“And what’s this?” I asked, pointing to a red cross next to the admin building.
“That is the main entrance to the tunnels. There’s another one here,” he drew another cross by a firing range. “This one’s disguised as a cupboard, so there’s a slim chance they don’t know about it. If they don’t, then it’s our way in. I imagine the Americans have blown the main entrance by now. If so, there’s a good chance that the prisoners might be down there.”
“What was kept down there?” I asked.
Jack hesitated. “I suppose top secret doesn’t really mean anything any more, does it?”
“Not really,” said Jane.
“The tunnels have got all the really nasty stuff in them,” he said. “The weapons of mass destruction.”
I hadn’t known what to expect when Jane had told me we had the king in our midst, but Jack was a normal kid. He sounded middle class rather than posh, he didn’t put on airs and graces at all, and he insisted we call him Jack.
“Thank you for this Jack,” I said. “It’ll be helpful.”
He looked surprised. “But I can show you myself. I mean, I’m coming with you.”
“Out of the question,” I said curtly.
“But I know the layout better than any of you. I’m the only one who can lead you safely though that place.”
“We’ve got a woman on the inside,” I said. “She’s going to meet us and take us where we need to go. We don’t need you. Anyway, what combat experience have you got?”
“Sanders taught me everything he knew,” said the boy defensively.
“But have you ever actually been in a fight?”
“I was there when the Americans attacked.”
“That’s true, Lee,” said Jane. “One of the few things I remember is Jack shooting at them.”
“Look,” he said. “At the moment it’s just you and this Iraqi guy, right?”
“My name’s Tariq,” said the man standing beside Jack.
“Right, sorry. Tariq. Neither of you know the compound like I do, and you could use the backup.”
I shook my head. “No. This is a mission of stealth. In, grab, out. With luck we’ll be gone before they realise we were ever there. The more of us there are, the greater the risk of us being detected. And I’ll be honest, I don’t trust you not to go and do something stupid, like trying to blow the place up.”
Our glorious majesty sulked for a moment and then said something which changed my mind.
“There’s one very special warehouse down there…” he began. We listened until he’d finished speaking; all of us with our mouths open in astonishment.
“And you know the codes?” I asked incredulously.
He nodded. “Sanders showed me. I persuaded him it was my royal prerogative. I think he thought it was funny.”
We were all silent for a moment and then Tariq clapped his hands and said: “Well shit, now we’ve got a ball game!”
JANE
THAT NIGHT, JUSTIN and Tariq helped me to a downstairs room they’d prepared for me. After they’d gone I lay in the cool sheets feeling the soft cotton pillowcase on my naked scalp.
I was too nervous to sleep, unsure of what I felt. My joy at Lee’s return, my fears for his safety and that of everyone in the school who I’d unwittingly put into the firing line, the loss of Sanders. It was all too much to process. So I lay there, unable to sleep, until I heard a soft knock at the door.
“Hello?” I said.
The door cracked open and Lee stepped inside. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
He came and sat on the bed next to me, avoiding my gaze. “I’m sorry. For shouting at you this morning, I mean. That was out of order.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry about it.”
“It’s just, with Dad and you… I mean, he might die and you look so ill. I just…”
“He’s going to be fine. He’s had a good day. He’s sleeping it off naturally now. He’s over the worst.”
“I thought I’d lose him, too,” he whispered. “Like Mum.”
“No. Not today, anyway.”
He bowed his head, took a deep breath and said softly: “I killed her.”
“Sorry?”
