CHAPTER 6
Frank stood in the rain, his heart pounding in his chest and his legs shaking. He was steadied by Jake’s hand resting on his shoulder. “The police came to my house which means that they could still be watching me.”
“Don’t worry; we’ll go up to the roof, that way we can watch everything.” Jake took out his umbrella and opened it over the two of them. Both Jake and Frank walked up the steps around the side of the factory. When they got to the top, Jake pulled binoculars out from his jacket pocket and the two of them sat down to stare from them.
The view from the roof was amazing. Frank could see his road and the policemen dotted around it. He worried that they’d go back to the house and talk to his parents again. Jake saw him looking. “You live over there,” he pointed. He lifted the binoculars to his eyes again and looked over the street. “Something’s going to happen very soon, Frank. On your street and almost every other around here. They’ve been preparing for this since last week.”
“What do they want to do?” Frank watched the streets. It was true, there were police cars coming in and parking in wait.
“People are waking up. Since the gas explosion in the station that you witnessed, this entire part of London will wake up in time. Maybe even the whole country if we created more.”
“Wait? You’re talking in riddles. Spell it out to me. What is happening?”
Jake looked to Frank with a serious expression. “You and everyone else in Britain have been asleep since the end of the war. You’ve been asleep since the last Prime Minister was assassinated. The new man came along with an iron fist, showed no remorse. The public didn’t like this new sudden change and there were anti-government riots. I’m sure you remember seeing them on TV.”
Frank nodded. “I do.”
“Well, the government got very clever and designed a chemical that could be used to ‘calm’ the people. They spread it in drinking water... For years, the people of Britain have been drinking a sedative to keep them calm and docile. Like sheep. Doing what they’re told. Watching stupid TV shows and not asking important questions.”
“How do you know about it?” Frank asked.
“Because we’re the resistance. We are the select few of the woken. There are always a handful of people that aren’t affected by the water, mostly these people suffer from insomnia and often from mental illness, but a handful of people seem immune to the sedatives. Some of these people were scientists and chemists. They were awake and could see what was happening to everyone else. They designed a counteracting chemical that could bring the sleeping back to the real world. They developed it and turned it into a gas. The plan was to release it slowly in the underground and wake people up. Plant it right under central London where it could spread slowly through the tube network. That was the plan… but it went wrong. We were moving the gas canisters when we got stopped by the police.”
“Is this how the explosion happened?” Frank asked.
“Yes. We got cornered. A stray police bullet shot one of the canisters, it exploded and the gas contaminated everything in this area.”
“So there’s going to be more of us? More people awake?”
“A lot more,” Jake smiled. “This whole suburb of London got a massive sudden dose of wake up gas.”
“It’s incredible,” Frank said. “To think we’ve been sedated for all this time.”
“So, now that you know what I know, what do you plan on doing?”
Frank hesitated with his answer. He knew that he couldn’t just walk away from it. “I’d like to join you, the resistance.”
Jake nodded and stood up to leave. “Good choice, but know that it’s going to be tough. I have been the leader here for two years like my father was before me and believe me when I tell you it is isolating and frustrating.” They walked down the staircase again and entered the building. A policeman walked past the gates of the parking lot. Frank froze, trying his best not to be seen.
“I should go. There are things I want to do first. Things I want to collect.” He bit the inside of his lip looking back at the streets and thinking of the police car he saw on his road.
“OK.” Jake said putting down his umbrella and leaving him in the rain. “But I’ll be seeing you soon, right?”
Frank nodded. “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
He walked away, down through the car park and out into the street. He noticed the additional policemen in the area, but could see he was not being watched. He turned back to see if Jake was still there. He’d gone.
----- X -----
Frank ran home in the rain. What Jake had said felt like it had been lingering in his mind forever. He kept running down a main road but he quickly realised that this was a bad idea. The streets were filling with police cars. There were plain vans and busses and Frank saw the people on one bus were in handcuffs. Frank turned a corner onto his road and ran to his house. Around him he could see more than ten police vans crawling into the street.
Frank began to panic. Something weird and unpleasant seemed to be unfolding. He opened the door and was dragged inside by his father. "Are you insane? Going outside now? The radio says there's a virus going round and that's when you decide to take a stroll?"
