Fic: The Days We Break (part 13)

[myrimidryad]

Rich looked at Franky as they came to a stop outside room 39. They each had two full bags-for-life full of stolen drugs, and Franky put one of hers down to knock three times on the door. Rich tried to feel very, very calm, though it was incredibly difficult without having his hair to retreat into. He had clumsily bundled it under a black wig that morning and shoved a cap on top of it to hopefully hide what was obviously not human hair. He was also wearing a bright t-shirt he thought belonged to Nick. It was red and blue and he had been fighting the strong urge to burn it since putting it on. Most horrible though were the shoes. Converse sneakers were flimsy and pathetic and entirely too small and light. He missed the heavy weight of his boots, the knowledge that if he were to kick someone, they would feel it for at least a week. Yes, he could probably move faster without his boots, but he didn’t care. He liked his boots. They had been expensive and had buckles and thick soles. He felt naked without them.

God forbid, he felt mainstream.

The door opened to reveal a short, skinny man with a pale face and washed-out, light brown hair. All his clothes seemed to be about two sizes too big for him, and the smile he gave them didn’t reach his eyes, which looked anxious and on edge. He beckoned them in and closed the door hastily behind them. “Those are the drugs?” He asked, looking at the bags.

“This is them.” Franky nodded. “We’ll leave them here.” She put her bags down and Rich copied her.

“No, wait!” The man held out his hands, looking horrified. “Don’t go yet!”

“Why not?” Rich asked, instantly suspicious.

“I need to call Naomi.” He said, pulling a phone from his pocket and pressing a button.

“What for?” Franky asked, frowning. “She agreed we’d just drop the drugs and go.”

“She wanted to talk to you.” The man told them, smiling weakly and fumbling the mobile.

“She can talk to us when we’re out of here.” Rich said, the hairs on the back of his neck going up. “Come on, Mannequin.”

“No!” The man leaped after them, but Rich had already opened the door, Franky at his side as he walked back down the corridor to the lifts. There was a ping as one of them arrived, and Franky halted uncertainly. Rich paused, looking back at her, and the lift doors opened. It was Franky’s reaction that clued Rich in before he turned around to see the black-masked RES officers stepping out of the elevator, guns already coming up. Franky had already half ducked and spun around, starting back to the room at a run. Rich followed her soundlessly as one of the guns went off with an explosive bang.

Rich dived in and Franky slammed the door behind him. He was panting, and he turned to the man who had set them up with narrowed eyes. “You.” He crossed the room in two strides and grabbed him by the throat, shoving him up against the wall. “You did this. You set us up!”

“They have my girlfriend!” The man cried, his face turning red. “Please, I had no choice!”

“You bastard.” Rich snarled, letting go and turning to Franky. “What should we do?”

“I’m calling Pink Lady.” Franky said breathlessly, looking worriedly at the door. “But I don’t know…I don’t…”

Rich went to the window and looked down. They were on the fourth floor with a car park two storeys below them, but the window only opened a few inches. Jumping wasn’t going to happen, but he opened the window just in case. “If they get in, we’ll jump.” He told Franky, and she nodded. He pulled smoke bombs from his pockets, making a mental note to buy Matty some beer or something if they got out of this, and lit one as he opened the door a crack. Four shots exploded perilously close to him, but he lit the end of the paper and threw it out into the hall, closing the door and waiting three seconds before doing it again, throwing the second smoke bomb in the opposite directions.

“Nobody shoot!” He heard someone yell. “Retreat some distance!”

“Right.” Rich looked past Franky, who was explaining the situation to Pink Lady, and fixed his gaze on the man, who was cowering against the wall. “What’s your name?”

“Jamie.” The man whispered.

“Right.” Rich looked at Franky and mimed shooting Jamie with his hand. She nodded and pulled the gun out from under her skirt. Matty had made her a makeshift holster for the occasion. Rich took it and cocked it, going over to Jamie and pressing it against his head. “Tell us how to get out.” He said in a low, calm voice. “Now.”

Jamie was almost weeping with terror. “I don’t know!” He writhed on the carpet. “I don’t, I swear! They told me to get you and they’d let my girlfriend go!”

“Do they care about your life?” Rich asked. Jamie trembled and stared at him, and Rich growled. “Do they care whether you live or die so long as they get us?” He pressed the gun against Jamie’s forehead and he started to actually cry, big tears rolling from the corners of his eyes.

“No!” He wept. “They don’t give a shit, please, I just want my girlfriend back, please don’t hurt me!”

“If we die for this, our friends will kill you.” Rich told him coldly, and turned to Franky. “Plan?”

“Ready?” Mini asked Matty, swallowing down her fear. Franky would be alright, she repeated in a mantra. Franky would be alright. Franky would be alright. She would be, she would be, she would be.

“Ready.” Matty replied, pulling his hood up over his Zorro mask. Mini was wearing the pink cat one Franky had worn on the Greenvale raid, and she took a deep breath.

“Okay then.” She pulled the second gun from her handbag. “Let’s do this.” They rose to their feet and Mini thrust the gun in the air, cocked it, took the safety off, and closed her eyes as she pulled the trigger. Her arm was forced down by the power of the shot, and the people around them in the park opposite the Premier Inn ducked and screamed and started to run.

