by Gavin Zanker
‘And how much will they be worth if the Dawnists storm the place?’ Aiden said.
Julian nodded. ‘It’s a good point.’ He called over several of the guards and set them to work barricading the front doors with whatever they could find in the casino.
‘If we can’t get to Samuel then we need to fight back, weaken his position in the city somehow,’ Grace said. ‘We could put together a resistance and hit him where he’s most vulnerable. Maybe even draw him out into the open?’
‘Since when did you become a military strategist?’ Zachary asked. ‘Look, let’s stop taking advice from the women and children and actually—’
‘If you have any ideas, let’s hear them,’ Julian snapped, ‘because we’re all tired of the attitude. You see the thing is, Zachary, the women and children are the ones making useful suggestions right now.’
‘Well, I…’ Zachary fell silent, his cheeks burning.
‘We need to recruit as many as we can to our cause,’ Grace said, ignoring them. ‘We can’t fight back without more people on our side. I have no doubt the city would turn against Samuel if they could. No one would choose to be a slave.’
‘I can get behind that,’ Julian said. ‘History has proven the common people are unstoppable when they band together. But we’ll need weapons. Can’t have a war without weapons.’
‘You just said you have plenty of firepower,’ Aiden said.
‘Not enough to go around for everyone though,’ Julian said, shaking his head. ‘We always make sure our men are armed, but fact is, weapons are expensive. We don’t have the stockpiles to outfit an entire rebellion.’
‘All right, so manpower and weapons,’ Grace said. ‘This is starting to sound like a plan.’
‘A violent plan,’ Leigh said with a worried tone.
A knocking on the main doors caused everyone to tense.
‘One of ours?’ Julian asked.
One of the guards peered through a gap in the barricade. ‘Looks like it, sir.’
‘Well best let him in then.’
The guards shifted aside some tables and made a hole for the man to climb inside. He approached Julian, panting heavily, his clothes dishevelled and even torn in places.
‘Sir, message for you,’ he said, holding up a letter.
‘Let’s have it then,’ Julian said, taking and unsealing it. ‘You injured?’
The messenger shook his head. ‘Just a quick struggle with one of those Dawnists before I slipped away.’
‘Good man. Go find yourself somewhere to put your head down. You can’t do any good going back out there again tonight.’
‘Yes, sir,’ the man said, swelling with pride as he headed away into the back hallways.
Julian scanned the note before folding it and slipping it into his jacket pocket. ‘Samuel is using the city’s prison to incarcerate anyone who’s standing up against him,’ he announced. ‘There are teams of the Faithful shuttling people down there as we speak.’
‘Well there goes your manpower,’ Travis said with a slurred laugh. ‘What use is a rebellion with no rebels?’
‘How do you know that’s accurate?’ Grace asked, nodding towards the note in Julian’s pocket.
‘I trust the person that sent it.’
‘And who is that?’
‘You don’t need to know,’ Julian said. ‘I won’t endanger—’
‘It’s probably just his bit of skirt at the town hall,’ Zachary said, idly spinning a die on the table.
In a flash of movement, Julian was upright and swinging a balled fist at Zachary. Leigh, who was playing by the table with Hitch, had to scurry out of the way as Zachary was sent sprawling to the floor. He landed heavily, the thud making Aiden wince.
‘If you talk about her like that again, I’ll do more than just clock you in the face,’ Julian warned, jabbing his forefinger at the board member.
Zachary groaned as he slowly picked himself up. He rubbed his jaw, flashing a look of hatred towards Julian, but he kept his mouth shut.
Leigh ignored the fight and turned to Aiden. ‘Doesn’t that make things easier?’ she said.
‘Make what easier?’ he asked.
‘Samuel is rounding up all the people who would want to help us and putting them in the same place, right? So we just need to go get them out and they’ll all join.’
Grace laughed. ‘The ideas of a child. So simple we didn’t even think of it ourselves.’
‘You can’t be serious,’ Travis said. ‘That’s the city prison. It’s all locks, and bars, and… and pissed off guards.’
‘Why would they be pissed off?’ Leigh asked.
