‘Whoa,’said Curtis. ‘This is bad.’
My mind span. Unprecedented. People unaccounted for. My dad. My sister.
Chapter Twelve
‘See if you can find any safety information,’said Leon.‘You know, some kind of website about what to do when there's a flood.'
Greg typed again. He quickly found websites about flooding and safety, but as he clicked through, his face turned pale.
‘What do you think he’s found?’whispered Byron, only to me. ‘The website of doom?’
I think he was trying to be funny, but I didn't laugh. It wasn’t the time for jokes. And after the comments he'd made about my friendship with Gemma, and the argument over the phone, his presence was making me feel uneasy. I moved away, stood closer to Leon.
‘We're screwed,’said Greg, reading down the list of flood hazards. 'There's no way we’re going to survive all this.'
Greg had a habit of seeing the worst in things, but maybe this time he had a point. I stared through the window. The treetops thrashed in the wind. Thunderclouds were moving in. That’s all we needed, the weather getting worse rather than better.
Moments later, my phone buzzed. A text from my mum:
Ella safe, trapped in nail bar. Dad found. Injured, but not serious. Will call soon, so stay by phone. Please keep safe. We’re doing what we can. Mum. XXX
The relief was instant, massive. Some good news within the gloom. It felt as if I was floating, five-stone lighter.
‘They’re okay!’I cried, sharing my joy. ‘My dad and my sister are okay! And my mum’s trying to organise our rescue - '
Leon flung his arms around me.
‘That’s great news,’he said jubilantly. ‘Twenty minutes tops. I reckon twenty minutes until we hear sirens. A giant fire engine will come ploughing through the water, then we’ll be out of here.’
Curtis and Greg cheered. Even Gemma looked pleased, genuinely pleased. She offered her pinky, linked it with mine. I wanted Byron to see, to give him proof that, beneath her issues, Gemma had a good side. But in the middle of all the excitement, with everyone swarming round me, all the fuss, all the hugs,he’d disappeared.
An hour later, the rain and wind was still battering the windowsandthere was no sight or sign of anyone, let alone a fire engine. My stomach had started to ache with hunger, and although I didn’t need to go yet, I was starting to wonder where and how I’d pee. There were no toilets in Vis A. The nearest block was along the link corridor in the main school building, but that would require wading - and my clothes had only just dried. I took them from the rack, went into the supply cupboard and changed.
As I came out, I noticed Byron creeping about by the pottery wheels. For a moment, I worried he’d been spying on me getting dressed, then I realised he was oblivious to my presence. He was pushing something with his feet, trying to nudge it into a corner behind some slip buckets. I coughed.
‘All right?’I said.
He looked up, startled.
'Yes, fine,' he said.
He brushed his hands and came out of the corner, pushed past me like I was in his way.
‘You know, your hair’s lost all its straightness,’he said.
I blinked. Was this supposed to be an insult? Had I upset him in some way? I was totally confused.
‘Straight hair doesn’t suit you anyway,' he continued. 'And, let's face it, one afternoon of neat hair isn't going to make Leon fall in love with you - '
‘Leon?’
‘That’s who you straightened it for, isn’t it?’
‘I - um -’
Once again, he’d caught me out. He’d only just met me, yet he’d practically read my mind. What was it he’d said, about‘sensory acuity’? I wasn’t sure whether to be offended or amazed.
‘I wouldn’t get too hung up on what Leon thinks, anyway,’he added. ‘From what I gather, he isn’t picky. He’ll chase anything with a pulse. You could do better.’
I was so flustered by his comments, I couldn't think straight. In the end, I walked away. I didn’t know what else to do. I returned to the others, who were still discussing potential escape routes, and slipped back into the flock, stood as close to Leon as I could without looking like a weirdo.
‘Even if rescue is on its way,’said Leon, in the manner of an army commander,‘we still need a Plan B. Curtis, you check the internal door at the bottom of the stair well, the one that leads to the link corridor, see if there’s a way we can get into the rest of the school, for toilets and snack machines. Greg, you keep checking the Internet for updates, and Gemma, you start gathering useful items.’
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know. Tools? Gaffer tape? Rope? Rope would be good.’
Gemma shrugged and walked off.
‘Where am I going to find rope?’she muttered. ‘This is an art room, not a naval base.’
Leon didn’t have a task for me, but when he was done organising, he caught my eye.
‘Any ideas?’he said.
‘Er, rafts?' I replied, smiling. 'At least you seem to know what you're doing.'
‘Well, my brother used to take me on wilderness weekends when I was younger. We learned survival skills, but it was kid’s stuff, like, I don’t know, how to make twig dens or how to bake a potato on a fire - '
‘Twig dens? You never know. Could be useful if the school washes away and we have to survive in the open air?’
