The Tube Riders

by Chris Ward

  Jess shrugged. ‘Sounds like he has it right. Trust kills, some people say.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Marta said. ‘But some of us prefer to keep up a higher level of optimism.’

  ‘Sure. Why do you call him Switch?’

  ‘See that twitch in his eye?’

  ‘Couldn’t miss it.’

  ‘Steve’s twitch. Over time, Switch.’

  ‘Oh. That makes sense, I suppose.’ Jess looked around her. ‘Are you the leader?’

  Marta grinned. ‘What? The leader of fat boy, thin boy and weird boy? Lucky me! My brother Leo was the first Tube Rider, but we’re just a group of friends.’

  ‘We don’t really have a leader,’ Simon said.

  ‘No,’ Paul agreed. ‘There’s nothing much to be decided except when to go home. We do have an order of seniority, though. Kind of like a code. Marta’s been here the longest, so she rides first. Simon comes next, then Switch, then me.’

  ‘There are just four of you?’ Jess asked.

  Marta looked away towards Switch, now standing down by the breakfall mats. ‘There used to be more. Things happen, though. Some people drift away, others get scared, or lose interest.’

  ‘What happened to your brother?’

  Paul and Simon tensed, and Jess immediately wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. Marta, though, just gave her an easy smile, and Jess found herself warming to the other girl quickly. ‘He disappeared,’ Marta said. ‘I don’t know what happened to him, and the speculation kills me. I try not to think about him, and being here, doing this thing he started, strangely enough it helps to put him out of my mind.’

  ‘Hey, I’m sorry.’

  ‘We all have our horror stories. Even you, I suppose.’

  ‘My father works for the government. I don’t know what he does, but every day I worry that he won’t come home. My mother, too. She works in a bank. My family, inside the protective gates and security locks and bullet proof glass, we live a normal life. Not many people have that, and I fear losing it so much I could just . . .’ She trailed off, feeling tears she didn’t want to show start to come. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists at her sides, determined not to cry in front of Simon’s friends.

  Marta patted her shoulder. ‘Easy, easy. We know. We understand.’ She took a step back and spread her hands. ‘Welcome to the Tube Riders.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘So, Simon, are you going to get her started or what?’

  ‘I don’t know. I just wanted her to meet you guys.’

  ‘Can I try?’

  Marta put an arm around her shoulders. ‘Not until you know what you’re doing. We don’t want you getting hurt. Even then it’s entirely your choice to ride. You’re welcome to just come and hang out.’ She smiled. ‘But if you want an idea of what it’s like, come this way.’

  She led Jess up the platform, beneath the stairs to the blocked second exit, and through an opening in the wall beside the platform edge which led into a maintenance tunnel. The emergency lighting was dimmer here. The sound of dripping water came from back in the dark.

  ‘Why are there lights on?’ Jess asked. ‘Doesn’t the government turn them off?’

  Paul said, ‘Even though the station is closed now, the trains still follow the same rules as when it was operating. They have to slow down as they enter the station, and the lights are kept on so that the trains can see it as they come in.’

  ‘That’s his theory,’ Simon said. ‘I just think the government forgot to turn them off. It’s not like they have much control over stuff, is it?’

  Marta had her hands on her hips. ‘Enough of the history lesson, boys. It’s study time.’

  She reached up and took hold of a water pipe about a foot above her head. ‘This pipe runs straight for about thirty feet. It’s about the same height as the rail you have to catch on the trains. So . . . ’

  Marta handed Jess her clawboard. ‘You can try with mine. It’s a bit lighter than the others.’

  Jess took the offered board and turned it over in her hands. The wood was thinner than Simon’s, and the outside face was painted silver. It looked polished, better maintained than his. It also had two hooks instead of one, with a small space in the middle. ‘What do you want me to do?’

  Marta pointed. ‘Start running from over there. Try to get into a sprint going parallel to the pipe. When you’re moving as fast as you can, angle in sharply and jump. Lift up the board and try to hook the pipe. Here, hold the board like this.’ She helped Jess hook her arms through the leather straps. ‘Okay, go on then. Have a try.’

