‘What’s happening up top?’ I asked. ‘Do you know if Pa’s okay? Your mum? Denzil?’
‘I saw them. They’re fine. We’re managing to keep FJ’s men back for now. But I don’t know for how much longer. There’s too many of them. I don’t know what’ll happen when we run out of ammo.’
‘We have to hope they run out first,’ I said. ‘How are you?’
‘Me?’ Luc said. ‘I’m taking one minute at a time and not thinking about anything else.’
I nodded. He’d just lost his father, but he was still worrying about everyone else. I wished we had some time so I could take care of him.
‘Your Pa told me to get you out of here,’ he said.
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Does he need me at the fence?’
Luc took my hands and made me look at him.
‘What?’ I said.
‘He wants us to leave the perimeter and go to your grandparents’ place in Uley. I’ve got a motorcycle ready. We need to leave now.’
His words didn’t make any sense. ‘Leave?’ I said. ‘No, Pa told me we had to wait down here.’
‘No, Riley. He needed us to get everyone down here to safety, but now we’ve done that, he wants us to leave. He made me promise.’
‘But we can’t leave everyone. What about Ma? What about your mum? Denzil? The people down here?’
‘Your dad thinks they’ll all be okay. They’re safe down here and anyway, FJ’s argument is with us and with the guards.’
‘If I’m going, then we should all leave,’ I said. ‘Pile everyone into trucks and get out.’
‘No, Riley. They’ll see us escaping.’
‘Copters then . . .’
‘Too dangerous. They’ll shoot us down. And there are too many of us.’
‘So how are we supposed to get out then?’
‘There’s another way,’ Luc replied.
‘What way?’
‘Your dad told me. Come on.’
Luc led me along the corridor, past a group of elderly men who were leaning against the wall, chatting in earnest. The strip light buzzing and flickering above their heads. One of them, Joe Farley, tipped his hat at us.
‘Are you alright?’ Luc asked them. ‘Do you need me to find you a place to sit in one of the rooms?
‘We’re fine, lad,’ Joe replied. ‘Just needed some space away from the hordes.’
‘We can’t leave these people down here,’ I said as we carried on walking. ‘There’s not enough room for everyone.’
‘Trust me,’ Luc replied. They won’t have to stay here for long.’
‘Where are we going?’ I asked. ‘There’s nothing down this way.’ As we left the main part of the corridor, we also left the light behind. There was hardly any illumination now. We rounded a bend and Luc flicked on a torch.
‘Your Pa told me something interesting,’ he said.
I waited for him to continue.
‘You know the steel door right at the far end of the corridor?’ he said.
I nodded. I knew it well. Behind that door was the place where Pa stored his most valuable things – silver, whisky and other stuff I knew nothing about. No one was allowed in there. Not me. Not Ma. Not anyone, as far as I knew.
‘Well I’ve got the key,’ Luc said.
I stopped walking and stared at Luc. ‘How did you . . .’
‘. . . Your dad gave it to me.’
‘Pa gave you the key? What for? Do we need to get some stuff out of there?’
‘There is no stuff,’ Luc said.
‘But . . .’
‘Behind that door is an escape route,’ he said.
The thought of another way out of the perimeter just blew my mind.
‘Where does it lead? Who else knows about it?’
‘No one else knows. Your Pa said he never told anyone about it. Not even your mum. But you won’t believe where it goes.’
‘Where?’
We had finally reached the end of the corridor. A circle of torchlight flickered on the dull steel door.
‘Apparently,’ Luc said, ‘it leads to an abandoned underground pumping station outside the Charminster Compound.’
‘Oh my God! All the way over there? That’s miles away.’ I looked at the steel door with a new respect. I’d spent my life wondering what lay behind it. But now that I finally knew, I couldn’t even enjoy the drama of Luc’s revelation. Too much was happening too fast.
‘I know what you’re thinking, Riley.’
‘What?’ I said. ‘What am I thinking?’
‘You’re thinking that it’s wrong to leave.’
‘Yeah. Well it is.’ How could I even think about leaving everyone here, while I snuck off like a coward.
