Shockwave

by Peter Jay Black

  ‘I’ll go get a blowtorch,’ Slink said. ‘Maybe you’ll be better at metalworking.’

  ‘No.’ Charlie glanced up. ‘Let’s keep Wren’s activities to ones that don’t involve flammable materials.’

  Wren coughed. ‘What are you trying to say?’

  Charlie gestured to the chair next to her. ‘Sit here, Slink. Now you’re back, you can help me with this.’

  ‘Where’s Abdul’s phone?’ Jack asked.

  Charlie pointed to a bench across the room. ‘Charging.’

  Jack went over to the socket, unplugged the phone and left the room with it.

  He walked down the corridor, found a small office and sat behind the desk.

  Jack rubbed his eyes. He felt dizzy for a moment and had the urge to never get up again. He knew that pretty soon the virus would stop him altogether.

  Just a few more hours, he thought. In a few hours, it would be over and he could sleep all he wanted.

  Jack blinked a few times, trying to clear his grogginess, and focused on the phone’s display. The signal was weak, but he managed to get an internet connection, and after a minute or two of surfing, he found a basic plan for Buckingham Palace. As he’d expected, there were no detailed blueprints, but he didn’t need them – all he wanted was a rough outline of the room locations.

  Jack stared at the plan, wondering which of those rooms Hector was likely to be in. There was no way to tell where he was – or where he was storing the antidote.

  Jack also wondered if Hector would try to destroy the antidote if the Outlaws got too close. He doubted it though, because without the antidote Hector had no leverage over the government, nothing to blackmail them with. At the moment, he was likely to be dangling it in front of their faces like a carrot – ‘Get everyone out of London and I might let you have it.’

  Jack also imagined that the reason why the government hadn’t tried to raid Hector and take the antidote – besides Hector’s high-profile and valuable hiding place – was the possibility that they might cause Hector to destroy the antidote.

  If only they knew they didn’t need the antidote at all, that would change the balance of power. But that needed proof.

  Jack examined the plan of Buckingham Palace and pictured the snipers and armed guards patrolling the grounds. Most of Hector’s men were focused on protecting the front of the building, which left the rear of the premises their only chance.

  The Outlaws would need to get over the wall, run through the grounds – keeping clear of any guards – then find the nearest door and pick the lock. And that’s when a new idea struck him, but before Jack had time to think it through properly, Charlie entered the room.

  ‘Are you OK?’ she said.

  He nodded. ‘Yeah.’ Jack set the phone down. ‘You? How are the gadgets coming along?’

  ‘The gadgets are looking good,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure about the whole thing with the car though.’

  ‘Can’t you get one?’ Jack asked.

  ‘That’s not the problem,’ Charlie said. ‘There’s a car that’s perfect for the job back at my dad’s garage.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’

  ‘You need to tell me the whole plan.’

  Jack nodded. ‘I do. You’re right.’

  He then proceeded to tell her, explaining what the car was for and what he needed her to do.

  When he’d finished, Charlie’s eyebrows rose. ‘Are you serious? That’s really dangerous, Jack.’

  ‘Look,’ Jack said in a soft voice. ‘You don’t have to do it. I won’t make you.’

  ‘You never make us do anything,’ Charlie said. ‘We follow your plans because we want to.’ She smiled and it lit up her tired face. ‘And because none of us could come up with anything close to your ideas.’

  ‘Of course you could,’ Jack said. ‘Just try the first crazy thing that pops into your head. That’s pretty much what I do.’ He coughed and winced – his lungs felt like they were about to collapse.

  Charlie leant against the wall. ‘I’m exhausted.’

  Jack sat back in the chair. ‘We all are. We should be in a hospital, not running around after an egotistical kid and his equally crazy father.’

  Charlie half-smiled back at him. ‘At least we’re all ill,’ she said. ‘Outlaws go through everything together – as always, right?’

  ‘Right.’ Although Jack wished it was just him that was infected.

  Charlie seemed to notice his anxiety. ‘This mission won’t fail, will it?’

