“Seems sensible.”
“Yep. Remember to keep the gun unloaded.”
“You already said that.”
“I know. Worth saying it twice, girl. ’Specially as you’ve got a little one who’ll be movin’ round before you know it.”
“Ok.”
“Nobody ever got killed by an empty gun.” He offered her the gun. “Wan’ a go?”
She took it and raised it to her shoulder. She aimed down the barrel.
“Now, shotguns are slow. Aim in front of your target, not at it.”
“If it’s moving?”
“Well, yeah.” Frank pointed at the end of the barrel. “Here’s your sights. Squeeze the trigger and keep the butt of the gun firm against your shoulder.”
She pulled the trigger. The bang was deafening and the gun pounded back into her shoulder. Later, she would have a bruise there. One of the targets shredded as the shot tore into it.
“Good shot, girl,” Frank said.
She barely heard him over the ringing in her ears. The ruined target had surprised her: she did not want to picture what the gun would do to a human at close range.
“That’s it basically,” Frank said. He popped the gun open, ejecting the spent cartridge and removing the unused one. “Questions?”
She shook her head. “How much?”
“This gun is about £700 new, but I’ve had it a while.” Frank returned the gun to its case and sealed it. “I’ll gi’ it you for £200.”
“£200,” Katie said, her mouth dropping open. “The advert said four.”
Frank chewed his bottom lip. “I know. You look like you could use a bit of help.”
“I’m not a charity Frank.”
He held up a calming hand. “I’m no’ tryin’ to offend girl. You a neighbour. I’m trying to help.” He looked even more awkward than usual for a second. “Las’ time I saw your Jack, I weren’t good to ’im. Trying to make amends is all.”
“Do I need a license?”
“Depend on who you’re gonna tell,” Frank said. “£50 gets you one for five years.”
“Cash ok?”
“Aye.”
As Katie counted out the notes, she thought about the feeling of power when she had held the shotgun. She had felt a thrill that she wouldn’t have dreamed of having a few months ago.
Now if the wolf ever came back, she would be prepared.
Chapter 26
1
“What the hell is he doing?” Smith demanded.
Claire watched him go red in the face. “He’s playing his guitar, sir.”
“I can see he’s playing guitar,” Smith said. “Where the hell did he get a guitar?”
“I’m not sure,” Claire lied and went back to recording things on the clipboard. The hourly surveillance logs were getting really tedious now. Page after page of Jack sitting practising guitar, reading a book, listening to his mp3 player. He had not turned into the Wolf for over a week.
“Tell Sergeant Knowles I want to see him in my office, as soon as he’s on duty.”
“Yes sir.”
Smith walked out, slamming the door as he went. In the room, Jack looked up for a second at the sound, then resumed playing. On the pad she wrote:
12:57 showed signs of advanced hearing again. Looked up at the sound of a door being slammed even through the sound proofing. Jack’s hearing is more and more acute even in human form.
She put the pen down and watched the man again. He was playing an old Green Day song over and over, tentatively singing the words. Every now and then he would stop, swear to himself and start again. Not a bad singing voice, just not a good one either. At least the strumming has improved over the last week. She didn’t want to know how Knowles had got the instrument through security.
She smiled at the thought of Knowles. Her first impression had him down as just another squaddie prick, but the last few weeks had shown a different side to him. He was looking after Jack very well, regardless of what Smith thought. She thought that the guitar, books and music were helping keep Jack on side. They are keeping him calm. Keeping the Wolf from the door.
There was a light tap on the door and Knowles came in. Jack glanced briefly up at the sound of the tap. Knowles grinned at her.
“He heard that?” he whispered.
“And that,” she said in a normal voice, pointing through the one-way mirror. Jack had put his guitar down and was looking expectantly at the door.
“Christ,” Knowles said.
“Major Smith wants to see you.”
“Yeah, I guessed that was coming.” Knowles grimaced. “He finally decided to come down here huh?”
“He turned up about twenty minutes ago, unannounced.” She smiled, patting Knowles’ arm gently. “Didn’t have time to get Jack to put all his toys away.”
“Well, I’ll just say hello, then I’ll go see him,” Knowles said.
He walked into the short corridor and opened the security door that led into Jack’s room. The key card beeped as the door opened. The armed guard saluted as he entered, which made Knowles roll his eyes. “For fuck’s sake,” he said and shut the door behind him, keeping the guard looking bemused in the corridor. He was going to see one of the most dangerous men in Britain and all he could think about was the warm spot on his arm where Claire had touched him.
2
“You gave him a guitar?”
“Yes, sir.” Knowles stood smartly to attention. He fixed his gaze past Smith’s shoulder on a patch of wall where the paint was flaking slightly.
“Who authorised that?”
“Sir?”
“Who told you to give the prisoner a guitar to play?”
“Sir, I was not aware he was a prisoner. I thought he was helping us.”
“Don’t treat me like a fool, Knowles,” Smith snarled. “Mr Stadler is now the property of the government, at Her Majesty’s leisure, until we can figure out what to do with him.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
“So who authorised you? Was it Starky?”
