DropZone

20

Ethan was waiting outside his block of flats; he recognized the van as soon as it turned into the road. It was the one he’d seen Joh

The side door flew open.

‘Kat?’

‘Well spotted,’ said Kat. ‘Jump in. It’s not exactly luxurious, but there are a few rucksacks to sit on.’

Ethan got in. Kat slid the door shut behind him and the van sped off, sending him onto his arse. He shuffled himself round into a sitting position.

Joh

The driver waved back with his left hand, the little finger and thumb outstretched, the middle three fingers clenched.

‘He’s a legend in his own lifetime,’ said Joh

‘So you skydive then?’ asked Ethan.

‘Totally,’ said The Dude. ‘I’ve been out of the country for a while – otherwise you’d have seen me at FreeFall.’

‘He’s so mysterious…’ Joh

The Dude laughed.

Ethan looked at Kat. ‘He really calls himself that?’

Kat rolled her eyes. ‘His favourite movie’s The Big Lebowski. Ever seen it? He watches it every week.’

The Dude nodded, waved his hand again, accelerated as some traffic lights ahead turned from green to red.

‘Feeling OK?’ Joh

‘I’m a little nervous,’ she replied.

‘Good,’ said Joh

The Dude reached for the stereo. ‘Time for some tunes,’ he said, drawling out the word ‘tunes’ as if it was spelled with at least a hundred U s and ended with ‘zaaaahhhh’.

Music slammed into the van, turned up to the maximum. No one spoke, simply because you couldn’t hear anything above the music.

A few miles down the road, and halfway through something that sounded like a drum kit being destroyed, The Dude turned the music down. ‘We’re being followed.’

‘Shut up,’ said Kat. ‘No one knows we’re doing this.’

Joh

The Dude nodded. ‘Car’s been tailing us for the past few miles. I’ve slowed down a few times to give the driver a chance to overtake, but he’s just stayed behind.’

‘Maybe he’s just a nervous driver,’ said Ethan. ‘You know – doesn’t like overtaking at night or something. My mum’s like that.’

‘Nah, this is different,’ said The Dude. ‘I’m sure of it.’

Kat looked up at Joh

‘See what happens if we pull over,’ he said. ‘Wait till you’re on a straight bit of road, then indicate and pull off the road, like we’re checking a map or someone’s getting out to take a piss or something.’

A few moments later, The Dude pulled the van off the road, flicking his hazard lights on as they came to a standstill. A black hatchback zipped past at way above the speed limit, the exhaust growling angrily, so low that it caught the road, sending sparks scattering across the tarmac.

‘Idiot,’ said Kat, looking at the disappearing tail lights.

Joh

He shook his head. ‘Must’ve been mistaken,’ he said, ‘but all the signs were there. Kept his speed on mine, and never overtook, even when I slowed.’

‘But who’d follow us?’ asked Ethan.

Joh

‘Did you really just use the word fractious?’ asked Kat.

‘And I hardly know what it means,’ said Joh

The Dude answered by easing the van back out onto the road. About fifteen minutes later he pulled into a lay-by.

‘This is it,’ said Joh

The Dude jumped out of the van and pulled open the side door.

Ethan jumped out and watched as Kat and Joh

‘Follow me,’ said Joh

The Dude locked the van and they trailed off into the dark.

‘We’re here,’ Joh

Ethan stopped. ‘Where’s here exactly?’

Joh

‘You’re kidding,’ said Ethan. ‘You’re crazy.’

‘Right,’ said Joh

Ethan looked at Kat, saw her nod nervously. It was the first time he’d ever seen her look even slightly unsure of herself.

‘First we check each other’s rigs,’ said Joh

‘I know that,’ Kat told him.

‘I know you know,’ he said. ‘But we’ll be doing everything by the letter tonight. There’s no second chance with this. OK?’

Kat nodded and started to check Joh

Ethan noticed that the rigs were much smaller than those he’d used. They were more like the size of a Raider.

‘What’s the difference between these rigs and the ones I’m used to?’ he asked, always keen to learn something new about the sport that had taken over his life.

‘These are BASE-specific rigs,’ said Joh

‘They look no bigger than a Raider,’ said Ethan.

‘They’re not,’ said Joh

‘Right,’ said Ethan, and realized he had never seen Joh

‘Sorted,’ said Joh

Ethan drew closer; he wasn’t going to miss a chance to learn something from his friend.

‘Kat and I are going to peg it over to the ante

Ethan nodded.

Joh

Ethan nodded again. It was a skill he’d mastered since turning up at FreeFall.

‘It’s just a simple press-’n’-talk job,’ Joh

He opened a rucksack and revealed a thick knotted rope with a three-pronged grappling hook attached to the end of it. Ethan wondered where he’d found the hook – it looked pretty deadly.

‘The ladder is enclosed all the way up to a small platform. You go first, Kat, and I’ll follow. OK?’

Kat nodded, and Ethan saw her shift from foot to foot.

‘When you jump, you know what to do. We’ve practised this plenty of times.’

‘Is it different from jumping out of a plane?’ asked Ethan.

‘You jump from a plane at speed,’ said Joh

He turned to Kat. ‘We’ll be fine with this. We’re jumping from one of the highest points in the country. Just make sure that when you jump, you get yourself far enough away from the ante