“THIS IS THE BDN!” Matty yelled as Mini walked forward to the road, clambering over the wall and stepping off the pavement. She pointed the gun at the cars coming towards her and they squealed to a stop. Some of them honked, but she fired another shot into the air and they fell silent.

“You!” She screamed, pointing at the closest person. “Move your car acrossways!” She gestured with her hands, and he obeyed, looking scared out of his wits, blocking off the road he had come from. One of the cars from the adjacent road tried inching forwards, but froze when Mini turned the gun on the driver. “Do the same!” She bellowed. “Do it! Now!”

Matty came bounding onto the road next to her, yelling at the top of his lungs. “OUR FRIENDS ARE TRAPPED! GET OUT OR HELP OUT! WE DO NOT WANT TO HURT YOU!”

“Our friends are trapped!” Mini joined in, imploring the terrified passers-by, who had frozen or run at the sight of the firearm. “Help us or leave!”

“WE ARE THE BDN!” Matty shouted. “WE ARE THE BDN!”

“Which ones?” Someone yelled.

“I’m Pink Lady!” Mini shouted back. “This is Teddy Sextramp! Mannequin and Psychonaut are trapped up there!” She pointed to the Premier Inn, looming tall and ugly over them all.

Someone ran out into the road, and Mini jumped and turned the gun on them, only to sigh with relief and click the safety on when she saw it was Grace, out of breath. “Captain and Shameless are coming!” She gasped, and turned to the crowd. “Run!” She shrieked. “Get out of here!”

“Or help us!” Matty added loudly. The sound of cars was dim, a traffic jam building up behind the blocked junction. “BDN!” He shouted, trying to draw in the people who had stayed where they were, looking cautious and scared, but curious as well, and tentatively supportive. “BDN!”

Mini and Grace joined in. “BDN! BDN! BDN!”

A few people started to join in, nodding and encouraging each other to shout louder. Matty grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet a little, beckoning the civilians into the road. “We’re not going to shoot you!” He promised. “Come on!”

“What do you want us to do?” A teenaged girl with a beanie pulled low over her head asked.

“Block off this area and keep the cops busy.” Mini told her. “We’ll form a human shield if we have to. They can’t shoot at innocent people.”

“They’ll be alright, won’t they?” Grace asked her quietly, fear brimming on her face. “Psychonaut and Mannequin will get out, won’t they?”

“Of course they will.” Mini said briskly, not letting Grace know that she was as scared for Franky as much as she was obviously scared for Rich. “They’ll be fine. We’ll cover them.”

“Go!” Rich told Franky. They had hauled the television in front of the door after Rich had thrown out the rest of their smoke bombs and he was now lowering Franky down from the window, which he had kicked out. They were using the sheets from the bed, and Rich hoped desperately they wouldn’t rip and let Franky drop. He had to go right up to the ledge of the window to lower Franky down all the way, but she made it and gave him a thumbs up. He turned to Jamie and scowled, pulling the sheet back up and motioning for him to do the same as Franky had done. “I swear, if you get out and I get caught,” he muttered dangerously as he let the other man down as quickly as he could.

He almost dropped the sheet when the officers on the other side of the door started hammering on the wood, but he quelled his panic and didn’t let go. He waited until Franky had the gun pointed at Jamie’s head again before tying the end of the sheet around the window handle.

Suddenly, bullets tore through the door, and he leapt out of the way instinctively, hiding behind the bed. “Fuck,” he whispered, peeking above the mattress at the door, which was fast becoming shredded. Inspiration struck, and he screamed as though he had been shot. The firing ceased for a few seconds, which was just enough time for Rich to clamber up to the window and drop  himself out. He tried grabbing the sheet, but it slipped through his fingers. The drop was shorter than he expected, and he managed to land on his feet before dropping to his knees in pain. “FUCK!”

“Quick, they’ll get through any second!” Franky told him, running with Jamie to the edge of the car park, to the whitewashed wall in front of them. “Come on, the road’s right there!”

“You go first.” Rich called, staggering behind her and wincing at the lancing pain in his lower legs. “Go, now!”

She nodded and tucked the gun back into the holster on her leg before hopping up on the wall, crouching, and then disappearing from view as she jumped down. “You, go!” Rich snarled at Jamie, who he had to practically shove over the edge. He looked behind him as he got up on the wall, just in time to see an RES officer poke their head out of the window. Rich jumped quickly, landing with bended knees that still shot bolts of pain through his bruised legs and wished immediately that he’d waved mockingly.

The police had arrived, and they were pushing through despite the efforts of the small crowd of supporters that had stayed to help. So it had seemed totally logical to get into a car and drive at them. Matty stalled and swore profusely as he wrenched the gearstick into neutral and restarted the engine. He wished he’d had more than three lessons. The car made alarming sounds as he accelerated in first and aimed the car squarely at the row of policemen. They scattered and he whirled around, ducking and praying to get out alive when the ones nearest opened fire.

“You are fucking mental!” He yelled at himself as he barrelled forward again and tried to turn around without lifting his head to see. “You are going to die! GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!”

Policemen and civilians alike fled from his car of doom and destruction, and Matty peeked above the dashboard to see that he was facing Mini and the others now. He turned as slowly as he could in the small space and managed to stall while facing the reforming police line, which was good at least. He could pretend he’d done that on purpose.

“You are insane!” Mini hissed at him as he looked up properly. She had come to stand right next to his window.

“Worked though, didn’t it?” He grinned shakily, and she shook her head.

