‘Didn’t think they’d listen,’ Sean said weakly.
‘“Hi, I’m the gun-toting nutter who just blew up a van on the south circular.” I think you’d have got their attention. I know you don’t have the best impression of authority, but try to remember they’re not all stupid.’
Sean looked down at the badge. Turning eighteen was no big deal – it wasn’t exactly going to change his life. But having Adams pin something on him with his own hands – that counted for a lot.
The sergeant smiled. It was an unusual sight. ‘You’ve been lucky, Harker. You were offered an olive branch, you took it. If you hadn’t, then right now you would be with your friends and looking at the best part of your life behind bars.’
‘I killed a guy,’ Sean said quietly.
Adams’s face turned to stone. ‘I witnessed it via the drone. So did a lot of other people higher up than me. We all saw a soldier on active deployment using reasonable force to defend himself. I would say the circumstances ticked every box in the Rules of Engagement.’
Sean nodded. Words weren’t needed. Not now. He was too tired anyway – he just wanted to go back to sleep, if he was honest. And his head was hurting. But he had one more question.
‘Why did the spooks lump you with me, Sergeant? Thought it would’ve been the lieutenant’s job.’
‘It was. I volunteered.’
‘You . . . Why?’
‘I inflicted you on the army. I believe in clearing up my own messes.’ Adams grinned. ‘And of course I also like to take credit for my success stories.’
Suddenly Sean couldn’t meet his eyes. He turned his head away and blinked rapidly again. ‘Really let you down, didn’t I?’ he murmured.
‘By being a thieving dipstick? I already knew that. One thing I didn’t have you pegged as was a murderer and a traitor – and, guess what, you’re not. Well, enough of these pleasantries. I’d best be going. Let you get some rest.’
Adams drew himself up into NCO mode. ‘Private Harker!’ he barked.
Sean lay at attention in bed. ‘Sergeant!’ he shouted at the ceiling.
‘Get better!’
‘Yes, Sergeant!’
‘At ease.’ With a half-smile on his face, the same one he’d had when they first met, Adams turned away. Sean lay back on his pillow with a much larger smile of his own.
So he was still a Fusilier. For the first time since he’d joined up, that was more important than being one of the Littern Guyz.
Sean had been one of the Guyz since the day he was born. The streets had shaped the way he grew. Look how easily he had slipped back into acting like one of them as soon as Heaton came along with his money and flash car.
That little lapse had almost got him killed.
It was one more item to add to the charge sheet against the gang that was growing inside his head. Basically he’d let them quietly screw him for his entire life.
But the army had shown him another way of getting through life, and it was infinitely better. So even if the Guyz were still an ongoing concern – if they didn’t just collapse when the news about Matt and Copper came out, or get muscled out by some other outfit . . .
‘I’m not one of the Guyz any more,’ Sean murmured, and it was as if a weight he hadn’t even noticed had fallen away from him.
It lasted about a second – until he thought about his mum. There was no way they were going to look after her now. And he didn’t want them to. That would mean owing them something.
So it was down to him. He would just have to get her out of there. Set her up in a flat of her own.
But do it honestly, and on his pay. It would be tight. He needed to think it through . . .
His eyes were growing heavy, his thoughts muzzy. His battered body was demanding sleep, and there wasn’t much point fighting it. Not if he was going to obey the sergeant’s order.
Whatever. Bring it all on. He could take it.
Afterword
By the age of 16, I was in juvenile detention and going through a pretty similar experience to Sean’s at Burnleigh YOI. I had been abandoned as a baby, and then grew up with foster parents in South East London. I went through nine schools in seven years, didn’t fit in and didn’t see the point of any of it. All I angrily knew was that I didn’t have much in my life, and there were people that had a hell of a lot more.
We were no great criminal masterminds. Burgling the same block of flats several times was always going to end up with us getting caught. The government’s way of dealing with ‘teenage delinquents’ at that time was to lock us up in a Young Offender Institution and deliver what was labelled as the ‘short, sharp shock’ – a boot-camp-style, brutal regime designed to scare us into not reoffending. It was later abandoned when they worked out it wasn’t working as a strategy, but it wasn’t much fun at the time.
It was whilst I was in juvenile detention that the army recruitment guys turned up and offered us an early release if we joined up. It sounded better than prison to me, so off I went.
Little did I know that joining the army would change my life. It showed me that there were opportunities to make something of myself, if I was willing to put in the effort. I discovered that I had the reading age of an eleven-year-old, six years below where I should have been, and learning to read was the first step in changing my life. I think Sean is probably a bit ahead of me on that. And he’s smart. But he still shows that it’s not always easy to leave your past behind and it’s not easy to make the right choices. It takes a lot of guts.
These days, I spend quite a bit of time visiting schools, prisons and workplaces, as well as army bases and businesses, talking to them about my experiences and encouraging them to start reading and writing. I see people just like me – and people like I used to be – and I tell them, ‘If I can turn my life around, then so can you.’ Every time you get a bit of knowledge, you get a bit of power to make your own decisions and take control of your life. Just try it.