“She was so sick. She couldn’t stop crying. It was awful. Then there were the seizures and she started bleeding from everywhere. And I couldn’t help. I couldn’t do anything for her. I sat there mopping her brow with a wet flannel and telling her it’d be okay. In the end she begged me to kill her, to make the pain stop. She’d never have asked me to do that if it hadn’t driven her mad. And when she said that, when she said ‘Please kill me,’ I stopped crying. Because here was something I could actually do, you know? Here was a way I could help her. So I took a pillow and I smothered her. And you know what? She didn’t struggle. She put her hand up and held mine, even as I was using it to choke the life out of her. She held my hand and she squeezed it, just like you’re doing now. She was grateful, so it didn’t feel like murder. Bates felt like murder, even though I suppose that was a mercy killing too. But Mum? No. ’Cause I loved her so much. She was kind and funny and she used to sing me to sleep when I was little. And when she died I thought, that’s it. I’ve killed the person I loved most in the world, the only person left who loved me. I thought I’d actually killed love and that I was broken now, forever.
“Then I came back to school and found you. And then Dad.”
He began to cry great heaving sobs. I pushed myself up and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him down on to the bed beside me. I held him as he wept, stroking his head and shushing him into a deep, silent sleep.
LEE
“DAD, I DUNNO if you can hear me, but I’ve got to go. Blythe’s got a couple of the kids from the school and Tariq and me are going to get them back. I know what you’d say if you were awake, but if you were in my shoes, you’d do exactly what I’m doing now and you know it.
“I reckon we’ll be back in a week or so. By then you’ll be up and about, I’m sure, waiting to bite my head off for being so reckless.
“If I don’t come back, then you’ll be among friends here. Jane will take good care of you, and I want you to take good care of her in return. She’s special. You haven’t met her yet, but she saved your life and mine. Only she’s not as strong as she makes out, sometimes. She’s better when she’s got someone to lean on. And if I don’t come back, that’s going to have to be you.
“When you called me from Iraq that time you told me to be strong. For Mum. I didn’t let you down. You’ll never know how strong I was. Now I need you to be strong for me, and for her. I know you will be. You keep sleeping it off and I’ll see you soon. I love you, Dad.
“Bye.”
JANE REACHED OUT and took my hand.
“I would ask you not to go, but you wouldn’t listen, would you?” she said with a sad smile.
“No. But I came back last time, and I’ll be back again. I promise. And this time I’ll be staying. I meant it, you know. No more fighting for me. I’ve had enough. I just want to stay here and look after the school. With you. In mono.”
Jane laughed. “How is the other ear?”
“Almost back to normal now. I’d say about 80%.”
“That’s what you get for trying to be a soldier.”
“You can talk, Davros.”
“Oi!”
I leaned forward, put my hands on her sunken cheeks and kissed her. Then I rested my forehead on hers and closed my eyes.
“I’ll see you soon, Jane.”
“You’d better, Lee.”
Then I stood up and walked away.
I didn’t look back.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LEE
“ANYTHING?” I ASKED.
“No. Just static,” replied Tariq.
“And you’re sure you got the frequency right?”
“Of course.”
“And the clock’s right?”
“She said three every morning. She�
�ll be here, Lee. Relax.”
The radio gave two bursts of white noise.
“That’s her.” Tariq pressed the speak button on the Stryker radio and squawked back four times. There was a pause and then the radio crackled into life.
“That you, Tramp?” It was Sue, whispering.
“Yes. Where are you?”
“South perimeter. There’s a firing range by the fence.”
“I know where she is,” said Jack. “We can be there in five minutes.”
“Did you hear that, Lady?”
“Sure did. There are perimeter patrols, so go carefully. I’ll be waiting.”
“See you soon.” Tariq clicked the radio off and we primed our weapons.
We had parked the armoured car in woodland close to the base. Although we’d encountered no patrols or guards of any kind, Blythe had begun stamping his authority on the area.
We’d passed Stonehenge on the way to the base; the ancient stone circle was full of staked soldiers, hundreds of them, lined up in concentric circles, staring at the stars, like an offering to an ancient god.
We had no doubt that we’d suffer a similar fate if we were caught. I used the periscope to scan our surroundings. “All clear,” I said. We turned off the interior lights and cracked the hatch, climbing out into the cold night air. It was a dark, moonless night, but Jack was wearing a nightsight Jamal had given us before he left.