“They’re going to come up from behind us. And I don’t know where Mannequin and Psychonaut are!”

“Hey!”

They both turned and both practically melted with relief as Franky and Rich shouldered their way through the crowd, bringing a scruffy, thin man with them. “A spy.” Rich snarled, shoving him forward. “He set us up.”

“He what?” Mini said dangerously, her eyes flashing.

“We don’t have time for this!” Grace said imploringly. “We need to get out of here!”

Liv and Nick ran to join them. “Farmboy says there’s a helicopter!” Liv told them seriously. “And the RES is on its way.”

“Right.” Franky took a deep breath. “Right, this is what we’re going to do -”

“Look out!” Someone screamed, and there were several large bangs followed by the clangs of little tins hitting the road around them. They began to smoke, and Matty darted forward and threw one back at the police. The others followed his example, but the gas still dispersed quickly, and he could feel his eyes and nose beginning to burn.

“Shit,” he gasped, tears leaking down his cheeks. “We need to go!”

Then something behind them, from closer to the police lines, exploded, and everyone was thrown to the ground. The air was suddenly full of screams.

“Captain!” Matty yelled, screwing up his eyes against the pain. There was a fire, he could smell the smoke. “Captain!”

“Here!” The figure of Nick rose up in front of him, and Franky pulled him down.

“Tell Farmboy to go straight home!” She screamed at Liv, who nodded and started yelling into the phone. “Everyone split up and run! Psychonaut and Teddy Sextramp with me and this fucker.” She had the spy’s collar in her hand and she shook it angrily. “Everyone go!”

It was easy in the smoke to lose each other, but Matty patted Nick once on the shoulder and grabbed the spy’s arm, sticking close to Franky. Rich covered their backs.

Something else exploded, and people screamed, the whole area was in chaos. Matty ducked and tried to blink his way through the tears and pain still in his eyes. “Into the subway!” Franky yelled, and they pulled themselves over the railings and dropped down into the tunnel. There was a flow of people running under the road and back to the park, and they went along with it. Matty tripped and almost fell, but Rich caught his arm and hauled him upright as they ran.

They made it to the park and followed Franky as she veered right, taking the underpass that led to Cabot Circus. There were policemen there, but Franky led them on a winding path past them and through Cabot Circus itself, by which time Matty was definitely out of breath, and the other three weren’t much better. But they couldn’t stop. The area was still crawling with people who had run from the Premier Inn and policemen were coming after them.

“Where’re…we…going?” Rich panted, his cap and wig slipping dangerously. Matty pointed it out and he just pulled a face and tore them off, shaking his head like a dog to let his hair out.

“St Pauls!” Franky told them, just as breathless.

“You sure?” Matty asked. St Pauls wasn’t the nicest area of Bristol at the best of times, and with all the mess they were running from, it didn’t seem like the most sensible option.

“Wouldn’t the cops look there first?” Rich asked, worried.

Franky shook her head firmly. “From St Pauls…to Montpelier…then…across to the Downs.”

Matty shrugged and Rich just grabbed Jamie’s arm a little tighter to make sure he didn’t try and run off.

The plan didn’t work as well as they had hoped. Quite a few other people were heading to St Pauls as well, and there was a group of policemen hot on their heels. Franky, Rich, Jamie and Matty found themselves being pursued by a pair up one of the narrow residential roads, tall thin houses pressing in on both sides, not a gap between them to allow for an escape of any kind. The policemen were gaining on them, and they were all tired and slowing down.

“Here!” Franky cried, veering down a side street where the house on the end had a large rainbow painted across its wall. They were charging down it when one of the front doors to a house on the right opened and a squat, grey-haired woman leaned out.

“Oi!” She yelled. “Over here!”

Rich and Matty looked to Franky, who decided on the spot that trusting the woman was their best option, and spun sharply on her heel, dress flaring out behind her, and dived across the walkway and into the woman’s house. The boys followed her and the woman slammed the door shut as the police turned the corner.

“Quick, through the back, in case they saw.” The woman chivvied them down her hall and stepped up to the door again to peer through the peephole. “Nah, never mind. Stupid buggers have run on.” She cackled and turned to grin at the four panting people bent double in front of her. “Lucky I’m a sympathiser, eh?”

“Thank you.” Franky said seriously. “So much.”

“My pleasure.” The woman said, smiling broadly. “I’m Ethel. Ethel Campbell.”

“Hi.” Franky straightened and smiled through her exhaustion. “I’m…Lizzie.”

Ethel raised a sceptical eyebrow, seeing right through the lie, but shook Franky’s hand anyway. “And you three?”

“He’s a traitorous dick.” Rich growled, shaking Jamie’s arm. “I’m Paul.”

“Greg.” Matty shook Ethel’s hand as Franky had.

“And I’m the Queen of Sheba.” She snorted. “Either way, you can hide out here for a while till things quiet down. I’ve been watching it on the news. Did you know the BDN were there? They started the whole thing!”

“That’s why we went.” Matty said. It was partially true, after all.

“They had guns and everything this time.” Ethel went on as though confiding a great secret. “Though I s’pose you know that, being there and all.” She didn’t wait for them to answer, but beckoned them down the hall into the room at the end, which turned out to be a living room. “In broad daylight and everything.” She put her hands on her hips and shook her head admiringly. The television was muted, but turned to the regime’s channel, and the picture was showing the area around the Premier Inn. There was still gas in the air, but there was almost nobody around apart from RES officers and policemen in gas masks. “Some sort of tear gas they used, I think.” Ethel told them, and Matty nodded.