“A virus? What?” Frank was in shock mode.
“A virus, it’s on the television. We all have to wait indoors until the police come to test us,” his mother said.
How was he going to explain this to his parents? He looked through the window and saw the police knocking on the doors on the opposite side of the street. He didn’t want to talk to the police again. He wished he hadn’t come back. He should have stayed with Jake.
Frank could hear the police knocking at neighbouring houses around him. He lifted the blinds slightly to watch them. They had riot helmets on and each one held a gun. Frank watched as Cathy from next door, an old frail looking woman, was forced to prick her finger on an electronic scanner held by the policeman. He heard the beeping noise from the machine confirming something. Frank watched as the police told Cathy she was to go back indoors and await further instructions. Cathy huffed at him in disgust and the policeman pushed her back against the wall with his hand around her neck. She struggled but was too small to escape his grasp. "Look, do you want to get the virus?” the policeman yelled. “Almost everyone on this street has it, so don't you dare huff at me. Now get inside your house where it’s safe." He let go of her and Frank watched as she brushed at her clothes frantically, trying to get the mystery virus away from herself.
"Frank, what're you doing, spying on the neighbours?" his mother yelled at him. "Get away from the window, Frank. It's a virus. It's been on the news! The Prime Minister wants to take the sick people to hospitals so that they can be checked up on."
He watched Mr Pilcrow from across the road being dragged by his wrists into one of the vans. He was yelling and screaming, begging with the police, saying he was ‘sorry’, but the police just kept dragging him. One of them turned to another and Frank could hear them talking. "Another one with the wrong amount of sedative in his blood. How many are there down this road? Just round the corner we collected about fifty of 'em."
Mr Pilcrow had been tested; he had no sedative in his blood. That was what Jake had said. Something in the water to make people sleep. A chemical counteracted by the blast in the station. And that meant if Mr Pilcrow didn’t have enough sedative, then he himself wouldn’t have enough either. “This is not a virus,” Frank called out to his parents. “It’s something worse.” There was a clomp of boots from outside. A shadow cast on the window. The doorbell rang.
----- X -----
Before he could stop her, Frank's mother ran to the door and opened it. There was no point in hiding because the policeman had already seen him. “Come on,” the policeman ordered. “Outside, all of you.”
The three of them stood in the street by the front door awaiting orders. The policeman grabbed Dad's hand first. He pricked his finger on the scanner and heard the confirmation beep.
The policeman nodded at him to step aside. Frank couldn't help but think of how childish his father looked at that moment. He had never seen him like this, doing as he was told and keeping quiet like a servant.
It was Frank's mother's turn next. She stepped forward smiling slightly flirtatiously at the policeman. He grabbed her arm tightly and pricked her finger on the scanner. The same beep was repeated and he let go of her. She pushed Frank forward and he held his breath panicking. The world began to whirl around in his head and he felt like he was about to collapse. He could see further along the street a family struggling with a policeman. He could hear the screams of kids as their parents were handcuffed and pulled away.
The policeman held a tight grip on Frank's wrist but he couldn’t let himself be scanned. He panicked and tried to jerk away. The policeman held firm and Frank knew that he was about to be hit for resisting. He felt the rush of blood flow to his head as the man lifted his fist up to strike him.
Then a piercing scream filled the street and the sound of a gunshot. Everyone ducked and flinched on the sound of the boom. The policeman let go of Frank’s wrist and turned to watch the action. A young boy of only ten years old had jumped out of the police van and was running away. A police shooter had tried to stop the child but his mother had crashed into the gunman, shrieking and screaming to deflect his aim. Before they knew it, the police were fighting to restrain her and more people were flooding out from the vans. The guards were split, they had left their stations and the people had fallen into panic and confusion. Frank dropped to the floor, suddenly becoming irrelevant to the policeman who was about to prick his finger. His parents huddled together in shock.
The street was filled with people. All running frantically and screaming out of control.
In the space of less than five seconds the police had lost their power.
----- X -----
Frank pushed his parents into the doorway. The chaos around them filled the street "We need to get inside. It'll be safer there." He pushed them both through the door and slammed it closed.
