twenty-four
Noah
Onthesecondeveninginto Zeke’s absence, a soldier met Noah at the gate on his return from his border duty and escorted him straight to Murphy’s office. As he approached her door, he anticipated anxiety, the kind that twisted his stomach into knots, but instead, a cold numbness crept over him.
Two men in smart suits joined Murphy at her desk. As he slid into a chair opposite the three of them, they introduced themselves as government officials. He knew immediately that they were there to talk about his uncle.
He endured thirty minutes of questioning. When was the last time he’d seen or heard from him?Two months ago.How had he seemed?Batshit crazy,he wanted to say, but settled on ‘absolutely normal, ma’am’.Did Noah understand that he was to contact them straight away if he heard from him? As if they wouldn’t be obsessively monitoring his communications.
Any questions he himself posed were instantly shot down, and he left the interrogation in an awful mood to go and hide in his room. Unfortunately for him, Vitt came to drag him to the fire pit with the rest of the squad. The rest of the squad, minus Zeke, who was the only one he really wanted to see.
Now he’d—stupidly?—acted on his feelings for Zeke, he’d opened a floodgate he couldn’t close off. He’d forgotten the feeling of being held all night, enclosed in a cocoon of comforting warmth. And now he’d had a taste, he couldn’t help but seek out more. Noah tapped out a message to Zeke on his band.
N.F: It’s regrettable that we’re not able to complete the extra training we had planned. We will have to cram in three evenings’ worth when you return Sunday.
The reply was almost instantaneous:
Z.B: Are you sure that’ll be possible? There’s a lot to cover. The time constraint will be a challenge.
N.F: If we don’t fit it all in, we will have to continue Monday evening. And Tuesday. Perhaps we make it an indefinite daily occurrence. I do think you need the practice.
Z.B: It’s true I am lacking in experience compared to you.
N.F: Not for long. Please send me updates on your progress at Colne. The welfare of my squad is important to me.
Z.B: Yes, sir.
“Who are you sending that to?”
Noah jumped as Habib interrupted him. He was midway through sending Zeke a picture of Wolf, sleeping next to the fire pit. Lies danced over his tongue—should he say Alice, or Leo? Spotting someone familiar entering the clearing from the forest path, he seized the opportunity to ignore Habib’s question.
“Voigt!”
Leonie Voigt, dressed in her Black Ranger uniform, caught his eye and beelined towards him, sitting down with her back to the blazing fire.
“Alright?” He eyed Leonie, unsure if she was here with another message from his uncle. She looked far more sober than their last encounter. Thankfully. The woman took a couple of deep drags from her vape, creating a haze of vapour in the space between them.
“Forrest.” Leonie nodded to him. “Who’s this?”
“Barakat. He’s with me.”
Leonie raised her eyebrows. “And can he be trusted?”
“On my life,” said Noah, and Habib smiled. “How are your eight friends?” he asked, referring to the soldiers who she’d said were ‘banked’ by types.
“In a very similar position to when we last spoke. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”
Habib looked between the pair of them, a wary, deep frown etched into his face.
“How can I help?” Noah asked.
“The Black Ranger’s numbers are dipping low. Word’s on the street that a few squads from this regiment are being sent up north soon. Near Cambridge. Intel gathering mission. The group of typeBs that nabbed my friends are apparently getting a little too organised for their own good.”
“Okay…” said Noah.
“If a few nudges in the right direction result in your squad being chosen, I want you to take some… private recordings.”
He stared at Leonie. “If we’re being sent to gather intel, surely that means they’re planning a rescue, right?”