“It was, but we managed to chuck some of it back before it got too bad.”

“Good thinking.” She nodded conspiratorially. “I listen to their show on Wednesdays, y’know. The BDN, I mean.”

“We do too.” Matty grinned at Rich and Franky. “Who’s your favourite presenter?”

“Oooh, hard to say.” Ethel sank into an armchair and rubbed her hands together. “Mannequin’s a favourite of course, but she speaks most…I like the music Paperdoll plays. Some nice golden oldies she puts out, I like that. Haven’t heard enough of Teddy Sextramp to be sure about him really. Captain and Farmboy are funny…Shameless and Psychonaut are alright. I can’t stand the racket Psychonaut plays though.” She pulled a face, and Franky and Matty sneaked amused looks at Rich, who looked scandalised. “But where’re my manners?” She got up and rolled her eyes. “Christ, I get guests for the first time in an age and I forget myself, honestly. Anyone for biscuits?”

“You’ll be alright!” Mini assured Nick in a high-pitched voice that revealed how scared she really was. Nick groaned weakly, his head hanging and his body limp. Mini and Liv exchanged terrified looks over his head and struggled on.

They had split up, and Mini was now seriously questioning the merits of that decision, because mere seconds after they had, something had exploded and Nick had used the second of warning they had to shove her and Liv to the ground and cover them with his own body. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she admonished him mentally. His back was a mess of blood and tattered material, and in places she could see bits of metal and glass poking out of the skin. It was horrifying, and they had no idea where any of the others were. They could have been caught, or closer to whatever had blown up. God, Franky could be…could be…

“Hey,” Liv got her attention and sniggered a little hysterically. “Look.” She jerked her head at the building they were staggering past - the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital. “That’s like, the third hospital we’ve passed.” Liv couldn’t stop giggling. “What do you think they’d do in there? Feed him some water and put crystals on the cuts?” She exploded with laughter and Mini felt the wild urge to join in.

“Stop it!” She ordered instead. “Come on, we need to get back, quickly.”

“Hospital?” Nick lifted his head blearily and Mini hefted the arm around her shoulders up.

“Nope, not for you.”

“Not good enough.” He mumbled, dropping his face again. “Fucking loser.”

“Captain.” Liv said sharply. “This is not the time for a breakdown.” She and Mini turned the corner and struggled on. “Get a fucking grip.”

“Sorry.” Nick muttered.

“That’s okay.” Mini grunted, cursing the way boys were so bloody heavy. “Just keep moving, yeah?”

Alo paced in the T, trying not to have a complete meltdown. Rags lounged comfortably on the sofa, watching him, and Alo was ridiculously grateful for his company. He couldn’t bear to be totally alone in the massive bunker. It was utterly silent apart from them. He couldn’t stop going over all the horrible possibilities, over all the scenarios that could be playing out right now while he was stuck here, useless and alone and scared out of his mind.

“They’ll be fine, Rags.” He muttered out loud, trying to reassure himself. Rags perked up at the mention of his name, but laid his head back on his paws when Alo didn’t offer a treat or a walk. “Fine. I mean, Mannequin’s brilliant in a crisis, and Pink Lady will back her up, and Psychonaut and Mannequin got out of the Inn at least, so…oh my god.” He sank onto a chair and dropped his head into his hands, squeezing his eyes shut and running his hands through his hair frantically. “I swear I’m never going to sit out of a job ever again.” He told Rags seriously. “I can’t stand the waiting!”

He jumped to his feet and started pacing again, halting and without rhythm. “What if Psychonaut got put on the zapper platform again?” He asked Rags in a wail. “What if they got caught? What if…god, what if Captain got caught and tortured and he gets killed?” He almost whimpered and tore at his hair. “What if one of them tells the regime where we are, Rags?” His voice dropped to a terrified whisper as he voiced his deepest fear. “What if we’re the only ones left?”

Only silence answered, and Alo felt like he would either cry or throw up or both.

And then there was a sound. He stiffened, straining his ears - the door to the tunnel had just opened and closed, and yes! There were footsteps running, a single pair. He ran for the door and stopped short as it was flung open and Grace launched herself into her arms.

“Alo!” She cried, and Alo spun her around and revelled in the sure knowledge that he was definitely not alone. At least there was that.

“Are you okay?” He asked, releasing her. There was blood on her face, her clothes were ripped and her skin was smudged with dark patches of smoke or soot or something. She looked like she’d just climbed out of a bomb site.

Grace nodded and sucked in a deep breath. “Is anyone else back yet?” She asked, scared. Alo shook his head and she moaned. “I don’t know what happened to any of the others!” She cried, answering his unasked question. “Franky, I mean Mannequin, told us to split up and run back here separately, but I don’t know where any of the others are!” She burst into tears and sank down onto the sofa next to Rags.

“They’ll be fine.” Alo said firmly, sitting next to her. “You’ll see. At least you knew what was going on - what happened back there? Shameless told me some stuff on the phone, but…

“Oh, oh…” Grace sniffed and gulped and nodded. “Oh…okay…” And haltingly, she began to tell him of the panicked call from Mini telling her that Franky and Rich had been set up and were trapped in the hotel with the traitor.

