by Ryan Mark
‘A can? More like a barrel.’ Althea punched the air. ‘This is your mum we’re talking about. We’re not going to let her down.’
William’s smile didn’t disappear this time. Althea had a way of always saying the right thing to cheer him up. And she was right; he’d never let his mother down, not in a million years.
‘Don’t think you have to come with me, though. I don’t want to force you. It’s going to be dangerous and you still have family,’ William said, looking serious.
‘Don’t be stupid. We’re in this together.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Together!’
‘Together,’ repeated William.
‘That’s the spirit!’ Althea said, taking his arm.
They headed down the main street, stopping when they came to the padlocked Archive Row. William grabbed the lock with one hand and looked through the bars. The main archive building they were searching for was a grand lump of brick at the end of the road. A big sundial engraved into its grey tiles sent a threatening shadow through the narrow space, ending at the point where they were standing at the gate.
‘So, how are we going to get in and past those Enforcers?’ Althea said, hands on hips.
William continued staring down the street, examining the sides of the buildings until his eyes met exactly what he was looking for. He pointed to a siren attached to a lamppost close to the gate. ‘That’s going to get us in.’
‘How exactly?’
‘My dad wrote about one in his journal. We’re going to set it off,’ explained William, pointing to the two wires that led off it. ‘See those wires? One is hooked up to a tremor reader. So basically, when a really strong tremor is about to hit those sirens go off, giving the people who live in areas like this a chance to take cover.
‘They have them in all the important areas of town. Obviously that tremor we just had wasn’t as strong as it seemed.’ William scanned the floor and picked up a slice of metal, one side sharp, the other as thin as wire. ‘It’d cost Terrafall too much to put them all over town, so that’s why only the most important people get them.’
‘Was all this in the journal?’ Althea’s mouth stayed open slightly.
‘Yep, it didn’t just have loads of information about the tremors, but also stuff on Terrafall and how it operates. The Peace Enforcers who found my dad can’t have read it, because if they had I wouldn’t have got it back.’ William motioned her forward. ‘I’m going to cut the wire that links to the tremor reader, so the other wire should set the siren off. That’s the bit that makes the noise, but without the reader wire it’ll get confused and just blast.’
‘What do you want me to do?’
‘Keep watch,’ said William. He followed the wire with his eyes. It ran from the siren to the wall of the building next to the gate, and then straight down towards where they stood. Kneeling down by the left pole of the gate’s frame, William reached through the gap between it and the building, the blade of the metal stretched out.
As soon as the wire was cut, a low wailing noise penetrated Archive Row. The guards left their stations and headed to the corner of the street, disappearing down a manhole. William looked at Althea, and then at the padlock.
He swivelled the metal around in his hand, so the wiry end was aimed outwards, and carefully placed it in the padlock. He pulled a lock pick from his pocket and did the same, feeling his father’s initials scratched into its surface. ‘Got this one from my dad’s journal too.’ He wiggled it a couple of times, carefully listening to the clicks, and the padlock came off in his hands.
‘When did you learn to do that?’
‘About a week ago,’ replied William, slipping through the gate after Althea and quickly reattaching the padlock.
‘Why would your dad need to pick locks?’ Althea’s brow furrowed.
‘He must’ve got a lot of information about Terrafall from under the radar. I guess picking locks was one way to discover what was hidden from him,’ said William, shrugging.
‘I suppose,’ said Althea. ‘You sure we won’t get caught?’
‘Let’s check.’ William whistled and then quickly pulled Althea behind an old post box. There was no response. He let out a breath and stepped back into the street. ‘I guess the plan worked. All safe and sound in their bunkers.’
‘Our luck’s changing,’ said Althea, relaxing a little.
They climbed the stone stairs of the main archive building at the end of the street and pushed open the door. An echo from the hinges vibrated through the room on the other side. William paused. He tensed for a moment, leg muscles aching, but there was no reaction to the doors opening, so he slowly slipped through the gap, his feet skidding on the polished stone floor.
‘It’s clear,’ he whispered, after quickly scanning the room. ‘Careful you don’t slip.’
Althea joined him in the huge space on the other side. The green marble walls were crammed with rows of seemingly endless shelves, reaching far back and high up into the circular chamber, broken only by the odd, white pillar that held up the fractured domed roof. He scratched his head, avoiding the bandaged cut.
‘Where do we start?’ he asked, running a hand down one of the thin files that was neatly placed into the first set of shelves. ‘Do you think there’s a separate section for abductions?’
‘Yeah, there’s bound to be. It’ll have some order to it, archives always do,’ said Althea, walking over to a large desk close to the door. On it sat a book marked Catalogue.
Computers had become useless since the war, since the Internet had crashed and electricity was unreliable. Besides, there was no one left to maintain them.
William rolled his eyes at the leatherbound tome. He had always thought it’d be his generation who’d invent flying cars. No chance now. It was back to basics, for the majority of the population at least. Terrafall was holding onto some technologies, of course, the tremor readers were one example of that.
Althea ran her finger down the spine. ‘Here, I’m sure this’ll tell us which shelves to look on. It’s an old-fashioned inventory record, which I guess Terrafall has started to use again since the town’s databases probably won’t work anymore.’
