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Hurricane Heart
Base 12
Hurricane
We drove on in silence, out of Olsztyn and back onto the motorway. At some point during the day, we drove into Lithuania, but still nothing happened.
I knew Lithuania well. I’d spent many years here, both as a Dreamer and before. I also knew that, conveniently, we had a base out in the countryside, accessible from the motorway. As the afternoon grew late, as well as switching on the radio to get a news bulletin, I diverted off the most direct route to wherever we were heading, and concentrated on getting close to the base.
‘Get out,’ I said hurriedly as darkness closed in and we arrived on the outskirts of a small woodland. We’d have to walk a bit to get there, and I wasn’t keen on being out in the dark with Soulless about. It wasn’t like Arjan could protect me. I was all but on my own with those bastards around.
‘Where are we?’ he murmured, gazing around at the black canopy above us, the leaves spreading out like shattered glass, with faint shreds of twilight penetrating through, the crystals in the dark rock.
‘We’re somewhere,’ I said, most unhelpfully, knowing it was such, but taking him by the wrist and moving swiftly towards the path. As we walked deeper into the trees, I let go of him.
‘Stay close by,’ I whispered. ‘And I mean that.’
Night was falling all-too rapidly, and I quickened my pace further still. We almost ran down the dark path, tripping and stumbling over roots and rocks and uneven ground every few steps.
‘Why don’t you just turn the torch on?’ Arjan asked.
‘Sshht!’ I hissed menacingly behind me. ‘I don’t want to advertise our presence. They’re here. I know they are.’
Even as I said it, I turned and looked deeper into the trees and could have sworn that I saw a pair of eyes glinting under the moonlight watching me, but they were gone even as I blinked. Maybe it was just paranoia. It most certainly wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened.
‘Who’s here?’ he whispered.
‘Shut up!’
I sounded threatening, but it was often the only way. If we were to make it out alive, then I needed to get him to shut up.
We hurried like two not so silent shadows through the trees. I had had practice at movement like this, but I still tripped and stumbled often. Arjan was not so practiced, and so he fell every few steps. On more than one occasion he reached out and grabbed onto me, nearly dragging me down with him, so that he did not fall flat on his face.
Finally, though, the small, unobtrusive concrete building loomed out of the darkness, visible only because of the last fading light that still clung to the inky sky.
There was another code in the door, but I knew it. That alone was not a problem.
My phone began to ring.
‘Get in!’ I cried, pushing the door open and shoving Arjan inside. He cried out in shock, and I heard a loud clunk as he stumbled and crashed into something, and I moved inside in a flash, slamming the door behind me, creating even more noise. But the ringtone would have given everything away. If there were any Soulless in the area stupid enough not to have heard the pounding of our running footsteps, or perhaps have mistaken them for a woodland animal, the ringtone would confirm their theories. They would find us, and I would consider it lucky if we weren’t inundated by swarms of them trying to bash down the door within the next hour.
I gave Arjan another hard nudge to indicate that he should go down the stairs, and with the tiniest amount of light glowing through the grimy windows, I could see him feeling around for the staircase and the railing, trying to make his way down without breaking his neck.
‘Is there another door down there?’ he asked.
I stood there, frantically flicking through my phone to the missed calls section.
‘The code is 2372,’ I said absent-mindedly. I sensed him freeze in the darkness, and I bit my tongue. I had just told him one of the codes.
Wow, I was stupid.
‘That’s just for that door,’ I added hastily. ‘It’s not the same for the main door, and it’s not the same for any other Dreamer outbuilding anywhere.’
‘Ok,’ I heard him agree hesitantly from lower down than me; he was probably near the bottom of the stairs.
‘Get on with it!’ I snapped, pressing the green button to dial back to Carl. ‘And shut the door behind you!’
‘Hello?’ Carl picked up on the first ring. ‘Hurricane?’
‘It’s me,’ I confirmed unenthusiastically.
‘Is everything alright?’
‘’S fine,’ I said. I didn’t like his ever-so-slightly patronising tone. ‘I was just trying to get inside. You couldn’t have called two seconds later, could you?’
‘Well I’m sorry,’ he sounded offended, but only in a comical way. ‘Why, anyway?’
‘They’ve been tracking me.’
He knew without me specifying exactly who They were.
‘And they’re there now?’ he asked.
‘I hope not,’ I said. ‘I was sure there were some of them out in the woods, but maybe we were lucky. None of them have come knocking yet.’