Franky’s phone rang, a specialised tone for Naomi, and she stood up so fast she nearly knocked her cup of tea over. “Sorry,” she said, moving out into the hallway hastily. “I’ve got to take this. Yeah?” She whispered into the phone after she pressed accept.

“What the hell happened?” Naomi sounded torn between horror and fury.

“Your man was a regime rat.” Franky told her in a hard voice. “He set us up. We got there and the corridor started swarming with RES. We barely got out alive, and I don’t know where the others are or if they made it.”

“Fuck.” Naomi sighed, the sound crackling over the connection. “Jamie?” She said finally, as if unable to quite believe it. “Jamie’s a spy?”

“He said something about them having his girlfriend.” Franky whispered. “Look, we still have him. We thought you might want to question him or something.”

“Good thinking.” Naomi’s voice turned harsh. “That little fucker. I am going to rip him a new hole.” She exhaled and spoke in a calmer voice. “Where are you? I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

“Cheers.” Franky smiled. “Uh…I don’t actually know where we are. We’re hiding in some woman’s house - she let us in to hide from the cops. I’ll just ask her.”

“Does she know who you are?” Naomi asked urgently.

“Of course not.” Franky snorted. “We’re not stupid. Ethel?” She stepped back into the living room.

Ethel looked up. “Yes?”

“Um, what’s the address of your house? A friend is coming to pick us up.”

“Ah, shame.” Ethel sighed. “I like having people to talk to about this stuff. 26 Brighton Street, that’s me.”

“Thanks.” Franky nodded and relayed the address to Naomi, who assured her that someone would be along to pick them up in no time.

They didn’t have long to wait - it was only ten minutes or so when there was a knock at the door, and Ethel went to answer it. Franky and the others stood up and she gave a sigh of relief when she saw Katie strut into the hall like she lived there. “Hey, Katie!”

Katie nodded. “Come on, we’ve got a car. Better be quick.”

“Thank you.” Franky said to Ethel as she passed, and heard her gratitude echoed by Rich and Matty. “We owe you big time.”

“My pleasure.” Ethel grinned and waved before she closed the door.

“She didn’t know who you were, right?” Katie asked, leading them to a nondescript silver Toyota.

“Nope.” Franky shook her head. “Or if she did, she hid it well.”

“Said she listened to the show though.” Matty added with a small smile. “That was nice.”

“Good to know we’re appreciated.” Rich pulled Jamie forward. “Where should we put him?”

“You three sit in the back.” Katie eyed the trembling Jamie distastefully. “He can go in the boot.”

“Katie, please,” Jamie spoke for the first time since his capture, and Katie lashed her hand forward, slapping him hard across the face.

“Don’t you fucking dare.” She snarled. “You’ve put all of us in danger, you know that? Put him in the boot.” She told Rich, who nodded and dragged Jamie behind the car. “Creep.” She muttered, and gestured for Franky and Matty to get into the backseat before she slid gracefully into the passenger side. “Let’s go, ‘Chelle.”

Franky looked up as she got in and saw that it was indeed Michelle in the driver’s seat. She didn’t acknowledge them at all, but waited until Rich had slid in next to Matty and closed the door before starting the engine and driving them away.

Mini practically launched herself at Franky when they returned to the bunker, her hair enveloping them both. “Oh my god, you’re okay!” She gasped. “We were freaking out! You’ve been gone for ages!”

“Where’re the others?” Matty asked, frowning around the empty T.

“In the lab.” Mini looked away from Franky with difficulty. “Captain was hurt.”

Matty felt something flip in his stomach. “What?”

“There was another explosion and he shielded me and Shameless from the blast -” Mini started, but Matty was already running out to the lab. There was blood on the floor, he noticed distantly, horror narrowing his vision. That meant it was serious.

“Nick!” He ran through the lab and burst into the back room. Nick was spread out face-down on the operating table they had been using to test the zapper. Nick didn’t move, and the figures around him stepped back. Grace, Alo and Liv, he saw. Nick’s shirt had been taken off and the extent of the damage was on full display. Pieces of glass and metal were embedded in his flesh, deep cuts oozing blood slowly.

“We don’t know what to do.” Liv told him, shifting on the spot. “Alo said taking the stuff out would make him bleed more…”

“Everyone out!” Matty cut her off quickly. “Now! Psychonaut’s back.” He told Grace directly, and she vanished.

“Teddy…” Alo began uncertainly.

“Get out!” Matty tried not to shout, but it still came out quite loud. “I need to concentrate. Bring me some warm water. But go!” He flapped his arms at them until they shuffled out and he closed the door firmly in their faces before kneeling at Nick’s side and touching his hair. “Nick!” He whispered, terrified. His big little brother was so pale… “Nick, wake up! Can you hear me? Nick?”

Nick’s face twitched and he mumbled something, to Matty’s great relief.

“Oh, thank fuck.” He breathed. “Okay, don’t worry, Nick, you’ll be fine.” He fetched the first-aid kit and opened a packet of hand wipes. “I can do this.” He told himself quietly. “I can do this.” He ran one of the antibacterial wipes over his hands, wiping them down thoroughly. Never mind that he only had a vague idea of what to do. It couldn’t be that difficult, surely? Just pull out the debris, clean the wounds, bandage Nick up. Easy. Simple.

