Dead Centre Read Online Free PDF Page B

Egging each other on. Vigilantes, maybe, who thought we were looters. Or just local lads who wanted to know who the fuck we were.
    Mong moved alongside us.
    The voices were getting closer.
    I gripped their arms. ‘We carry on – then fight our way out of here if we have to. They might just get bored and fuck off. We have to destroy the papers. We’ll worry about that lot afterwards. OK?’
    I ran back and grabbed an armful of files and thrust them under the nearest desk pyramid. Mong did the same.
    The shouts were getting louder and feistier. The newcomers hadn’t got bored. They were getting more confident because we weren’t doing anything. Something landed further down the corridor with a metallic clatter.
    BB came back into the room. ‘Five or six of them, I reckon.’
    Mong stopped what he was doing. ‘Fuck ’em, Nick. Me and BB’ll go and clear them out. They’ll do a runner. You crack on here.’
    ‘No. This first. We go out there mob-handed as soon as this lot sparks up.’
    They started chanting now, like football hooligans. The noise came from the top of the stairs.
    I carried on hurling fistfuls of paper into the stacks. Sweat poured down my face. ‘Let’s get this done. Worry about that lot later.’
    I looked up and caught Mong in my Maglite beam. He screwed his eyes shut and gave me a smile. ‘No, mate. Let us two go down there and grip a couple big-time. The rest will run – they always do, don’t they? You finish this off, and we’ll clear the exit. What happens if we get pinned down when all this shit kicks off?’
    My light moved onto BB. He wasn’t happy, but Mong was chomping at the bit. ‘Nick – we need to secure the way out.’
    Mong was set in his ways. The halo he’d had on at the fishing boat had slipped; it was just the horns showing now.
    I grabbed another pile of paper. ‘You’re right, mate. Go!’
    BB had to shout to be heard over the chaos outside. ‘Nick, what the fuck are you playing at?’
    Mong tightened the straps of his day sack. He wasn’t going to wait for me to answer.
    He turned and prodded BB out of the door. They dis appeared to my left as Mong roared at the gang outside. The noise was deafening.

17
    I PULLED THE two-litre bottle of unleaded from my day sack and poured it over the two mounds, then lit the first match and threw it.
    There was a loud whoosh and flames rushed up the woodwork. The sudden heat seared my face. I listened to the commotion outside. Chairs were being thrown; wood was connecting with bone.
    I chucked a second match and turned towards the door. Both pyramids were well ablaze. I shoved the camera into the day sack and threw it on my back. I ran out to join the violence at the top of the stairs. Torchlight jerked and juddered as Mong and BB got aboard whoever was trying to stop us getting out of there.
    There were other angry shouts, but from behind me this time. A chair slammed across my back and took me down. I struggled to my feet and ran towards the mêlée of jeans, T-shirts and sweat-soaked tattoos. The acrid stench of burning foam scoured my nostrils. I heard a series of loud cracks as the flames took hold of the veneer on the furniture.
    A lad behind me screamed and shouted. Something hit me on the head. I didn’t give a fuck. These lads weren’t going to stop the fire. And soon they were going to have to leg it.
    I headed for the torchlight ahead of me. The three of us needed to fuck off before the smoke overwhelmed us. I took more hits.
    ‘Mong! BB!’
    Mong turned and roared at me: ‘Get a fucking move on!’
    His shout became a scream and his headlight dropped. Smoke billowed down the corridor, hugging the ceiling. Shadows bounced along the walls as the flames grew. The locals hollered at each other. These lads were fucking off.
    The headlight on the floor at the top of the stairs was dim. Then I realized it was rammed into the carpet. Mong wasn’t moving. I gave him a kick in the ribs and yelled at him to get