Chapter 13: Into the fire part 2
"Now here we stand with their blood on our hands
We fought so hard now can we understand
I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can
For freedom of every man"
Through the Fire and the Flames, Dragonforce
With renewed determination and full stomachs, Zack and Cody left the house and began following the paper to their new destination. They knew that there was a good chance of it being a trap, but they also knew they had to get through it if they wanted to succeed.
As Cody pedaled the bike, he could feel the knife in his pocket rattle against his leg. He was afraid that he would have to use it to end more lives. It wouldn't be the first time he used it as an instrument of death, but he hated it. Each person slain meant one more person had their dreams ripped from them. A wife would lose a husband. A child would lose a parent. A family would lose one they loved. A best friend would lose the only one they could trust. He kept telling himself that he had no other choice, but it seemed like a weak excuse, in reflection of the harm he had caused. The dried blood on the blade was a constant reminder. No matter how many times he tried to wash it off, there were always small splotches that refused to leave. As long as he lived, Cody would have to carry the weight of those who's life he ended.
"You missed the turn," he heard from behind him.
"What?"
"I told you to turn at the last block, and you just kept going."
"Oh, sorry," he said as he turned the bike around. "I've just been thinking about that I might have to kill more people," Cody said, answering Zack's unspoken question.
Zack took a deep breath as the same worries began filling his mind. 'The Cody I knew two years ago wouldn't hurt a fly, and now he is being forced to kill. It's not right.'
"How much farther?" the younger twin asked.
"Uh, it looks like, take a right in two blocks, then a left onto Rexford in about 2 miles, and I don't know how long the rest will take," Zack said studying the directions and map. Cody sighed at hearing the long distances. The bike made things faster, but it still took a lot of work. "Wait, I have an idea," Zack said.
"What is it?"
"We need to go back to the house."
"You're peddling when we go to the place then."
"Fine," Zack said as his brother turned around and peddled back to the house. It hadn't been long, but Cody hated that he had wasted the time and energy.
When they arrived back at the house, Zack ran through the front door and began looking for something as he scanned the various rooms of the house. "What are you looking for?"
"It has to be here somewhere." Zack's eyes finally locked onto their target. "Here they are," he said, grabbing an object off the kitchen counter. The older twin then began checking the various doors in the house, until he came upon the one he was looking for. Finally, after finding his target he instructed his brother to follow him.
The twins walked into the garage as Zack unlocked the door to the car. "Zack, you can't be serious."
"Oh, you want to drive?" he casually asked.
"That's Grand Theft Auto!"
"Cody, what do you think is worse, borrowing a car, or letting them win?"
"Zack," Cody couldn't believe how outrageous his brother's plan was, "Do you even know how to drive?"
"Kinda."
"Kinda!"
"Well, Bruce let me drive in the neighborhood a few times, and I turn 16 in a few months."
"Just try not to kill us," Cody said as he sat in the passengers seat and made sure his seat belt was secured.
Zack put the car in reverse and gently pulled out into the street. Cody was nervous being in a car with someone so new to driving, but he knew Zack wouldn't push himself too far, at least in a situation this serious. "Okay Codes, what do I do?"
Cody looked at the directions and map and guided his brother though the various roads. Things went smoothing as Zack gently drove through the neighborhoods. "Okay, now pull onto main street."
Zack slowly drove onto the busy road, almost causing the speedy car behind them to crash. "Normally I wouldn't say this to you, but speed up."
"Okay," Zack nervously replied.
"Well the instructions tell us to turn right in 5 blocks." The older twin carefully made his way through the traffic, attempting to make it safely while angering as few people as possible. When they reached the address, they pulled into the parking lot and discovered that it was a large warehouse.
Cody went to the front door, but found it was locked. They front window was tinted dark, hiding whatever contents were inside. "I have an idea," Zack said as he began backing up the car.
"Oh, no," Cody said to himself, as he backed away, thankful he wasn't in the car anymore. Zack unbuckled his seat belt as he shifted the car from reverse to drive. He unlatched the door and slammed on the gas pedal. At the last second, Zack leapt from the car. The vehicle collided with the building, knocking out the front window and finally coming to rest as it collided into a wall.
"Zack, you are an idiot!"
"We got in didn't we?"
The twins walked through the debris and noticed the entire place was shrouded in darkness. Using the fading light of day, they journeyed into the unknown.
When nearly all the light had faded, they found themselves in a large room, normally used for storage. Many footsteps echoed through the metal building, and the twins grabbed their knifes, knowing a fight was coming.
Lights from above suddenly shone on them, illuminating the area. The room was filled with enemies carrying a variety of weapons. Some armed with clubs, metal rods, knifes, and a few with guns. For a moment Cody feared for his brothers safety, but Zack said, "Let's take them down."
They had never felt this powerful, and the number of their foes didn't matter to them, and to make it better, they had each other to protect them.
Cody held his knife out as he harnessed his power to accelerate his own motions and senses. He charged at the front line, grabbing the closest foe's weapon and throwing it to the ground, before thrusting his blade into his body. Cody saw his brother right behind him, harnessing the same power. The older twin kicked one foe in the side who had been charging at Cody. They teamed up on the next goon as Zack kicked the feet out from under him and Cody elbowed his body into the ground.
Side by side, the brothers fended of the small army. The constantly focused on the attacking foes, and kept a look out for anything that got past their brothers' defense. As Zack shoved his knife into the heart of his attacker, Cody saw one who had escaped his brothers attention. Seconds before a knife was driven into Zack's body, Cody kicked the foe's side, slamming him into the wall.
The younger twin swung around, deflecting the blade of one who tried piercing his defenses. Cody ignored the fear in his enemies eyes as he slashed his blade across his side. As blood spewed out, his enemy fell to the ground clutching his side. For a second, Cody pitied the man and wanted to help, but he couldn't let himself be distracted by sympathy for his foes.
The gunmen who had thus far remind out of the battle, aimed their weapons into the fray. Upon hearing the sound of bullets pierce the air, the twins turned their attention to the distant enemies. Using superhuman speed, Zack and Cody ran along the side of the room, and before the gunmen could react, Cody had slashed his knife through all of them in one quick motion. The two that had been able to continue fighting after that aimed their guns at Cody. Before they could fire, Zack slammed his fists into the two's stomach The impact combined with the knife wound in the same place incapacitated them.
Cody surveyed the battle and saw nearly all the enemies were either dead or close to it. "That's enough! You have seen we are stronger than you," he said authoritatively, "I don't want any more to die, so stand down and get help for those who can still use it." The enemies saw Cody's logic, and did as he instructed. "Are you okay Zack?" he said in a softer voice to his brother.
"Yea, I'm fine."
"It's not over though."
_
A/N: Zack and Cody make it through that fight unharmed, but as Cody said, it's not over. I didn't get as many reviews for the last chapter, but that's probably because I'm updating so fast. I plan to get the final part of this arc out later today, or early tomorrow. As always, reviews are awesome!