He took a deep breath and got a pair of tweezers. “This will hurt.” He told Nick loudly. “But you deserve it for being such an idiot and getting hit. So…don’t move, okay?” There was no reply, and Matty put one hand on Nick’s neck and closed the tweezers around a shard of glass. He could do this.

Grace had to grab hold of the doorframe at the end of the corridor between the ops and conference rooms to stop herself running up to Rich and flinging her arms around him. It was difficult - her breathing was heavy and she could feel her heart in her throat. She was almost overwhelmed by the wave of relief that slammed into her. She hadn’t realised how scared she had been until now, how unsure and worried. She swallowed and backed out into the corridor before anyone could see her and leaned heavily against the wall. There was a cry of pain from the lab and she flinched. Matty must have started on Nick, she thought distantly, and sank to the floor without really realising it.

He could have died. It could have been Rich. What if it had been Rich? What if Rich had died?

She stifled a sob and frowned at herself, feeling her throat constrict with the threat of oncoming tears. She wasn’t with him at the moment. She couldn’t act like this. Scuffing sounds from the end of the main corridor caught her attention and she scrambled to her feet, staring up the dimly lit hall until Alo came into view, holding a bucket of water, Rags at his heels.

“For Captain.” He explained as he neared her, shuffling into the lab as Nick moaned from inside. Alo returned a moment later and frowned as he looked at her face. “You alright?”

“Yeah.” She forced a smile and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.” She sniffed and wished she hadn’t, because Alo leaned closer, looking for tears. “I’m fine, Farmboy!” She insisted, half laughing. “Honestly! I’m just…really happy everyone got back okay.” She smiled tearfully, and Alo’s face broke into an understanding smile. He held out his arms and she walked into them gratefully, pressing the side of her face against his warm chest as he hugged her tightly.

“You really alright?” He asked gently after a moment, and she nodded, pulling back.

“I’m fine.” She said, her voice mercifully steadier.

“You were worried about Psychonaut.” Alo stated. Grace froze, unsure how to respond. He shrugged. “I get it, don’t worry. But, Paperdoll…” He hesitated, then ploughed on. “If you were that worried, why are you on a break?” He shook himself almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth and frowned. “Sorry, forget that, I’m being nosy.” He grinned self-deprecatingly and patted Grace’s shoulder. “Come in soon, yeah?” They both jumped as a cry of pain came from the lab and Alo swallowed and forced a smile.

“I will.” Grace whispered. He nodded and smiled and slipped through the door and up to the T, fleeing from the sound of Matty pulling shrapnel from the flesh of Nick’s back. Grace looked to the left and the door to the T, then to the right and the door to the lab. She wasn’t ready to face Rich and the others yet, she decided, and went right to the Levan brothers instead.

She peeked through the glass door and windows at the end, observing the scene. Matty was bent over Nick’s back while Nick was lying on his front on the operation table. His fists were clenched into tight, pained balls, and she couldn’t see his face - it was turned to the left, to the back wall. Matty straightened, bringing something shiny with blood clutched in his tweezers with a small smile of triumph. He saw Grace then, and frowned. She opened the door before he could tell her to leave.

“I’m still your assistant, right?” She said, calmer than she expected to sound. “I want to help.”

“Paperdoll?” Nick’s voice was scratchy, and Grace looked to Matty for permission. He rolled his eyes but nodded, and she went to kneel in front of Nick’s face.

“How do you feel?” She asked. There was a smudge of blood on his face mixed with the dark sooty smears of the smoke from earlier, and a long thin cut across his forehead, slicing diagonally between his eyes and over the bridge of his nose and ending just under his left eye. “That was close.” She whispered, reaching two fingers up to touch it, but stopping just shy of doing so.

“What?” Nick looked confused and half out of it.

“You have a cut.” Grace traced a line on her own face to show him where it was. “There.”

“Can’t feel it.” Nick mumbled and screwed up his face as Matty focused once more on his back, tweezers at the ready, nudging a cut open and searching for bits of glass or dirt or metal.

“Paperdoll?” Matty said, and Grace looked up.

“Yes?”

“Can you wash the cuts I’ve done? I was leaving that till later, but some of them are bleeding again…”

“Sure.” She nodded hastily and got to her feet, dipping a soft flannel in the bucket of warm water Alo had brought in and getting to work. The water in the bucket was soon dyed a pale red, but the top part of Nick’s back was clean, and the cuts were much smaller without the smears of blood all around them. It was a reassuring sight, and Grace smiled at Matty, who smiled tentatively back. “Are there steri strips in there?” She asked, looking at the first-aid kit. Matty nodded.

“There should be. I think so.”

“Cool.” She went over and rummaged through the contents until she found the promised box of sticky white tape. Carefully, waiting for the gaps between Matty’s foraging in the wounds lower down, Grace pinched the edges of the cuts together and taped the strips over them. There were still bleeding, however, and Grace shot a worried look at Matty he didn’t see, too busy with his side of the work.

Before long, Matty was totally finished, and he started figuring out how to bandage Nick up. “Gauze first.” He decided, his fingers lightly brushing Nick’s shoulder, reassuring both that the other was definitely there. “Then we can tape bandages over it to keep it in place. You won’t be able to move much.” He warned Nick, who snorted weakly.

“Don’t think there’s much danger of that.” He muttered.

“How do you feel?” Grace asked, taping the last cut up.

“Better.” Nick mumbled. “Stings though.”

