by Mike Essex
When we reached the floor we dashed to the place where we had last seen Olive, hoping that the soldiers wouldn’t follow our twisted route through the caverns. If we’d timed it right Chris should have given her the medicine and we’d be able to make it out in time by some other exit.
Except there was no Olive, no Rufus and no Rex. Chris and Tom were in the designated meeting spot but the others were nowhere to be found. We tried calling for them on our comms unit but there was no reply.
Grace called Jill to ask if there was any way of tracking them but she informed us we could not as their comms devices had been disabled.
“They wouldn’t just turn them off,” I said.
The alternative didn’t bear thinking about. Rex and Rufus were no soldiers and Olive could barely walk, let alone fight.
“Perhaps they just ran away and hid?” asked Tom.
“That’s a good idea,” said Chris. “We should do the same if we want to get out of here alive.”
The last thing I wanted to do was leave but with the soldiers closing in on us we had no choice. As the footsteps drew ever closed we turned around and fled.
THIRTEEN
“Where can we go?” I asked. The sewers were a complicated mixture of tunnels, small walkways and large waste processing rooms, none of which seemed like they would hide us for long enough once the soldiers completed their walkthrough.
I hoped we were not important enough to them. That they’d just see us as a temporary nuisance, just another group of have-nots scavenging about. But that seemed unlikely. We’d assaulted a soldier in the clock tower and once they found the soldier in the Underground station they would be out for our blood. There was no chance of negotiation any more.
Without Grace’s GPS to guide us we had to rely on instructions from Jill coming through our comms units. None of us had any idea where she was taking us but we took her advice on trust.
We travelled through darkened caverns and foul smelling tunnels as we made our way under the streets and walkways of London. At one point it felt like Jill was simply trying to put as much distance as possible between us and the soldiers and it felt like we had been running for hours.
Each step we took was taking us away from R&R and Olive but at the same time ensuring our own safety. I wondered if this was what drove Chris? That maybe sometimes the only way to save your own life was to run away from danger even if that meant not always being a hero.
But I couldn’t just leave them behind and I vowed that as soon as we were safe that I would search for them until I could no longer stand. If Tom and Chris didn’t feel the same way then I’d leave them behind, they couldn’t force me to follow them. Could they?
“In here,” said Chris as he pulled a metal panel from the wall. We crawled through a small hole in the rock and positioned the panel back in place from the inside. The crawlspace emerged into a cave with no windows and doors or any sign that humans had ever entered the space.
Jill informed us that this location had been a planned space for expansion. It wasn’t located on any maps and she only found it through some internal documents that had been used for planning permission.
“No one else will find you down there,” she assured us.
Yet her words didn’t fill me with much comfort as I sat there in the darkness. Too scared to talk or to eat in case we made any noise that gave us away. The confines of the cave kept us away from the maze of the tunnel but it was a false sense of security. If they found us here we’d have nowhere to run or hide. They’d simply aim their guns inside and kill us one by one.
Or would they simply throw in a grenade and kill us in one go? The cave was just about big enough for the four of us. A grenade would finish us off quickly and easily.
I knew I shouldn’t think that way but my mind circled through the possible types of death that could occur and then cycled back to the torture methods I thought were being used on the rest of the group. I so badly wanted a distraction, something to take my mind off these terrifying thoughts but there wasn’t much we could do in the darkness other than wait.
In my nervous state I pressed the button on my comms unit over and over. The rhythmic tapping helped soothe me and the sound it created was nothing more than a minor burst of static in my ear. Nothing that anyone would be able to hear.
“You rang?” The voice startled me and I let out a brief gasp. It was March who had come to my aid via the comms unit. Although I couldn’t reply to him he kept talking to me and keeping me sane. He talked about all the things we’d do when I was back at the base, the places we’d see when the world was repaired.
It was a future I never thought we’d see. A world where everyone could travel freely and where other countries trusted each other? It seemed far-fetched. Even a world where we had the money to travel seemed implausible. But I didn’t care about the lack of realism or that our world would probably stay this way forever. All I cared about were the beautiful stories March was spinning and the dreams they gave me which took me away from this place.
His stories were so personal that I knew this conversation was just between us. It was the same way we talked when we were back home in bed sharing our desires, not separated by a hundred miles and a team of soldiers.
Back in the cave I could feel someone edging closer to me. A flicker of light came from their comms unit which helped me see that it was Grace. She smiled at me and then pointed to her earpiece and mouthed the word “Gabe”. As much as I had trust issues with Gabe he was clearly right for Grace. They were both hot tempered and rebellious which made them the perfect paring.
I wondered who Tom and Chris had that they could talk to. Whether they had people chatting away in their ears right now who were providing them with comfort. Perhaps they were just lone wolf types who would simply be fine to sit in the darkness and brood? Or maybe they were just looking at each other? Their bromance growing ever stronger in the darkness of the cave. Their bodies huddled together for warmth while their eyes locked upon each other daring not to look away. As my mind switched to images of Tom and Chris kissing I was snapped back to reality by the quiet unzipping of Grace’s backpack.
