Fic: The Days We Break (part 8)

[myrimidryad]

“You know what we should play?” Nick grinned round the circle and placed his empty bottle in the middle.

“Noooo!” Rich and Mini moaned.

“Yes!” Nick would hear no dissent. “Come on guys! Let’s have fun!”

“This is not my idea of fun,” Mini said flatly.

“Come on, Mini.” Liv nudged her and smiled, not entirely nicely. “Live a little.”

“Ha!” Alo pointed at her and laughed. “Live a little. Like Liv, geddit?”

“You’re hilarious,” Rich said sarcastically, taking another gulp of cider. “Really. A comic genius.”

“No need to be jealous, Richard.” Alo straightened his jacket and sat forward expectantly, ignoring Rich’s exasperated correction of, “Psychonaut, you pleb.” “Who’s going first?”

“I put the bottle in.” Nick leaned in and spun it, hard. “So, me.”

They waited expectantly until the bottle slowed and finally stopped, the mouth pointing at -

“Grace!”

Grace smiled indulgently and leaned forward to press her lips chastely to Nick’s.

“Pussy kiss,” Liv called instantly. “Boring. Come on, it’s got to be better than that.”

“No tongues,” Mini said immediately, holding up a hand. “My personal hygiene won’t hear of it.”

“Fine, no tongues.” Liv rolled her eye and then grinned wickedly. “Unless you really get into it. Gracie, your turn.”

“Okay.” Grace smiled and spun the bottle. It landed on Liv, who laughed.

“We’ve been here before,” she sang, leaning forward to grab the back of Grace’s neck.

“Whoa, wait, what?” Alo held his hands up. “What did you just say?”

“To attract losers at clubs, make out with your girlfriends.” Liv shrugged, face close to Grace’s. “Textbook.” She slid their lips together and they kissed for about five seconds before Grace pulled away.

“How come I’ve never seen that happen?” Alo asked indignantly.

“You go to shit clubs.” Liv smirked as she span the bottle. “Obviously.”

“Ah well.” Alo winked at her. “Tonight should make up for it.”

“Put your tongue back in your mouth,” Liv told him snidely, and sighed as the bottle landed to point at him. “Fucking hell. Get over here, Farmboy.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Alo saluted and knelt forward obediently. Liv pecked his cheek and fell back as everyone laughed. “Hey, no dodging!” Alo pulled her forward again and pressed his lips to hers for a long moment until she started to respond. When it got to the five-second mark again, they both pulled away. “So bad?” Alo stuck his tongue out at her.

“You’re not a complete failure,” Liv admitted with a grin. “Go on then.” She gestured to the bottle, which Alo span.

“Awwww, no!” Nick groaned when it stopped to point at him. “Come on!”

“I happen to be not a complete failure.” Alo pointed seriously at Liv, who giggled explosively. “So stop whining, Nicholas.”

“Captain,” Nick corrected half-heartedly as he shuffled forward. Everyone cheered as they kissed for two seconds. Nick pulled a face as he sat down again. “You taste of cider.”

“Best drink a man can drink.” Alo held up his bottle and clinked it against Rich’s. “Your spin, Captain.”

Nick spun and it landed on Alo again, much to the amusement of everyone else. “For fuck’s sake.” Nick sighed, leaning forwards again.

Alo span and it landed on Mini, and Rich looked up, interested. Alo’s jokiness had gone out of the window as he turned to face her - they were sitting next to each other - and cupped her cheek nervously.

“Hurry up!” Liv yelled, and Alo leaned forward and kissed her as gently as possible, making it last as long as he could before she pulled away, looking vaguely surprised.

“Told you.” Liv nudged her and grinned at her wide eyes. “Not bad, is he?”

Mini shrugged one-shouldered, but gave Alo a small smile. He grinned back, practically glowing as she span the bottle next. It landed on Matty, and everyone laughed. “It’s not that funny.” Mini rolled her eyes and leaned over Liv to kiss him. Liv didn’t look especially pleased, but no one paid any attention.

Matty smiled at Mini as she sat back down and leaned forward to spin again. As it wobbled to a stop, its mouth pointing at Franky, sat between Grace and Nick, they both seemed to catch their breath.

“Go on then!” Nick slapped Matty on the back so hard he almost fell forward. Matty laughed and pushed him away but turned to Franky with a hesitant look. After the incident at the club, Liv had told him to stay away from Franky, but it was only a game, right? And it wasn’t like they could avoid each other when they were all living in the same bunker, especially when Franky needed him to work on the DN Wave.

“Kay?” he whispered as their noses brushed.

“Yes,” she breathed back, and closed her eyes as she kissed him. It was short, but she came back for more, and he opened his mouth to let her in. He wanted her so badly now, he couldn’t give up, not after this, not now.

“Enough already!” Liv’s voice was sharp, and Matty jerked away, shooting Franky an apologetic look she didn’t see.

“Sorry,” she muttered at the floor, and spun the bottle. It landed on Grace, who smiled and kissed her with all the force of a butterfly. It was a million times different to Matty’s kiss, which had been urgent, almost desperate.

Grace kissed Mini next, and when Mini span the bottle, it landed on Rich for the first time. Alo burst out laughing, unable to stop himself even when they both glared at him. Rich knew he was remembering all the times he had professed his deep and undying hatred for Mini, the Queen of the Bitches, personification of evil itself. He shoved Alo as he leaned forward gingerly and pressed his lips to Mini’s. She looked about as uncomfortable as he did, which was the sole relief in the whole experience.

He screwed up his face as he sat down again. “What the hell have you been drinking?”

Mini raised an eyebrow and held up the bottle of cheap champagne Grace had insisted on them buying, and Rich wiped his mouth. “That shit is vile.”

“Nowhere near as disgusting as that crap you’re drinking,” she retorted.