“Do you want to sleep or go to the T?” Matty asked.

Grace frowned. “Shouldn’t he sleep?”

Matty shrugged. “The T’s on the way anyway.”

“T.” Nick mumbled and opened his eyes to look at them. “How’re the others?”

“Everyone’s fine.” Grace assured him with a smile. “You were the only one who got hurt.”

“Okay.” Nick smiled slightly and began to struggle into a sitting position.

“Whoa there!” Matty dashed to support him. “Don’t bit off more than you can chew.”

“Mmmhmm.” Nick slid his legs off the table and dangled them over the edge. “I’m fine. Don’t worry, Teddy Sextramp.” He managed a weak grin, and Matty laughed.

“Come on then. Here.” Matty pushed his waist gently to help Nick slide forward off the table. “You okay?”

Nick swayed a little but didn’t fall. “Fine.” He said. “Told you.”

When Nick came in, Grace and Matty either side of him, ready to support him if he showed any signs of needing it, there was a great spontaneous cheer. “Brilliant!” Alo beamed, getting to his feet and snatching the open bottle of vodka off the table. “Want some, Captain?”

“Lemme sit down first.” Nick protested, but grinned all the same.

From his place on the floor, Rich could see the way Grace was avoiding looking at him. He didn’t know what to make of it, but it made his heart hurt. “Here,” he said, holding his hand out to Alo. “Let me have some.”

They played cards, shithead with two packs because there were so many of them, and Franky told everyone about Ethel, and they debated the merits of giving her a shout-out on the Wave when it next aired, in two days’ time. It was warm and cosy, and Rich was inordinately happy about Nick being okay.

“It’s funny, you know,” he told Nick over the table as he looked at the cards in his hand. “I never thought I’d care about any of you. Apart from Farmboy, obviously.” He added, nodding at Alo, who grinned.

“Well we were kind of mean to you.” Mini allowed.

“Kind of?” Rich snorted and grinned triumphantly as Liv lost the round and scooped the small pile of cards in the middle towards her. “You were a bitch. You were like, the queen of evil. Captain was just your brainless lackey.” He laughed at Nick, who grinned back.

“Reckon I’m not now.” The vodka had brightened him up, but he still looked paler than normal. Matty hadn’t allowed him to have more than three gulps from the now nearly empty bottle, which Rich thought was probably for the best. Because there was just the one bottle shared between the eight of them, there wasn’t enough for anyone to get properly drunk. It was just a winding down, a relaxed atmosphere with slightly more giggling than usual. It was nice.

“Feels like before everything went to shit.” Liv sighed nostalgically, and Rich nodded and grinned in smug satisfaction as he played his last card and burned the deck.

“I’m out.” He proclaimed, leaning back against the chair Mini and Franky were curled up in.

“It does.” Alo sighed. “Before they went and built a fucking mental asylum on my farm!”

Everyone groaned. “Not again!” Mini cried.

“My house, that was!” Alo protested. “And Rags was born there!”

“We know, Farmboy.” Grace said with an amused smile, and Rich had to look away. He hated this, he thought vehemently. He hated not being able to touch her, talk to her, be with her. It was horrible. Especially when she was right there, and he couldn’t go to her and press his lips to her skin.

“I’m going to bed.” He said, thankfully sounding more casual than he felt. The others wished him goodnight as he rose slowly to his feet and stepped around Liv on his way to the stairs. He didn’t look up as he descended, not wanting to see Grace again.

Everything was quiet downstairs, even more so when he reached his bedroom and closed the door. Grace had moved into one of the spare rooms on the floor above, and he closed his eyes for a moment before pulling his shirt over his head and unbuckling his belt. He was exhausted, he realised as he yawned. All he wanted to do was flop into bed.

It was a relief to do so, to switch off the single bulb hanging from the ceiling and collapsing onto the blissfully soft mattress. He pulled the covers up over himself slowly and rolled over to face the door. It was only because of this that he woke up some time later when the door opened, because the light fell on his face. He frowned, blinking heavily, and sat up.

“What…?” He squinted, and sucked in a quick breath when he recognised the silhouette. Grace. “Grace?”

“Hey.” She said softly. “I was wondering, if you were okay with it, if I could…”

Rich was barely aware that he had moved, but suddenly his bare feet were cold on the floor and he was staring down into Grace’s face, easier seen now that he was closer. “Go on.” He said in a low voice. She took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes.

“Can we be okay again?” She asked in a small voice. “Can we just pretend none of this happened, and be together?”

Rich grabbed her arms and pressed his forehead to hers. “Not forget.” He said raggedly. “But together I can do.”

“That’s good enough for me.” She whispered, and then they were kissing and Rich felt everything else in the world narrow to that one point. It was like the kisses in the stories Grace told him, kisses that woke the dead and changed the world and fixed everything.

It probably wouldn’t fix everything, Rich thought dizzily as Grace fell with him onto the bed. But it was a damn good start.

Christmas was surprisingly fun. People donated far too much tinsel, so practically every room and corridor in the bunker ended up being decorated. Someone even left some fairy lights, which Grace strung up enthusiastically in the dining area. And while getting presents for each other wasn’t really an option, what with no one having any money to spare, the people outside who knew them only through their voices, music tastes and occasional opinions, did give presents. A lot of them gave cards.

