by Mike Essex
“Oh yes,” she replied. “Emmie was escorted into a car and then driven away. I’m passing you the footage.”
Grace looked at the screen and saw the recognisable figures of Rex and Rufus. Yet something wasn’t right. She saw their eyes had an orange glow. “No! But how?”
“We don’t know. It looks like the TethTech demonstration from earlier but that’s impossible. Tobias said it can allow one twin to control the other but someone else is clearly controlling them. There are more of them too,” Jill rewound the footage to show the dark blue saloon car driving up. Grace saw another two orange eyed men in the front of the car.
“There’s four of them then!?”
“That we know of. It’s hard to tell just how strong the technology is. Being able to control four twins is unheard of. There’s nothing like that in the documents March provided us with.”
“That’s because Tobias didn’t want us to know,” replied March. “Everything we were building was just a piece in something larger. Only he knew how they fitted together.”
“Can’t you guess? You’ve seen all the files,” asked Grace.
“I have tried but Tobias has been working with Tethers for over twenty years and planning this for a long time. He’s got far more experience than I have. I’m sorry.”
“Just tell me we can stop him?”
“It’s possible. The blue light we used on the crowd at Tobias’ press conference forces a Tether event to occur, that’s why it stopped them from moving. It’s possible we could recalibrate the light to disrupt a Tether event instead.”
“Meaning?”
“If we could find where Tobias has his base and then apply a large quantity of the light it could be enough to break whatever machine he has built. But we don’t know where he is.”
“Actually we do,” Jill pointed to a screen that showed Emmie getting out of a car. “I tracked the car on hundreds of other cameras and it’s just stopped here. This camera is recording fifteen miles away from the general area of the sound wave we intercepted earlier. It’s too close to not be a connection. If we find the sound wave then we’ll find Tobias.”
“And Emmie,” interrupted Grace.
“And Emmie,” confirmed March. I’ll contact Gabe and we’ll get a team together.
“What about the blue light, won’t it take weeks to build what we need?”
“It won’t be an issue. We still have the light box from the helicopter. Jill and I have been modifying it for weeks. It should be perfect. If it isn’t then I’ll fix it when we’re there. We don’t have time to lose.”
Grace hoped it was enough. If the light didn’t work then she’d find a way to kill Tobias herself.
FORTY-SEVEN
Gabe Treeth
“Everyone ready?” asked Gabe. He was ready to take charge again. It was his fault Emmie was in this situation and he was damned if he wasn’t going to save her.
They nodded. Grace, March and Chris all wore army uniforms and were ready. They wore their dog tag playing cards with pride. They stood alongside twelve other members of The Deck who also nodded in agreement.
Almost each member of the team was holding a gun with a blue disk on top. March was carrying a large backpack with the blue light from the helicopter.
“Remember,” said Gabe. “We are entering a civilian zone. You are not to use lethal force unless instructed by me. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir,” replied the team. They clicked a switch at the back of their guns which moved the blue disk into their weapon. “Using the latest data from March we’ve redesigned the blue light to stop anyone with orange eyes momentarily.”
“You each have a single clip of ammunition in case of an emergency. That’s thirty five bullets. If you are under threat from a hostile force you have my authorization, then you may switch to them but not before. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir.”
“Jill?” said Gabe. “You’re in charge until I get back.”
Jill stood next to the remaining support staff of The Deck. They would provide technical aid throughout the mission. “Yes, sir,” she replied.
Gabe was ready to redeem himself. This was what he had trained for. What everyone had trained for. He knew it was a gamble but Emmie was far too important for him not to roll the dice and if the only way to ensure her safety was to risk the lives of every single one of his team then that was a risk he had to take.
“Good luck,” said Jill to everyone.
Gabe led them to a sealed door at the back of the base. He swiped a keycard and the double doors opened. Lights flickered on and revealed four large four-wheel-drive cars called Verro’s. “You can thank the boss for these,” said Gabe, thankful for his backer.
The members of the Deck looked on in disbelief. Verro’s were one of the many excesses of the ‘haves’ and a symbol of power and wealth. Their heavy weight and high top speed meant they consumed fuel faster than any other vehicle on the road, and made them extremely expensive to buy, due to heavy taxes, with high running costs.
Yet these cars had been modified with solar panels for The Deck, no doubt at great expense. Their large size also meant they completely took up a single lane on the road, and their wide wheels made them excellent all-terrain vehicles.
“You didn’t fancy something subtle?” asked Grace.
“We need strong vehicles that travel fast. You won’t find anything better,” replied Gabe, proud of each and every car.
Everyone loaded into a Verro. Gabe and Grace sat in one together, whilst Chris and March sat in separate vehicles. The four cars lined up in a row and slowly travelled up a ramp which emerged at the back of the shopping centre. They made their way around debris as the burger stand owner looked on in amazement.
Gabe drove his car at the front of the pack and the others followed behind him in a line. Each driver pressed a button on the dashboard which activated sirens. Gabe and his team put their feet down and headed towards London.
