“I admire nothing!” Briggs snapped. “He was an idiot using it in the first place. Then taking a gun...!” He screwed his face up in disgust. “You don’t use a gun unless you know what you’re doing.”
Andrews waved a hand at the windscreen when they caught sight of the blockade. “There you go. See what I mean.”
A few minutes later he pulled the jeep to a halt and the pair climbed out onto the road.
“OK,” Briggs snapped, full of business, “let’s kit up and get moving.” He stepped around to the back of the vehicle and opened the boot. He passed Andrews a single shot handgun and a semi-automatic.
The sergeant shoved both into a holster slung around his waist, grabbed a couple of extra clips and secured them into a pocket at the back of his trousers. He stepped around from the jeep and moved up to the cars on the roundabout blocking their path. He was tracing a route with his eyes through the barrier when suddenly movement up ahead distracted his attention. He looked at the source and saw two figures nearing the top of the hill on the opposite side of the blockade. Quickly, he returned to his commander.
Briggs had loaded his weapon and was about to lock the car when the sergeant came panting up. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“There are two people running up the hill leading to Kenton Bank Foot.” Andrews rummaged briefly in the back of the jeep before emerging with a pair of binoculars. He moved clear of the vehicle and examined the couple more closely.
“Well?” Briggs prompted.
“It’s definitely a man and a woman. She looks like she pretty much belongs here, well wrapped up and rather unkempt, but he looks out of place. He has a rucksack, but he’s wearing a long wool overcoat, the sort that you’d wear with a suit.”
“Right!” Briggs snapped. “We can do it here.” He returned to the boot, loaded a rifle and came back to the front to use the bonnet as a prop to steady the weapon. “Which one should I kill first?” he sneered.
“The guy. She probably doesn’t even know how to use the machine.”
“OK, good idea.” Briggs kneeled, propped his elbows on the bonnet, steadied the gun and squinted through the sights. Moments later he had his crosshairs firmly fixed on Jason’s head. Then he gently squeezed the trigger.
Chapter Twenty-Four
En-route to Kenton Bank Foot
The morning mist, visible at first dawn, had started to lift, but had left behind a slick coating on the sooty residue covering the road.
There was some debris towards the bottom of the hill. Tiles and chimneys, blasted off rooftops, and branches torn from the surrounding trees sparsely littered the road, but the nearer to the top the pair drew, the more cluttered the way became due to the numerous properties and their proximity to the bomb.
Sarah stopped. “What’s that?”
Jason carried on a few paces further before turning back to look at her. “What? I can’t hear anything.”
“Shush!” she hissed.
The pair stood silent, straining to listen for a sound that she was not entirely sure existed. Then suddenly, “There. Do you hear it?” she whispered.
Jason opened his mouth to protest again that he could hear nothing when suddenly he picked up the faint sound of an engine some way off in the distance. He looked at Sarah with a growing sense of doom. “It’s either a jeep or a lorry.”
“Yes, I agree. There’s definitely a diesel engine involved.”
“Come on,” Jason urged. “We need to get going.” He took Sarah’s hand and they began to run up the hill as fast as the road conditions and debris allowed.
Shattered bricks, plasterboard, blankets, toys, clothing all cluttered their way as they pushed towards the pinnacle, where they could reach the bunker a hundred yards from there.
The hum of the engine drew louder, the exact location difficult to identify as the noise, unhindered by any other sounds, bounced off the natural dips and peaks of the surrounding landscape. There was a screech as the vehicle came to a halt, then all other noises, apart from the gasps of the pair desperately trying to get up the hill as fast as possible, stopped.
Jason pulled on Sarah’s arm as she struggled more and more to keep up. The higher they climbed the greater her reliance on him to pull her along. Then suddenly he slipped, skidding on a piece of fallen timber, and they both hit the ground.
As he landed on the rubble, chest first, he heard a loud crack and immediately thought it was a piece of wood snapping beneath the bricks, until there was another. This time it was closer and when a tile just right of his head shattered, it dawned on him what it was. “We’re being shot at!” he screamed. “Get behind the walls and stay low.”
They scrambled to their feet and, staying stooped, hurried to a cluster of partially demolished houses near the road.
A number of shots came in quick succession with at least one frighteningly close when a piece of shrapnel tore through Jason’s coat.
The scientist, too hyped and too scared to even notice, pressed on towards the ruined buildings until he passed behind the relative safety of a shattered wall, dragging Sarah behind him.
Gasping for air, her chest heaving visibly through the layers of clothing, Sarah raised herself up, looking away from the shooting, towards their destination. “I can see the bunker from here,” she blurted.
“That’s all very well,” Jason panted, “but we have to get there alive.” He looked around for a way through the rubble, before pointing to a tunnel shaped by a partially collapsed wall. “Come on, that should help to keep us safe.”
Gingerly, they picked their way over the debris, which moved and tumbled with every step.
“I can see the road,” Jason said, elated, as they passed beyond the houses, “and there’s a way through.”
Sarah glanced back as they cleared the rubble and started towards the mound, which housed the entrance to the bunker.
