Shockwave

by Peter Jay Black

  ‘No,’ Jack said, increasing his stride the best he could. ‘But what’s the one place in London that has everything we need, and where we don’t technically have to steal a thing?’

  Charlie glanced back at Obi and the other Outlaws and shrugged. ‘As long as it’s somewhere warm, I don’t care.’

  ‘Come on,’ Jack said. ‘I’ll show you.’

  The five Outlaws stood across the road from Baker Street Underground station.

  There was a steel grille door covering the entrance.

  Jack looked left and right. All the buildings were in darkness and only the street lamps were on. It was late at night and, for once, there were no other sounds – no sirens or alarms, no shouts.

  Jack wondered if the army had rounded up as many people as they could and had now left London. Or maybe the remaining Londoners were too frightened to leave their homes.

  Jack was also curious as to how long the power would stay on. With no employees manning the power stations, there was no one to control them. How long could they run on their own? Without power, the Outlaws’ next task would be near impossible.

  ‘I hate to break it to ya, Jack,’ Slink said, gesturing across the road at Baker Street station’s entrance, ‘but I’m pretty sure the trains aren’t running at the moment.’

  Jack nodded and leant against a lamp post. ‘You could be right.’ He coughed and rubbed his chest. ‘But the station isn’t our target.’ He pointed two doors down. ‘That is.’

  All eyes moved to where Jack indicated, and he watched as smiles spread across each of their faces.

  Charlie nudged Jack’s arm. ‘That’s really clever.’

  ‘I know,’ Jack said.

  Charlie rolled her eyes. ‘Nice to see Captain Modest is still with us.’

  Obi sneezed, making them all jump. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Wren said. ‘We’re going to break into the lost property office? How? We don’t have tools.’

  She was right – it too was secured with steel shutters.

  ‘We’ll get in.’ Jack turned to Charlie and handed her Abdul’s phone. ‘Call Raze, please, and have him bring the others here urgently. Tell them to load up food and as many supplies as they can carry from the cavern.’

  ‘Sure.’ Charlie turned away and pressed the phone to her ear.

  Next, Jack looked at Obi, Slink and Wren. Under the artificial street lighting, they seemed paler than ever and their eyes had sunk into their heads. There was no doubt about it – they were looking more and more like zombies. If Jack didn’t hurry up and get this mission sorted out soon, none of them would be strong enough to continue.

  ‘Raze, Domino, Ryan and Wilf are on their way,’ Charlie said, hanging up and returning to the group.

  ‘Good. Come on.’

  The five Outlaws hurried down the road and stopped outside a wrought-iron gate sandwiched between two buildings.

  Slink slapped his hands together. ‘Easy peasy lemon squeezy.’ He leapt up, grabbed the top of the gate and froze.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Can’t. Do. It,’ Slink grunted. ‘No strength left.’ He turned his head to look at them. ‘Help me then.’

  Jack and Charlie rushed forward, took Slink’s legs and pushed him up and over the top of the gate.

  Once on the other side, Slink hit the ground hard and staggered backwards, almost losing his balance.

  Jack cringed. This wasn’t a good sign.

  Slink swore, straightened up and blew out a puff of air. ‘Stupid virus,’ he grumbled.

  He unbolted the gate and let the others through.

  They made their way down the narrow walkway and came out at the back of the buildings. Straight in front of them were several stationary trains on the tracks.

  It seemed so strange to Jack to see them there, quiet, like metal corpses – he was used to the Underground running practically all night and day. With everywhere silent and still, it didn’t feel like London at all.

  The Outlaws kept to the right-hand side of the tracks and stopped outside the rear exit of the lost property office.

  Charlie examined the door, but there was no handle or lock. ‘There’s no simple way to get through this.’

  ‘We don’t need to go that way,’ Jack said, pointing at a small window at their feet. ‘That’s the basement. That’s our target.’

  ‘Way ahead of you.’ Slink had a metal pole in his hands.

  ‘Where did you get that?’ Wren asked.

