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Juggernaut

The vault was lit by the beam of Amanda’s Maglite. The torch lay on a shelf. The light flickered and dimmed. The warm, amber glow of a dying battery.

‘So what now?’

‘We wait for your friend to turn. It won’t be long. He has already entered the final phase. He will become increasingly confused. He will experience irreparable brain damage. A series of small haemorrhages and lesions are slowly wiping his mind. Within a few hours the man you have known, the man you call your friend, will be totally erased. He will be a little more than a shell. An automaton. A creature with the intellect of a cockroach. His face will become slack and expressionless as the connective tissue beneath the skin slowly deteriorates. A tell-tale sign. We called it the Death Mask.’

‘And what then?’

‘Lucy will have no choice. He will turn homicidal. She will have to kill him, or be killed.’

‘Then we should be there to help.’

Voss rode the quad bike back to the temple. He parked the quad across the wide doorway to make a barrier.

Lucy helped him lift Toon from the trailer, still wrapped in his poncho. They laid him on the steps of the altar. He looked like a sacrificial offering to the monstrous bull god looming from the shadows above them.

Voss sat next to his dead friend.

‘Go tell the Spartans, passer-by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.’

‘No law but his own,’ said Lucy.

‘Fuckin’ A.’

‘Raise a glass in the Riv,’ said Lucy. ‘Remember the good times. That’s what he would want.’

‘What about Jabril?’

‘That vault must be oven-hot by now. He’s got nothing to drink. Time is on our side.’

Voss checked his watch.

‘It’s going to be a long, cold night. I’ll start a fire.’

He smashed wooden ammunition boxes and piled shards next to Huang. He split open a couple of rifle bullets and sprinkled gunpowder. He flicked his Zippo and touched off the powder. Fizzing, spitting flame. Wood started to smoulder and burn.

Huang woke. He huddled close to the fire and warmed his hands.

Voss unloaded the trailer.

‘Couple of cases for the SAW. Plenty of rifle ammo. Not much for the Glocks.’

‘Water?’

‘Couple of days if we’re careful.’

‘Have to conserve as much as we can. Gaunt might be able to fix the chopper, but it’s a long shot. Odds are, we’ll be walking home.’

Voss gestured to Huang.

‘What about him? Want to carry him across the desert on a stretcher?’

‘If it comes down to it, yeah. Travel by night. I’m sure as shit not going to leave him here.’

‘And what about the gold?’

‘Hide it. Bury it. Maybe we can come back in a couple of months with fresh choppers. Or maybe we should just forget this nightmare ever happened.’

‘That’s our gold,’ said Voss. ‘We came here. We bled for it. It’s ours.’

Lucy crouched next to Huang.

‘How you doing, kid?’

Huang stared into the flames like he hadn’t heard. Lucy clicked fingers in front of his face.

‘Anything you need?’

‘I’m all right,’ he said.

His lips were blue.

‘Got a stupid question for you.’

‘Go for it,’ said Lucy.

‘My sister. What’s her name?’

‘Kim. She’s called Kim.’

Huang nodded. Heavy eyelids. A dreamy smile. He stared into the flames once more and his face relaxed into a blank mask.

‘Get some sleep,’ said Lucy. She stroked his head. Strands of hair came away in her hand. She discreetly blew them from her fingers.

Voss found Amanda’s sniper rifle propped against the rear step-plate of the truck. He crouched by the quad bike at the temple entrance. He checked the breech, then switched on the nightscope.

Acres of rubble glowed with residual day-heat.

Lucy knelt beside him.

‘Stay frosty, all right? Any of those skeletal fucks come knocking, blow their heads off.’

‘You got it,’ said Voss.

‘But we need Gaunt alive, yeah? Shoot to maim. Bring him down, but leave him breathing.’

Voss bit open a Balmoral and lit up.

‘I’m going to douse some of these halogens,’ said Lucy. ‘No point sitting here back-lit like idiots.’

She pulled the plug on a couple of tripod lamps.

‘Maybe you should get some rest,’ said Lucy.

‘Who would want to sleep in a place like this? Who would want to dream?’

Lucy took the ICOM handset from the quad trailer. She checked for a power light. She extended the antenna.

‘You won’t raise a thing,’ said Voss. ‘Too deep in the desert. Hasn’t got range.’