Two men were running up the hill at a fast pace, closing the gap between the couple, too swiftly for comfort.
“We’re not going to make it!” she screamed. “Leave me behind. Go alone.”
Jason’s thoughts paused a moment as he reluctantly looked at what he knew he must do. He slowed, stared at the men coming rapidly up the hill behind them, locked wide eyes with Sarah’s, then released her hand and began to pull away.
Sarah lowered her head and pushed on. Her mind focused on the bunker. She had to make it or die trying. She was struggling with a number of things – running, breathing – but her mounting panic gave her an advantage when a much needed boost found her pace staying relative with Jason’s. She glanced up as she crossed the road.
He was at the top of the mound, then moments later he disappeared into the pipe leading to the bunker.
Her breathing was coming in short sharp desperate gasps as she reached the bank and started up, her pace slowing considerably once she hit the slope.
The sound of machine gunfire caused her to stoop and a rapid change of direction, which took her off the shortest route into the tunnel, led to cover from shrubbery and debris.
She risked a glance back when a gap in the bushes allowed a view of the road and saw the two men had reached the top of the hill and had turned towards the Territorial Army base.
She returned her attention forward, her muscles screaming, her lungs heaving, and spotted the entrance to the pipe up ahead. She pumped her arms, using everything in her arsenal, to push herself on, then just short of the entrance she saw Jason emerging from the bunker.
“Get inside!” he screamed as he ran past her in the opposite direction.
Sarah kept going and arrived at the door in a near state of collapse. She lurched and wobbled and with the last of her strength, pulled open the barrier before falling through the door onto the concrete floor beyond. She pushed herself up onto her knees, then dragged herself to her feet using a rail around the wall. There she waited for vital seconds, steadying herself before starting down the ladder, holding the rungs tightly for fear she would fall.<
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Jason turned right and continued up the mound, which was used to disguise the bunker in peace time and protect it from the blast. Quickly, he ascended to the top, using his hands for extra leverage, and looked around the vicinity.
Her breathing slowed and the walls stopped swimming as Sarah descended the ladder, and by the time she reached the bottom, her heart rate had decreased to a more reasonable level.
She turned and grabbed the door to pass into the main part of the bunker, then froze when she heard a string of explosions coming from outside.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Territorial Army Base, Kenton Bank Foot
“Spread out,” Briggs ordered. He pointed for Andrews to go left and follow Sarah’s longer route around the bushes whilst he took the shorter, but more obstacle-littered path, up the bank.
The sergeant moved around, using the bushes for cover until he caught sight of the entrance to the bunker. He studied the pipe for a few seconds to confirm it was empty before making his way closer, using the shrubbery for cover, until he had a good view of the door at the far end. Once there he looked around for Briggs and soon spotted the mercenary halfway up the bank.
He scanned the vicinity and found no sign of the couple and presumed they must have moved inside. He started forward, cautiously at first, but as he saw Briggs nearing the top of the embankment, broke free and ran towards the pipe.
From the top of the hill, Jason spotted one of the men dashing for the bunker. He looked around, but still could not see the other. Quickly, he stooped and drew the pins from each of the four grenades at his feet. He checked his watch. They all had a fifteen-second timer, so he did not want to throw them too soon. Five seconds passed before he started to lob them in a semi-circular motion, with the last landing a few paces ahead of the man running to the shelter.
For a split second Andrews thought the device was a small ball, belonging to either a child or a dog – there were a lot of personal belongings amongst the wreckage – until he spotted the trigger. Already he knew stopping in time was no longer an option. Instead he picked up the pace and leapt over the grenade, putting as much distance between himself and the bomb as possible. He landed safely and flung himself towards the ground just as the first of the four exploded.
Each of the grenades had a fifteen-metre burst, which expanded up and out from the device. On the ground Andrews would have been protected from the cone-shaped spread of shrapnel, but he could not get down fast enough to get below the level of the second blast. Instead, several pieces of the grenade’s metal casing and internal ball bearings, inserted to make the device more deadly, tore into the sergeant’s shoulders, neck and head, killing him before he hit the ground.
Jason paused just long enough to check that Andrews was not getting up before he hurried back down the hill, taking the steepest descent for speed, and ran into the tunnel leading to the bunker.
Instinctively, Briggs dived for cover the moment he heard the low clunk of metal hitting the soil in various locations above his head. He hurled himself backwards down the bank and scrambled off to one side, then flung himself over a small wall for protection, just as the first of the grenades exploded. Three more blasts followed in close succession, with the final one spraying hot debris over the mercenary when the device detonated on top of a brick, wedged into the soil, close by.
Briggs waited a few seconds to check there would be no more explosions before leaping out from behind the wall and running up the embankment as fast as he could, his gun at the ready.
He scanned the vicinity as he reached the edge of the shrubbery and immediately spotted Andrews’ body lying unmoving and bloodied several metres away. He ignored the cadaver and checked to see if the woman and scientist were outside before breaking cover and quickly making his way into the tunnel.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Territorial Army Base, Kenton Bank Foot
Sarah was standing at the bottom of the ladder, shining the torch up to illuminate the rungs, anxiously waiting for Jason to appear.
