Street Soldier Read Online Free PDF

beds and prepare for evacuation . . . ’
    Evacuation? Sean threw his duvet back and clambered out. Something tickled his nose, and he paused and sniffed.
    Smoke. Not tobacco smoke. Smoke smoke. The kind that smelled dirty and gritty and burned the inside of your nose. The kind where things were burning that weren’t supposed to burn.
    Fu-u-u-u-ck .
    There had been a fire on the estate when he was little. A confused OAP with dementia, who didn’t understand ovens, had been cooking his food on an open fire in the living room. It had got out of control. The block had been evacuated. Sean remembered the smoke creeping up the stairwells and through the vents. And he remembered weeping with fear and impatience as his stupid cow of a mum waddled her way down the stairs along with everyone else, not letting go of his hand and not moving fast enough .
    To smell that strong, this fire had to be big, or close, or both.
    Sean paced around the cell. The smoke smell was growing more intense. Outside, he could hear the sounds of keys in locks, and men shouting orders. C’mon, c’mon, let me out of here . . .
    And then it was his turn. A screw pulled the door open. ‘Assemble outside the front entrance—’
    Sean didn’t need to be told twice.
    Out in the corridor, he understood why the smell of smoke had been so heavy. The air outside the cell next door was still hazy. From inside he could hear the bellowing gush of fire extinguishers. A dark-haired lad sat by the door, hugging his knees and laughing hysterically while two screws stood over him.
    ‘You dumb prat, Omar!’ shouted a familiar voice. Copper barged his way down the corridor, a scary sight in just his underwear. A screw tried to confront him and was bowled aside. Two more moved forward immediately, shoulder to shoulder to block his way.
    ‘That’ll do, Mulroy.’
    ‘You could have killed us all!’ Copper bellowed. Omar’s laughing just grew even louder.
    ‘Get a move on.’ A screw gave Sean a shove towards the exit.
    *
    It was an hour before they were allowed back inside. The fire brigade had to check the building and confirm that all fires were out. Thirty minutes were spent shivering and trying to shelter from the rain under the plastic cover of the walkway, until the screws finally thought to bring blankets round.
    Sean, Gaz and Copper huddled together in their own little group. Copper was large enough to act as a windbreak for the other two. He and Gaz filled Sean in on what was happening, though he had worked most of it out for himself.
    Omar had set fire to his bedding and clothes. Those things were meant to be non-flammable, so he must have gone to a lot of trouble to get hold of something that would help them burn. And Omar had previous. This wasn’t the first time.
    ‘He’s been in and out of the shrink’s office more often than my dick’s been in and out of your mum,’ Copper explained. ‘Fucking insane, that’s what he is. Should be put away with the other fucktards.’
    So fucking selfish , Sean thought as he pulled his blanket around his shoulders. There had to be ways of topping yourself that didn’t involve killing everyone else.
    Eventually they were allowed back into their cells. Five minutes later, the lights went out again.
    Sean stared into the darkness.
    He had known that this place would be different. He had known that he could take nothing from his old life for granted. This place would not be normal.
    He hadn’t realized just how far from normal it would be.
    He had thought it might be all right. It wasn’t.
    He lay sleepless for the rest of the night, in a place where a lad just like him had been prepared to set fire to himself and everyone else rather than face another day.

Chapter 4
    The wake-up call: a shrill, brain-shuddering metallic ring. One month in, Sean had learned the hard way to keep his eyes closed until the lights came on. Otherwise you were there in the dark with your eyes open when some screw threw the switch,