Tunnels 05 - Spiral

to himself. With everything that had happened in the last hour, he’d rather lost sight of what they’d just accomplished. “We’ve bloody done it.”
    Parry was still talking. “. . . and I don’t think I’m the man to do this,” he said, holding up the device in his hand.
    There were shouts of “Go on, Commander!” but he shook his head.
    “No, I’d like my very old friend, who put his neck on the block for us today . . .”
    There was a groan from the crowd.
    “. . . to do the honors,” Parry went on. “Show yourself, Hoss!”
    A tall man pretended to hide himself in the crowd.
    “Come on — it’s not like you to be shy,” Parry teased.
    Will watched as the man lumbered from the ranks, noticing how he had to swing himself around to look at his comrades on the way over to Parry.
    The man took the device from Parry and held it high. “This is for all of us. And after dealing with those creepy crawlies in there, I’ll never complain about the pests on my allotment again!”
    There was a roar from the crowd.
    “Just a word of warning,” Parry said, managing to make himself heard as he scanned the crowd and found Will. “For those of you who haven’t seen much action, never look up when you’re this close to a major detonation. Now, go ahead, Hoss.”
    Harry hit the button and there was an almighty explosion. Part of the roof of the main warehouse blew heavenward, fire belching from the opening. Engulfed by flames, the rest of the roof collapsed, followed by the walls, until very little of the structure was still standing.
    Will found out why Parry had seen the need to warn him. After a few seconds, pieces of flaming debris began to drop not far from the parking lot, landing on the snow-covered ground and hissing away. But the Old Guard didn’t mind, cheering loudly and jumping aside to avoid them.
    As someone nudged his back, Will spun around to find Elliott behind him.
    “Hi there,” he said, happy to see her.
    “Hi,” she said, but she seemed preoccupied and didn’t return his smile. For a moment her gaze crept to the far horizon, in the opposite direction to the burning ruins of the factory.
    “Why did you want Stephanie with you?” Will asked, trying not to show that he minded.
    “Because she’s one of us now. Someone’s got to show her the ropes,” Elliott replied distantly. “And because I have this feeling . . .” She was rubbing the nape of her neck.
    Before Will had the opportunity to ask what she meant, she announced, “Ah, here they come.”
    Eddie and Stephanie were strolling over, and part of Will was sad. It was different now that all these other people were involved. It wasn’t just him, Elliott, and Chester, with Drake to lead them, up against the Styx.
    Some of the Old Guard, fueled by whatever was in their flasks, were talking and joking boisterously among themselves. Others, their arms on each other’s shoulders, were singing what sounded like a victory hymn.
    They met the tyrant’s brandished steel,
    the lion’s gory mane;
    Something dawned on Will. As tough as the last year had been for him, he realized that without the Rebecca twins and the Styx and the constant danger, he would never have the friends he had — the very best friends — friends he could count on however dire the situation.
    And if the Styx were beaten and the threat removed, everything would change.
    They bowed their heads the death to feel;
    who follows in their train?
    Perhaps they’d all go their separate ways, living lives completely apart from one another. Elliott had her father back now, and Chester his parents. As for Drake, he’d probably go off and find himself another cause to champion.
    And what sort of life would Will lead once all this was over? Where exactly would
he
end up? Back in Highfield with his mother and her turbocharged nose? He couldn’t see how that would work out. Worse still, he’d have to start school again.
    The prospect of returning to a normal life filled him with the darkest dread.
    “My father’s going to give us a lift part of the way in the Humvees,” Elliott said, yawning. “I just want to get home to the Complex again.”
    “Yes, home again,” Will said.

THE BUGATTI VEYRON shot across the grass fields of Windsor Park, narrowly missing a clump of trees.
    “You’re going too fast,” Rebecca One said as the car launched from the top of an incline, then slammed back onto the ground again, jarring her and Vane.
    “Slow down. I think