Coast To Coast: The Darkest Hour

Chapter 15: Memory Lane

15: Memory Lane

Midnight soon found himself in an explosion proof room, used for testing explosive devices. Jay sat outside the room with his laptop, trying to hack into the time bomb.

“C’mon, code break already,” Jay muttered, “Jake sure coded this thing good.”

Midnight sat against the back wall, watching Jay work on his computer through the explosion proof glass. “You know, Jay, if you actually manage to get the code cracked and this thing shut off or off me, I’ll gladly take back all the things I said about you being a slow poke.”

“Oh, nice,” Jay said, “Are you gonna offer me your car next?” He asked slyly.

“Nope,” Midnight replied, “Besides, even if I did, it would be just the frame, no engine.”

“Aw rats,” Jay groaned, “I’m never gonna manage to get a hot car.”

Flame managed to smile, “Just crack the code.”

“So, Flame, where’d you pick this hacking genius up at?” Ben stared over Jay’s shoulder as Jay continued breaking the code.

“About a year ago,” Jay said while he continued working, “I bailed Flame out of some trouble, and we became friends.”

“About a month later,” Flame continued where Jay left off, “Midnight nearly decked me when I found him.”

Midnight chuckled, “You’re the one who enjoys sneaking up on people.”

“Yeah,” Flame smiled, “I’m pretty good at that.”

Jania sat on a chair, watching Midnight. She wished she could help, but she didn’t know how she could.  “Can I help?” She asked quietly.

“You guys could help by being quiet,” Jay muttered.  “Wait, I got it. Okay, Midnight, be ready to jump for the door. You’ll have about thirty seconds to get out before the bomb goes off once I get it to unlatch.”

“Right,” Midnight got up, and got ready to bolt.

“Three, two, one,” Jay said quietly, crossing his fingers before hitting enter on his keyboard.

Midnight saw the time bomb hit the floor and bolted. He jumped for the door, which closed after him. A second later, a massive explosion shook the building.

“I think I’ll steer clear of time bombs,” Midnight said as Jania hugged him.

“Good idea,” Flame grinned, shaking Midnight’s hand.

“Definitely a good idea,” Ben said, smiling.

“So,” Jay grinned, “Now I did my job, Flame, can I get my pay so I can ditch before the cop decides I’m to be arrested?”

“Oh, yeah,” Flame pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Jay.

“Jay,” Midnight said as Jay started for the door.

Jay looked over, “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. After all, hacking is what I do best.”  Jay grinned and walked out, “See ya later, that would be next time you need saving!”

“Which better not be any time soon,” Midnight replied, “I don’t need to get into more trouble.”

Two days later, Midnight said goodbye to Flame and Jania.  He was going with Ben to meet up with John and the rest of the Winter family. Midnight was a little nervous about meeting his parents again, after almost two years.