Jam by Jake Wallis Simons Read Free Book Online Page B

expect. But the feeling of being watched was unshakable.
    â€˜Hey,’ said Jim, ‘what’s that?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Thought I saw something moving, that’s all. Over there, like.’
    â€˜I can’t see anything. It’s difficult to make anything out. In this light.’
    â€˜There, there it is again. See it?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Someone’s coming. I think.’
    â€˜Just your eyes playing tricks on you.’
    â€˜Is your car locked?’
    â€˜My car? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it is. Ursula was asleep, so I locked it.’
    They continued to look in that direction for several minutes, while their cigars burned down. Eventually, simultaneously, they shook themselves to their senses and stubbed them out.
    â€˜I’ve got the willies,’ said Jim. ‘Freaking myself out, like. Feels like the end of the world.’
    â€˜Come on,’ said Max. ‘It’s not like The Road or anything.’
    â€˜It is. It’s the sodding M25.’
    â€˜No, I mean the book. The Road .’
    â€˜I’ve never read a book, mate. Not outside school, anyhow.’
    â€˜It was made into a film too.’
    â€˜ The Road ?’
    â€˜Yes. Apocalyptic disaster sort of thing. Man and a boy.’
    Jim thought for a moment. ‘Nope.’
    Then there was a noise, and they turned to see three hooded men emerge from the shadows. As one, they straightened up.
    â€˜All right, brah?’ said the leader.
    â€˜All right,’ said Max.
    â€˜Know what’s going on?’
    â€˜No. You?’
    â€˜Nah.’
    The three men spread out in a semi-circle around the van door. Max saw that they were Asian, and in their late teens. The one who was speaking pushed his hood back from his head; he was taller than the other two, with what seemed to be a habitual haughtiness.
    â€˜This your van?’ he said.
    â€˜It’s mine,’ said Jim. ‘At least, it’s my job to drive it.’
    â€˜How much do you want for a Coke?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜A Coke, brah. A Coke.’
    â€˜For Christ’s sake,’ said Max, ‘he can’t open the van.’
    â€˜He’s the driver, isn’t he? No point in having a guy who can’t open the door, innit?’
    â€˜Look,’ said Max. ‘The van cannot be opened, and that’s final.’
    â€˜All right, mate,’ came the reply. Then, after a pause: ‘I’m Shahid.’ He extended his hand, and his grip was firm. ‘This is Mo, and this is Kabir.’
    â€˜Max. And Waitrose Jim.’
    â€˜What Jim?’
    â€˜Look, just – just Jim.’
    â€˜Nice one. OK, I hear what you’re saying, right. But we got to help each other out, you know. Times like these.’
    â€˜It’s a traffic jam,’ Jim said. ‘We’ve just got to sit it out, like.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ said Shahid, ‘but we’ve been here for what, two hours? Three hours? It’s not a joke no more. People need food and stuff. Water. All that.’
    Jim shrugged. ‘There’s nothing I can do. I’d lose my job.’
    â€˜Really?’ said Shahid. ‘Even if it was, like, extreme? If we were here all night or whatever?’
    Jim hesitated. ‘I’d lose my job.’
    â€˜Anyway,’ said Shahid, ‘we should, like, work together. Anything we can do for you boys?’
    â€˜There is, actually, now you come to mention it,’ said Max. ‘Think you could lend me your phone.’
    â€˜You got no phone?’
    â€˜No signal,’ said Max. ‘Dead.’
    â€˜Mine’s no good, brah,’ said Shahid, pulling out his phone. ‘You can try it if you don’t believe me.’
    â€˜Sure, sure.’
    Shahid gestured to his companions, who brought out their phones.
    â€˜I ain’t got a signal either,’ said Mo.
    â€˜Me neither,’ said Kabir.
    There was a pause. The world tightened