“Maybe Martyn knows more. His Dad was the leader when you joined,” Zoe said. “Your Dad is a private guy.”
“He was, yeah. He didn’t tell me anything,” Alex said.
“He didn’t tell you about your Mum?”
“He told me what my Mam looked like, what music she liked, that sort of thing. I don’t know where she grew up, if they had any brothers or sisters; I don’t even know how they met,” Alex said, feeling her skin prickle.
Zoe looked pained. “Ask Martyn, he might know.”
“I can’t ask Martyn. I won’t.”
Zoe stood up and held out her hand. “Come on. If you’re half as starving as me then it’s time for breakfast.”
Alex paused, thinking about how people reacted to her screaming yesterday.
Zoe waved her hand impatiently. “Come on. It’s still early. If you come now then we’ll beat the crowd to the tables. The night guards are the worst. They just shovel everything into their gobs.”
Taking Zoe’s hand, Alex followed along the empty hallway and into the kitchen-diner. Six small tables were set up and most were vacant. Five people were in the room so far. Debbie was there serving a bowl of porridge and jam to Ewan. The two-day guards were shovelling down plates of bacon and the watery porridge, and Martyn was sat off to one side ignoring his plate of food and pretending to read a paper.
Equally ignoring Martyn, Zoe pulled Alex over to the kitchen and ordered them both the day guard special. As Debbie started to pour the slop into bowls she looked sheepishly at them. Zoe shook her head and Debbie held back her tongue, leaving the two of them to move away to a table in the shadows.
Not sure if she was hungry or not, Alex picked up her spoon and slowly folded the porridge in her bowl. Zoe was chowing down the food as fast as she could. One of the day guards burst out laughing at something, breaking Alex’s concentration. The sooner she ate up the sooner she could get out of there. Zoe pinched a corner off Alex’s bacon, making her smile.
Alex smirked. “Help yourself.”
Zoe put her finger to her lips. “Don’t say that too loudly. Your beau will crush me if he thinks I’m taking food from you.”
Alex snuck a sideways look over at Martyn. He was peeking at her over the top of his paper. Alex turned back to Zoe and, seeing her controlled expression, struggled not to smile.
She snuck another glance and saw that he didn’t look much sharper than Zoe. “He’s Ok, isn’t he?”
Zoe shrugged. “No, I don’t think he is.” Zoe pointed at Alex’s food. “Finish your breakfast and then I’ll let you go give him a hug.”
Alex shrugged, picked up a bit of brittle bacon, then abandoned her breakfast. The newspaper fell to the floor as she sat down next to him. The stale smell of sweat wafted off him.
She squeezed his hand. “I’m alright. I’m alright.”
Martyn moaned a long-held breath. “Alex.”
Not many days ago she would have heard the pain in his voice and moved the world to make him feel better. Today she leant away from his touch. Maybe a couple of weeks ago everything could have been made better with one hug, one kiss, but not today. Her Dad was a liar.... Hywel was a liar and Martyn was a coward. He was a coward, but he was still her friend.
“Are you alright?” She asked him gently.
Martyn twisted in the chair so he could look into her eyes. “Me? I’m stressed about you. Am I alright? Huh.”
She wanted to touch him, to rest her chin briefly on his shoulder. No.
“I’m Ok. It’s just, a lot happened. Let’s talk about it later. I can’t right now.” Martyn leant in towards her. “Not now, please.”
Martyn tilted his head back. “You’re my weakness, you know.”
Alex nodded. “Come on now. I need to have a shower and change my clothes. I don’t want to be about when people wake up. Not today.”
Alex glanced over at Zoe, seeing her clear the plates away. Martyn gave her enough slack to stand up.
She squeezed his hands reassuringly. “Go have some sleep boyo. You look awful.”
He scoffed at her. “You haven’t looked in the mirror today, have you?”
“That’s why I need a shower.”
He let her go. She followed Zoe out of the room and up the stairs to the ground floor. They paused in the hallway, Alex glancing up at the ceiling as a floorboard creaked above them. “Catch up later?”
