“HE’S DEAD,” I SAY TO ETHAN AS HE JOINS ME. MY HANDS HOVER above Scott because I can’t bring myself to believe that he’s really gone. That someone would have killed him. But this also means that whoever got here ahead of us will absolutely kill for the Code of Enoch.
“He could have fallen,” Ethan says, but his voice sounds weak, like even he doesn’t believe it.
“Oh god, my parents.” If they’re inside, they’re in serious trouble. I pull my pack off and quietly set it on the ground.
“Just wait, Hannah,” Ethan says. “We need to be careful.”
“We need to get inside,” I say. Before he can even try to talk me out of it, I step around the backpacks and into the arched opening of the olive tree.
The inside has been carved out nearly completely, creating a huge open space. The interior of the tree, like the world outside it, glows from the bioluminescent life forms, and moss covers the walls here, too, providing warmth. There is no one around, as if whoever does live here has vanished. But just at the edge of my hearing, voices begin to drift my way.
“Can you hear what they’re saying?” Ethan whispers as he comes up beside me.
I’m overwhelmed with thankfulness that he is here. That I’m not alone. “I can’t tell. It sounds like arguing.”
At first glance, the carved-out tree seems devoid of anything. But then I notice, at the edges of the tree, a staircase spiraling down, into the earth below. I nod in the direction of the top of the steps, and we tiptoe over.
I place a finger to my lips, to let him know we need to be quiet. At this point, surprise may be the only thing on our side. It’s not like we’ve brought weapons along to fight.
I sneak down, one step at a time, cursing our giant caving boots. Each footfall of ours sounds like a wooly mammoth. The steps spiral around the perimeter of the tree though a wall prevents me from seeing what’s below. It’s only after we’ve made a complete turn of the tree, that I realize what we’ve walked into. By then it is too late.
Three people stand in a large underground room. One wears hiking gear and must have been the one who hired Scott to lead him down here. The one who killed Scott. The one who will kill us if we aren’t smart. My eyes shift to the other two, and I recognize them immediately.
“Mom? Dad?” I say before I can stop myself. Every bit of me wants to run across the room, warn them about the danger they’re in.
At my words, all eyes shift my way. My parents’ eyes fill with panic. But they don’t say anything. Instead they shift their gaze to Ethan as he joins me at the bottom of the steps. But instead of looking at my parents, Ethan stares at the man who must be here on behalf of Amino Corp.
“Dad?” Ethan says.
His voice echoes the denial that floods my mind. His father can’t be the one who is here. He may have been interested in the Code of Enoch, may have tried to gather all the pieces for his boss, Doctor Bingham, but is he the kind of person who would kill for it?
“You shouldn’t be here, Ethan,” the man who, now that I see him, I recognize as an older version of the man I saw in the old photos. “Neither of you should be here. You weren’t supposed to make it this far. I left the false path, hoping you would turn back. I pulled the rigging across the river.”
“You killed Scott,” I say. I still can’t believe it. “How could you do that?”
Ethan’s dad’s eyes widen. “I didn’t kill him. I swear. It was an accident. I tried to help.”
“What kind of accident?” I say. “Because as near as I can tell, his neck’s been snapped.”
“He was climbing the tree, trying to look inside,” Ethan’s dad says. “But the tree. It came alive. It threw him to the ground. I swear it did.”
I want to believe him. If the tree is like everything else around here, almost sentient, then maybe it’s possible. But still … his eyes dart back and forth between Ethan and me.
“Oh god, Hannah, you can’t be here. You have to leave,” Mom says. She stays where she is, next to Dad, shifting backward just the smallest amount. Her slight movement is enough that I can see something behind her. A stone tablet.
The Code of Enoch.
The world seems to freeze around me, and for a moment, it’s just me and the tablet alone in this room. It calls me. It tells me all the wonderful things it is capable of doing. Of creating. It makes me believe anything is possible.
The world returns. This must be the Code. What we are looking for. And even in the tense situation, so many thoughts flow through me in that moment. I’ve found my parents. They are alive. Protecting the Code of Enoch. Which is real. Except everything that Ethan and I have done to find it has led his father here, too. Whatever happens, this is all our fault.
“Hannah, your mother’s right,” Dad says, and his face is pained and filled with love all at the same time. “You need to leave.”
Oh, how I’ve missed that face. I want nothing more than to rush over and hug them both. To tell them how much I love them. I want them returned to me now. I want them to reverse time and make them never leave me in the first place.
“I came to find you,” I say weakly.
Mom’s face is ashen. “You shouldn’t have. It’s too dangerous.”
Ethan’s dad looks to Mom. “It’s not too dangerous. And it’s been hidden long enough. You two stopped me before, something I will never as long as I live forgive you for. Because of you Caden died. But this time you won’t get in the way of bringing the Code back to the real world where it belongs, not hidden away in some fantasyland doing no one any good at all. This time I will make things right. In the hands of a company like Amino Corp, this thing could save millions of lives. People don’t have to die like Caden did.”
Mom’s eyes fill with tears. “Stephen, no matter how much you want it to, it won’t bring back Caden. It can’t do that. And I’m so sorry.”
