Page 41 of Jude

“Watch out for this bit up ahead. There are holly bushes. They’ll have your eyes out if you take a wrong step.”

Jude ducked under a vicious-looking branch of holly. He rounded the corner and slowed. In front of them was a squat gray bunker, partially sunk into the earth, with a black metal door and a huge padlock.

Octavia fished in her pocket and pulled out a key. “I’ve got a combination code on the door as well. It’s hidden round the side so no one will notice it and get suspicious about what’s inside.”

Jude watched as Octavia shifted a loose brick and keyed in a code. She then moved to the front door and unlocked the padlock. The door was silent as she yanked it open.

His eyes widened as he peered inside. There were three shelves, rammed full of equipment. “I never knew you were a hoarder.”

She gave him a half smile. “It’s always handy having backups. Some of this stuff doesn’t work, but it’s useful for spare parts. Things were always breaking on the van, and I needed to know I’d be able to repair it.”

Jude walked into the air raid shelter. He inspected three transmitters and a damaged laptop.

“If there’s anything you want to take while we’re here, go ahead,” said Octavia.

He glanced at her and his gaze shifted down her body. He knew what he wanted, but it wasn’t a piece of equipment.

Their gazes met, and Octavia’s cheeks flushed. She grinned at him before turning away.

“This is what we came for.” She patted a small, squat black box. “With this, we’ll be able to keep up with the State.”

“How’s it going in there?” Heath said over the comms.

Jude activated his earbud. “It’s all good. We’re checking over the equipment now. We’ll be back in five minutes.”

“Can we take some of the extra kit?” asked Octavia. She handed him the frequency hopper equipment, which he stuffed into his own backpack.

“Grab what you need,” said Jude. “We’ll need to be quick. The longer we’re out in the open, the riskier it gets.”

“I understand that.” Octavia pulled open the backpack she’d brought with her. “I could do with a few new circuit boards and, somewhere in here, I have a bio-nanomachine. It’s an early prototype, but I want to see if I can get it working.”

Jude quickly scanned the rest of the shelves. He grabbed a receiver and what looked like a motherboard from a wetware server.

Octavia zipped up her backpack and turned to him. “I’ve got what I need. Let’s get out of here.”

They headed back out into the darkness. Octavia locked the bunker, and they made their way through the thorn and holly bushes.

“We’re on our way back now,” said Jude.

There was no response from Heath or Malachi.

He tried again. Nothing. A shiver of concern ran through him. He opened the comms link to the bunker. “Is everything okay with the comms?”

Kade came online. “Everything’s good this end. Are you having problems with the equipment?”

“I’m not getting a response from Heath or Malachi.”

“Hold on a second, let me check.”

Jude increased his pace, dodging thorns as he did so. Something felt wrong.

“Everything is working this end,” said Kade. “But I’m not picking up anything in your location.”

“You mean you can’t see all of us?”

“I mean, I can’t see anything. You’ve just vanished from my screen.”

***