"We've gotta get out of here!"
"Wha…?"
"Concentrate, Rob. It's tonight you dumbass!"
"What's tonight?"
"Oh, for crying out loud, give me strength! We are escaping tonight!"
"Oh, right, yeah." The drowsy boy tumbled out of bed in his boxers; he rubbed his sticky eyes and yawned widely.
"Stop arsing around you prick, go get Adam," the boy gave Robin a shove.
"Wait, I gotta get some clothes on, if I go out like this I'll freeze my butt off," Robin hissed.
"Well get a move on!" Robin pulled on some baggy jeans and a green hoody. Then he shoved his socks and trainers on.
"Have you got the stuff? The money?" Robin asked.
"Yes, now go get Adam! I'll get Lily and I'll meet you downstairs," the boy hurried out of the room whilst Robin followed at a more casual pace. He loved his twin brother but sometimes he could be a right pushy wanker.
Josh half ran half walked into his little sister's bedroom. He was careful not to make a sound, remembering every single creaky floorboard on the landing and avoiding it. He didn't want his dad to wake up because then they'd be for it. Josh was reassured to hear the loud, rumbling snores issuing from his father's bedroom. He tiptoed into the pink flowery room and went over to the bed where he could see the small form of his sister, the duvet rising and falling with her breathing.
"Lily, Lily, wake up," Josh gently shook his sister; she snuffled slightly but didn't wake so he pinched her ear.
"Ow!" Lily yelped, her eyes flicking open. She glared at her brother, "What you do that for?"
"Oh, not you as well! We're leaving! Getting away from Dad!" Josh whispered at the ten year old. Lily nodded and hopped out of bed, more awake than Robin and Josh saw she was already dressed.
"Just joking, course I knew!" Lily grinned, "Let's go."
"Ok, be quiet," Josh led her out of the room.
They met their two brothers downstairs, Robin looked more awake now and Adam was clutching a rucksack to his chest. Josh walked past them both and grabbed the keys to his dad's BMW.
"Let's roll." They all went outside, jigging in the cold whilst Josh unlocked the car and chucked their bags of the few possessions they were taking in the boot. "Get in then, guys, don't hang about." They all piled in, Robin in the front next his twin and the two younger ones in the back.
Josh took a deep breath and looked at the steering wheel in front of him. He'd only driven cars a few times and they were the battered up ones down at the 'wasteland'. This was a brand new turbo BMW but he guessed that it must be pretty similar. Turning the key in the ignition the engine sprang into life with a roar. Everyone in the car flinched at the noise.
"Shit!" Josh grabbed the gear stick and put it into reverse. The car began rolling backwards and there was a huge crashing sound as it smashed into the metal dustbins.
"What the hell are you doing you tosser?!" Robin yelled, "Wake up the whole neighbourhood why don't you?"
"Piss off!" Suddenly the light switched on in the house and they heard a bellow. Dad had woken up! Josh frantically battled with the steering wheel as he swung out of the driveway, narrowly missing a wandering cat. By this time the front door had been flung open and the kids' father charged down the path.
"Get back here you little brats! You're in for a good beating now! I'll make sure I break all the bones in your bodies!"
"Go, go, go!" Adam screamed from the back seat, terrified of the advancing man. Josh obliged, putting his foot down, hard, on the accelerator causing the tyres to squeal in protest but they finally bit into the tarmac and they were away, shooting down the street at fifty miles an hour.
"You're for it, bastards!" the furious man pulled out his mobile and dialled for the police, he would get his car, his money and those damn kids back soon.
Josh couldn't believe it, it was five in the morning, an hour after they'd left and they'd finally escaped! His heart was beating nineteen to the dozen and he was pumped with adrenaline. He glanced into the back and saw his two younger siblings were asleep. His other brother, Robin, sat beside him, white knuckles gripping the dashboard.
"Can't you drive any better?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Nope, you'll have to get used to it," Josh grinned.
"Fine, can we listen to some music then?"
"Sure." Josh switched on the radio but the smile soon vanished from his face as he heard the news.
"There are reports of a stolen BMW," the man on the radio began, "This car is being driven by a thirteen year old boy, Joshua Thorpe, and is transporting three other children, two boys and a girl. It was stolen in the early hours of the morning. The owner, Mr David Thorpe, is the father of the children and cannot understand why they would do such a thing.
Police cars are being sent out to track down the vehicle and stop it as soon as possible before anyone is injured. If anyone sees a dark green BMW with the number plate…" Joe turned to a different radio station but it was saying the same thing.
"What do we do, Josh?" Robin asked, anxiously.
"We've gotta get out of town and ditch the car," Josh decided as he reached a junction and drove onto the motorway, "We can't get caught."