As I said it, I felt around in the darkness for the wooden table I knew was standing right beside me; one of the few mundane items of furniture up here. It was a ridiculous superstition, but I still felt an inexplicable rush of comfort as I tapped the wooden surface. Famous last words...you could never be too careful.
‘Where are you?’ he asked.
‘Base 12,’ I said. Giving the bases numbers meant that no non-Dreamers would actually know where we were. Numbers were just numbers, unless you had additional information.
‘You’ve made good progress,’ he commented, sounding genuinely impressed. ‘Where did you stay last night?’
‘Underground,’ I said. ‘We were too far from any of the bases, but with all the Soulless around I felt safer staying in the city.’
‘You’re good, Hurricane, I’ll give you that,’ Carl said. I couldn’t help but feel pride welling up inside me. It killed Carl to say things like this, especially to me, a girl, and his rival, but he’d said it.
‘Thanks,’ I murmured, slightly taken aback. It was certainly not what I’d expected.
‘But you need to keep being good,’ he continued. ‘That’s why the Master chose you for this.’
‘You sure it’s not just because I was the only one not stuck underground at the time?’ I asked.
‘Well, and that,’ he admitted. ‘But even so, you can’t get caught. I don’t know why they’re tracking you, and I still can’t get a clear image on them, but it’s obvious that that’s what they’re doing.’
‘Can you see them at all?’
‘Not as such,’ he said, ‘but I’ve been tracking them from above whenever possible, which isn’t very often, and I’ve been tapping into all the CCTV. I have to admit; I’m a bit behind. I assumed you were still in Poland.’
I laughed dryly. ‘Well, now you can do an extensive check on Lithuania.’
‘I need to sleep, Hurricane!’ He pretended to sound offended.
‘Get Jonas or Samuel or someone to do it then,’ I told him.
‘Ok,’ he agreed half-heartedly. ‘You’re doing alright, though? You haven’t actually fought any of them yet?’
‘No, not yet,’ I said. ‘Anyway, I’ll talk to you some other time. Arjan’s downstairs; probably got his hands on the guns by now, so I should go and make sure he doesn’t kill himself...or me.’
‘They’re not loaded, are they?’ He sounded concerned.
I smirked, not taking the situation so seriously. ‘I hope not. See you.’
‘See you.’
I hung up, and then fumbled around in the ever-decreasing light for the banister, before walking down, careful not to slip on the polished, widely spaced wooden steps.
We drove on in silence, out of Olsztyn and back onto the motorway. At some point during the day, we drove into Lithuania, but still nothing happened.
I knew Lithuania well. I’d spent many years here, both as a Dreamer and before. I also knew that, conveniently, we had a base out in the countryside, accessible from the motorway. As the afternoon grew late, as well as switching on the radio to get a news bulletin, I diverted off the most direct route to wherever we were heading, and concentrated on getting close to the base.
‘Get out,’ I said hurriedly as darkness closed in and we arrived on the outskirts of a small woodland. We’d have to walk a bit to get there, and I wasn’t keen on being out in the dark with Soulless about. It wasn’t like Arjan could protect me. I was all but on my own with those bastards around.
‘Where are we?’ he murmured, gazing around at the black canopy above us, the leaves spreading out like shattered glass, with faint shreds of twilight penetrating through, the crystals in the dark rock.
‘We’re somewhere,’ I said, most unhelpfully, knowing it was such, but taking him by the wrist and moving swiftly towards the path. As we walked deeper into the trees, I let go of him.
‘Stay close by,’ I whispered. ‘And I mean that.’
Night was falling all-too rapidly, and I quickened my pace further still. We almost ran down the dark path, tripping and stumbling over roots and rocks and uneven ground every few steps.
‘Why don’t you just turn the torch on?’ Arjan asked.
‘Sshht!’ I hissed menacingly behind me. ‘I don’t want to advertise our presence. They’re here. I know they are.’
Even as I said it, I turned and looked deeper into the trees and could have sworn that I saw a pair of eyes glinting under the moonlight watching me, but they were gone even as I blinked. Maybe it was just paranoia. It most certainly wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened.
‘Who’s here?’ he whispered.
‘Shut up!’
I sounded threatening, but it was often the only way. If we were to make it out alive, then I needed to get him to shut up.
We hurried like two not so silent shadows through the trees. I had had practice at movement like this, but I still tripped and stumbled often. Arjan was not so practiced, and so he fell every few steps. On more than one occasion he reached out and grabbed onto me, nearly dragging me down with him, so that he did not fall flat on his face.
Finally, though, the small, unobtrusive concrete building loomed out of the darkness, visible only because of the last fading light that still clung to the inky sky.