William looked at a note that had been written on the first page, it seemed to be a recent addition. He cleared his throat and began to read, ‘The newly-created population certificates must be kept in order, as they help Terrafall manage food and resources effectively and fairly.’ He groaned. ‘Fairly. Yeah, right. It’s all about control.’
He flipped to the back of the book and scanned the index until he found abductions. It had its own section, and again, the ink etched onto the page was much newer than previous entries. He read the paragraph above the first entry. ‘All population certificates in this section have been transferred from the current population count. Each person has been abducted, fate unknown.’ He looked at the final sentence and gulped, before running his finger to the shelf number. ‘Section six, shelf twelve, on the right.’
They ran along the sections, counting as they passed. They stopped at six. William grabbed the iron gates that cut off the section from the rest of the archive. He rattled it but it wouldn’t budge.
‘Why is this the only bit that’s locked up?’
Althea pursed her lips. ‘Do you think this means Terrafall might be trying to keep this stuff out of snooping hands?’
William nodded and pulled out the slice of metal and lock pick. ‘Not going to stop us though.’
Althea beamed. ‘I could’ve tried a good kick, but I suppose your way’s better.’
William placed both pieces of metal into the huge padlock. He wiggled it about for a few seconds, there was a click, and the lock fell to the floor. He quickly pulled off the chain and opened the gate.
Althea gazed at the neatly-kept shelves, standing still, but William ran straight to number twelve, pulling off the first file, eager to get started.
‘Quick, look for anything that might link them.’ H
e took out the population certificate and read it. ‘This lady worked as a geologist for Terrafall. She was part of the group who were trying to find a way to stop the tremors, just like Dad…’ William dropped the file and took another.
Althea pulled out a folder. ‘This guy worked as a scientist for Terrafall. Missing since June.’
William snatched up the next folder. ‘Francis, he worked at the power plant…’ A few more files confirmed that the abductees all seemed to be connected with Terrafall.
‘I’m not liking where this is going, Will,’ said Althea, shaking her head and placing a file back on the shelf. She pulled off another one. ‘Look, this person worked for Terrafall too, on the food rationing team.’ She put the file back, dragging her hands wearily across her face. ‘I think there’s a definite link forming, and I don’t like it one bit.’
William slid out the next folder. ‘Melanie, she worked for Terrafall as a nurse at the power plant. Mum was a nurse…’ Without pausing he took another folder and opened it. He trembled when he read the name.
‘What’s up?’ said Althea, moving closer.
‘I–I… just take a look,’ William said, passing her the file, his hand shaking.
‘Sarah Oakenwood,’ Althea breathed in sharply. ‘My mum…’ She quickly picked up the next file. ‘Greg Oakenwood.’
William reached out to hold her, but she shoved him away.
‘This can’t be right; I wasn’t told they’d been abducted! I went to the Peace Station and reported that they’d not been in touch in a week, and after that I was told they’d been attacked by bandits and…’ She took a breath. ‘Do you think whoever’s behind this is abducting people, doing whatever they’re doing with them and putting them back where they found them to try and cover their tracks?’ She grabbed her mouth.
‘Yeah, I think you’re onto something there. But why would Terrafall and the Peace Force keep this from you?’ said William.
‘The farm they worked on was owned by Terrafall, Will, and most of the population certificates we’ve seen have Terrafall all over them.’ Tears fell down her pale cheeks and she tightened her grip on the paper. ‘It’s obvious.’
‘Terrafall’s our link.’
Could his father have been abducted then? William shook his head. His father was found in the rubble of his geology station. It’d been during one of the biggest tremors recorded. No, he couldn’t have been. It was the tremor that killed him.
He looked at Althea. ‘You OK?’
She didn’t answer, her eyes fixated on the paper.
He tried a different tack. ‘Someone’s either targeting Terrafall, or Terrafall’s more involved in this than anyone thought, and if that’s the case, we won’t be able to trust anyone, not even the Peace Force,’ said William, taking the file off Althea and dropping it to the dusty ground. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked again.
She rocked on the spot.
‘Alfie?’
Her answer was interrupted by footsteps, then loud voices. ‘Someone has been through the index! Call the guards, call the guards at once!’ screamed a crackly voice.
‘We shouldn’t have left this place unguarded,’ said another voice. ‘Why did I let us leave for the tremor shelter? I was meant to be in charge of this bloody place and now look what’s happened!’
‘Alfie, we’ve got to go now,’ whispered William, pulling her sleeve. ‘Terrafall has to be our next target, so we’ll go to their headquarters at the power plant. I think that’s our best bet.’
‘If Terrafall are involved, we’ll make sure it doesn’t get away with it.’ She stared directly ahead, eyes narrowing.
William dragged her to the floor and together they moved on their hands and knees down the main aisle. William could hear oncoming footsteps vibrating through the marble as they shuffled through the dust.
‘Here, over here! Look, the gate has been tampered with!’ screeched the voice. ‘And by the gods, it’s the worst possible section of shelves! We should dig our own graves now.’
