Tremor: If your world was falling apart, how far would you go to save it? (The Tremor Cycle)

by Ryan Mark

  ‘Mum’s street pass,’ he breathed, scooping it up. It allowed professionals such as doctors, nurses and other night workers to be out in the streets after dark. He slipped it into his pocket – at least he’d have a chance to get away now. Without a pass, he’d be classed as a Scavenger and thrown in The Pit.

  Now distinct footsteps on broken fragments crunched towards William. The sound was coming from the front room again – but this time he knew it wasn’t a feral animal.

  Legs shaking, William ran to the back door, pushing away everything in his path. The place was a complete mess, but eventually he cleared enough broken crockery to allow the door to open. However, when he turned the handle it wouldn’t budge. He tried again, with more strength. Oh God, oh God! He looked back. A shadow appeared below the door.

  ‘Come on, come on!’ He shoved hard, using his shoulder to try and force the heavy exterior door open. No use.

  He looked through the small pane of glass. Hang on, what was that? Someone had blocked it from the outside with a heap of metal shrapnel. Did that mean this had been planned? Maybe his mother had come home and they’d been waiting for her in the kitchen, whoever the hell they were.

  The door to the kitchen was opening, the broom giving way under the person’s strength. He looked at the kitchen window over the sink. Nothing else for it! William ran towards it, jumping onto the worktop, table leg grasped firmly in his hand. As he swung out, the glass shattered, raining into the small patio behind the house.

  He looked back. The door to the kitchen was open and a dark figure was passing through it. Without further reflection, William dived through the window, catching his cheek on some broken glass and rolling down into the sludge of the patio.

  Blood seeped down William’s face, but he didn’t care. He ran down the alley behind the house, forcing himself not to glimpse back. He raced through a narrow gap between the houses and into the main street, leaping through the gate and ignoring the guard’s open-mouthed gaze.

  ‘You alright?’ Victor called. ‘You shouldn’t be out.’

  But William kept running.

  Who was that guy?

  What did he want?

  And where was his mother?

  William slowed. Should he just leave, or maybe go back and see if Victor knew anything? The guard was decent enough.

  No, William shook his head. Bad idea. Even if someone had his mother, what could he do? They’d just send him home, and home wasn’t safe. There was only one place safe enough: Althea’s house.

  He pushed on, holding his pocket tightly, gaining comfort from the street pass. He looked to his right and headed down another tight space, trying to keep to the back streets, away from any Enforcer who might not take too kindly to a boy being out at night, even if there was a good reason for it.

  The cobbles blended together as he ran and soon that was all he could see – a greyish brown smear of dark colour. The old biscuit-tin cottages that lined the ancient backstreets leading off the town centre crumbled against each other, making the space close in on him. Considering the way William felt, the houses could fall on him and he’d welcome it.

  A loose stone tripped him up and his knee buckled. Falling into the nearest doorway, William sank down and tears fell yet again. His mother’s face flashed in front of him, urging him to carry on; telling him it wasn’t safe to be outside, in town, at night. Standing again, William told himself to man up.

  How could he help his mother if he turned into a blubbering, useless mess?

  Or worse still, if he was caught by whoever had taken her.

  As he moved further down the tiny road, the buildings became more oppressive, as though he’d been locked in a dusty cupboard. The walls felt as if they were pushing his ribs right into his lungs. The thick air tugged at his windpipe, wrapping itself around him as though it were trying to stop him from getting away from the danger.

  And just as it seemed his luck couldn’t get any worse, rain started to lash down, and not the kind of rain that just dribbled down your face, but the kind that bounced off it like small pebbles, leaving horrible bruises. It was a Wrecker Storm. The tremors weren’t the only things that had been caused by the war.

  The Wreckers were another concoction, some clever scientist’s idea of turning the weather into a weapon to use against enemies. William buried his head in his arms and ran into a doorway, clinging tightly to the soggy bricks.

