Cleo Hart: Intelligence by Default

The Funeral

"Ready?" I asked Luke's reflection in the mirror. He nodded gravely, staring back into my eyes like they were his keeping him from falling into his emotions. I gripped his hand, flashing him a faltering smile. He grit his teeth and raised his eyebrow, clearly seeing through my somewhat feeble facade. "Let's go."

I sat in the church, fumbling with the hem of my dress and trying to let the vicars words drift through me without registering in enough depth to summon emotion. It was relatively effective up until Luke stood solemnly, walking stiffly to the raised platform and turning to face the few people that were here, coughing and staring at his cue card like it was blank.

"Jason was, uh..."

I looked to my side, out of the lightly stained glass and into the graveyard, and allowed a tear to fall from my eye. The graves were sat in the shade of trees, which engulfed both the church and the grounds. Every image of Jason that slipped into my mind was curtly swept under the rug by some other, irrelevant but helpfully distracting thought. Thankfully I had a lot to distract myself with, mainly our plans to leave today. My main concern was the cash, which was locked in the storage of my bike. It didn't seem exactly safe, but at the same time, a duffel bag isn't really appropriate for a funeral now is it? So I focused on the plan, and the money, and anything else but Luke's breaking voice, echoing from  the front of the church. After a long speech that had moved the majority of the less stunted of us to tears, Luke sat back down next to me, squeezing my hand. 

John stood barely visible, in the shadows at the back of the church. He wanted to keep a relatively low profile as a result of the ISS ruthlessly trying to recruit him. I imagine he also felt a little guilty taking part in the ceremony as he hadn't known Jason for very long. He needn't have worried. I was convinced that most of the people around were just placed conveniently to make the funeral look legitimate. After a couple more speeches, Luke and some people I presumed to be Jason's friends carried the coffin outside, the rest of us following quietly. 

The hole for the coffin was in a nice spot under a weeping willow. Everyone stood stiffly, listening to the vicar talking. I glanced at Luke, who nodded slightly. My cue. I took a lingering look at the coffin and said my goodbyes internally, before turning away slightly, and weeping. Luke walked up to me and put an arm around me, whispering calming words and walking me into the trees to comfort me.

"Good job." He said, as soon as we were out of earshot of everyone. I wiped the tears from my eyes and nodded.

"Did you get to say goodbye properly?" I asked, looking up at him.

He nodded, "Well enough. He's gone. I will never get to say goodbye properly." He grabbed my hand and dragged me through the trees, glancing back every few seconds. "We need to go before they notice."

We broke into a jog and ran through the yard, leaping over the fence to get to the bike, which was neatly parked by the road. I jumped on, Luke sliding on behind me.

"Let's go." 

We sped through the streets, racing to get back to campus before Alec or anyone else realised we were gone.

Luke jumped off the bike and ran into the apartment building. I looked around. It was a normal working day for most people, who were walking to their meetings or to training exercises. Luke came back a minute later with our bags, and attached them to the bike, hopping back on and signalling for me to move. I wheeled the bike back around and revved the engine.

I winced and clamped my hands over my ears as a piercing siren blasted from the buildings surrounding us.

"Shit shit shit shit." Luke hissed. "Alec must have realised we're gone. Go. Now!"

The siren switched to an intercom, "Lock down affective immediately. No one is to leave the grounds. Lock down effective immediately."

"Fuck!" He growled. "Okay, okay uh... right. The cameras around the back of the football pitches were broken and aren't due to be fixed until next monday. Go there."

I drove around the apartment building and through the pavements to a grassy ditch area. The only signs of life were week old boot marks and a sunken football submerged in a hedge. Luckily, the ground was dry enough that our feet didn't make print marks, but the same could not be said for the bike. Luke hauled up the back half and signalled me to help on the opposite side. We walked in tense silence, struggling to keep the bike off the ground. After twenty minutes of walking, we seemed to be at  one edge of the campus. Luke pulled back a hedge and heaved the bike in, signalling for me to follow. Behind it there was a marshy looking area with dead trees and a few beer cans dotted around. We walked deeper through the shrubbery until we got to a tree five minutes walk in, and sat down.

"We're going to have to stay here for a bit. I don't know how long. Just stay down we'll be okay." Luke said, flicking mud from his suit.

I nodded, looking through the trees to try and see the grounds. There were too many dead branches and bushes to see anything, which I guess was a good thing, since it left us pretty well hidden. The alarm was still distractingly loud, even this far out of the campus. I wondered what anyone driving by would think. Resting my head on Luke's chest, I tried to estimate how long it would be before we could leave, but I had no idea, and I don't think Luke did either.

"We could try to get out the other end of the shrubs." I suggested, shaking my foot to try and get rid of all the adrenaline pumping through me.

"It's all fenced off to keep everyone else out, and now to keep us in I guess."

I grit my teeth and pushed myself closer to him, accidentally standing on my dress and tearing it a little.

"We should get changed."

Luke nodded, and pulled one of the bags off the bike, throwing me and pile of clothes and some trainers, and taking out his own. I walked behind a bush and pulled the slim fit clothes on, feeling more comfortable now that I was out of the funeral clothes. Luke also seemed a little less tense when I came back out, maybe the mission style clothes helped his action mindset.

We sat in silence for most of the day, listening to the alarm whirring, but not seeing any other signs of life. Dusk came and left, leaving us in pitch black, clinging to each other and waiting for what seemed like years. I rested my eyes for a minute, enjoying the warmth of Luke's chest. 

"Cle," He whispered, pointing out of the shrubs. You could see a torch light beaming about in the clearing. I held my breath, slowly and silently shifting into a crouch, ready to fight. Luke did the same instinctively. So we stayed poised like cats, waiting to see our prey. It never came. The flashlight wavered around for a few minutes, before moving on to the next station. We were too well camouflaged in the trees to be spotted. I exhaled, feeling my muscles slowly relax.

"How are we going to get out?" 

He looked at me, a determined but lost expression on his face. "I don't know. But we will, I promise."