Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) (11 page)

*

“
Jake
–”

The voice was muffled. Everything was hazy.

“
Jake, bro, you with me?
”

Now it was harsher, as if someone had increased the treble. His vision came back. He was in a large white room, surrounded by huge men he didn
’
t know. He gazed around, confused, eyes wide.

Slowly, his memories returned. Sam and Thorn were crouching over him. Behind them, Felix and Crank stood together, arms crossed, looking on with interest. Crank had his arms folded across his chest.

“
There we go,
”
Thorn said.
“
Come on back.
”

“
What happened?
”
Jake said. He had broken out in a cold sweat. Getting beaten semi-conscious was nothing like in the movies. It felt harsh, cold, brutal. Everything was wavering slightly.

“
You pushed Crank,
”
Sam said.
“
He punched you.
”

“
Oh
…
yeah.
”

“
You okay, buddy?
”
Crank said, stepping forwards.

“
Mmm,
”
Jake said, rubbing his temple with both hands. He was wary of Crank. There was a certain hesitancy that came after getting beaten into unconsciousness. It had rarely ever happened to him.
“
Sorry about what I did.
”

“
It
’
s understandable,
”
Crank said.
“
I
’
m the one who needs to be sorry. I shouldn
’
t have retaliated. Should have known better.
”

Jake shrugged.
“
I would have retaliated.
”

Crank extended a hand and pulled him to his feet.
“
You
’
re better than I expected.
”

“
Really? It felt like I got pummelled.
”

“
You did get pummelled. But what were
you
expecting? I kill slayers for a living. Even if Mike Tyson was standing where you are, he wouldn
’
t be able to hit me. But you
’
re exceptionally fast. How long did you say you
’
ve been kickboxing?
”

“
Since I was nine. Seven years.
”

“
You know, with a few months of training, we could probably even bring you up somewhere close to our level. It
’
s going to take a lot of work, but you have potential. Are you up for it?
”

Jake nodded.
“
I want to be like you guys. I need to be.
”

“
Let
’
s head upstairs,
”
Felix said.
“
I want you to meet Link.
”

Jake followed the four men through the workstation. As he moved past the benches, he stopped to admire a four-barrelled assault rifle resting on the steel, surrounded by various tools. The front of the gun housed four thick barrels, arranged in a two by two grid. He didn
’
t know much about firearms, but it was clear that the ammunition had been modified as well. There was no magazine attached.

“
What
’
s this?
”
he said.

Sam turned around and grinned.
“
A Snowdog. These babies are what I build, man. It
’
s our primary slayer-killing tool. Each one costs almost a million dollars to make.
”

Jake raised his eyebrows. He could live the rest of his life in comfort for a million dollars.
“
Why are they so expensive?
”

“
Well, I could go on for days, but I
’
ll make it short. Heard of the MetalStorm technology, Jake?
”

Jake shook his head.

“
Basically, it
’
s a firing system that can pump out ten thousands rounds a minute. Instead of firing out of a magazine, the Snowdog has all the bullets lined up in the main section of the gun right here
–”
he tapped the steel,
“–
and they
’
re packed in tight with propellant in between each bullet. When you squeeze the trigger, it fires each bullet out through electric shocks. Not many people can build one of these, brother. On full auto, this thing can shoot out forty thousand rounds a minute if all four barrels are going at once.
”

Jake let out a low whistle.
“
That
’
s a lot of ammo.
”

“
It sure is, which is why we need to be bloody careful about what we point it at. If you find yourself in a life or death situation, though, this bad boy will tear a slayer to shreds.
”

“
How do you know how to build one?
”

“
Let
’
s just say I
’
m fairly switched on. The Delta Force taught me a lot, though. It helps that the MetalStorm technology was designed right here in Australia. I
’
ve done a lot of research. There
’
s also a lot of old contacts willing to sell me the parts I need. For a price, of course. Nothing in life
’
s free, bro.
”

“
How do you afford all this?
”
Jake said.

“
Link,
”
Felix said.

He didn't elaborate.