  Slink indicated a pile of scrap metal, broken pallets and rubbish over his shoulder. And, before anyone could stop him, he thrust the pole at the window, punching a hole straight through the glass.

  Slink then pulled back and rammed the pole forward again, enlarging the hole until it was ten centimetres in diameter. Then he knelt down, reached through and undid the clasp on the inside.

  Slink straightened up, threw the pole away and stared at the window. ‘Well, I only know of one person who can fit through that gap.’

  They all turned to Wren.

  She frowned and peered through the window opening. ‘It’s dark in there.’

  ‘Since when have you ever been scared of anything?’ Obi said.

  ‘Here you are.’ Jack handed her Charlie’s pocket torch.

  She swallowed. ‘Fine.’

  Obi and Slink took an arm each and helped Wren sit down, then she swung her legs inside and wriggled through the window.

  Obi called after her, ‘You all right in there?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m OK.’ Wren flicked the torch on and shone it around the room.

  ‘The back door’s probably in a corridor,’ Jack said. ‘Somewhere to your right.’

  ‘I’ll find it,’ Wren grumbled. She banged into a table. ‘Ow,’ she muttered under her breath as she disappeared from view.

  A minute later, and much to everyone’s relief, the back door opened and Wren stuck her head out.

  ‘This place is really weird, I hope you know that.’

  Jack ushered everyone through.

  Once they were safely inside, he shut the door, found a light switch and flicked it on.

  They were now standing in a hallway with white walls that reminded Jack of an old-fashioned hospital. Down the left-hand side stood several steel cages on wheels.

  For a second, Jack imagined locking Hector in one of them and shoving him down a very steep hill. He shook himself back to reality, but wouldn’t completely dismiss the idea if the opportunity arose.

  Ahead was a set of double doors. They stepped through them and into a large room with shelves and racks crammed full of objects.

  There was everything from wallets, keys, purses, handbags, glasses, school bags and suitcases, to buggies, mobile phones, tablets, laptops and trainers. There was even a grandfather clock and next to it was a bucket filled with false teeth.

  The five Outlaws stared at it all.

  ‘Treasure,’ Wren breathed.

  ‘Look at this place,’ Obi said, his eyes bulging. ‘There must be hundreds of thousands of things in here.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Jack said. ‘All the stuff people lose on trains and buses around London.’ He strode between the shelves, trying to take it all in.

  There were road signs, toys, a knight’s helmet, clocks, watches, samurai swords, gas masks, backpacks and even several radio-controlled cars complete with transmitters. Every item had a paper tag fixed to it with an identification number, description and a location.

  Jack returned to Charlie. ‘So, what do you think?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Would you feel bad using some of this stuff to make your gadgets?’

  Charlie shook her head. ‘Nope.’

  ‘Good.’ Jack walked from the storeroom and the others followed him into a sorting office packed with desks and long grey benches. In the corner of the room was a metal spiral chute that led from the floor above.

  ‘Bagsy I get a go on the slide first,’ Slink said.


  ‘I don’t think it’s safe for people,’ Obi said. ‘They must send lost stuff down it from upstairs.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Slink scratched his chin. ‘We’ll test it out with Wren first then.’

  She gave him a playful punch on the arm.

  ‘Ouch.’ Slink rubbed his arm. ‘Careful, I’m feeling delicate.’

  ‘We all are.’ Jack dropped into a seat in front of a monitor and switched on the computer. He checked it over. ‘There’s no internet here, but they do have every single item catalogued, which is going to be handy.’

  Abdul’s phone beeped and Charlie looked at the display. ‘The others are here.’

  She strode from the room and returned a few moments later with Raze, Domino, Wilf and Ryan. They each carried backpacks full to bursting.

  ‘This place is cool,’ Ryan said, unzipping his bag and pulling out crisps, bread, cheese and biscuits.

  Raze, Wilf and Domino did the same, and when they were done, they had a mountain of food and drink in front of them.

  Raze handed everyone cans of lemonade and looked about. ‘Is this your new base then?’

  ‘For the time being,’ Jack said. He nodded at the supplies. ‘Thanks for bringing all this.’