  Jack shook his head, even though he was never confident about missions and this one was definitely no exception. But the truth was that failure literally wasn’t an option on this mission. If they failed, they died. That simple. However, if they didn’t at least try, they’d be dead pretty soon anyway.

  ‘How much longer do you want to get everything done?’ he asked.

  Charlie glanced at the list. ‘I’d say about another couple of hours.’

  ‘Really?’ Jack said. ‘That’s great.’

  ‘Like I told ya – we’ve got an amazing team.’

  ‘Yes, we do.’

  Charlie walked to the door.

  ‘Charlie?’

  She turned back.

  ‘Thank you,’ Jack said.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For everything. You know, for being my friend.’

  Charlie stared at him. ‘You make it sound like we’re not coming back.’

  Jack didn’t respond to that because he had no words left to describe how he was feeling right at that moment.

  Charlie seemed to understand. ‘It’ll all be OK, Jack. You’ll see.’ She went to leave, but hesitated. ‘I think I can guess what most of these items are for now, but I’ve been meaning to ask you – that catapult? What’s the deal there?’

  ‘That’s purely for Hector’s benefit,’ Jack said.

  Charlie nodded. ‘Plan B. I always hate Plan B.’ She winked and left.

  Jack sat in silence for a minute, staring at the door, remembering all the good times with Charlie and the other Outlaws. Then he shook himself back to the present moment, and started to run through the plan again, improving and refining it. It would be all on him – he couldn’t mess any part of this up, otherwise his friends would die.

  True to her word – a couple of hours later, Charlie reappeared.

  ‘I think we’re ready,’ she said.

  Jack stood, followed her into the sorting room and looked around at them all.

  Raze, Wilf, Ryan and Domino seemed excited. But Charlie, Obi, Slink and Wren looked paler and more exhausted than ever.

  Jack took a deep breath. ‘I could give you this big speech about how this is going to be the toughest mission of our lives, and how important it is that we don’t fail, but you already know that.’ He paced back and forth. ‘You also know that Hector and his father need to be brought down once and for all. We can’t let them continue. It has to end.’ Jack looked between them all. ‘You already know that we need to find the antidote too.’ He took a deep, juddering breath and let it out slowly. ‘But what I don’t tell you enough is how much you guys mean to me. God only knows where I’d be – or who I’d be – without you lot. I love you all. You’re my family.’

  Wren ran over to Jack and threw her arms around his waist. ‘I love you too, Jack,’ she whispered.

  Charlie and Obi joined in the hug.

  Jack looked over at Slink and was surprised to see tears in his eyes.

  ‘What?’ Slink said. ‘I’m not crying.’ He sniffed and wiped them with his sleeve. ‘It’s the bug.’

  Obi frowned at him. ‘Get over here, you idiot.’

  ‘You lot are always so sentimental.’ Slink hesitated a moment longer, then joined them for a group hug.

  Jack closed his eyes and hoped his friends would get to see better days ahead.

  Jack, Obi, Slink and Wren stood in Grosvenor Place, facing the rear wall that bordered Buckingham Palace.

  ‘How are we all going
to get over that?’ Obi asked.

  ‘Not all of us need to. Right,’ Jack said, looking at them all in turn. ‘Let’s do this. But, please, everyone be careful and follow the plan exactly, OK?’

  They all gave a solemn nod and it was apparent that they were thinking the same thing he was – the mission was likely to fail. They were all so weak. They hardly had enough strength to stand upright, let alone carry out such an important mission.

  Jack’s stomach knotted as he thought about what was to come. He had run through the plan so many times in his head, but there was no way to eliminate the danger.

  Slink’s forlorn expression softened as he seemed to notice Jack’s anxiety. ‘Your plans are always completely crazy and dangerous – what’s so different now?’

  ‘The difference is that we have a virus and we’re not at our best,’ Jack said, voicing his fears.

  ‘Even your off days are way better than most people’s best ones,’ Obi said. ‘I know your plan will work, crazy or not.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Jack frowned. ‘I think.’ He turned back to face the wall. ‘Come on then, let’s get it over with.’

