He took steady breaths and tried to ground himself. He rested both of his feet flat on the ground, one hand against his hip, and the other gripped against the nearest shelf.

‘Your father’s after a fight,’ he snarled, ‘with me and my friends, personally. You want to know the real name of the “AME test centre”?’

‘It’s not…’

‘It is. Oakenfold Special School.’

*

Half an hour had passed. Ewan had barely stopped running since they had escaped Luton, and it was difficult to run and talk at the same time.

‘Alex,’ he barked into the phone, ‘you know what Oakenfold means to us, right? The guys at home won’t like the news.’

Ewan knew he was using the other students’ fears to mask his own. The very thought of breaking such sensitive news terrified him. But he didn’t need Alex to know he was terrified.

‘Mate, they’re already struggling with the missile attack on New London. Losing an already-abandoned school isn’t going to add much stress.’

‘Is that meant to be some kind of comfort?’

‘It’s meant to be the truth.’

Alex Ginelli was hardly a sensitive guy, and he had no empathy for teenagers with special ed backgrounds. The twenty-two-year-old from Brighton had been brought up in a different world, where places like Oakenfold Special School were safely hidden away from the rest of society. And even in the world he inhabited, he kept himself far away from most people emotionally. Alex put on a distinct lone wolf persona, and it showed so strongly that it was probably a part of his real personality too. But it meant he had an outside perspective in most situations, and Ewan reluctantly admitted it was useful at times. Alex had certainly been in his element during their last mission, sheltering alone in a bungalow until the others were ready to escape. Without his self-isolating approach to combat, perhaps he would never have been able to help Ewan, Kate and Jack escape New London alive.

‘Look mate,’ Alex continued, ‘I’ll head home and pass on the news to McCormick. If you’re sure I can abandon comms.’

‘We’re only an hour away, and the hard bit’s over. Go and tell him.’

‘Got it. You’ve probably used up your three minutes of untraceable time, so I’m hanging up before Grant ends up finding you. Interrogate Shannon about the attack, though. She may know what’s going on in Daddy’s world.’

Without another word, Alex was gone. Ewan removed his phone battery, and slowed himself down.

‘You OK?’ Shannon asked from behind.

‘Alex is passing on the news.’

‘So we can stop running now?’

‘If you like.’