Olly lunged, tackling the other man to the floor. There was a crack, and Ro cried out. Olly looked up and saw the drone hovering over the cubicles, its weapon smoking. As he stared, unable to look away, it turned towards him, barrel tracking him.
“Oi! Over here,” Ro shouted. A chair bounced off the side of the drone, and the machine spun. Danny shoved Olly aside and rose, his rifle spitting fire. Sparks burst from the drone’s underbelly, raining down onto the carpet. The machine spun in a wild circle, motors whining like a wounded animal. It started to retreat and Danny pursued, firing steadily, emptying the magazine into it.
It teetered, wobbled and finally crashed down with a shriek of abused metal. Danny ejected the spent magazine, slapped in a full one, and fired again, blowing out the drone’s CPU. He turned. “Ro? Rosemary?”
“Here,” she called. Olly and Danny hurried towards her. She sat with her back against a cubicle, her face and shirt spattered with blood. She held something in her hand. Danny bent, a look of concern on his face, but she waved him off. “I’m fine. Not mine.”
Olly looked past her and saw Coyle – or what was left of him. Danny turned. “Was that you?”
“No. Truly. Something… somebody else took control in those last few moments.” He paused. “Shit – the detonator…”
Ro held up her fist. She held the detonator, her thumb on the switch. “Took it from him. Nearly got topped doing it.” She put a finger through a hole in her jacket. “There an off switch for it, or…?”
Danny took it from her, gently. “It’s wireless. We just need to interrupt the signal.”
“Or find something to keep it from activating,” Olly said. “Still got some of that tape in your bag?” Danny nodded.
“Think so.”
Olly bent to retrieve the bag, then suddenly stopped. “Woah. Anyone else feel that?”
“Feel wh–” Ro began.
The boom of the explosion reached them a moment later. It was followed by another, and then another and another. All from different directions, all around the compass point – but especially to the west, towards Parliament and the TOAN conference. Flares of light and fire rising over the nearby buildings, reflected in the glass and chrome. Cavernous rumbles, far louder than any summer thunder. Then the first shockwaves rippling out across the area, maybe the whole city. The building shook itself, trembling again and again as it rode out the blasts. Outside there was the constant sound of falling glass and debris. Alarms blared from near and far.
Olly straightened slowly, terrified eyes wide. “Fucking hell…”
“What is that?” Ro said, scrambling to her feet.
“Explosions,” Danny said, in a hollow voice. “Got to be.” He looked at Olly. “Maybe that Tell bloke wasn’t the only one making bombs.”
Olly watched the hellish blossoms of fire and smoke sprouting up across the capital, turning the twilight into a living nightmare. He closed his eyes. Opened them. Grabbed the tape, and made sure the detonator wouldn’t go off accidentally. Then he looked at the others.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But we’re gonna find out.”
Later
Bagley-bytes 45700-0: …
+++
Welcome to Checkpoint London.
+++
Hope you survive your stay.
Epilogue
Olly sat in the café across from the gates to Victoria Park. No longer a pop-up, it was practically an institution these days. London had changed while he’d been gone. Albion checkpoints were everywhere, and the city felt like it was at once locked down tight and ready to explode at any moment. Some things remained the same, however. Drones filled the skies, and people filled the streets. It was still London, despite the changes.
Still home.
He sat back and smiled as Hannah slid into the booth. “Welcome back,” she murmured. “The others…?”
“On the way.” He, Danny and Ro had split up, after Coyle’s death. Hannah had helped them get out of the city, out of Faulkner’s reach. They hadn’t seen each other in a year. Despite only knowing them a short time, Olly found himself missing them. He leaned towards her. “How are things?”
“As good as can be expected. Worse than they ought to be.”
“I saw. There’s an anti-immigration protest in Brockwell Park.”
“And others scheduled for the rest of the week.” She looked him up and down. “You look different. Beard, button down shirt… you look like a farmer.”
“Cheers. Beards confuse facial recognition software. Change the shape of the face, or something.” He looked down at his clothes. “And I am a farmer. Or at least I was working on a farm. Up in Yorkshire.” It was better than being a courier, but not by much.
“I wondered where you’d gone.” She looked around. “Krish went to the Shetlands.”
“You’re having a laugh.”
She spread her hands. “I don’t know what to tell you. He likes it up there.” She frowned. “I don’t think he’s coming back.”
“A lot of them won’t,” Olly said, softly. “It’s different now. Since Liz. Dalton…”
They both fell silent, thinking about those last few hours a year previous. The bombing of the TOAN conference and related sites around London. The attempted bombing of Parliament. The subsequent collapse of DedSec London. So many had gone missing – arrested or killed, like Dalton and Liz. Others had been shipped off to Albion-owned black sites. But not everyone.
Despite this, DedSec was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Even Bagley had gone mostly quiet. Olly had kept his hand in, following the news. Shifting cryptocurrencies into ghost accounts, building up a war-chest, though he wasn’t sure why. He’d heard whispers that others were doing the same. DedSec was gone, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t fight back. Though what form that fight might take, he couldn’t say.
