Liquid Bank - Chapter 6
A Megacosm Novelette
Chapter 2 - Economically Viable
Chapter 6– The Communication Room
“Sssh!’ Matthew said in a whisper, putting his finger to his lips.
Meagan moved behind him into the shadows, peaking over his shoulder through the small grate that bled slivers of pale light into the darkness. Voices filtered through the dusty slates, echoing in their narrow corridor that pressed them close together.
“I think that’s him,” Matthew whispered, also looking through the grate, “the leader, the old man who sucker-punched me.”
“You got beat up by an old man?” Meagan whispered back, her warm breath on his shoulder.
Matthew glanced down. “He’s not really an old man. Look.”
Meagan’s eyes squinted as she peered outside. She saw nothing but an old man in his gray suit, leaning back with his palms against a shiny, brown desk. Yet, there was something odd about his stance and appearance. His skin was coarse and with the proper amount of wrinkles, but having seen old patients during her studies, she noticed that his back was far too straight for his apparent age. Also, his beard was almost white, but didn’t match his sandy red hair.
Behind the old man, just beyond the desk, she could see four legs splayed on the ground of two people who were either unconscious or dead.
“They got Colt and Valdez,” Matthew said in a low voice.
“Can they hear us in here?” She whispered.
“Not from this distance,” Matthew replied below his breath, “not with that hum the bank makes,” he looked at her, “and not if we whisper.”
Meagan nodded as she turned back to the grate.
“About three hours till the next stop. We have the bank secure, Broden,” a man beyond their vision said, his shadow draping on the carpet, “for the most part.”
“For the most part, eh?” Broden replied, his voice ripe with a deep Scottish accent. Leaning against the desk, Broden’s fingers dug beneath his chin to pull away wrinkled skin that peeled in pink clumps. “Out wit it then Joshua. Just tell us what you mean, man.”
“Plutus was taken down. No alarms. We have that Mega secured. He aint going nowhere,” Joshua replied, “but,” he continued, his voice lowering, “We lost track of that guard.”
“Lost track did ya say?” Broden said. Pieces of wrinkled skin clung to Broden’s face as he wiped his neck down with a handkerchief, rolling the residue off. He looked around. “What are you, an idio’t? We’re out in the middle of the ocean, man! Did he take a kelpie out of here?” He laughed, putting his hands on his hips. “No, I doubt that. But he’s obviously a canny bastart, that one. Send Cooper and Keech ta find him. Eh! You keep your eyes open too.”
“Sure,” Joshua said. “And the manager?”
“Him?” Broden grinned as the rag wiped away the last of the mask that altered his appearance. Left behind, was a youthful face, with stark green eyes and a round chin. “That shitebag is cowering in the vault. He aint goin nowhere either. Now do as I say, time is of the essence h‘ere.”
“Yes sir,” Joshua said, and Meagan watched as his shadow melted away.
“That’s a good lad,” Broden said as he leaned off the desk. Before he walked away, he shot a look at the grate, emerald eyes studying with such intent that Meagan gasped, and took a step back, bumping into the back wall.
Matthew looked at her as Broden’s eyes lingered for several seconds until he stepped out of her view.
“C’mon,” Matthew said with a breath while checking his wrist monitor. “We have to move.”
Hunched and walking slowly, he led her down the corridor, inspecting outside each grate as they moved. Seeing the manager’s office had oriented Matthew to their position inside the bank, and he used the hidden passages inside the walls to find the exit he was searching for, stopping at a large square grate.
“Do you see anything out there?” Meagan asked as Matthew turned his head left and right, peeking outside.
“No,” Matthew replied, “This grate should put us right outside the comm center. I’ve seen it a dozen times. But you heard them. They’re searching- for me at least. They could be anywhere,” he continued as he grabbed the grate, voice straining, “but we don’t have much choice.”
The grate whined as Matthew pushed outward, jaw tight as he tried to keep it from falling.
“Careful,” Meagan whispered, hands near her mouth as she moved to help until the metal screeched as the grate gave way. Matthew turned the grate to its side, careful not to scrape the edge as he pulled it into the corridor and slid it further down, inches away.