“Ladies,” Alo said warningly. “Come on, spin again, Rich.”

“Fine.” Rich rolled his eyes and was overwhelmed with relief when it landed on Grace. “Thank fuck,” he muttered to her as they leaned in. She smiled against him and pecked his cheek before pulling away completely.

“Party pooper,” she teased good-naturedly, getting Mini on her spin.

“Nothing we haven’t done before,” Mini said with a shrug. On her next turn, she got Franky. Stubbornly ignoring Liv’s nudge, Mini blanked out everyone else and tried to blank out her racing thoughts as well.

This was the test, she was sure of it. A kiss was a big deal. If it was just friendship, she wouldn’t feel anything. If she felt something…which she wouldn’t, because it was weird and Franky would get freaked out and push her away and…fuck, just kiss her!

She moved forward quickly and Franky tilted her head just a fraction to allow their lips to fit together better and their noses to not bump. It was soft, Mini thought. It wasn’t the first time she had kissed a girl, but this was Franky. It was when that really hit her - she was kissing Franky, Franky was kissing her back - that the nerve endings in her lips seemed to feel super-sensitive and she sucked in a short breath through her nose in surprise at how good it felt.

Shit, she thought dismally as Franky pulled back with a tiny smile. Shit.

The game went on for a while until everyone had been kissed at least four times, but when Franky’s spin landed on Matty the tension shot up and everyone sneaked a look at Liv, remembering her outburst last time.

Liv scowled and rolled her eyes, faking nonchalance, and Franky and Matty took that as permission to go ahead. It was better the second time, and Franky pressed into it the way Matty had last time. The alcohol and the danger of Liv’s presence made sparks fizz in her blood and she wanted more, the T and the others fading to a blur and a hum of distant voices as Matty became the only thing, the only sensation in her blindness.

When Matty’s tongue touched hers gently, Liv snapped and pulled him back. “What the fuck?” she asked furiously, leaving Franky kneeling half-in and half-out of the circle. “What the fuck is going on between you?”

“Nothing,” Matty lied instantly, and Liv practically snarled.

“Do you think I’m fucking blind?”

“Liv -” Franky tried to interrupt, but the look Liv turned on her was nothing short of murderous.

“I told you stay away from her.” Liv turned back to Matty, still angry. “Why can’t you just do that?”

“Liv -” Mini touched her shoulder, recognising the symptoms of Liv’s temper rising. She didn’t care if she and Matty did this in front of all of them. “Liv, it’s just a game -”

“Shut up,” Liv snapped without looking away from Matty. “Do you love her?” she asked, her voice softening slightly, though it was still raw.

Matty swallowed. “I love you,” he told her.

“But do you love her as well?” Liv glared at him. When he ducked his head and didn’t speak, Liv shook her head in disgust. “Fine. Fine, fuck you then. I hope you’ll be very happy together.” She got up unsteadily, and Matty did the same.

“Liv, don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Liv spat. The others started getting to their feet as well - there was no way the game was continuing after this. “Don’t leave? Don’t what? I’m not putting up with this shit.”

“Liv, there’s no shit,” Franky said desperately. “Honest, there’s nothing.”

“Oh yeah.” Liv shook her head and oozed sarcasm. “That was nothing. All the eye-fucking, that’s nothing. All this fucking denial, that’s fucking nothing!”

“Liv,” Mini started, and Liv rounded on her furiously.

“Oh, give it up, Mini! You’re as bad as they are! Everyone knows it! Everyone can see the way you look at her, you’re just too -”

Mini shoved her hard, eyes spitting flames. “Shut the fuck up! What the fuck do you know about it?”

“OI!”

Everyone looked at Alo, who was not looking pleased. “Both of you shut up,” he snapped at Mini and Liv. “We’re all as bad as each other. Jesus Christ. Who gives a shit who likes who? Franky likes Matty, Matty likes Franky. Matty also likes Liv, and so does Nick.” Everyone looked at Nick, who ducked his head, shamefaced. “Mini likes Franky, I like Mini and Rich and Grace are the fucking champions because they just like each other.” He threw his hands in the air and glared at everyone. “So stop being so stupid about it. Fuck this, I’m going to bed.” He chugged the remains of his cider and staggered over to the stairs, disappearing down into the hole without looking back at any of them.

Grace tugged on Rich’s arm and he nodded. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t kill himself on the way down,” he said. “Night, guys. That party turned sour,” he added to Grace in an undertone as they sank below the floor level of the T.

“Yeah,” she agreed sadly. “It was going so well…it was meant to just be a celebration of our radio debut, not this.”

“Two good things though.” Rich shrugged.

“What?”

“Farmboy finally kissed Pink Lady.” Rich grinned. “And we’re winners.”

“Yes we are.” Grace giggled and turned her face up for a kiss. There was a bang and a yell of pain from the stairs below them and they broke apart. “Farmboy?” Grace called. “Are you alright?”

“Peachy!” Alo called back. “Sweet dreams, Gracie lacy!” There was a slam as his door closed and Rich and Grace made their way down to the third level down where their bedroom was.

“Come on.” Liv grabbed Matty’s hand and pulled him away, out of the T and into the colder main corridor. He followed her to the dark corridor between the storeroom and the classrooms where she finally turned on him with a wounded expression. “Why can’t you just leave her alone?”

“I can.” Matty felt cornered and panicked. “I…”

“You can’t,” Liv said flatly. “I asked you to, and you didn’t. I fucking love you, Matty,” she lowered her voice and whispered it close to his face. “Like, properly love you. And it’s not enough for you, is it?”

“Liv, don’t.” Matty swallowed. “I want you. I love you.”

“But it isn’t enough,” Liv insisted darkly. “Is it? You can’t take your eyes off her.”