Zoe nodded. “I’ll be back before 4pm. We’ll chat then.”
“You’re heading out?” Alex asked, surprised.
“There are things that need to be done. The world keeps turning.” She gave Alex a hug. “Stay put, you hear?”
Alex gasped and looked around distractedly. “Will you ask about Nina?”
Zoe nodded. “I will. I will go to the cafe district and ask her mother myself.”
“Thank you.” Alex turned away as Zoe threw on her travel cloak, took up her handbag and slipped past the door guard out into the city. There was nothing Alex could do for now, but she still had time to think of a plan. Alex slowly rose up the stairs, searching for her stuff and a hot power shower.
40 - The Guard
Toby was on the night watch last night. He’d just got off shift and looked on gloomily at the breakfast set in front of him. How he longed for a filling dinner before bedtime. Just a reheated chilli con carne or shepherd’s pie would do. Looking over at a kid dribbling his porridge Toby changed his mind, perhaps he wanted something less sloppy for his dinner. Mackerel and chips with a Tamerian coleslaw would be amazing right now. Or chicken and leek pie with that cheesy mash on top, like Dayna used to make for the kids.
Banging and screeching came from upstairs. That was a door slamming and that shatter sounded like something being thrown about. Rolling his eyes, Toby turned back to his toast and slurped a couple of mouthfuls of tea. He was off duty.
Marcus sat down next to him. “If that was my kid I’d give him a right hiding. He’s really coming into his teens.”
Toby shook his head. “He’s not quite there yet. Only eleven.”
Marcus shrugged. “Well he’s practicing then.”
“Sarah does her best for her kids. You know that.” Toby rubbed at his shoulder as pain tweaked across his chest.
Marcus swallowed a bite of toast. “How’s the watch?”
“Turns out we’re along the route of a police patrol. A few passed by in the last hour. That might cause us problems.” Toby sighed.
Marcus frowned. “I was on day watch yesterday and didn’t see a cop’s fart. Wonder what’s woken them up this morning.”
Toby shrugged. “Could be something of nothing. Either way, Zoe needs to get back on the streets today. We need a couple of new bases lined up. Her dotage on Alex is doing us no good.”
Marcus looked down at his worn hands. Nothing could make him say a word against Zoe. His embarrassed frown was enough for Toby to know that Marcus agreed.
“She’s out now. She knows her duty,” Marcus said.
Marcus pulled his bulky frame up from the table, chewing on the last of his toast and looked down at Toby. “I forgot my coffee. Do you want some toast?”
“If you can pry any more from Debbie then yes. We’re on rations, so I’ll be impressed if you can.” Toby winked, letting the conversation die as Marcus wandered off.
The banging increased into a rhythmic din. The kid was running down the stairs from the first floor to the ground floor. Was Toby going to have to go up there and sort him out? The kid was shouting all sorts of abuse through the house.
Marcus sat back down. “How does an eleven-year-old know that sort of language?”
“He lives here,” Toby replied dryly. He looked reluctantly at the new toast in front of him as he rose from his seat. “Well done. Did you bribe Debbie?”
Marcus sighed. “Yeah, it’s hot too. Are you really missing out on hot toast to go and sort that out?”
Toby shrugged. “I’m tired, hungry and still cold from sitting out all night, but
nobody else is shutting him up. We’re in hiding.” He rolled his eyes.
A heavy bang sounded and the house fell quiet.
Marcus and Toby looked up at the ceiling. Marcus said, “Tantrum over?”
Toby spun around. “He’s outside.”
Marcus’s chair fell to the floor as he leapt after Toby. Both men bounded up the stairs and swivelled through the hall.
“Danny? Where the hell are you?” Sarah was in the foyer, searching the nearby rooms.
Marcus dove into another room. Toby grabbed the ragged thirty-something mother of four.
“Sarah, we heard the front door. Where’s he gone?” Toby said.
Danny was her eldest. The boy was full of pent up energy, naturally athletic, a bundle of hormones and too old to be challenged educationally by the half-remembered facts spewed out by the volunteers. Everything together congealed into a reckless, angry walking time-bomb.