‘But I promised your Pa we’d go. So please do this for him and for me. My dad was killed today. Do you think I want to run off and hide? Don’t you think I want to go out there and kill FJ with my bare hands?’
I bit my lip.
‘I’m taking you to safety, Riley. And then, I’m coming back to help.’ He turned and looked behind us, making sure no one could see. Then he slid the bolts back on the door, took a bunch of keys from his coat pocket and fitted a thick brass one into the lock. He turned it and then put a Yale key into the lock above. Once the door was unlocked, he pushed down the handle and pulled hard.
The door swung open and Luc held out the torch, pointing into the gloom. In front of us lay a wide, dank, concrete tunnel and at its entrance sat a motorbike. All shiny chrome and dark, metallic green, looking like it had just rolled off the factory floor. Luc gave a low whistle.
‘That’s a nice machine,’ he said. ‘Looks like your dad kept it in mint condition. You got everything you need with you?’ he asked.
I nodded. ‘Are we riding this thing all the way to Uley?’
‘No, just to the 'pound. Your Pa told us to go to a lockup at 38 Lowther Road. Inside is a van with weapons and supplies. We’ll travel in that. We can stick the bike in the back if there’s room.’
‘Have you got the keys?’ I asked.
Luc took the bunch of keys from the door and jangled them.
‘Okay,’ I said.
‘Good. Let’s go.’
‘Luc,’ I said, ‘does Ma know the plan? Does she know where we’re going?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Could you . . . Would you mind telling her for me. I don’t want her to worry and I don’t think I can tell her myself. She’ll get upset and . . .’
‘Sure,’ he said.
I held out my hand for the keys. ‘I’ll wait here for you.’
‘Okay, I won’t be long.’ Luc dropped the keys into my palm and shrugged off his backpack, dropping it onto the stone floor. He leant in to give me a quick kiss, but I pulled him toward me and kissed him hard. He responded, pushing me back against the wall. The torch clattered to the floor as Luc ran his hands down my body. Shocked by the force of his passion, it sent me into freefall. Chills running through every cell. The rest of the world was obliterated for those few seconds.
‘God, Riley,’ he murmured. ‘What are you doing to me?’
I smiled as he drew back. He bent and retrieved the torch from the floor, putting it in my hand.
‘Back in a minute,’ he said, kissing me once more. Then he turned and jogged away.
Once Luc was out of sight, I opened my rucksack and rummaged for a paper and pencil, scrawling a hurried note and leaving it on the floor in the hope he’d find it. Then I found the bike key and slotted it into the ignition. My heart thumped as I pulled on my gloves and woollen hat, and swung my Saiga and my rucksack onto my back. I closed the door behind me and swung my leg over the machine.
‘Sorry, Luc.’ I whispered the words into the darkness as I turned the key, put the bike in neutral and flipped down the kill switch. As I pulled the clutch and pressed the starter button, the engine roar immediately filled the narrow space. I had to get out of here. Luc would have heard the noise, I was sure of it. I located the headligh
t and stuffed the torch into my backpack. I kicked up the bike stand, my blood pumping through my veins like rapids over rocks. It had been a while since I’d ridden a motorcycle, but I was so fired up on adrenalin, I reckoned I’d be able to fly a spaceship today.
Slowly at first and then faster as I built up confidence, I cruised along the tunnel. I felt terrible, misleading Luc, but he would never have let me do this and there was no way I was running away to my grandparents when everyone else was in danger. A plan had been formulating in my head and I knew I had to give it a go.
Chapter Thirty Four
The gunner fired once more, puncturing the second set of gates. He continued shooting at the metal, but as he reloaded, he was hit by an enemy bullet and collapsed over the gunstock. The warriors around him dragged the body away and he was swiftly replaced by another.
The next shooter took over, and soon the inner gates were shot from their hinges, the left hand side of the wall crumbling as the sniper continued blasting chunks out of it.
Turning his head, Jamie saw The Voice of the Father all but laughing out loud. And Jamie had to admit he was impressed. They had lost a few brothers today, but they had achieved so much. And soon they would have what they came for.