There was another code in the door, but I knew it. That alone was not a problem.
My phone began to ring.
‘Get in!’ I cried, pushing the door open and shoving Arjan inside. He cried out in shock, and I heard a loud clunk as he stumbled and crashed into something, and I moved inside in a flash, slamming the door behind me, creating even more noise. But the ringtone would have given everything away. If there were any Soulless in the area stupid enough not to have heard the pounding of our running footsteps, or perhaps have mistaken them for a woodland animal, the ringtone would confirm their theories. They would find us, and I would consider it lucky if we weren’t inundated by swarms of them trying to bash down the door within the next hour.
I gave Arjan another hard nudge to indicate that he should go down the stairs, and with the tiniest amount of light glowing through the grimy windows, I could see him feeling around for the staircase and the railing, trying to make his way down without breaking his neck.
‘Is there another door down there?’ he asked.
I stood there, frantically flicking through my phone to the missed calls section.
‘The code is 2372,’ I said absent-mindedly. I sensed him freeze in the darkness, and I bit my tongue. I had just told him one of the codes.
Wow, I was stupid.
‘That’s just for that door,’ I added hastily. ‘It’s not the same for the main door, and it’s not the same for any other Dreamer outbuilding anywhere.’
‘Ok,’ I heard him agree hesitantly from lower down than me; he was probably near the bottom of the stairs.
‘Get on with it!’ I snapped, pressing the green button to dial back to Carl. ‘And shut the door behind you!’
‘Hello?’ Carl picked up on the first ring. ‘Hurricane?’
‘It’s me,’ I confirmed unenthusiastically.
‘Is everything alright?’
‘’S fine,’ I said. I didn’t like his ever-so-slightly patronising tone. ‘I was just trying to get inside. You couldn’t have called two seconds later, could you?’
‘Well I’m sorry,’ he sounded offended, but only in a comical way. ‘Why, anyway?’
‘They’ve been tracking me.’
He knew without me specifying exactly who They were.
‘And they’re there now?’ he asked.
‘I hope not,’ I said. ‘I was sure there were some of them out in the woods, but maybe we were lucky. None of them have come knocking yet.’
As I said it, I felt around in the darkness for the wooden table I knew was standing right beside me; one of the few mundane items of furniture up here. It was a ridiculous superstition, but I still felt an inexplicable rush of comfort as I tapped the wooden surface. Famous last words...you could never be too careful.
‘Where are you?’ he asked.
‘Base 12,’ I said. Giving the bases numbers meant that no non-Dreamers would actually know where we were. Numbers were just numbers, unless you had additional information.
‘You’ve made good progress,’ he commented, sounding genuinely impressed. ‘Where did you stay last night?’
‘Underground,’ I said. ‘We were too far from any of the bases, but with all the Soulless around I felt safer staying in the city.’
‘You’re good, Hurricane, I’ll give you that,’ Carl said. I couldn’t help but feel pride welling up inside me. It killed Carl to say things like this, especially to me, a girl, and his rival, but he’d said it.
‘Thanks,’ I murmured, slightly taken aback. It was certainly not what I’d expected.
‘But you need to keep being good,’ he continued. ‘That’s why the Master chose you for this.’
‘You sure it’s not just because I was the only one not stuck underground at the time?’ I asked.
‘Well, and that,’ he admitted. ‘But even so, you can’t get caught. I don’t know why they’re tracking you, and I still can’t get a clear image on them, but it’s obvious that that’s what they’re doing.’
‘Can you see them at all?’
‘Not as such,’ he said, ‘but I’ve been tracking them from above whenever possible, which isn’t very often, and I’ve been tapping into all the CCTV. I have to admit; I’m a bit behind. I assumed you were still in Poland.’
I laughed dryly. ‘Well, now you can do an extensive check on Lithuania.’
‘I need to sleep, Hurricane!’ He pretended to sound offended.
‘Get Jonas or Samuel or someone to do it then,’ I told him.
‘Ok,’ he agreed half-heartedly. ‘You’re doing alright, though? You haven’t actually fought any of them yet?’
‘No, not yet,’ I said. ‘Anyway, I’ll talk to you some other time. Arjan’s downstairs; probably got his hands on the guns by now, so I should go and make sure he doesn’t kill himself...or me.’
‘They’re not loaded, are they?’ He sounded concerned.
I smirked, not taking the situation so seriously. ‘I hope not. See you.’
‘See you.’
I hung up, and then fumbled around in the ever-decreasing light for the banister, before walking down, careful not to slip on the polished, widely spaced wooden steps.