Mum began to cry as he spoke. "Things like this never happen,” she said. “That's what the government are for, they're supposed to help us and protect us… but..." The sound of his mother’s voice faded away as loud roars and smashes came from the street.
Frank knew it was unsafe for him to be there. Once the police regained control they would come back, prick his finger, see that he was awake and send him away in a van. He needed to find Jake and explain to him what was happening, or maybe even get him to help but he couldn't leave his parents there alone. He walked them both to the living room and closed the windows and curtains.
"I know that you're not going to understand this, but I need to leave. You two need to stay here together. You’ll be safe."
Frank's mum screeched. "You can't leave us. And you are most certainly not going to leave this house. Tell him," she demanded of her husband.
"Your mother is right. You need to stay indoors. It's dangerous out there. You'll be arrested and locked up."
This time Frank knew that he couldn't obey them. He needed to get out as soon as possible. He walked to the door slowly. Each step he took seemed to feel heavier the further he got away from them. "I mean it Frank! You leave this house and you are not coming back! There are people out there who will kill you; it's not safe for a young boy." His mother pleaded with him. Frank didn't think that he had ever seen his mother like this. She was always curly haired with shiny blue eye-shadow, but now there were cracks in the make-up where her crying had smudged it and her hair had fallen into a misshapen ponytail on the back of her head. Dad had an arm around her protectively and Frank could see his face turning red as he cried.
He had to go. There was a chance that he would never come back or see them again but there was also a chance of him saving them if he could just find Jake. Frank could feel the tears well up in his eyes as he opened the door. "I'll be back, OK? I promise." He opened the door to leave hearing the sobs of his crying mother. Then he stepped outside and walked directly into chaos.
----- X -----
Frank ran down the street. There were fights breaking out between the police and the public. He could see police vans everywhere and he knew this was happening down every road in the area. Vans would collect up the waking people as if they were trash or waste and take them away to the nearest prison. Clearly their plan hadn't quite worked out. The sound of helicopters came from overhead and sirens whistled in the streets. He could feel the crunch of broken glass under his feet and he heard people screaming everywhere. He wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. He wanted to leave all the responsibility to someone else.
He kept running.
Once he got to the factory, he leaned panting against the wall. The police were prepared to shoot at people. They had put Mr Pilcrow in a van to be taken away. What else would they do? What would they do to him, or his parents or his friends? He imagined where Dan would be right now and wondered whether his parents were safe. He even wondered whether Mandy was okay. Frank was unsure how he had got to this point, almost crying over Mandy’s wellbeing.
He made it to the Ice Cream Factory, but before he could reach the intercom, the garage doors abruptly crashed open. Loud nursery rhymes boomed from a speaker attached to the top of an ice cream van. Frank stood in front of it studying the faces of the cartoon mice and cats painted on the vehicle.
Jake was in there. He leaned through the window. "Frank! It's great to see you!" He shouted over the music. "Need a ride?"
----- X -----
Frank knew he must make a choice. He could get in the ice cream van with Jake and risk becoming a serious criminal, or he could stay on the streets and be a victim of circumstance. Both ways he could face prison. He hesitated.
Jake stuck his head through the window of the yellowy-white vehicle. "We haven't got time Frank. You need to make a decision now."
A large looking man inside the van banged on the window at the back and opened the rear door. "Hurry up!" he shouted. Frank's heart began to beat louder than the engine and he could see Jake’s eyes staring right at him. He didn't even know where this bus would take him.
"What if I never see my parents again?" He muttered, not meaning for anyone to hear.
"We'll find them for you, I promise." Jake shouted. “It’s now or never, Frank.”
He climbed in.
----- X -----
It was a bumpy road and the journey was intense. Jake sat next to the driver, a skinny blonde haired guy in glasses. Frank wondered if he was one of the chemists who made the gas. The people who were sitting around him looked afraid. They wore all black, some of them held guns, but they all looked shaken and frightened. It was silent in the van but they could hear the screams of crying men and women from the streets.
“Are you all chemists?” Frank asked the tall man opposite him.
