by Adam Melrose
‘Damn. What is that doing there.’
The tone of Matt’s voice made Norton sit up and take note.
‘What?’ he whispered.
‘Dougal.’ Matt hissed back.
‘Where?’
‘Here. He’s here, parked up on the edge of the road, but there is no one inside. Do Joe and Max have him or Ava and Bruno?’
Norton gave a shake of his head.
‘I have no idea.’
Matt took out his phone, ‘Still no signal. What is it about this part of the world; no phone signal in some places, and plenty in others?’
‘They will be fine boss. They will be doing what we are, they will be watching. Maybe they have learnt something too. I doubt they have gone inside.’
‘I really hope they haven’t.’
Matt didn’t sound convinced. In his mind, he was planning that this evening was definitely the time to bring the curtain down on this circus before anyone got hurt again, or worse. Bella be damned. He would not give into any more of her whimsical ideas or plans.
Chapter 38
Joe and Max continued from where they had left off yesterday afternoon; they went to look for Mark. It took them until well after lunchtime to find him, thanks to some well-meaning person sending them on a wild goose chase to Devizes. It turned out there were two Marks who worked in the hotel grounds; and the wrong Mark was equally surprised as Joe and Max, when he was hunted down by these two strangers at his sister’s house on his day off.
When they finally found the right Mark, it didn’t take more than a few moments for him to identify the tall man with the deeply blue eyes and the odd manner. Mark confirmed that Alastor was the man he had seen with Pete. He really was Jeff Pyke, and he was an engineer that specialised in hydro dam construction. Both Max and Joe had the same thought; it was probable that Alastor – Jeff Pyke also worked for Evo. The odd name Alastor or Jeff had used to describe explosives had come back to Max. Octogen; they had checked, it was indeed a specialist explosive your average person would not know about.
‘We need to find Matt, he should be back by now, I can’t get him on the phone. Let’s head to the Tame Swan via The Portal, and make sure they haven’t headed there. I don’t like this.
They moved back to the main hotel car park.
‘Bess is here we will take her. I will grab the keys from the Operations Room.’
Joe jogged off across the car park to the hotel, Max took out his phone and tried Matt. His phone went straight to voicemail. The same for Norton. He tried Ava and then Bruno, all with the same result.
A few minutes later Joe reappeared and unlocked the Range Rover. They hopped in.
‘I can’t get hold of anyone. Everyone’s phones are off. There is no phone signal at The Portal is there?’
‘No,’ said Joe, ‘Only deep inside it. I have a bad feeling about this.’
‘So do I, let’s get there fast.’
Chapter 39
Max and Joe sped down the country lane towards The Portal.
‘Oh… that can’t be good.’
Joe looked across at his brother, ‘What?’
‘Dougal.’
‘Where?’ Joe scanned around.
‘Over there. Parked up.’
‘Oh… indeed,’ replied Joe, ‘Ava and Bruno must have headed into The Portal. We need to get there quickly, and warn them. They don’t know what they are heading into. If we are right, and that’s really a Freeport, there will be armed guards inside, and Evo has too much to lose. I have lost signal now on my phone. Why would they go in there alone?’
In that moment, Max experienced his first genuine panic attack. He wanted his friends safely out of The Portal at any cost. Rules be damned. Dam, that’s it, he thought.
Coming to the bridge, instead of parking on the side of the road as normal, they turned off and drove down the small track that would bring them out on top of the portal roof. Half way along, Max did a three point turn and headed back out onto the main road, then to the access path that lead down to part of the canal below the dam. Max drove a little way down into the old canal floor. They both got out on foot and checked the floor was not too boggy. It was not. It would be fine to drive on without getting stuck, and should give them some much needed traction for their task. Getting back into the car, they quickly reversed towards the dam. They both hopped out, and between them, they fixed one end of the large chain from the back of the car to the dam supports, and the other to the car. They hopped in and Max rolled the car forward until it took up the strain, then he put more power down, the car’s wheels dug into the ground, the engine note got louder, suddenly there was an almighty crack and in the rear-view mirrors they could see a wall of water coming straight for them. Max quickly drove the car up the bank and onto the towpath, whilst the water now flowing below them fanned out and flooded the area downstream.
Max backed the car along the towpath, and up onto the road, having unhooked the chain and put it back in the car.
‘Are you going to tell me your plan Max? I have a nasty feeling I am not going to like this.’
‘You’ll love it; you are always one for adventure.’
‘True but I like odds too. I like the odds of survival to be in our favour.’
Max moved the car off up the road; they sped up the dirt track following the bend to the left at the top. Joe realised they were now on top of The Portal roof; the balustrade was just beside them.
Max spoke quickly and clearly.
‘Bess are you listening?’
The car responded. A female voice spoke, and it seemed to come from deep within the dashboard.
‘Yes Max I am listening, I can hear you clearly, what do you need?’
‘I need you to mark this journey from when I say mark until I get out of the car, understood?’
The car responded, ‘Understood.’
Max moved the car into the far corner of the parking area, away from The Portal and the canal.
‘Mark,’ He barked clearly and loudly, having put the car in Park and taken his foot off the brake.
