ASBO-Boy - Unleash the Hounds: Part 2

November 5th 2016

Squeeze sat in the belly of the helicopter. The blades thumped overhead in sickening waves. Below, the streets of the city glowed.

“Alpha two, five zero in transit with cargo to the Helix Compound at Cefn Coed. Do we have permission to proceed?” The sound of the pilot chattering with ground control was barely audible over the pounding noise.

He’d started wetting himself again. He was having uncontrollable sweats and the fact that he felt like he’d sold his soul wasn’t helping. The new skin-suit had unlocked everything he’d hoped would stay locked away and unleashed it with a new level of intensity.

Sitting opposite him was Bark who had become more stoic than ever. Squeeze dimly remembered the last six months, but it felt more like a dream. His arms and legs were longer than he remembered them being and his hair and finger nails were eerily trim. They kept repeating over the speakers that they were being set free, that their lives would be much more fulfilling. But all Squeeze could think about were all the times he’d cursed the Hounds only to find himself transformed into the enemy. He’d taken to wearing the hood and mask all the time now. He just couldn’t bear people to see his face.

Bark on the other hand didn’t seem to care. Squeeze felt guilty that the big guy had followed him but they’d barely spoken since so it was difficult to gauge the consequences. Squeeze remembered him speaking of being released and his hopes for the future. All that seemed to have happened in another life.

Life outside hadn’t moved on much. They were told that there were more terrorist cells these days than there had been, but Squeeze’s cynicism was telling him that that was just propaganda.

The helicopter lurched. Squeeze dared a look over the side and saw strange lights below.

“This is alpha two, five zero – we’re experiencing some technical difficulties…”

Bark was looking intently at the lights. Squeeze followed his gaze curiously. The helicopter lurched again and tumbled to one side. Bark had turned his attention to a girl sitting next to him. Her eyes were bunched up. Her hair was standing on end like she had her fingers jammed in a plug. Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she opened her mouth.

She screamed. Immediately all Squeeze could hear was white noise. Her eyes and mouth were glowing purple. The helicopter gave a shuddering whine and the rota blades stopped. Something exploded and the helicopter began to fall.

Bark sprang into action and nearly doubled in size as his skin turned to that of a tree. Squeeze slipped easily out of his restraints. The girl was now floating in the air, pulses of bright white electricity glowing all around her. Bark leaped forwards, grabbing Squeeze around the waist.

In an instant there was weightlessness. He felt the cold air rushing over him - then there was nothing. Just white light and silence.

Dimly, his eyes opened and he was aware of heat. Bark was kneeling over him, slapping his face.

“Squeeze! Wake up!” There was a burning feeling in his lower back. Around him he could see a street and cars, everything else was a blur. “I’m going to carry you.”

Before he could protest, Squeeze was barrelled onto Bark’s back and the world spun upside down. Around him, he recognised the tall Edwardian townhouses of the Uplands. He was near his home.

Bark was on the move. In the distance something exploded – Squeeze peered up and saw the shell of the helicopter buried in a crater at the centre of a crossroads.

“What happened?” he croaked.

“The copter crashed.” Bark replied. He was running now and gathering pace. In the distance they heard the screams of emergency services. “We need to get away.”

“What happened to the others?”

Bark didn’t reply and Squeeze suddenly felt sick. He loosened himself from Bark’s grip and dropped to the floor. He steadied himself on the wall of an alley. Bark stopped and turned around. “Are you coming?”

Squeeze shook his head.

“Where are we going?” He demanded.

“We’re following that crazed girl who crashed the copter. Come on!” Bark began to run again and Squeeze’s legs followed on auto-pilot.

They emerged from the alley onto a terrace that backed onto Brynmill Park. In the trees up ahead they could see her running, glowing like a lightbulb. Bark leaped over the railing and Squeeze followed him through the bars in time to see the girl slip behind a tree. The glow disappeared.

“Trap door. Must be.” Bark muttered running ahead. A memory triggered in Squeeze’s mind. Something peculiar about that tree. Something bitter-sweet and distant.

“Hang on,” he mused, “I’ve kissed someone behind that tree…”