“No sir. I did it myself sir.”
Smith sighed, flexing his fingers under his chin. “I’m not paying you to think, Sergeant.”
“No, sir!”
“You have given the prisoner a guitar, a book and an iPod,” Smith said, looking at his notes before he said the last word.
Idiot. It’s not an iPod. Knowles elected not to say anything.
“We are not running a fucking summer camp!”
Knowles flinched at the raised voice, even though he’d been expecting it.
“I know that sir, but permission to explain myself sir.”
Smith slumped back in his chair. “Make it good, Knowles.”
“Sir, Jack, Mr Stadler-” He caught the expression on Smith’s face. “- the prisoner was becoming more difficult. He is a civilian, sir, we need to treat him as a human being. This isn’t Guantanamo.”
“We do not know that he’s human. He is very dangerous.”
“Sir, he can control the Wolf,” Knowles said, trying not to get angry. “We have not seen it in over a week.”
“And?”
“I think the music is helping him stay calm sir. It gives him something to focus on other than when he’s going to see his wife again.”
Smith tapped his fingers on the desk. “What does Starky think?”
“I don’t know sir.”
“Where is Captain Starky now?”
“Sir, I think the team analysing the bones we found are close to finishing their study. He has gone to hurry them.”
“Does Starky know about the guitar and other things?”
“I cannot comment on what the Captain does or does not know, sir.”
“You are on thin ice here, Sergeant. I will expect Captain Starky to be fully debriefed on his return. If necessary, we will remove the items.”
“Sir, in my opinion-”
“Sergeant. My crown versus your stripes. Think carefully before finishing that sentence.
”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
3
Knowles stepped back into sunlight, and broke into a grin. He strode across the courtyard, heading for the small building. As he went, he heard a dog barking in the distance. It was joined by another bark, then another.
Knowles slowed, then stopped. He scanned the tree line and spotted the two base dogs and their handlers walking the perimeter. The barks were coming from the other side of the base. Without knowing exactly why, he put his hand on the butt of his gun.
Somebody grabbed him from behind. He spun quickly, moving into a combat stance.
“Easy!” Carruthers laughed.
“You idiot,” Knowles said. He spun to look at the tree line again.
“What’s up with you?” Carruthers said. “Fallen out with your boyfriend?”
“Grow up,” Knowles said.
“Come on, Knowles, I’m just kidding,” Carruthers followed Knowles’ gaze. “What’s up?”
“Probably nothing,” Knowles said. “Just heard dogs barking.”
Carruthers pantomimed listening hard. “Can’t hear anything.”
The barking had stopped. Had it been there in the first place?
“You know Jonesey is worried about you?”
“Why?” Knowles still hadn’t shifted his gaze from the tree line.
“You are spending way too much time with the guy who got our mates killed.”
Knowles finally looked at him. “Jack didn’t kill Meyers or Scarlet.”
“No,” Carruthers said, “but if it hadn’t been for Stadler, we wouldn’t have been there would we?”
Knowles shook his head. “He is a good person. He’s trying to control it.”
Carruthers tutted. “Now you sound like someone defending an addict.”
“Look, Jack is a good man, who has had something happen to him. We don’t know what that is – and it looks more and more like-” Knowles shook his head again. “I don’t know. Can you explain what’s happened to him?”
“All I know is that there’s a trail of bodies where there didn’t need to be.”
“It’s not his fault.”
“No?” Carruthers eyes opened wide. “Whose then?”
Knowles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Those other guys killed Scarlet and a bunch of mutant spiders did for Meyers.”
“They weren’t guys.”
“Those other wolves then.”
“Listen to yourself. ‘Those other wolves’! Like it’s normal.”
Knowles started walking again. “Right now, it’s our normal. Like getting shot at. You deal with it, or it’s game over.”
“Remember which side you are on,” Carruthers called after him. Knowles spun on the spot and strode to Carruthers, squaring up to him.
“Remember who you are talking to,” he spat.
“Remember which side you are on, sergeant.”
They stood toe to toe for a second then Knowles turned away and went into the observation booth. Carruthers watched him slam the door and exhaled slowly. That could have gone better. He looked at the tree line that Knowles had been studying. The branches swayed in the breeze, making it look windier than it was. Something had definitely spooked Knowles, but what? He’d heard dogs barking, but really? Knowles was made of sterner stuff. Carruthers headed for the barracks, but then changed his mind and went to the armoury. Wouldn’t hurt to have a bit more practice, and maybe sign out an extra gun.
Just in case.
4
Slamming the door accomplished nothing; it didn’t even make him feel better. The guard on the inner door raised his arm in a half-hearted salute. Knowles glared at him.
“I’m still a fucking sergeant, you numpty.”
“Sorry, sergeant.”
“Don’t ever fucking salute like that anyway, you little shit. Get lazy, get fucking dead,” Knowles prodded the soldier in his chest. He was looking up at the man, the irony of which wasn’t lost on Knowles.
“Yes sergeant.”