“She’s…” Matty tried to find the words to explain. He’d never been any good with words. “She’s lost, Liv. She’s fucked up.”

“And I’m not?” Liv hissed. “This,” she gestured to the two of them. “This isn’t?”

“No.” Matty shook his head and looked down. “You’ll always be okay, Liv.”

Liv put her finger under his chin and forced him to look at her. “And she will always be lost,” she said angrily. “And you know what? Yeah, she’s fucked up. But so are you, so you can’t fix her.”

“I’m fine.” Matty said, surprised.

Liv scoffed. “You’re such a good liar, you know that? You can even fool yourself. But you can’t fool me, Matty. I know you.”

“No you don’t.” Matty shook his head. No one knew him, not even Nick. Especially not Nick.

Liv nodded slowly. “You’re right,” she said finally, the anger replaced by bleak acceptance. “I don’t know you. But I know enough. And you can’t fix her, and now you’ve fucked us. But you know what?” She sighed and leaned against the wall, looking up at the concrete ceiling. “I’m not even that surprised. So…fuck this, Matty.” She turned a blank look on him, and he felt it hit him like a physical blow. “We’re over, right now. And we’re not getting back together.”

Matty inhaled dusty air and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry,” he whispered honestly.

“Yeah.” Liv turned and began to walk away. “Me too.”

Franky found him later in the engine room, curled up under the pile of blankets in there. “Hey,” she whispered, crouching down next to him and touching his shoulder. “Matty?”

He opened his eyes slowly and focussed on her shadowy shape in the darkness. “Hey,” he croaked, his throat dry from sleep.

“Are you alright?” she asked hesitantly, and he sat up, holding the blankets open. She crawled in next to him and he pulled them around their bodies to make a cocoon of warmth in the frigid chamber.

“How’s Liv?” he asked instead of answering.

“I don’t know.” Franky looked down. “She doesn’t want to see me.”

“Me neither,” Matty said sadly.

“Matty, what’s going on between us?” Franky asked. “What’re we doing?”

“I don’t know,” Matty admitted.

“Why do you keep headfucking me?” She whispered, and Matty found her hand under the blankets and clutched it.

“I don’t mean to, really,” He told her in a low voice, and sighed. “I’m just as fucked in the head as you are.”

Franky had no answer for that, and just leaned her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and they fell into a doze that became sleep when they lay down and curled around each other under the blankets.

“So, last night was a bit of a mess,” Franky addressed everyone awkwardly in the dining room on the bottom floor next morning as they ate breakfast, which was a variety of toast and microwaveable foods. Everyone was glad that Nick and Matty had brought their father’s four-slice toaster with them when they moved in.

“Understatement of the year.” Mini couldn’t look anyone in the eye as she nibbled on her almonds.

“Yeah, um, so we need to make a decision.” Franky was finding it difficult to tear her gaze from her shoes as well. “Which is, to put emotions away. They need to take a backseat from now on. DN first, relationships second.” She looked up as she finished to check the response.

“Sounds good to me.” Nick was nursing a hangover and peered at Franky through his sunglasses. “You’re the boss.”

Franky still wasn’t sure how that had happened exactly, but there it was. “Um, yeah.” She shifted awkwardly. “So…all in favour?” She raised her hand and everyone else did the same, much to her relief. “Great. Okay, so we need to do something between now and next week’s broadcast to make an impact. We also need to figure out a way to let our listeners call in, if that makes sense. So they can request songs and ask us questions. That will mean more of a connection between us and them.”

“Well that’s obvious, isn’t it?” Rich raised an eyebrow as he spread jam on his toast. “Twitter,” he said into the uncomprehending silence.

“How do you mean?” Mini asked, frowning.

Rich shrugged. “Set up a new twitter account each week and announce it at the beginning of the show. Have one in backup in case it’s shut down and keep going until the end of the show.” He bit into his toast.

“Shit, that’s good.” Alo stared at him. “Nice one, Psychonaut.”

“Not just a pretty face,” Rich said sarcastically.

“That’s brilliant.” Franky grinned. “We’ll do that next week. It should be really easy too, right?” She looked at Matty, who nodded slowly.

“Someone else will need to do it though, because I need to keep checking for traces and traffic and stuff.”

“Well we had a free laptop yesterday.” Grace nibbled on the corner of a stale croissant. “Someone could use that.”

“Great.” Franky nodded. “Who wants to be the twitter master?”

Nick shoved his hand in the air. “I’ll do it.”

“Ace.” Franky pulled the rota notebook from the kitchen counter and flicked through it. “Okay, we’ve figured out places to tell people to leave donations, and these are the co-ordinates Pink Lady and I have made stencils for.” She held up a few pieces of paper. “So on graffiti duty today is…” She checked the rota. “Shameless, Paperdoll and Farmboy for one team, Captain and Teddy Sextramp for another. Me, Psychonaut and Pink Lady are on food collection. Back by five, guys.”

“I need some real food,”  Rich complained as he opened a tin of spaghetti hoops with a dent in the side and emptied it into a bowl.

“It’s not so bad.” Grace shrugged, opening a slightly squished bag of bread and putting four slices in the toaster.

“It is.” Liv made a face as she unpacked what Mini, Franky and Rich had brought back. “All this pre-prepared processed crap is giving me spots. And have you seen Pink Lady eat it?”

“Um…” Grace frowned. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, because she doesn’t.” Liv sighed. “She’s still dieting. Doesn’t matter if we’re hiding out underground and scuttling around painting numbers on walls - if she gains a gram, she hits the gym.”

“We don’t have a gym.” Rich frowned.

“We have a big sports hall,” Liv said sardonically. “She can jog around that for hours.”

“Nice.” Rich started the microwave and jumped up to sit on the counter to wait. “Doesn’t Captain do that sometimes?”

