out,” Gecko reminded them.

  “Maybe not,” Youth offered, running his fingers through his blonde wavy hair as he racked his brain. “Neon has servers… which means he has an internet service… which means he has phone ports.”

  “So?” Flare probed. “That’s great, he’s joined the twenty-first century. How does that help us?”

  “The utility lines,” Youth explained, “they need to connect to the building that they’re giving signal to. That’s how phones work, and you need a phone line to have internet. If we can find the nearest utility pole, you could get in by climbing up it, shuffling along the wire, and gain access to the warehouse through the roof.”

  “Well, they definitely wouldn’t see that coming,” Gecko joked, “but, can’t you get electrocuted if you do that?”

  “You can if a ladder bumps against a power cable while it’s on the ground. But, if someone can get up there, travel along one line and avoid all the conductors at each end, then they’ll be as safe as a bird – which regularly sits on power lines and doesn’t get electrocuted, so… you know.”

  “Okay, so Bullet goes in through the roof. What are the rest of us doing?” Flare enquired to the group.

  “Well, if Sparrow locates the bunker and Bullet gets inside the warehouse, then I have a plan,” Gecko announced. “It’s bold. But, I really think it’ll work.”

  “Please enlighten us, Gecko,” The Spectrum requested.

  “Well… once we get confirmation that Bullet’s inside. I walk up to the front gate with you, sir,” he explained.

  “That’s not happening,” Bullet immediately shot down.

  “Now, now…” The Spectrum stopped her, holding his hand up with authority, gesturing for her silence, “I’m keen to hear where he’s going with this. Go on, Gecko.”

  “You walk up with me dressed in the uniform of Prismatic and ask to do a trade. Me for Jack. You let the guards take me and then Bullet shoots them with the silencer. After that, we get Jack with the element of surprise.”

  “That won’t work,” Sparrow interrupted, “he doesn’t want you, he wants Bullet, so she would need to be the trade.”

  “I’m alright with that, so long as I get in there,” Bullet volunteered.

  “Yeah… but, no,” he continued ominously, “I don’t think we need to do the trade. It’s a good idea, but unnecessary. If you go back as the Green Gecko dressed in Prismatic uniform, then Neon will know for certain Jack was working with all of us and not just Bullet, and it’ll put him in even more danger. But… if you turn yourself in, without The Spectrum, they’ll take you straight to Neon to determine your punishment.”

  “And then Bullet can shoot the guards with the silencer, and they’ll both have the element of surprise,” Tide finished.

  “Exactly,” Sparrow finished, folding his arms as he awaited a reaction to his idea.

  “We could also set fire to the warehouse when you get to Jack. Burn any coke that’s still in there. And Neon too, if he doesn’t get out on time,” Flare advised.

  “That actually might be a great way to get them out of the building, if it’s been set alight,” Rocket chimed in.

  “I’ve heard enough,” The Spectrum’s voice shut them all up.

  He eyeballed everyone, his hands clasped behind his back.

  “This is the plan: Upon any confirmed location by Sparrow’s drone, Bullet enters the warehouse via the utility pole. Gecko hands himself in as a means of being taken straight to Neon when Bullet confirms she is in the bunker passageway. As soon as the guards walk in with Gecko, Flare will set up the exterior of the warehouse to be set ablaze. It will be in the bunker passageway that the guards will be eliminated since nobody else will be down there. Bullet and Gecko will then make their way to Jack, wherever he is… and Neon will be shot on sight.”

  Bullet looked at The Spectrum, stunned at his orders.

  Shot on sight.

  He really wasn’t messing around this time.

  “Shoot to kill, or maim?” Bullet clarified.

  The Spectrum merely raised an eyebrow before walking to the front of the van, hands still clasped behind his back.

  “Rocket, I’m going to need to borrow some fuel,” Flare said to him as he wheeled Bullet’s bike into the back of the van.

  “Aye… that should be fine… I’ll give you some out of the bike,” he grunted at her, struggling with the bike as Sparrow took the other side and they eased it up the ramp. Everyone in the van pulled their legs in to make way for the bike as he latched the wheels down in the middle of the van floor.

  “Right, let’s go. Buckle up, everyone,” Rocket said, jumping out of the van and slamming the doors shut behind everyone while they took their seats at the side. The van rumbled to a start, and Rocket pulled away from the edge of the road with a jerk.

  “I’ve never been a fan of his driving,” Tide said, rolling her eyes.

  “Well, he gets you from A to B before you’ve even plugged in your seat belt. Can’t moan about that,” Youth replied.

  “Oh, I can absolutely moan about that. He drives like a maniac. I’m happier on the back of Bullet’s motorbike than I am in a car with him.”

  Bullet took a break from staring at her boots to force a smile at her, before resuming again.

  She was annoyed.

  Jack was exactly where they thought he’d be, just in another section that they didn’t know about; at least that’s what their educated guess was. She would be fuming if they went back there again, and confirmed that they really were just grasping at straws and talking a load of crap and Jack really wasn’t there at all.