Andy McNab
26 January 2016
Glossary
ACOG – Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight providing up to 6x fixed power magnification, illuminated at night by an internal phosphor
Anti-tank rockets – man-portable rockets designed to be able to defeat armoured vehicles. Usually they are less capable than anti-tank guns and missiles, but are useful against various targets including buildings and fortifications
Army Reserve – formerly the Territorial Army or TA, this provides trained soldiers who work on a part-time basis to support the regular army
CQR – Close Quarter Recce
Flash-bang (stun grenade) – a non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorientate an enemy’s senses
Foxhound – Patrol vehicle specifically designed and built to protect against the threats faced by troops in Afghanistan
Fusiliers – an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen’s Division
Glock 17 Gen 4 – lightweight and accurate pistol with a magazine capacity of 17 9mm rounds
GPMG – General-Purpose Machine Gun, nicknamed the ‘Gimpy’; belt-driven
Infantry – the British infantry is based on the tried and tested regimental system which has proved successful on operations over the years; it consists of a number of regular battalions. The British infantry has a strong tradition of courage in battle
Insurgent – a person who fights against an established government or authority
Intel (INT) – army term for intelligence: information collected on, for example, enemy movements
Intelligence Corps – one of the corps of the British Army. It is responsible for gathering, analysing and disseminating military intelligence, and also for counter-intelligence and security
LASM – Light Anti-Structures Missile; a rocket launcher designed to be discarded after launch
MI5 –
a British intelligence agency working to protect the UK’s national security against threats such as terrorism and espionage
MoD – Ministry of Defence. Their aim is to protect the security, independence and interests of our country at home and abroad. They ensure that the armed forces have the training, equipment and support necessary for their work
MP5 – 9mm submachine gun built by Heckler & Koch
NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization: an organization whose essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means
NCO – Non-Commissioned Officer, like a corporal or sergeant
No. 8 Temperate Combat Dress – this replaced the No 5 and 9 Dress, in what is known known as the Personal Clothing System. It is based around a Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) windproof smock, a lightweight jacket and trousers with a range of ancillaries such as thermals and waterproofs
PE – Plastic Explosive
PRR – Personal Role Radio: small transmitter-receiver radio that enables soldiers to communicate over short distances, and through buildings and walls
Royal Logistics Corps (RLC) – provides support (e.g. vehicle parts, tools, ammunition and rations) to the Army, both in peacetime and on operations
RPG – Rocket-Propelled Grenade
SA80 – semi-automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch, the standard British Army rifle
SAS – Special Air Service, tasked to operate in difficult and often changing circumstances, sometimes in absence of guidance and within situations that have significant operational and strategic importance
Screws – a prison nickname for a warder
Special Branch – units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces. Acquire and develop intelligence, usually of a political nature, and conducts investigations to protect the State from perceived threats of subversion
‘Taking Point’ – Assume the first and most exposed position in a combat military formation
UGL – Under-slung Grenade Launcher, fitted to SA80
Warrior – a series of British armoured vehicles, originally developed to replace the older FV430 series of armoured vehicles. A highly successful armoured fighting vehicle, the Warrior can be fitted with enhanced armour and is continuously being updated
YOI – Young Offender Institution, a type of British prison intended for offenders aged between 18 and 20, although some prisons cater for younger offenders from ages 15 to 17, who are classed as juvenile offenders
About the Author
Andy McNab was a covert ops commander in the SAS and the British Army’s most highly decorated serving soldier.
Besides his writing, Andy now advises intelligence agencies in the UK and US.
For more information about Andy and his books, visit www.andymcnab.co.uk
Also by Andy McNab
THE LIAM SCOTT SERIES
The New Recruit
The New Patrol
The New Enemy
DROPZONE
Dropzone
Dropzone: Terminal Velocity
BOY SOLDIER (with Robert Rigby)
Boy Soldier
Payback
Avenger
Meltdown
OTHER NOVELS:
Aggressor
Battle Lines (with Kym Jordan)
Brute Force
Crisis Four
Crossfire
Dark Winter
Dead Centre
Deep Black
Detonator
Exit Wound
Firewall
Fortress
For Valour
Last Light
Last Night Another Soldier (Quick Read)
Liberation Day
On the Rock (Quick Read)
Recoil
Red Notice
Remote Control
Silencer
State of Emergency
The Grey Man (Quick Read)
War Torn (with Kym Jordan)
Zero Hour
NON-FICTION:
Bravo Two Zero
Immediate Action
Seven Troop
Sorted!
Spoken from the Front
The Good Psychopath’s Guide to Success (with Professor Kevin Dutton)
Today Everything Changes (Quick Read)
RHCP DIGITAL
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First published Doubleday, 2016
This ebook published 2016
Text copyright © Andy McNab, 2016
Front cover artwork and design copyright © Stephen Mulcahey, 2016
Cover photography copyright © Jonathan Ring, 2016
With thanks to Ben Jeapes and David Gatward
The moral right of the author has been asserted
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978–1–448–19705–7
All correspondence to:
RHCP Digital
Penguin Random House Children’s
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
Table of Contents
Contents
About the Book
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Afterword
Glossary
About the Author
Also by Andy McNab
Copyright