Revenge by Chris Ward

Author:Chris Ward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chris Ward

‘Move, you scum!’

A foot pressed into Carl’s back and sent him sprawling forwards. With his hands bound behind his back, he lost his footing and stumbled to the ground. Gravel scraped the side of his face. Rough hands hauled him back upright, and a growl came from close to his cheek. He glanced across at the Huntsman, whose jaws snapped at his face. Over the putrid smelling maw, the Huntsman’s eye gave a little wink.

‘Come on, bitch, you too,’ Barney shouted, although he was a lot less physical with Brete. Carl was taking the brunt of the pushing and shoving, but as they came up to the huge perimeter gate with its guarded checkpoint, he knew the discovery of their ruse would be fatal.

Ahead of them, groups of soldiers were herding prisoners in through the huge iron gates. Switch had told him how he and Marta had once broken through an old wooden gate, but these looked shiny and new, and impassable. Computer operated machine guns swiveled in emplacements above them, while standing either side of the entrance were two huge robots that chilled his blood. They were Safekeepers, but a newer model to the ones the Tube Riders had faced in the snowy French Alps.

‘Name, code and objective,’ a soldier barked, stepping forward in front of Barney.

‘Barney Marsden, Handler code 413, with Jain, Huntsman Class 4, code 34751. Got off track on patrol out in the Bristol GUA buffer zone, picked up a couple of punks riling up a mob and brought them in.’

The soldier tapped something into a flatscreen keypad hanging from a chain around his waist. He looked back up at Barney and frowned. ‘Jain 34751 went offline yesterday. Explain.’

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Barney’s face. He turned away from the soldier towards the Huntsman, hiding it. With one finger he jabbed James in the middle of the forehead. The Huntsman snarled, snapping at his hand.

‘If you know how to control these here bitches, then you go ahead and try,’ Barney said. ‘Jain wanted to go round up some punks. Who am I to disagree with whatever orders are coming down from his command? Now, soldier, are you going to let us the fuck in or what?’

The soldier relented and stepped aside. ‘All prisoners are to be taken to the assembly point. Load them onto a transport.’

‘I’d rather take them myself. You know, just to make sure they don’t make a run for it.’

‘If you insist, sir. The assembly point is Queen’s Square, coordinates 489-1A. The area will be emptied at 2200 hours.’

Barney frowned. ‘What the hell does that mean?’

The steel in the soldier’s eyes wavered momentarily. ‘All prisoners are to be executed.’

Barney’s eyes met Carl’s. Then he threw back his head and laughed. ‘Well, thank the Christ for that. Can’t have the buggers running around all over the place, can we?’

‘No, sir.’

The soldier waved them through. Carl glanced across at Brete, whose face was pale. She gave him a rapid shake of

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