She pulled a can from the backpack, slowly peeled off the top and gave it to me. The food had a strong smell of meat but came in a can that mushed it all together. I had the strong suspicion that it may be cat food but I was so hungry that I wolfed it down.
When I’d finished I was still unsure as to whether I’d just eaten food for an animal but the salty beefy taste was worth it. I’d need my strength if we were going to find everyone. Grace handed me another tin, which tasted like peaches in syrup.
We sat together and ate the food whilst Gabe and March told us stories in what felt like the most bizarre picnic ever experienced. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the four of us sat on Footsteps Hill in Smyth West; on the one good day a year of sun that we seemed to get in Britain.
When we heard the soldiers go past, everyone stopped their eating and remained extra quiet. I turned off my comms unit just in case any audio could be detected and sat there silent and motionless. My body felt tense from staying in position but I dared not move.
After what felt like hours we received the all clear from Jill. She had been watching the soldiers emerge via a camera on the surface and was convinced that only a couple remained.
“It’s likely they’ve set up camp for the night,” said Jill. “I doubt they’ll be coming out of the tunnels till morning.”
Morning? Night? Could it really be we had been down here that long? When we’d descended into the tunnels it had been early morning and now it was nightfall? Had March really been talking to me all day?
The realisation that we had been trapped in this small space for almost an entire day caused us all to eat more food from our supplies. I polished off a tin of potatoes, carrots and hot dogs and washed it down with a couple of bottles of water. My body ached as I stood up and began to crawl back out of the cave and into the artificial light o
f the tunnel system.
My body felt exhausted from the countless hours awake but I couldn’t sleep now. Not whilst my friends could have been taken, nor whilst my brother remained out there.
FOURTEEN
“Remember, there are still a couple of soldiers down there so be careful,” Jill filled us in on where she felt the soldiers would probably be, based on the time they’d spent down here, but there were no cameras in the sewers; we would have to avoid them on our own.
We were out of clues and out of options but we all agreed that we wouldn’t leave the city until we found our friends and my brother. Checking our supplies, we had enough food for three days and if we were unable to find them in that time we would have to find more. We mainly had tins of fruit and corned beef – which I was relieved to find out, was not cat food.
Had Jill not told us the time, we’d have been unable to determine it from the murky tunnels; as we searched through them it felt like day changed to night countless times. The sewer system was not well organised, with tunnels branching off in disparate directions at numerous intersections, some looping back and others simply ending. Nor was it particularly safe, some tunnels simply stopped with drops into cavernous, watery depths.
All of this made our progress frustratingly slow, especially when every minute counted. Despite the ability to cover more ground apart we refused to split up. It had not worked out well the last time.
“Any update on the computer?” I asked Jill.
“A little, does the word ‘capstone’ mean anything to you?” she replied.
“Vlad mentioned it, something about the capstone being ready.”
“Interesting. It’s referenced several times in Will’s notes. March has confirmed he hasn’t seen a project with such a name at TethTech so we’re just trying to determine its meaning now. There are other files on the computer which are taking longer to recover but we’ll get there. We always do.”
As we made our way through the tunnels I started to feel disoriented. Every pathway looked the same; with a thick white solution running along the celling and chipped brick walls circling around us on all sides. That never ending spiral of bricks started to make me feel dizzy as we pushed our way along the dank floor.
My mind spun as I thought about how I had already lost control of what had seemed like a simple mission. What was I thinking taking on a city full of soldiers? Endangering others just to reunite my family?
I held on tightly to Grace’s hand as we eventually reached the meeting point where we had been due to reunite with R&R and Olive. I had to make things right and do all I could to find them. Will could wait.
We rummaged around looking for clues, moving mounds of sludge and waste in the hope of anything that would guide us to them. It was our hope that the soldiers may have missed something, even they didn’t have the resources to comb every inch of the tunnels and we had the advantage. We knew where to look.
In the dirt we found the torn rubber suit that had been tied around Olive’s leg strewn on the floor.
“Perhaps Rufus made her a new bandage?” I asked the group, hoping for some reassurance. There were a couple of nods from the group, although no one offered up any alternate theories such as the soldiers capturing them and removing the bandage so she would bleed out.
“Blood!” I exclaimed, pointing to a speck of red in the dirt. It trailed off in two directions. The first was back to where we had entered the tunnels and the other led off to a route we had yet to travel.
In removing Olive’s bandage whoever had taken her had also given us the perfect clues to find them.
We started to walk towards the blood but the specks were infrequent and often hard to find in amongst the dirt. Rather than try to find every little drop of blood we started following the tunnels until they reached a split in the path. At this point two of us walked down each direction until we found blood and then everyone else walked back to regroup.
