Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

‘And so … all this time ….?’ Sylvain couldn’t seem to get his head around it and Allie couldn’t blame him. Betrayal was awful. She knew that better than anyone.

‘All this time he waited,’ Isabelle said, ‘pretending he was one of us. Reporting back to Nathaniel. Watching us. Using us.’

Allie kept her eyes on the dots. All that mattered now was catching him.

‘How did he know to run?’ Sylvain asked. ‘Did you confront him?’

‘No,’ Lucinda answered. ‘By the time we went to look for him, he was trying to find a way out. Somehow he must have realised we knew.’

The red dot was very close to the other green dots now. Allie found its progress hypnotic. She could imagine the train with its passengers, mostly normal people going about their everyday lives. Jerry would be pretending to be one of them, maybe holding a book open on his lap.

But knowing Lucinda’s guards were after him. Knowing she’d send everything she had.

She hoped he was afraid.

She knew Waterloo Station as a grey, teeming place. Noisy and cavernous. Patrolled, as all big London train stations are, by armed police. Most of the police were now on Nathaniel’s side.

Raj’s guards would have to grab Jerry quickly and hustle him away before they could notice.

Lucinda was still talking. ‘The guards were sent to—’

‘He’s arriving at the station.’ Dom’s voice cut her off. ‘Now.’

Lucinda fell silent.

Raj spoke into his phone. A voice crackled on the other end. He looked up at them. ‘Everyone’s in place.’

Allie stared at the dots. The red dot was still moving slowly, inexorably. The green dots had gathered behind him.

She thought of the way trains pulled slowly into stations. The long pause before the doors opened. Then the rush to exit.

Suddenly the red dot moved in a different direction, quicker than before.

‘He’s running,’ Dom said.

But it was futile. Allie watched the red dot stop. The green dots surrounded him.

Dom turned to her, her expression unreadable. ‘They’ve got him.’

Raj’s phone crackled again.

‘Copy.’ His tone was coolly vindictive. ‘Well done, all of you. Bring him in.’

Allie still stared at Dom’s screen. The green dots were all around the red dot, and they were moving briskly. Escorting him from the station.

She felt numb.

They’d finally found the person who betrayed them. But it all felt too late.



Late that night, the students gathered with Isabelle and Raj on the front steps. Eloise and Zelazny joined them.

The sky was clear; a crescent moon shone above them amid a circus of stars.

It had already been a long night. After leaving Isabelle’s office, they’d gathered the others to tell them what had happened. Allie let Sylvain do the talking.

Now they stood together, waiting. Carter and Sylvain stood at the edge of the group with Raj, who seemed to be explaining something to them. Rachel and Nicole held hands, as if to give each other strength.

Allie stood alone, shoulders high, hands clenched at her sides.

Then she heard Zoe’s piping voice.

‘Is he here yet? Did I miss it?’

She whirled in surprise.

The younger girl dashed out of the doors, skidding to a stop when she saw the crowd.

‘Oh good. I’m not too late.’

She looked pale and a purpling bruise had spread across one cheek. Her hair stood up at the back as if she’d just jumped out of bed.

‘Zoe?’ Allie said. ‘How did you get out of the infirmary?’

Zoe made a face. ‘That stupid nurse would not let me go. So I waited until she left then I escaped. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.’

‘Are you OK, though?’ Rachel said doubtfully. ‘She probably wanted you to stay in bed because you, like, need to be in bed.’

But Zoe brushed that off. ‘I’m fine. The pills she gave me were amazing.’

The rumble of engines cut through the night and they all fell silent. A few minutes later, headlights appeared and were fractured by trees into chaotic rays that seemed to spin and soar.

Six dark vehicles rolled up the curving drive, their tyres crunching on the gravel. The engines fell silent.

As the guards climbed out of the Land Rovers, Raj walked among them, shaking every hand.

‘Good job,’ he kept saying. ‘Well done.’

In the crowd of black-clad men and women it was hard to find Jerry – he wasn’t very tall and there were so many of them. Only when they marched him to the building did Allie see him.

He looked exactly the same. Glasses crooked. Wiry, uncontrollable hair.

He still looked like their friend. Their mentor.

But he was neither of those things.

The group parted silently so Jerry could pass. As he went by, his eyes scanned the crowd as if he was searching for someone. Allie assumed he was looking for Eloise.

But then his gaze locked on hers and she froze.