by Kevin Brooks
Hese always liked his food, I heard Gilder say gently.
I looked over and saw her watching Juddah with a quiet smile, and this time the smile wasnt hiding anything. She was, for the moment, perfectly happy.
Jeet, Chola Se said suddenly. You need to see this.
What is it? I said, going over to her.
She handed me the binoculars and pointed to 2 familiar figures heading along a backstreet away from the Quarterhouse. The sun had gone down now, but there was still a residual paleness to the sky, and even without the binoculars I could see the figures clearly enough to recognize them. I put the glasses to my eyes, adjusted the focus, and as the magnified faces of Pilgrim and Kite came into view, I knew wede finally found the wrongness wede been looking for. It was right there – in their faces, their eyes, the way they were walking---
It was there.
Everything about them was wrong.
Can you still see them? Chola Se asked me.
Yeh.
Where are they now?
They just crossed End Row into Back Lane.
Theyre heading for Eastside.
It looks like it, yeh.
Why are they going to Eastside when the walls about to be blown?
They must be heading for the storehouse. Maybe theyre going to the cavern---
They wont be able to get in though, will they? The tunnels been blocked off, remember? And why would they want to go there anyway? And why are they keeping to the backstreets?
I dont know.
It doesnt make sense —
Hold on---
What is it?
Ide lost sight of Pilgrim and Kite. Ide been watching their heads moving along behind the shoulder-high walls of Back Lane, then theyd disappeared behind a higher section of wall, which should have only blocked my view of them for a second or 2, but for some reason they hadnt reappeared again. I lowered the binoculars and leaned forward, squinting through the window.
Whats going on, Jeet? Chola Se said. What are they doing?
Just a second.
Ide spotted them again. Theyd turned left down a little pathway that was hidden by the height of the wall, and now theyd turned right again and had come back into view about 20 yards farther along---and they hadnt just changed position either.
I quickly raised the binoculars.
Its Diedle, I said.
What?
Diedles with them.
Where did he come from?
I dont know. I lost them for a few seconds. He must have been waiting for them somewhere---
Are they still heading for the storehouse?
Yeh---
She went quiet for a while then, and as I watched the 3 figures moving ever closer to the storehouse, I knew what she was thinking – I could hear her thoughts in the silence – and I knew she was right.
Jeet? she said quietly.
Yeh, I know, I whispered, lowering the binoculars and glancing across at Gilder.
She looked away the moment I caught her eye, but it was clear shede been watching us, listening to us, trying to work out what was going on.
We have to go, Jeet, Chola Se said. Whatever Pilgrims doing, hese doing it now. We cant just stay here —
I know —
We have to stop him.
Shese right.
It was Gilder.
We both turned and looked at her.
Chola Ses right, Jeet, she said. You have to stop him. Her voice was calm but her eyes were burning with hatred. We should have killed Pilgrim years ago. If wede stopped him then---She shook her head. Go, now. Get it done. Finish him.
Which of Crukes pistols do you want? Chola Se asked me as we headed down the steps.
Ime fine with the Beretta, I told her, fixing Sweets automatic into my belt.
Okay, Ile take the Glock. What do you want to do with the revolver?
Ile take it in the knapsack.
The house seemed unnaturally quiet now, almost as if no one had ever lived here, and as we carried on down the steep stone steps – our footsteps echoing loudly – it was somehow hard to believe that the attic wede just left still existed. Cruke still felt real to me – presumably because hede left the attic too – but Gilder and Juddah had already faded to memories, and although I knew Ide never forget them, especially Juddah, I also knew Ide never see them again.
How much time do you think weve got before they blow the wall? Chola Se said.
Not much – half an hour---maybe a bit longer.
Wede reached the ground floor now and were approaching the front door.
Whats the quickest way to the storehouse from here? Chola Se said.
Through Southwall and along Main Street. But I think its probably best if we keep to the backstreets. I know everyones busy getting ready for the battle, but we still cant afford to be seen.
Chola Se nodded. If we cut across Main Street somewhere near East Walk, we can take the same route as Pilgrim and Kite – along End Row and Back Lane.
Yeh.
How longs that going to take? 10 minutes?
5 if we run.
Runnings going to draw more attention.
10 minutes is too long. We need to run.
All right. She looked at me. Now?
I nodded.
She opened the door and we stepped out into the cold black night.
It was good to be outside again, and as I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the sharp night air, I could sense the apprehension hanging over the town---the fear, the tension, the waiting, the silence---
We were nearing the end, I realized, just as Gun Sur had predicted. And when it was all over, there would only be us or the Dau left standing---
I looked at Chola Se.
She smiled at me.
We started running.
About 5 minutes later we were crouched at the end of an alleyway just across the road from the storehouse. One of the double doors was half open, letting out a faint glow of torchlights from inside, and in the low orange flamelight I could see Ysabel – the Fighter Ide seen from the attic – standing in front of the doors. Ysabels about a year older than me – shese only been a Fighter for a few months – and as we watched her, she kept looking up at the roof of the building across the road where the other Fighter was positioned, the one who was waiting for the signal from the blockhouse. He was only partially visible from where we were – the top of his head just showing beyond the edge of the roof – but we could see enough of him to see that he was facing away from the storehouse, his attention fixed on the distant blockhouse.
