Chapter 4 : Overture


Carlos pulled his car to the side of the road a few hundred yards short of the entrance to the construction site. The large black Dodge Ram was already there, he rolled up behind it, as he did so, he could see that it was empty. He squinted when he looked towards the site. The sun was low on the horizon silhouetting the beginnings of an office block. The first half a dozen floors were complete, with jagged spires of steel rods poking up beyond them. As Sarah had described, the building was arranged in a 'U' shape, though she had used the word amphitheatre. There was a ramp for construction vehicles leading up to the centre of the 'U'. This was to be where they were going to lay the trap. There was a pit in the middle of the 'U', perhaps for an outside pool. Carlos opened the car door, and the four of them got out.

The mesh gate to the site was wide open. Carlos glanced inside the guards hut. The guard had been overpowered, and was bound and gagged on the floor. Very much still alive though from the way his eyes looked up at him, hoping he was about to be released. Carlos grinned back at him, and ran his thumb across his throat.

There were no sign of any construction workers. As Sarah had said, they broke early on Sundays. They approached the ramp, and a figure appeared at the top, waving down to them.

"That this Sarah woman?" Ramiro asked him.

"Yeah. Stay close." Carlos replied. He glanced behind him, Omar and Inez were walking along together a few paces behind. He had not wanted to bring Inez, but she wanted to meet this Sarah woman he had talked about, and he had promised to bring four people. As they reached the top of the ramp, Carlos could see sacking tied up to the pillars either side. Bombs, he thought. Sarah approached them.

"We got here early, it's all set. The target should be here in about an hour. I've planned for you to be up in that wing, second floor, stay near the back." She waved her hand towards the right hand wing. "Lift is over there. Once you are up, keep the lift door open, so they can't come up to you. I've already placed a couple of extra guns there for you, though I see you've brought some yourself. It's quite windy today, be careful at the edge of the floor."

"And you reckon they'll go for you not us right?" Carlos asked. As he had looked towards the right hand wing, he had seen a man in a green jacket climbing up into one of the cranes, he'd had a rifle across his back. Carlos could hear the clanking as it hit the metal ladder as he climbed. A pipe led from the top of the crane, down into a tank at the base. A teenage boy was operating some controls on the tank, again dressed in a green jacket, baseball cap on his head, and collar turned up.

"Yes. They have priorities, you are not a priority. Sorry to have to say that, but it's us they want. Stay on your toes, I don't want any casualties on this. Get ready to run if it goes pear shaped."

"We all be fine." Carlos winked at her and headed off to the lift, the other three behind him.

The lift door clanged open as it reached the second level. Ramiro wedged it open with a cut off from one of the steel rods. Stepping out of the lift, Carlos saw the extra guns. Two shot guns, he gave one to Omar, and kept one for himself. Stuffing one of the two boxes of shells into his pocket. He checked the chamber. Fully loaded. Looked like buckshot, at least the range should be ok. The sound of a motor started up, he glanced across to see a puff of smoke from the exhaust on the crane. He could understand using the crane as a sniper position, but not sure why it needed to be started up.

"Hey man, we good?" Omar called out.

"Yeah. Wait here, Sarah said not to do 'em till they come up ramp. That's where the trap be." Carlos replied.

He sat down, his back to a pillar, and took out the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He shook one out and lit it up. Breathing out the smoke he could hear Omar and Inez talking. Getting too close those two, he thought. He had the feeling of something wrong, something he could not pin down, and also the feeling that he was losing something. But it was like trying to pick up sand, the grains running out between his fingers.

He became aware of the faint sound of a motor bike approaching from the distance. He looked across at the others. They had turned to look down at the road leading into the site. He turned his head to see a motorbike, a large low slung bike that made a deep throated bubbling sound as it approached. On the bike sat the girl. She was dwarfed by the large frame, and he wondered how her hand and feet could reach, slouched back the way she was. As it approached he could see that her arms and legs seemed somehow extended, stretched.

