Counterstrike

by Peter Jay Black

  A kid with mousy hair went over to the door and hit a button on the wall.

  Jack, Slink and Wren pushed through into the lobby.

  ‘Hi, Jake,’ Slink said.

  Jake grinned. ‘All right, dude?’

  Jake was only fourteen, although he was tall for his age, and with his ripped designer jeans and black T-shirt he looked nearer to sixteen and blended in with the other students.

  ‘This way, guys,’ he said, striding through another door. He pointed at the lifts. ‘There ya go. Straight to the top floor, then stairs to the roof.’

  Jack slapped him on the back. ‘Thanks for doing this. We owe you one.’

  Jake winked. ‘No problem.’

  • • •

  Up on the roof, Jack, Slink and Wren hurried over to the crane.

  It towered at least ten metres above them – and the part Slink had to climb overhung the roof.

  Jack looked at the crisscrossing metal framework that created a horizontal ladder and pressed a finger to his ear. ‘Are you sure this is right, Obi?’

  ‘Positive,’ Obi said. ‘I checked the pitch against that three-dimensional plan of the Facility. It’s an exact match and the only one I could find.’

  Slink clapped his hands. ‘Let’s get on with it.’ He made to step forward, but Jack grabbed his shoulder and glared at him.

  ‘Any point in me reminding you to be careful up there?’

  Slink grinned. ‘Nah, not really.’

  Jack let go of him. ‘Thought not.’

  Slink jogged over to the edge of the building and started climbing up the crane’s framework.

  Jack spoke into his microphone. ‘How’s it looking down there?’

  ‘All clear,’ Charlie said. ‘No cops in sight.’

  Slink reached the horizontal section of the crane and paused a moment. ‘Say when.’

  Jack nodded. ‘Go. And take your time, no need to rush.’

  Slink grabbed the first rung and swung out. Then he grabbed the next – hand over hand like a spider monkey swinging from branch to branch.

  Jack’s stomach tightened, and every time Slink moved, he winced.

  Much to Jack’s relief, Slink finally reached the far end of the crane, hooked his feet above him and hung upside down like a bat. ‘Easy-peasy, Slinky squeezy.’

  Jack let out a breath and shook his head. ‘Good going.’

  ‘Jack?’ it was Charlie.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Slink’s been spotted, cops on their way up to you.’

  ‘Brilliant. Any way to stop them?’

  ‘Not without causing even more hassle for us.’

  Jack spun around. ‘Wren, go check the door.’ He glanced up at Slink. ‘Get back here quickly.’

  Slink righted himself and started making his way back.

  Jack spun slowly on the spot, looking for alternative escape routes, but there was no other way off that roof.

  ‘No good,’ Wren said, pointing at the exit door. ‘Can only open and close the lock from the other side.’

  Jack glanced around, but already knew there wasn’t anything to jam it shut with. He guessed they had a couple of minutes left before the cops –

  Slink shouted.

  Jack spun back in time to see him fall from the crane and drop below the edge of the building and out of sight.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  With his heart threatening to burst through his chest, Jack sprinted to the edge of the building and looked over. To his utter relief, Slink was on a narrow ledge a couple of metres below.

  Wren was crying hysterically. ‘Slink.’

  ‘He’s OK. Come help me.’ Jack knelt down, leant over and stretched out his hands. ‘We’ll pull you back.’

  Slink reached up, grabbed Jack and Wren’s hands and with a lot of effort they hauled him back on to the roof.

  Wren stepped back and wiped away tears. ‘Thank God you’re alive.’

  Slink tried to get to his feet, but he winced and dropped to the floor again.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Jack said.

  ‘My ankle.’ Slink clutched it. ‘I think it’s broken.’

  Jack’s vision tunnelled as he stared at him. ‘Oh no. No. This can’t be happening.’

  ‘Broken?’ Wren said, looking as horrified as Jack felt. ‘What are we going to –’

  The door to the roof opened and two police officers stepped through.

  • • •

  Ten minutes later, Jack was handcuffed and led out of the main doors, escorted by one of the officers.

