Sequel: Hurricane Heart ›
Chasing Imagination
The Lower Tunnels
Amy
When we emerged into the pleasingly crowded station, now at late rush hour, I was surprised to see that we were in Morden. I knew we’d come far, but I didn’t realise we’d walked quite that distance. Nevertheless, I noticed Casper taking off his black jacket to try and remain inconspicuous in the station. As we had entered into what was now, in terms of fashion, officially summer, the clothing range had changed. Grey was apparently good, and so were all shades of blue. Blue jeans were also in; black for those who wanted to be particularly daring. By sheer luck, I had pulled on a pastel blue shirt before coming out, and had already been wearing darker blue jeans. I shrugged my brown jacket off and watched Casper hand his to Dan who, wearing all black today, kept into the corner.
Casper went to buy us tickets. We were breaking enough rules already tonight; there was no need to ride the trains illegally as well.
Coming into the station brought back the same suffocating fear as always, but I didn’t feel as if I cared so much tonight. It was scary, undeniably, but not in the stifling way it had once been.
‘Here,’ Casper said, handing a ticket to each of us so we could get through the barrier. We squashed onto the train, probably looking far too conspicuous but hopefully getting lost in the crowds. Leah found three seats, and she and Linzy sat down.
‘You want to sit?’ Dan asked, offering his seat to me in a rather gentlemanly fashion.
‘No, I’m fine thanks,’ I said, standing up and grabbing onto a pole as the doors slid closed and the train lurched forward into the tunnel.
We travelled through many stops, up the Northern line into the centre of London, for what felt like forever. Gradually, the fear began to ease until I could almost say I was used to being in this situation. The train filled up, then began to empty again—not so many people were heading into London at this time of night.
After a journey that felt long, in which time Casper and I had managed to get seats together, but still refused to speak to each other, we arrived at Stockwell and briefly changed lines to travel up to Vauxhall. That was only one stop away and took no time at all.
‘Come on,’ Casper announced quietly. ‘This is us.’
At Vauxhall, he led us out of the main throngs of people into a quiet walkway. Then, behind a security door was a tunnel, which we all headed down. How did he remember that all these places were here?
We walked down so many steps, deep into the crust of the earth, that it was evident that this had to be the Lower Tunnel that Markus spoke about.
‘Where are we?’ I whispered into the darkness, shining my torch around so that I didn’t lose sight of Casper, who was in front of me.
‘Lower Tunnels,’ Linzy said, confirming what I’d thought.
‘And where are we going?’ I whispered.
‘We’ll enter the base at Waterloo,’ Casper said. It was the first he’d openly spoken to me tonight. ‘Hopefully Nightshade will be waiting for us there.’
‘She’s gonna come down here?’ Dan piped up, realising what Casper had just said. ‘That’s a bit dangerous.’
Casper sighed. ‘You learn after a while that Nightshade rarely abides by her own rules.’
We walked on towards Waterloo for at least another twenty minutes. Eventually, the floor began to slope upwards, and, as the tunnel carried on, Casper stopped at an inconspicuous, unmarked black door in the wall.
‘Here we are,’ he announced, keeping his voice down as though someone was watching.
He opened the door, which revealed another on the far side, about ten metres ahead. Crossing the distance, I saw that the second door had a little keypad in it, into which Casper tapped a code. The door clicked open, revealing a tunnel much the same as we had been travelling through—bare concrete walls and floors—though this one at least contained occasional, widely spaced lamps in the ceiling.
We were in Dreamer territory now.
Before continuing on, Casper chucked Linzy his phone, scanning his torch around, getting his gun out. I thought that was unusual; we were outside of enemy lines for the first time in hours, and this was the first time he chose to get his weapon ready.
‘Call Nightshade,’ he told Linzy.
Without warning, he fired a gun at the wall.
‘What was that?’ I shrieked, cringing at the explosive noise. Staying quiet was rule number one, and the blast contradicted that rule to the extreme.
‘Surveillance camera,’ Casper said. ‘And it wasn’t friendly.’
In my fear I forgot to be angry at him. ‘How did the government get a surveillance camera in here? And how did you know it was there in the first place?’
‘The government didn’t; the Marauders did,’ he explained. ‘Probably did it last time they tried to raid the base from under Waterloo—like I say, the base is divided into certain sections. In some ways, coming in through these tunnels is the safest bet, as that’s the first surveillance we’ve seen—‘
‘Doesn’t mean there aren’t more though,’ Leah pointed out, sounding fierce in her disagreement.
