The driver, Caden, walked into the cafeteria. He smiled when he noticed Brooke.

  “Breakfast, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “I should eat some myself, haven’t been eating well lately.”

  “Nobody seems to be eating well here.”

  Caden let out a short laugh as he opened the fridge. “No, they don’t feel hungry, they say.”

  Brooke finished the bread while watching Caden pull out the loaf and prepare a sandwich. He looked nice, calm, and gentle. His stocky built now looked more like fat, he was a big guy. He was wearing a simple, grey t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Nothing about him spoke of being a member of Streetwalkers.

  “So, what do you do, Caden?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound nosy.

  Caden turned around as he buttered the bread. “Oh, I’m just a driver.”

  “Just a driver? So you’re not part of the distributions and such?”

  “No, I just drive people to where they need to go.”

  Makes sense, Brooke thought. “Nice. Staying out of trouble, then.”

  Caden took a seat opposite Brooke. “Yeah. I try to.”

  “How long have you been doing this?”

  “Ah, never had a regular job. My brother used to work for Ace, he…” Caden sighed and stared down at his sandwich. “He got killed, a few years ago.”

  “I’m sorry.” Brooke regretted asking, but she couldn’t have known.

  “That’s okay. I’m sorry about your… about Luca.”

  She put on a smile. “I hope we can find him alive.”

  “So do I.”

  ***

  After breakfast, Brooke went back to the office where she had slept the night before. She sat on the couch. She had always been a restless kind of person, but this was just too much. It was only midday, and she didn’t want to spend another minute in this place. She wanted to leave, to go to the base, to get Luca.

  She saw Jamie through the glass, shielding the office from the cafeteria. He was on his phone, pacing back and forth. He looked very much like John, with the semi-long hair and beard, but Jamie’s hair was golden blonde instead of black. Once he was off the phone, he noticed Brooke looking at him through the glass. She smiled, hoping he didn’t think she was trying to eavesdrop on his conversation.

  He smiled back and walked into the office. “Abby,” his voice was gruff but pleasant, “how are you holding up?”

  “I’m alright. A bit bored.”

  He leant up against the wall. A deep scar ran from his forehead, crossing over his nose, and ending underneath his right eye. What could have caused that? A knife?

  “Yeah. You go crazy if you stay here for too long.”

  “Thank you, by the way, for letting us try and find Luca.”

  “Oh. Yeah. I don’t know if he’s there, but he could be. As long as you guys help us out as well, I see no problem with it. Their base is going down, regardless. Fucking pussies.”

  “Of course we will.”

  Jamie glanced around the room before looking back at Brooke with bright, blue eyes. “You’ve done alright, for being a newbie.”

  Brooke scoffed. “I had no choice, so I did my best.”

  “What do you mean you had no choice?”

  She froze for a second. “Uh, I mean, I never asked to join you.”

  Jamie chuckled. “No one bloody asks to join. You got that wrong. You fall into it, one way or another, and once you’re in, there’s no way out.”

  Brooke felt uncomfortable. She nodded while biting her lower lip, not knowing what to say.

  “Anyway,” Jamie’s neck popped as he moved it from side to side, “we’ll go through the plans tomorrow.”

  Brooke sighed in relief when the door shut behind him. A smoke. That’s what she needed right now.

  ***

  She found John in the sick room, looking after Lee. He was less pale now and seemed to be healing alright. She walked up and put a hand on John’s shoulder.

  “Hey, got a minute?”

  John nodded and followed her out. “What’s up?”

  “Can we smoke somewhere?”

  “Yeah, sure, follow me.”

  Brooke followed John to an empty area, still inside the bunker. He sat down on the cold, concrete floor, next to a lone ashtray. Brooke sat down next to him and lit her smoke.

  “Lee looks better,” she said and took a drag.

  John lit up a smoke. “Yeah. The nurse managed to get the bullet out. It nearly went straight through his body.”

