Shockwave

by Peter Jay Black

  ‘How many?’

  ‘Not sure.’ The girl sniffed. ‘I reckon at least two.’

  ‘At least two?’ Talya said, keeping her voice low and measured. ‘If you’re not sure, why d’you think there’s at least two in there then?’

  The girl visibly tensed. ‘I didn’t get a good look.’ She pointed down the hallway. ‘We were searching rooms. I was about to check this one when the door slammed shut and they locked it from the inside.’ She glanced uneasily at Skin. ‘I saw two of them – one big guy, and a fat bloke sitting in a chair, facing away from the door.’

  Jack looked at Charlie. Neither of them needed to say anything.

  ‘There’s only two geezers in there?’ Talya said to Jack. ‘Strange.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘Where are the others? Where’s Hector?’

  ‘No idea.’ Jack glanced back down the hallway. ‘Tell your army to search the building again.’

  Talya stared at him. ‘There had better be a juicy set of mission plans in there, Jack. Otherwise I’m killing all of ya, right here and now. Understood?’

  Jack nodded.

  Talya waved off the girl, then nodded at Skin. ‘Break the door down.’

  ‘No,’ Jack said, grabbing Skin’s arm.

  Skin glared at him. ‘Get off me before I headbutt ya.’

  ‘But we don’t know what’s on the other side of the door,’ Jack persisted. ‘There could be ten of them in there for all we know, each one armed.’ He gestured at the girl. ‘She only saw two men, but there could be more in there. We don’t know for sure that they’re alone.’

  ‘I don’t care about weapons.’ Talya was accustomed to using the brute force method in all her plans.

  ‘What do you think will happen if you go storming in there?’ Jack said. ‘They’ll destroy the plans.’

  This caused a flicker of hesitation to cross Talya’s face.

  Jack remained silent, watching her.

  Talya looked at the door for a long moment, then her eyes slowly moved back to him. ‘What do you suggest then?’

  Jack stared at the ceiling and quickly thought it through, visualising the layout of the Millbarn building.

  ‘OK,’ he said in a hushed voice, looking at Talya again. ‘I do have an idea.’

  Talya leant forward in her chair. ‘Spill it.’

  Jack swallowed. The trick that would get Obi out of that room rested on the hope that Hector’s men had indeed tapped into the building’s CCTV cameras and were watching them right at that very moment. In fact, he’d bet that was the reason they wouldn’t answer the door.

  Jack glanced around at all the kids cramming the hallway and offices then looked back at Talya. ‘Right. I need this whole floor empty. Send your gang to the floor above and tell them to pretend to search the rooms.’

  Talya’s eyes narrowed to slits. ‘And why would I do that?’

  Jack lowered his voice further. ‘Because we need them to know there’s no one on this level.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Trust me,’ Jack said.

  Talya snorted. ‘Not a chance. You think I’m stupid? I’m not falling for your cons any more, Jack. You tell me why first. Then I’ll decide if I agree to it or not.’

  ‘They’re watching the security cameras.’ Jack nodded at one over his shoulder. ‘They’ll be able to see us right now.’

  ‘So what?’

  ‘We need them to see everyone leave,’ Jack said, trying to control his temper – Talya was beginning to really irritate him. ‘Then they’ll feel safe enough to come out when we give them a good reason to.’ He leant forward until his face was a couple of millimetres from hers and whispered, ‘We need them to change offices.’

  Talya stared at him for a long moment, then her eyes widened. ‘That’s quite clever.’ She grinned, revealing crooked teeth.

  Jack straightened up. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘All right, Jack, we’ll try it your way. But . . .’ Talya pointed a finger at him, ‘you make a single false step, and I’ll ’ave you hung out of a window. Understood?’ She looked at Skin. ‘Give him whatever he wants.’

  Skin’s eyes narrowed, but, as always, he obviously knew better than to argue with her.

  Jack turned to Charlie. ‘Can you find something to lock the doors with?’

  Charlie glanced at the locks. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good,’ Jack said. ‘Do it.’

  Charlie entered a couple of offices and returned a few minutes later with several paper clips, a small knife and a letter opener.