  An ambulance, four police cars and a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

  As they walked, the cop leant down and growled in Jack’s ear, ‘Quite a scene you’ve caused.’

  As they made their way through the chaos Jack sought Charlie out. Finally he spotted her standing next to the fountain. They locked eyes and Charlie took a step forward.

  Jack glanced at the cop, then shook his head.

  ‘Follow Slink,’ he mouthed. He nodded at the main doors just as two paramedics wheeled a stretcher outside.

  Slink was strapped to it, wrapped in a blanket, and he struggled to free himself. ‘Get me off this stupid thing. I’m fine, you idiots.’

  But the paramedics ignored him and loaded Slink into the back of a waiting ambulance, accompanied by another police officer.

  The cop escorting Jack opened the back door to a police car. ‘Mind your head.’

  Jack slid into the back seat and the officer closed the door. Jack peered out of the window and watched as the ambulance drove away. His attention then moved back to the main entrance of the building. Wren was next to come out – she was escorted by a female officer and a woman with a clipboard.

  Brilliant.

  Before Jack could see where they were taking her, the police car he was in pulled from the kerb and rounded the corner.

  Jack looked forward, body tensed, eyes wide.

  This was an absolute disaster.

  They only had a few hours left before Hector and his cronies stormed the Facility and took Medusa, but without Slink the Outlaws had no chance of stopping him.

  • • •

  Jack was sitting at a desk opposite a police sergeant whose name badge said he was called Dylan Murphy.

  The cops had obviously decided to talk to Jack because they couldn’t find any information on him, and they had to be careful because he was just a kid.

  Sergeant Murphy was fat and balding and his skin was grey, as if he’d spent way too much time sitting inside under the artificial lights.

  He slipped on a pair of glasses, read the report, then looked up at Jack. ‘What were you doing up there?’

  Jack crossed his arms. ‘I’m supposed to have a parent or guardian present if you want to interview me.’

  Sergeant Murphy considered him a moment. ‘Do you . . . have a parent?’

  Jack let out a breath. ‘No.’

  ‘A guardian then?’

  Jack looked away and shook his head.

  ‘Right, well, I think in that case we can proceed, don’t you?’

  Jack looked at him. ‘What do you want?’

  Sergeant Murphy met Jack’s gaze. ‘This isn’t an interview – I just want to ask you a few questions, that’s all.’

  Jack frowned. Wasn’t that the same thing?

  Sergeant Murphy glanced at the report. ‘It says here that you broke in to the building and then got on to the roof. Correct?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We didn’t break in,’ Jack said. ‘We just . . . well, walked in.’

  ‘How did you do that?’ Murphy asked, obviously not believing him.

  Jack licked his lips. ‘We . . . Well, we –’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘We snuck in, just as a couple of students came out.’

  Sergeant Murphy stared at him a moment. ‘You “snuck in”?’

  Jack nodded.

  Murphy made a note in the file, then looked up. ‘Wel
l, I’m sure the CCTV recordings will corroborate that.’

  Jack winced inside. If they checked, they would see that Jake had let them in. He hoped Obi would’ve realised this and wiped the recordings somehow. Though that might be too much to ask. Right at that moment, he also hoped Charlie and Obi were making sure they knew where Slink and Wren were being taken.

  Sergeant Murphy watched Jack closely, almost as if he could see what he was thinking. ‘Are you going to tell me what you were doing up there?’ he said slowly. ‘Do you consider yourselves some kind of urban explorers?’

  Urban explorers were renowned for breaking into places where they shouldn’t be – the hidden parts of the city most people never dreamt of going or even knew existed. And by the expression on Sergeant Murphy’s face, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d crossed paths with urban explorers.

  That was one thing Jack could sympathise with him on. A few times the Outlaws had run into explorers under London. Once a couple of them had almost discovered the bunker.

  ‘Well?’ Sergeant Murphy asked. ‘Are you?’

  ‘Are we urban – yeah,’ Jack said. ‘Close enough.’