Sarah shook her head avidly, “No, he knows not to go outside. He knows he’s not allowed outside.”
“Where’s Jack? He’s supposed to be on the door,” Toby said.
Sarah said, “He came upstairs to keep an eye on Alex.”
Toby growled, pacing back and forth.
Marcus barrelled out of a room. “He’s not here.”
“Where would he go?” Toby shook her arm to stop her sobbing.
“We argued about his Dad. He might head to his place in the High Rises. He sells drugs around there,” Sarah said. “But Derek’s in prison. Derek was taken after our photos were shown on telly this week.”
Toby swung opened the front door. “Would Danny remember where his Dad lives? It was a while back you guys lived together.”
Sarah covered her mouth with her hands. “It’s not the flat we lived in together. Derek traded in for a new flat when we left. I took Danny to the new flat after Derek’s mother’s funeral. Danny knows where it is.”
“You took Danny to the flat? I thought you hated Derek,” Toby said.
“It was for his mum,” Sarah said.
“It’s Ok,” Marcus said. “We can get to the flat before him. I know a shortcut.”
“I’ll go the main route. Maybe I can catch him.” Toby took off running behind Marcus, shouting back, “Get Jack back on that door now.”
Toby and Marcus knew how to hide from the scanners and the cops, but the boy didn’t. He’d be spotted quickly if Toby did not catch him first. Marcus slipped into a side street and out of sight.
Toby cautiously crossed the first major junction. The cops shouldn’t be patrolling this area. Toby knew their routes better than any Ackerson, but the routes were changing. Something had prompted those cops to patrol their street this morning. It could be coincidence, but when was it ever just coincidence.
City workers in their fluorescent jackets were putting out barricades in preparation for the Ambassador’s visit. This was very far away from the Square for the barricades. If the kid had any sense the sight of those barricades should have sent him back home, but there was no sign of Danny. That kid really was trouble.
The boy had no idea how his world would change if he were caught by the cops. As soon as a kid is captured they are transported to a Development Centre. There Danny would be interrogated for information about the base. He would then be put through a mind manipulation process that both removes memories and twists the child against illegals in a way that imposes a dark fear over all connected thoughts.
Most kids who went through that process were rehoused in children’s homes near the police training grounds until they were old enough to enter police training. Every night the children were said to wake with terrifying nightmares, a side effect of the mind manipulation. By the time they were sixteen years old they had a fierce sense of vindication, a need to join the police and crush the illegals. They would do anything to fight those nightmares.
More photos of activists were appearing along the streets. Toby and Marcus were both as reckless as that kid, running out here without a disguise only days before the biggest security event of the year. The cops would be on double shifts and have heightened sensitivity to anything unusual. A man running, with a limp, along the streets, possibly seconds behind a running boy... well, it would draw attention.
Emma would have words with him when he got back to base. His ankle swelling had almost gone down. It definitely hurt less when he woke up yesterday afternoon than it had when he injured it at the Commander’s house. When the adrenaline wore off today he would be feeling this run all the way up his leg. Then if the boy was caught they would need to move base.
If the boy was truly angry he could reveal the Ackersons immediately, leading police there before Toby could get back to base. Sarah did not say that was the boy’s intention, but would she have told Toby that? She’d guess Toby would call for an evacuation of the base and forget the boy. That was a reason for Sarah to lie. Sarah wanted Toby and Marcus to find the boy no matter why the boy left. He was just a child.
Toby staggered to a halt. On the opposite corner was the first underground entrance Danny could access. Would the boy go down into the underground and catch a train to High Rises or would he keep running along the southern edge of Central? Both options were dangerous. The underground had physical hazards like roof collapses as well as the new active CCTV system. Did the boy have any cash for a train ticket? Toby did not.