  Jack looked between her and Skin. ‘Follow me.’

  He walked down the corridor and asked Charlie to lock each of the doors after he checked inside the offices. Jack also made sure that several kids stood between her and the security cameras, blocking the view of what Charlie was doing.

  Jack finally found an office that was suitable for their needs – the CCTV camera at the end of the hall had a clear view inside it. Once Charlie had finished locking every other door in the hallway, they went in.

  There was a group of kids playing a game on a computer – a MMORPG called Sky Attack!, involving aliens and lots of guns.

  ‘We need this place emptied,’ Jack said to Skin.

  For a moment, Skin looked like he was going to refuse to help, but he turned to the room and said, ‘Everyone out.’

  The kids looked up at him.

  ‘Now,’ he shouted.

  The kids jumped to their feet and filed from the room.

  Once it was empty, Jack could see that on the right-hand wall there was a large bookcase next to a door that led to a kitchenette.

  Jack examined the door’s hinges. ‘We need to unscrew these.’

  ‘JP, get ’ere,’ Skin shouted into the hallway.

  Five seconds later, a kid with red hair and freckles walked into the office. He was wearing a large backpack that a hiker or camper might use. ‘What?’

  Skin spun him around, rummaged through the backpack then pulled out a crowbar.

  Jack thought about stopping him, but decided that Skin’s way was probably quicker than trying to unscrew each hinge.

  There was a cracking of wood as Skin set to work and in under a minute he was done. He returned the crowbar to JP’s bag and sent him away.

  ‘Thanks.’ Jack coughed and winced.

  Skin scowled at him.

  Jack stepped to the bookcase next to the door and started removing books from the lower shelves and putting them on higher ones.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Skin asked, with a look of confusion.

  Jack reached up and rocked the bookcase backwards and forwards. Satisfied it was now top-heavy, he stepped past Skin, back into the hallway and over to Talya.

  ‘We’re ready.’ He then explained what he wanted Talya’s army to do next.

  Talya nodded. ‘For your sake, Jack, I hope this works.’

  ‘Me too.’

  Together, they returned to the office.

  Jack lifted the kitchenette door aside, then he turned back to Talya. ‘Make sure everyone leaves at the same time. That way, Hector’s men will think Charlie and I have left too.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I get it.’ Talya looked over at Skin. ‘Tell everyone that when we leave the office, they all get out of ’ere at the same time, just like Jack says – clear the entire floor. Then go upstairs and search it. Every room. Right?’

  ‘And make sure you leave a few people in the exit stairwell on both the floor above and below,’ Jack said. ‘So Hector’s men don’t slip past us.’

  Skin glared at him, then spun around and marched into the corridor to give the orders.

  ‘Get in here, you two,’ Talya said to a couple of kids standing just outside the door. One was tall and wearing a baseball cap; the other had bright blue hair.

  They entered the office and Talya’s gaze moved back to Jack. ‘What about the lifts?’

  ‘You go up a floor in the first one,’ Jack said. ‘Then jam the door open so it’s stuck up there. Once we give the all-clear
, you can come back down in another lift. The stairs and lifts will be covered by your people, so there’s no escape.’ He turned to Charlie. ‘Please disable the second lift,’ he said with a hard look, hoping she understood his meaning.

  Charlie nodded and hurried from the office.

  Skin returned. ‘Everyone’s ready an’ knows what to do.’

  ‘You’ll need weapons,’ Talya said to Jack. She reached down the side of her chair, pulled out two black cans and handed them to him.

  ‘Pepper spray?’ Jack’s eyebrows lifted. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised that Talya had them hidden on her or not.

  Talya grinned. ‘You can never be too careful, can ya?’

  Charlie returned and Jack stepped into the kitchenette with her.

  ‘Put the bookcase in front of the doorway,’ he said to Skin.

  ‘You’d better get me those plans, Jack,’ Talya warned.

  Jack returned her cold stare as Skin and the other two kids slid the bookcase in front of the door frame. Then it all went quiet.

  Jack handed a can of pepper spray to Charlie.

  ‘Wanna explain what’s going on then?’ she said.