  The storm soon passed over, but the noise of it still pounded in his ears. He crept out of his hiding place and started off again.

  What was that? Did something move? William squinted. ‘Flippin’ hell, you’ve got to be kidding me!’ he said. This wasn’t his night.

  Someone was hiding in one of the doorways just off to the left.

  There was no way he’d go unnoticed now, but he couldn’t turn back, could he? The person with the knife could be watching; might even be following him. Nothing for it but to keep moving forward.

  William walked quickly, but try as he might he couldn’t help glancing into the alcove as he passed. A small group of filthy people huddled in the doorway, one of them rutting around in the broken down porch, a small space that would once have been used for storing shoes and umbrellas. He looked more closely. The man had raggedy hair, which covered most of his grubby face, but his eyes shone with life. William looked down at the rest: a woman and two children probably not over the age of five.

  Scavengers!

  Crap.

  A hand gripped his shoulder.

  ‘Please don’t hurt me,’ William whispered. This couldn’t be happening to him, he thought. These were the people who Terrafall said were responsible for the disappearances. He tried to step back, air shooting in and out of his lungs.

  ‘You alright, lad? Been a long time since we’ve run into anyone after dark who’s not a Peace Enforcer.’ The voice was rough and gritty. ‘You a Scavenger? No one but Enforcers and pass holders are allowed on the streets after dark, and you’re definitely not an Enforcer, are ya?’

  ‘No, I’m not any of them, let me go,’ William instructed, struggling. He shoved a hand into his pocket, clenching his mother’s pass. Could he use it to get away? No. This might be a trick to see if he owned one so they could steal it. He pulled his hand out.

  The tight hold on William’s shoulder melted away. ‘Now, now. We’re not going to hurt you. Do you want some food? We found some old tins in these ruins.’

  William didn’t know how to respond. Could these people be trusted? Not according to Terrafall.

  ‘You look like you could do with some food. And that cut doesn’t look healthy,’ the man pointed to William’s cheek, his blue eyes gleaming through matted hair and filth. ‘What’s your name, then?’

  ‘I–I don’t have one.’ It was a stupid response, but it was the first thing that escaped his lips.

  The man managed a tight smile. ‘Everyone has a name. I’m Markus, and this is my family.’

  ‘Why are you here?’ It was a silly question and William didn’t know why he’d asked it. He put it down to nerves.

  ‘We’ve been living like this since Terrafall threw us out of our home because I took too much food from our own harvest! We were bloody starving, too,’ Markus shook his head. ‘And it’s just created another group of Scavengers by doing this, the people it blames for anything that goes wrong.’ He sighed. ‘Come on lad, please have some.’

  ‘N–no, it’s fine, I’ve just got to get out of here. M–my mum needs–’

  ‘You sure? We don’t see many people after dark anymore, not since those pigs took over the streets, and started blaming us for the abductions.’

  William stopped himself from running then. ‘Have Scavengers been abducting people, though? My mum’s been taken you see… There was blood…’

  ‘Nobody we know would do it. And why would we want to? What would we gain from it? We’re living off scraps for God’s sake. A conspiracy, that’s what it is. All we’re doing is trying to survive, livin
g off what we can find.’ Markus let out another sigh. ‘I’m sorry about your mother, lad. Things are getting tough. But just because Terrafall says people like us are behind all the bad stuff doesn’t mean we are. It’s all a big old smokescreen if you ask me! God knows why.’

  William didn’t disagree; it wasn’t surprising to him that Terrafall lied. It’d done it so many times before, and the proof had been in Dad’s journal. He tensed, funnelling away the anger. ‘Listen, you keep the food. You need it more than me.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘I’ve got a friend to go to. There’s food there.’

  Markus nodded. ‘You stay safe then. Try to avoid the Enforcers, keep out of open areas. Good luck my friend.’ He gathered up his family and together they stumbled back into the ruins of the house, disappearing into the darkness.