"Mom! I can see it"

Carlos looked down, the boy was standing on the near side of the amphitheatre, he was pointing to the entrance road, and looking up at the other wing. A wisp of long hair escaped the baseball cap, and he pushed it back into place under the rim. Looking up he could see Sarah in the other wing, sighting along a gun towards the approaching rider.

As the bike reached the base of the ramp, it slowed. The girl was looking around, her gaze paused as she saw Carlos and his gang. Then she turned the bike to one side, and gunned the engine. She circled the construction site, weaving around the debris, and piles of building materials. All the time looking around, analysing, planning. Ramiro ran to the back of the floor they were on. As the bike went round it passed a small ramp, made of long planks resting on a skip. It was pointing towards the side of the sire that Carlos and the gang were on. When he saw it Carlos got an uneasy feeling. The girl would have to be crazy to try and use that rickety wooden ramp instead of then main one used by construction vehicles. But he remembered the warnings he had made, the plan details that the girl now knew. To his relief the girl continued to circle the site.

"She's going right round." Ramiro shouted unnecessarily. The deep uneven throbbing sound of the V-twin engine telling them all exactly where she was.

Carlos looked across at Sarah, she was tracking the girl as she rounded the corner, back to the base of the main ramp.

The girl hesitated. The engine rising and falling in tone as she revved it. Suddenly she turned and drove away from the building, out to the edge of the perimeter fence. She moved along the inside of the fence, until she was opposite the wing that the Carlos was in, then she wheeled around, and without pausing opened the throttle and headed straight for them. She was aiming for the short ramp.

Carlos tightened his grip on the shotgun. "That crazy bitch!" He shouted. "Down!"

The bike hit the ramp and shot into the air, it's momentum carrying it up towards the level they were on. It did not seem to have enough speed, and was veering to one side, twisting as it did. Carlos watched in amazement as the girl climbed to the top of the bike, and jumped towards them. The extra push carried her through the air towards the concrete floor they were on. As she came within the building she was still moving fast through the air. Then the end of the building was engulfed in a brief fireball and Carlos felt a sledgehammer blow hit him in the chest, throwing him back, his ears felt shattered by the sound. The fireball cleared quickly to be followed by a cloud of thick dust. The initial explosion had flung Carlos to the floor. He saw Ramiro being thrown off the edge to the ground below, his arms and legs swinging wildly, trying to grasp purchase on walls and floor that were no longer there. Omar and Inez had been closer to the explosion. At the sight of the girl approaching Omar had flung his arms around Inez to shield her. The impact had thrown him back across the floor, his shotgun following him. Inez seemed unharmed, but she was coughing and spluttering as the thick dust drenched her.

Crazy Sarah, she put bombs here too, Carlos thought. He looked back towards where the girl had been. The cloud of dust was clearing slowly, blown by the wind through the skeleton of the building. The dim shape of a figure appeared. A child. As the dust cleared Carlos could see that it was a small boy, pulling itself to it's feet. Surrounded by small shards of shiny metal. Remains of the bike, Carlos thought. The boy looked towards him, and slowly started towards him. There was no sign of the girl, no doubt killed by the explosion, the body blown off the edge. But Carlos was confused by the appearance of the boy. He was sure the floor had been clear before, and how had he survived the explosion? Carlos stood up on shaky legs. The boy was walking slowly towards him. Then the boy saw Inez, paused, and turned towards her, standing in front of the dazed woman.

Carlos became aware that the small fragments of shiny metal were being blown by the wind, back towards the boy. No, not by the wind, they were approaching the boy from all directions. As the fragments touched each other they coalesced, growing together. These larger lumps reached the boy, and seemed to merge with him. Carlos's already shaking legs gave way, and he collapsed back to the floor. The boy seemed to be increasing in size with the fragments joining with him. Carlos stared at him in confusion, as he did so, the shape of the boy shimmered, and changed. The yellow shorts he was wearing stretched and merged, the colour changing to a dark blue as they turned into a skirt. The green t-shirt slowly transformed into a blue long sleeved blouse. The figure grew in height, and slimmed, the hair lengthened. Carlos looked at the girl.

"You have lied to me." She said. "Time to die."