Counterstrike

by Peter Jay Black

  A jar of pickles smashed to the right of his head and a kid laughed.

  Jack glanced over his shoulder to see Pea smirking at him.

  ‘Sorry.’

  Turning back to the laptop screen, Jack forced himself to concentrate.

  The police sirens grew louder.

  Skin kicked Jack in the leg. ‘I told you to hurry up.’

  Jack ignored him and his fingers glided over the keyboard, adjusting the custom piece of code he needed to get the job done.

  ‘We’ve gotta go,’ a kid shouted. ‘Rozzers are ’ere.’

  ‘You go when I tell ya,’ Skin snapped.

  Jack remained focused on his task. He hid the code in a place he was positive no one would check and then set about making sure the program was running properly.

  Car tyres screeched outside and blue lights flashed and bounced all around the shop.

  ‘Right then,’ Skin said to the group. ‘You know what to do.’

  The gang bolted out the front door, several of them yanking the shop assistant up and carrying him out with them. There were shouts and screams from adults and kids.

  Skin held Pea back. ‘You’re wiv us.’ He walked over to the door, locked it and turned around. ‘Jacky?’

  ‘I just need a few more seconds.’

  Skin stormed over to him and hauled Jack up on to his feet. ‘Put it back together.’

  ‘But –’

  Skin pulled him close, so their faces were an inch apart. ‘Put it back or I’ll kill ya right ’ere.’ He shoved Jack away. ‘Now.’

  With reluctance, Jack closed the cover on the cashpoint and sealed it all up again.

  Finally he stepped back and looked over the hinges and covers, making sure no one could tell what he’d done.

  There was a banging on the shop door.

  A police officer glared at them. ‘Open it.’

  Skin grabbed Jack roughly by the collar and they followed Pea through the shop, out the back door and along the alleyway.

  Instead of turning right, towards the main road, they went left and jogged down another alleyway that ran between two blocks of flats.

  Suddenly, another policeman stepped into their path, blocking their escape.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Jack, Skin and Pea stopped dead in their tracks and stared at the policeman.

  Jack glanced over his shoulder, but there was no other way out of there. He looked forward again and, much to his surprise, Skin had a huge grin on his face.

  ‘All right, copper?’ he said.

  The police officer removed a truncheon and said, ‘Kneel down and put your hands behind your heads.’

  Skin snorted. ‘Now, why would we wanna do that?’

  ‘You’re under arrest.’

  ‘No, we’re not.’

  ‘Kneel down and put your hands behind your heads,’ the policeman repeated in a firm tone. ‘All three of you. Now.’

  ‘Not gonna happen, mate.’ Skin darted right and shouldered open a door.

  Pea sprinted after him.

  Jack stared at the policeman for a second, then came to his senses and ran after the others.

  ‘Stop.’

  Skin burst through another door at the end of a hallway and Pea and Jack followed.

  When they were through, Skin spun around and slammed the door shut. He flipped over a clasp and jammed a nail into it.

  The cop rammed into the door from the other side, but it didn’t budge.

  ‘He ain’t getting through that in a hurry.’ Skin leant in to the door and shouted, ‘Go round the other way, moron.’

  ‘What are you doing?’ Jack said, incredulous.

  ‘We’ll be long gone before those idiots get ’ere.’ Skin grinned. ‘You know as well as I do, Jacky – always have an escape route planned out well in advance.’ He tapped his temple with an index finger. ‘Always thinkin’, I am. That’s why Persephone put me in charge, innit?’ He gestured over Jack’s shoulder.

  Jack turned around. They were now standing in a car park, and lined up in front of them were eleven mopeds. Eight of them already had riders – the other members of Talya’s army had managed to slip past the police too.

  Pea ran over to a spare moped and hopped on.

  ‘Any problems?’ Skin asked a tall kid with red hair.

  ‘Nah. The cops are going in circles. They dunno where we went.’

  Skin climbed on to a blue moped and pointed at the last one. ‘Get on, Jacky.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘No way.’

  Tyres screeched as three police cars turned into the car park, their sirens blaring.