‘Let me go and fight now,’ Jamie cried.
‘No,’ Matthew replied. ‘You are my disciple. You’re needed here with me. Let my warriors finish this. Your turn will come later.’
Now that the gates were taken care of, rows of soldiers began to advance on the perimeter in earnest. Enough of the wall had crumbled that sections of warriors had begun to try and force their way inside. However, it wasn’t yet possible. They were taking too much fire from beyond the gates and from shooters up on the wall to get close enough. It was apparent they still needed to demolish more area to enable their army to get through. Jamie realised that too many brothers had moved in on the wall for the gunner to be able to get any more decent shots. He would be unable to fire without killing their own warriors.
Relentless gunfire came at them from within the perimeter, raining down on their men at the base of the fence. Their warriors were being hit too hard and if they didn’t do something soon, there would be nothing but a pile of robed bodies at the foot of the fence.
Something whistled across the sky, dropping into the settlement. A huge explosion rumbled beyond the wall. Screams. Flames. Smoke. Jamie exhaled in relief. That should give them something to think about. Another whistle. Another explosion. Grenade launchers firing death into the sky. This was going to be too easy.
Just then, Jamie winced at an ear-splitting blast in front of them. He witnessed a scene of utter devastation – burning vehicles and warriors zigzagging out of harm’s way, while many more lay lifeless and bleeding on the ground. More than one of their vehicles had been hit. But it was hard to see how many due to the density of flames and smoke streaming upward. The enemy obviously had their own explosives.
Another blast shook the earth in front of the perimeter and more of their brothers fell. But as the life left their bodies, still more swept forward to replace them. Residual smoke snaked and curled into the frigid air.
The noise of detonations and the acrid stench of smoke gave Jamie a painful spike of memory back to the day his parents had been killed on the ferry. His mind projected long-ago images of twisted metal and gushing water. Of flames and of the unseeing bloody faces of his mother and father. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to reset his mind and flip it back to today. When he finally snapped them open again, he saw the smoke and snow and warriors once more.
‘We need to pull back,’ Jamie yelled to Matthew. ‘It’s not safe for you to be so close to the explosions.’
‘No,’ FJ said. ‘I want to watch.’
More grenades were being lobbed from the wall, taking out tens of warriors.
‘They need to force their way in there,’ Matthew said. He turned to one of the men in the back. ‘Go and tell them,’ he snapped. ‘Tell them to send in more of my warriors. Overwhelm the wall. Get in there and find Our Father. Find the girl.’
The disciple bowed his head and left the AV. He skirted around the back and Jamie saw him disappear into the surging mass of warriors behind them. He waited, impotent and impatient, to see what would happen next.
* * *
Within minutes, I had reached the end of the tunnel and brought the bike to a stop. Another steel door loomed ahead and I cursed. I hoped it wasn’t locked. Dismounting, I turned off the engine but left the headlight on. Then I slid the metal door bolts across with some difficulty. Pulling down the handle, I tugged at the door, but it wouldn’t shift. Perhaps the key was on the bunch. I prayed it wasn’t one of the ones I’d left behind for Luc, or my plan would be ruined. He would have returned to the tunnel by now. He’d have read my note. Would probably be running after me. But by the time he got here, I hoped I’d be long gone.
Taking the bunch of keys from the ignition, I tried one of the others – a lever mortice brass key. It went into the lock and turned with a beautiful clunk. The door still wouldn’t budge, so I tried a couple of the Yales in the other keyhole.
Bingo.
The heavy door finally eased open and a stream of icy air rushed into the tunnel. I gave a shiver and used my rucksack to prop the door open. Then I wheeled the bike through before hastily locking the door behind me.
I now found myself in the pumping station Luc had told me about. It looked like it had been abandoned for years. I’d been okay while I’d ridden through the tunnel – the noise and speed had distracted me from its dark confines. But this place with its rusted pipes and scuttling, dripping sounds freaked me out. Despite having a serious case of the creeps, I angled the bike to get a better look at my surroundings. In the corner, a ladder rose up to a circular hatch. I kept searching. There must be an easier, wider exit here, otherwise what was the point of the motorcycle?