James was bored, he flicked through the channels on his TV but nothing good seemed to be on. There were some crappy cartoons and a few dreary soaps but nothing caught his interest. He was about to turn it off when he tuned into a news channel. It was showing a rather fuzzy picture, probably from a helicopter, filming a high speed chase down the motorway. Five police cars with blue flashing lights and wailing sirens were tailing a shiny green BMW. The BMW was skimming in and out of the traffic at what must've been around 100mph, only just avoiding a massive collision with a big, red lorry.
"Geez, that guy must be crazy." James looked in awe as the car ended up by the metal barrier between the two lanes, sandwiched by that and a police car. There was a terrific grating noise as the car was pushed onto the barrier. Two wheels left the ground and James gaped as it balanced precariously on the barrier.
"Bloody hell," he breathed. Another barge from the panda car nearly flipped it but miraculously the car slid over the metal and onto the other side of the motorway. It was now face with cars coming in the opposite direction.
All of a sudden James' door smashed open showing Bruce and Kyle with enormous grins on their faces.
"Ever heard of knocking?" James asked but was ignored as the two boys slumped on his bed.
"So you're watching the chase too!" Bruce said, "Isn't the guy driving awesome!"
"He's bloody lost his marbles more like," Kyle shook his head in amazement as the BMW swung round and went with the flow of cars. It turned off at the nearest junction and disappeared from sight into the winding country side lanes.
"Man, the whackjob, nutcase, lunatic got away with it!" Bruce gasped, stunned, "What I wouldn't give to drive like that when I'm older!"
"Me neither," James agreed, "That dude was wicked!"
The boys couldn't be bothered to listen to the crap the newsreader was about to spiel so they switched off the TV. If they had listened then they would've heard it wasn't an adult driving, in fact, there wasn't even an adult in the car. Instead they headed out to go for a morning run, an important part of CHERUB daily life.
"That was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life," Josh announced once he was sure they'd lost the cops.
"You did great, bro!" Robin grinned at him, shocked they were all still alive.
"Yeah, that was an amazing bit of driving," Adam nodded, looking admiringly at his older brother.
"Pah, a chicken could've pulled it off. Now watch the roa…!" The last part of Lily's sentence came out as a squeaky shout. Josh whipped his eyes back to the road just in time to see three boys jogging across. He skidded, swerving to avoid them and ended up flying off the road and into a ditch. The back wheels of the car high in the air.
James, Bruce and Kyle turned round to the sound of screeching brakes and dived out of the way just in time to see the car plunge into a ditch.
"Holy shit!" Bruce shouted, "Ain't that the car that was on the news?"
"Yeah!" James hurtled over to the mashed up car to see if he could help, as soon as he saw the first streaks of crimson liquid splattered on the window he yelled, "Call 999!" James gingerly slithered into the ditch, careful not to land on any broken glass. He peered through the back window and saw two children, a girl and a boy, sprawled across the seats. The boy had his leg twisted under the front seat at an odd angle whilst the girl had several shards of shrapnel embedded in her right arm. They both couldn't be more than ten or eleven.
"Crap, this doesn't look good," he spoke to Kyle who was jumping into the crash site behind him. James moved onto the front windows and saw an older boy unconscious in the passenger seat. He couldn't see his injuries but he guessed there must be some. Then he glanced over at the driver's seat and did a double take. There was no one there, just a few splashes of blood.
They heard a strangled yell from the road and both spun round to see Bruce struggling with his attacker. The two boys leapt out of the hole and stared at the fight ensuing. James' jaw dropped as he saw the size of the person that had just put Bruce into an arm lock. He was a kid! Even smaller than Bruce, with chestnut brown spiked hair and brown eyes. He had a huge, bloody gash above his eyebrow and one of his arms hung limply by his side. Even with these handicaps he had overpowered Bruce - the guy who'd been doing karate for years and always boasting over his skills.
"Hey, kid, chill," Kyle stepped forward, wanting to break it up before Bruce ended up with a busted arm.
"Back off!" the kid spat, "Let us go!"
"Um, mate, you're in no fit state to go anywhere, neither is your family," James reasoned.
"Let me take the car and go!" The boy twisted Bruce's arm more and his face grew a bright shade of red.
"The car's totalled! Completely ka-put. You won't be going anywhere," Kyle said.
"Wait," James suddenly realised something, "Were you the one driving the car down the motorway who pulled those sick moves?" The boy frowned and then nodded slowly.
"Yeah, that was me."
"Wow, I thought that was an adult! It was awesome," James said, looking at the boy in amazement.
"What made you do that kid?" Kyle asked, edging closer to Bruce.
"We were escaping from my bastard father," the kid said. Just as Kyle was going to lunge for him he released Bruce, clutching his head.
"Are you ok?" James rushed forward just as the boy collapsed. "Shit! Where's that ambulance?!"
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