--<><>--
Emmie Keyes
“Welcome to London,” said Rex.
I looked around at the once glorious capital city to see a very different world to the one in I’d seen in pictures. We stood on the bank of the River Thames where hundreds of boats had drifted on to one side and smashed into each other. The river itself was filled with rubbish and debris that was piled so high it seeped onto the streets.
The streets themselves were covered in litter and abandoned goods from the looting and rioting that had occurred during the 20 Day Siege. Many buildings were burned to the ground whilst others were unaffected such as the London Eye which stood looming in the sky, its white glistening pods a strange sight in a city that no longer had any wonders you’d want to see.
What surprised me most wasn’t the decay but the people we passed into the city. There was a community living in London just like the one in Smyth West. They had worked their way into abandoned buildings and created a shanty town of makeshift homes from any materials they could find. In this disaster zone it didn’t feel right.
Although London had been abandoned, people had returned here when they had nowhere else to go. The number of have-nots was growing and it seemed London was the only city that would have them.
“They won’t last long,” said Rex, noticing me looking at the people. “The 20 Day Siege ruined the city and it won’t change. The signal still exists in small quantities, it is building up inside them and they will die. They’re either so stupid they don’t know what is happening or just completely lost.”
I assumed it was the latter. The stories about London were well known. You’d have to be very desperate to return to this place. Everyone knew that death was inevitable here.
“Come on,” said Rex as he dragged me into the abandoned Houses of Parliament. “I want to show you something,” whatever it was I knew it was Tobias who really wanted me to see it.
We walked into the building. The four orange eyed men and I. Their eyes were still obscured by sungl
asses. We entered a large hallway that was filled with fantastic works of art that ranged from picturesque scenes of royalty to horrific Dante inspired scenes of devilry that had been spray painted with messages from those who had been near death.
The hallway was filled with light from stained glass windows that showed images of Gods from religions that hadn’t saved this city when it needed them. We walked along a black and white marble floor that had become chipped and uneven. At the end of the corridor was a central room that had previously been used for parliamentary debates.
The room was an oaky brown colour with a dark green carpet that ran the length of it. Hundreds of seats lined the room with a central chair for a speaker to sit in a large gallery area that loomed behind them with large archways and further seating.
This room that had once helped decide many of the fates of the world was now filled not with politicians and political figures but with real people. The same people who had been left behind to die when the world changed, whilst the politicians had left this city to find new cities to dictate.
There was no debate occurring here, everyone agreed on one thing. They were all dying. You could see it in their bloodshot eyes, the paleness of their faces and the never ending coughs.
“Can’t you help them?” I asked.
“How? They chose to live here and the warnings were clear. You go into London and you die. It’s their own fault,” replied Rex with a coldness that he would never normally use.
Over fifty people sat in the room it was clear this was a quarantine zone. Their friends and families had abandoned them to save themselves. They were waiting for death now. The Separationists had done so much damage with their experiment those years ago and the on-going repercussions plagued this place.
I couldn’t stomach it any more. I saw a small brown eyed child, dressed in rags on the chair closest to me. He was crying and there was nothing I could do to save him. “Why are you showing this to me?” I asked.
“To show you what they are capable of. This can all happen again. I stopped it once and I can stop it again but I need your help.”
“Liar! The Deck told me you caused all of this,” I shouted. “I won’t help you.” I threw a hand towards Rex’s face and reached my other hand into his pocket. I removed an Innocent blocking device that I’d felt there in the car and activated it. A quiet sound emitted outwards and Rex and Rufus’ eyes turned back to normal.
The other two men stayed the same. “Why isn’t it working?” I asked.
The man with the knives replied. “We’re hard wired to the boss. There’s no way of stopping the connection now,” he ran towards me but Rufus stood in the way swinging his frying pan to keep him back. I couldn’t believe he’d kept it all this time. “Run!” he shouted.
Rex and I dashed to an ornate door at the end of the central chamber. It wasn’t the way we had entered but it was further away from our attackers. Rufus swung the pan hitting Vlad in the face. He grabbed his jaw and as looked back Rufus had begun fleeing away from him.
We reached the next room and slammed the door shut, pulling across a deadbolt to lock it behind us. Vlad hammered on the door and his brother then did the same. We walked backwards and saw a large knife pierce its way through the wooden door. The knife continued to chip away at the rapidly expanding void. We knew the door wouldn’t hold for long.
“Run,” shouted Rex and he ran as fast as his one lung would let him. We followed behind him hoping each new turn we took would lead us to safety.
FORTY-EIGHT
Grace Wilkerson
“How long now?” asked Grace.
“We’re only ten miles away from London so we’ll be there soon,” replied Gabe.
It was taking too long for Grace. Despite them doing 140 miles per hour she didn’t feel it was quick enough to save Emmie or stop the sound wave. “Drive faster,” she said. Gabe obliged.
As Grace watched the speedometer rise ever higher she heard the ear piercing sound of metal scraping across metal. She looked backwards towards the sound and saw a lorry smash into the side of one of their cars.