  William walked on, keeping his eyes forward. Survive, that’s all everyone was trying to do.

  A sudden thump from a nearby house reminded him that there was more to fear than Scavengers. Stopping, he waited, but no one appeared. Be that as it may, whoever was chasing him might be close. He had to get to Althea’s house, and fast.

  Thoughts of Markus kept him company, and helped banish horrible visions of what could have happened to his mother – at least for the moment. Could Terrafall be using the Scavengers to hide a deeper secret? Who was really responsible for the abductions?

  The end of the narrow road was up ahead. He pulled himself towards it and risked looking back into the gloom. It was deserted. William stepped out of the suffocating space into an open courtyard and walked with his head down, when suddenly a voice echoed in the still night.

  William almost collapsed from a dizzying combination of fear and exhaustion. How much horror could he take in one evening?

  ‘So all the Scavengers from the Sandylands estate have been taken out?’ said a deep voice from across the courtyard.

  William paused. A rusted metal roof sheet was propped against a derelict house at the back of the square. He ran to it and pushed himself underneath. When his breathing calmed, he allowed himself to peer out.

  Two men wearing blue capes stepped briskly across the cobbled yard. William shivered, and then steadied himself in case the metal moved and alerted the men to his presence. They were Peace Enforcers, both clenching lethal-looking batons. He grabbed his pocket. The outline of the street pass filled his palm.

  Could he really use it to get away from the Enforcers? He looked at the photograph and tried not to think about where his mother was. What was he thinking? The pass had his mother’s name and picture printed across it! The only way he’d be able to get away with it was if the men were severely short-sighted.

  ‘Found another abductee again today, dead as always.’

  William pricked up his ears.

  ‘We’ll never find a live one,’ said the second man.

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Cause we aren’t dealing with anyone close to sane. You seen the state of the bodies?’

  The voices faded as they headed down the road William had just exited. William hoped that Markus and his family were still inside.

  He pushed himself up and ran down the street to his right. Terrafall had always implied the Scavengers were behind the abductions, so what were those two Enforcers on about?

  For his mother’s sake, William hoped they were joking about never finding an abductee alive.

  He finally made it to Thorny Hills, where many people had enough land to grow crops. It was in a much better state than the outer housing estates. Although many homes were shadows of their former selves, the townhouses still held onto some of their character, with their wide bow windows and solid oak doors. This area was adjacent to the suburbs where the Terrafall top brass had their mansions, protected by huge numbers of Peace Enforcers. William scowled.

  He stepped towards a small cul-de-sac. The large houses curved in on each other, their roofs colliding in places making the slate hang dangerously over the edge. But their bricks clung together, pressing against each other, and this probably made them more stable against the tremors.

  William always felt safer in this part of town. The buildings were better built, which meant they wouldn’t collapse so easily. He slipped through an open portico between two houses, careful to avoid the four Enforcers who stood guard in a booth by the entrance of the cul-de-sac.

  Did he actually have a plan? Sort of, he’d go to Althea’s for help. He had no other family, so it was the only place that was safe enough, especially at night.

  The lights in the street fizzed then went out, and darkness drifted over William like a falling sheet.

  ‘That crappy power plant.’ He put his arms out like a zombie, trying to feel ahead so he didn’t run smack bang into something. ‘Flippin’ piece of junk.’

  The plant had been built five miles outside Kentvale, to create power from a disused coalmine that had been discovered by Terrafall after the war. It was the organisation’s base of operations in the north of England. And yes, it made life more comfortable, when it worked.

  As far as William was concerned, Terrafall supplying electricity was yet another way of keeping a stranglehold on what was left. His mother, however, had always praised them for rebuilding it, as it brought some normality back to their lives.

  Mum.

  With great effort, William stopped the tears before they formed again and pushed on, keeping his arms out.

