Attrition of the Gods: Book 1 of the Mystery Thriller series Gods Toys. (37 page)

“And you know nothing more,” says Reuben suspiciously.

Simeon shakes his head. “It is a true mystery.”

Stoke Prison

Richard Yarker leads the gang of high-security prisoners who block Shane and the others’ way to the roof. A standoff in the R and A room ensues. The room is a forty metres long with double doors either side. Both groups wait for instruction.

“That’s the fucking Governor and some screws! Let’s fucking burn the cunts,” suggests Jim Brady, a particularly nasty bastard, even for this environment, who had been sent to solitary by Governor Byrne two years earlier and never come out. Now all his praying to Satan has paid off as he faces the prick who put him there.

A chorus of agreed heckles accompany his suggestion and the large group edge slowly forward. Shane notices their hesitation and soon deduces what is holding them back. He is holding a Taser gun as if it is a pistol and hopes with the distance they do not notice.

“So we have a Mexican standoff,” Yarker remarks in a terrible Mexican accent. “We need to get past you and, of course, we need the Governor there to aid our escape. You are obviously not here to bring us to safety. So tell me, what is it you want?”

Shane speaks for the group. “We are prisoners too. We need to get to the roof and have no intention of blocking your way. We nicked these uniforms from guards we beat up. Look, have you seen any of us before? Surely you recognise Al Qaeda Bob?”

Two Arab-looking prisoners shoulder their way to the front of the group of inmates, excited to meet the famous Muslim. “As salamu alaykum,” the two Muslims greet him.

“For fuck’s sake,” cries Jim Brady. “Are we going to stand around while these Pakis have a love-in?” He turns to Shane’s group. “I don’t give a fuck if you’re screws or cons, just hand over the Governor and fuck off out of our way.”

Shane sees a solution but he needs to convince the tall mountain of a man he knows to be the notorious Richard Yarker to agree to it. He steps forward, his arms held wide to show he is no longer armed. He addresses the group but looks directly at Yarker.

“We need the Governor and actually you don’t. It’s chaos down there and the gates are open, all you need to do is walk straight out of the front door. But every minute we waste in this standoff is another minute for the backup teams to arrive. So, what do you say? Shall we continue talking or shall we all get our sorry asses out of this shithole?”

Most of the men look to Yarker. He looks thoughtful and is and meets Shane in the middle of the room he nods and is about to answer when someone shouts out, “Fuck you! We will take the Governor and kill you all.”

Shane’s heart sinks as he recognises this voice: Errol, one of the men he saved Leo from on their first day. The cry is taken up by the second of those men, Garfield Hilton, aka Big Bird, and suddenly a loud angry roar goes up from the inmates and they break into a run at Shane and his group.

Shane quickly instructs Leo to retreat with the Governor at the same time as he swings at Yarker who ducks surprised at how slow the swing was, however the kick too his jaw as his head goes down reveals he has been duped, his jaw splits and his fight is over. Shane falls back, he and Robert brace themselves for the fight of their lives. The next two attackers are unfortunate to lead and are soon dispatched as Shane throws a combination of punches that connect with both men perfectly, sending them into oblivion. Robert decides attack is the best form of defence and charges into the crowd of vicious murderers, aiming directly for Big Bird. He hits the larger man in the midriff, forcing the giant to crash backwards into several others and, like a bowling ball hitting the tenpins, they scatter under the force. The two Muslim men come to Robert’s aid as he battles through a swarm of inexperienced kicks and punches. Robert manages to take hold of the unconscious body of a small tattooed skinhead and uses him as a shield and battering ram combined. The three men are fighting back to back for a while until one of goes down and is trampled on as the mob fights to reach Robert. The battle is not well coordinated; sixty per cent of the attack force is focused on Shane who is alone, while the remainder battle Robert and the two Muslims.