“Yeah, but he does it because he has too much energy,” Liv told him. “Pink Lady does it because she’s neurotic about her weight.”

“Don’t tell her we told you,” Grace warned him. “She’ll probably slap you.”

Rich held his hands up. “My lips are sealed.”

“We need a plan.” Mini said later that evening in the T. “Like Mannequin said, we need to do something big to get the attention.”

“And to have something to talk about on the Wave,” Nick pointed out.

“Yeah.” Mini nodded. “So. Any ideas?”

“We could do some massive graffiti on the Regime Building.” Alo suggested.

Nick smirked. “We’ve done that before, haven’t we?” They sniggered, and Mini rolled her eyes.

“No, we need to do something that everyone will notice. Something they’ll see or hear about wherever they are.”

“We could blow something up?” Liv looked around.

“No explosives.” Matty shook his head, not looking at her. “And we might hurt people, which wouldn’t help us.”

“The zapper platform,” Grace said quietly. Everyone looked at her and she elaborated. “That’s what people are scared of. We don’t have to destroy it or anything - just take it apart and write our names on it. Maybe it’ll encourage some people to break out if the option of punishment is removed, temporarily at least.”

Mini nodded slowly and looked at Franky. “I think it could work, don’t you?”

Franky stood up. “Okay, but we’d need to be really, really quick and smart about it. We need to find out the routines. We can’t do it in daylight either.” She gave them all a significant look. Breaking curfew was a serious offence.

“So we’ll stake it out,” Alo said. “All night.”

“And hide where?” Rich spoke up for the first time, not looking at any of them. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there isn’t much cover round there.”

“We could hide in wheelie bins.” Liv shrugged.

“Some of the houses round there have those below-ground level things going on,” Nick added. “We could hide down one of those.”

“Or,” Alo looked at them like they were complete idiots. “We could just use the van.”

“Oh yeah.” Nick grinned, and Alo rolled his eyes.

“They check the cars are empty though.” Franky frowned. “If you leave your car there overnight you’re not allowed to be in it - you have to get a special ticket.”

“So no one will be in there.” Alo grinned. “I’ve got those cabinets under the bed - three people could hide in there. I drive in, get inspected and ticketed and leave. And pick whoever’s in there up in the morning.”

“What if they look in the cabinets?” Mini asked.

Alo shrugged. “We’ll fill it with enough crap to cover them up. No problem. They’re right at the back anyway.”

“It’s risky.” Mini bit her lip.

“This whole job will be risky,” Franky said quietly. “Okay, we need two small people to fit in comfortably. Paperdoll and Shameless, would you be okay with staking the platform out for a few days?”

“I’m fine with it.” Grace nodded.

“Sure,” Liv said carelessly. “Why not?”

“Okay, so we have five days till the next show.” Franky nodded and turned on the spot. “You’ll stake out for three, we’ll do the job on the fourth, as long as there’s a definite pattern to guard changes or whatever. Okay?”

Everyone murmured agreement.

“Okay.” Franky nodded, thinking hard. “That leaves everyone else. Teddy, can you maybe start making some weapons we can use in case of an emergency? You can make home-made smoke bombs and stuff, can’t you?”

Matty nodded. “Sure. I’ll need some supplies though, things you can only really buy.”

“Okay, we’ll pool some of what we have left, get you some of what you need.”

“We also need soap, and more shampoo,” Mini added. “Someone needs to get on that.”

“Put it on the list,” Rich told her.

“I did.” Mini pulled a face at him. “I just want to make sure it’s brought up. I don’t want us to stink like cavemen, that’s all.”

“Anyway!” Franky interjected. “Okay, Teddy will figure out what he needs to get, Psychonaut and Captain will help him get it. Pink Lady, Farmboy and I will do everything else that needs doing, okay?”

“Who’s on cleaning duty at the moment?” Nick asked.

“Um…” Franky consulted the rota and looked up drily. “You are.”

“Have fun with that.” Alo grinned and nudged Nick with his foot.

“Guys!” Franky held her hands up. “Be serious, okay? Right, Paperdoll and Shameless should get on the staking right now - it’s only seven thirty, we can do that, right?”

“No problem.” Alo nodded, standing up and rubbing his hands together. “We can do that now. You two coming?” He looked at Liv and Grace, who nodded and got to their feet as well.

“Let’s do this shit.” Liv slung her arm around Grace’s shoulders.

“I think we have mental issues,” Nick whispered in the back of the van on Wednesday night.

“How come?” Alo asked distractedly. They were all crowded into the back of the van, waiting for the morning. Liv and Grace had told them that the routine didn’t seem to change at all - the platform only had one guard at any time throughout the night, and there were switches at eleven - the curfew time for anyone older than twenty-five - and four in the morning. The plan was to wait until just after the four am switch and ambush the guard, knock him out and steal the equipment. The boys would load it into the van as the girls spray-painted BDN in giant red letters on the platform and in front of each of the four sides. They would drive out at six in the morning, when the curfew lifted.

“Well, we’re obviously suicidal,” Nick said quietly. “For starters. I mean look at us. We’re hiding in a van, planning to attack a zapper platform and its guard. No one in the history of the regime has ever done something so insane.”

“Nice to set a precedent though, isn’t it?” Alo turned and grinned at him, and Nick laughed quietly. They were the only ones properly awake. Rich, Grace, Franky and Mini were curled up on the bed, Liv and Matty on the floor, on opposite sides of the van.

“What time is it?” Nick asked.

“Uh…” Alo checked his watch. “Nearly two.”

“I’m too tired for this shit.”

“Don’t you dare fall asleep on me, Captain,” Alo ordered sternly. “We’re up till two thirty - not long now.”

“Yeah.” Nick sighed. “Still tired though.”

Franky was woken by Mini shaking her shoulder gently. “Mannequin,” she whispered. “Hey, Mannequin - it’s time.”