  “He’s lucky.”

  “Yeah. Did you want to talk about something?”

  Brooke shook her head. “No. I’m just really bored, and restless.”

  “It’s going to be rough. I hope you are prepared to be brave.”

  Brooke watched the thick, grey smoke rise to the stone ceiling. “You mean, I need to be prepared to be ruthless.”

  John smiled. “Yeah. Really fucking ruthless, you need to kill some cunts, and not think twice about it.”

  Brooke let the words sink in for a moment. “Do we have some… stuff for tomorrow?”

  “Coke?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sure. We’ll all need it.”

  There was something about John that didn’t sit well with Brooke. She glanced over at him; he seemed tense and emotionless. He had been acting this way since the shooting at the club. Brooke wondered if he knew anyone who got killed there. If he knew them well.

  “You alright, John?”

  “Me?” He ashed his cigarette. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine. You seem tense.”

  “Just a lot going on is all.”

  Brooke thought of the night they had together. Of them kissing, feeling each other, devouring everything about each other. Although she thought of it as a nice memory, she also felt guilty for going that far. She still didn’t know what to tell Luca, apart from that she did it because she was angry. There wasn’t much else she could do. She still liked John, a lot, in fact, and she felt confused about it all. The thought of seeing him with Raven, or anybody else, would make her heart hurt, at least in the beginning.

  John seemed to read her mind. “What will you tell Luca? If we find him?”

  “That’s really none of your business,” she smiled, making sure the words didn’t come out as rude.

  John chuckled. “Oh well, good luck with that. But honestly, I wish you the best.”

  That’s not what she wanted to hear. She wanted him to say that he wanted her, that she should be with him. “Thanks, mate.”

  “Hey.” John put out his cigarette and leant over the ashtray, moving his head close to hers. Brooke held her breath. “I will be here, if something has happened to him, and if you’ll have me.”

  Heart rate increased. Warm, fuzzy feeling emerged. “Thank you.”

  John gently moved a string of hair from her face and placed it behind her ear. “You’re beautiful.”

  She wanted to kiss him, but instead, she turned her gaze away and finished her smoke. This wasn’t cool. These… feelings should never have entered her mind. But now they had, and she had to force herself to focus on the task at hand. For all she knew, she could be the one lying dead on a dirty floor tomorrow, and not Luca. She could have just signed up for her own death, her own defeat. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all.

  Chapter 13

  After a night of tossing and turning, not getting much sleep, Brooke felt anxious, excited and scared while walking over to the sick room, where they were to have a meeting. Lee was sitting up on the bed, looking even better now. Raven sat on the one next to his, Brooke glanced down at the blood-stained hole on the grey hoodie. She still couldn’t quite wrap her head around what happened at the club. It was sitting inside her mind like a flash memory, something that might have happened, but she couldn’t know for sure.

  John and Jamie were speaking to each other, standing in front of the whiteboard, which now had a detailed building drawn upon it. Brooke placed herself next to Caden and waited for the meeting to begin.

  “Alright,” Jamie began as he turned to face everyone, “here’s the building, it has three exits.” He marked the three exits with an X, one at the very front of the rectangular, warehouse-like building, and two on each back corner.

  “There’s a fence, at the front, and they will have security watching any traffic. I’ll go through the front with my guys. We take the mountain route, just above the complex, right between this, and Veigh prison. We get through the fence from the side. Once inside, we have enough guys to rid the guards. According to the Arrow captured at the Club, there shouldn’t be too many of them outside. But we don’t know about the inside.”

  Brooke took a breath. Now they were getting to the important part, Luca.

  “You guys go through the back. But see this here?” Jamie made a circle on the side of the back entries. “This is all part of Veigh Beach, it’s bloody water.”

  “Great,” Raven said.

  “You’ll have to swim.”

  Raven frowned. “What about our weapons?”

  “Waterproof plastic bags. Enough room for your weapons.”

