The Unlisted Book 1

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It seemed like only seconds later, but in reality three minutes had gone by, and the game of cat and mouse continued. The four teens were still running. The two men were still chasing. Gemma and Jacob, along with Kymara and Rose, were fatigued but no less scared. In the distance they could see the Opera House. Rose wondered for a moment how anyone could be out enjoying themselves while they were running for their lives. They ran down a steep set of stairs near Sydney Harbour. The natural leader of the group, Rose, spotted a CCTV camera mounted on a light post. Realising they would stand out wearing their white prison jumpsuits she immediately hid her face and signalled for the others to do the same.       At the bottom of the stairs, she dodged between moving cars to bolt across the road, and the others followed. Rose glanced back up to the top of the stairs and saw the guards still giving Chase. The group ran on but heard a screech of tyres behind them and drivers shouting abuse at the guards as they continued their pursuit.             The four ran down a street, past kerbside restaurants, raising the eyebrows of a few diners wondering if the group was wearing costumes for some sort of fancy-dress party. Jacob, passing an Italian restaurant with an outside table yet to be cleared, smelled something he couldn't resist. He stopped to grab an abandoned garlic bread.                              Rose, a little way ahead, saw him do it and rushed back to him as he took a furtive bite. "What are you doing? Come on!" she grabbed him by the arm and they caught up with the other two, slipping down a side street.The teens' pursuers hit bottom of the concrete stairs and ran straight out onto the road to try to get a clear sight of which direction the kids had gone. One of the men was nearly taken out by a passing car. The horn blared, the car swerved to avoid impact - but they continued their hunt, oblivious to the insults hurled by the angry driver. The four teenagers raced down another flight of steps, and slammed to a halt in front of a huge metal archway. It appeared to be the entrance to some sort of underground tunnel system and was the only direction they could go, but the tunnel was blocked by an imposing double gate locked by a heavy chain and a massive DO NOT ENTER sign. The teens looked at one another for an instant, making a joint decision: We have no choice. The chain holding the gate together was wide enough to pull apart a little so the kids could slip through. Jacob held the chain so Rose could climb through first, and then Kymara and then Gemma before he followed, hurrying behind the others into the darkness. Just as they disappeared out of sight, the men, still in pursuit, ran past the top of the stairs. One stopped and glanced down at the gate, shrouded in darkness and locked by the heavy chain, before deciding to move on, running further into the night.