“Mmf.” Franky sat up and yawned. “Okay.” Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she looked around the darkened van interior. Liv and Grace had been on the last watch, so they were awake, but everyone else was still waking up, sleepy and sluggish. “Okay,” she said again, quieter. This was the most dangerous part of the plan. She and Mini would have to make some noise, nothing big, just enough to make the guard suspect that there were people out after curfew. If they planned it right, he would pursue first to check before calling any other guards or policemen. As he passed the van, Rich, Alo and Nick would rush him, bring him down and restrain him. With three of them, that wouldn’t be too hard. If it was, they could all get involved. But hopefully they could just knock him out.

“Get him in the throat,” Matty was telling the other boys in a low voice. “As hard as you can. Then -”

“Temple and neck, we know.” Nick nodded and grabbed Matty’s hand, squeezing hard. “It’ll be fine.”

“Ready?” Grace asked Franky, and she nodded.

“Come on.” She made eye contact with Mini and jerked her head at the door. Alo slid it open as quietly as he could for them and mouthed ‘good luck’ as they got out. He slid it to behind them but didn’t slam it shut.

Franky could feel her heart in her throat. It was hard to believe that just a minute ago she had been tired - she felt wide awake now, wired and buzzing with adrenaline. Mini beckoned her around to the edge of the van and they peered through the windows up front. They were on the north side of the square, and they could see the shape of the guard nearby, near the west edge.

Franky grabbed Mini’s hand and pulled. They ran, and as they did Mini scuffed her feet loudly. Franky looked over her shoulder and squeezed Mini’s hand tight - the guard had turned his head and was moving towards them as they turned the corner and leaned against the wall, hearts pumping wildly though they had only run a few metres.

“Someone there?” the guard called in a deep voice. “Because it’s way past curfew.” They could hear his footsteps growing closer, and Mini squeezed Franky’s hand so tight she couldn’t feel her fingers.

But then there was the slide of the van door and a scuffle. The beginning of the guard’s shout cut off almost before it had time to form as one of the boys punched him in the throat. Franky and Mini looked round the corner and sighed with relief at the sight of the boys standing over the prone body of the guard, lying spread-eagled on the cobbles.

“Nice!” Franky whispered as they ran back over. “Let’s get moving!”

“Who’s going to keep an eye on him?” Liv hissed, jerking her chin at the unconscious guard.

“I will,” Rich volunteered quickly, casting an apprehensive look at the dark shape of the platform in the centre of the square. “I’ll help load stuff up as well,” he added.

“Fine.” Franky nodded. “Psychonaut watches the guard, boys shift the equipment, girls get graffitiing.”

They worked quickly, powered by fear and nerves, constantly looking over their shoulders. While the others did their respective jobs, Rich considered the guard and only hesitated for a moment before going through his pockets and taking his radio, mobile phone, gun, ammunition, taser and wallet. The guard’s name was Robert Yaxley, and he lived in a flat. He had two children, both blonde girls who grinned toothily up from the photo Robert kept in his wallet. Rich regarded them dispassionately and waited for Alo and Nick to come close, carrying a bundle of wires between them.

“Ask Mannequin if it’s okay to steal from regime thugs.”

“Kay.” Alo and Nick hauled the wires into the back of the van and Rich looked away. He was glad they were doing this, probably more than any of them, but he still couldn’t look at the platform or the equipment without thinking of being zapped, and the memories still made him shudder.

Matty brought the answer back with him with a box partially covering the rod. He tried to jiggle the box to hide it as he approached, which Rich appreciated. “She says do it,” he whispered as he placed his load in the van. “Regime doesn’t count as human.”

Rich grinned and nodded. “Cheers.”

Matty nodded and ran back. The girls had taken a side each and were pretty much done, and Rich took all the money from Robert Yaxley’s wallet and tucked it back inside his jacket. The boys were still hovering around the platform, seemingly having trouble with a part of it. Rich wanted to go over and help, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to. He frowned heavily and turned away, fists clenched in his pockets.

“Alright?” Liv whispered as she ran up to him, and he nodded shortly.

“You all done?”

“Yep.” She grinned. “Nice surprise for them in the morning.”

“Yeah.” He smirked and then smiled properly as she got in, followed by the other girls. This was revenge for what they had done, of a sort. Real vengeance would only be delivered by turning the tables on the gold-toothed man. Having him pinned to a table and at his mercy. The idea simultaneously pleased and revolted him. He wanted to believe he was better than that, but given the chance, he knew what he would do.

Matty ran over and paused in front of Rich. “Farmboy says there’s a toolbox in there somewhere. Know where?”

“Yeah.” Rich walked round the front and opened the passenger door. The box was down where the passenger’s feet would go, but there was a lot of space. Enough for the rusty blue contraption that housed Alo’s motley collection of tools. “Here.” He handed it over as quietly as he could and Matty nodded his thanks before running back. Rich wondered what they were doing.

It turned out that they were prying up the boards of the platform to get to the mechanics underneath. The girls went over to help as well to speed up the job, and ferried back various little electrical devices, wires and cogs Matty and Alo had prised from whatever was under the platform. It was past five by the time they deemed the job done, and Nick and Alo dragged the guard up onto the platform. Grinning nastily, they gagged him with his own tie and strapped him tightly onto the table.

When six finally rolled round, they waited until they saw another car drive past before deeming the situation safe enough to risk. “I wish we could stay and see their reactions,” Liv said, almost wistfully.

“We are awesome,” Alo declared firmly from the driver’s seat. “We are the dog’s fucking bollocks! We are…the crème de la crème of criminal masterminds. We are the greatest gang of desperados this city has ever seen!”

“We’re the BDN!” Nick said enthusiastically.

“Let’s wait till we get home before celebrating,” Franky warned.

