The HarpIES – Web Episode 5.
Gerard prepared to leave the flat. Normally this would have meant little more than ensuring he had his keys and wallet with him, but today wasn’t normal in any sense. His only intention was to inform the relevant people about Mandy and her parents, but Gerard didn’t know how long or where that would take him. He took a backpack he regularly used around town and threw in a bottle of water, the multi-tool and lights for his bicycle, and for protection an old wooden rolling pin the previous residents had left – for you never knew. Last night had showed him that.
Gerard left the flat, securing the door behind him. Straight away he had to steady his resolve, for as soon as the apartment door closed he was plunged into an echoing near dark. He stood for a moment, getting used to the dim. There was a small window at the far end of the corridor, the opposite end to the emergency exit door where he needed to go. Even though it was a bright day, the dirty glass only let through enough usable light for half the length of the hall. Gerard went into his bag, and fumbled around for the front bicycle light so he could see what he was doing. He felt a little more confident with the beam clearing away the darkened corners before him, and he quickly walked the hall to the emergency exit door. Gerard descended the empty, echoing stairwell with caution, as here the light changed from a comfort to a necessity. The emergency lights were unlit, so the only illumination on the way down was what you provided.
Gerard came out on the ground floor, and breathed a sigh of relief as the sun touched him on exiting the building. The moment quickly left him, as straight away he noticed an acrid smell. It was like the air of the morning after bonfire night. A heavy almost tangible substance, tinged with sour under notes. Alarm bells were still ringing in the background, and now Gerard was outside he could also hear the mingling sirens of fire crews and ambulances among them. Whatever created the explosion, it had enough impact to send out the emergency services in force.
The noise and smells sent Gerard’s apprehension spiralling up again, but it wasn’t enough to override his necessity to leave the flat in the first place. He walked around the side of the building to the resident’s storage. Each flat had its own small lockable container, built into the ground floor of the building. It was here Gerard kept the bicycle he used as transport around the city centre.
Gerard walked the bike through the resident’s car park. It was empty of people, but there was an unoccupied car with its boot open. The vehicle was already half filled with hastily packed belongings, and waiting for its final load from the missing owners. Pressing the barrier button that sealed off the private car park from the public, Gerard waited till the arm had closed behind him again before moving on. With a quick look up and down the mostly empty street, he set off in the direction of the smoke. Gerard cycled down Market Street, the main shopping area of the city centre. Even though it was a Sunday morning, and an explosion had just gone off within walking distance, people still shopped as though nothing had happened. The shops all had their doors open, even if staff from the smaller stores were now standing outside smoking, talking quietly amongst themselves, and casting worried glances in the direction he was travailing.
Leaving the main street behind him Gerard kept cycling toward the smoke. As he got closer to where the explosion occurred, the damage from it became more and more apparent. The overriding smells of burning became clearer, and the smashed windows put in by the force of the blast increased in frequency. This was the case until Gerard cycled onto the long straight road of Deansgate, towards the University and main courts. Before him, but still a good distance from where the smoke was mushrooming up, Gerard could see a fluttering cordon stretched across the road. He was surprised the area had been sealed off already, as the explosion had happened little over half an hour ago. Gerard rode to where a small crowd had already started to gather, and two uniformed Policemen walked the line keeping the gawkers from going any further. This was as good a chance as any to find out what was happening, even if all the information he may get would be rumour.
Gerard stopped beside a small group of bag laden middle-aged women, who were talking among themselves.
“What’s going on?” Gerard asked the group as a whole, hoping one of the women would answer him.
A short, slightly overweight woman, who looked in her late forties turned towards him. She hesitated a moment, noting his Irish accent and battered appearance. It wasn’t too many years before that the IRA were still visiting mainland England with bombs and coded warnings. Back then Gerard would probably have been wrestled to the ground, and arrested for any random explosions going off. Now though things were different in the wake of 9/11, and it was a different breed of terrorist people were on the lookout for. The woman left her old hang-ups in the past, relishing the fact she could offload the latest news to someone new.
“We heard it was a bomb.” The woman said, dropping her volume of speech as though letting him into a secret only she knew. “This is the second cordon they’ve made.” She pointed down the road. “The first was way down there, near the university.”
Gerard looked to where the woman pointed, but there was nothing to see at this distance. A grey and black haze hung in the air, but barring the broken windows, a lack of people, and a few police cars with their lights flashing, the street looked pretty much the same. If it was a bomb, then it hadn’t been a big one. The cordons must have been moved for some other reason.
“A bomb?” Was all Gerard could say, hoping the woman could elaborate more.
“Yeah, so he was saying.” She replied, now pointed at a man standing at the side of the road who was animatedly talking to anyone who’d listen. “He said they were evacuating some of the houses further down, and people were passing out with the smoke. He said there were people with yellow plastic suits and helmets on, but I can’t see any of them from here. They were going into the university when the explosion happened.”
Gerard knew exactly what suits she was talking about, though he’d only ever seen them on TV or in films where everything was about to go up in flames – biological protection suits. Maybe because last night was on his mind, he saw what they didn’t. But with Mandy and her parents, the news report saying they were searching for the Doctor who worked at the University, and now a bomb or at least an explosion it that area – it didn’t take Gerard long to join the connecting dots. These were either connected incidents, or if they weren’t then it was all one hell of a coincidence. Either way Gerard decided he was going to take Motty’s advice for once, and take temporarily go back to the island as soon as he could.
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