Leaving the Stryker behind us, we let Jack take the lead. I didn’t know what to make of this boy king. He was an uneasy mix of overconfidence and insecurity. He’d been reticent about his royalty, unwilling to explain how he ended up the ceremonial head of state, at least in the eyes of the British Army. Green told me he’d been eager to blend into the background, unwilling to draw undue attention. Yet here he was leading us into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to rescue two children he’d never met. When I asked him why he had insisted on accompanying us he just said it was his duty. I had no idea how he’d fare in combat, but his knowledge of the base, and the ordnance contained within it, was our ace in the hole.
We reached the edge of the trees, where the cover abruptly ended in a fifty-metre stretch of clear grass. Beyond this stood a high chainlink fence. Crouching down, Jack scanned the buildings for movement. He saw a patrol and gestured for us to retreat back into cover. Hidden by the shadows, we watched the two guards walk past us and disappear past the barracks.
“That’s the firing range.” Jack pointed to a high brick wall just inside the fence. I reached behind me and pulled the wire cutters from my back pack.
“Stay here,” I whispered.
I broke cover and scurried to the fence. Lying on the wet grass, I cut a small hole at the base, wincing at the noise each wire made as it snapped. I pulled back a flap of the fence to make an entrance and waved the other two forward. Once they had crawled inside, I followed and pulled the fence closed again. With any luck, the guards wouldn’t notice the hole on their next circuit. Stashing the wire cutters back in my bag, I followed Jack as he led us round the wall at the far end of the firing range to a sandpit where cardboard cut out soldiers stood like silent sentries.
“Psst.” It was Sue, standing at the corner of the wall, dressed in black, her face covered in boot polish just like ours. She didn’t waste any time. “There are three perimeter patrols and they pass here about every twenty minutes. There are other random patrols wandering the base. They don’t have a set pattern, so we have to move carefully.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“The boy is being held in the tunnels under the main building, which is where Blythe works and sleeps.”
“How did they get into the tunnels?” asked Jack.
“They blew up the door by the main building,” replied Sue.
“And the other door?”
“What other door?”
Jack turned to me and grinned.
“And the girl, Caroline?” I asked.
“They never found any girl,” said Sue. “What’s the plan?”
Tariq told her and she pursed her lips in surprise. “That’s a bit extreme,” she said. But she didn’t raise any objections.
“This way,” said Jack. He led us down the length of the firing range and across a road to a small outbuilding with a big metal door. He punched a code into the keypad beside the door and it clicked open. We hurried inside and pulled the door closed behind us, then crept down the concrete steps into the system of tunnels that lay beneath the base. The walls were concrete, with electric cables and pipes running along them. It smelt of damp. The lights were on.
“Knives only,” whispered Tariq, drawing his blade and pushing his gun back over his shoulder. “A shot down here would be heard through the whole tunnel system.”
Jack moved quickly and confidently, sure of the way. He led us past endless doors, all locked tight. “Some of these go down to other chambers, some are just offices. The two places we’re interested in are at opposite ends of the complex.”
“Okay,” I said. “Two teams, as discussed. Sue, we’re going to get Rowles. Tariq and Jack, rendezvous back at the door we came in by.” They nodded. “And if you hear shooting, just run. Don’t wait for us, or come to help. Just go.”
Tariq took my hand and shook it firmly. “See you soon.”
They vanished around a corner and I turned to the small, squat nurse. “Lead on.”
She moved with remarkable grace for someone so solid, and we hardly made a sound as we moved deeper into the tunnels. Eventually she held up her hand.
“One more corridor and a left turn,” she whispered. “There aren’t guards outside the actual cell; they’re up top at the door. So we shouldn’t meet anyone.” I stepped forward and took the lead, knife at the ready.