They drove out to Leigh Woods and down the path that split off from the road, in as far as they could go and a little bit further to Alo’s usual parking space. It was light now, and everyone was a strange mix of tired and excited as they helped to move all the stuff they had stolen into the bunker. They decided to sort through it and store it properly later, and settled down to watch the news reports on one of the laptops in the T. It had already made the headlines on the internet.

“Turn it up!” Grace whispered, and everyone exclaimed in eagerness as the picture focused on Queen’s Square with a blonde man in front, holding a microphone.

“…presumed that the attack was between four and six in the morning,” the man said, keeping his expression neutral. “The attackers stole and sabotaged the equipment on and below the platform and strapped the guard on duty to the table in a parody of the PCP punishment itself. They also left graffiti on and around the platform itself.” The camera switched to a picture of the letters ‘BDN’ written in three foot high red paint on the wooden planks of the platform and everyone cheered.

“As yet we have no information about what BDN stands for,” the reporter continued. “But theories so far include an anarchist gang or an anti-regime organisation. In a statement earlier this morning, Bristol’s regime president, Mr Garter, said that such deliberately violent flaunting of the regime’s laws would not be tolerated, and an issue for the arrest of those responsible has been made.”

“We’re criminals!” Alo shouted joyfully, and laughed.

“And we’re fucking celebrities, man!” Nick grinned.

“Things just got much more dangerous,” Mini murmured.

“Otherwise known as much more fun.” Matty grinned and nudged Franky.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is the DN Wave, and I am Mannequin. You may have noticed a little story floating around the news recently, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say that yes. We, the BDN, did attack Bristol’s zapper platform yesterday morning. We knocked out and tied up the guard, we stole and sabotaged the equipment, and we tagged the site before we left. Ladies and gentlemen, the BDN is your local resistance charity, and we hope you enjoyed our little stunt, and we’d like you to celebrate with us! Let’s start off the show with a song I’m sure you’ll all recognise. This is Bad Reputation by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts! And for the record, we don’t give a damn about our reputation either.”

“Teddy Sextramp?”

Matty looked up from the equipment he’d spread out in the lab to see Grace leaning in the doorway, a hesitant expression on her face.

“Yeah?” Matty was surprised to see her there.

“You know you said yesterday you were going to fix up the zapper stuff and start testing it? To see if you could make it a weapon?”

Matty frowned suspiciously. “Yeah…”

Grace took a deep breath. “You should test it on me.”

“No,” Matty said instantly. “Are you crazy? Shocks from these rods are really fucking painful, Paperdoll. I can’t torture you for the sake of testing the equipment. And Psychonaut would kill me,” he added seriously. “You know he would.”

“Only if he found out.” Grace stepped in and slid the door closed behind her. “Teddy, you can’t test it all on yourself,” she said earnestly. “You need to start testing it on others to see if they have the same reactions. And I thought one of the reasons for you doing this was to test it on all of us to see if we could resist it if we were captured.”

“Not necessarily,” Matty said, thinking of Rich’s size compared to his. It would be over in seconds if he found out.

Grace sighed. “Look, you know I’m right. You need someone to help you test it on yourself anyway, don’t you? You can’t do it to yourself - what if something went wrong? I could be your assistant.”

“I’m not doing it to you,” Matty said firmly.

Grace nodded slowly. “Not at first, but once you’ve refined it -”

“No.”

“Grow up,” she snapped. “Stop being such a coward. What happens if I get captured and zapped? If I don’t know what’s coming it will be worse that if I know what it feels like. This is a form of protection, like an inoculation,” she said persuasively. “And you do need an assistant for testing it. Who else would do it?”

“Captain would.” Matty didn’t look away, weakening a little.

“And that wouldn’t look bad at all, shocking your own brother.” Grace rolled her eyes. “This way, no one has to know, which will mean you won’t look bad. And right now, you look bad enough as it is.”

“What do you mean?” Matty frowned.

“Teddy,” Grace assumed a pitying expression. “Shameless just broke up with you very publically because you couldn’t stay away from Mannequin. Backseat emotions or not, you look like a bit of a slut, and also a bit of a dick.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Matty protested. “It was a game!”

“Yes, except no one else was quite so enthusiastic.” Grace raised a knowing eyebrow. “I wasn’t sticking my tongue down…I don’t know, Farmboy’s throat in front of Psychonaut, was I?”

“There weren’t tongues!” Matty could feel his control of the situation slipping away from him quickly. “And why, do you want to?”

“No!” Grace huffed. “That would be weird. But the point is, you look bad right now. Testing the shocks on anyone else won’t help.”

“And testing it on you will?” Matty asked sarcastically. “If Psychonaut found out, I’d look worse than ever, not that I’d have any time to worry about it, because he would rip me in half.”

“If he found out,” Grace said intently.

“Look, if I’m going to be testing it on everyone sooner or later, why does it matter?” Matty asked. Grace looked down and bit her lip and Matty nodded, understanding. “Because you want to be punished more than them. You still feel guilty about Psychonaut getting zapped.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Grace asked quietly, looking up at him again. “Look, I’m not asking for much, and you get an assistant out of it. If you don’t agree, I’ll do it to myself. I’m not kidding.” She had that steely look in her eye Matty recognised and he rubbed a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“Fine, you can help me, and…we’ll do a few test runs on you. But not until I’ve tested it on myself to make sure it’s safe, okay?”

Grace smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

“Yeah.” Matty rolled his eyes. “I can see this going really well.”

“I hate this weather,” Mini said despondently as she trudged through the pouring rain with Alo and Franky.

“Tell me about it,” Alo said with a sigh. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet. Not counting baths and showers and stuff.”

“Obviously.” Franky pulled her hood down a little lower over her face. “At least no one else will be out in this.”