  They walked across the road and Jack checked the coast was clear again. London was lifeless and empty. Throughout its entire history, even during the World Wars, Jack doubted it had ever been so quiet.

  ‘We’re ready,’ he said into his headset.

  They watched as a car rounded the corner then mounted the kerb, close to the wall, and stopped in front of them.

  Charlie waved from behind the wheel.

  It was the only car left in her dad’s garage that still worked, but it was perfect for the job – an old jeep with a high roof.

  With a lot of effort, Jack and Slink climbed on to the bonnet then on to the roof of the car. Their heads barely came in line with the top of the palace wall’s brickwork.

  Wren opened the rear passenger door and started passing heavy blankets, duvets and yoga mats up to them. Jack and Slink placed them all over the first level of wall spikes.

  When they were sure they had enough padding, Wren passed up a set of bolt cutters. She then closed the car door and watched them in silence.

  Jack braced his back against the wall and made a stirrup with his hands. ‘Go on then.’

  Slink stepped up and straddled the blankets. ‘Quite comfortable, actually. I might have a nap.’

  ‘Don’t push your luck,’ Jack muttered. ‘Those spikes are sharp.’ He handed Slink the bolt cutters.

  Slink braced his feet, stood up, then cut each wire in the fence above him.

  Jack watched and listened. He wasn’t sure if the fence was alarmed and was relieved that, so far, no sirens had sounded.

  ‘Done,’ Slink said, passing the bolt cutters back and nodding at a security camera on a pole directly in front of him. ‘You’re right – I can make that.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Jack asked.

  Slink cricked his neck and flexed his arms. ‘I can do it. Just need to loosen up a bit.’

  ‘Take your time,’ Jack insisted, his chest tightening. If Slink missed, the entire mission would be over.

  Slink swung his legs over the spikes and blankets, and crouched down on top of the wall. He looked around to make sure no guards had spotted him, then took several deep breaths and kept his focus on the pole that was a couple of metres away.

  Jack clenched his fists. Please don’t miss. Please don’t miss, he thought. The fall would seriously injure Slink, if not worse.

  Suddenly, yet as if in slow motion, Slink leapt from the top of the wall, his hands outstretched.

  Jack’s breath caught and his eyes went wide as he watched Slink fly through the air.

  Slink hit the pole hard, and for a split second Jack thought he was going to fall, but he managed to wrap his legs around it and grab the camera mount.

  Jack relaxed. ‘Good work, mate.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Even Slink couldn’t hide his relief at having made it.

  Slink removed a screwdriver from his back pocket and, with trembling fingers, unscrewed the base of the camera.

  Jack slipped off his backpack and took out the length of cable Raze, Wild and Domino had worked on. ‘Here,’ he said, tossing one end of it over to Slink.

  Slink took a minute or two to connect the wires and check they were secure before giving Jack the thumbs-up.

  Jack lowered the other end of the cable to Wren. She took it over to Obi, who was sitting on the ground cross-legged, with a laptop open in front of him.

  Obi connected the wires to the laptop and after a few clicks on the trackpad he looked up at Jack. ‘I’m in.’

  Jack turned to Slink. ‘OK. You’re clear. But wait for us to tell you when to move.’

  Slink nodded and slid down the pole, out of sight.

  Jack climbed from the roof of the jeep and hurried over to Obi and Wren.

  Obi had a screen up and he was scrolling through the palace’s CCTV images. They showed various views around the grounds and he could see several guards patrolling.

  ‘I’m recording now,’ Obi said. ‘Need another minute before I can loop it.’

  Obi had to be careful with recording the CCTV and then looping it because anyone watching the monitors would see a jump in the images or notice the guard patrolling the same spot over and over.

  Jack tensed and counted off the seconds.

  It looked as though Obi had hacked into around twenty cameras, but Jack’s primary concern was the six that covered the planned route Slink would take from his current location to the back of the palace.

  ‘Any luck with inside the building?’ Jack asked Obi after a couple of minutes.