  ‘Don’t look like you got much choice.’ Skin twisted the throttle on his moped and he zoomed off across the car park, with the rest of Talya’s army following.

  Jack swore under his breath, leapt on to the remaining moped and started it up.

  He glanced over his shoulder at the fast-approaching police cars, then, trying not to think too much, twisted the moped’s throttle.

  His head snapped back as he accelerated away. The moped was surprisingly fast – it must have been modified somehow.

  Jack followed the others as they shot down an alleyway, weaving in and out of boxes, crates and bins.

  He glanced back again – the police cars continued to give chase, ramming rubbish out of the way as they went.

  Jack looked forward, just in time to see a wall rapidly approaching.

  He caught a glimpse of a red light belonging to the last moped to the left of him.

  Jack leant hard over, spun the back wheel around and squeezed down another narrow alley. The end of his handlebars gouged the concrete wall, but somehow he managed to keep a tight grip, stay upright and follow the others on to a side road.

  He clearly heard their shouts of delight above the roar of the engines as they shot along the pavement, weaving in and out of pedestrians.

  Jack ground his teeth – they were actually enjoying this.

  He risked another glance over his shoulder and was panic-stricken to see the police cars had circled round and were back in pursuit.

  Looking forward again, the group were hunched over their handlebars, trying to get as much speed out of the mopeds as they could.

  Jack frowned. What were they –

  Suddenly they shot across a main road, diving between traffic.

  Jack screamed, but it was too late – he braced himself as he shot past two cars, a van and a pickup truck.

  There was a horrendous smashing sound as metal crumpled and glass shattered. Brakes squealed as several cars slammed into the back of each other and spun off.

  Almost halfway across the road, Jack swerved, narrowly missing a minibus coming in the opposite direction. The moped’s wheels smoked as they tried to find grip and Jack just managed to slip past.

  He stopped, looked to his left and his eyes went wide.

  A lorry was coming straight for him.

  The driver slammed on the brakes and the lorry jack-knifed, the back end sliding out and swiping cars aside like toys.

  Jack opened the throttle on the moped, but he already knew it was too late – there wasn’t enough time to get out of the way.

  Instinctively he leapt off the back and lay flat on the ground, his arms over his head.

  Jack felt the oily breeze as the forty-ton lorry passed over him.

  He rolled on to his back and sat up – by some miracle he and the moped had stayed between the wheels.

  Jack stared as the lorry finally came to a halt and the reality of the situation hit him. He was alive. Somehow, some way, he was alive.

  His body shook uncontrollably.

  ‘Kid,’ a deep voice shouted.

  Jack looked across the road.

  The lead police car had slammed into a VW Beetle and one of the cops had climbed out and was making his way around the debris, heading towards Jack.

  Without stopping to think, Jack leapt to his feet, picked up the moped and twisted the key in the ignition.

>   The engine spluttered and died.

  ‘Come on,’ he growled, adrenalin coursing through his veins.

  The cop shouted again and climbed over the bonnet of an old Mini – the little old lady behind the wheel stared with a look of disbelief.

  Jack tried the ignition again.

  Nothing.

  The cop was only a few metres away. He reached to his belt and pulled out a set of handcuffs as he picked his way over more debris.

  Jack tried the moped for a third time – the engine roared to life – sending a plume of blue smoke behind it.

  The policeman lunged for him, but Jack twisted the throttle hard and the cop’s fingertips slid over his coat.

  Jack aimed for another alley opposite, hunched over the handlebars and shot into the darkness, leaving a scene of utter carnage in his wake.

  • • •

  Back at the warehouse, and still shaking, Jack followed Skin up to the top deck of Talya’s bus.

  ‘You enjoy that?’ Skin asked Jack, with a stupid grin on his face.

  Jack rubbed the bruises on his arms. ‘Not even a little bit.’

  Skin laughed as they reached the upper deck. ‘You liked it, I think. Want to do it again, I think.’

  ‘What have I told you about “thinking”?’ Talya was at a writing desk with a laptop open. She looked over as they approached. ‘Well?’ she asked Jack. ‘Is it done or what?’