“Yes, we are.” the man said quietly. He looked away. Frank could feel his heart beat a thousand times a second and his hands were sweating. The man had a black turtle neck shirt on which he was using the sleeves of to wipe frantically at his eyes though there were no tears, he kept doing it until his eyes were sore and dry.
The van stopped abruptly in the street and screams were heard around them from every angle. A woman opened the roof of the van and stuck her head out of the top. The screaming got louder. Frank could hear helicopters close by and then a booming and amplified voice from above called, “Stop the ice-cream van. Step out of the vehicle calmly and you will not be harmed.”
“We have to surrender,” one man shouted at Jake.
Jake ignored him. “Can you get away from them?” he asked the driver.
From outside of the misty window Frank could see a blinding searchlight from the helicopter. The driver couldn’t see a thing and began to swerve in and out of the road. The lights flashed even brighter and he lost control of the van. The vehicle crashed into the side of the road and landed on its side hitting a pillar box
. The plastic ice cream cone from the top of the van snapped and rolled into the street.
Frank felt the force of five other people falling on top of him and for a moment things went black. When he opened his eyes again he saw the smashed windows around him with glass everywhere. He pushed an unconscious body off of him and tried his best to clamber through the broken window. He felt shaken and confused. He brushed the shards of broken glass off himself and ran to the front of the van where he saw the dented pillar box. Jake was pulling himself out of the van. He gave him a hand. “Are you OK?” he asked as he helped him to his feet.
----- X -----
Police cars began to surround them and police in riot suits with helmets and shields rushed along the road towards them. People were running out from the van frantically and Frank heard the gunshots and watched them fall to the ground. It was suicide to run. Frank lifted his arms in the air. “I surrender. Don’t shoot.”
From the back of the van two people broke free and began running down the street. There was a burst of gunfire and they fell.
Jake screamed out, “They’re going to kill us all!” He grabbed hold of Frank’s coat and tried to drag him, but Frank stood firm. He pushed Jake away, yanking his coat out of Jake’s grip, then put his hands back above his head. Jake fled down the street frantically. There was a burst of machine gun fire and Jake fell flat on his face… He didn’t get up… he didn’t move.
A policeman in full body armour and a helmet with a blacked out visor walked towards Frank.
“Don’t shoot, I surrender,” Frank said again.
The faceless policeman checked his weapon and raised it, the barrel pointing into Frank’s face.
“I said I surrender… I give up, please don’t shoot.”
The policeman looked down the barrel… Then pulled the trigger.
----- X -----
There were birds chirping in trees along the street. The sky was a pale blue and there were chalk outlines of the bodies scattered around the road. There were men in white suits taking photos of the surroundings.
Mr Complete looked at the scene with a gloomy, saddened expression. He stepped between the bodies holding a mechanical tally machine. He clicked it for every dead body. Click. Click. Click. “Be careful with that one,” he said pointing to a corpse. “You might need gloves to move him.”
Mr Complete looked at Frank’s corpse and remembered him. He could remember drinking tea with the boy’s mother. What was his name? He looked down to his tally machine. Number forty two. That was his name now. Dead body number forty two.
Frank’s corpse lay on the floor in wet clothes, covered in blood. It poured out from the large bullet hole in his forehead and had stained the ground where it had leaked into the cracks in the tarmac.
Mr Complete clicked the device in his hand. “Number forty three,” he said as he moved on to the next body.
----- X -----
The living room was filled with the excited chatter from Frank’s parents. The television was on and they had the volume turned up full. The daily message from the Prime Minister was playing and Frank’s dad cheered loudly whilst waving his English flag above his head. His mother sat on the other end of the sofa with her magazine and flag.
“Over the last week we have been investigating the rumours of riots in London and we can now confirm that this was nothing. There will be no riots and there never were. They were nothing more than a few kids playing a prank and those trouble makers have had a good talking to from the police. London is safe as normal.”
“You see, I told you there was nothing to worry about.” Frank’s dad said.
“I suppose you are right,” his mother said with a smile.
“The government protects,” the Prime Minister said on television.
“Yes, the government protects,” Dad agreed.
“The government protects,” said Mum. “The government protects.”
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