  ‘Hector’s not in that office with Obi.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I know that,’ Charlie said. ‘And I think Talya knows that too.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter if she does,’ Jack said, keeping his voice low. ‘All Talya is after is mission plans.’

  ‘But what if there are loads of Hector’s men in there?’

  ‘I think it’s just Monday.’

  ‘How can you be so sure?’

  ‘I’m not. But remember when we first scoped out that room, back on the Richard Hardy mission?’

  Charlie nodded.

  ‘The office is fairly small and when the door’s open you have a clear view of the entire room. I’m guessing that girl would’ve seen if anyone else was in there.’

  ‘So, what’s going on now?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘One of Talya’s gang is going to set a small fire and shove it under the door.’

  Charlie’s mouth dropped open. ‘What?’

  ‘It’s OK.’ Jack pointed above their heads to the sprinkler. ‘There’s one in each room. I just need Monday to change offices to this one.’

  Jack gestured for the walkie-talkie. She handed it to him and Jack brought Slink up to speed with what he wanted to happen.

  ‘That wasn’t part of the original mission,’ Slink said when he’d finished.

  ‘Since when have we ever been able to stick to Plan A?’ Jack asked him.

  ‘Yeah,’ Slink said. ‘Actually, that’s a really good point. Maybe when you next come up with mission ideas, you should make your first plan Plan B and your second one Plan A. That way we don’t have to keep changing mid-mission, like a bunch of idiots.’ He sneezed, as if adding an exclamation mark to his suggestion.

  ‘I’ll take that on board,’ Jack muttered, rolling his eyes at Charlie as she grinned at him. ‘So,’ Jack continued in a low voice, ‘do you understand what you need to do?’

  ‘Of course,’ Slink said.

  ‘And what do you see on the cameras?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Talya’s doing like you said – she’s up on the next floor and has jammed open the lift. The only other way out of there is the stairs.’

  ‘Good,’ Jack said.

  For once, Talya was doing something the way he wanted it done.

  ‘And some little kid with long blond hair has started a fire. He’s running back to the others.’

  Jack held his breath.

  ‘Well,’ Charlie said, leaning against a countertop. ‘If that doesn’t make Monday panic, nothing will.’

  ‘What’s happening now?’ Jack asked Slink.

  ‘No movement on your floor yet. Wait,’ he said. ‘Now there is – the door just opened.’

  ‘Who is it?’

  There was a short pause. ‘Monday. And he’s got Obi tied to an office chair. Gagged too.’

  Jack glanced at Charlie and fought the urge to break out of the room and rescue Obi now. Any false moves and the mission could end in disaster.

  ‘Anyone else?’ he asked.

  ‘Can’t see anyone,’ Slink said.

  Jack let out a breath.

  ‘Monday’s stamping out the flames. There’s a lot of smoke. Wait. Hold on. Monday’s coming your way. He’s dragging Obi with him and checking doors. They’re all locked.’

  A few seconds later, Jack heard the office door open.

  ‘Monday’s going in,’ Slink said.

  ‘With Obi?’

  ‘He’s left Obi by the door and is checking out the office.’

  Jack grabbed the pepper spray. ‘Ready?’ he whispered to Charlie.

  She nodded, held up her can and braced herself.

  Jack shouldered the bookcase, sending it crashing into the room.

  Monday spun to face them, but Charlie and Jack raised their cans high and sprayed him in the face. Monday staggered backwards and fell over the desk.

  Jack continued forwards, following him with the spray, unleashing the can’s contents into his face. Monday’s arms flailed about and he groaned as his eyes streamed.

  ‘Quick,’ Jack shouted, throwing the can aside. He gripped the back of Obi’s chair and dragged him into the hallway.

  Charlie threw her own can at Monday then ran after Jack and slammed the door shut.

  Together they dragged Obi up the hallway and into the second lift.

  Charlie reached behind the control panel and joined two wires, and the lights came back on.

  ‘Ground floor,’ Jack said.

  She hit the button and the doors closed.

  They then hurried to untie Obi.