  ‘Yeah, I think so.’

  Talya frowned. ‘You think so?’

  Jack scowled at Skin. ‘Because of him, I was under a huge amount of pressure.’ Jack looked at Talya again, fists balled. ‘Your army didn’t follow the plan I’d set out. They went storming in there like a bunch of –’

  ‘Good,’ Talya said. ‘That’s what I told them to do.’

  ‘You did what?’ Jack said, hardly believing what he was hearing. ‘But why? Why would you do that?’

  Talya turned her wheelchair to face him. ‘As much as I admire your softly-softly approach, Jack, it wasn’t the right thing to do in this particular situation.’

  Jack stared at her. ‘Yes, it was.’

  Talya waggled a finger. ‘No. The cops are now focusing on the shop itself, and they’ll be looking for a gang of kids that they’ll never find. And while they’re looking at all the mess my lot have caused –’

  ‘They’ll not realise someone’s done something sophisticated like hack the cash machine,’ Jack finished.

  Talya cracked a smile. ‘Exactly. You should join my crew, Jack. We could use someone with your skills.’ She held up a piece of paper. ‘Now, this is what you wanted. A deal’s a deal.’

  Jack took it from her, unfolded it and read.

  After a minute he nodded, stuffed the paper into his inside jacket pocket and went to leave.

  ‘Oh, Jack?’

  He turned back.

  ‘As soon as it’s safe, I’m going to send one of my boys to that cash machine, and if it doesn’t dish out a healthy amount of free dosh, I’ll –’

  ‘I know what you’ll do,’ Jack said. ‘You don’t have to keep threatening me.’

  Talya inclined her head. ‘I don’t have to, no, but I like to.’ She laughed and waved him off. ‘Be gone now, pretty boy.’

  As Jack descended the stairs he thought of Scarlett. One day he would make Talya pay for what she’d done to her.

  • • •

  Jack walked through the bunker’s airlock corridor, typed the code on the keypad and the door hissed open.

  Slink and Wren were sprawled out on the sofas, watching a film, and Obi was in his usual chair.

  They all looked over at Jack as he entered the room.

  ‘Where’ve you been?’ Slink said, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

  ‘I had a job to do. I’m back now. Time to focus again.’ Jack walked to the fridge, opened the door and removed a can of lemonade. He took several large gulps, trying to calm his nerves. That was the last near-death experience he ever wanted to experience. No more putting his life in danger. Or anyone else’s for that matter.

  He sighed.

  As if the Outlaws could ever avoid dangerous missions.

  He hurried over to Obi’s chair. ‘Have you found a place for Slink to do his practice climb?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Obi opened a map on the main screen and zoomed in. ‘I think this is a good place. What do you reckon?’

  Jack leant in. ‘What building is that?’

  Obi pulled an image taken from street level. ‘This one.’

  ‘The student tower in Spitalfields?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Why there?’ Jack said, sipping his lemonade.

  ‘They’re doing maintenance work.’ Obi brought up another image showing the top of the tower and a crane.

  ‘That looks a bit high,’ Jack said.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Slink said, standing up and stretching. ‘You should know by now I don’t care about heights.’

  ‘Even so,’ Jack said. ‘Use a harness, please.’

  Slink rolled his eyes. ‘You always spoil my fun, Jack.’

  ‘I try to. Yeah.’

  ‘I’ll call Jake,’ Obi said. ‘His mum is one of the cleaners at the building. I reckon he can get us in.’

  Jake was one of the moderators on the Cerberus forum and the Outlaws trusted him.

  ‘Thanks.’ Jack strode off down the corridor and walked into Charlie’s workshop.

  She was standing at one of the benches, working on a circuit board.

  ‘Hey,’ Jack said. He felt the piece of paper in his pocket and considered telling Charlie there and then – but the timing just wasn’t right. They couldn’t afford any distractions from their mission at that moment. Besides, he wanted to tell her in the proper way.

