The Genesis Covenant

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Thursday 23rd April 2022 - 1125

Leicester Square - London

Odeon Cinema - Out Front

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, the guy on the ticket gate took mercy on a bedraggled school kid who said he'd lost his ticket.

I'd had a chance to think a little on the train.

Some kind of hardcore police unit was after me. Or at least that's what they said they were, I'd never heard of the police operating that way. And this Scarlet Fever, it all sounded and felt like total BS. Oh, and poor Mr Castle, I hope he's ok, but he was a real mess. All he did was try to help me.

Drucker would have access to CCTV, phone tracking the works. It was just a matter of time until they caught me. What would happen then? I didn't like to think about Drucker getting his hands on me.

So I decide to run for as long as I can.

I removed the sim and battery from my phone. I imagined they'd be right on me if my phone got any kind of signal on the underground.

I didn't feel great, now that the chase was over I felt like I might pass out at any second.

I was absolutely starving.

I bought three Mars bars with the entirety of my cash from a small vendor just outside the station. The three pounds I had for lunch. I wolfed them down, and after about 5 minutes I started to feel a bit better.

I found my way to Leicester Square from the station.

I stood a moment and took it all in.

There were what looked like thousands of people, traveling in all directions, there were multiple huge cinemas, bigger than anything I'd ever seen.

Empire, VUE, Cineworld, all brightly lit, massive posters and screens all promoting recent or upcoming films. There was a brightly dressed entertainer, he had a bunch of juggling equipment, but was doing a lot more talking than juggling.

And there, a couple of classic, red London phone boxes next to a black railing.

Call me.

That's what the woman had said to me when she passed me the paper.

I desperately check my back pocket. It was there. The instant tension and relief were like when you drop something fragile and catch it.

I breathed out hard and unfolded the paper. There is was, a neatly written number, it looked like a mobile number.

I didn't have many options. I was being chased by the police, although they seemed to have a lot more in common with Darth Vader and the Empire. I had nowhere to go, I basically had nothing and no one to call on. The woman seemed kind of crazy, but what else was I going to do, It was worth a shot.

I went for my phone, but stopped. Of course, I'd taken it apart. I briefly considered powering it up again but decided against it. I should really ditch it, but like most teenagers, I was pretty attached to it.

I looked up and fixed on the phone boxes.

It was crazy busy here with people standing around taking photos and watching the entertainer, but maybe I could find phone box nearby that's less crowded.

I head back towards the station which is on Charing Cross road. I walk a couple of minutes and there another red call box. The streets still busy, but at least the people are moving.