‘Well, wouldn’t you be if you had to work down there in the gutter with the dregs of the city?’ Travis asked.
‘I think Leigh’s onto something,’ Julian said. ‘With all the new prisoners, there probably won’t be enough space to hold them. The guards will be spread too thin.’
Zachary reached for the gin bottle, snatching it from Aiden. ‘The place is designed to stop people getting out, how do you intend to crack it open, genius?’
Grace glanced pointedly at Aiden.
‘Oh no, no way,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘Why not? You know the place, you’ve been inside before.’
‘Oh right, I forgot you were a criminal,’ Travis said, swaying as he grinned. ‘Back before Kane pulled you out of that hole.’
‘You seriously expect me to go back inside that place? I know how bad it is down there.’
‘You won’t be getting thrown into prison again,’ Grace said. ‘And just think of the benefits: all of Samuel’s enemies released into the city at once. It would create chaos for him.’
‘And all the murderers and thieves too,’ Aiden said. ‘What about when they get out?’
Grace paused. ‘I doubt they’d be able to cause any harm with the Faithful everywhere and people locked up in their homes already. They’d just get marched straight back down there; the stupid ones anyway. Please, Aiden. You’re the perfect man for the job.’
‘Oh yes,’ Zachary said as he wiped the gin from his mouth, ‘let’s send the criminal to start a prison break so we can have the city overrun by murderers as well as cultists. Why don’t we just blow the whole place up and save ourselves the trouble?’
‘Will you just give it a rest,’ Grace said. ‘We’re all getting tired of your attitude.’
Aiden sighed and considered the idea. As much as he detested the thought of seeing that dark, cramped pit again, it really was the best plan they’d come up with. And if it distracted Samuel, it would bring him one step closer to entering the compound. ‘Okay,’ he said, ‘let’s say for argument’s sake I do this, how would I get inside?’
Grace grinned, putting an arm around him and squeezing. ‘Details we can figure out later,’ she said.
He reached across the table and poured himself another shot of gin as an excuse to sidle out of her grasp, uncomfortable with how touchy she was being.
Julian glanced at the fading light that filtered in through the gaps in the barricade. ‘It’s getting late already,’ he said. ‘We won’t be able to get anything done today. Let’s sleep on it and we can finalise a plan first thing tomorrow.’
Everyone murmured in agreement.
‘Welcome to the rebellion, I suppose,’ Grace said with a lighthearted laugh as people started drifting away from the table. ‘I don’t think I can sleep knowing what’s going on out there.’
‘Nothing we can do about it,’ Zachary said with a shrug. ‘Leave them to it, I say.’
‘You’re a heartless bastard, do you know that?’
Julian waved over some of the Syndicate men loitering by the bar. ‘Set everyone up with a room,’ he ordered. ‘Looks like we’ll be having guests for a while.’
One of the guards led Aiden and Leigh into the back hallways, down a flight of stairs, and finally to a dead-end with a series of numbered doors resembling a dormitory.
‘Here are the gues
t rooms,’ he said. ‘Take your pick.’
Leigh ran up to door number four and took the key from the lock. ‘This one,’ she said, dashing inside without waiting. Aiden nodded a thanks to the man and entered after her with Hitch. The room was clean and decently furnished. He flicked on the electric lamp on the writing desk, lighting up a set of bunk beds made with fresh linen. There were no windows this far underground, but the whitewashed walls helped the room seem larger.
‘I call top,’ Leigh said, scrambling up onto the top bunk and bouncing on the mattress. She called Hitch who jumped up beside her. ‘So what are you thinking?’
‘I think we’re probably screwed,’ Aiden said, slouching onto the bottom bunk. ‘None of these people will work together without trying to kill each other. We’d be better off heading out through the tunnel now and never looking back.’
‘What about all the city people? Grace is right, we could help them.’
Aiden closed his eyes and sighed. ‘It’s not them I’m here for. You know that.’
‘Right. Kate.’ Leigh sounded wounded just saying her name. ‘We can do both, can’t we? By helping people, we hurt Samuel, and that gives us a chance to get inside the compound.’
‘Yeah. Yeah, it does.’