“I’ll go first, and you follow, okay?” Matthew asked before he climbed out of the opening and dropped like a cat with a patter on the carpet, winching as he kept his weight off his damaged ankle. Arms up, he caught Meagan, her dress sailing outward as she dropped with a mouse-like whoop.
“Thank you,” she replied, caught up in Matthew’s arms. Her face flushed as she looked away, arms curling to her chest as she backed from his grasp. “So how do we get back up?”
There was a hint of red on Matthew’s cheeks as he looked at the floor, then to the right, anywhere that would not meet her eyes. Behind the dried blood and dirt, she thought his features could be striking, with light eyes and that dark hair.
“Watch my back,” Matthew said.
Limping to a hallway chair, Matthew dragged the furniture beneath the grate. Standing on the padded cushion, he pulled the grate into the opening, leaving enough give to open easily on their way back.
“That should do it,” he said as he dragged the chair to the left to not draw attention to their exit, “C’mon, it’s this way Meagan.”
The hall was wide and clear of any adornments. Matthew kept to the shadows that fell like dark tear drops at intervals from square lights along the wall. The hum was deeper below the bank, a soft breeze that tickled Meagan’s bare arms. The sensations made it seem as if she could feel the movement of the bank gliding over the ocean beneath her feet.
“Why do you keep it so dark down here?” Meagan asked.
“The manager, Simon, is cheap. Despite my warnings, he insists on lowering the lights during the voyage to save on power costs,” Matthew replied in a whisper. “He had so much faith in his precious Plutus,” Matthew continued, his gaze taking her eyes towards the ceiling where cameras hung like dead ferrets. “And the cameras are still out.”
After several turns, Matthew stopped at a solid gray door and hunched down.
“Well, the good news is that it doesn’t look like they’ve made it down here yet,” Matthew said, looking about. “Hope this works,” he continued as he pressed his badge against a small box beside the door.
The small light on the box flashed a dark green. With a glance back at her, Matthew turned his shoulder.
“Really?” Meagan said, hands on her hips as Matthew hid the box with his body and punched in his code with audible beeps.
When the last digit was pressed into the box, a low hiss sang from the door. With deft speed, Matthew pulled Meagan to the side by the wrist, pushing them both against the wall as the door opened inward, sighing at the arm mechanism.
Standing behind him, she watched as he leaned forward, using his left eye to peek inside as wan light from the communication room spilled into the hallway.
“Let’s go,” Matthew said, pulling her into the room behind him.
The room followed the same motif as the hallway, nearly bare, except for a large computer console in the center. As they passed the door, Meagan noticed the leather chair near the computer, turned on its side, a wheel still spinning.
“Hands up asshole!” she heard a man shout. She gasped as the black barrel of a gun jutted out from the shadow behind the door. She nearly bumped into Matthew’s back as he froze mid-step, letting go of her wrist to raise his hands.
The door creaked as the man pushed it aside to step out of the shadows.
“Spark?” He said and Matthew turned to face him. “Oh, thank God!”
“Roland!” Matthew exclaimed, giving the first smile Meagan had seen on his face as the two clasped hands.
“Shit man,” Roland said, holstering his gun, “What the hell is going on out there? I heard shots and then the door locked-”
“Did you call HQ?” Matthew interrupted.
“No,” Roland sighed with a shake of his head that wiped the smile from Matthew’s face, “can’t get anyone on the horn. It’s the damndest thing. Just weird squawking on the line. Like two kids playing some game. I think I was starting to get through when I heard the door start to beep.”
“We have to let them know what’s going on here, call for rescue, but the Mega’s can’t come in blind,” Matthew said, limping towards the console and picking up the chair, “we have to let them know how many there are, their tech and fire power.”
“So, we are getting robbed then? Where are the others? Where is Mr. Freeman?” Roland asked, following close behind.
Meagan noticed that he looked younger than Matthew, barely out of his teens. He had long dark hair and a soft face that struggled to grow facial hair, with fright in his twitching eyes. Meagan lingered by the door as Matthew picked up the chair and eased into the seat favoring his injured ankle.
