Street Soldier by Andy McNab Read Free Book Online Page B

for.’
    So, that was day five.
    Days six and seven just sort of merged. Adams’s piece of paper lay untouched on the table.
    Day eight, Sean was in his own cell again.
    King escorted him back. He stood in the middle of the floor and looked around. It was a strange anti-climax. It was cool to just be left there and not have the door locked behind him, but even so.
    ‘You been re-assigned to a lesson schedule yet?’ the warder asked.
    ‘Not yet.’ Again, his voice sounded unusually loud inside his skull. He thought of going to see Gaz or Copper to announce his return – but they would be at their own lessons. ‘Can I have a shower, Mr King? Could do with a good hot wash.’ The showers in basic were time-limited and supervised.
    ‘Not the usual time of day, but – sure, knock yourself out.’
    Sean grabbed his towel and set off.
    The shower block smelled of damp and stale water, with a stronger toilet smell than usual today. Noises echoed off the tiled floors and walls, including the trickleof water from a cubicle that was already occupied. The showers were in individual cubicles; the changing area was common to everyone. Getting naked in front of other guys had been weird at first, but you got used to it.
    He stripped off quickly and headed for the cubicle next to the occupied one. Taking a shower during the day was unusual, but hey, he was doing it so why shouldn’t someone else?
    He grinned as the hot water hit his skin. He held his head under the flow and let it wash the memories of solitary away. He was letting the water flow over the rest of him when he felt something nudge his foot. He jerked it away instinctively and looked down. Then leaped away.
    ‘ Oh, fuck, that’s disgusting! ’
    All the cubicles had a common gutter, so that your neighbour’s water and grime flowed along through yours and into the drain at the end. A turd, an actual lump of human shit, was bobbing along in the stream, as innocent as a scabby, flea-bitten rat turning up on the kitchen counter.
    Furious, Sean rinsed his foot and wrapped the towel around his waist. He hurled himself out and hammered on the door of the occupied cubicle. ‘The fuck do you think you’re doing, you—’
    The door swung open and he stared straight into thebloated, twisted face of a lad dangling by his neck from a towel wrapped around the shower bracket.
    Sean shouted, but only in surprise, because it took him a moment to realize who it was. The features were so distorted and it was the last person he expected to see. The two realizations came one after another. This is a guy who has hanged himself who sorta looks like Gaz . And then he clocked the Guyz tattoo, and he put two and two together, and he shouted more, and the shouts turned to screams.
    He threw himself at the body. Water streamed over him as he fumbled at the knot of the towel. It was soaking, and his fingers slid off it. He tried to work them into the knot, but Gaz’s weight had pulled it tight. He had to wrap his arms around Gaz’s thighs and heave him up, which relieved the weight – but now he couldn’t spare a hand to get at the knot.
    Gaz’s legs were swollen and dark and his skin was clammy to the touch, like uncooked chicken. Sean squeezed his eyes shut and fought back a heaving stomach. He fumbled for the taps and shut them off, still holding Gaz up with one hand.
    He knew even then that it was too late, but he wouldn’t, couldn’t leave his mate to dangle. And so he screamed again as he held Gaz’s weight in his arms.
    ‘ Help me— ’ He had to bite it off abruptly as hisstomach took advantage of the opening, and a column of vom shot halfway into his mouth. He swallowed, and forced it down, and screamed again with words that bounced back off the dead, flat tiles. And he kept screaming through his tears until someone came.
    ‘ Help me! Help me! ’

Chapter 6
    Sean’s breath condensed in the air. It was a frosty January morning outside, and the gym hall was cold enough to