The driver tried to swerve to escape the lorry but the lorry driver did the same, matching his every move. This was a deliberate attack. Someone was trying to stop them.
“No!” shouted Gabe as he looked backwards just in time to see the last car in their convoy get flipped on its side. The lorry didn’t stop its attack. It continued to plough into the flipped over car driving it into the large metal bollards in the middle of the road. Two of the team jumped out of the back of the car to try and escape but the back of the lorry swung round and hit them, crushing their bodies under its weight.
Chris, who was located in the car in front, changed the mode on his gun and aimed it at the driver of the lorry to try and stop him. His bullets missed and the lorry continued to push the last car into the metal bollards.
The metal bollard drove itself through the front half of the car stopping just before it reached the driver. The impact of the bollard and the continual crushing of the lorry caused the sides of the car to wrap around it, whilst the driver came face to face with his team mate in the back seat and knew he would not survive.
The bollard was ripped from the ground as the front and back parts of the car smashed into each other crunching their metal framework together until it was an unrecognisable mass of metal. The bodies of the driver and his friend were forever trapped inside, their bones crushed in amongst the wreckage.
Four of the team had died that day and Chris had seen the whole thing.
Chris grabbed the wheel and turned it to perform a U-turn until he was facing the lorry. “We need to get revenge. If you aren’t happy with this then get out now,” he looked at the other team members in his car. They knew this was necessary so they could have closure for their friends. Their driver put his foot down and drove towards the lorry which had started a new journey towards them. They raced towards it at a frightening pace.
“What is he doing?” asked Gabe. The rest of The Deck had stopped their cars to try and help but they could only watch. They’d never reach them in time.
“Faster,” shouted Chris to the driver. The driver obliged and the other two men in the car readied their weapons. “We’ve only got one chance at this.”
As they reached the lorry they saw the driver. “Orange eyes,” shouted Chris on the radio. This was a deliberate attack by Tobias. He knew they were coming. Silence fell in the other cars. They were trying to attack an immortal man.
“Ready,” said Chris. They aimed their weapons towards the driver. “Fire!” he shouted. The three men pulled their triggers, sending blue light streaming out towards the lorry driver.
He could no longer move but his lorry continued forwards on a collision course towards the edge of the road. Chris’ driver steered the car out of the way to avoid a collision and the team kept their aim on the lorry as it veered off the edge of the motorway.
The lorry hit a tree and the drivers’ compartment was crushed. Tobias tried to regain control of the orange eyed man but he had lost an arm which was crushed between the tree and the lorry. This body was no longer of any use to him. He relinquished control of the body and allowed the man to die. Seconds later his twin did the same.
An orange light went off in Tobias’ base and he sought out a new body to control.
“Is everyone ok?” said Gabe on the radio.
“Yes. I think he’s gone,” replied Chris. “We’re coming back to you now.”
They began their convoy again with the remaining cars. As they passed other drivers they kept an eye out for anything suspicious. They hoped they had escaped.
In Tobias’ base four more orange lights turned on. He was ready for them.
“What’s that up ahead?” asked Grace. She could see two large shapes on the horizon at the end of the motorway. “It looks like they are blocking the road.”
Gabe tried to make out the silhouettes but couldn’t. Suddenly they could see a third
shape that was coming towards them. It sped up rapidly in speed and made its way towards the first car.
“Everybody move!” he shouted on the radio, as he drove their car to the side of the road.
The car behind them didn’t see the projectile until it was too late. It jammed itself firmly into the engine, ripping through the front of the car and sending it flipping over. Before it had hit the ground the projectile exploded killing the innocent driver.
The debris exploded outwards and sparks of metal splintered forward into the car in front. The steering wheel column from the exploded car drove itself forward and into one of The Deck’s drivers’ throats and he immediately lost control.
March reached over from the passenger’s seat for the steering wheel to try and steady the car. The driver had removed his foot from the gas pedal but the car still had the accumulated acceleration of 100 miles per hour pushing it along. March tried to swerve to avoid the debris but another piece of metal pierced through one of the tyres.
The car skidded with March doing his best to keep it in a straight line. With his other free hand he reached for the handbrake and applied it lightly to try and lose some speed. The car started to screech as the brakes kicked in and slowed it down.
On the horizon March saw the cause of the attack. There were two tanks blocking the road. They wouldn’t be getting into London that way. From one of the tanks he saw a burst of sparks emerge as another missile headed towards them.
“Everybody out!” he shouted.
March and two team mates dove out of the car and rolled on to the motorway, bruising their bodies in the fall. As March looked up he saw as the driver remained pinned into his seat and watched as the car sped up in a desperate attempt to save them.
The driver’s last view was of the missile smashing through the windshield and bursting through his body in a wave of fire and smoke. Debris flew out across the road and a sheet of metal shot out towards one of The Deck. It cut through his neck bone like a knife to butter and sent his head spiralling to the floor.