Roland stood beside him looking on. “Well?” He pressed, “The cavalry coming or what?”
“They didn’t make it,” Matthew said as his eyes rolled over the console’s controls.
“All of them!” Roland exclaimed, “Even Radio?”
“Keep your voice down!” Matthew yelled in a hushed tone with a glance up at Roland. Then he turned back to the console while retrieving a box from the cargo pocket of his pants. “I don’t know about Radio. I saw them put some device on his neck and he just went down. Could be alive.”
“Well, what are we going to do?” Roland asked, leaning over.
Matthew opened the box, taking out a disk that he inserted into a slot on the console.
“We need to reboot the system,” he replied, typing on the keyboard, “Try to get the word out that we’re even being robbed.”
“They don’t know?” Roland said beneath his breath, “but the failsafe’s. Plutus?”
Matthew continued pressing buttons, rolling the chair along the carpet.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Meagan asked near the door.
Matthew turned the chair towards her; his face fallen. “Not really. I mean. I was trained on a simulator a few weeks ago, but I only did it once.”
“We’re all going to die,” Meagan sighed, leaning her back against the wall behind the partially open door, its shadow draping over on her body.
“Who’s the girl?” Roland asked with a nod in her direction.
“One of Shultz’s,” Matthew said, turning his attention back to the console to enter more steps.
“Oh,” Roland replied, his eyes looking Meagan up and down, “call girl.”
Meagan’s face screwed up, seeing Matthew smile against the glow of the monitor that washed his face a soft blue. The monitor screen flashed a series of codes, windows opening and closing before going blank.
“Mind closing that door, Roland?” Matthew said as he took out the disk and crushed it over his knee. “Don’t need one of them coming up behind us.”
“Man, I’m stupid for not doing that immediately,” Roland said, with a pat on his shoulder. As he walked to the door, Meagan could feel his eyes on her, and saw the wry grin on the young man’s face as he drank in her figure.
“Guess you like call girls then, huh asshole?” Meagan said, arms crossed over her chest.
Roland’s eyes widened, cheeks flushing a soft pink. “Sorry about that ma’am,” he replied with a tip of his head, “gallows humor.”
“I think I got it!” Matthew said, checking his wrist monitor. “Hopefully, once the system is back online, we can re-encrypt the signal and let HQ know what the hell is going on here.”
Thwip!
The sound, like a pebble thrown into a bottle, made Meagan nearly jump out of her skin. With trembling fingers, she covered her mouth, slinking into the shadows of the door as the top of Roland’s head exploded, sending his body tumbling to the ground, and painting the carpet with a crimson splash.
As the once lively guard tumbled to the floor, the tip of a long black gun barrel entered the room, white smoke curling from the front that gave off an acrid stench. It was carried by a tall man, dressed in pinstripe slacks and a white button shirt that was open at the collar.
He let out a throaty laugh.
“Well, ain’t I glad the boss sent me here,” the man said with a scratchy voice as he stepped over Roland’s body. He sounded like the voice Meagan heard before, that the fake old man called Joshua. “Here I am, supposed to take out the comm system operator while I keep an eye out for you, and then I find you here. Must have done something right in another life.”
He aimed his weapon at Matthew, who gripped the chair’s arms, unblinking eyes staring down at Roland’s body. “No need to stand up friend,” Joshua said, bending his legs at the knees. “You killed my mates. You don’t get the honor of dying on your feet.”
Back stiffening, Matthew’s eyes shut tight. Meagan’s heart pumped in her chest even though her hands felt like ice. The gunman was a mountain of a man that looked like he could pick his teeth with one of her legs. Looking at his dark eyes, she saw the bloodlust swimming inside as he took aim. There was little doubt what would happen to her once he took care of Matthew.
With a scream, Meagan kicked out, hitting Joshua’s outstretched arms, which felt like kicking a oak tree. Yet, she didn’t kick the gun away as she hoped, his grip too strong, but she heard the suppressed shot as Joshua’s arms flew up towards the ceiling.
“What the fu--,” Joshua said, anger filling his eyes as he turned towards her, gun first.