  Murphy leant back in his seat. ‘Your friend has gone to hospital. Did you know that?’

  Jack nodded. ‘Yeah. I know.’

  Sergeant Murphy pointed at various items on the desk in front of him. It was all the stuff they’d confiscated from Jack – his headset, phone, pocket torch, chewing gum wrapper and a penknife.

  Murphy picked up the phone and examined it.

  Charlie had fitted an extra-large battery and a circuit board with an antenna to boost its signal reception.

  ‘This is sophisticated stuff for just urban explorers, no?’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Not really.’

  A normal phone had trouble getting any kind of signal when they were underground. Charlie’s modification wasn’t perfect, but it helped.

  Sergeant Murphy set the phone down and held up the chewing gum wrapper. ‘What about this?’ It was folded into the shape of a bird. ‘What is it?’

  ‘A reminder,’ Jack said.

  ‘Of what?’

  Jack shrugged. He wasn’t about to spend the next twelve hours explaining the story of Hector and his gunrunning lunatic father.

  Murphy shook his head. ‘Look, if you don’t co-operate, son, I’m going to have to –’

  ‘Murphy?’

  He looked up.

  A female police officer was standing in the doorway to the office. ‘There’s a guy here who says he’s this boy’s father.’

  Jack straightened in his chair.

  Sergeant Murphy frowned and looked at him. ‘I thought you said you didn’t have any parents?’

  Jack was as surprised as he was – but he tried not to show it.

  ‘Right.’ Murphy beckoned. ‘Show him in.’

  Jack turned in his chair, and after a minute Noble walked into the room.

  Jack let out a breath.

  This should be interesting.

  ‘This man is your father?’ Murphy asked Jack.

  ‘Adopted.’ Noble held out a hand and they shook. ‘Glen Draper.’ He grabbed Jack’s shoulder. ‘What have you been up to this time?’

  Jack hung his head in mock regret.

  ‘Urban exploring,’ Sergeant Murphy said to Noble. ‘A friend of his was badly hurt, and this one is lucky not to be.’

  Noble lifted Jack’s chin so their eyes met. ‘We’ve been over this before,’ he said in a firm tone.

  ‘I know. I’m sorry.’

  ‘I’ve told you what would happen if you did this again.’

  Jack nodded. ‘Yeah.’

  Noble sighed and looked at the sergeant. ‘Are you pressing charges?’

  Murphy glanced at his notes, then said, ‘No.’ He waved a finger at Jack. ‘May this be a lesson to you. Stay out of trouble.’

  ‘Get up,’ Noble said. ‘We’re going home and you’re going to tell me exactly what you’ve been up to.’

  Jack stood.

  Sergeant Murphy handed Jack his belongings and escorted them to the front desk.

  Once Noble had filled in the relevant paperwork, they were free to go.

  They set off down the path from the police station. Jack glanced back, then said to Noble in a hushed voice, ‘Thanks. I owe you one.’

  Noble smiled. ‘Not a problem.’

  They turned the corner to where the blue campervan was parked. Noble slid open the door.

  Jack climbed in and was relieved to see Charlie, Obi and Wren were sitting on the back seat.

  ‘We picked Wren up first.’ Noble closed the door and drove down the road.

  Jack dropped into the leather chair in front of the monitors.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Charlie said, obviously noticing his glum expression. ‘I know what you’re like,’ she continued. ‘You’re blaming yourself for what happened.’

  ‘Remember,’ Obi said, ‘you told Slink to wear a harness, but he didn’t. It’s his fault.’

  ‘It’s no one’s fault,’ Wren said with a stern expression.

  Jack didn’t want to talk about it. The truth was – he did blame himself. He should’ve checked Slink had brought a harness. He had been stupid. Too focused on getting into the Facility and not taking care of the smaller missions. He should’ve found an alternative, safer place for Slink to practise.

  Now, because of Jack, one of his friends had got hurt. One day someone would get killed if he carried on the way he was going.

  And to make it worse, it was one of the things that Noble had drummed into him a couple of years ago – details. Always remember to focus on the details and make sure everyone is safe.