  Jess looked nervously back at Simon. He didn’t look too happy but he forced a good luck smile. ‘Well, here goes . . .’

  She backed up a few steps and then sprinted forward as Marta had instructed. About halfway along the pipe she darted inwards, leapt, hooked, and caught. She pulled her feet up off the ground, slid a few inches and stopped, hanging from the pipe like a bat in an old industrial factory. She looked back. ‘Well?’

  Simon pouted. ‘That was okay. I think you understand the basic concept but you probably need to work on your technique a bit.’

  Marta laughed. ‘He’s just jealous because it took him about ten attempts on his first day.’

  ‘It wasn’t ten,’ Simon said. ‘It was more like, I don’t know . . . six?’

  ‘Maybe you’re a natural,’ Paul said.

  Marta pointed back along the platform. ‘Again,’ she said. ‘Do it again.’

  Jess did, again landing safely on the pipe. Then, at Marta’s prompt, one more time and one more, until Jess had lost count. By the time Marta called a halt, Jess was out of breath and her arms ached but she was doing it smoothly, with barely a sound.

  ‘Now, the dismount,’ Marta said. ‘You’re not jumping off a pipe, you’re jumping off a train moving at anything up to sixty miles an hour. Get it wrong and you die, it’s as simple as that.’

  Jess looked shocked. She glared at Simon. ‘You didn’t say people died.’

  He looked away, his cheeks reddening. ‘I didn’t want to put you off.’

  She glared at him a moment and then shrugged. ‘Try and stop me doing it, more like.’ She grinned. ‘I guess you’re probably as likely to die crossing the streets these days.’

  Marta nodded. ‘Like I said, there’s no pressure for you to do it for real. You can help Paul keep score if you like.’

  Jess glanced at Paul. Simon had told her they were the same age but Paul didn’t look like a man barely out of his teens. He could have passed for forty with his receding hair, glasses and middle-age spread. She hadn’t like to say so, but she couldn’t imagine him running, leaping out and then hanging off the side of a moving train. He wasn’t exactly athletic, but she supposed looks could be deceiving, sometimes intentionally so.

  ‘Paul doesn’t ride?’ she asked.

  Paul looked sheepish. ‘I hurt myself, and it’s difficult to ride now.’

  ‘He hurt his mind,’ Simon said. ‘The rest healed. It’s psychological.’

  ‘Okay, enough,’ Marta said, scowling at him. She turned back to Jess. ‘You all right? You want to have a break? I didn’t mean to turn into a boot camp sergeant or anything –’

  ‘No, I’m good. Let’s nail this.’

  Jess hated the way a lot of people saw her as some frilly-dress Daddy’s girl. The neighbours all felt she was privileged, particularly with the home security system that made them the only family on the street who could sleep in peace, and she hated it. She felt a constant urge to prove herself, and now, in the presence of Simon’s friends, she felt the same desire.

  While she had been practicing, Switch had been riding alone over on the far platform. She’d seen him clinging to the side of the train like a bug on a tree branch and it looked exhilarating. She wanted to do it more than anything now, and she wanted to do it better than any of them.

  ‘When you dismount,’ Marta said, ‘you have to brace your legs on the side of the train, and push your boar
d in and up at the same time as you push upwards with your feet. You can’t just pull the board off. It’s caught on the rail, and the only way to unhook it is to push it in and flick it off in one motion.’

  ‘Kind of like undoing a bra,’ Paul said.

  ‘Didn’t realise you wore one,’ Simon scoffed.

  Paul grinned. Jess noticed how Marta watched them with a wry smile the way a mother might watch her kids. Marta was pretty, but the brief pang of jealousy Jess had felt when they first met had gone. The Tube Riders were more like a family, particularly with Switch playing the black sheep role.

  ‘Try it on this pipe over here. It’s a little lower, but it’s nearer the wall so you can brace better. On a real train there’s only a slight curve on the outside of the carriage, so the rail you hang from is about the same level as your feet. This means you are leaning backwards, making the pressure on the clawboard greater. All of which means it’s easy to stay attached, but difficult to get off.’

  Jess hooked the pipe and braced her feet on the wall. ‘Okay, so up and out. How do I land?’