Arms up, Meagan cringed, guarding her face as she waited for the gun to fire until she heard Matthew pounce from his chair with a growl, tackling Joshua against the wall with a deep thud that cracked the drywall. The gun tumbled away as Matthew sent a series of punches into the bigger man’s torso, cursing him with every blow.
“Stop flirting with me,” Joshua said with a smirk as his arms curled up by his head, letting his body absorb the punches.
With a grunt, he sent his elbows down on Matthew’s clavicle bones, buckling his knees. Sweeping his arms in a semicircle, Joshua pushed Matthew’s arms away before his large hands grasped his throat. A gurgle left Matthew’s lips, when Joshua’s knee dug into his gut. A follow-up head butt crunched his nose in like an accordion, covering Matthew’s lips in a river of blood.
A stiff right uppercut pushed the rest of the air out of Matthew’s lungs, followed by a left cross that smacked his cheek. Hand fumbling at his side, Matthew turned at the hip, holding a small black canister in his hand that sprayed a noxious stench.
Laughing wildly, Joshua lapped up the spray, his thick, pink tongue licking his chin. “Tastes like when I put ghost pepper flakes on my carbonara. Mom use ta really ride me when I did,” he said. A black boot kicked the pepper spray out of Matthew’s hand, before Joshua grabbed him by the collar, “but what does she know? Probably why dad left her.”
Joshua’s left fist reared back and punched out like a cannonball that ripped a cut on Matthew’s cheek and sent him stumbling back. Joshua pressed his advantage, following up with a right like a trained pugilist.
With a split-second reaction, Matthew caught the right hook, curling it beneath his arm. A flex of his forearm sent an obvious jolt of pain into Joshua’s elbow, making his back curl from the agony. His eyes went wide as Matthew stepped into his hip and flipped the bigger man over his shoulder, who landed hard with an audible thud onto the floor.
“Yes!” Meagan exclaimed, punching the air as Matthew scrambled to get atop the man, “get him!”
Kicking a leg out, Joshua twisted at the hip to entangle his shin between Matthew’s legs, which sent him down beside him. Legs rolled back over his head, as the big man scrambled to his feet, but Matthew had beat him to it, sending out a war cry as he rushed forward to tackle Joshua’s back into the computer console.
Sparks jumped from the system as Matthew landed a series of punches into Joshua’s face with wet thaps that drew blood. With a grunt, Joshua’s pushed up at Matthew’s chin, palm sliding from the slick blood before Matthew bit down on his fingers.
“Ah, you bastard!” Joshua screamed, pulling back his hand as he kicked out his foot, striking the injured ankle.
Meagan winched as Matthew howled, crumbling down to clutch his ankle as lightning pain must have struck his nerves in waves. Seeing an opening, Joshua punched Matthew’s shoulder, splattering blood against his black shirt as he reopened the gunshot wound. The punch sent Matthew down to his hands and knees.
Joshua loomed over his fallen opponent. Blood dripped from his chin as his hands curled into tight fists.
“His name was Laird!” Joshua yelled, his boot thumping as he kicked Matthew’s ribs, rolling him over. “His name was Grier!” Another kick slapped into Matthew’s face, rolling him again. Blood coughed from Matthew’s mouth as he lay on his back wheezing deep breaths.
Taking out a small knife from his boot, Joshua bent down to one knee, and grabbed a handful of Matthew’s hair to pull his head back. “I’m going to carve their names into your chest, real slow,” Joshua said, his voice darkening as he licked the blood from his lip.
“Screw you,” Matthew said, breathing deep to spit a wad of blood into Joshua’s eyes.
Joshua flinched back long enough for Matthew to use his own head butt, which cracked into his opponent’s mouth in a splatter of blood.
“Mmmfhhr!” Joshua mumbled, stumbling back, and holding his mouth as crimson poured through his fingers that painted his white shirt.
A right cross from Matthew sent Joshua down, hugging the computer console to keep his knees off the ground.
