The Grid 2 Read online

Wiz was out of time, and he had to make his decision. He compressed the files, encrypted them, and sent them over a secure channel using the WristCom, just as Mitchell had shown him earlier. He wished he had time to add a message – that would have to suffice.

  The Centuria were three, maybe two floors away, just enough time to record a short video message to Talya: ‘Not safe here now. Mitchell to blame – don’t know what he’s done. Matt is alive – you need to access files. Try Dillon or Hannah. Be careful with Mitchell. Sorry, I hope Joe and Lucy get out.’

  The thudding of boots stopped suddenly on the staircase and a single weapon was fired. It sounded random. The shots were hitting metalwork and mortar. It didn’t sound like Centuria.

  Whatever it was, it had gained Wiz some precious time. He seized his main console and threw anything else that might be useful to the Centuria out of the window. He ran out of the apartment onto the stairwell, daring to peer down to see what was holding up the Centuria.

  He saw a hand dart out. It was a woman’s hand. He recognized the weapon too.

  ‘Jena?’ he called down. ‘Is that you?’

  ‘Run for it, Wiz!’ she called back. ‘Take Dillon.’

  ‘I’m not leaving you on your own, Jena …’

  ‘Shut up, Wiz. Take Dillon and go. Nothing matters if they get to you. Just run for it and keep fighting.’

  Dillon ran up the staircase towards Wiz. He’d never heard Jena speak like that before – he never thought she had it in her. Dillon looked terrified, his face grey with fear.

  Jena was right. If they all got captured by the Centuria, there was nothing any of them could do to help themselves or Joe and Lucy. Jena would be taken, but at least she would go out fighting. Dillon could still get out of this and so could Wiz if they were fast enough to think of a way out. Dillon had brought the power packs too – that was good.

  He had to run. It was the only way.

  ‘Move now!’ Jena shouted. ‘I can’t hold them off much longer!’

  Wiz grabbed Dillon’s arm.

  ‘Come with me, we’re getting out of here. Grab those old sacks in the corner, we’re going to need them.’

  Dillon didn’t argue. He picked up the discarded sacks and followed Wiz.

  ‘We’re heading up a few floors first. Then we need to get down again.’

  The two fugitives ran as fast as they could up the stairs, Dillon lagging slightly behind.

  ‘Come on, Dillon!’ Wiz shouted, as Jena fired another shot several floors below. Wiz counted eleven floors, then moved across to the elevator area.

  ‘Help me with these,’ he shouted at Dillon as he began to force the elevator doors apart. There was another shot below, and Wiz could hear more boots in the stairwell, but they weren’t making progress yet. It was just more Centuria ready to charge the staircase once Jena had been immobilized.

  ‘We need something to force them open,’ said Dillon, moving back to the stairs.

  ‘Don’t go down, you’ll run into them.’

  ‘There’s an old iron bar from the staircase there. I saw it on the way up.’

  ‘Okay, get it, but be quick!

  Wiz continued to try to push open the doors and managed to force a small gap. Dillon swiftly returned with the bar. Wiz took it off him and forced it into the narrow gap.

  ‘Help me,’ he said, moving his hands along the bar so Dillon could join him. They pushed hard and the doors opened.

  ‘Tear the sacks and wrap the cloth around your hands – we’re sliding down the wire.’

  Dillon looked at him, doubtful for a moment, but then spurred on by the sound of another shot from Jena.

  ‘That’s her out of shots. They’ll figure it out in a few minutes. We’ve got to go now. You going first or second?’

  ‘I’ll come behind you,’ said Dillon, torn between making his escape and going back to Jena.

  ‘You’re going first,’ Wiz replied, pushing him towards the open doors. ‘You’re not going back down there – this is the only way. You need to jump for the cable and slide down slowly or your hands will burn. Take your time. The elevator looks like it’s stuck at level 20 or thereabouts – wait for me there.’

  Dillon stood on the edge, looking down at the drop more than twenty levels below to the jammed elevator. He jumped but messed up the leap. He caught the cable with one hand but missed with the other. He’d got enough grip to hang on, but no traction. He was beginning to slide down the wire.

