Roth lay topless on the cool tiled floor, looking down at the burn marks that were forming across his muscular frame. The thermite itself may not have touched his skin, but the heat alone had been damaging enough. There would be ugly misshapen scars across his chest for the rest of his life.

As the minutes passed, the throbbing began to fade but his tears did not. Oliver Roth came to realise that he was no longer crying through physical pain, but through emotion. It was a level he had not sunk to since he was a young child, and he felt ashamed of himself. Lying half-naked on a corridor floor with burn marks that even a whole fire extinguisher could not sort out, crying because an older boy had outwitted him, Roth wondered what his bosses would have thought if they could see him at that moment.

At least I had enough common sense to wear the Kevlar…

As he spread his twitching arms and legs, his tired brain came to realise the unspoken benefits of a bulletproof vest.

It hadn’t just saved his life. It had given Ewan every reason to think he was dead. And no doubt he would be showing off to his pathetic teammates.

‘Oliver,’ barked a voice on the other end of his radio.

Roth looked down, surprised. Other than a few melted parts to its casing, his radio was undamaged. He sat himself upright, and took some time before answering. Iain Marshall could wait until he had steadied himself.

‘Oliver.’

Roth wiped his tears from his eyes, and breathed slowly enough for the wobbling to vanish from his voice.

‘Yeah…’

‘You sound miserable. Did your trap work?’

The tears almost returned, but he fought them off.

‘No, but—’

‘And the Experiment Chamber?’

‘Up in smoke. But on the plus side—’

Going by Marshall’s yells, which Roth didn’t bother listening to, he was not in the mood for silver linings.

‘…On the plus side,’ Roth said once Marshall had finished yelling, ‘the rebels think I’m dead. Ewan ran off thinking he killed me. Sorry sir, got to go.’

Roth switched off the radio before his voice crumbled, and he collapsed to the floor again. The redness in his torso had not faded, but it had started to feel numb. He wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad.

Either way, Oliver Roth relaxed his muscles, and smiled through his own tears. ‘Missing, presumed dead’ was a powerful position to be in.

Chapter 21

Alex was struggling to navigate along his improvised route, thanks to too many clone platoons blocking his original path. Lorraine and Shannon had done their best to redirect him, but with limited success.

Thankfully, there was something familiar about the path he was on.