She doesnt need to keep looking up at him, does she? Chola Se commented. Shese not going to get the signal until the explosion in the wall goes off.
Shese probably nervous, I said.
Chola Se shrugged, and we carried on watching the storehouse.
Thered been no sign of life inside the building since wede arrived – no movement, no shifting shadows – and we werent even sure that Pilgrim, Kite and Diedle were in there anyway. The trouble was, we didnt have time to wait and find out. We had to do something, and we had to do it right now.
We need to get inside, I said.
Chola Se nodded. We cant take out Ysabel.
Why not?
The Fighter on the roof will see shese gone and raise the alarm.
What about using the side door? I suggested, looking across at the exit in the side wall that Diedle had used when hede come after us during the truck display.
Its probably locked, Chola Se said. And if its bolted on the inside---She shook her head. We cant risk it. If we cant get in straightaway, wele be stuck out in the open.
Wele have to use the main doors then, wont we? I said, reaching for my sling. Its the only way.
But you cant take out Ysabel —
Ime not going to, I explained, looking around at the ground. Ime just going to get her away from the doors.
I spotted a suitable rock, picked it up, and fitted it into the cradle of the sling.
/>
Check the Fighter on the roof, Chola. Make sure hese not looking this way.
She leaned round the corner and looked up at the building.
I cant see him---no, hold on, there he is. It looks like hese---yeh, hese still facing the other way.
I straightened up, testing the weight of the rock in the sling, and kept my eyes on Ysabel as she paced up and down in front of the doors. I watched as she stopped and looked up at the Fighter again---I watched as she nervously adjusted her rifle strap---I watched as she turned round and began pacing again, this time walking away from us---
Is he still looking the other way? I quickly asked Chola Se.
Yeh.
I stepped out of the alley and swung the sling in a smooth looping motion. The rock sailed up high into the air, arcing across the road, then up and over the front of the storehouse, before dipping down and landing with a heavy thump on the other side of the building.
Ysabel instinctively flinched at the sound of the impact, but then almost immediately she was up and running – snatching her rifle off her shoulder as she went – heading towards the far corner of the storehouse.
We waited, watching as she stopped, raised her rifle, and cautiously peered round the corner, squinting into the darkness as she tried to work out where the sound had come from---we saw her glance round, looking up over her shoulder in the hope that the Fighter was watching, and as the hope left her face and she turned back again, it was clear that he wasnt---and then, at last, we saw her take a steadying breath, tighten her grip on her rifle, and move off round the corner of the storehouse to take a closer look.
The moment she moved out of sight, Chola Se glanced up at the roof of the building to make sure the Fighter was still looking away.
Okay! she hissed. Go!
We sprinted silently across the road, leaped over a low wall into the storehouse yard, then ran full pelt towards the half-open door. Just as we got there, no more than a fraction of a second before we slipped through the door – with Chola Se just ahead of me – I caught a momentary glimpse of Ysabel coming back round the corner. I was almost certain she hadnt seen us, but I wasnt taking any chances, and as soon as we were through the door, I grabbed Chola Ses hand – gesturing for her to keep quiet – and quickly led her away from the doorway towards the nearest place to hide, an area by the wall to our left littered with piles of scrap metal and heavy machinery.
Did she see us? Chola Se whispered as we took cover behind some large metal drums.
I dont think so.
We crouched down and stared at the doorway – hearts beating hard, guns leveled at the doors, waiting for any sign that Ysabel had seen us---
Her figure appeared through the gap in the doors---
Then slowly passed by again.
No hurry, no urgency, no sense of alarm---
She hadnt seen us.
For the next few seconds we just stayed where we were – crouched down behind the drums – and gazed all around us, scanning every inch of the massive building. The torches around the walls were burning brightly, and we could see everything there was to see – the workbenches and tables lining the walls, the tools and equipment strewn around the floor, the massive truck in the middle of the room, now looking abandoned and forgotten---but there was no sign of life. No movement, no sound---there was no one there.
I heard Chola Se breathing in deeply through her nose, and when I glanced at her I saw a puzzled look in her eyes.
What is it? I asked.
Ime not sure---I thought I smelled something.
She sniffed again, raising her head and turning to the left, her eyes searching out the source of the scent.
What is it? I asked her. What can you smell?
I think its —
She froze, her eyes fixed on something.
Over there, Jeet, she said quietly, pointing towards the far end of the building. By the tunnel.
I looked where she was indicating, focusing on the open hatchway that led into the tunnel, but at first I couldnt work out what she meant. All I could see was the hole in the ground and the heavy iron hatch beside it. But as I looked closer, studying the stone floor around the hole, I saw something on the ground just to the left of the tunnel entrance. A patch of something---something dark and moist. And as I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the glare of the torchlights, thats when I saw the flies.
Blood, I muttered.
Chola Se looked at me.
We glanced over at the doorway to check that Ysabel wasnt watching, then we straightened up and began making our way over to the tunnel.