Shane is determined not to go down and although massively outnumbered he is still hurling these cons across the room. His strategy is simple: hit, tear, gauge, hit, and bite, gauge, hit. He uses every hard part of his body as he breaks bones with his open hand, his feet, elbows, knees, even his head. Pushing his thumbs in the sockets of one man’s eyes he hears the sound of popping followed by screams of pain then a thud as the large, tattooed foe falls wailing to the floor. Still, he cannot possibly defeat all these assailants and eventually a broken chair followed by the boot of Errol leaves Shane on his knees. He fights the urge to curl up into a ball and instead takes out the legs of the nearest assailant using his fallen body as a shield, gaining a few seconds breathing space, before the next attack comes.

Both Shane and Robert are aware that the end is close but both use every ounce of their physical capability to resist the inevitable. Strangely Shane thinks of Amitiel and not Sara as he faces his death. He hears her voice accompanied by the thumping of a dozen angry men pummelling his body. “Hold on, help is coming.”

Stoke Prison: civilian staff room: earlier



On the day of the front page news event at Stoke Prison one young man was starting his new job as a trainee. As instructed he reported to the civilian staff manager, George Humphries. George was in charge of the public liaison sector in the prison. These were not prison guards but staff who checked in visitors’ bags and such. To be honest George was not pleased that he was given such short notice to induct a new lad today and was even less pleased when he set eyes on his newest member of staff. “Why do we employ such a scruffy-looking kid who has absolutely no interest in what I’m showing him?” thought George to himself, after only half an hour of the induction.

“So, this is the scanner. All bags must go along the conveyor and Diane over there checks the monitor for any suspicious-looking objects.”

Diane gives the young recruit a false smile. She is not impressed by the cut of this young man either; even his offer of a boiled sweet does not impress her.

“Right, I will show you to the changing rooms and then you can spend a couple of hours under Diane’s watchful eye,” says George.

A barely disguised groan can be heard from behind the X-ray machine but just as George enters the changing room he hears the lockdown alarm go off and receives a message in his ear piece. As an efficient team manager he follows protocol and calls out to his civilian team.

“Okay, people, lock down! You know the procedure, treat it like a breach and head to emergency meeting room B.” George begins walking out. “Come on, son. Sounds like there is some action going on in the psycho block so lesson’s over for now. We have to leave.”

George turns, expecting to find the boy following him like a lapdog just as he has done all morning. Instead the young man has gone the other way and entered the main building.

“Fuck’s sake!” George cries. “What sort of idiots are we employing nowadays? “YOU! New lad!” He looks to Diane as she gets into her coat, as if asking the new lad’s name. Diane just shrugs her shoulders as she picks up her bag. When George next looks the young boy is almost out of sight. George is not comfortable with this type of scenario. His frustration shows as he paces after the new lad, then he suddenly turns on his heel, thumping the wall; procedure is his crutch. “Fuck him!” snaps George, heading for the exit. “The little black bastard can go get himself killed!”

Chamuel hears George’s pronouncement as he heads up a long corridor. The commotion caused by Leo abducting Shane means he is not noticed until he is actually standing next to the two guys guarding the area. With no time to waste he pulls out the sub-machine gun from his kitbag and peppers both men, killing one and mortally wounding the other. Chamuel takes the key pass off the dead guard and opens the metal doors.

He is now in the belly of C wing looking up at the two floors that house the prisoners’ cells. Guards are busy forcing the inmates into the cells when a sudden explosion rocks the whole building. Chamuel hurries forward, ignoring the screams of several inmates trapped in their cells as a fireball explodes through the first floor. The guards panic, not knowing what has happened. Chamuel makes his way to the link corridor past the recreation area. The heavy steel bars are locked and it seems the key pass does not open these doors. Irritably Chamuel looks around for a guard to help him and he wonders why no one has noticed the young black guy wandering around with a machine gun but concludes they are not really noticing much at all, just freaking out and shouting into their radios as more prisoners go up in flames. Chamuel kicks at the closed door and hopes this is not how it ends, burning to death with a bunch of cons.

The intercom burst into life: “Emergency procedure Red One. Open all doors, open all cells, round up prisoners and lead them to meeting point B2.”

The locked door opens automatically and Chamuel smiles, quickly heading away from the panic-stricken chaos and towards the psychiatric ward. He knows it is a good ten-minute walk from here but Amitiel had insisted he go in and help Shane and the others escape. He now regrets the abuse he has given this body over the years and the joint he smoked before starting his new job this morning. When he finally gets to the psyche ward he finds a handful of guards locked in a cell and a groggy Connor on the floor. He puts the gun to Connor’s head.

