by Mike Essex
He lent down towards my body and placed a hand upon it, quickly pulling it away as the heat singed his skin. Did he remember what had happened? That I’d killed two of his citizens? I moved Rex’s body through the crowd, ready to protect my own body if need be.
If Jacobi remembered then he certainly did not make it clear. He called for medics to care for me until I had recovered but I could see from the look on my face the nightmare was still raging within me.
In Rex’s body I lent down over my own body and saw the redness forming on my cheeks. “You have to fight this,” I told myself, through Rex. “If you can’t stop now you’ll hurt everyone. You’ll hurt the only person you have ever loved.”
I lent in towards my own body and placed a kiss upon my lips. They returned the gesture and began kissing me back. Swept up in a wave of emotions I felt the feelings that Rex had kept bottled inside for so many years surging up inside of him, a wave of happiness spreading throughout his body.
Mixed in with those feelings I could feel a stirring from within my own body, a deep desire that I had kept locked away finally being freed and acknowledged. In that moment the two feelings encircled each other and I experienced the kiss from both perspectives. Rex and I could finally speak the words we could never say to each other.
When the kiss finished I opened my eyes to find I was back in my own body, the intense heat gone and replaced with a wave of emotions. Some heat still surged through me, my heart still carried an intense beat and I was not quite in control but this time the feelings were for Rex. Everything felt right.
I couldn’t be with March anymore. I knew that now. One kiss I could explain away as an accident but two kisses? I couldn’t ignore that; or the intense feelings we shared together. It wasn’t fair to him.
“I know I must seem crazy,” I told Rex. “When we are back home, we can be together then.”
He nodded, a large smile emerging across his face. “I’ll wait for you.”
We looked up and realised that everyone was watching us. Grace held her hands to her face in disbelief, Rufus had tears in his eyes and Jacobi was clapping slowly. Seeing an opportunity he declared: “This is what we are fighting for; Families! We have to work together to preserve what we have. Who wants a world run by haves?”
“Exactly,” said Jacobi, to the silence. “Then let’s reclaim our city.”
The silence broke and cheers rang out. Jacobi continued to prove himself a capable leader and I wondered what he would have been like as a King. Perhaps he could have provided a return to the Kings of old, leading armies into war and fighting for the people. A far cry from the royals who abandoned him and this city, when times got tough.
Maybe someday we’d have new leaders like Jacobi, or possibly ones a little less crazy. Maybe they would even save our world. For now at least saving the world could wait, we had a city to liberate and a lot of people to get justice for.
FIFTY TWO
Jacobi’s medics looked me over but I assured them I was fine to fight, as I wanted to get out on the battlefield as quickly as possible. He saw no sense in delaying the battle and after everyone had quickly eaten we met at the large doors of the palace ready to face the world.
I found Rex in the crowd and held his hand whilst we listed to Jacobi.
“No matter how many soldiers there are, remember that you have the upper hand. They think we perished in that watery tomb below, so they will not be expecting an attack. We have the advantage now but will lose it the second they see us.”
He was right. The connectivity between the soldiers would not make this an easy fight. If a single soldier saw us then everyone they were connected to would be notified of our location and be made aware that we were planning an attack.
“Aim for the earpiece,” I shouted out.
“Would you care to join us?” he held out a hand and dragged me up onto the box beside him, nudging me in the ribs “Speak.”
“It’s how they are connected together. If you shoot their earpiece then they lose the connection to their team and become almost lifeless. It’s the only way to take them down.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” said Jacobi. “I’m trusting you two,” he pointed to the two men he had given sniper rifles to. They nodded diligently.
“Don’t forget your grenades,” I explained. “The intense heat and sound block out their senses, stopping the Tether event that connects them temporarily. It might be enough for you to break through a crowd of them.”
“And if all else fails, then use your knives,” Jacobi held up his sword, far bigger than the knives most of us had chosen. “If you take off their heads then there’s no way they’ll be coming back to get you.”
On that chilling note we made our way out of the prison, the citizens quickly fanning out into the agreed formation. Our platoon, as Jacobi called it, took on a triangular formation. At the front we had a few people who were very proficient in hand to hand combat including Jacobi with his sword and Tom who was punching above his weight but probably felt he’d learnt enough from Chris to take on anyone.
In the middle were our sharpshooters, those who were best with pistols and had shown marksmanship promise. They fanned out into a wider arc so they could see past the close combat fighters and take on any threats that got too close. At the sides of the pack on the far left and right corners were the two citizens with sniper rifles who ran ahead of everyone to check for threats and then fell to the back of the platoon to watch everyone as they walked past. This caused the triangular shape to change from normal to inverted depending on the location of the snipers.
Our remaining citizens stayed at the back of the pack, aside from the two medics who had stayed with Anya and Alyx back at the Royal Palace. This is where the weaker fighters were situated as a last resort. They could provide cover fire if soldiers got too close and had the highest chance of survival. I demanded Rex and Rufus stay in this position.