‘Well then, it makes sense to stay right?’ Leigh asked, her hair dangling down as she leaned over the bunk.
He looked up at her goofy grin and couldn’t stop the smile. ‘Fine, we’ll stay,’ he said. ‘But only until I get into the compound and find Kate. Then we’re getting as far away from this place as possible.’
She reached down and ruffled his hair. ‘I knew you’d do the right thing.’
Aiden brushed her arm away. ‘Watch it,’ he said as she disappeared with a giggle. He lay back on the lower bunk, draping an arm over his eyes to block out the light. He had no idea what would happen next: spirits seemed high enough, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all doomed.
CHAPTER 18
A GENTLE KNOCK AT the door roused Aiden from his sleep. He groaned and stretched out as he awoke to the stuffy dark of the Brentford guest room. Grace’s head appeared around the door. ‘It’s almost dawn,’ she said softly.
‘Almost?’ Aiden croaked. ‘Why did you wake me then?’
‘We have a lead on a way into the prison. I figured you’d want to know.’
The memory of the night before, agreeing to join the rebels and infiltrate the prison, came rushing back to him. He groaned again.
‘What’s going on?’ Leigh mumbled from the top bunk.
‘Nothing, go back to sleep, honey,’ Grace said.
‘Give me a minute,’ Aiden said as he pulled himself out of the bunk. His blanket fell away revealing his bare, scarred torso. He caught Grace stealing a glance before leaving. He dressed and slapped the sides of his face in an attempt to wake himself up.
Hitch lifted his head up at the activity. ‘Stay here,’ Aiden whispered, patting the dog curled up next to Leigh on the top bunk. ‘Keep an eye on her.’ He remembered he was still carrying her small revolver and left it on the desk for her. With Leigh snoring gently, he headed out into the hallway where Grace waited. ‘So what’s going on?’ he asked, accepting the bottle of water she offered.
‘One of my friends has figured out a possible way inside the prison. We need you to go meet with him as soon as possible.’
Aiden glugged the water, spilling some onto his shirt. He cursed gently and wiped at the wet patch. ‘Okay, who and where?’
‘Remember Orlen? Runs an electronics shop in Oldtown.’
‘Sure, I bought some fuses from him a while back. Hard to forget someone as no-nonsense as that.’
‘Well, he has a police uniform, something you can use for a disguise. I’ve spoken to him on the radio and he’s waiting for you at his store now.’
‘How am I supposed to get to Oldtown when the streets are swarming with Faithful?’
‘Woody,’ Grace said simply as they set off along the hallway. ‘He can smuggle anything to anywhere. I’m sure he can get you across the city, even with this curfew going on. I brought him up to speed last night and he agreed to help out.’
They rounded a corner to find Woody studying one of the many paintings that hung on the wall. ‘I thought I felt my ears burning,’ he said. ‘Don’t you ever sleep, girl?’
‘What about you?’ Grace teased. ‘You went to bed after I did.’
‘Too much to do around here, that’s the problem.’ He turned to Aiden and nodded. ‘Good to see you again.’
Aiden returned the greeting. ‘I remember you once telling me you weren’t a Syndicate man,’ he said, glancing at the gang tattoo he had noticed on Woody’s arm when they’d first met.
‘And I’m still not — I told you the truth. I’m a man with… a varied skill set, which the Syndicate sometimes finds useful to contract.’
‘Like smuggling?’
‘Like smuggling,’ Woody said, the corner of his mouth curling upwards.
‘You can trust him,’ Grace said aside to Aiden.
‘I don’t trust anyone until they’ve earned it.’
‘As it should be,’ Woody said, nodding his head in approval. ‘Still, we’re on the same side here so how about we skip the suspicions and just assume we aren’t going to shoot each other in the back?’
‘I’m on my own side,’ Aiden said, ‘but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. For now.’
‘That’s a start,’ Woody said. He pulled a pistol from his belt and removed the magazine, showing it was loaded before slipping it back in with a click. He twirled the gun around his finger and passed it to Aiden. ‘I heard you lost your weapon, so I paid the armoury a visit this morning. It’s just an old Beretta 92, but it’s solid.’
