Counterstrike

by Peter Jay Black

  When he was sure they weren’t being followed, Jack turned to Slink and gestured at his ankle. ‘Broken?’ he asked.

  ‘Nah,’ Slink said. ‘Just a bad sprain apparently. I’m fine.’

  Jack let out a breath. ‘Thank God for that, but why didn’t you wear a harness like I told you to?’

  Slink’s eyebrows rose at this. ‘Do I ever?’

  ‘Where do you want me to take you?’ Noble asked. ‘To the bunker?’

  Jack nodded. ‘Please.’

  ‘No,’ Slink said. ‘We’ve got to do the mission.’

  ‘We can’t do anything without you,’ Jack said, feeling panicked. ‘I need to think of another way across the tank of water.’

  ‘We don’t have time,’ Slink said. ‘I can still climb. There’s nothing wrong with my arms.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘Too risky.’ Besides, if anything else happened to Slink, he would never forgive himself. ‘You’ll have to sit this one out.’

  ‘Not freakin likely,’ Slink said. ‘Anyway, if we don’t do this mission, Hector will get to the weapon first.’

  As much as Jack wanted to disagree with Slink, he knew he was right – they had to carry on as planned.

  Jack leant between the front seats. ‘Can you please take us to Charlie’s garage?’ he asked Noble.

  ‘On our way.’

  Jack sat down again. ‘We have to do this mission now. It can’t wait.’

  Charlie looked at Slink’s ankle and muttered to Jack, ‘I think I can use one of my dad’s work boots on that. Should keep the ankle strapped up enough for him to at least be able to climb.’

  Jack frowned. ‘I don’t know . . . ’

  ‘Come on, Jack,’ Slink said. ‘Look, if I hold you guys up, you have my permission to leave me behind. All right?’

  ‘I don’t think anyone will be leaving you behind, dear boy,’ Noble said.

  ‘He’s right,’ Jack said. ‘We’re not abandoning anyone.’

  He looked out of the window and hoped there were no other nasty surprises in store for them.

  • • •

  Noble dropped the five Outlaws off at Charlie’s dad’s garage, and Charlie set to work. She grabbed one of a pair of heavy work boots from a rack next to the door and carefully slipped it on to Slink’s injured foot. ‘This should be enough to support your ankle.’

  He took a sharp breath and winced.

  ‘Sorry,’ Charlie said, wincing too.

  She tightened the laces and straightened up. ‘How does that feel?’

  Slink gingerly got to his feet and took a few careful steps. He looked slightly comical with one normal trainer and one giant boot. ‘It hurts like mad, but I can walk.’

  ‘Can you climb with that on?’ Obi asked.

  Slink’s eyebrows rose. ‘Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? Of course I’ll be able to climb with it.’

  Everyone looked at Jack.

  ‘OK,’ he said. ‘Let’s do this.’

  They hurried over to the Ford Escort and climbed in. Obi, Slink and Wren got into the back seat, while Jack got into the passenger side and Charlie slipped into the driver’s seat.

  As they did up their seat belts, Jack said, ‘Remember to take the back roads – we want to try to avoid any unnecessary attention.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ve already planned a route.’ Charlie held up a key fob, pressed the button and the roller door to the garage lifted. ‘Trust me. I’ve got this.’ She turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. Charlie grinned at Jack then wheel-spun from the garage and out on to the road.

  Jack closed his eyes and gripped the edge of his seat. ‘Charlie.’

  • • •

  A little while later, they pulled in to an alleyway across the road from the guard’s apartment block in Benning.

  ‘Jack.’ Charlie pointed to her right.

  Striding towards them were three hooded figures.

  ‘It’s them.’ Jack opened the door and stepped out.

  The figures stopped and lowered their hoods – it was Raze, Wilf and a fifteen-year-old girl with red hair and several nose piercings.

  ‘Hey, Domino,’ Charlie said as she got out of the driver’s side, followed by Obi, Slink and Wren.

  Domino smiled. ‘Hi. How are you all?’

  Slink nodded at his foot. ‘You know us – keeping it safe.’

  ‘Ooh, what did you do?’ Wilf asked, his eyes wide. Obviously, he’d never seen Slink injure himself before, let alone fall off something.