  ‘Grab it with your other hand!’ Wiz called down. ‘Slow yourself down.’ Dillon forced out his free hand at waist level and managed to grip the cable, slowing down his descent. The sacking around one hand was shredded and burnt, but he managed to steady himself and begin a slower descent.

  ‘You okay?’ shouted Wiz.

  ‘Yes, I’m good. Take care when you leap – it’s further out than it looks.’

  It was Wiz’s turn. He placed the power packs in his bag. He’d need those later. He had to try to close the doors to put the Centuria off their scent when they came up the stairwell. They’d shoot down the shaft or apprehend them at the bottom of the apartment block if they realized how they’d made their escape. Wiz wanted them to search all of the levels above Harry’s first, including the roof, before they thought about the elevator shaft. It would buy them some time.

  With his bag of tech slung across his shoulders and now feeling much heavier, Wiz forced the left-hand door shut once again. Moving to the right-hand side, he stood on the edge of the shaft, then dropped towards the cable, keeping his feet on the ground. For once, he thanked his good fortune for being so tall. He was able to hang on to the cable with his feet still right at the edge of the stairwell floor. Straddled across the dark elevator shaft, he slowly moved his right foot to the top of the elevator. Tensing his body, he moved his left foot to the door, then pushed as hard as he could to close the gap. It took some effort, but the door closed, and as it did it removed all light from the elevator shaft.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ shouted Dillon. He was making good progress.

  ‘Yes, keep going. I’m coming up behind you,’ said Wiz, kicking his feet away from the closed door and taking his full weight on the cable with his arms. Slowly, he began the descent behind Dillon, in silence and complete blackness.

  Several floors below, the first Centuria ventured up the stairwell towards Jena. When there was no weapon fire, they rushed up the stairs. Jena had taken sanctuary in Harry’s apartment, knowing it was only a matter of time.

  The first Centuria in the room shot at her immediately, paralysing Jena instantly with a blast from his weapon. Three electric bolts lodged in her chest, blasting her with a massive charge as she dropped to the ground.

  Centuria swarmed into the room, seizing all of the remaining equipment and removing Jena’s limp body on a stretcher.

  They moved in formation up the staircases, bursting into occupied apartments and searching every available space for the two fugitives.

  Whatever Mitchell had done, he’d blown apart Lucy and Joe’s best hope of escape. And now Jena was a captive – for all Wiz knew she was dead. As he made his way down the long, cold elevator shaft, he cursed the so-called friend who’d betrayed them. Mitchell had probably killed all of them with his treachery.

  Chapter Ten

  Battle

  One half of Rick’s torn body was tossed back towards the terrified group, landing in the centre of the circle they’d formed. These beasts didn’t seem to want to eat, they just wanted to kill.

  ‘Keep the circle tight!’ came Clay’s voice. ‘If we break it, they’ll pick us off one by one.’

  Chris was becoming very agitated. His overalls were spattered with Rick’s blood.

  ‘I need to fight,’ Lucy shouted to Joe. ‘We’ll have to leave Chris in the middle – we’re all dead if we don’t kill these things.’

  Two of the beasts made a second charge, and this time they were ready. Grace pushed out her spear and Miron swung his hammer at the beast�
�s head. It roared with pain and retreated. At least they could be hurt.

  On the other side, the second beast had been more successful. Ross, Marjani and Clay managed to spear it twice between them, and again it retreated. The other two beasts rushed straight in, barely giving any time to breathe. They seemed incensed by the green of Joe and Lucy's overalls, as if driven by an obsession to reach them. Joe and Lucy had joined the circle now, and they worked together to force their spears into the creature’s head. It screeched with pain, its tusks flailing madly, one narrowly missing Joe, who stepped back just in time. Ross followed up swiftly by running at the creature and pounding its head with a hammer.

  ‘Don’t break the circle!’ shouted Clay, but it was too late. The beast that had killed Rick charged once again, this time directly towards the side of the circle Ross had broken. Clay saw that their defensive strategy had been disrupted and rushed to help Ross finish off the beast. He thrust his spear directly through the creature’s eye. It screamed out then died.

