Let Them Burn

A sharp, high laugh cut through the air like a knife through ice. I started, turning round in my chair. I slid the notes I had been taking on yesterday’s events under my old laptop.

“This is the best thing that’s happened to me in years,” Ruby chuckled, gliding into my room. She leant against my desk. “Guess what?”

I was hoping she wouldn’t accidentally push my laptop to the side.

Ruby didn’t wait for an answer. “We’ve got a really good Assignment.”

The good Assignments were coveted by the others. It seemed to be rare to be sent on one even worth mentioning. Most of the Assignments involved a lot of sitting, listening, and being bored. Even a reasonably good assignment was usually something only involving a disguise, or occasionally some mild lock-picking skills.

“What is it?” I asked. My hand fumbled around on my desk for a moment, before my fingers discovered the cap. I grabbed it and clicked it back onto my pen. “Wait. Don’t tell me. Is it…a murder Assignment? Or…a really elaborate robbery? It…better be.”

“It’s even better than that,” Ruby assured me, flicking her hazel curls idly. The corners of her red-slashed mouth twitched upwards. “We get to burn the Station.”

My skin prickled, and I hoped Ruby didn’t notice. “Burn the Station? Why?”

“It’s a distraction,” Ruby said gleefully. “So the higher ups can break the rest of us out of jail. All those halfwits that got caught at that bank robbery yesterday. We get to use dynamite! Ooh, I am so excited.”

I nodded absently, vaguely acknowledging Ruby. I had to warn the officers somehow, before the Station went up in flames. I couldn’t let this happen.

“When do we do it?” I asked.

“Tonight,” Ruby grinned. “We have to be in position at nine, and we push the button at ten past. I’m taking the west side, and you’re taking out the back offices. And we get to carry guns for this…”

“How nice,” I said. I slammed my laptop shut. Ruby was dreamily visualising explosions and guns and flames. I decided to risk it. I slid my notes out from under my computer, stuffing them into my pockets. “But first, I’m going on a walk. I think I need to find some doughnuts.”

“What’re you writing?” A stray piece of paper was still trapped half under my laptop. Ruby picked it up.

“A story,” I said, snatching it out of her grasp. “It’s not done yet. See you later!”

“Wait!” Ruby shouted, as I scurried out my room’s door and away. “What’s the story about? Is it a romance? I want to read it!”

I shut the door behind me. Doors lined the hallway’s white walls. Most were people’s personal rooms. Some were supply rooms. And of course, there were hidden rooms. Those were the ones full of dangerous weapons, the ones connecting to secret tunnels, or the important offices that I hadn’t been shown.

At the end of the hallway, I climbed up the rope ladder. The hatch to the main house was open, as it usually was. I scrambled up and out into the pantry. Emma was there, eating the pies.

“Oh. Hi,” Emma said, her cheeks stuffed. She was the resident seven-year-old kid. Her favourite hobby was collecting money for ‘pet shelters,’ and once the sympathetic people had given her a dollar and put their wallets away, she would sneak up behind them and steal the wallets. Her parents were very proud of her.

“Eating the pies again?” I smiled. It was impossible to believe that such an adorable little girl with crumbs on her cheeks had already stolen thousands of dollars in her short life.

“Mmm,” Emma said. She brushed past me, grabbing another pie from the shelf. “Mmm, pies.”

“Have fun,” I said.

I darted through the kitchen and the living room, making for the front door. The house looked perfectly normal on the surface. You would never guess that beneath the innocent house was a criminal headquarters. Of course, if you watched long enough, you might find it strange that such a wide variety of people came in and out throughout the day. They did. That’s why I was sent in.

I stepped out the front door into the sunlight, breathing in the fresh spring air. I walked over to the garden shed, grabbing a random bike from there. I didn’t bother with a helmet. I leapt onto the bike, riding it slowly to the driveway. Once there, I took off.

I felt like I was lightening, as I cycled away from the house. I was meant to stay undercover until I had some solid evidence against the gang. But now they were going to burn the Station, surely that was evidence enough?

I was flying along the streets, pausing only for traffic lights. A few minutes later, I cycled into the city centre. Skyscrapers towered above me, cars roaring past. There were cyclists lanes in the city, eliminating the need for me to dodge pedestrians.

I leapt off my bike in front of the Station. It was an eight storey structure that was a reasonable size, but looked stubby compared to the shining needles that were the skyscrapers.

I left the bike leaning in one of those bicycle racks. I didn’t bother to chain it up, as I didn’t care if it was stolen or not. It wasn’t mine, after all.

I walked up the steps to the glass doors of the Station. Reinforced, but not bulletproof. I didn’t think the police had the budget for that.

I pulled out my ID badge from deep in my pockets, flashing it at the scanner. After a moment, the lights flickered green, and I stepped inside.