  “And how the fuck do I get through?” Lee asked.

  “You don’t. You stay in the car, it will be parked in a secure spot next to the fence, you’ll be able to spot any action happening around the entries.”

  “Hang on a minute.” Raven rubbed her forehead, thinking. “Does the fence go into the water, or do we get through the fence first, or after? I don’t get it.”

  “Okay.” Jamie drew a line for the fence and the water. “You have to swim up to the fence here, there’s no security there. Once you have crossed the water, you dig your way under the fence, the shitty, swamp-like surface will be easy to get through. Once inside, you will be able to run to the back entry, Lee will be able to warn you if anyone is guarding the doors.”

  “Sounds like suicide,” Lee said with a sigh.

  All eyes on Brooke, who felt her cheeks getting hot.

  “You don’t have to do this.” Jamie was looking at Brooke.

  “I,” Brooke started, not sure of what to say, “I really appreciate you doing this. I can’t force anyone to go ahead with it, but I think Luca deserves freedom, for what he did for you, and because of who he is as a person.”

  People nodded. Brooke looked up at John, seeking approval. He didn’t move a muscle.

  “We gotta think of safety,” he said, turning to look at the map, “if I call the situation too dangerous, we abandon the mission.”

  Brooke made sure she quickly agreed. “Yes, absolutely.”

  Right as they all left the sick room, all except for Lee, a blonde, skinny woman, dressed in only a pair of black underwear and a long, black cardigan, walked up to them. Holly.

  “Jamie,” she said with no excitement in her voice. Her stilettos made a loud, echoing noise as she walked up and embraced him.

  “What are you doing here?” Jamie asked after he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Oh, haven’t you heard?” Holly snorted. “Everything is bloody well shutting down. Better stay in the… dirty bunkers, if you don’t wanna get caught.”

  “Glad you didn’t drag Ace with you, he doesn’t need to see the mess down here.”

  “Abigail, right?” Holly looked down, as Brooke only reached up to the height of her fake, ballooned breasts.

  “Abby, nice you meet you.” She was about to shake her hand, but Holly embraced her.

  “I’m Holly, I’m sure Raven told you about me.” A strong smell of a mashing of molasses, pepper, vanilla, orange flower and maple syrup, hit at once, an interesting choice of perfume.

  “She did.”

  “Oh, and it’s bloody hot up there. I hope you’re not going anywhere today. Fuck wearing clothes.”

  Brooke met Raven’s eye, they both smiled.

  ***

  John organised for some new clothes to be sent to the bunker. Both Brooke and Raven had been wearing the same stuff since the attack at the club. The clothes they were left with had to be compatible with bulletproof vests. Brooke got given a thin, black wind jacket, black leggings, and a pair of boots - a couple sizes too big -but she made it work by putting on an extra pair of socks.

  She looked herself in the mirror as she placed her hair in a ponytail. With no makeup and her eyes puffy and tired; she didn’t think she looked anything like her old self. Something was off, and it wasn’t just the chocolate brown hair.

  Raven peaked through the door and handed her a tiny bag of coke. “Leaving soon,” she said as she closed it again.

  Brooke emptied the contents on the old computer desk, then sniffed it all up. She caught a second glimpse of herself in the mirror as she made a face of disgust. All of a sudden it all made sense. A jolt of understanding, clarification, and a sense of bravery reached her mind and body. She felt a transformation happening; out with the old, and in with the new. She leant forward, looking deep into her own, grey eyes, and smiled. Of course the woman in the mirror didn’t look like Brooke Clarke. It wasn’t her. It was Abigail Reynolds.

  Chapter 14

  Outside the bunker, the sun was down, and the only light source to be seen came from the headlights of the many pickup trucks lined up. John showed Abby to a dark green truck. Caden was already in the driver’s seat, ready to take off.