“Stay here,” I said. I walked down the corridor, feeling my nerves giving way to the calm that comes before the kill. I reached the corner and took a quick look. Nobody. I waved Sue forward. She went past me to a nondescript wooden door.
“I lifted this earlier,” she said waving a key in the air and then using it to open the door. We entered a small, bare room. All the furniture had been removed, leaving it a cold concrete box. There was no light and the smell was awful. The light that seeped in from the corridor revealed a small figure curled up asleep in the corner, and a bucket in the opposite corner. It was just like the cell where I’d found Dad in Basra. Blythe’s bag of tricks was small but effective.
I crouched down and shook the boy’s shoulder. He was awake instantly. I don’t know what I’d been expecting to find. The Rowles I knew was quiet and brooding, utterly self contained and unemotional. He was so ruthless, so terrifying, that I’d forgotten one simple fact: he was an eleven-year-old boy.
His right eye was horribly bruised, swollen shut. His front teeth were gone, as were his fingernails, and his bare arms were covered in tiny cigarette burns. His one good eye wasn’t the cold orb I remembered; instead it was full of fear. Rowles scrambled away from me, trying to hide himself in the corner, burying his head in his arms and keening like a kicked dog.
“My God,” breathed Sue.
“Rowles,” I said firmly. “Rowles, it’s me. It’s Lee. We’ve come to get you out of here.”
The ruined child couldn’t hear me above his petrified whining. I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder, but he flinched away.
“Rowles,” I said, louder this time. “Listen, it’s Lee. From school. I’ve come to take you home.”
Still no response. I cursed under my breath. We didn’t have time for this. I reached forward and grabbed his head, holding his face up and forcing him to look at me.
“Rowles. Come on. We’ve got to go home.”
His eye focused on me then and widened in surprise. “Home?” he whispered. “Home?”
“Yes, home. Can you stand?” His chin wobbled convulsively as he tried to nod. “Good lad. This is Sue, she’s a nurse, she’s going to help you.”
“Hello sweetheart,” said
Sue. “You take my hands now.” Rowles did so, his animal panic replaced by mute acquiescence. I went back to the door and scanned the corridor. Still quiet. I began to think that maybe we’d get away with this.
I turned back to see Rowles standing up. Sue had wrapped her arms around him and he was huddling into her for warmth, snuffling.
“Rowles, this is important. What happened to Caroline? Is she here?” I asked.
“Doctor,” he muttered. “The doctor took her.”
“So she’s not on the base?” He shook his head.
“This can wait,” Sue said sternly.
I nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
I led the way back through the silent tunnels. We had to move more slowly, as Rowles was weak and disorientated, but we encountered nobody until we arrived back at the door where Jack and Tariq were waiting for us.
“Any joy?” I asked.
Jack shook his head. “I found and primed them but I couldn’t find the remote units anywhere. Sorry.”
“It was always a long shot,” I said. “Let’s not worry about it now. We’ve got what we came for. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
And we did. We didn’t meet any guards at all on our way back to the Stryker. I leaned against the cold metal hull of the vehicle and breathed a huge sigh of relief. We’d made it.
I climbed on to the vehicle and opened the hatch, turned to the others, smiled and said, “Let’s go home.”
And that’s when I noticed we were missing someone.
“I WON’T LEAVE him,” I insisted.
“Tariq chose to go back, Lee,” said Jack. “He may be planning to detonate. We need to get out of here.”
I shook my head. “No. He’s gone to get Blythe, and he’ll want to do it personally. If I go quickly, I might be able to catch him up. Get everyone inside and batten the hatch. Sue, have you got your radio?” She handed it to me without a word. “I’ll call if I can but if I’m not back in an hour, you go without me. Understand?” Sue nodded. I looked across at Rowles. He had stopped whining and was sitting on the bench holding a handgun, staring at it intently, almost caressing it. I fancied I could see a flash of the boy I knew.
School's Out Forever (afterblight chronicles) Page 48