‘Woody!’ Grace scolded.
‘What?’ he said with a cheeky grin. ‘The Syndicate won’t notice it’s missing, and we’re going to need weapons.’ He turned back to Aiden. ‘My old mate Orlen is waiting for us on the other side of Oldtown, so we should move out while we still have the night on our side. That all right with you?’
‘Sounds fine,’ Aiden said as he examined the weapon. Satisfied, he slipped the pistol into the empty holster at his belt. ‘Just give me a few minutes to get myself together.’
‘Come find me in the casino when you’re ready,’ Woody said, then sauntered away through the hallways.
Once he was out of earshot, Aiden turned to Grace. ‘Who is this guy really?’ he asked. ‘An ex-Syndicate smuggler? That doesn’t exactly seem like someone I should be trusting.’
‘He’s my friend. Is that enough for you?’
‘No, but it doesn’t hurt,’ Aiden said, sipping at the bottle of water again. ‘Will you keep an eye on Leigh for me while I’m gone?’
‘Of course. We’re all staying here for now, so it’s no problem. Once she wakes up I’ll make sure she eats and stays out of mischief. I’m sure I’ve got some old textbooks she can have a look at.’
‘Thanks. She shouldn’t be much trouble.’
‘It’s okay. She’s a sweet girl,’ Grace said. ‘Fierce as a wild-cat though, and she’d run into a burning building for you. No idea how you managed that.’
‘Don’t blame me, she’s got a mind of her own.’ Aiden poured a little water into his palm and splashed his face. ‘Just don’t give her any pencils or she’ll draw on everything,’ he warned. ‘Have we figured out a plan for getting more weapons yet?’
‘Julian hasn’t slept, he’s still in his office working through some ideas. I’m sure he’ll appreciate any input you have if you want to go speak to him.’
Aiden shook his head and handed the empty water bottle back to her. ‘Maybe later. I’ve got to run now. Trip down to hell and all that.’
‘Good luck. We’re all grateful for this.’ She reached out for him, but he was already walking away.
‘Just keep Leigh safe for me,’ he called back over his shoulder. ‘I’ll be back soon, hopefully with enough help to
put a stop to this thing.’
CHAPTER 19
THE DARK STREETS around the Brentford were deserted. Aiden spotted no movement anywhere as Woody led the way towards Oldtown. As they rounded one of the many tattoo parlours in the city, Woody paused suddenly causing Aiden to almost walk into him. Up ahead a fire blazed in a barrel, casting long shadows onto the sheets of old metal making up the sidings of the nearby buildings. Around it stood a handful of men with shaved heads.
‘Faithful?’ Aiden whispered.
‘Probably a patrol just warming themselves up.’ Woody answered. He pointed to a stack of old breeze-blocks supporting a raised residence and they ducked down to wait. It was the first close look Aiden had of the Faithful: they each wore simple white clothes, carried a club made of old rebar or carved wood, and burned or tattooed onto each of their foreheads was the Dawnists’ rising sun symbol. They shared a joke as they passed, as if they were just friends walking home from the pub rather than fanatics occupying a city.
Once the danger had gone, Aiden and Woody continued on through the layered walkways. Now his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Aiden spotted other small groups of Faithful patrolling the city. Dodging them was a lesson in patience; the five minute walk to Oldtown took the better part of half an hour. At one point, Woody scaled the side of a building and Aiden followed him through a hidden route over the rooftops. It seemed Grace had been right, Woody really did know the city well.
They arrived at Oldtown to find it weirdly empty. At this hour, people would usually be hustling back and forth, fighting for the space to set up their market stalls for the day. But today there was nothing. Even the town hall looked strangely quiet, with no police guarding the entrance and only a few lights radiating out from the second floor windows. The two of them circled the market through the alleyways, coming at last to Orlen’s shop. Aiden could see no lights on inside as Woody rapped on the door once, twice, then paused before a final knock. After a moment, the door opened a crack and they slipped inside. Without moonlight, the shop interior was even darker inside than out, leaving Aiden unable to make out a thing.