  She would lose him.

  She would lose the first concept of happiness that she had ever had since Jenna was alive.

  She would lose the first glimmer of hope that she had received in almost five years.

  That wasn’t good enough.

  Bullet could hear everyone murmuring between themselves about the plan, the next objective in their mission. They were whispering echoes as she lost herself in her own head.

  She was exhausted, but alert.

  Hungry, but not in the mood to eat.

  Her eyes felt heavy, but she didn’t feel sleepy.

  She was very confused, extremely irritated and beginning to get rather angry at everything.

  Shooting Neon shouldn’t be a problem.

  He blackmailed Jack to kidnap Flare, had her beaten to a pulp – for which Jack had to get drunk to do – and he was trying to set them up in relation to an extremely dangerous gang, all the while knowing Jack was working for them, and then took him and tortured him to draw their attention.

  Yeah.

  Shooting Neon shouldn’t be a problem.

  “Hey,” Gecko said loudly, waking her out of her daydream, “you’re awful quiet.”

  “Just… going over everything in my head,” she replied, leaning back against the side of the van as it tumbled along the country roads.

  “We’ll be in there together. We’ll be in constant communication. It’ll all be fine,” Gecko reassured her, reaching over and rubbing her k
nee encouragingly, flashing her a smile.

  “I’m just worried that he’s not in there,” Bullet admitted.

  “If Sparrow doesn’t see anything on his infrared thingy-ma-jig, then we’ll go back to HQ and amend the mission. We’re not giving up on him, hon,” he assured her. “But, I really do think he’s in there.”

  “You do?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I really do. It makes absolutely no sense for him to be in there… which crazily makes it make sense because, well, it’s Neon.”

  Bullet sighed, praying that he was right; that they were all right.

  She really wanted Jack to be there. She wanted him home, safe, and with her.

  She’d give anything to make that happen.

  As though someone hit the mute button, everyone fell completely silent as they felt the jolt of Rocket pulling in and slowing the van to a stop. He chapped on the window that was between the back and the front.

  Bullet opened the door and hopped down on to the roadside, everyone else following her as they swung their bags over their shoulder. Youth jumped down and stood next to Bullet, while Rocket walked around to join them.

  Nobody was talking, even though they were a decent distance away from the warehouse. They were all ducked low; Tide looking through her binoculars, while Gecko stepped into his uniform, and Sparrow was once again nose to screen to check up on his drone.

  “I saw a utility pole over there,” Rocket said, pointing over into the field near the Prismatic headquarters, “I don’t know if it’s the closest one, but it definitely looks like it connects to the warehouse.”

  “It’ll probably be the only one since we’re kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Thanks, Rocket,” Youth confirmed, thumping his back before he went into the van to get fuel out of Bullet’s bike at Flare’s behest.

  “Come on, we need to inspect that utility pole until Sparrow gives us the signal,” Youth said, taking her arm and walking with her into the bushes. “Guys, I’ve activated the pressure points on the radios. We’re going to the utility pole, so if you need us just stick yer finger in yer lug.”

  They climbed over the wire fence and ran over to the utility pole, keeping low and out of sight of the guards in the grounds of the warehouse.

  Bullet crouched down next to Youth who was looking up at the pole. It had metal spokes sticking out the side of the wooden post, giving her a method of climbing.

  “Right, see that bit there? It looks like a fuse box,” Youth asked, pointing up to the top of the pole.

  “Yeah, I see it,” Bullet confirmed, craning her neck and squinting under the night sky.

  “Good. Whatever you do, DO NOT touch that,” Youth warned her. “When you get to the top, you’ll need to make a leap to the line. Do not, under any circumstances, swap to another line when you’re making your way along, as that’s where the currents are. When you stretch from one to the other that makes you the conductor… you get me?”

  “Unfortunately, yeah,” Bullet said, “I don’t think I’ll need to switch, but it’s good to know.”

  “Great stuff. Right, let’s go back,” Youth said, turning around to run back to the fence.

  “Guys, do not move. One of the guards is having a nosy. Get down,” Tide’s concerned voice came on the radio.

  Bullet leaned over to Youth and rolled on top of his back as a means of preventing any reflections from his bright yellow waterproof anorak. The light of a torch skimmed over the top of them, as they lay as still as a fallen tree. The light came back along the way. Youth started to squirm and struggle underneath her.

  “Stop! What’s wrong?” she hissed in his ear.

  “Spider! There’s a fucking spider on my arm!” he breathed so high-pitched that a dog could hear him.

  Nobody could ever forget how Youth had a really severe phobia of spiders.

  Bullet recalled a time when they were sitting by the lake watching Tide do lengths and the tiniest little spider crawled over his foot…

  He fainted.

  Without making too much movement, Bullet tried to lean over and swipe it off.

  “Okay, guys. All clear,” Tide’s voice brushed over their inner ear.

  “Right, come on, we can go now,” Bullet said, nudging him. “Youth?”

  She rolled him over and watched in horror as he cried like a baby, struggling to breathe.