  Jack nodded at the circuit board. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘A backup plan. All the mechanics are done, just need to plug this board in.’ Charlie crossed her arms. ‘So, you gonna explain what’s going on with you then?’

  Jack sipped his lemonade and tried to look innocent. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You’ve not been acting right.’

  ‘How do you expect me to act?’

  ‘You know what I’m getting at,’ Charlie said. ‘What was your secret mission about?’

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ Jack said. ‘After we get the Facility over with.’

  Charlie considered him a moment. ‘Are you sure we’re not moving too fast?’

  ‘Charlie, I –’

  ‘Hear me out a minute,’ she said. ‘In fact, we really haven’t stopped for a breath since finding out about Proteus. Then we did a ton of missions, nearly got caught and killed like fifty times, went to America and back, not to mention this whole war with Hector that we’ve got going on.’

  ‘What are you getting at?’ Jack said. ‘What’s your point?’

  ‘You look worn out, Jack. We all are.’ Charlie went to say something else, hesitated, glanced away a moment then looked at him again. ‘We need a holiday or something.’

  ‘A holiday? The five of us?’ Jack chuckled. ‘What are you thinking? A caravan down in Devon somewhere? Oh, I know, we could go fishing in the Cotswolds.’

  Charlie frowned. ‘Jack.’

  ‘Sorry. I know what you’re saying, but we have to keep going. It’s not the right time to stop. We can’t let Hector get that weapon.’

  ‘Will it ever be the right time to stop?’

  Wren appeared at the door. She held a tablet up to Jack. ‘It’s Cloud.’

  Jack took it from her, rested it on the bench and hit the Answer button.

  ‘I need to make this quick,’ Cloud whispered. She glanced over her shoulder then looked back at the camera. ‘How are you getting on with the mission?’

  ‘We’re close,’ Jack said.

  ‘How close?’

  ‘We’re almost ready,’ he said. ‘Why? Is something wrong?’

  ‘Hector is close too. He’s just putting the finishing touches to his plan. He has a band
of ten mercenaries ready to storm the place.’

  ‘He must know that won’t work.’

  ‘Don’t be too sure,’ Cloud said. ‘I’ve seen his dad use the brute force approach a few times. Threatening people’s lives is second nature to the Del Sarto family. They’ll get in all right.’

  ‘Is he still planning on going in at midnight tomorrow?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘He’s going tonight – just before dawn.’

  Jack’s eyes widened. ‘Are you serious?’

  Cloud nodded.

  Jack let out a slow breath. ‘Fine. We’ll go a few hours before him.’

  ‘Jack,’ Charlie hissed, ‘we’re not ready.’

  He held up a hand. ‘Let us know if anything changes,’ he said to Cloud.

  She nodded and the screen went black.

  Jack straightened up and looked at Charlie and Wren. ‘Get ready. We’re leaving here in ten minutes.’

  ‘Jack,’ Charlie said, getting to her feet too, ‘I really don’t like this. It feels like a trap. We can’t trust Cloud.’

  ‘We don’t need to trust her,’ Jack said. ‘We just need the information she has.’

  ‘I still think –’

  ‘We’ve come too far,’ Jack said, rubbing his temples and trying to ease the throbbing headache. ‘We get this over with tonight and we’re done with Hector.’ He turned back to Wren. ‘Like I said – ten minutes and we go.’

  ‘I thought you wanted Slink to practise the climb?’ Wren said.

  ‘I still do. We’ll go do that on the way.’ Before either of them could answer, Jack marched from the room.

  • • •

  It was late by the time Jack, Charlie, Obi, Slink and Wren reached Frying Pan Alley in Spitalfields.

  Jack stared at the glass tower and the crane perched on its roof. Now he was up close, he was even less sure about this idea, but they didn’t have time to find another practice location.

  Jack turned to Charlie and Obi. ‘Can you two wait here and keep an eye out, please?’

  They nodded and settled themselves on a nearby bench.

  Jack, Slink and Wren hurried over to the building’s entrance.

  ‘Where is he?’ Slink said.

  Jack pointed through the glass. ‘There.’