‘Mark confirmed at this point.’
Joe’s facial expression was one of incredulity.
Max clocked Joe’s expression whilst he put the car into Reverse and carried out a fast J turn, resulting in the car’s nose pointing towards a gap in the balustrade. The gap was the top of a very steep makeshift staircase that would eventually lead down to the canal water’s edge.
‘I know Joe, I know – I had meant to explain about the new upgrades to Bess and Dougal, but in all this carry-on I simply forgot. I will explain all the upgrades if we make it out alive.
Joe’s facial expression changed quickly from incredulity to alarm.
‘You mean when Max – when… not if.’
Max nodded, ‘Sorry, yes, I mean when.’
With that, he put the car’s gearbox into Drive and accelerated to the edge of the steep steps, before coming to a stop. Looking forward out of the car all they could both see was a large black bonnet, and ahead of that in the distance, nothing but trees and sky. Joe wiped his sweaty hands on his trousers and then placed them on the edge of either side of his seat for support, his hands sank into the soft leather upholstery.
‘Ready?’ Max looked across at Joe who was checking his seatbelt.
‘Ready.’
Max moved the gear selector into Neutral, then moved it across to the left and waited for a moment. The car emitted three loud beeps. Max then moved the gear selector down to 1 and pressed the mode button on the gear selector casing; the word MANUAL now glowed red.
‘Right, once I take my foot off this brake pedal there is no going back.’
Joe nodded and said nothing, Max took that as a complicit agreement to the manoeuvre.
Max lifted his foot off the brake pedal, the car began to creep forward, the bonnet began to tip downwards, and the occupants view changed from the heavenly trees and sky to the dark canal and valley floor. Joe’s stomach lurched. The c
ar began to speed up. The car was sliding about slightly as it gained downward momentum, Max was making very gentle corrections to the steering wheel, being careful to keep his thumbs flat on the outside of it. Max’s gentle inputs to the steering wheel had corrected the car’s movements from side to side, and they were now on a very definite course, pointing them straight down into the canal water below.
They gained momentum as gravity pulled them towards their watery destination, and as they did so the rev counter began to rise substantially. The V8 engine was not complaining, but its normal muted wiffle sound had morphed into a loud howl as the mechanics of the engine fought the pull of gravity. Joe watched the rev counter climb its scale, 2 – 3 – 4 heading towards 5. Joe saw it only went to 8, and that they were still speeding up. He leant his right arm across and gave a gentle tug on Max’s seatbelt buckle to make sure it was in securely. He then checked his own, they both were locked in place. If anything went wrong now, they were very likely to end upside down, in ice cold water. They would have to wait until the whole car filled with water before swimming out through the windscreen, or out through the tailgate, having smashed the glass first.
Joe was beginning to calculate how long that might take, and how much time they would need to hold their breath in icy cold water if they both had a chance to survive. The results of Joe’s calculations were that their odds would not be great. Joe popped open the cubby box between the seats, and was delighted to see the glass hammer and seatbelt cutter was within easy reach. Please God be it that I don’t need to be using that today, he thought.
As he was wondering whether to broach an escape plan with Max, their rate of descent began to slow. As Joe was relaxing, his heart once again jumped into his mouth as he saw Max aim the car straight for the canal, and drive over towards the edge of the water. He then swung the car to the left towards the façade and stopped for a moment.
Pressing a large button in the upper middle section of the dashboard, the car began to rise in height. One small circular orange light that was next to an image of a car sitting on a normal road extinguished, and the small circular orange light directly above it was now illuminated. Joe looked at the corresponding image for the newly lit setting, and in that moment he knew exactly what Max was about to do. The image was that of a car clearly in deep water. Within a couple of seconds of Max having pressed the button, the car had lifted itself up considerably. Once it was up to its full height, Max turned the car hard right, put it into Drive, hit the accelerator and drove at the water. The level was dropping fast as the water rushed out of the portal, and down towards the dam they had destroyed.
Joe’s heart was in his dry mouth. What an irony, Joe thought again, given how wet they were about to become if Max didn’t stop. He did stop though, and they were now sitting in some very long grass. Putting his foot on the brake, Max moved the gear stick to the right. Again the car made three loud beeps indicating the transmission was moving back to high range. Joe assumed they were parking up, and that Max was just going to move the gear stick into Park, and they would get a Jet Ski and go in.
Max didn’t do that. He moved the gearstick into Drive and hit the accelerator. As the car tipped forward towards the water Joe instinctively lifted his feet out of the foot well against the incoming flood.
Max smiled at his brother’s understandable reaction. Joe realised that rather than plummeting into the water they were just driving in. What Max had noticed on their previous trip to the portal that Joe had not, was there was an access ramp built into the side of the canal wall to allow gentle water entry, probably for boats and trailers etc. They drove down into the water and Max brought the car to a stop.
Joe looked out of the windows. The water was no longer that deep, the canal had drained much quicker than he had imagined. A couple of feet at most. As soon as the wheels hit the water, the escaping flow caused water to splash and foam up and onto the bonnet. It was still deep, and above the bottom of the doors, but not deep enough to be a problem. The car’s engine would be able to breathe safely without inhaling water, and the car’s electronics would be able to remain dry.