For weeks – months – after he’d left London, he’d expected Faulkner to pop up, and arrest him. He’d kept an eye out for surveillance, but detected nothing. That didn’t mean they weren’t watching him, but he’d improved his old camouflage apps while in hiding. He’d spent sleepless nights scrubbing Oliver Soames from every database and server he could think of, and then done the same for Danny and Ro. As far as Albion was concerned, they’d never existed. Like Coyle.
Like Liz.
There’d been nothing in the news about either of them, though he hadn’t expected it. Especially Coyle. He’d tried to dig up information on the assassin but found only whispers – hints. Whoever he’d been, he’d definitely been working for someone. Someone who’d also hired Tell, maybe Clan Kelley too. Someone named Zero Day, according to Ro. But none of his investigations had amounted to anything.
Olly scratched his chin. “I heard Sarah Lincoln on the radio this morning, tearing strips out of Albion. Nigel Cass and his bootboys ain’t gonna like that.”
“They never do.”
“The way I hear it, she’s positioning herself for the next leadership election.”
Hannah just smiled. Olly chuckled. “Friends in high places.” He paused. “I never thanked you for helping us get out of the city, afterwards.” Albion had been everywhere in the days after the bombing. London hadn’t been safe.
Hannah made a dismissive gesture. “I had to do it for my own safety as much as yours. But you’re welcome.” She smiled again. “I did what I could to get everyone out.” She paused. “If you were wondering, between the breakout and that business with Coyle, Faulkner wound up being reassigned.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t wind up with a bullet in his head.”
“Word is, he might be back in Cass’s good graces, though. And back in East London.”
Olly grimaced. “Wonderful. There’s one bloke I don’t ever want to see again.”
Hannah was about to reply when the door to the café opened. Danny entered, Ro following in his wake. They didn’t look much different to when Olly had last seen them. Danny had shaved his head completely and wasn’t we
aring a uniform. Ro was dressed like a stockbroker and had grown her hair out. Olly waved, and they joined him and Hannah.
Danny smiled. “Sorry we’re late. Had to visit Mum.”
“Is she…?” Olly began.
“Nah, she’s fine,” Ro said. “Glad we’re back.”
“Glad we’re talking,” Danny said. He looked at his sister and nudged her with his fist. “Better than last time I came home.”
Ro laughed. “Yeah.” She looked out the window. “Our ends have seen better days, though.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Olly said. He looked around. “That’s why we came back.”
Indeed. And just in time, too.
Olly smiled as Bagley’s voice filled their ears. “Bagley… long time no see.” He paused. “Well, talk anyway.”
I am pleased to see you all in one piece and in fighting shape.
They all traded looks. Olly cleared his throat. “I’m guessing you were the one who brought us back?”
Sabine was the one who issued the command to regroup. For my part, I am simply grateful.
“So let’s get to it,” Ro said. “Why are we here?”
In the aftermath of the bombings, things got worse in London. People disappeared. DedSec scattered. The Signal Intelligence Response Service, Albion, the Kelleys, plenty of other chancers – they all but divvied up the city between them. There was no one left to stop them.
Olly leaned back. “But…?” he said, softly.
But there are still those who wish to fight back. And they need help.
“I thought you said DedSec was gone,” Danny said.
It is. It was. But it can rise again. With help.
Olly smiled and looked at the others. Slowly, one by one, they nodded in agreement. He leaned forward, arms crossed on the table. “Well then, I guess you better bring us up to speed, then, huh?”
Welcome back. Welcome to the Resistance.
About the Authors
James Swallow is a New York Times, Sunday Times and Amazon #1 bestselling author of over fifty books, and a BAFTA-nominated scriptwriter. He is the creator of the Marc Dane action thriller series, and has written for franchises such as 24, Star Trek and several high-profile video games. He lives and works in London.
jswallow.com
twitter.com/jmswallow
JOSH REYNOLDS is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories, including the wildly popular Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000. He grew up in South Carolina and now lives in Sheffield, UK.
joshuamreynolds.co.uk
twitter.com/jmreynolds
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Day Five 1: Brick Lane
2: Whitechapel
3: Tower Hamlets South
4: Redqueen
5: Scene Of The Crime
6: Hayes Family Dinner
Day Four 7: Perfidious Albion
8: Investigations
9: Gearing Up
10: Coyle
Day Three 11: Bethnal Green
12: The Property Room
13: Escape
14: Sibling Rivalry
14: Signal
16: Hunted
Day Two 17: Arrangements
18: Masks
19: Protection
20: Lock-Up
21: The Flat
22: Sacrifice
23: Betrayal
Day One 24: Politics
25: Marcus Tell
26: Aftermath
Day Zero 27: Breakout
28: Aftershock
29: The Pinnacle
30: Free Fire
Later Epilogue
About the Authors
Join the Aconyte Newsletter
Day Zero Page 30