  Abby jumped in the back, squeezing in between Lee and Raven. Everyone was dressed in black, and the men even wore beanies, hiding their hair.

  “Rerton Mountains, north Whitestead,” John told Caden.

  Abby watched as all the pickups left the bunker and began driving north. Caden waited, leaving a bit of distance between them and Jamie’s troop. Nobody said a word. John kept speaking with somebody on the walkie-talkie, while Lee was busy typing on his phone. Caden, wearing black tinted glasses, focused on the road. Raven was looking out the window while biting her nails. Mentally preparing. Or so Abby assumed.

  Leaning back in her cramped-in seat, she closed her eyes. Any thought of fear, guilt or panic needed to go. She visualized the thoughts floating before her eyes and mentally pushed them away. Go, you’re not needed here, if you show up at all during this mission, I will die, Luca will die, and maybe the others will too. You’re a distraction, not helpful, you belong to Brooke, not me.

  “You okay?”

  Abby opened her eyes and met Raven’s. “Yeah. Just… preparing. You?”

  She giggled. “Yeah. Here, let’s have some more.”

  Abby happily accepted the drugs. Her body felt weightless, her mind clear, and there was no fear in sight. She could do this.

  ***

  Caden parked the car right outside the door to the gun keep. Everyone rushed inside. It was dark, but John turned on a couple flashlights; hanging off the roof, dangling in the air, attached to a thin rope. He keyed in a code to open a hatch leading underground. Abby waited along with Raven and Lee.

  “Here!” John shouted as he threw a couple of vests at them. “Put these on, I’ll get the guns.”

  Abby picked one up and undid the straps around the shoulders and the waist. She copied Raven, wearing the vest underneath the wind jacket, tightening the straps, and then putting the jacket back on. She felt immobile and uncomfortable, but she would get used to it. Hopefully.

  John came back up the hatch with a big, carry-on bag in his hands. Lee took it from him and helped him up.

  “Alright, Raven and Abby, grab the sawed-off shotguns in there. There should be a waterproof bag, one for each. And don’t forget to load after you swim.”

  Raven opened the bag and handed Abby a double barrel, sawed-off shotgun, and a shell holder to place around her neck. Abby took a step back, allowing Lee to reach the bag. She had never held a gun that size before. But as panic began to creep up, she took a breath and repressed it. Not welcome, piss off.

  “Put the shell holder and the gun straight in the waterproof bag,” Raven said just as she did so herself. “We won’t need it until after we have gone for a swim.”

  Abby did as she said and followed them all back to the pickup, where Caden was waiting.

  “Right, we’ll drive for another ten minutes or so, north-west, and then we have to hike for a bit,” John said as he checked the time on his phone.

  “We all good? All ready?” Raven shouted.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Lee shouted back at her. “Let’s just go!”

  “Did you get shot in the head, too, Lee? Fucking mood killer.”

  Abby bit her lip, not knowing if she should laugh or stay quiet.

  “Alright, off we go,” Caden said and started the engine.

  ***

  It was a rough drive. Loads of rocks, tough terrain, and gravel walkways to go through. Abby felt relieved when Caden finally shut the engine off.

  “Where’s the fence?” Lee asked as he readied his pistol.

  “Can you drive a little bit closer?” John asked Caden as he looked through the window, trying to spot the fence.

  “There it is!” Raven shouted.

  Everyone turned to look out Raven’s window. It was dark, and difficult to see anything but mountains and trees outside. But there was a fence in the distance.

  “Alright. John, get out of the car.” Lee left the pickup and waited for John to exit the vehicle.

  Abby followed Raven outside. Carefully, they climbed the rocks and moved close enough to see the water. It didn’t look bad, not too far of a swim. The two exits on each side of the dark, stone building were clearly visible through the trees. Lee would just have to stand exactly where they were now standing.

  John came up and handed her a walkie-talkie. “Take this. Lee will be on the other end. It is your job to communicate with him.”

 

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