  Tentatively feeling his way forward, he shuffled along, making slow progress. It really didn’t surprise him when his foot slipped down a crack. He felt his ankle twist and managed to suppress the scream, but couldn’t stop himself losing his balance. He smashed into the floor, smacking his head on a fragment of rock.

  His eyes closed. The darkness became real now.

  The dark shadow slipped through the streets, the eerie mist making him look like a phantom. All he needed now was the horse and the severed head and his look would be complete. His pale face twisted into a disturbed contortion. The images were unnerving, and made him move faster.

  It wasn’t possible to stop; he had to know who this boy was. Did the child live with the woman? If so, the woman was most likely his mother, although you could never be sure nowadays, could you? Well, he wasn’t about to be outwitted by a child.

  He looked to the sky. Night was upon him. No matter, he’d find the boy and when he did the answers would be his, but how to approach it? Delicately, or with force? He needed the answers. They were the only things that could relieve him and this was the first time he’d found someone alive. A gentle approach might be the most appropriate way, the boy was a mere child after all, but would aggression help pull the answers from his tongue with greater haste?

  Hesitating, the man placed a gloved hand over his heart. This quest had rendered him barely recognisable; he’d very nearly lost his once peaceful identity. The world had taken enough from him already, but he wasn’t going to let it transform him into a monster, not just yet anyway.

  The boy would fall into his web, eventually.

  Chapter 4

  Althea

  ‘Help me put him on the bed, quickly!’ shouted a familiar voice. ‘I found him in the alley. It’s a good job I took the rubbish out when I did. Oh God, Will, what have you done to yourself?’

  Pain pricked his head and he felt a warm, sticky substance seep down his cheeks. ‘What–w–where am I?’ he managed to say, as his body fell onto a soft surface.

  ‘War ate this planet. Oh the panic, oh how terrible it was! Everything’s gone now, all gone,’ spluttered another voice close to William. ‘Oh William, oh son, what have you done to yourself? Sleep now, yes, sleep.’

  ‘Grandad, calm down, William’s really hurt!’ said the first voice. ‘Go sit in your chair.’

  William now recognised the voice as belonging to Althea and it made him relax a little, despite the throbbing pain.

  ‘What’s happened, Alfie?’ said a new voice, a much younger one: Al
thea’s eleven-year-old brother Orion.

  ‘Go and get me some bandages, Ori, I’m going to clean him up. Bring me a bowl of warm water, too!’

  William winced, trying to push himself into a sitting position. ‘You’ve got to help me, Althea,’ he said, his forehead wrinkling in pain, blood-tangled hair falling into his eyes.

  ‘I will, I will, but you’ve got to rest. We’ll talk in the morning,’ replied Althea, pushing William back down.

  ‘B–but, Mum’s been taken. S–someone was after me. I fell… terrafall… mum…’ William said, trying to struggle against Althea’s strong push. His head spun feverishly.

  ‘You said all that when we found you. It was a bit mumbled, but I got it,’ said Althea, wiping some blood from William’s cheek and washing his hair. ‘It’s too late now. We can’t do anything until first light, we’d just get arrested.’

  Althea was right. They’d just have to wait, which meant that his mother would have to wait too, wherever she was.

  William felt his eyes roll back and he let the rocking of another tremor lull him into a deep sleep.

  Light filtered into the clutter-filled room, which was crammed with all kinds of gardening equipment. William grabbed his head, teeth clamped tightly down against the pain. ‘Flippin’ crap, it hurts so much,’ he gasped, falling back onto the pillow.

  ‘You’re awake!’ said Althea, getting up from an armchair in the tidiest of the corners.

  ‘It’s a long shot, but have you got anything for the pain?’ asked William. Along the walls in front of him, piles of old cardboard boxes filled with plant pots were stacked up, blotting out some of the invading light, but it was still too bright and he had to look through half-closed eyes.

  ‘Of course, I had it ready for you,’ replied Althea, smiling. ‘Take this.’ She passed him a glass of water and dropped something into it with a plop. ‘Aspirin.’