The outside door went and she shrunk away from the base, lowered the light and had just extinguished the beam when she recognised the footfalls.
Her fear of the military, brought on by Briggs, had produced one advantage in that she could now identify the sound of an army boot on concrete, as opposed to any other type of shoe.
She switched on the torch and returned to her position at the bottom of the ladder. “What happened?” she called when Jason looked over the brink.
“I threw four grenades to make them think twice about approaching the tunnel. It might have only slowed one of them down, but I think the other one might be dead. If he’s not, he’s very badly injured.” He reached the bottom of the ladder and turned to face Sarah. “He hit the ground, then never moved and there was a lot of blood.”
Sarah pushed the door open and stepped into the corridor beyond the stairwell. “Grenades? Where did you find them?”
“When I was waiting for you to return from Morpeth, I had plenty of time to look around. There’s a weapons store, just to the right of the kitchen, in the living quarters.”
She held the door open for Jason to pass through. “Did you get a good look at the men?” She released the barrier and allowed it to close.
“I got a good look at the one I think might be dead.”
“What did he look like?” Sarah asked cautiously.
“He was quite tall, slim and had very light brown, almost blonde hair.”
Her face furrowed. “That sounds like Andrews, Briggs’ second-in-command.”
Jason paused at the door.
“Do you think...?”
The scientist was not listening. He turned the switch just below the handle several times then, “I can’t lock the door!” he exclaimed, panicked.
Sarah looked at him, shocked. “What? Has he smashed it?”
“Yes!” Jason screamed.
She pulled on his sleeve. “Come on. We have to go. If that was Andrews, then there’s a good chance the other man is Briggs.” She lit the way down the corridor to the room at the far end. “I caught a glimpse of them as they ran up the hill and one of the men certainly looked like he could have passed for Briggs.”
Inside the room Jason moved to the table, dragged it across the floor and shoved it in front of the door. “I’m sure it won’t do much, but it might buy us a few seconds.” He stopped a moment to speak to Sarah. “The big question is, which Briggs are we talking about here; the Briggs from this timeline or the Briggs from my timeline?”
Sarah shrugged. “Well, if Andrews is with him, then it must be the Briggs from this timeline.”
Jason moved to the machine and pointed to the panel. “Shine the torch there,” he instructed. He waited for her to comply before he slipped off the cover, removed the chips from the secured pocket inside his rucksack and popped them into their empty slots on the circuit board inside the unit. He stood. “Not necessarily. You reckon they were identical, so the Briggs from my timeline may have planned to replace the Briggs in this timeline all along.”
“Either way,” Sarah said, exasperated, “we do not want to mess with them, whichever timeline they’re from.”
Jason nodded. “True.” He turned to the unit, “Here goes,” switched on the machine and touched the screen to activate the device.
Lights danced across the display, then a string of commands ran down the screen for a few seconds, before a menu appeared and waited for further instructions.
He checked the level of the battery, then threw back his head. “Thank you!” he screamed when it showed nearly full. He looked at Sarah and beamed. “Right!” He turned his attention to the screen. “I’ll pull up my original journey.” He tapped the display several times, dragged his finger down a scrollbar and touched an entry towards the bottom. “I’ll adjust the power so we’re not stuck for several hours and move the location slightly so we don’t arrive at my grandmother’s house. And... done!” He took Sarah’s arm
. “Get into the machine.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going through again,” she squawked. “I think you should do it now we know meeting yourself doesn’t cause annihilation.”
He opened the door and bustled her in. “I wasn’t going to send you alone, we’re both going.” He touched the start button to initiate the countdown and joined Sarah inside.
“Will it be able to distinguish between you and me,” she asked breathlessly.
“To be honest I’ve never tried it,” Jason confessed, “but I’ve never materialised with my clothes merged with my skin, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.”
A low distant boom caused the pair to look panicked towards the door.
“He’s inside the bunker,” Jason said as a tingling sensation travelled through his muscles, all the way down to his bones, then the room disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Territorial Army Base, Kenton Bank Foot
Briggs ran to the bunker, without so much as a glance to see if his second-in-command was still alive or not. He opened the door, then paused, when he saw the edge of the chute slipping into blackness, to pull a torch from his belt. He stepped inside, a foot still wedging the barrier open, and cautiously leaned forward to shine the beam into the chamber.
It barely illuminated the floor twenty metres down, but it was enough to see there was no-one waiting in ambush at the base. The barrier boomed shut behind him, echoing in the chute, as he moved onto the ladder and hurried down the rungs.
A minute later, he arrived at the bottom, readied his gun and checked the corridor before stepping out into the passage and cautiously looking around.
He knew how these places worked, several rooms running off a central spine with further connecting chambers could make a bunker as complex and extensive as a rabbit warren. Searching for someone could be laborious and potentially dangerous with numerous ambush points and plenty of places to find yourself trapped.
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