  Chris had run off in terror along one of the tunnels of the labyrinth. Lucy saw him go but was too preoccupied with the creature that had killed Rick. It had tasted blood. It seemed more ferocious than the others. The presence of Joe and Lucy seemed to make the creatures frantic – it was as if their presence agitated them even more. Joe and Marjani stabbed and pounded the beast, but it seemed to be exhilarated by the fight and grew stronger and wilder. With a sudden swipe of its deadly tusks, it lifted Marjani high into the air and pounded her body into the roof of the labyrinth, dashing her head against the damp stonework.

  She had begun to let out a scream but was dead before it was finished.

  ‘Clay, any ideas?’ shouted Joe, not even knowing where he was in the confusion.

  ‘This isn’t working,’ Clay replied, thrusting a scythe at one of the creatures. ‘We should try fighting in the tunnels – we’ll need to splinter into groups and pick them off.’

  Joe counted quickly to see who was still left. Chris had run off, probably the best thing for everybody, he was safer like that. Clay, Lucy, Miron, Ross and Grace were still fighting, and one creature was dead. The beast that had killed Marjani had stormed up a long tunnel as if it were some sort of victory ceremony, but at least it meant there were only two of them left to tackle and six Justice Seekers to do the work.

  Ross ran at one of the wounded animals, striking again and putting it on the defensive. It tossed its tusks at him, tearing a bloody gash in his leg. He cried out with the pain, but still he fought, pounding the animal as if he’d gone insane. Joe ran up towards him, and when the beast’s head was on the floor, Joe plunged his spear into its brain, killing it instantly.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asked Ross. The wound looked bad.

  ‘It hurts like hell, but those teeth would hurt worse!’

  Joe smiled. It seemed inappropriate, bearing in mind the death and carnage all around them, but he knew what Ross meant. What option did they have other than to fight for their lives?

  ‘Let’s draw them apart!’ shouted Clay. ‘Joe, you take that tunnel.’

  Clay indicated to Miron and Grace to follow him while Joe, Lucy and Ross made their way up another passageway. There were two creatures left, and the Gridders looked like they wanted to mix things up a bit. The tunnels began to change around them: exits were shut off, and new doorways were opened – they were trying to disorient the Justice Seekers.

  ‘Damn Fortrillium!’ cursed Lucy. Her arm was red raw and stiffening – she wondered how long it would continue to be of use to her in a fight.

  Along the dark passageways, the roars of the remaining two beasts could be heard. They were further away now, out of sight, but they would be hunting them, they would not stop.

  ‘What’s the best strategy?’ asked Joe, glancing at Ross and Lucy. Ross looked to be in too much pain to care much, and Lucy was in a bad state too. With no Clay to advise them, he took the lead. ‘

  These things are going to stalk us now. That’s what Fortrillium wants. We’ve lost Rick and Marjani, but they won’t let us all die. That’s why they’ve changed the tunnels to stop the bloodbath. We need to ambush, not hunt, they’re too strong.’

  ‘Agreed,’ replied Ross. ‘I can’t move too far with this leg – it hurts like hell, but my arms are good.’

  ‘Okay, Ross, I’m going to act as bait and we’ll drive the creature towards you. They seem to be incensed by Lucy and me. You stay over there in the dark, with a spear pointing outwards. Lucy and I will drive it towards you.’

  Ross moved towards the edge of the tunnel wall, positioning the spear outwards as Joe had suggested.

  ‘Now we just wait.’

  ‘I’m concerned about Chris,’ said Lucy. ‘They’ll kill him straight away if they find him.’

  ‘I know, I know. We’ll have to leave it to chance for now. We can’t split off anymore – they’ll pick us off one by one.’

  ‘And Schälen is still out there too, remember. I’m not sure who to be more afraid of.’

  ‘With any luck, they’ll get to him first,’ came Ross’s voice from the darkness.

  A loud scream echoed along the tunnels. It sounded like Grace.

  They waited in the darkness, the silence punctuated by screams and roars. It was difficult to tell what was going on, but they stuck to the plan.

  It felt as if they’d been waiting for hours, though it was only a matter of minutes. Lucy noticed it first, and she indicated with her eyes to Joe. She had smelled its breath before she saw it. Its tusks still carried the fleshy remains from Rick and Marjani. Then they saw its cold, blue eyes.