This helped us cover the ground quicker and meant no one went too far from the group itself. After around twenty minutes of searching, the tunnel split off into five pathways; four heavily rusted tunnels and one tunnel that was blocked off by a steel wall and door. The four tunnels showed no signs of blood so we called Jill ready to ask her to hack the steel door.
Except there was no need, Chris pushed the door and it opened. Whatever security had been in place originally had long since ceased to work. Past the steel door we found ourselves in a new tunnel that was far better made structurally than the others. We were surrounded by solid silver metal that lacked much of the dirt and grime seen in the main tunnels. The only stains were sets of muddy footprints that ran into the distance.
“It has to be them!” I said, and we followed the footsteps into the tunnel. As it led downwards we lost the footprints in the sludge that flowed over our feet. There was no other direction for us to go, so we continued on until we found a concrete wall running from ceiling to floor with a door in the middle of it. A seal of rust had been broken around the hinges of the door, a sign that someone else had been here. We tugged open the door and continued on.
We found an access panel that had been smashed, along with a third and fourth door as we continued to work our way downwards. Whatever was down here had clearly been well protected originally but someone had damaged the doors to the point that they offered little security now.
A royal seal on one of the doors piqued our curiosity even further, as did a placard which read “Q-WH001”
“No way! In the 21st century the royal family had a private underground train line that ran from London all the way to Edinburgh,” said Tom. “Perhaps this is it!”
“How would that even be possible?” replied Grace.
“They were the royal family. They could do anything they wanted!”
It had been a long time since our country had seen a royal family. In many ways I wished we could go back to those days of having a family as the face of the country. It seemed like a nicer time; like it could bring back some order to our country.
It was a fairy tale of course. No one family could fix the world, but it was a nice fantasy to have. Before his depression consumed him my father had often called me his princess and told me stories about the royals of old. Some of them true and some of them made up – usually the ones where I was an actual princess – but they all carried a singular theme; that one person could make things right. Whether I had been a royal, a have or a have-not, it was a comforting message as a child. A nice dream world to live in.
“The royals had all kinds of secrets,” continued Tom, “For example, every year they used to have a Bilderberg group where they met with some of the world’s top scientists and corporations.”
“That sounds possible,” I replied.
“Exactly, and during that time they planned out the events that would happen in the next year.”
“Events?”
“Yeah, like who would rise to power, what medicines would be released and which would be hidden, even the 20 Day Siege was planned by them apparently.”
“That sounds more far-fetched. Why would they plan something like that?”
“I heard they were lizards,” said Chris, interrupting.
“Wasn’t the Queen mother related to Dracula?” asked Grace, taking us further off track.
“No!” said Tom. “It’s ridiculous conspiracy theories like those that make real conspiracy theories sound stupid. Whatever is down here, the royal family were responsible,” his face filled with a smile at the thought of seeing a Government secret. Personally I would be happy just to see my friends beyond the final door.
The next door was also the largest. Two steel bolts ran from the bottom to the top of the door, with a central bolt running through the middle of them and locking them in place. It looked like some sort of vault, with thick, rounded pieces of metal holding everything in place tightly. Unlike the other doors this one did not show any signs of being broken, nor was there an access panel, or any way to open
the door.
“They must have gotten through. There was no other path,” I said.
“Then we’ll get through too,” said Chris as he and Tom pushed against the door. Even when all four of us joined in we couldn’t find a way to move the bars.
I looked around the room for some way to open the door and spotted a small perfectly curved dome on the ceiling. Inside the dome I could just make out the reflection of a security camera as it turned to face us.
I managed to get out the words, “They’re watching us!” before the gas flooded the chamber. Its acidic composition burned my throat as I tried to gasp for any remaining oxygen before my lungs contracted painfully and sent me collapsing onto the floor.
FIFTEEN
I tried to rise up but found that my arms were bound behind my back, whilst my legs were tied to a wooden chair. The only part of my body I could move was my head which I used to take in the lavish surroundings; an ornately decorated four poster bed, an ivory chest of drawers and a thick red carpet amongst other things. Even the chair that held me felt heavily padded; far too comfortable for its current purpose.
“Where am I?” I mumbled.
None of my friends were in the room. Hopefully they were safe in another room of decadence. If I’d been spared then hopefully they had too. For now at least.
I even started to hope that we could escape. We’d just break out of the room, take down a few soldiers and we’d be home free. We may even find Will on the way. The belly of the beast had swallowed us up but I wasn’t prepared to go down without a fight.
After all, this room was far too nice to be a torture chamber.
When the door opened I even greeted my captor with a smile, except that smile quickly fell when I discovered he was not what I had expected. Instead of a soldier in camouflage, a thin faced man entered wearing a red and green criss-crossed shirt and a dart brown suit. It was not the uniform I expected. I wondered if this was another prisoner, but the man was not bound and he strode into the room with confidence leading me to believe he was in charge.