They moved up the stairs with Jake at the rear. As they fanned out into the kitchen, Jake saw an Asian man sitting at the dining room table. He had a pack of playing cards in his hand and was shuffling them between his fingers at a blinding speed. He looked younger than the rest of the men, maybe twenty-five.

“
Link,
”
Felix called out. The man looked up.
“
This is Jake.
”

Jake walked over and the two shook hands. Link had an iron grip.

“
Heard a lot about you,
”
Link said. His voice was monotonous.

“
I
’
m not sure if that
’
s a good thing,
”
Jake said.
“
Nice to meet you.
”

Felix clapped a hand on Jake
’
s shoulder.
“
Training starts tomorrow, kid. I know you
’
ve been sleeping all day, but try and get some rest tonight. You
’
ll need it. We
’
re off.
”

“
Where are you going?
”

“
To check up on Wolfe,
”
Crank said.
“
He
’
s out scouting, looking for slayer hotspots. Has been all day.
”

“
The guy
’
s got an uncanny ability at finding them,
”
Sam said.
“
He can tell just by looking for signs. He tracks them, reports back to us, and we all deal with the problem.
”

“
That
’
s how he found you,
”
Crank said.
“
He was scouting.
”

The four men shuffled out, first Thorn and Sam, followed by Crank and Felix.

“
Catch ya, man,
”
Sam said as he left, performing a casual salute with his index finger.

Jake nodded back. Then they were gone. Link was the only man left in the room.

“
So, Jake,
”
he said.
“
What do you know about counting cards?
”

Jake paused. This he knew a little about. He
’
d seen a few movies on the subject. Even recalling those memories sent him back into the little apartment, stretched out across the couch, absent-mindedly watching the television and waiting for his dad to return home. Countless nights had been spent like that. For many, his dad had never showed. Jake preferred this place, and the company that came with seven people living under the same roof.

“
It
’
s used in blackjack, right?
”
he said.
“
To gain an advantage over the casino? To beat the system?
”

“
You
’
ve got the general gist of it,
”
Link said.
“
You keep track of the cards as they are being dealt across the table. In your head, you have what
’
s called a running count, which is a number that changes as you remember each card. That way, you know what the rough chances are of the next card being what you want it to be, and you can place your bets accordingly. To dumb it down, you basically assign each card that comes out with a number. For example, the most simple form of card counting is that anything from a ten to a king is minus one, anything from a two to a six is plus one, and seven to nine is neutral. So when the running count in your head is a big number, you know that a lot of lower value cards have come out of the deck. Then you can assume that the next few cards will probably be high value.
”

“
I get it,
”
Jake said.
“
Seems simple enough.
”

“
Yeah
…
it
’
s not. That was the most basic description I could possibly give you. When you
’
re surrounded by distractions in the casino, it
’
s much harder. Also, the plus one, minus one system leaves a lot of room for error. My system
’
s different. It has a different value for every single card, and then from the number in my head I can work out the probability of exactly what the next card will be. I sort out the chances in my head.
”

“
Are you some kind of genius?
”

“
I don
’
t like to brag, but yes.
”

Jake laughed.
“
So how much money is in this? It
’
s not like anyone who counts cards can become a millionaire.
”

“
You
’
re right. Only people who are gifted can make serious money.
”

“
Do you make serious money?
”

“
Last weekend I took a plane to Sydney with fifty grand, and came back with one and a half million.
”

“
Jesus Christ.
”

“
Like I said, I don
’
t like to brag, but yes, I make serious money from this. That
’
s how this whole operation is financed.
”

“
I can
’
t believe what I
’
m hearing. A group of millionaire ex-soldiers who hunt monsters and live in a place like this. That
’
s like
…
a video game scenario.
”

Link managed a smile.
“
It
’
s pretty strange, huh?
”

“
So what do you know about my training?
”
Jake asked, searching for information.
“
All I know is that it starts tomorrow.
”

Link stared at him for a long time, almost sizing him up.

“
I know you
’
re going to want to quit,
”
he finally said.
“
There
’
s going to be long, hard days. No breaks. Physical training like you
’
ve never experienced. Actually, it
’
s probably a good thing that there
’
s a national manhunt for you right now.
”