The only option was to keep running and hope that the boy was likewise strapped for cash. His ankle complained at Toby’s lack of pre-hunt planning. What else had he forgotten? He did not have an emergency phone. He was not wearing a disguise. He had not given instructions for the base to prepare to evacuate. Toby’s stomach flipped. He jarred his ankle as he forced himself not to stop. Toby had reacted instinctively by springing out to find the boy. That instinct might cost the Ackersons their lives. Toby and Zoe were the only ones who knew where they could relocate to and both of them were outside the base.
Cops! Toby veered into a side street, but peeked back around the corner. The cops had not seen him. Good. Danny was not in sight. At least that meant the cops had not found Danny, but that also meant that Toby could be on the wrong track. Or Danny could be so far ahead that Toby would not catch him in time. On top of that Toby now needed to deviate from the direct route by one street east for the next two junctions.
Flashes of police routes flicked through Toby’s brain as he plummeted down the diversion. Those cops were not supposed to be there. This was not right. The tricksy bastards were up to something. The clever little sods.
Toby ran along the edge of the Business District and Drayton. It was still early, so the marketplace in Drayton was clear of all but the stall holders who were busily setting up shop. He must have passed by five or six CCTV cameras by now. The cops would be on his trail.
Where was this bloody kid? Toby’s chest heaved, his shoulder ached and his ankle.... Keep going. He was so close now. There was the underpass that went beneath the ring road. That meant he was very close to the southern edge of Duchess High Rises. Had the kid really outrun him? Despite himself Toby was impressed, but at the same time he worried that he had taken the wrong route and overtaken the lad.
The underpass loomed ahead of him. Should he risk descending into the narrow tunnel with limited exits? These tunnels were renowned for muggings never mind the potential pincer movement of a cop snare operation. Toby shrugged it off and jogged down the cracked concrete stairs and passed beneath the ring road. The smells of urine and decay puffed from the tunnel. Inside was covered with graffiti, which ranged from mostly harmless to anti-Embassy gang signs. A homeless man was risking a morning’s sleep halfway down the pass.
Toby emerged unharmed into Duchess High Rises and breathed in the thick air. He barely noted the darkness imposed by the closely packed buildings. It rivalled Middle Meadston for the sheer scale of the skyscrapers.
Marcus was waiting near the first of the skyscrapers. The boy was not with him. The adrenaline started to dwindle a
nd Toby felt the touch of exhaustion. Marcus looked equally devastated when he saw Toby approaching alone.
Toby collapsed against the wall next to Marcus, sucking in air desperately.
Marcus slipped his hand over a pistol he kept in his jacket pocket. “The kid couldn’t be faster than me. I’ve been here for ten minutes.”
“I didn’t see him,” Toby panted.
“Should we wait?” Marcus asked.
Toby looked around blankly. “Dunno. We don’t know what flat it is, do we?”
Marcus shook his head and kicked the wall. “I didn’t think he’d beat us here.”
“He hasn’t. He couldn’t have.” Toby gripped onto his shoulder to ease the pain.
Marcus paced the corner, checking down the side streets. “Where is he?”
“Maybe he didn’t even leave Middle Meadston. He could’ve hidden around the corner from the base and gone back five minutes later,” Toby said. That sounds just like the little brat.
“Or he could’ve got lost and walked straight into a Central police station,” Marcus growled, but then stopped abruptly with his senses on alert. “Or he could be on the underground.”
“I thought about that too,” Toby said. “I kept running.”
“Shh, can you hear that?” Marcus hissed, looking back to the ring road underpass.
Toby strained his hearing. The cars and trucks on the ring road muffled everything else, much like the smell of petrol dumbed down the smell of old rubbish on the streets. There was something there though. Was that a siren?
“Do you hear it?” Marcus asked again.
Toby nodded tentatively. “Is that the direction of an underground station?”
Both men began walking towards the underpass, oblivious of the risks. The sirens echoed in the underpass and the two of them picked up pace. On the far side of the underpass they turned off Toby’s previous path and away into a small shopping hub on the western side of the cafe district. The sirens continued to wail ahead of them.
“That’s an ambulance siren, right?” Marcus said, sweeping the area around them for cops.
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