‘True,’ Casper said, ‘but like I was saying, these tunnels are so derelict that there’s virtually no one watching them. If you went through the Upper Tunnels, or in fact most of the unmapped subways in London, the government have got them all covered in surveillance. It’s their way of trying, and, until now, failing to track the Dreamers. However, the downside down here in the Lower Tunnels is that it’s so unused that if anyone is spotted, it’s highly suspicious.’
‘And, thanks to you, we’ll have been spotted now,’ Leah said bitterly. My heart rate increased at her words.
‘We’d have been spotted anyway,’ Casper argued angrily, ‘it’s a bloody CCTV camera! What else is it meant to do? The only difference is that they won’t know who, or what, we are, or how many of us there are. Or even which direction we’re heading.’
‘So, if it was planted down here, how come no one’s noticed it?’ I asked. My intrigue was overcoming my dislike of Casper. I was happy to talk to him if it could answer some questions.
‘Like I keep saying,’ Casper said, ‘the London base is so vast. The main area is around Tottenham Court Road, extending about as far out as Leicester Square and Bond Street, but there are other highly populated parts; for example under Knightsbridge and Edgware Road further north. However, the Waterloo area is one of the most sparsely populated areas. And virtually no one uses the Lower Tunnels—half the people don’t even know they exist. So probably no one has been down here since the camera was planted.’
‘I see,’ I murmured.
‘Casper!’ It was Linzy, coming back from further down the tunnel.
‘What did Nightshade say?’ he asked.
‘She’s on her way,’ Linzy told us. ‘Be about five or ten minutes; said we should continue down the tunnel, but don’t go any further than the next entrance.’
‘Any news on red alert?’ Dan asked.
‘Situation’s still the same,’ Linzy confirmed. ‘Nightshade’s got people stationed further up this tunnel; ‘bout Embankment area, but nothing’s changed.’
‘Wow,’ Casper mused in a whisper, ‘things must be bad if Nightshade has people on the lookout even in the Lower Tunnels.’
‘Yeah,’ Linzy agreed. ‘Why the hell did Markus send us up this way? Apparently, if the government are going to invade the base, this is the entrance they’re most likely to use.’
What the hell was I getting myself into?
When we emerged into the pleasingly crowded station, now at late rush hour, I was surprised to see that we were in Morden. I knew we’d come far, but I didn’t realise we’d walked quite that distance. Nevertheless, I noticed Casper taking off his black jacket to try and remain inconspicuous in the station. As we had entered into what was now, in terms of fashion, officially summer, the clothing range had changed. Grey was apparently good, and so were all shades of blue. Blue jeans were also in; black for those who wanted to be particularly daring. By sheer luck, I had pulled on a pastel blue shirt before coming out, and had already been wearing darker blue jeans. I shrugged my brown jacket off and watched Casper hand his to Dan who, wearing all black today, kept into the corner.
Casper went to buy us tickets. We were breaking enough rules already tonight; there was no need to ride the trains illegally as well.
Coming into the station brought back the same suffocating fear as always, but I didn’t feel as if I cared so much tonight. It was scary, undeniably, but not in the stifling way it had once been.
‘Here,’ Casper said, handing a ticket to each of us so we could get through the barrier. We squashed onto the train, probably looking far too conspicuous but hopefully getting lost in the crowds. Leah found three seats, and she and Linzy sat down.
‘You want to sit?’ Dan asked, offering his seat to me in a rather gentlemanly fashion.
‘No, I’m fine thanks,’ I said, standing up and grabbing onto a pole as the doors slid closed and the train lurched forward into the tunnel.
We travelled through many stops, up the Northern line into the centre of London, for what felt like forever. Gradually, the fear began to ease until I could almost say I was used to being in this situation. The train filled up, then began to empty again—not so many people were heading into London at this time of night.
After a journey that felt long, in which time Casper and I had managed to get seats together, but still refused to speak to each other, we arrived at Stockwell and briefly changed lines to travel up to Vauxhall. That was only one stop away and took no time at all.
‘Come on,’ Casper announced quietly. ‘This is us.’
At Vauxhall, he led us out of the main throngs of people into a quiet walkway. Then, behind a security door was a tunnel, which we all headed down. How did he remember that all these places were here?
We walked down so many steps, deep into the crust of the earth, that it was evident that this had to be the Lower Tunnel that Markus spoke about.