The car came to a halt and then started to slide.
‘The combination of the slippery canal floor and the power of the water flow means it’s trying to carry us in the wrong direction.’ For a moment, Max looked mildly panicked. He managed to get the car to stop.
‘Ah finally the penny drops. You want The Portal empty so we can drive in.’ said Joe.
‘Yes, fastest method I can think of doing two miles in.’
Max put the car in reverse, ‘Now for the tricky bit.’
Joe looked across at him, ‘Now for the tricky bit?’
Max raised his eyebrows at Joe
‘Bess?’
‘Yes Max.’
‘Are you still marking this journey?’
‘Affirmative.’
‘OK, now we are going into The Portal, I want you to keep us straight and stop us from bouncing off the walls. Understood?’
‘Understood.’
Max slowly reversed the car towards the façade. As he did so the rear view mirrors dipped to show the black, wet journey ahead of them. The car came to a halt as its rear wheels rested against the concrete lip on the edge of The Portal floor.
‘OK that will work. Joe have you got Bella’s pass?’
‘I do,’ Joe reached into his pocket to grab the pass and handed it to Max.
‘What are you going to do with that?’
Max reversed the car a bit further until he was in line with where he thought the control panel was to open the garage. He attached the pass to the selfie-stick lying on the back seat in order to get to the right height as if the water level was still normal. He held the pass to it and the door began to open.
‘I want anyone coming behind us from our team to be able to get in there if they need to. You just never know, they may not be in here yet.’
Joe gave a slow nod indicating his understanding of his brother’s plan.
‘Here we go.’
With that Max accelerated and they moved up and over the concrete lip. The car’s engine note climbed. The engine sound reverberated around the chamber, and together with the transmission and the water under the tyres, the noise was deafening. They kept the speed under 35mph, which was terrifying enough, and in a little under five minutes the reversing lights were beginning to light up the roof collapse brickwork.
Joe gave a positive nod to Max.
‘Well that certainly cuts the commute time down.’
‘Sure does.’
They both got out of the car. Steam was wafting out from underneath the car. An aroma of hot dirty water hung in the air. There was a gentle hiss from this water evaporation, and rapid ticking from the car’s engine cooling down.
Max grabbed the key card and the selfie-stick off the back seat again, so that he could reach up to the right area, and waved it around the walls. This time he was much slower, and tried to guesstimate again what height it would be done at from the boat or the jet skis that were stored back at the entrance. It worked. The key card flashed green, and with a rumbling and the sound of a hydraulic pump, the wall began to slide back to reveal another concrete staircase. Max went back to the car.
‘Bess, you can save the mark to here OK?’
‘OK Max done.’
‘Good, so on your way out, if you have to go alone, you know what to do.’
‘I do Max.’
‘Is there anything else I need to tell you or do for that to work?’
‘Nothing.’
‘OK Bess thanks. You have your instructions.’
‘I do.’
Max opened the tailgate of the car, and grabbed a rucksack and two lightweight jackets. He gave one to Joe.
‘Here put this on.’
Joe did as he was told.
Max looked at Joe earnestly.
‘I genuinely have no idea what we are walking into here. Do you have any ideas? Any thoughts o
n what we should do?’
Joe shook his head, ‘No. Nothing, we could find absolutely nothing here; we could find a real horror. Ava and Bruno might not be in here Max, we might be over-reacting. I have never seen you like this before.’
Max pursed his lips.
‘I know… I just have a real sense of foreboding. I don’t want to take any chances.’
Joe swept his arm out forwards towards the staircase.
‘In that case; after you.’
Once they had made their way up the first set of stairs, they were met with a small hallway with a second set. They were damp, and all the lights and fittings were clearly waterproof. Anxiety levels began to rise in both of them. The stairs ran around the outside of the wall, and in the centre at the bottom was a cage lift. On the wall there was a large metal box with two large yellow push buttons. Beside them one had the word Open, the other had the word Close. There was also a large red plunger that had STOP embossed into it in capital letters. Recessed into the same metal box was a small TV screen that was smashed. The word POWER was also written on the box next to a large green light that was glowing brightly.
‘Someone has hit this in a temper by the looks of things,’ said Joe.
Max came over to take a look, ‘So they have.’
Joe ran his hand across the top left hand side of the metal control box. There was a word embossed into it.
‘Must be the manufacturer for the control stuff I guess.’
Max squinted in the dim light.
‘What does it say?’
Joe lit up the area with the torch on his phone.
‘Just looks like it says CHARUN. Is that a make or brand you have ever heard of?’
‘It is ringing a distant bell in my mind somewhere. Come on, let’s climb the stairs and see what is at the top.’
As Max walked ahead, there was a loud clunking sound, and a momentary vibration rose through the floor.
‘What the hell was that?’
‘Err, might have been me. I pressed Open to see what would happen.’
‘Really? Was that a good idea?’
They both looked above their heads, and around the room for a moment. They couldn’t hear anything else.