“Lucky them,” Mini said acidly. “I’m soaked through. And we have no more conditioner at home.”

“We’ll pick up some more on the way back,” Franky assured her. “We should have enough for that.”

“Get your hair back to its silky natural state.” Alo grinned. Mini smiled slightly, mollified.

“Here we are,” Franky said, ducking into a small side road. The wall was covered in graffiti already, but the building itself was abandoned, so no one had had it cleaned off. It was one of the best places for checking what people had said to them.

“Anything new?” Alo squinted through the rain at the bricks.

“How many of you are there?” Mini read out, crouched down to read the wonky letters.

“Check out the skip on Padstow Road. Could be good.” Franky nodded. “We should have a look.”

“It could be a trap,” Alo said warningly.

“I don’t think anyone important knows about the graffiti yet,” Mini argued. “Otherwise why didn’t they mention it when we hit the zapper platform?”

“Maybe because they wanted to pull stuff like this.” Alo pointed at the wall.

“We’ll decide in a minute,” Franky told them. “We need to get some food first.”

“Oh goodie.” Mini sighed. “More walking.”

They were a few more streets away before Alo tapped Franky’s shoulder. “Mannequin,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t freak now, but I think we’re being followed.”

“What do you mean?” Franky asked, tensing.

“Three people, I think they’re following us,” Alo muttered. “I’ll fall behind a second, you look back at me and check it out.”

“Okay.” Franky nodded. Alo smiled reassuringly and slowed down. When he was out of sight, Franky looked over her shoulder at the rainy street behind them. Three shadows darted out of sight behind a parked car.

“See them?” Alo asked as he caught up, and Franky nodded.

Mini, who had been listening to their exchange, pulled a mirror out of her pocket and angled it carefully. “They’re girls,” she whispered, squinting through the rain. “About our age, I think. Maybe they’re fans?”

“Or spies,” Franky said darkly. “I say we don’t risk it. When we turn this corner, we run, okay?”

“Okay,” Mini and Alo said. The walk to the corner seemed to take far longer than it should, but when they turned it they all broke into a sprint.

“This way!” Mini beckoned them down another side road and Alo and Franky followed her. She knew Bristol best, after all.

“Shit,” Alo looked over his shoulder. “They’re on us.”

“Keep running,” Franky panted.

“Duh.” Mini picked up the pace, used to jogging on the treadmill and round the hall in the bunker.

The girls were faster though, one of them gaining on them. “Stop!” She shouted. “We’re friends!”

“As if!” Alo yelled over his shoulder.

“Just wait a second!” she shouted.

“Fuck off!” Mini shrieked, leading Alo and Franky round a corner and down a thin alley between two dripping hedges.

The girl didn’t shout again, but put all her effort into running, gaining quickly on Franky, who squeaked in alarm. “Pink Lady!”

“We can take them,” Alo told Mini under his breath. She nodded and stopped, skidding a little on the rain-soaked tarmac as she turned sharply. Franky ran a little way past her and their pursuer halted unsteadily in front of them. Her hair was blonde under her hood, and she panted slightly, eyeing them up.

“What do you want?” Mini asked sharply.

“To talk,” the girl told her between breaths. “That’s all.”

“We can’t trust you.” Franky stepped forward between Mini and Alo with a frown.

“Well we can’t trust you either.” The girl smirked ruefully and looked over her shoulder at the sound of two pairs of feet slapping on the wet ground. “It’s okay.” She held up her hands as her two companions barrelled into the alley. “Chill out.”

“Don’t run off like that again!” One of them said, and Franky realised with a start that the two slower girls were twins. The one who had spoken looked worried and touched the blonde girl’s shoulder in a too-familiar gesture.

“Worked, didn’t it?” The blonde smiled and looked back at Franky, Mini and Alo. “Shall we talk somewhere else?”

“Preferably with a roof,” the twin who hadn’t spoken snapped. “My makeup is bloody ruined.”

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. “Cry me a river.”

“There’s an underpass just through here,” Mini said after a moment, still suspicious.

“Perfect.” The blonde girl nodded and gestured. “Lead the way.”

“Who are you?” Franky asked first.

“I’m Naomi,” the blonde said. “This is Emily,” she touched the arm of the twin who had admonished her for running off. “And Katie.” She gestured to the snappy twin, who scowled.

“Can we get there already?” she said irritably.

“Why did you follow us?” Franky persisted.

“You’re BDN, aren’t you?” Emily looked eager. “Well we’re -”

“Shut up, Ems!” Katie squawked.

“We’ll tell you when we get there.” Naomi jumped as thunder rumbled through the heavy clouds, and Alo leaned in close to Franky.

“Reckon they’re telling the truth. They’re a bit disorganised.”

“Well?” Mini looked to Franky, who hesitated, and then nodded.

“Okay. Let’s talk to them.”

“Great.” Mini didn’t sound overly-enthusiastic, but started walking anyway. “Come on.”

The group walked in silence until they entered the underpass, where Mini pulled her hood off and grimaced as she wrung out her hair. “Gross.”

“So talk.” Franky turned to Naomi with a set expression. “Why were you following us?”

Naomi exchanged glances with the twins. Katie scowled, but Emily nodded enthusiastically. “We’re members of the RM,” she said in a low voice. “BRM, technically.”

“What’s that?” Alo asked.

“The Bristol Resistance Movement.” Naomi drew herself up. “We’re like you, but bigger, and…”

“Not as loud,” Katie said acidly.

“Katie,” Emily whispered.

“And why should we believe you?” Mini asked distrustfully.

“Because we haven’t turned you in?” Naomi shrugged. “Look, we actually wanted to offer you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Franky asked shrewdly.

“The mutually beneficial kind,” Naomi said. “You help us out on occasion, do the loud things we can’t, keep up public morale, and we’ll help you out. We’re much better connected, for starters. We could help each other.”