‘Where are we?’ I whispered into the darkness, shining my torch around so that I didn’t lose sight of Casper, who was in front of me.
‘Lower Tunnels,’ Linzy said, confirming what I’d thought.
‘And where are we going?’ I whispered.
‘We’ll enter the base at Waterloo,’ Casper said. It was the first he’d openly spoken to me tonight. ‘Hopefully Nightshade will be waiting for us there.’
‘She’s gonna come down here?’ Dan piped up, realising what Casper had just said. ‘That’s a bit dangerous.’
Casper sighed. ‘You learn after a while that Nightshade rarely abides by her own rules.’
We walked on towards Waterloo for at least another twenty minutes. Eventually, the floor began to slope upwards, and, as the tunnel carried on, Casper stopped at an inconspicuous, unmarked black door in the wall.
‘Here we are,’ he announced, keeping his voice down as though someone was watching.
He opened the door, which revealed another on the far side, about ten metres ahead. Crossing the distance, I saw that the second door had a little keypad in it, into which Casper tapped a code. The door clicked open, revealing a tunnel much the same as we had been travelling through—bare concrete walls and floors—though this one at least contained occasional, widely spaced lamps in the ceiling.
We were in Dreamer territory now.
Before continuing on, Casper chucked Linzy his phone, scanning his torch around, getting his gun out. I thought that was unusual; we were outside of enemy lines for the first time in hours, and this was the first time he chose to get his weapon ready.
‘Call Nightshade,’ he told Linzy.
Without warning, he fired a gun at the wall.
‘What was that?’ I shrieked, cringing at the explosive noise. Staying quiet was rule number one, and the blast contradicted that rule to the extreme.
‘Surveillance camera,’ Casper said. ‘And it wasn’t friendly.’
In my fear I forgot to be angry at him. ‘How did the government get a surveillance camera in here? And how did you know it was there in the first place?’
‘The government didn’t; the Marauders did,’ he explained. ‘Probably did it last time they tried to raid the base from under Waterloo—like I say, the base is divided into certain sections. In some ways, coming in through these tunnels is the safest bet, as that’s the first surveillance we’ve seen—‘
‘Doesn’t mean there aren’t more though,’ Leah pointed out, sounding fierce in her disagreement.
‘True,’ Casper said, ‘but like I was saying, these tunnels are so derelict that there’s virtually no one watching them. If you went through the Upper Tunnels, or in fact most of the unmapped subways in London, the government have got them all covered in surveillance. It’s their way of trying, and, until now, failing to track the Dreamers. However, the downside down here in the Lower Tunnels is that it’s so unused that if anyone is spotted, it’s highly suspicious.’
‘And, thanks to you, we’ll have been spotted now,’ Leah said bitterly. My heart rate increased at her words.
‘We’d have been spotted anyway,’ Casper argued angrily, ‘it’s a bloody CCTV camera! What else is it meant to do? The only difference is that they won’t know who, or what, we are, or how many of us there are. Or even which direction we’re heading.’
‘So, if it was planted down here, how come no one’s noticed it?’ I asked. My intrigue was overcoming my dislike of Casper. I was happy to talk to him if it could answer some questions.
‘Like I keep saying,’ Casper said, ‘the London base is so vast. The main area is around Tottenham Court Road, extending about as far out as Leicester Square and Bond Street, but there are other highly populated parts; for example under Knightsbridge and Edgware Road further north. However, the Waterloo area is one of the most sparsely populated areas. And virtually no one uses the Lower Tunnels—half the people don’t even know they exist. So probably no one has been down here since the camera was planted.’
‘I see,’ I murmured.
‘Casper!’ It was Linzy, coming back from further down the tunnel.
‘What did Nightshade say?’ he asked.
‘She’s on her way,’ Linzy told us. ‘Be about five or ten minutes; said we should continue down the tunnel, but don’t go any further than the next entrance.’
‘Any news on red alert?’ Dan asked.
‘Situation’s still the same,’ Linzy confirmed. ‘Nightshade’s got people stationed further up this tunnel; ‘bout Embankment area, but nothing’s changed.’
‘Wow,’ Casper mused in a whisper, ‘things must be bad if Nightshade has people on the lookout even in the Lower Tunnels.’
‘Yeah,’ Linzy agreed. ‘Why the hell did Markus send us up this way? Apparently, if the government are going to invade the base, this is the entrance they’re most likely to use.’
What the hell was I getting myself into?