  Obi shook his head. ‘No internal cameras,’ he said. ‘They must be on a separate system.’

  Jack sighed, but he’d prepared for that eventuality. He couldn’t lie though – it definitely would have been a bonus if he could see what was happening inside the palace. That way, he’d have known for sure where Hector and his father were, not to mention how many goons they had protecting them.

  ‘Shall I just go?’ Slink said in their headsets after another minute had passed.

  Jack cupped a hand over the microphone. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Stick to the plan.’

  ‘But there’s no one here,’ Slink whispered.

  ‘There is,’ Obi said. ‘Ten metres to your right.’

  There was a short pause, then Slink said, ‘He’s walking the other way. He won’t see me. I could make a run for it.’

  ‘Please,’ Jack said, ‘just stick to the plan, mate.’

  It was crucial they all did.

  ‘OK. Fine,’ Slink huffed. ‘I’m only trying to speed this up a bit.’

  ‘I know,’ Jack said. ‘And I appreciate it. But now’s not the time to go rogue on us.’

  Another agonising minute passed, then Obi hit a few buttons and glanced at Jack. ‘They’re watching looped recordings now. It’s safe.’ He then linked the cameras directly to the laptop so only they could see the real images.

  ‘OK, Slink,’ Jack said into his headset. ‘You can move.’

  Jack, Obi and Wren watched Slink step into view on one of the palace cameras, slip off his backpack and take out a radio-controlled car with its own camera mounted to the top and two antennae jutting from the side.

  It wasn’t as sophisticated as the drones Charlie had made before – Shadow Bee and Robbie – but she’d done a fantastic job in such a short space of time with limited resources.

  Slink set the car down and stepped back.

  Jack removed the radio transmitter from his own bag and handed it to Wren.

  Her eyes widened. ‘Me?’

  ‘You’re the best at it. Just go slow.’

  Wren grinned.

  She was the supreme champ at Track 76, the racing arcade game back at the bunker –

  Jack stopped that thought before he could let the surging wave of their loss wash over him. Right now, he needed to focus.

  Wren sat next to Obi as he bro
ught up the camera view from the radio-controlled car.

  Jack crouched down next to them. He brought up the plan of the palace on his phone. ‘Go, Wren.’

  Wren pushed forward on the joystick and the car raced off.

  Obi kept his attention on the security cameras, watching out for guards, as he guided Wren through the trees, across the lawn, past hedgerows and flower beds, until she finally went up a short flight of steps, across the palace’s rear terrace and stopped.

  Jack looked at the time – it had taken just under four minutes.

  ‘There,’ he said, pointing at a door on the right of the screen. ‘That’s Slink’s target.’

  According to the plan on the phone, the door opened on to a dining room.

  Jack pressed a finger to his ear. ‘Slink, you’re up, but please follow Obi’s instructions to the letter. And no heroics, right?’

  ‘You always spoil my fun,’ Slink’s hoarse voice replied.

  Jack stood. ‘See you in a while,’ he said to Obi and Wren.

  He watched them for a few seconds, then forced himself to turn away and stride to the four-by-four.

  He clambered into the passenger seat and fastened the seat belt.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Charlie asked him.

  ‘Yeah,’ Jack said, although he felt far from all right – he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. ‘Let’s go.’

  Charlie waved at Obi and Wren, then pulled off the kerb and headed up the road.

  She took side streets, careful to stay out of a direct line of sight from the palace.

  Charlie stopped the jeep a little way down Birdcage Walk, a road that ran almost parallel to the Mall.

  She looked over at Jack. ‘Are you sure about this?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘Me neither.’ Charlie looked forward again. ‘I guess now’s not a good time to ask if you have any better plans?’

  Jack shook his head. ‘This is all I’ve got.’

  Charlie bit her lip. ‘OK. As long as you’re sure.’

  ‘I’m never sure,’ Jack muttered.

  For a few moments, they stared straight ahead, then Charlie revved the engine and did a wheelspin down the road.

  Jack was thrown to the side as she took a sharp right on to Spur Road and aimed the four-by-four directly at the palace.