Christmas Day itself was therefore declared a great success. Rich and Matty made lasagne, Alo and Grace baked cakes, and they all blasted corny Christmas songs very loudly in the T while they opened their presents.

“Oh wow!” Mini gasped, pulling a handmade necklace from a small parcel of wrapping paper.

“Who’s that from?” Franky asked. She was making a list of the presents and the names that had come with them in the cards and sometimes on the wrapping paper.

“Uh…she calls herself…” Mini picked up the card and opened it. “Morgan le Fay, queen of the fairies.” She giggled delightedly and held her necklace up to the light. It consisted of several chains that appeared to drip with gems that were actually polished glass in blues, greens and whites. “Wow, this is gorgeous! Open yours, Mannequin!”

“Oooh!” Grace’s eyes went wide as she opened her newspaper-wrapped present from the queen of the fairies. Her necklace was the same, but the glass droplets were all in various shades of red. Franky’s colours turned out to be pinks and purples and Liv’s pale oranges and bright yellows.

“Oh my god.” Nick said in a tone that was almost pained with joy. “Look at what she made for us.” He and Matty held up small ornaments that had been crafted out of Coca-Cola and Pepsi cans. Nick’s was a shield, red and blue latticed over each other with a small aluminium strip on the back to hold it by. Matty’s was an actual teddy bear, mostly blue and silver, but with a red belly.

“This is insane.” He said, holding it up to stare at it better. “How the hell did she do it?”

“She must be the can whisperer.” Rich said, holding up his own gift - a model of a hand with index and pinkie fingers raised in the rock salute.

“Oh my god.” Alo showed them his own present, completely awe-struck. “Oh my god. Look at that. Just look at that!” His present was a cow, silver with blue spots. It looked like Alo was going to cry. “This is the best present,” he held it up and gestured to it like an actor who had received an Oscar. “I have ever had.” He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye and ducked his head.

“Kind of upstages the other stuff, doesn’t it?” Liv grinned. The ‘other stuff’ mostly consisted of cards, money, booze, clothes and sweets.

“We have to give her a shout out.” Alo whispered, cradling his cow like it was his child. “And tell her I’m calling the cow Bessie.”

“After the actual Bessie?” Rich asked, raising an eyebrow. He kept shooting pleased looks at his own present.

“Love of my farmery heart,” Alo exclaimed melodramatically. “Who is gone but not forgotten. I’ll never see her again, Richard.”

“Psychonaut.” Franky, Liv and Rich corrected him. “She was only sold, you twat,” Rich went on with a smirk. “It’s not like you blew her up or anything.”

“Don’t listen to him.” Alo whispered to the aluminium Bessie, covering her ears with his fingers. “He’s never had cows. He doesn’t understand.”

“I don’t want to understand, you depraved freak.” Rich retorted, grinning.

By coincidence, Boxing Day was a Wednesday and therefore a broadcasting day. At six exactly, the DN Wave went live, and every listener was treated to the whole BDN singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas with enthusiasm if not musical flair.

“Happy Christmas everybody!” Grace was on first, still half-laughing. “Paperdoll here! You’re listening to the DN Wave, and we are the BDN. First off, we’d like to thank everyone who gave us presents! We opened them yesterday, and we have a bunch of people to shout out to. But first, a song! This is one of my favourites - Rockin’ Robin by The Jackson Five!”

“I hate all Christmas songs ever written.” Rich said in a flat voice.

“Spoilsport.” Grace grinned up at him from the chair in front of the microphone. “I love Christmas.”

“I know.” He said wryly, and looked at Alo. “Fetch the pies, Farmboy.”

“On it.” Alo grinned and stroked Bessie as he left.

“Who’s on next?” Grace asked, looking around.

“I am.” Matty  lifted a hand. “For the shout-outs.”

“Cool.” Grace got up to let him have the chair, and everyone fell silent as the song ended and Matty clicked the button again to broadcast his voice and not the music.

“Teddy Sextramp here, with the shout-outs. For the insane number of cards we got, cheers to Fireweed, Mitchell, the Marauders, Lady Cupcake, Ginger Queen, Rex, Ophelia, Yasmine, Monster Mash, Keyhole, Emski, Ellie and Emma, Lord Wrath, Lord Voldemort, Zen, Sophie-Snail, Doll-Face, Leeloo, the Fake Darts Association, the King of Rats, Mossycoat, Jive, Dellcart, McLovin’, Blitz Dylan and the Dynamites, Stormtrooper, Kit-Kat, Sally Bones, Igloo, Roonil Wazlib, Jack Skellington and Lady Daisy. Phew.” He laughed. “We love your nicknames, guys. Shout-outs to the gift-givers go to Hungry For War, Fingernails, Miss Priss, Dustwing, Kurt Cobain and especially to Morgan le Fay. We love our presents, guys, thanks so much. Farmboy has called his cow Bessie, and we think he’s going to propose to her any day now.”

Mini made a gesture and Matty relinquished the mic to her control. “Hi, Pink Lady speaking, because we’d also like to thank everyone else who gave cards and presents but didn’t leave names - you’ve seriously made this Christmas awesome.” She grinned even though they couldn’t see her, and Matty took the mic back.

“Now another song, even though I’m not a huge fan of Christmas music, I do kinda like this one. So this is What’s This? From The Nightmare Before Christmas. Enjoy.”

Part 14

Diagrams for the bunker and tunnels are here.