Unfortunately for Grace and me, Jacobi made his own demands that we stay at the front of the pack with him and Tom. Grace was good enough to have earned the place anyway, both her close combat and marksmanship skills were already top notch, although I felt like more of a liability. Nonetheless Jacobi demanded that if we wanted to keep the citizens on our side we should probably stay where they could see us. He had a point, so we didn’t argue.
We made our way through the city in stages, the snipers always confirming the path ahead was clear first and when it wasn’t, suggesting an alternate route. Many soldiers still patrolled the streets, especially directly by the River Thames where they were attempting to repair the leak they had caused and regenerate the river.
Navigating through the city gave even the longest standing local like Jacobi a hard time. Street names had been changed and so many new buildings had been formed that entire districts looked out of place. Giant skyscrapers had been erected across the city, new homes for the many haves who would take this city over when the regeneration was complete. Thankfully the major landmarks had been kept in their original locations, the new skyscrapers jarring horribly with the classical designs of these structures.
By keeping an eye out for landmarks the snipers led us towards Javon prison. Along the way one landmark caught my eye; it was the theatre where Grace and I had been trapped and almost died. This part of the city had cooled now, the heat that had almost killed us no longer present. Surely it wouldn’t be long before the city would be open again. After Javon prison fell that would certainly be the final step needed in rebuilding things.
We entered a new stretch of city and although I didn’t recognise the landmarks I could tell from the direction we had travelled that this is where we had rescued the soldier. Much of the street and buildings had now changed, courtesy of another regen, this stretch of land now transformed into high rise accommodation. Row upon row of identical black and white flats stretched out in to the distance.
Whatever clues the snatcher had left behind were now lost in the new design of th
e city. Most likely he had moved on as well, seeking out a new home if this had been where he had been hiding.
The tonal difference between the current area and the next was a stark contrast, the well-designed streets and buildings giving way to destroyed pavements filled with rubble. The shift made one thing clear, that Javon prison loomed ahead.
Although the dead bodies of the prisoners who had fallen here had thankfully been removed there remained an eerie stillness. This was where the world ended for a billion people and almost for the rest of us. Yet despite the death and destruction this place had caused, Javon prison survived, a twisted monument to all that had happened here.
From the look of the SO13 soldiers buzzing around the prison that was all about to change. Once they had taken Javon prison back the new London would be complete. The final regeneration was being prepared.
“Something’s not right,” said Jacobi looking through his binoculars. He pointed at two dots in the distance that appeared to be carrying another dot. I squinted my eyes and could just about make out the shapes of two soldiers carrying a box towards the prison.
“They should be leaving,” explained Jacobi. “But it looks like they are setting up something.”
He turned to Tom and point blank asked “Do they know we are coming?”
“No. I…” Tom replied. “Chris and I were very secretive.”
“Then they must be up to something else. This isn’t a regeneration, at least not yet,” Jacobi’s words were given more weight by the lack of a claxon signalling change or any drones in the sky. Something was different.
“They said Javon prison was where everything would end,” clarified Tom, none of us yet knowing the horror those words would come to mean.
We passed the binoculars between us, trying to make out the soldiers’ final plan. The snipers radioed in their thoughts and for ten minutes we did nothing but watch and wait for clues of what was to happen next.
During that time a total of five crates were taken inside the prison, each of them tagged with the double ‘T’ logo of TethTech. We watched around twenty different soldiers patrolling the edges of the prison, with more travelling in and out of it.
“What’s the plan?” I asked Jacobi who scoured the area around the prison with the binoculars.
“We attack of course,” he replied, unfazed by the soldiers. “We have to send a message that this is our city and we are not afraid to fight for it.”
“It’s suicide,” I replied.
“What choice do we have? They’ve destroyed our home and twisted our city beyond all recognition. There is nowhere left to hide. We have to make a stand here and now.”
“We can’t. It’s…”
He cut me off, “We have the advantage and thanks to you we know how to kill them.”
His thanks fell on death ears but I knew he was right. There was no point retreating and if TethTech were involved then we had to get inside and stop whatever they were planning.
He handed me the binoculars so I could see for myself and I took a fresh look at the looming battlefield. It was impossible to tell how many soldiers lurked within the prison but the twenty or so outside were going to be a difficult threat once we were spotted.
“Don’t worry Emmie, I have a plan,” said Jacobi. “How fast can you run?”
The first soldier didn’t hear the gunshot, or see the bullet until it ripped an ear from his face, cutting off the signal that controlled him. The second soldier turned to the first; unsure what had caused him to lose control and before he could investigate further a second sniper rifle round flew through the air. It pierced through his head, ripping out the right side of his face and destroying all trace of the earpiece.
The third soldier fell to Jacobi’s sword, his head cleaved from his shoulders in a single diagonal thrust. His head rolled onto the floor, the earpiece still in place but ultimately useless. Our triangle formation of citizens rotated around the prison, hiding behind cars and debris and forming a semi-circle around it.