  ‘Usually on your back, but if there aren’t any breakfall mats there, you have to roll.’

  Jess stared. ‘You’re joking, right?’

  Marta shook her head. ‘I wish. If the train’s going slow enough it’s not a problem, but on a train going at speed, if you try to land on your feet you’re going to break something, or worse, damage your back with the impact. When you dismount, you have to turn your body in the direction the train is going and pull your clawboard into your body like a shield. Duck your head in to protect it. Keep your legs straight. If you do it right, it doesn’t hurt so much because your forward momentum is so great you just kind of touch down. Like a plane.’

  ‘It hurts?’

  Marta looked pained. ‘Always. But do it right and it won’t hurt too much.’

  ‘It’s the reason we have the big stack of mattresses at the end of the platform,’ Simon said, pointing towards them. ‘Something nice and soft to land on.’

  ‘I’ll catch you the first time,’ Marta said, going to stand behind her.

  Jess grimaced. ‘Okay, well here goes.’ She reached up and hooked the board over the second pipe, bracing her feet on the wall. She took a deep breath, then kicked up and pushed the board in and upwards as Marta had instructed her. She kicked a little hard though, and fell back into Marta. For a moment Marta had a hold of her – Jess marveled at how strong the other girl’s hands felt – then Marta lost her balance and they both landed in a heap on the floor.

  ‘Ow!’ Jess muttered. ‘I banged my bloody elbow.’

  Marta, who appeared to be unhurt, laughed as she stood up. ‘Not bad for a first attempt. You don’t need to kick quite so hard, but it was good.’

  Simon helped Jess up. ‘Are you all right?’

  Jess brushed herself down and nodded. ‘I’ll live.’

  ‘Do you want to rest for a bit? Watch us do a few rides?’

  Jess smiled. ‘Nope. I want to ride with you.’

  ‘Well, I don’t know that you’re ready yet.’

  Jess shrugged. ‘Come on, let’s go see what –’

  She broke off at the sound of a shout and running feet in their direction. Switch was bolting along the platform towards them, his clawboard hung loose in one hand. ‘Quick!’ he shouted. ‘We’ve got a problem!’

  Chapter Seven

  Confrontation

  ‘Hurry!’ Dreggo shouted, waving an arm forward towards the entrance of St. Cannerwells Underground station. Spread out across the park like a net ready to close, the Cross Jumpers responded, slinking between the trees and along the cracked tarmac paths, closing on the small brick building at the top of the hill. Her scouts had seen the Tube Riders go inside a couple of hours ago. They had looked around for other entrances but found none. All the Cross Jumpers had arrived and they had begun to close on the entrance when one of the Tube Riders had emerged at exactly the wrong time.

  With her keen eyesight she had spotted him from the other side of the park, stepping out from the station entrance, immediately tensing, his sixth sense alerting him to danger. He had frozen just a second before feigning cool and calmly looking around, noticing several closing Cross Jumpers. He was good, she had to admit; the way he sauntered back inside as though he’d just stepped out for a cigarette and then changed his mind. Brought up on the hardest streets, she had no doubt, but too late. The Tube Riders were still trapped inside.

  Moving through her trees to the left was Maul, a big sledgehammer held in both hands. He glanced at her often, she noticed, and while it irritated her, she appreciated the gesture. He was looking out for her, as usual, when out of all of them she was the one who needed it least. Muscular and mean though he was, Dreggo could make short work of him or any of the others. In fact, she didn’t need their help at all, but she had to involve them in this if she wanted to maintain her control of the gang, and right now that would be for the best.

  ‘When you get inside, spread out across the platform,’ she growled to several Cross Jumpers as she reached the entrance. ‘Make sure they have no escape routes. If they go into the tunnels, that’s fine. They’ll be mine then.’

  Maul grinned inanely as he passed her. Others looked less excited about the prospect of a fight, but they were too scared to argue. They stuck together in twos and threes, and she hoped they would give each other strength.

  Billy Lees went last. He gave her a long, cold look as he passed, longer than she felt was respectful. He had run the Cross Jumpers for more than three years before she showed up, and he didn’t look happy about being back in the ranks. Her jaw tensed as she followed him inside.