Its Raoul, Chola Se said.
We were standing together at the edge of the hatchway, peering down at the Youngers lifeless body. He was lying on his back on the ramp, his legs dangling off the edge, his dead eyes staring back up at us. His throat had been cut.
I looked at the pool of blood on the ground to our left.
He must have been standing over there when he was attacked, I said. They probably got him from behind. And then he either fell or was pushed into the tunnel.
I gazed down at his body again. A makeshift bandage had been wrapped round the gunshot wound on his arm – the wound Ide inflicted earlier that day – and the ends of the bandage had come loose. Dribbles of blood had dried on his skin. His handgun was still tucked in his belt.
He was waiting for Ysabels signal, I muttered.
Chola Se looked at me. Raoul?
Hese the only one in here, I told her. Its the only thing that makes sense. Ysabel gets the signal from the Fighter on the roof, she passes it on to Raoul, and Raoul passes it on to whoevers at the end of the tunnel with the detonator. He was probably only given the job because he couldnt fight well enough with his injured arm.
And now whoevers at the end of the tunnel wont get his message.
Theyre probably dead too.
This is all Pilgrims doing, isnt it?
It has to be. Pilgrim, Kite, Diedle---theyre all in it together.
If the signal isnt passed on, Chola Se said, the explosives in the cavern roof wont detonate. The Dau wont be caught in the trap. The walls going to be blown wide open and theyre just going to come pouring in---its going to be a massacre.
We need to stop them blowing the wall.
How?
Ysabel. If we can get her to listen to us she can send a message —
She wont listen to us. Weare traitors, remember? And theres not enough time to explain everything anyway. No ones going to listen to us, Jeet. Weare on our own.
All right, I said, thinking quickly. You stay here and Ile go and find the detonator at the end of the tunnel. When the wall blows and Ysabel gives the signal, you call out to me and Ile set off the TNT in the cavern.
Ysabel wont give the signal to me —
She doesnt have to. Once the explosives in the wall go off, all you need to do is wait for her to come through the door. Thats your signal, okay?
Chola Se nodded.
I stepped down onto the ramp, edged round Raouls body, and started to run.
Do you know how to work the detonator? Chola Se called out after me.
I raised my hand to let her know that I did, then ran off into the underground silence.
I should have realized then that we never had a chance. Pilgrim had been planning this moment for months, maybe even years – imagining all the different scenarios, assessing all the options, foreseeing every possible pitfall – he was bound to have put all kinds of safeguards in place. I should have known that. But I wasnt thinking clearly. All I could think of was hordes of Dau flooding into town---hundreds of hate-crazed humans, all of them hellbent on slaughter and destruction---and all I kept seeing were pictures too sickening to describe---pictures of death, blood, butchered bodies---Juddah and Gilder, Cruke, Chola Se---and all I could do to make the pictures go away was run.
I ran---
Feet pounding, arms pumping---
I ran.
Past the flaming torches
on the black stone walls, past the age-old graffiti and ancient black beams---
I was about halfway along the tunnel when the entrance to the cavern came into sight. It was still about 100 yards away, and at first all I could see was a solid wall of darkness where the entrance had been, but I was running so rapidly now that within a few seconds I was close enough to see not just the wall that had been built to block off the tunnel from the cavern, but what lay in front of it too---
And it was only then that I finally realized the futility of what we were trying to do.
The freshly built stone wall was at least a foot thick, and if it had been intact it would easily have been enough to prevent anyone inside from escaping into the tunnel. But it wasnt intact. A hole had been smashed in the bottom righthand corner – not big enough to collapse the wall, but big enough for someone to squeeze through. The rough-sided opening was about 3 feet high and between 2 and 3 feet wide, and as I slowed down and jogged to a halt a few yards from the wall, I guessed the hole had been made with the sledgehammer and pickaxe that Ide just noticed lying on the ground. And if the cloud of fine dust I could see floating in the air was anything to go by, the hole hadnt been hammered out all that long ago.
But whoever had done it – and I was reasonably sure I knew – that wasnt all theyd done.
Over to my right, lying up against the tunnel wall, was the body of Muqatil, the senior Fighter Ide worked with in the storehouse. His throat had been cut too – just like Raoul – only this time the knife wound was so deep that his head had almost been severed. There was a lot of blood – his clothes were soaked red – and even from a few yards away I could tell it was still fresh.
A few feet away from the body lay the battered remains of the detonator. The metal casing had been pummeled into the ground, the T-shaped handle bent out of shape, and the ruined workings were scattered all over the ground. The only pieces I recognized were the screws that connected the cables to the detonator. Both of them still had short lengths of cable attached, and both lengths of cable had been cleanly severed. The main parts of the cables – from which the shorter lengths had been cut – snaked along the ground before disappearing into a small hole that had been drilled through the stone at the base of the wall. On the other side of the wall, I imagined, these 2 main cables would be wired up to the dozens – if not hundreds – of connecting cables that ran up the cavern walls into the fuses embedded in the bars of TNT planted around the perimeter of the roof---all of which were now utterly useless.