“How can we trust you?” Franky asked. “This could be some kind of regime trap.”

“We’ll prove it,” Katie said testily, obviously not liking Franky’s attitude. “You can take one of us hostage as a show of good faith or whatever.”

Naomi and Emily both turned to stare at her in shock, and Alo stifled a snort - that obviously hadn’t been part of their plan.

“That’s a great idea, Katie,” Naomi said sarcastically. “Which one of us should they take? Are you volunteering?”

“Yeah,” Katie said flippantly. “I am actually.”

“Katie, can we fucking talk about this?” Emily hissed.

“We’re game,” Franky interrupted, and Mini and Alo stared at her. “We’ll take you as a show of good faith.”

“See?” Katie smiled smugly at Naomi and Emily. “I knew it would work.”

“Is this about the other night?” Emily whispered. “Because you know that was an accident, we didn’t mean for you to walk in.”

“Emily!” Naomi hissed through gritted teeth. Katie assumed an expression of disgust.

“No, though thanks for bringing that up again, it’s not like I wasn’t already scarred for life or anything.” She glared at Emily, who frowned.

“Then why -?”

“Because it’s a good plan and I’m fed up of your lovey-dovey act, alright?” Katie snapped and stalked over to stand next to Alo. “Deal done, okay?”

“We don’t even know how to contact you!” Naomi said angrily.

“On my phone?” Katie said like it was obvious.

“No phone,” Franky said instantly, turning to Katie. “Phones can be tracked. Give your phone back to them.”

“Then how are they meant to find me again?” Katie raised a perfectly plucked and shaped eyebrow, and Franky felt the familiar sickening feeling nasty pretty girls always gave her.

“They’ll call us,” Mini said firmly, seeming to sense Franky’s predicament. “Phone.” She held out her hand expectantly, and Katie sighed but handed it over. “Okay,” Mini went over and gave it to Emily. “Put this number somewhere you won’t forget it,” she said.

Naomi whipped out a phone of her own and pressed a few buttons. “Ready,” she said, not sounding pleased. Mini reeled off a number, and Naomi rang it to check. Mini held up her phone to show it was ringing and went back to Franky’s side.

“We’ll text you an email address tonight,” Naomi said. “American, so the regime can’t track it.”

“They can’t track American email?” Alo sounded impressed.

“Amateur.” Katie sighed.

“The US doesn’t like the regime sticking its nose in their business,” Emily explained. “Of course, they won’t help us either, since we have nothing they want.”

“It’s nice of them,” Naomi said wryly, and looked around. “We’ll text you later, yeah? Don’t tell them any more than the initial briefing,” she added to Katie with a serious look.

“No shit,” Katie said snappily. “I’m not an idiot.”

“Good,” Naomi shot back, clearly sick of the conflict. Emily looked over her shoulder and grabbed Naomi’s hand.

“We should go,” she said quietly, and Naomi nodded.

“We’ll text,” she said shortly, walking away. Emily held Katie’s gaze until the last moment, and they jogged out of the underpass and into the rain.

Franky, Mini and Alo looked at Katie.

“Well shit.” Alo looked her up and down and turned to Franky. “Now what?”

“We’re going to blindfold you,” Franky told Katie, who shrugged.

“Expected that. Are we going to stand here all fucking day or what then?”

“We’ll blindfold you when we’re done,” Franky amended.

“What’re you doing?” Katie asked as Franky nodded to Alo and Mini and began to walk towards the opposite end of the underpass Naomi and Emily had left through.

“Getting food,” Franky told her.

“Where from?” Katie sounded intrigued now. “We’ve been wondering about that, how you get food without stealing.”

“Some donations,” Alo told her after receiving a nod of permission from Franky. “But mostly from supermarket skips.”

“From rubbish bins?” Katie wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah, but it’s all still wrapped and stuff,” Alo said encouragingly. “Or out of date by a day or something. It’s all edible.”

“It’s a bit gross, but you get used to it,” Mini told her dryly.

“I don’t know your names,” Katie said after a moment. “You’re Mannequin, right?” She looked at the back of Franky’s head and pulled her hood up as they left the underpass.

“Yeah, I am.” Franky didn’t turn around to look at her, but looked around instead, checking the coast was clear.

“And I’m Farmboy.” Alo grinned, offering his hand. Katie shook it gingerly. “And this is Pink Lady.”

“Hi.” Mini gave her a calculating half-smile. Katie was like her, she knew. Or how she had been. A queen bee, used to being obeyed and worshipped.

“Nice nicknames,” Katie said insincerely, and Mini smiled at her acidly.

“Thanks.”

“Guys.” Franky sensed the growing tension and dispelled it quickly. “We should check out that skip on Padstow Road.”

“There’s an Asda and an Iceland on the way if we go near Bedminster,” Alo advised, and Franky nodded with a smile.

“Sounds good. Let’s do it.”

“So this is a fence we need to climb over.”

“Fucking hell, are you joking?”

“Nope.” Alo sounded almost cheerful as he guided Katie to the railing surrounding the abandoned Clifton Rocks Railway Station. “Up and over.”

“You people are insane.” Katie grunted, pulling herself up and over the sharply-tipped gate.

“It’s been said,” Alo agreed, hopping over after her. Franky and Mini followed carefully, glad of the pouring rain. The Railway entrance was useful, but too exposed to use regularly.

“Can we take the blindfold off her yet?” Alo asked Franky when they reached the tunnel that led to the bunker. Franky shook her head.

“Let’s keep going until we’re actually home.”

Alo shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

“Goodie,” Katie said sourly, still blind. “Can we hurry up? This thing is itching.”

“Don’t worry,” Alo reassured her. “It’s not that far now.”

Part 9

Diagrams for the bunker and tunnels are here.