Loraine was behind the reception desk, doing whatever it was that receptionists did. She looked up, flashing a smile at me as she registered who I was.

“Well, hello again,” Loraine said. “How’s the undercover work going?”

“Great,” I said. “I’ve found out so much information. But now, I need to see Brill urgently.”

Steven Brill was our boss, commander, and person-in-charge. He was usually found deep in his office, coordinating any calls that our team responded to. He hardly ever went on any missions in person, only ever going out on the most important emergencies.

“Sorry, Brill is out on an important emergency.” Loraine glanced apologetically at me. “Only Sara Floringway is in.”

I stifled a groan. That second-in-command would never listen to anything I had to say. She was in my grade at school, and only joined the police because I did. Indeed, she only got her position because Brill was her favourite uncle.

“Sure,” I said outwardly. Inwardly, I was moaning in despair. “Put me through to see her as soon as possible.”

Within five minutes, I was reluctantly called in to Sara’s office.

“What have you got to report? Anything remotely worth mentioning?” Sara waved me into the room, finely plucked eyebrows raised. She didn’t invite me to sit down on one of the chairs, leaving me awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.

“I do have some items of interest,” I said. It was hard to remain professional with Sara smirking at me across her desk.

“What’ve you got?”

“These.” I emptied my pockets, laying out all the evidence neatly on her desk. I pointed each object out. “Each day, I wrote down the specifics of everything that went on within the gang. I also have the micro cam, which recorded the first five days but then ran out of battery. I have some voice recordings as well…wait, where’s my mini mic? I’m sure I had it somewhere…”

Sara took the mini cam, plugging it into her computer to download the footage. “Huh. You got any of their weapons?”

“Nope,” I said, dismissing the mini microphone from my mind. “I haven’t seen a single weapon, but they’ve been talked about. It seems they only arm the higher ups. Which means they don’t have many weapons. But listen. That’s not the problem.”

“Oh yeah? What’s the problem?”

I gritted my teeth. It was torment, having to explain everything to Sara. But as an undercover officer, it was my job. So over the next ten minutes, I did.

“And so, the Station is going to be blown up in flames at 9:10 pm tonight. We have to contact Brill.”

There was a moment of silence as Sara considered this.

Then, she laughed. Long and loudly, as if the life threatening information I had just given her was the most hilarious thing in the world.

“That life threatening information is the most hilarious thing in the world!” Sara grinned at me, and for the hundredth time I wondered why she hadn’t been fired already. “There’s no evidence of this whatsoever.”

I grimaced. The last notes I had taken were right before Ruby had burst into my room with the news of the Assignment.

“This is serious,” I said. “They’re going to blow up this place.”

“Well, in order for us to evaluate that what you say is indeed the truth, we’ll need more evidence. Or, you can go stop the gang yourself.” Sara waved me away dismissively. “You’ve wasted enough of my time. Come back when you have some solid facts. Now, please remove yourself.”

I ‘removed myself’ as per requested on the way out. “Fine,” I muttered under my breath. “If that’s what you want, let the station burn. But I’m not going to let that happen.”

Within half an hour, I was back at the criminal headquarters, a box of doughnuts tucked under my arm that I had picked up on the way back. I chucked the bike back into the shed and strode back into the house, noting that the sun was setting. I didn’t have much time left.

I slumped back into my room with a sigh, dumping the doughnuts on my desk. I glanced at the clock on the wall. 8:14. I had a little under an hour to save the Station on my own.

I had to get rid of the dynamite. But where were they? Obviously, the higher-ups weren’t about tell a newbie where all the explosives were kept. I’d have to find them myself.

I had barely gotten up from my chair when Ruby burst into my room.

“Can’t you knock?” I sighed. It may have been a little risky to sigh at a known criminal, but Ruby didn’t seem to care.

“Nope!” She grinned. “Come on, it’s time to get ready.”

Ruby practically dragged me out of my room. She led me down the hallway, stopping at an empty white patch of wall. Pressing lightly on it, it swung inwards, leading into a dimly lit room, lined with drawers and cupboards. The concept was reasonably effective, but of course if someone happened to lean against the hidden door, they would fall into the room. We stepped inside.

“There you are.” A tall man stepped out from behind an open cupboard door. He was wearing an all black bodysuit, and holding up two others like it. “Here, take these.”

Ruby caught the bodysuits he threw us. “OMG,” she squealed. “We’re not going undercover, but just rushing straight in wearing black? This must be a serious Assignment!”

“It is.” The man nodded, disappearing back into the cupboard. “It’s going to be a run-in, run-out kind of thing. Get changed into those, then come back here.”