  Jack stared out of the side window and wished he could go back in time and start again. But when? Where? So many bad things had happened in his life, even if he did have a time machine, he had no idea where he would go.

  Then a cold wave washed over him as he thought of his parents and the car accident that had taken their lives.

  • • •

  Noble drove Jack, Charlie, Obi and Wren to the nearest hospital and found a parking space.

  ‘I’ll wait here,’ Obi said.

  ‘Me too.’ Charlie looked at Jack. ‘We don’t need all of us going in. It’ll look suspicious.

  Jack slid open the door for Wren. ‘Just me, you and Noble.’

  The hospital was like a hundred others around the country – a collection of red-brick box-like constructions topped with flat grey roofs.

  To the right were several ambulances lined up outside a set of glass doors. Ahead was the main entrance.

  The three of them went inside and Wren screwed up her nose as they approached the reception desk. ‘Smells horrible in here.’

  Jack had to agree with her – all the bleach in the world couldn’t cover the smell of sickness and death.

  After checking with the receptionist where Slink had been taken to, Noble, Jack and Wren made their way to the Accident and Emergency department.

  It was sectioned off into various cubicles with curtains.

  Jack peered through each as they walked past.

  The whole place was a hive of activity, with doctors and nurses rushing about carrying equipment, X-rays and notes, while people lay in beds with various injuries and undefined illnesses.

  One guy had so many wires attached to him he looked like some kind of strange, twisted puppet. His upper body was covered in blood, though, thankfully, there was no visible wound.

  Jack glanced at Wren. Her face had gone a strange colour – somewhere between green and white.

  Jack gripped her arm and pulled her away. ‘Come on.’

  They rounded the corner and stopped dead in their tracks.

  At the end, next to the last curtained-off cubicle stood a cop and a woman in a suit. They were deep in conversation as the woman made notes.

  ‘Social worker,’ Jack whispered to Noble. ‘Slink must be in there.’

  A doctor stepped thr
ough the curtain, said something, and walked down the corridor and through a door.

  Jack took a breath. Somehow they had to get Slink out of there, which wasn’t going to be easy, especially seeing as they had very little time left and they didn’t know whether he was capable of walking or not.

  He turned to Noble, but Noble was no longer with them.

  Jack spun around on the spot. ‘Where’s he gone?’

  Wren frowned. ‘I don’t know. He was there just a second ago.’

  Jack refocused on the police officer and the social worker and his mind searched for ideas. He glanced at Wren. Perhaps she could fake some kind of injury to distract them long enough for Jack to slip past and get Slink out of there.

  ‘Excuse me, please,’ a man said in a posh accent.

  ‘Sorry,’ Jack muttered, and stepped aside.

  Wren gasped.

  Jack’s eyes nearly popped from his skull when he realised who the man was – it was Noble, dressed in a white lab coat with a stethoscope slung round his neck.

  He winked. ‘How do you like my new accent? Do I fit the part?’

  Jack couldn’t help but smile up at him. ‘What’s the plan?’ he whispered.

  Noble pointed to another curtained-off area to their left. ‘Wait just there.’

  Jack and Wren hurried over to it and watched through the curtains as Noble marched to the other end of the corridor.

  He said something and gestured past him.

  The cop nodded and Noble stepped inside.

  Several minutes went by.

  Wren wrung her hands. ‘What’s he doing?’

  Suddenly, with the cop’s back turned, Noble wheeled Slink out in a wheelchair.

  Without breaking his stride, he hurried down the corridor with Wren and Jack hard on his heels.

  Slink had his foot and lower leg wrapped in a bandage. ‘Hey, guys.’

  ‘Oi.’

  Jack glanced back to see the cop striding after them. ‘Time to run.’

  They shoved through a set of double doors.

  Wren grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall, unclipped the nozzle and jammed it through the door handles.

  The cop rammed the door from the other side, but it held.

  ‘Good work,’ Jack said as they jogged around the corner and through the main entrance.

  The three of them quickly helped Slink into the campervan and Noble sped away from the hospital.