by Mike Essex
“They know we’re coming now! You could have jeopardised everything.”
“My air tank was pierced so I had to surface. I would have died.”
“I trained you better than this Olive. No one person is worth more than the mission. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she said faintly.
Chris’ gaze didn’t falter.
“Yes,” she reaffirmed louder this time.
Chris’ words seemed a strange choice. No one person? But the mission was to save one person. Unless The Deck felt that Will and the answers he might hold, had more value than the life of their team?
“I tried to make it right,” explained Olive, her voice crackly, “I told Emmie to leave me and let me die. I wanted everyone to escape. I just didn’t want to be a burden.”
The way Chris continued to stare at her and his relentless focus on the mission reminded me of how Gabe had acted when I’d been paired with him. Is this how The Deck changed their leaders? First Gabe, now Chris, and later Tom and Olive? Would they all buckle under the pressure placed upon them?
The look on Olive’s face showed that she was terrified, that she felt she had done what was right but had failed anyway. I bent down beside her and whispered in her ear. “Nothing is worth your death,” she placed her arms around me like she’d known me for years.
“I just wanted to save you Emmie.”
“I don’t need saving,” I replied, hoping that she’d put more value on her own life.
“Someone wants to speak to you,” said Grace, putting an arm on my shoulder. I continued to look at Olive until her gaze released me and I knew she felt safe again.
“It’s your other savour,” said Grace, deliberately playing on my last sentence as she tossed me an earpiece. Her choice of words meant that there could only be one person on the other end of the earpiece.
“Hi you,” it was March, the man who saved me. For a moment my senses were clear; I could no longer smell the rancid stink of the sewer, nor see the tears being wiped from Olive’s eyes. There was just that single voice in my mind.
“Where are you?” I asked, wondering why my supposedly caring and loving boyfriend had not chosen to be here on this potentially deadly mission.
“I’m at the base. Sorry I couldn’t be there, it’s all hands on with the medical team at the moment.”
In the background I could hear screams of pain. March certainly seemed to have a good excuse.
“What happened?”
“Gabe and several of his team were attempting to stop a TethTech deal last night but it turned sour.”
I’d heard about these deals from my father. When TethTech fell, their technology was sold by the Government to raise funds for their army. This led to countless pieces of technology flooding the black market.
TethTech was one of the leading suppliers of weapons, armour and wartime technology, which meant their merchandise could have been deadly in the wrong hands. After Tobias fell The Deck had not been able to stop working and their job had only expanded in the days following The Rapture. It took all the power they had to monitor and stop the technology being sold on.
“Oh my God. Is everyone ok?”
“Gabe sustained a bullet wound in his leg but he’s a trooper he’ll survive,” in the background I could hear Gabe shout “morphine”.
“In a minute,” interrupted March, who would probably pay for it later. “Where was I? Oh yes … it turns out the entire mission was a set up, so we’ve had better days. Not many of the group emerged unscathed so I’d better get back to them, especially grumpy chops over here. If you need me anytime just press the button on this earpiece,” the cries of pain grew louder. “Got to go.”
Chris interrupted us, “We should probably go before the army of soldiers realises that our bodies haven’t floated to the surface.”
R&R checked their earplugs, whilst we ditched the wetsuits, revealing our normal clothes underneath that were only slightly damp. Olive was helped up and on to her feet. She was a short, slim girl so lifting her was easy enough.
I helped her remove her wetsuit and could see that she had an injury she was trying to hide. Blood from her leg had soaked through into her jeans, leaving a dark patch just under her knee and a cut in the jeans from where she had been hurt. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said pushing R&R away so that she could stand.
Once she’d gotten over the initial pain of standing on her sore leg she gave us the ok to let go and walked a few steps forward. I could see the pain she was in from the look on her face and in the unusual arch of her back as she hobbled forwards.
“Leave me. I’ll just slow you down,” she said.
“If you say it’s for the good of the mission I probably will leave you,” I joked.
Rufus picked up my wetsuit from the floor and dragged it down across a jagged piece of metal protruding from the edge of the cave. “Sorry to do this darling,” he said.
I was unsure if he was apologising to me or the clothing. The metal tore through the wetsuit cutting off one of the arms completely.
He picked up the arm and rolled up Olive’s jeans revealing a deep cut underneath. “I need water,” said Rufus. Usually Rex would make a joke about Rufus’ drinking but now was not the time.
Chris handed over a bottle of water from his backpack. Rufus poured the water over the cut, washing away the dried blood from the deep gash that had formed.
With no other materials to hand Rufus used the wet suit to remove the dirt and fragments of rust that had gotten into the cut. Olive winced from the pain and although it was clear she wanted to scream she bit into her lip to stop herself. Chris stared at her not with the anger I expected but with concern on his face. In this moment no one cared about the mission, we just cared about keeping Olive alive.
I turned my attention to Rex, who turned off a large valve on the wall and retrieved a coin from his pocket.
Rex scratched his twenty pence piece over a rock until he had chipped off the top corners of the coin, leaving a thinner sliver of metal at the top. The two brothers were working together, communicating not with words but through a Tether they shared. The rest of us looked on in awe, sad for the twins we’d lost.