  ‘Any time.’ Domino grinned, but the smile slipped from her face as she noticed the Outlaws’ haggard faces.

  As everyone tucked in, Jack grabbed a pen and notepad and started writing. When he was done, he showed it to Charlie. ‘Here’s a list of gadgets I think we’re going to need for this mission.’

  She took it from him and her eyebrows knitted together as she read. ‘Jack, I don’t see how any of this will help us break in, or even what we want to break in for. Hector’s not just going to hand the antidote over and stand aside.’

  ‘You remember Noble gave me that?’ Jack nodded at Abdul’s phone. ‘Said that he’d put his own phone number in the contacts list?’

  Charlie cleared her throat. ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Well, I think he not only sacrificed himself to draw those cops away from us, but he wanted to get caught.’

  ‘Why?’ Charlie said. ‘Why would Noble do that?’

  ‘Think about it. Noble is now with the cops or the army or whoever. Right?’

  She nodded.

  ‘I think he wants us to get a confession out of Hector,’ Jack said.

  Charlie stared a moment, then her eyes widened, as she seemed to understand. She gestured to the phone. ‘You’re saying we need to have that on us, with a call in progress to Noble, and get Hector to spill his guts?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Oh. That should be easy then,’ Charlie said in a sarcastic tone. She looked at the list again. ‘I hope you’ve got a good plan, Jack. I really could do with a bit of a lie-down when this is all over.’

  ‘I hope so too.’ Jack gritted his teeth. He was determined to bring Hector and his father down. No messing about this time – this was where it ended, one way or another.

  ‘A cylinder on a miniature parachute and an oxygen tank fixed inside a car . . .’ Charlie looked up at him. ‘How are they going to help us break into Buckingham Palace? Won’t it have some serious security?’

  Jack smiled. ‘I’ll explain it properly later, but it’s going to involve you doing some expert driving. Hector will have taken care of the security at the palace already. What we’re going to have problems with is –’

  ‘His hired goons,’ Charlie finished.

  ‘Exactly right. They’ll be armed and we’ll be pretty much the only thing in London that’s moving.’ Jack offered her a weak smile. ‘So,’ he said, nodding at the list. ‘How long d’you think it’ll take you to build all of that?’

  Charlie pursed her lips a moment then said, ‘If everyone helps me, I dunno, twelve hours, maybe less?’

  ‘Can we aim for less, please?’ Jack asked with half a forced smile. He wasn’t sure if any of them had much time left in them.

  Charlie sighed. ‘I’ll do my best.’

  ‘You always do.’ Jack faced the computer and cracked his knuckles. ‘Let’s get started.’

  Charlie sketched designs for the gadgets and once she’d worked out what items she needed to make them, Jack searched the lost property database. When he had an item’s location, he jotted it down on a piece of paper and handed it to one of the others, who hunted it down.

  Pretty soon they were all working well together.

  ‘This looks good,’ Charlie said, eyeing a Bluetooth headset Ryan had just handed to her. ‘We’ll need to find a charger for it.’

  Jack scanned the list. ‘Try this,’ he said, writing down a number and passing it to Ryan.

  Ryan jogged off and was replaced by Wren. She gave Charlie a pair of lenses encased in brass with a handle to one side.

  Charlie frowned at them. ‘Er, why do I need these?’

  Wren held up the piece of paper Jack had given her. ‘Mini binoculars. Although they weren’t where you said they were, Jack.’

  Slink laughed.

  Wren whirled around to face him and put her hands on her hips. ‘What?’

  ‘Those aren’t binoculars, you bozo,’ Slink said with a raspy laugh. ‘They’re opera glasses.’

  ‘Keep laughing at her,’ Charlie warned him, ‘and when we get out of this mess, I’ll take you to the ballet.’

  Slink fell instantly silent. ‘I’m not watching people prance about in tights.’ He turned in a circle. ‘Oh, la-di-da.’

  Charlie rolled her eyes.

  ‘Wait a minute, Slink,’ Jack said. ‘You watch those superhero movies and pretty much all those guys wear tights.’