  #

  Switch bent over, hands on his knees, was trying to get his breath back.

  ‘I went outside to go get some drinks,’ he said. ‘But as I got to the top of the stairs I saw them coming. Lots of them. Armed with clubs and shit.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘I think it’s pretty obvious, don’t you?’

  Simon glanced at Paul and Marta. ‘Are you sure they were coming in here?’

  ‘Of course I’m fucking sure. They were headed straight for the station entrance.’

  ‘How many?’ Marta asked.

  ‘I saw at least ten but there could have been more. They had knives, clubs, lengths of pipe, the usual street fight bullshit.’

  ‘You could see their weapons?’

  Switch shook his head. ‘Didn’t need to. I could see from the way they were walking what the fuckers were concealing.’

  Jess’s lip trembled. ‘What do we do now?’

  Switch rounded on her. ‘Did they follow you here? Spies from Daddy?’

  ‘No!’

  Simon put up a hand. ‘Switch, give it up.’

  ‘Or what, Simon?’

  ‘Just shut up!’ Marta shouted. ‘We’ve got bigger problems to worry about. I think we all know who they are and how they got here.’

  Simon shook his head. ‘How would Dan know how to find them?’

  ‘I don’t know, luck? Now shut up before they hear us, while there’s still time to find somewhere to hide –’

  ‘Too late,’ Paul said quietly. ‘They’re here.’

  As they peered out from behind the pillars they saw the group come down from the far stairs and spread themselves out. With the other exit long ago bulldozed and concreted over, there was no way out.

  ‘We’ve got to go into the tunnels,’ Simon said.

  Marta turned to look at him. ‘And go where?’

  ‘I don’t know, keep going until we reach the next station?’

  ‘It’s about three miles. We’d get chased down.’

  ‘Or run down by the next express,’ Paul added.

  Simon glanced at Jess. The girl was looking down at her waist, fiddling with what looked liked a money belt tied around her stomach. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

  ‘You know, if we get in trouble, its evidence –’

  �
�You’ve got a digital camera?’ Switch said, incredulous, pushing Simon out of the way. ‘You were planning to get us on the fucking TV?’

  Jess looked upset. ‘I just wanted, you know, a memento of the occasion.’

  ‘Dumb bitch,’ Switch muttered, turning away.

  ‘Hey!’ Simon said, stepping towards him, but Marta silenced them both with a sharp: ‘Now is not the time! They’re coming closer!’

  She glanced around the side of the pillar again and counted maybe fifteen people, spread out across the platform. There was no urgency in their actions; it looked to Marta like they already knew the Tube Riders were here.

  She turned to Switch. ‘How long until the next train comes?’

  ‘Huh, what?’

  ‘The next train!’

  He frowned. ‘The last one was . . . about four minutes, give or take.’

  ‘Okay, that’s enough. I have a plan. Jess, do you think you can ride?’

  ‘What, now? I don’t know.’

  Simon put a hand on Marta’s shoulder. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Jess can’t ride, she hasn’t practiced enough. And anyway, when we dismount –’

  ‘There’s no dismount. Not this time.’

  The others looked at her. ‘You’re joking, right?’ Paul said, frowning.

  ‘It’s the only way. If Jess doesn’t think she can ride, maybe she can hide here and they won’t find her. If Dan told them about us, he’ll have told them four. They won’t know about her.’

  ‘I’m not staying here!’

  ‘She’s not staying here.’

  ‘That’s settled then. Paul, give her Dan’s old clawboard.’

  Paul stepped forward. ‘We were going to have a little ceremony and stuff, but there isn’t time.’ He held out a clawboard. ‘Here.’

  Jess took the board and turned it over in her hands. The wood was dark with varnish but otherwise had no design. It looked like a piece of skirting board that someone had fashioned into a crude Medieval weapon for a kid to play with. The wood was scratched and scored, but the metal hook was smooth from dozens of rides.

  ‘It’s amazing,’ she said. ‘Was it someone else’s?’

  ‘Yeah, but we weren’t going to say that.’