  Obi flexed his neck and arms. ‘Thought you were never gonna rescue me.’ His voice came out as a croaky whisper and he looked deathly pale.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Jack said.

  ‘No. Feel horrible.’

  ‘We do too,’ Jack said. ‘Where’s Connor?’

  Obi rubbed his wrists. ‘He left about an hour ago.’

  Jack swore to himself. One of them should’ve been watching the building.

  But there was no time for ‘what ifs’. They needed to get out before Talya caught up with them.

  The lift doors opened and Jack helped Obi to his feet.

  ‘Time to wrap this up,’ Jack said.

  Jack, Charlie and Obi stepped out into the lobby to find Slink and Wren were waiting for them.

  ‘We’ve got a slight problem,’ Slink said. ‘We couldn’t follow your plan exactly.’

  Jack’s stomach sank. ‘Why not?’

  ‘The security computer has just locked us out,’ Slink said. ‘It detected a fire and went into emergency mode. It needs an administrator password.’

  Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘I can deal with it. Meet me outside.’

  They all hesitated.

  Jack lowered his hand. ‘Go.’

  Slink, Obi and Wren ran for the main doors.

  Charlie stayed put.

  ‘I said go,’ Jack told her. ‘Leave.’

  ‘Are you sure? We can just leg it.’

  Jack glanced back at the stairs as he heard hundreds of feet running down them. ‘It’s the only way. Otherwise she’ll keep coming after us.’

  Charlie gave him a curt nod. ‘Try and get out in one piece.’

  She ran after the others through the main doors.

  Jack turned on his heels, sprinted down the corridor and burst into the security room. He dropped into the seat and his eyes flittered over the screens.

  He could see Talya’s army running down the stairs, each with a look of pure rage on their face.

  Jack had seconds to solve this problem.

  He swore and looked at the password box on the main screen. There just wasn’t enough time to hack it.

  Jack slammed his fists on to the desk. ‘Think.’ He stared at the blinking cursor. ‘Think,’ he growled.

  It came to him i
n a flash. If the main computer failed, the building’s security would go into full automatic lockdown.

  He glanced at Talya’s gang still sprinting down the stairs and hoped the programmed time delay wouldn’t last too long.

  Not wasting a microsecond more, Jack reached around the back of the main security computer, grabbed the power cable and yanked it out.

  A high-pitched ringing blared out from the alarm box on the wall.

  Jack leapt to his feet, burst into the corridor and ran into the foyer, just as Talya wheeled herself out of one of the lifts, with Skin close behind.

  Skin’s eyes locked on to Jack and he squeezed past her. ‘I’m gonna kill him.’

  Jack glanced to his left.

  Steel shutters were rolling down the outside of the Millbarn building. At the same time, hundreds of Talya’s gang ran down the stairs and erupted into the foyer.

  Head low, Jack sprinted towards the main doors.

  Talya screamed, ‘Jack!’

  Skin roared and ran after Jack, with the gang surging behind him.

  Jack hit the floor, slid across the shattered glass and squeezed under the steel shutters just in time.

  He heard hundreds of bodies slam into the other side.

  Jack rolled on to his back and looked up, breathing heavily, wincing from the pain in his chest.

  ‘Er, Jack,’ Slink called.

  He looked over.

  Slink pointed.

  Further down the road – and marching towards them – were six men in army uniform carrying automatic weapons.

  Jack groaned. ‘They’re early.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  Charlie helped Jack to his feet and brushed glass from his clothes. ‘What do you mean, they’re early?’

  The six army men continued marching towards the Outlaws. In the distance, what seemed like a thousand blue flashing lights lit up the sky and their sirens grew louder with every passing moment.

  ‘What have you done now?’ Slink said.

  ‘Not me,’ Jack said. ‘Noble.’ He gestured at the army men. ‘I asked him to call them.’

  ‘Why on Earth would you do that?’ Charlie asked, her eyes wide.

  Jack motioned for Obi and Wren to stay close. ‘To collect our friends inside.’ Jack took a step forward and held up his hands. ‘Officers, there’s been a break-in,’ he called, trying to look innocent. ‘We’ll get out of your way.’