‘The fire exit.’ William indicated a door to their left, beyond one last aisle of shelves. It felt as though their footfalls were on top of him now, pounding on his back.
They crawled forward. William bit his lip when his knee hit the marble too hard, sending a sickening pain through his leg. He held in the sick and managed to roll through the door, followed by Althea.
‘Come on!’
The alley where they landed was filled with stinking rubbish. William scrambled forward. Brilliant: they could use it as cover; he didn’t care if he ended up smelling of muck. He scrunched his nose and they dived under a large pile of bin bags, just as the fire door opened again.
It seemed like an eternity before someone spoke. ‘They’re not here, damn it, they’ve gone!’ shouted the voice. ‘They must have escaped through the front.’
William gripped Althea’s hand. ‘As soon as the door closes we move. Let’s go back to your house, get supplies and set off.’
Althea nodded, eyes still shaded by angry shock.
‘Get back inside. We have to search the streets, now!’ The fire exit slammed shut, but before the voice dissolved William heard: ‘Terrafall will have our heads if anything has been taken.’
Terrafall will have their heads? He didn’t like where this was going. It was all one big conspiracy, but he was determined to crack it.
‘Let’s go,’ he told Althea.
Creeping through the last section of the alley, they passed numerous mounds of rubbish and headed down a narrow gap between two warehouses. The noises from the archive were distant now, and William relaxed a little.
They were almost free of the tiny alley when their path became blocked by a large, menacing figure, black clothes sucking up the light.
Althea muffled a scream and William instinctively felt for the small slice of metal he’d picked up earlier. Where was it? Crap, he must’ve dropped it in the archive. He scanned the floor for anything he could use as a weapon. He might not have known who it was, but he had a horrible feeling he’d seen this person before.
Looking about frantically for something to protect them, he realised there was nothing to hand, only newspapers and rotten leftovers. They’d have to use their fists.
Chapter 6
Mysterious Encounters
‘Get out of the way!’ shouted Althea, holding up her fists as if she were facing someone in a boxing ring.
‘I want to talk,’ said the darkly dressed figure, shoulders broad and threatening. There was some force behind his voice, but William couldn’t fully read it. Something flashed from beneath the hem of his long, black coat. William’s mouth slowly fell open. The horrible feelings had been right. He’d seen this man before. It was the guy from last night, the guy who might have his mother.
‘It’s him, the person who was at my house last night, and I–I think he’s got a knife,’ he said, gripping Althea’s shoulder.
Althea shrugged his hand away, stepped forward and said through cemented teeth, ‘He won’t have it for much longer…’ She swung a fist.
William held his breath. The man easily dodged the blow, ducking to his left.
‘What are you doing, girl?’ the man shouted, blue eyes widening.
‘Defending ourselves.’ Althea swung out again, but he evaded her, pulling out the shiny object. William gasped, but when he focused on the object he realised it wasn’t a knife, but a black walking cane with a silver, orb-shaped handle.
The man swung the cane in the air, trying to hook it around Althea’s legs, but she jumped over it and managed to kick him in the stomach. He doubled over, but before Althea could land another blow, he tried again, catching her legs this time and dropping her to the floor.
‘Please, stop!’ he said, holding up a hand. ‘I’m not the bad guy.’
William ignored him and ran forward, making for the cane. He was swung around by the man and pushed into a pile of boxes. His hands scavenged beneath him for something he could use to his advantage
, but all they touched were soft pieces of rotten cardboard.
The man held out a gloved hand. ‘Please, I’m on your side,’ he said, the colour of his blue eyes intensified by his dramatic, near-white complexion. His cheekbones were angular, as if carved from pale marble.
William looked at his hand, and then back at the severe face. Did he really mean that? If so, why was he at home last night, and why did he chase William through the streets? He ignored the man’s hand, pushed himself up and rushed over to Althea.
‘I don’t believe you,’ said William, helping Althea up and scowling. ‘Where’s my mum? You better not have hurt her! Who the hell do you work for?’
‘I promise I have nothing to do with her disappearance. I know it’s difficult, and at the moment you must feel like the whole town’s against you, but trust me, I’m on your side. Someone dear was taken from me by the same people who’ve taken your mother.’ The man ran a hand through his black hair, a white streak in his fringe shining in the thin daylight that penetrated the alley.
‘Why were you after me last night, then?’ asked William, scowl fading. If this man was telling the truth then maybe he could help them. Maybe he knew more than they did. He wasn’t going to let his guard down though; it could be a clever trick and they could end up falling straight into his hands.
‘I tried, I called out just as you left, but you carried on running. I guessed it might’ve been your mother who’d fallen victim, but when you didn’t listen I assumed you could’ve been involved with the abduction, and I had to find you. I’ve been tracking the people behind this since my wife was taken two weeks ago. I’ve always been one step behind them, arriving moments too late, but this time I found you and thought you might be able to help me.’
‘I was in a state last night. Nothing was really clear,’ replied William, still uncertain. ‘I thought you were going to kill me, so I ran. I needed to help my mum, so I couldn’t risk confronting you.’