  ‘Ross!’ Joe whispered. ‘Get ready.’

  This was the strongest creature and it knew how to hunt. It had quietly moved along the labyrinth’s tunnels, stalking its prey, waiting for the moment to strike. But Lucy and Joe had seen it first.

  Lucy raised her spear and plunged it into the beast’s head as it stepped around the corner into the tunnel. It let out a deafening roar, moving its tusks and knocking her over with the force. She’d avoided the tusks, but the sideways blow winded her. She struggled to recover as the beast moved closer, sensing an easy kill.

  Joe ran towards the creature, plunging his spear into its back before it reached Lucy, who was breathless and dazed.

  A wall came crashing down between Lucy and the beast. Fortrillium was separating them off, it was denying them the option to fight together. At least Lucy was safe from that creature, but it left Joe and Ross to fight it alone.

  Joe tore his spear out of the monster’s back, running up along the course of its spine to retrieve the weapon Lucy had left in its head. She must have missed the brain, but the monstrosity was bleeding badly now.

  Its wounds seemed to fuel its anger, and Joe dodged from side to side as it raised its tusks, desperately trying to impale its prey as it had done so effectively before.

  ‘This way. Come over here!’ Joe goaded, luring the creature in Ross’s direction.

  ‘You ready, Ross? Here we come.’

  The beast looked directly at Joe, snarling and snapping its teeth. Then it began its charge, the tusks moving wildly from side to side. Joe could see the spot where Ross was positioned. He ran directly towards it. As he neared Ross, he tossed Lucy’s spear at him. Ross caught it and extended it outwards with the other, nestling them in the corner between wall and floor to hold them securely.

  The creature ran directly at them, and at the last possible moment, when the tusks were about to plunge deep into Joe’s body, he moved out of the way, leaving the beast no time to stop.

  It crashed into Ross’s spears, both of which cut straight into its neck. Joe leapt on top of the monster and thrust his spear deep into its brain. For a few seconds it was motionless, impaled on Ross’s weapons and stunned by Joe’s attack.

  Then it sank, heavy and lifeless, one tusk either side of Ross who was still sitting against the wall of the labyrinth. It took a moment or two before they both began to breathe a
gain.

  ‘Nice one, Joe!’

  ‘Good job, Ross. I thought it was going to be too strong for us. We’ve lost Lucy again, though. Did you see what happened? They’re splitting us up, and I’m worried about Schälen – she doesn’t have a weapon anymore.’

  ‘She can look after herself, but we’d better try and find her. Do you think Clay managed to kill the other creature?’

  ‘Difficult to tell. We’ll need to keep listening – they could be anywhere in here. They haven’t changed the Mode yet. The trial must still be ongoing. Let’s head out and find Lucy. Are you alright to walk ?’

  ‘Yes, I’m good. I’ll use Lucy’s spear as a stick. It’ll help to keep some weight off it.’

  It was a struggle to retrieve the spears from the creature’s flesh. It was tough and sinewy – it had been much easier when the blades had slid in.

  Ross managed to stand up again, stepping over the creature’s tusks, and started making his way with Joe along the tunnels. It made no difference which tunnel they chose. There was no telling which way they were heading in the labyrinth.

  Joe tried to work his way back around to where he thought Lucy had been before the wall had crashed down and separated them, but it was no use. There was no sign of her anywhere.

  Warily, they made their way along the passageways, with spears at the ready. Occasionally the eerie silence would be interrupted by a scream or a roar, but they were too far away. It was like chasing echoes trying to reunite with the other group.

  This continued for some time. Joe felt they were being steered by Fortrillium – doors would open and tunnels close; they were walking in circles.

  Suddenly, a loud roar came from behind them. They turned fast, spears at the ready. Something moved in the shadows by their feet.

  At first Joe thought it might be rats. He’d seen enough of them in his time living in The Climbs. But whatever had come to rest by their feet was not living. Joe turned to the side to allow the light from the nearest torch to illuminate the object.

  He gasped as he saw Grace Makins’ severed head which had just rolled along the tunnel. The monster that had killed her had begun its charge at them. It had taken them by surprise, it was almost upon them.