  ‘Charlie drove over my foot.’

  ‘I did not.’

  Raze, Wilf and Domino laughed.

  Raze’s laugh turned into a hacking cough.

  ‘You OK?’ Wren asked him.

  Raze sniffed and spat on the ground. ‘Just got a cold.’

  ‘Well,’ Charlie said, ‘that’s pretty disgusting.’

  ‘You all ready?’ Jack asked them.

  They nodded.

  ‘I guess I’m the one who’s climbing on the roof to keep a lookout then.’ Wilf waved at Slink. ‘Seeing as grandad here needs his rest.’

  Slink swung for him but Wilf darted out of reach and chuckled to himself as he jogged up the alley and disappeared.

  ‘Now you know how it feels,’ Obi said, smirking.

  Slink muttered under his breath.

  ‘OK,’ Jack said. ‘Let’s get this done.’

  The seven of them walked towards the apartment building, each raising their hoods and bandana. Slink hobbled while Obi and Jack took an arm each.

  They made it up to the apartment and stopped outside the door.

  Jack pointed to the left, indicating that Obi and Slink should stay at the top of the stairs and keep an eye out.

  Next he signalled to Charlie and Domino to go right, blocking the end of the hallway, which they did.

  Jack finally looked at Raze. ‘OK,’ he whispered.

  Raze sneezed loudly.

  Jack winced and put a finger to his lips.

  ‘Sorry.’ Raze wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve, then slipped off his backpack and pulled out a shoebox. He set it on the ground in front of the door and stepped back.

  ‘Are you sure it’s safe?’ Jack asked him.

  ‘Yeah, it’s fine.’ Raze slipped on a pair of thick sunglasses and held up a key fob. ‘Just say the magic word.’ He sniffed.

  Jack turned to Wren. ‘Remember – go for the legs,’ he whispered.

  She nodded, stepped to the right-hand side of the door and turned her back on them, shielding her face.

  Jack did the same and gave Raze a thumbs-up. ‘Do it.’

  Raze knocked loudly on the door.

  A few seconds passed, then a muffled voice said, ‘Who is it?’

  Raze held the key fob ready. ‘Chinese delivery.’ Though he was so bunged up it was hard to tell what he said.

  There was a short pause.

  ‘I haven’t ordered any Chinese food.’

  ‘It’s free,’ Raze said. ‘Complimentary prize draw.’

  There was another pause.

  ‘Fine,’ Raze said. ‘If you don’t want it, I’ll try one of the neighbours.’

  The lock disengaged and the door swung open.

  Jack looked away as Raze hit the button on the key fob and the parcel on the floor burst open with an intense flash of light.

  Jack looked back in time to see the guard staggering backwards, shielding his eyes. ‘Now,’ he hissed.

  Wren charged into the apartment and slid along the floor, between his legs. In one swift move she pirouetted and sprang up behind him. She pulled out a rope, lashed it around his knees and ankles, then pulled it tight.

  The second she was done, Jack leapt into action and shoved the guard as hard as he could.

  The man fell backwards and slammed on to the floor.

  He cried out, but Wren slapped a piece of tape over his mouth. ‘Sorry,’ she said.

  Jack threw cable ties around his wrists and tightened th
em.

  The guard stared up at them all, looking more confused than frightened.

  • • •

  A few minutes later, and with an effort that took the entire group, they had the guard laid out on his dining table.

  Jack used more rope to secure him and stepped back. ‘Don’t think he’s going anywhere.’

  ‘We won’t hurt you,’ Wren said. ‘I’m really sorry, but we had to do this.’

  Domino unzipped her backpack and started removing containers.

  The guard watched her.

  ‘How long?’ Jack asked Domino.

  ‘This part will take about an hour.’ She glanced over at Obi. ‘The rest will take a few more.’

  Jack nodded. ‘Please just go as quick as you can,’ he said.

  ‘Understood.’ Domino looked at Charlie. ‘Can you get me a large bowl of water, please?’

  Charlie hurried off to the kitchen.

  Jack paced the dining room as Domino worked.

  While telling the guard to keep still and with several assurances that she wasn’t going to hurt him, Domino first covered his face in a blue gloopy substance, leaving just his nostrils so he could breathe, then soaked plaster bandages in the bowl of water and draped them over the top.