  Slink’s face dropped and now it was Wren who was laughing.

  Jack handed her another piece of paper. ‘Try this location instead,’ he said. ‘And grab us two pairs, please.’

  Wren took the paper from him, poked her tongue out at Slink and scurried off.

  Slink, Raze and Wilf handed Charlie several backpacks each.

  ‘These look perfect,’ she said, setting them on the floor by her feet.

  Jack passed the last piece of paper to Raze. ‘Mobile phones.’

  ‘We need ones with plenty of charge left in the battery,’ Charlie added.

  ‘On it.’ Raze hurried off.

  Charlie glanced around. She now had a mountain of stuff all around her and she consulted her drawings. ‘I think this should pretty much do it, Jack.’

  Jack stood and stretched. ‘Great. I need to do a recon mission of Buckingham Palace. Slink, can you come with me?’

  ‘No worries.’

  They left the room and as they strode down the corridor, Wren reappeared with two pairs of binoculars.

  Jack took them from her. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ she asked.

  ‘Recon mission. Please help Charlie build those gadgets. We shouldn’t be too long.’

  ‘Be careful,’ Wren said.

  ‘Aren’t we always?’ Slink said as they walked towards the exit.

  ‘No, actually. You’re never careful.’

  Thirty minutes later, Jack and Slink were standing down the road from Buckingham Palace.

  Jack held Slink back. ‘Don’t get too close,’ he warned. ‘We don’t want them seeing us.’

  They stepped to the trunk of the nearest tree, peered round and raised the binoculars to their eyes.

  ‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing, Jack?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  On the roof of the palace were several armed men. Three were walking slowly around the edge, with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders, while two men were lying down holding sniper rifles.

  ‘What d’you reckon the range is on those?’ Slink asked.

  ‘Put it this way,’ Jack said. ‘We’re close enough to get shot.’

  They glanced at each other and slowly backed away.

  Slink and Jack were careful to stay out of sight of the snipers as they circled around the palace, peering between buildings. Every now and again, vans and lorries
would come and go.

  ‘You reckon Hector’s looting the place?’ Slink asked.

  Jack watched one van head in the direction of the Thames and nodded. His bet was on Hector loading up a ship somewhere nearby – that was the only way he could escape London. Knowing Hector, he would’ve made sure there was an escape plan in place, especially as he’d gone to all this trouble.

  The Outlaws needed to move fast. Who knew when Hector and his father planned to leave?

  Jack looked back at Buckingham Palace.

  Hector’s men were focused mainly on the front of the building, where they obviously thought they were most vulnerable.

  That left the palace gardens. The only problem was, the grounds were surrounded by a ten-foot-high brick wall topped with metal spikes, razor wire and barbed wire for another few feet beyond that.

  As they stood across the road from the back of the palace in Grosvenor Place, Jack’s imagination clicked into high gear. He thought of a giant catapult flinging the Urban Outlaws over the wall, one by one, to land safely on the palace lawn.

  Yeah, right, he thought.

  ‘Jack,’ Slink hissed, nudging him.

  ‘What?’

  Slink pointed at several cameras mounted on a pole on the other side of the wall. Because of the trees behind them, they hadn’t been so easy to spot.

  Jack nodded. ‘Bit of a problem.’

  Slink looked at him. ‘You’ve got this though, right?’

  Jack sighed. ‘I hope so.’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  By the time Jack and Slink returned to Baker Street’s lost property office, Charlie and the others were stuck into the gadget-building operation.

  Charlie had the back of a mobile phone open and was using a soldering iron to modify components, while Obi, Wren and Ryan were cutting and sewing bits of fabric. Raze, Wilf and Domino were also busy, stripping lengths of wire and fixing connectors to the ends.

  Jack couldn’t help but smile. ‘Now this is teamwork, Charlie.’

  ‘If we ever get out of all this mess,’ Charlie said, sniffing, ‘I might just use these guys for everything I make from now on. I’d get things done ten times quicker.’

  Wren held up her hands. Several fingers on each had plasters. ‘I don’t think I’m too great at sewing though.’