“Shane Mills and the others, where are they?”

Connor points a shaking hand. “They’ve gone to the roof. They are after the ’copter but they’ll never get through D block.”

Chamuel drops him and runs off. His chest hurts with the pain that a forty-cigs-a-day habit will give you, let alone the ten joints a day as well. He hears testosterone-fuelled growls in the distance and sees an open door where he discovers a mass brawl going on.

He looks to the side and sees a familiar face. Leo has pulled the Governor into a side room and they are hiding behind a desk. Chamuel taps the window merrily and laughs at the look on Leo’s face, then he makes his way to the brawl.

He has no feelings either way about killing these cons but he doesn’t want to hit Mills or Price so instead of scattering bodies he fires a volley above their heads. Everyone stops. Shane is not sure if the sight of some little black guy with a sub-machine gun is good or bad. Robert immediately recognises the Arc Hon. Both men struggle to their feet. Six smashed knuckles, four cracked ribs, a broken finger and two missing teeth between them is not too bad a result considering. Leo comes out of the room with the Governor in tow. The remaining cons look at each other and then at Chamuel, confused by who he is and which side he is on.

“Listen you smelly motherfucking-never-supposed-to-be-released bunch of cunts. There is a wide open door here and freedom ten minutes down that corridor.” Chamuel puffs. “If you’re fit that is; probably more like twenty minutes if not. So what the fuck are you waiting for? Do I need to spell it out? This is a prison break!”

Chamuel fires another volley of shots into the ceiling and the mob jump to it, running out the door. Shane, Robert, Leo and the Governor slowly stand and stare. Leo walks over to Chamuel. “Good to see you again, young man.” Robert joins him and takes Chamuel’s hand.

“As Salamu alaykum.” He greets Chamuel who shakes his head, raises his eyebrows, and turns to Shane.

“I heard something about a helicopter, so shall we go?”

The Jew, the Muslim, the prison governor, an Arc Hon and Shane Mills all head to the roof. Once they get there the Governor plays his role and gets them through the locked doors revealing the helicopter.

At the exact same time that the escaping group reach the roof, Reuben’s young associate, Rupert, is entering C wing with six of Kieran Cumisky’s thugs. He realises that the plan has not quite come to fruition as he passes the first four cells and can smell the charred flesh inside; these poor souls were caught in the initial blast before the Governor issued the code red to evacuate. Fortunately the body of Phil Cumisky is so badly burned-up that his men do not recognise him. Rupert is not concerned about Cumisky, he takes his orders from Reuben and is only there to extract Mills and Verdi.

Little does he know that right at this very moment the two men are boarding a helicopter on the roof of the prison. Rupert orders the riot police impersonators to search all the cells for Mills. Ray Dowd, a henchman for the Cumisky’s, questions the order and explains that his priority is to find Phil Cumisky. Rupert is weary of this group of pricks. Reuben had told him they were only there as a smokescreen to confuse the authorities. He knows Reuben likes to create several scenarios when he orchestrates a plan, leading to unanswered questions and triggering mass conspiracy theories that lead down several blind alleys. Rupert feels secure working for someone who dots all the “i”s and crosses all the “t”s. As such he is now prepared to initiate plan B and the thugs are surplus to requirements.

“You are right,” he tells Cumisky’s men. “Go find your man.”

He must follow Reuben’s instructions. If they do not find Mills or Verdi in the first twenty minutes of the search then measures are to be taken to ensure that no one leaves the building alive. He’ll make sure no more get out now and any prisoners already outside will be conveniently gathered together in the recreation area.

Rupert says into his radio, “target not found. Commence phase two.”

Out in the recreation area three men in fake uniforms stand guard as the prisoners mill around in mild panic and disbelief as their prison turns into an inferno right before their very eyes. Johnny-No-Legs is already suspicious of the men; they aren’t acting like normal police. They watch the men with cold detachment as if waiting for something. Of course, they aren’t really policemen at all but rather highly paid mercenaries directly employed by Reuben.