  “It’s okay, I got it, it’s gone,” she assured him, stroking his arm in an attempt to console him. Youth couldn’t move. Bullet flipped him on to her back and crawled towards the fence. Rocket’s face was a picture as he noticed their method of return from the utility pole.

  “What the…”

  He jogged towards them while Bullet grabbed Youth’s arms over her shoulders and stood them both up.

  “Spider,” Bullet said simply, rolling her eyes.

  Rocket’s look of understanding was followed by one of immense amusement.

  “Come on, buddy. There’s no spiders in my van,” Rocket comforted him as he scooped him over the fence and carried him over to the back of the van, sitting him down on the edge.

  Bullet walked over to Sparrow.

  “Where we at?” she asked him.

  “The drone’s finished charging, I’m just about to fly it over. Although I’m still trying to work out where it is so I can get closer and use less battery power,” he replied, squinting at the screen as he tried to load up the live footage.

  A picture popped on to his tablet screen; it was dark, creating immense difficulty in making anything out. It began to rise, coming up over a wall, near the entrance to the warehouse grounds. Sparrow held it in a hover.

  “Got it,” he announced and began to jog up the road.

  Bullet went with him, jogging at his back, keeping her eyes peeled for guards as well as the drone.

  “Stay low, Sparrow,” she instructed, catching a glimpse of a man facing the entrance, holding a machine gun.

  Both he and Bullet kept low, almost running while bent over at a right angle, like frightened chickens running from foxes.

  Sparrow stopped at the side of the road not too far away from the junction into the warehouse and rotated the camera on the drone. Bullet looked over his shoulder to the screen and saw herself and Sparrow crouched down on the road.

  The camera began to move towards them and Sparrow cocked his head up, taking hold of the drone.

  In the same fashion, they ran back to the van. Sparrow went straight for his bag and pulled out the odd-looking device that he had shown everyone earlier.

  “Okay, Sparrow’s attaching the scanner to his drone. Gecko and I need to be in position for the possibility of it showing something. Flare, I want you up there with Sparrow,” she said to Flare who was sitting in the van next to Youth with her arm around him. “Be ready with the petrol to go in and soak wherever it is you need to soak to get a slow starting but containable fire.”

  “Sure thing,” Flare nodded at her.

  “Rocket, lights off, no engine running until the last person is heading back to the van, agreed?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he shrugged, “if I need to start the engine for any other reason, I’ll let you know.”

  “Youth, honey, you okay?” she asked almost maternally.

  He merely nodded in confirmation, but he looked like hell.

  His eyes were almost glazed over.

  All because of a spider.

  “Anything you want to add?” she offered him.

  “Other than the radios being on constant, we’re now all in the know. Time to get started,” he croaked, downing the rest of his water and crawling into the van to help Sparrow.

  Everyone started to pace, did their little tricks that they would do before a mission to prepare themselves and remain calm.

  Bullet cracked all of her fingers, then her neck and gave her legs a shake. She took out her handgun, topped up the bullets, fitted the silencer on and slot it back into her holster.

  Sparrow jumped out of the van with his drone,
Youth at his back looking a little more pink in the face.

  “We’re good to go,” he said, turning to Flare, “ready?”

  Flare picked up a metal can that Rocket used to hold the fuel he extracted from Bullet’s motorbike and joined Sparrow as they ran up the road.

  Everyone watched from the distance as Sparrow and Flare ducked down low, leaning close to one another as they kept themselves close to the screen of Sparrow’s tablet. They could just make out the outline of the drone as it took off towards the warehouse and then flew up high. Bullet and the rest of Colour Coded listened in on Flare and Sparrow whispering their thoughts out loud.

  “Okay, so the bunker is at that side there,” Flare said, pointing to the screen.

  “Well, that stretch of orange there will be the passageway, the one that’s lit up by fire torches,” Sparrow replied.

  “Well, if there’s fire, why isn’t it red instead of orange?” Flare probed.

  “It’s deep underground, so the scanner can’t read the levels as much…” he said, drifting off as he tried to concentrate.

  “There’s an orangey-yellow blob thing moving around there,” Flare said, pointing to the screen again.

  Sparrow lowered the drone down towards the warehouse so quick it looked as though it was merely falling. The drone was hovering over the north-west corner of the grounds near Neon’s bunker.

  As it got closer, the scanner revealed that the orange blob that Flare spotted was moving around a static one, which was a very pale yellow in colour. Sometimes, it was right against it, and other times it was distanced and erratically moving back and forward or circling the lighter coloured one.

  “What is that?” Flare asked, squinting at the screen.

  “That’s a person,” Sparrow said, stunned at what he was witnessing, “that’s… that’s people.”

  “Jack and Neon?”

  “My thoughts are yes, it’s Jack and Neon.”

  “They must have a severely low body temp. How can they be walking around in the bunker if they’re yellow?”

  Sparrow scrunched up his face like a sponge, scanning through every possible reason why the colours were as they were. He checked the battery in the scanner, as well as the tablet and the drone itself.