It was the ultimate form of Tether event. When twins were separated by distance a Tether event would incapacitate the other but when two twins were in the same space they could work together, sharing emotions and feelings but also retaining control of their bodies. It promoted a single lesson: twins who stay together survive together.
Rufus washed the cut a further time, saving a few drops of water in the bottle. He wrapped the wetsuit arm around Olive’s leg tightly to stop any more bleeding and handed Olive the bottle with the extra drops he’d saved for her.
Turning back to Rex I watched as he used his chipped twenty pence piece to unscrew a pipe from the wall, loosening it from its supports. I took hold of Olive whilst Rufus worked with Rex to pull the pipe away. Their movements were perfectly symmetrical, their bodies working in unison. On the fifth pull the pipe gave way and R&R stumbled backwards. Chris and Tom grabbed them before they hit the floor and they kept hold of the pipe. It was the first time we’d felt like a team rather than misfits thrown together.
I helped Olive to her feet again and Rex handed her the pipe to use as a splint. The temporary bandage and walking support helped her walk again although her laboured breathing meant that the pain had not passed altogether.
“That was amazing!” I said to R&R.
“I owe it all to reading science fiction novels,” joked Rufus, “and don’t forget Smyth West’s number one handy man over here.”
“Ok, ok,” said Rex, making the most of a one off compliment from his brother.
“She’ll be ok for now but we need to find her some medicine or her wound may become infected.”
“There could be some in the lab where Will was hiding,” I replied and we set off into the tunnel with a new found determination.
FIVE
&
nbsp; We worked our way through the tunnels which were more like deep caverns, twenty feet high in size. The floor was muddy - at least I hoped it was mud - and covered in large deep tracks that looked like they had come from heavy machinery.
According to Grace’s GPS watch we had joined the tunnel at Churchill Gardens, which meant we had a two mile walk through the Thames Tunnel to get to the Houses of Parliament. It was a long way for Olive who felt the pain of every step shudder through her leg.
Away from her ears, we discussed leaving her in the tunnel with half the group, whilst the rest of us dashed ahead to get medicine for her from the lab, but it seemed quicker and safer to continue on. If we encountered the soldiers we’d need all the help we could get.
We were unprepared for a large siege. Grace, Chris and Tom each had a small pistol whilst Olive had given hers to me as she was in no state to use it. Not that I felt like I’d fare much better having only received minimal training in preparation for joining the police force. That felt like another life now.
Despite reassurances from Rex that I had “saved the world” I felt like the weakest member of the group. Rex had endured countless hours of torture and lost the use of one of his lungs for me and even Rufus had beaten up a thug with a frying pan.
If we saw the soldiers I knew that I’d shoot. Knew that I’d do what was needed in order to protect my friends. That wasn’t the worry. It was whether or not I’d hit the target. What if I missed and the soldiers killed someone I loved? That was the real issue.
As Grace led the way I could see how strong and fearless she had become. She had always been more confident than me but there was a harder edge to her now. Our days of playing kids games were long over.
“Do you miss it?” I asked Grace. “The way things were before The Deck?”
“You mean when we were dating? Absolutely,” Grace laughed a little too quickly.
“No, I mean when it was just you, me, Will and R&R. When we didn’t have to worry about conspiracies.”
“I do but I wouldn’t trade it for what we do now. We’re making things right and putting the world to order. That’s more important than playing games of hide and seek in ruins.”
Those words proved to me that Grace would never fall into the same trap as Chris or Gabe. Whereas they were motivated purely by anger at what the world had become, and frustration at their roles in not putting things right, Grace was motivated by kindness. She had a desire to help the world, not to judge it for its wrongs. Hopefully there was still time for Tom and Olive to choose the same path.
Watching Tom walk obediently behind Chris, I could see him mimic his movements. Both walked with straight backs, their chests raised and their arms moving in perfect unison. They were more focused on the route ahead, than the tunnel behind, the very same tunnel that contained a damaged Olive being helped along by R&R. Divisions were already starting to form amongst the group.
There were those fighting for what was right and those just fuelled by the need for revenge. Truth be told I was unsure which side I fell on.
“Boo!” A voice rang in my ear, startling me.
“Don’t do that!” I replied, recognising the voice.
“Sorry,” replied March. “I’ve got someone else here who wants to speak to you.”
“BOO!” shouted Jill, even louder than March.
I made a mental note to find the volume settings for the earpiece and later switch it to mute.
“Smart work finding the tunnel,” said Jill, “It looks like you are coming to an exit that will take you up to the surface. But, cameras are showing a large force of soldiers on the streets of Westminster. You’ll need to find another way into the Houses of Parliament. Waltzing in via the front door just isn’t going to be possible.”
“So how did Will escape?”
“That’s the crazy thing. I’ve replayed the footage over and over and can’t see any record of him leaving through the external doors.”
That meant there were two possible options; either Will was still inside or there was another way into and out of the building. Whilst I hoped for the former I’d still be happy with the latter. Both options would mean there was still a chance I’d find him.