Then Meagan screamed as Matthew lifted his boot and sent it onto Joshua’s head that struck the cold metal. White sparks screamed over Joshua’s own as his body jerked from the current that surged from the exposed wires, blackening his cheek. Insulated by the rubber on his boots, Matthew kept his foot in place until the smell of burned flesh and hair permeated the air. Joshua’s fingers twitched for several long seconds before Matthew took the boot away.
Joshua slumped to the ground, smoke curling from the melted plastic of his buttoned-up shirt.
“Oh my God, Matthew!’ Meagan shouted as she ran to the man who was standing on weak legs as he leaned against the console. As she reached him, Matthew slumped down with his back against the computer as he held his shoulder, red trails of blood running through his fingers.
Meagan knelt next to him, studying his many wounds as she felt his heavy breath against her face. Moving away his hand and peeling back his shirt, the gunshot wound on his shoulder looked worse than before, with dark puckered skin. More blood streamed from multiple cuts on Matthew’s face. Purple bruises were already beginning to form there as well, swelling his cheekbone where Joshua’s large shoe left an outline.
Her eyes then moved to his forehead where darker blood curled like tributaries around his eyes.
“Hold still,” Meagan said. Her fingers trembled as they wrapped around a hard white object that was imbedded deep into the flesh of Matthew’s head. “This is going to hurt,” she said, easing Joshua’s broken tooth out with a squirt of blood.
“Ah!” Matthew said through gritted teeth. Meagan sat on her ankles and looked him in the eyes. “So much for getting the word out,” he continued as he looked towards her.
The comm system burped out sparks before the lights dimmed on the console board.
“What are we going to do now?” Meagan asked softly as she wiped her hands on the dress material draped over her knees. Tears stung her eyes as she continued, “Matthew, no offense, but you’re a mess.”
“Can you find the gun?” Matthew asked before he turned and spat out blood onto the carpet.
Meagan looked about, trying to remember where she last saw the gun during the fight. She walked to the darkened corner, trying not to look at Roland’s leaking body with her peripheral vision. Wobbling on her high heels as she bent down, she poked her hand into the shadows of the corner of the room until her fingers brushed against cold steel.
“Got it,” she said and ran back to Matthew, who had somehow stood back up.
Waving his hand, she gave him the gun that he quickly checked for a chambered round and popped the magazine out.
“Great, only half a mag left,” he said, before sliding the magazine back in with a punch at the bottom. Holstering the weapon, Matthew checked his wrist monitor before inspecting Joshua’s body, digging into his pockets.
“Gotcha. Thought I felt something in there. This smoke grenade should come in handy,” Matthew said as he clipped the device to his belt. He patted down the body with his good arm and turned him over, revealing the charred side of Joshua’s face that made Meagan wretch. “No extra magazines though. Par for the course for this day,” he finished as he stood with a grunt and limped towards the door.
“What about Roland’s gun?” Meagan asked.
Matthew glanced at the body of his friend that was surrounded by a growing pool of blood. “Roland got here just before I did. Still hadn’t passed the shooting exam. We were shorthanded, which is why I assigned him down here,” he replied.
“Where are you going?” Meagan asked, following behind as Matthew limped away.
“Those shots were suppressed, but people will be looking for him, so we need to get out of her before then. I have a new plan,” Matthew replied, his voice wavering.
Reaching the door, Matthew’s hand went to his head as he reached out and leaned on the handle.
“Matthew?” Meagan asked just before he tumbled to the ground with a groan, arms spilling into the hallway as he fell to his stomach. “Matthew!”
Novelette
“Writing a novelette allows the writer to create all that supporting information to back up a short story. Whether a short story is meant as a scene in a larger story, or simply as a story by itself, it will always be taking part in a larger world.” -ThisIsWriting
If this chapter of Liquid Bank intrigued you, check out my book The Mark for 99c that began the street level stories inside the Megacosm.
Plot:
"A chance encounter introduces Linda Mark to Henry Collins, a recently discharged Green Beret. Used to dealing with war veterans because of her husband Shawn, a former Army Ranger, they quickly strike up a friendship."
"Yet, events spiral out of control, and Linda and Shawn struggle to survive as Henry’s affection for Linda turns into a deadly obsession."
You can find The Mark at these online stories: