midnight it was pitch black. There was no moon, and the only light was a yellow glow from a motorway that ran behind the ten-metre-high walls on one side of the training compound.
Dana, James and Jake had night-vision goggles fitted on to special clasps built into their helmets. The goggles didn’t work in complete darkness; instead they amplified light, turning the world into a strange mixture of blackness, punctuated by intense green outlines. The imaging software inside the goggles took a fraction of a second to process what it saw. This tiny lag between making movements and your eyes registering them made James queasy.
When they clambered from their hideout, they were hoping to ambush the building where Dana and Jake had spotted Team A forty minutes earlier, but they’d moved on. Their only legacy was an empty equipment box and a stinking puddle where a couple of boys had peed in the corner.
‘What now?’ Jake whispered, as a stun grenade erupted somewhere in the distance, turning the view through his goggles into a white sheet.
James was disappointed, but he still had faith in his night-vision strategy. ‘We keep hunting,’ he said.
They began a cautious trek through the compound: moving slowly, keeping low and speaking only when absolutely necessary. If they got caught in a wide-open space they could easily get picked off, so they stuck to side streets and alleyways, only venturing into the main avenues when they had to cross them.
James noticed a green outline inside a building as he passed a window, but he didn’t say a word until they reached the end of the street and ducked down between two houses.
‘Two buildings back,’ James whispered. ‘There’s at least one person moving inside.’
Dana was her usual contemptuous self. ‘Are you sure it’s not a stray cat or something?’
James shook his head. ‘Too big, definitely human. I’ll take it from the front. Dana, you climb over the garden wall and cut round the back. Wait until you hear me make my move and be ready to cut them off if they try to escape. Jake, you wait here. Set your rifle to automatic and be ready to cover us if things get heavy.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Jake said.
Dana shushed him. ‘Less noise, you little idiot.’
James turned slowly on his heel and crept back to the building where he’d spotted the movement. He leaned in front of the window and cautiously poked his head up above the ledge, moving very slowly because he didn’t want the ammunition clips inside his pack to jangle.
His night-vision goggles showed the outlines of two bodies sitting against a wall. They were a little smaller than James and, although it was hard to tell from his artificially intensified view, he got the impression that they were both female.
Realising there was a chance it could be Lauren and Bethany, James ducked down and made the signal.
‘Meow.’
He knew he’d blunted the element of surprise, but James didn’t want to end up in a shooting match with his own team-mates. The two figures inside scrambled for their weapons as one of them replied hurriedly, ‘Meow.’
As soon as James heard the wrong signal, he jumped up above the window ledge and fired a shot. One girl screamed out, and James ducked again as the other fired blindly into the darkness. When this firing stopped, James popped up and fired two more accurate shots through the window, hitting the other girl both times.
Meanwhile, Dana had entered via the back door of the building. She ran along a short corridor and burst into the room. James would have liked more time to use the advantage of his night vision to psyche the girls out, but he had to make his move once Dana was in the room.
‘I want your eggs and the driving springs from your rifles,’ James announced as he jumped through the window.
‘Up yours, James,’ Kerry answered.
James and Dana ducked out of the way as wild shots flew around the room. Then Kerry’s gun made a hollow click.
‘Oh dear,’ James gloated. ‘That sound isn’t good.’
‘I’ve got more,’ Kerry said.
‘So why are you sitting still, instead of reloading?’ James asked.
‘Can you see us?’ Kerry asked.
‘Every move you make,’ James laughed. ‘We’ve got night vision.’
Gabrielle sounded furious. ‘Jammy little …’
‘Oh, hi Gabrielle,’ James said, as he clambered through the window. ‘I didn’t realise it was you. I hope that hit’s not stinging too badly.’
‘I bet it’s not as bad as when I shot you in the back earlier on,’ Gabrielle snarled.