I wheeled the bike alongside the pipework and turned a sharp corner. There, before me, a steep narrow ramp led up to a door in the wall. I exhaled in relief and left the bike for a minute while I went up to have a closer look at the door.
What would I find on the other side? Pa wouldn’t have sent Luc and me into any kind of danger so I was fairly confident the exit wouldn’t lead anywhere too bad. As expected, the door was locked and bolted, but I quickly found the correct keys on the bunch. I pushed at the door and it opened; slowly at first before being suddenly tugged from my hand by a sharp wind.
I blinked at the daylight brightness outside. As my eyes readjusted from the gloom, I saw an empty snow-covered landscape. I had no idea where I was or which way I would need to go. I’d figure it out. I pushed the door as far as it would go, wedging it into the ground so it stayed open. Then I ran back inside and hopped back on the bike.
Revving it hard, I rode up the ramp to the exit and through to the outside. Into the cold still air, the sky an iron grey sheet. Dismounting, I glanced around. Then I pushed the door, easing it closed, pulling at it to check it was locked.
The exit had been set into the side of a low hillock, its exterior blanketed in grass and snow. If I hadn’t disturbed it, the door would have been completely camouflaged. I was impressed. Pa had done a great job. And to have kept its existence secret for all these years was a feat in itself. I grabbed a few handfuls of snow from nearby to try and cover it back over, but I couldn’t quite recreate the look of undisturbed snow. I would have to leave it. At least the exit was locked.
Guilty thoughts of Luc assaulted me, but I pushed them aside. My worst fear was that he wouldn’t forgive me. But I was doing this for him. For us. For all of us.
No time to linger here. I had to find my way to the Charminster Compound. If I kept heading in the same direction, I guessed I would reach it eventually. My hands were stiff with cold and I blew through my gloves to try and warm them. It was no good. I would have to resign myself to being freezing for a good while longer. A few flakes began to fall again. With any luck, they’d cover my
tracks from the exit.
I sat on the motorcycle and steeled myself for a ride across the snow.
The wind cut into my cheeks and stung my eyes, making them water. My fingers almost froze in place on the handlebars and my legs were chilled to the bone marrow. Beneath the snow, rocks and potholes tried to fling me from my seat. But I clung on hard, and after only five or ten minutes of discomfort, the compound finally came into view.
I cruised alongside the wire fence of The Walls. There was no one around. No one even guarding the fence. Just snow-covered tents sitting amid brown slush. I hoped everyone was okay.
‘Hey!’
‘I looked up to see a man striding toward me from inside the encampment. I slowed and drew out my magnum, fingering the trigger. As he drew closer, I realised I’d met him before. It was the guy with all the facial piercings and the nose-hoop. He aimed a rifle at my head.
‘Keon,’ I said. ‘It’s me, Riley.’
‘Riley?’ He peered through the wire and relaxed. ‘Oh, yeah, I remember you. Nice bike,’ he said, lowering his weapon. ‘You here to see Lou again?’
‘I need to see Reece,’ I said, holstering my gun.
Keon raised an eyebrow and pointed at the gate further along the fence. I rode up to it and waited while he fiddled with the lock.
‘Didn’t expect to see you back here so soon,’ he said.
‘Is Reece around?’ I asked. ‘It’s urgent.’
Keon opened the gate and I wheeled the motorcycle through.
‘If it’s urgent,’ he said with a grin, ‘it’ll be quicker to ride.’ He took hold of the bike and hopped on, nudging me out of the way.
‘Hey!’
‘Get on then.’ He patted the space behind him. ‘Better hold on tight.’
I scowled, but did as he said, instantly regretting it as he pulled a ridiculous wheelie. I gripped his waist just in time to save myself from sliding backwards into the slush. He laughed and took off through the camp, spraying snow and mud in his wake. Curious faces peered out from huts and shacks, but I couldn’t worry about what people thought, I was more concerned with working out exactly what I was going to say to Reece when I saw him.