  ‘What about the tape on his mouth?’ Wren asked.

  ‘It’s not ideal,’ Domino said. ‘But I can do something about that after.

  When the guard’s face was completely covered, Domino stepped back and looked at her watch. ‘Give it eight minutes.’

  Jack continued to pace as they waited, thinking of the mission ahead, Hector, Medusa and the thing that worried him the most – the mystery room.

  ‘Right, that should be long enough.’ Domino stepped back to the guard and put her fingers either side of the plaster mask covering his face. She took a breath. ‘Here goes.’ And lifted it from his face.

  She stepped back and looked at the results.

  Inside the plaster and rubber was the perfect impression of the guard’s face.

  ‘I can work with this.’

  ‘Great,’ Jack said. ‘Go do your magic.’

  Raze sneezed.

  ‘Come help me,’ Domino said to him, and they left the room, followed by Obi.

  Jack walked over to the guard and peered down at him. ‘If I take the tape off your mouth, will you promise not to shout?’

  The guard nodded.

  Jack peeled it from his lips.

  The guard breathed heavily. ‘What . . . ? What are you doing?’

  ‘It’s probably best you don’t know the answer to that.’

  Charlie left the room and returned a minute later with a glass of water. She helped the guard take a few sips.

  ‘Thanks.’

  • • •

  The next hour dragged by so slowly that it felt like a whole week.

  Jack paced the living room next door and kept running over the plan in his head, but the more he did, the more he worried about it. So many things could go wrong.

  Slink dropped into an armchair and sighed.

  ‘How’s the ankle?’ Jack asked him.

  ‘Hurts.’

  ‘And what have you learnt from your accident?’

  ‘Not to eat burgers and popcorn before I climb. I think I burped and that’s why I fell.’

  Jack rolled his eyes. ‘That’s not why you fell.’

  Charlie entered the sitting room.

  ‘And how’s our prisoner?’ Jack asked her.

  ‘He’s all right, considering. Bit scared, but he mainly seems completely baffled by what we’re doing. I keep telling him we won’t hurt him though.’

  ‘Guys?’ someone called.

  Jack and Charlie helped Slink to his feet and walked back into the dining room.

  The guard was still strapped to the table, but Wren had managed to free his head and prop it up with a pillow.

  Domino was standing by the door to the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel – she had plaster all over her hoodie.

  ‘Well?’ Jack asked her. ‘How did it go?’

  ‘Not bad,’ she said, stepping aside, allowing a figure to walk into the room.

  Everyone stared.

  ‘Oh. My. God,’ Charlie breathed.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  For a full thirty seconds, no one spoke. They just stood there in stunned silence.

  Jack finally shook himself back to reality and looked at the guard strapped to the table – he was staring wide-eyed at Obi too. Jack didn’t blame him.

  Because, standing in the doorway, was Obi, though it didn’t look like Obi at all.

  ‘Domino,’ Jack said slowly, ‘that’s . . . absolutely incredible.’

  ‘Amazing,’ Wren breathed.

  Domino smiled. ‘Thanks.’

  Obi was the spitting image of the guard – right down to the mole on his left cheek and the small scar above one eyebrow. If it wasn’t for the real guard lying right there, Jack wouldn’t even have known it was Obi in disguise.

  The guard tried to say something, but it was incoherent. It sounded like, ‘What’s going on?’ or ‘What’s he got on?’

  Jack had heard rumours of Domino’s skills, but the Outlaws had never had the chance to put them to the test until now.

  She’d taken a mould of the guard’s face, created a realistic latex mask and fixed it to Obi’s face. Then, with some subtle make-up, a wig and the guard’s own clothes from his wardrobe, Domino had created an exact doppelganger.

  Remarkable.

  Jack shook his head. ‘How did you make him the same height?’

  When he’d first answered the door, the guard looked at least a couple of inches taller than Obi.

  Obi turned and lifted one foot – fixed underneath the heel of the shoe was a platform.

  Charlie laughed.

  ‘Girls wear platform shoes like that, don’t they?’ Slink said, with mock innocence.

  Obi lowered his foot and scowled at him.