Each of the snipers remained in the high towers of the residential district, giving them a long range view of the battlefield. As one of them took out a fourth soldier I ran with Grace towards the prison and ducked behind a large jeep. We each positioned ourselves behind a wheel and hoped no one could see us.
I grasped the pistol in my hand, ready to fire. So far the soldiers had been dispatched silently, without time to radio for support but it was clear their colleagues would soon realise they were a few men down. To minimise this risk, Jacobi’s men dragged the bodies behind cars and hid them as best they could.
The first part of Jacobi’s plan had worked well and it was time to start the second stage. Everyone would be aiming their weapons on a single spot now, ready to fire in case anything went wrong. I hoped I still had their trust, or it would be very easy for them to put a bullet in my back.
I moved my head around the corner of the jeep and looked ahead at the chain-link fence that signified the entrance to the prison courtyard. Much of the prison’s outer fence was made of high brick walls, which had survived the chaos of the Siege. Our best chance of getting into the courtyard was via the fence.
I heard more gunshots as the citizens took out further soldiers from outside the prison, without raising the alarm. Grace and I waited for the signal from Jacobi’s snipers. They were the only ones who could see inside the courtyard, their raised position giving them an excellent view. I looked back at Jacobi who was hiding behind a red sports car and saw him wave his hand over the bonnet.
Before I could remember if that was the signal or not, I saw Jacobi stand up and mouth the words “Go on!” and we didn’t hesitate any further. I ran around the corner of the car and towards the chain-link fence.
We slid open the deadbolt that locked the gate in place and moved the gate to one side as carefully as we could. Grace and I slipped through the small gap we had created and before we could argue Tom ran over and made his way inside.
In the distance I saw Rex running from the back of the pack heading towards the gate. He was grasping hold of his chest, his solitary lung struggling with the pressure. Before he could reach us Jacobi grabbed him and pulled him behind the cover of a sports car. I could see a struggle as Rex fought to reach us but I didn’t want him to put his life in any more danger so we slid the gate shut. I hoped he would understand.
Inside the prison courtyard we were now on our own. Jacobi had changed Grace’s earpiece to his frequency and we had a single goal; get inside and find out what the soldiers were up to. Until that point, or unless he heard gunfire, Jacobi would not order his citizens to advance. She kept the earpiece in her pocket in preparation.
The courtyard was overgrown, high blades of grass and weeds rising up to my waist. I bent down to see if we could crawl through the grass but was horrified to see a skeleton staring back at me from beneath the greenery. On his head he wore a blue helmet with a broken sheet of plastic at the front of it. It looked like riot armour, no doubt worn when he had protected this prison during the Siege.
I threw out the idea of crawling through the grass and instead we opted to hide behind a police truck that had seen better days. “Everyone ready?” Grace asked us. Tom and I nodded back at her. She took one look towards the entrance and then turned towards us, a worried look on her face.
“He’s here,” said Grace. “The snatcher is here.”
“What?” I replied. “Will is here?”
“Will?” asked Tom in surprise.
“It’s complicated,” I replied.
“I saw him dash inside the entrance,” explained Grace. “It was the same purple cloak with red and yellow circles that’s for sure.”
“We’ve got to find him,” I said.
“Are you crazy? That guy’s a killer,” Tom’s voice rose dangerously high from the panic.
“I know but if it is Will then I have to talk to him. I have to know what happened,” my mind was torn between the two goals: do I help the citizens or
my brother? “Promise me you won’t hurt him Tom.”
“But, he…”
“Promise. I’m ordering you to do this.”
“Fine,” replied Tom, the best I was likely to get out of him.
“We have to go. Now!” Grace grabbed my arm, reminding me that our window of opportunity was rapidly closing.
Following her lead, we ran behind Grace, around the twisted greenery and towards the entrance to the prison. The door slid open and we made our way inside, closing it behind us.
Three seconds later I was lying on the floor gasping for breath. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the burnt red hand that had saved me once before, now gripped around my neck choking the life from me.
FIFTY THREE
I awoke to the smell of burning flesh.
My eyes snapped open in an instant. I felt drowsy and found it hard to stand, my mind trying to piece together how I had gotten here.
A scream splintered through my mind, sending a chill through my body. Somewhere out in the darkness was an unseen victim being tormented. The smell of burning returned.
The haze of my mind started to clear, the pain in my arm registering deeply in my mind. It still hurt from landing on it at Q-Whitehall but this time the pain was much, much deeper. My throat felt tight from where the hand had choked me, my airways stinging with each breath.
“It’ll be ok. It’ll all be over soon,” a distant voice offered false reassurance before the screams began anew.
I looked at the room around me and realised just how small it was. A bricked room, no wider than three people, that contained a window with security bars and broken pieces of wood, presumably for a bed, which had collapsed in on itself. At the front of the room was a door made of steel bars, which on closer examination was locked from the other side, holding me in this room. I could just about push the front of my face through the bars but I dared not look out towards the direction of the screams.
