HIGHER TECH (Complete Novel)

Chapter 8 -A Self-proclaimed Hero

      Arnold stood on the roof. His feet were about six inches more than shoulder width apart. All settings visible on his weapon's display screen. A circular beam, three times larger than the circumference of his chest should be sufficient. Enough for him to comfortably enter from the rooftop to the top floor below. He reduced the strength of the beam so that it would only penetrate the rooftop. According to scans, the hostages were being held on the floor below that. The ground floor. On the top floor of the building, the members of Para Todos were gathered. They were all in the front. They probably heard his PW-3 land. So they were looking out the front windows. They would all soon be dead.

      He was at the back of the building's rooftop, in the left corner. Lowering his weapon and aiming it about ten feet in front of him he activated the trigger. Dust flew up in the air, but the wind quickly blew it all away. He walked over to the hole and easily jumped to the floor about ten feet below. He turned around and noticed he was in an office. Part of the desk had been destroyed by the beam that entered the room from above on an angle. It was tilted down onto the floor with everything that was on it, now on the floor. That end of the desk was now missing its legs. There was only a minimal amount of dust in the air. The beam had apparently taken care of the rest and also the carpet was gone where the beam had disintegrated it. The floor material below it was all scorched. He looked up, as he heard noises coming from outside the doorway. People yelling in Spanish and running in the direction of the loud sound they just heard in the back offices. They didn't even know that they were running towards their own inevitable deaths. He shook his head, smiled and adjusted his weapon settings to armor-piercing and waited. The first one would see him and call the rest, thereby expediting the whole process. In six minutes the whole floor was clear of the rascals. He had to hunt the last two down, but that was easy. Some of them didn't even have armor. He shook his head again as he smiled. This was too easy.

      Now to take care of those downstairs guarding their hostages... By the time they saw him approaching, they would be shivering in their boots.

      He slowly walked down the metal stairs with confidence. Each step made a metallic clanging noise declaring his undeniable presence.

      He saw the enemy's weapon's fire harmlessly deflected by his enhanced personal shielding. The results were the same as before. It all ended with them on the floor in complete silence. His attacks didn't wound. They killed with a certain finality to it. They couldn't even scream in pain.

      The last man desperately grabbed a little child. A crying little boy. The coward put his old fashioned projectile weapon against the little boy's head and yelled something in Spanish. It didn't matter what he said. All Arnold did was ignore him and adjust an additional setting on his weapon. Precision, Disarm and Kill. His headset's display helped him with the aiming process. A simultaneous double shot escaped his weapon's business end. One shot destroyed the man's weapon and the other was a head-shot. The wicked man immediately crumpled to the floor.

      He looked at the people as a crying mother picked up her child and said, "todo el mundo me siga! Everybody follow me!" He also said it in English, although he had no real reason to. It just made him feel better about what he was doing. He was doing something good and he really enjoyed it. He shook his head and focused on getting the people outside to freedom. He found the front door blocked and locked. He holstered his weapon and began to move the furniture in front of the heavy metal doors. The hostages helped him to remove it all. How nice. Drawing his weapon, he indicated that they should back away. Adjusting the setting again, he destroyed the locks on the door, throwing the doors wide open. This brought the bright daylight into the room. He motioned for them to escape for their safety. They left squinting and smiling in the warm sunlight. Happy at last to be free again.