  ‘No one will notice,’ Jack said. ‘It’s dark outside. Come on, guys, we need to get moving. The guards change shifts soon.’

  Obi scratched his head and Domino slapped his hand.

  ‘Ouch.’

  ‘I told ya,’ she said. ‘Leave it alone. You’ll mess it up. Took me ages to get that hairline right.’

  Obi huffed as he shuffled to the door. ‘But it’s hot.’

  Domino ignored his whining and handed Jack a small plastic box.

  Jack opened it and examined the contents.

  Inside were four rubber thimbles. He slipped one on to his first finger and held it under the light to examine it.

  Domino had made them from the fingerprint impressions they’d got from John Grant at the Globe. Somehow she’d managed to turn the flat scan into a three-dimensional copy.

  Jack couldn’t help but be impressed once again by Domino’s skills. ‘These are brilliant,’ he said, slipping the rubber fingertip back into the box and snapping it closed. He glanced around at everyone. ‘Right, I think we’re finally ready.’ He looked at Slink’s bandaged ankle and sighed. ‘Well, as ready as we’re gonna be.’

  ‘I’m all gravy, baby,’ Slink said, though he didn’t sound very convincing.

  ‘Don’t worry, Jack,’ Raze said, resting a hand on the guard’s shoulder. ‘Me and Domino will look after this one for ya. Don’t want him squealing to anyone before you’ve done the mission.’ He coughed and it turned into a hacking wheeze.

  The guard looked anxious. Jack wasn’t sure if it was the germs or the fear of them doing something bad to him. Though Jack knew Domino and Raze would look after the guy, especially as none of this was his fault – they weren’t monsters. He was just someone working for the wrong people at the wrong time.

  ‘Right then,’ Jack said, turning to the others and slipping on his backpack. ‘Let’s hurry.’

  • • •

  Jack, Charlie, Obi, Slink and Wren walked back across the road to where the Ford Escort was parked.

 
‘So,’ Slink said to Charlie, ‘is this the point we find out what’s so special about this car? It’s been killing me.’

  ‘Yep.’ Charlie opened the boot. Inside was a spare tyre.

  Slink raised an eyebrow. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Proper special that, Charlie. Well done.’

  Charlie rolled her eyes and lifted the tyre up. The whole floor of the boot hinged with it, revealing a large hollowed-out space with padding beneath. She stepped aside and gestured. ‘Wren, this is yours.’

  Wren peered inside and hesitated.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Charlie said. ‘It’s safe.’ She pointed at two air vents either side of the boot. ‘And look.’ She indicated a red button next to the lock. ‘Press that in case of an emergency.’

  ‘Will it eject her?’ Slink said, looking hopeful.

  Wren glanced uneasily at the others, then Jack and Charlie helped her climb in and lie down.

  When she was comfortable, Charlie lowered the floor and spare tyre back into position.

  Jack’s eyebrows rose. ‘That’s pretty impressive, Charlie,’ he said. ‘You’d never know she was in there.’

  Charlie grinned. ‘That’s not the best bit. Look at this.’ She strode to the side of the car. ‘Obi, get in.’

  Obi climbed into the driver’s seat.

  Jack couldn’t help but stare for a moment – it really did look as if the guard himself was sat behind the steering wheel of his own car.

  ‘No way is that buffoon driving us to the Facility,’ Slink said. ‘I’d rather hop all the way there.’

  ‘Don’t worry – he’s not driving.’ Charlie opened the front passenger door, reached in, grabbed the seat and swung it forward. Built into it was another hidden chair. Charlie climbed in, pointed at the pedals by her feet and grabbed a lever in each hand.

  She pulled the levers – the steering wheel in front of Obi moved and the front wheels of the car turned from side to side.

  ‘It’s even got these.’ Charlie hit a lever and the indicators flashed.

  Jack shook his head. ‘That’s incredible.’

  ‘I got the idea from Noble’s ice-cream van,’ Charlie said. ‘The one with all those hidden compartments.’

  ‘How do you see to drive though?’ Slink asked.

  Charlie reached forward, grabbed a strap on the passenger seat and swung it over herself.

  It now looked like a normal car with no one in it apart from Obi.