A minute later, I came back into the supply room wearing the tight bodysuit. It was a little too small for me, and made my throat feel tight. The man reappeared from the depths of the cupboard. He handed me a handgun. I took it. It was an old model, but nevertheless it would work. What I would use it for, I didn’t know. Obviously, I wasn’t going to shoot my fellow police officers.

“Only use that in emergencies,” he said. “Don’t draw attention to yourself before you set off the dynamite. After that, attract all the attention you want. Distract the police.”

Drawing attention to myself before I set off the dynamite was exactly what I intended to do.

Strangely enough, with dynamite strapped to my belt, a gun at my hip, and a black mask hiding my face, I felt more at home than I had since the start of this ridiculous undercover operation. I climbed into a small car with Ruby, who was jittery with excitement. Another masked person was driving. I had no idea who they were. The rest of the gang went into a minivan, all armed. I hoped they didn’t have anything especially dangerous.

“Wait!” A thin shout came to my ears. The front door was flung open, and Emma came rushing out in a whirlwind. “Wait for me!”

“Emma!” Our driver sighed, deeply annoyed. She must have been Emma’s mother. “Get back inside! This mission is not suitable for small children.”

“I’m not a small child!” Emma shouted, stamping her foot. It made her look like a very, very small child indeed. “I’m a professional pickpocket, liar, and thief! I even helped you rob that bank yesterday…”

“Go back inside and colour some pictures or something,” Emma’s mum instructed. “Exploding police stations are no place for children.”

Emma huffed, stomping away. As the car started up, I was sure that I heard a loud thump coming from behind.

Then we were off.

“Good luck,” Emma’s mum whispered. She stopped the car briefly on the side of the road, allowing Ruby and I to leap out. My feet had barely touched the footpath before the car was halfway down the street.

Ruby sprinted away from me to the west side of the station, her padded shoes not making a sound. I ran in the direction which I was meant to, heading to the back ground floor offices. My office was down there.

As I ran down the side alley next to the Station, the back of my neck prickled. I sharply glanced behind me. There was nothing. In that moment, my foot kicked a stone, sending it skittering away. It hit a drain with a metallic clang. After that, there was only the silence of my own breathing.

For the first time, I wondered what would happen if the police discovered me here. Would they think I had joined the enemy? What if I was discovered in the act of trying to stop the explosions, and it meant the end of my whole career?

But it wouldn’t have to happen. I wouldn’t get caught, and I would stop the explosions.

Once I reached the back offices, I checked my watch. 9:07. Three minutes.

It was then I realised I had no idea what to do. I needed to alert the officers. But how? Maybe I could raise the alarm by setting off the explosion in the street or something—

I was knocked to the ground, my head hitting the concrete. My head was being bashed into the ground again and again. I almost cried out. Almost. Instead, I slammed a fist into whatever was attacking me. It yelped, but dove for my belt. With a click, the dynamite came loose. I struggled to sit up, but then the attacker leapt at me again, slamming my head back into the ground. My vision clouded over with pain.

“I knew it,” the attacker hissed. There was a light giggle, completely out of place in the night. “The other day, I found your microphone.” A small hand, barely visible in the dark, triumphantly held up my mini clip on mic. She had my dynamic tucked into her pockets. And in other hand, she held my handgun. It was pointed straight at my face.

“…Emma?” I whispered. I wanted to jump to my feet. I couldn’t. How was that little kid so strong? The world was swimming. “How did you…”

“I climbed into the car boot. And you’re a spy.” Emma raised the gun, ready to click the trigger. Her chubby face was twisted into rage. “You know what? My daddy is in the jail, and we’re gonna break him break him out. You are in the way…don’t you want daddy to be free again?”

And just for a moment, she faltered. Her eyes glistened. For a moment, she was just a scared little girl, trying desperately to help her daddy. She lowered the gun. Then she blinked. Once again, her face was hard. She gripped the dynamite harder, her knuckles turning white.

Emma looked away. “I am not going to let you stop us.”

She ran off, still clutching the dynamite. Slowly, I turned over in the direction that she had gone. What was she doing with the…oh no.

Emma had not only taken the dynamite. She had taken my matches. She set up the sticks of dynamite right next to the wall of my office. With a flick of a match, the fuse was lit.

“No…” my voice trailed away weakly. I couldn’t get up. It made sense, something to do with concussion…but I couldn’t remember. I had failed.

“Yes.” Emma flashed one last wicked grin my way. She fired a single shot from my gun straight up into the air with a resounding, triumphant crack. “You can’t stop me now! Let them burn.”

She was gone. I was left there, metres away from the sizzling fuse, unable to get up.

My eyes followed the tiny sparks travelling up the string, just out of arms reach. If only it was closer to me…

The sparks reached the dynamite.

That was it. I silently apologised to Brill, Loraine, even Sara. I had failed them all.

Half a moment of utter silence.

That was the last I remembered.