Knowles swiped his card and entered the secure room, slamming the door again. Claire jumped, spilling her tea on her lap. She leapt up, brushing at the top of her legs. She grabbed a paper towel from behind her and started soaking up the liquid.
“Shit,” Knowles said, “sorry.”
“Bad day?”
“I’ve been on duty for about twenty minutes and have been chewed out twice.”
“Twice?”
“Yeah, once by my so called mate.”
“Oh.” She sat back down and gestured to the other chair in the room. “Wanna vent?”
Knowles looked through the one-way mirror. Jack was lying on his side on the bed, earphones in.
“He can’t hear us over that racket,” Claire smiled.
“Hey, I gave him all the music on that player.”
“I rest my case.”
It took him a moment to realise she was joking and then he sat.
“Its Carruthers and Jonesey,” he said eventually. “They seem to be against me.”
“You’re their Sergeant, not their mate.”
“I know, but we’ve served together for years. We were all the same rank once.”
“Ah, that’s your problem then, isn’t it?” She nodded, and he imagined her hair tussling around her face. It was pulled back in a tight ponytail at the moment: the so called Essex face lift.
“It’s not been a problem before.”
She leaned forward on the chair, her face scant inches away from his. He could smell the subtle perfume again and he felt his face going red.
“Peter,” she paused, “have you ever lost anyone in your squad before?”
“Yes,” he answered, without pausing, “in Ghanners.”
“You were in Afghanistan?”
“Yeah, two tours, about eighteen months in total. It’s pretty fucked up, far more than they let on over here.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been?”
“I did a medic support tour for six months. Got back about three months ago.” She smiled at him. “We were there at the same time.”
“We were based in Sangin in Helmand.”
“I was at Gerishk.” She patted his knee. “I heard Sangin was bad.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Pretty bad.” Understatement of the fucking year.
“So, how did you get assigned this one?”
“I’m not sure really. My unit hadn’t been back long and we were offered a job watching a civilian for a month. Seemed like a piece of piss really.”
Claire smiled again, her eyes sparkling. “Well, no-one knew.”
“I’m beginning to doubt that.”
“I saw the initial report,” Claire said. “His blood threw up an anomaly that couldn’t be explained. Discreet observation was recommended – it seemed the right call at the time.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Claire looked bemused for a second. “Jack fell into a cave and emerged without a scratch on him. The unit here has been scanning hospitals for a while now, looking for anything that might be extraordinary: super fitness, healing, that kind of thing.”
“Jesus.”
“Well, him too, but so far no joy.”
Knowles burst out laughing and she beamed at him.
“They are looking for supermen right?”
“Or women,” Claire said, glancing in at Jack again. “Anything that can give us the edge on the battlefield.”
“So with Jack, why just observation? What he can do is pretty incredible.”
“We had no idea what he could do. Starky wanted him brought in immediately, but he was overruled.” Claire sighed. “It seems taking British citizens off the streets clandestinely is a bad idea.”
“Starky is a twat,” Knowles said without thought.
It was Claire’s turn to laugh. “Yes, he is. But I never said that. Look, sleeping like a baby.”
She pointed in at
Jack, who had rolled onto his back. His mouth was open and eyes closed. She flicked the inner speakers on, and they both smirked as Jack’s snoring filled the room.
“He wants to see his kid,” Knowles said, his voice low.
“That’s not going to happen,” Claire said.
“Ever?”
Claire turned away from him. “I doubt that Jack will ever be free again.”
“Starky?”
She nodded. “I think he wants to vivisect him.”
“But-”
At that point, Jack sat bolt upright. “They’re coming!” He screamed. Knowles jumped and was momentarily embarrassed until he realised Claire had also started. They exchanged a nervous look. “They’ve found me! They’re coming for me.” Then he lay back down and went straight back to sleep.
“Has he ever done that before?” Knowles asked.
“No,” Claire said. “Bad dream?”
“Maybe,” Knowles said, but he had a sick feeling in his stomach.
They’re coming.
5
Anton stood on his two legs and relished the breeze on his skin. He reached into his bag and pulled out a mobile phone. Around him, three others were changing back, fur disappearing to become skin.
Once the initial excitement had died down – and what a racket that had been – they had followed the trail back to their camp. They had been in the forest for only two days, but had gone the wrong way on the first day. If they had turned left, then they would have found him sooner.
No matter. He will soon be with us and then I will kill him.
Searches were happening all over the South East, from as far along as Dorchester, South to Southampton and across into Essex. The groups were in daily contact with each other and each had military targets as a focus.
Anton ignored the buzz of expectation from his team. He had nothing in common with them. They were in awe of the Original without even meeting him, but Anton felt nothing but disgust.
He knew Steve had a plan. Like Steve, it was simple. Anton would kill the Original, then Steve would kill Anton whilst he was tired after the fight. Steve would be a hero: the person who killed the godslayer. Steve was unaware that Anton knew this and equally unaware of the contempt Anton felt for him. No matter. Steve’s plan has many flaws, too many what ifs, like Alex dying. No-one had seen that coming. Callum, too, what did Steve intend for him? Anton did not care about the plan.
The Original's Return (Book 1) Page 22