“I’ll keep looking for another way in,” said Jill.
When we reached the tunnel exit, Olive slumped down against the metal pipe. Her face was pure white, her eyes filled with tears from holding back the pain.
“She can’t go on any further,” said Rufus.
“You don’t have to,” I said to Olive. “We’re nearly there now. We’ll get the medicine and bring it back to you.”
A smile formed on her face beneath gritted teeth. I looked at Chris expecting his rejection of my plan but he seemed glad we’d be leaving her behind. R&R both agreed to stay with her, which left me with Tom, Grace and Chris for an assault on the building.
“Hello?” said Jill, startling me. I’d had enough of disembodied voices to last a lifetime. She explained the plan, all of us agreed it was crazy and then realising we had no other choice we decided to do it anyway.
SIX
I looked up at the ladder that would take us to the surface and the sunlight that shone through the open gap made me feel safe. Jill’s plan on the other hand did not.
On paper it was simple. We were to exit the Thames Tunnel, arrive on the surface and then Jill would navigate us to a subway under the main road. From there we could take a lift into the Houses of Parliament, assuming that Jill could hack the control system to let us in. Actually that seemed like the easy part, Jill could hack anything.
“We’ll be coming back,” I told Olive.
“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid Emmie,” said Rex.
“I can’t. This entire plan has got a good chance of getting us killed.”
“It’s dangerous yes but not stupid. Just be careful ok?”
“I will,” I half promised.
I handed my gun to Rufus while Rex wasn’t looking. “Just in case of trouble,” I explained.
We began to climb out of the tunnels up a rusted ladder with no support and nothing to catch us if we fell. The climb was exhausting and combined with the rising sun and the tightness of the tube I could feel a sheen of sweet covering my skin from the heat.
My hands ached from clinging on tightly and trying to regain the grip I was losing from the slipperiness of the sweat that formed across them.
“Watch out!” shouted Chris, as a round chunk of rust fell towards my head. I shifted my body to the right narrowly avoiding it hitting me. When I reached that point on the ladder I had to climb two rungs at a time to progress and avoid the broken steps.
It took us ten minutes to reach the surface and it quickly dawned on me how exposed we were. We emerged on the bank of the River Thames with a giant clock tower looming above us. A large bridge gave us a small sense of shelter; its imposing structure combined with the position of the rising sun casting a shadow over us.
“Can you see anyone?” asked Chris.
“Four on Westminster Bridge,” replied Grace. “Probably a whole lot more by the clock tower.”
Chris cocked his gun and Tom did the same. I reached a hand to my side and felt nothing there. “Right, I’ve given it to Rufus” I reminded myself. I was unarmed in a city filled with soldiers.
“Only fire if essential,” said Chris. Perhaps he had a conscience after all, “The last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves,” or perhaps not.
A zigzagged walkway took us up to the main road and the edge of the bridge’s shadow. The road was covered in cars and lorries that had long since been abandoned. Their windows were smashed, presumably thanks to looters, and their bodies had started to succumb to rust. Vehicles filled the streets and roads as far as the eye could see. The people here had tried to escape but the mangled and heavily decayed corpses in the wreckage were a reminder that they had not been successful.
“Everyone ready?” I could hear Jill’s voice in my ear and from the react
ion of everyone else I could tell they heard the same. “The soldiers on the bridge are currently making their way away from Westminster. If you use the cars to hide you and head towards Portcullis House it should cover you.”
“Where?” we asked.
“It’s the square, sandy coloured building to your right, ok?”
Jill’s voice was cut off by a sharp metallic groan that made my ears ring. The deafening sound of metal scraping against metal sent shivers down my spine. Tom and I ducked behind a stone railing for shelter whilst Grace and Chris looked out to find the source of the danger.
The sound of crushing metal was coming from the western side of the Houses of Parliament. Was someone inside? Were they destroying the labs? Hurting Will? I tried to make sense of what was happening; but the loud sounds physically made my skin crawl.
Each time there was a momentary pause between the screeches I could hear a whirling sound cutting out any silence. Grace tried to speak to us but we could barely hear her. Instead of relying on words she motioned for us to look at one of the cars that was being violently dragged upwards by an invisible force.
The force pulled the car free from the other wreckage until it hovered in the air. A shimmer of light could be seen in the air directly above the car and I traced a line with my finger to connect the two. It was some sort of drone, like the ones that hovered in the sky above Birmingham, but I’d never seen one outside of a major city before. I’d certainly never seen one in action.
The car lingered in the air for a moment and the crunching sound began again. The sides of the car started to bend inwards bit by bit until the metal components became warped and forced against each other. The whooshing sound I’d heard had not been the drone; it was the intense pressure of air crushing these cars into nothing more than small cubes.
As the cube clattered to the ground, the drone moved onto the next car and continued its task. Three other drones circled nearby gathering up more vehicles ready to be crushed and I could see more drones arriving and destroying the cars on the other side on the bank. Our safe passageway of cluttered cars was quickly becoming nothing more than small cubes.