Mom’s tears only fuel Ethan’s dad’s anger. “Don’t you think I know that? Of course it won’t bring him back. But it can prevent so many others from having to suffer like he did. Like we’ve suffered since he died. Our son. You ripped our son from us. You may as well have killed him yourself.”
“Dad, Caden got sick,” Ethan says. “That happens.”
Ethan’s dad is so angry that he’s shaking. “He could have been healed except they stood in our way. You would have a brother right now if they hadn’t stopped me before. Instead, he’s dead.”
Ethan opens his mouth like he’s going to say something, but then he closes it as if he changes his mind. My heart breaks at the fact that the Olivers lost their son, but my parents did what they felt was right for the world, not just for Caden.
Finally, Ethan says, “Could it really have healed him?”
Mr. Oliver levels his eyes on my parents. “Yes. It really could have. And even though our son will never smile again, we can still use the Code to heal others. To save so many. Cancer. AIDS. Ebola. These things will become a remnant of the past. Sickness will be only a memory. We can repair DNA strands, we can regrow organs. All these things are possible and more.”
His words are hard to ignore. Something with that power could truly change the world.
“Can it really do all that?” I ask my parents because I have to know. Ethan’s face has shifted, and his eyes look to the Code of Enoch almost greedily, now with hopes of taking it with him. Mine have, too, if I have to be honest.
Dad runs a hand through his hair. “Yes, it can do all that. Everything Ethan’s dad says is possible. It created this world around us. These plants, the animals, the fish that swim in the sea. It could cure every disease known to man. It could make old age a thing of the past. All these things and more, the Code of Enoch is capable of.”
“Which is why it can never be returned to humanity,” Mom says, her eyes still fixed on me as if she refuses to look away. I can’t look away from my parents either. I can’t believe that they’re really here.
“That makes no sense,” Mr. Oliver says. He grits his teeth and flexes his fingers, and it’s only then that I see him reaching for something tucked into the waistband of his pants.
He’s got a gun.
I don’t shout out because he hasn’t reached for it yet. Maybe we can still get out of this peacefully.
“You know it makes sense, Stephen,” Mom says. “Imagine that power in the hands of mortals. Yes, diseases could be cured, but as many and more new diseases could be created. Entire races could be wiped out, simply by customizing a disease specifically for their DNA type. Biological warfare would escalate to a scale we could never imagine. People could be killed with a thought. The Code of Enoch in the wrong hands would bring the end of the world.”
Mr. Oliver’s eyes are wide. “So we never let it fall into the wrong hands. We protect it.”
“We can’t protect it,” Dad says. “Not out there. Imagine Hitler getting his hands on the Code of Enoch. Stalin. Leaders throughout history. They would see the potential in moments, and once they started using it, it could never be stopped. It’s why we have to keep it here. Protect it here. Why it’s been that way forever. And why it has to stay that way.”
Silence fills the room, and I think—hope—that my parents’ words are making sense to those around me. They’re definitely bringing me back to the reality of the danger in front of us. Ethan … I can’t read his face. But there is no understanding on his dad’s face. Nothing except the desire for the Code.
Mr. Oliver lunges for me then before I know what’s happening. Before I can do anything to stop him. He grabs me with one of his arms and pulls his gun out with the other. Mom shrieks as he puts the gun to my head.
I don’t move. I don’t dare because one wrong move and he could pull the trigger.
“Let her go, Stephen,” Dad says. His face is filled with horror. “This is lunacy.”
Mr. Oliver shakes his head. “This is reality. Nobody moves unless I tell them to, or I will kill her. I will pull the trigger.”
His breath is hot on my neck. His hand that holds my body and head is clammy from sweat.
“Dad, let her go,” Ethan says. His voice shakes, and though he’s only a couple feet away, if he tries to grab me, his dad could kill me.
“No, Ethan. I’m not going to let her go. And here is what’s going to happen. You are going to walk over to the Code of Enoch. You are going to pick it up. If Hannah’s parents try to stop you, if they interfere in any way at all, then I will pull the trigger. I’ll kill Hannah first, and then I will kill them.”
“We can’t let you have it,” Dad says, even though there is this part of me that wants him to say something, anything, to make everything all better. My heart pounds in my ears. My vision is tunneling. I get it then, in that moment. Ethan’s dad is truly beyond help. The death of his child has done something to him. Pushed him over an edge. I need to get away. Get the gun from him.
“Dad, no, I won’t do it,” Ethan says. “I’m not going to get it. Don’t you see? Hannah’s parents are right. Look at you. Look at what you’re doing just to get the Code of Enoch now, here. What do you think people will do once it’s back in the world?”
My heart melts in that moment, knowing that Ethan is siding with me, not his dad. But I can’t move to meet his eye without risking my life.
“Put the gun down, Stephen,” Dad says. “Just put it down, nice and slow, and we’ll resolve this all.”
Mr. Oliver shakes his head. “I can’t do that. I’ve been looking for the Code of Enoch for too long to let it slip away. It’s too close. I am going to take it. Finally, after all this time.”
“And I’m not going to let you,” Dad says, and then without warning, he lunges for Ethan’s dad.
Mr. Oliver isn’t expecting this, but he recovers from his surprise quickly. He takes the gun from my head and points it at Dad instead. I elbow him hard in the side, and he lets me go. I twist out of his grasp and grab for the gun.
I’m too late. The gun goes off.