‘True. I've heard the foundations aren’t very good.’
‘I’ll stick with you then.’
‘Wise move. My twig dens are the best.’
We both laughed.
‘Do you think we’ll be okay?’I said.
He looked to the window then back at me.
‘Sure,’he said. ‘We’ll be out of here before you know it.’
Our gazes locked. I couldn’t say for certain, but it seemed like he was thinking the same thing as me: we’ll get out of here and then we’ll have to go our separate ways.
Chapter Thirteen
Curtis spent ten minutes trying to bust the door to the link corridor. He took his shoes and socks off, waded into the water, and wrestled the door handle–only to conclude it was locked. Greg, who’d been filling his head with all sorts of website-of-doom facts about floods, suddenly started yelling:
‘Be careful! The watermight be contaminated!’
When Curtis heard this, he got out fast and began to scream.
‘My feet! They’re melting! Acid water!’
It was funny. For a nano-second. But Curtis being Curtis carried the joke on. And on. Ten minutes later he was still telling people he had no feeling in his big toes - until Byron interrupted.
‘It might be funny to you now,’he said coolly,‘but contamination is a killer. Once a plumbing network is overrun, the nasties get everywhere. And when I say nasties, I mean nasties.’
‘Like what?’
‘Toxic waste, garbage, fertilizer, excrement, dead animals –you name it.’
‘Yuck,’said Curtis, rubbing his feet.‘How do you knowall this stuff?’
As for Leon and I, it felt like we had to make the most of the time we had left. We sat by the radiator and chatted about the various music festivals we’d been to and the ones we wanted to go to. It felt good, sparky, exciting–until the subject matter strayed into different territory.
‘So, what about boyfriends?’he said.‘Alittle bird told me you were seeing a guy from Slode Business College?’
Marshall Finch. Why did he have to bring up Marshall Finch?
‘We broke up,' I replied, as quickly as I could.
That was all I wanted to say on the matter. Don’t get me wrong, I was flattered he was curious. I knew it could only mean good things, but my messed-up ex boyfriend wasn’t a topic I liked to discuss.
‘What's his name again?’
Like he didn't know. Everyone knew. I exhaled, clenched my fists, forced myself to say it.
‘Marshall. Marshall Finch.’
'Oh,
yeah. Him. But you're through? It's over now, yeah?’
He eyed me suspiciously.
‘Definitely.’
‘What’s he up to?’
‘Not much. He quit college. He works now–sort of.’
Sort of, meaning he sat on his butt in a bedsit, drinking and smoking and playing computer games, while dodging parole officers and pretending to employment agencies that he was up for work. But really, I didn’t want to go into it. Mostly, because it still had the power upset me. My mum, my sister, my best friend–they'd all warned me about Marshall, but I hadn't listened. I'd only seen an older guy in college with a car, who went to gigs and knew about music and art and festivals, who said he could get me back-stage passes for any concert I liked, who bought me my first alcoholic drink, introduced me to his mates, promised we’d go backpacking together.
That was the idea.
The reality was that Marshall Finch was a selfish control-freak with a twisted streak.
And the rest.
‘Do you still see him?’
‘Not if I can help it.’
‘So, would you say you’re, like, available? No badassboyfriends waiting in the wings?’
‘One hundred per cent. And you?’
Leon Prentice, about to look me in the eyes and tell me he was available and ready for love.
‘Well,’he said, embarrassed. ‘Not exactly...’
Splat! My heart hitting the floor at high speed.
‘To be honest, Kate, it’s complicated, but I can -’
BEEP BEEP BEEP
We both jumped. My phone again. My mum. She always was good at interrupting. The first time I kissed Marshall in my room, she popped her head round the door to ask if we wanted pizza. I took the call.
‘Kate, listen, we're having trouble -’
Her voice was shaking. Suddenly, the reality of our situation came crashing back.
‘What? What is it?’
‘The roads are wrecked and now the bridge has gone. It's gone! The flood obliterated it. We were trying to get a rescue team to drive up to the school, but…there’s no way. We’ve heard people talking about helicopters, but we’ve not seen any. You’ll have to hold on, Kate. I’m so sorry.’
I glanced at Leon. He looked as worried as I was.
‘For how long?
She paused.
‘We–we don’t know,’she said. ‘One of the rescue workers told me things are going to get worse before they get better. Aside from the flooding, there’s no let up in the weather. At least seventy-two people have been reported missing. I don’t want any of you adding to that list, do you hear? Stay indoors, up high. Oh, and another thing, everyone’s being advised to -’
Before she could finish, the signal cut out. I clutched the phone to my chest and stared at the ceiling. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.
‘Guys,’I said, tearfully, as everyone turned to me. ‘I’m really sorry, but it’s bad news.’
Chapter Fourteen
The atmosphere plummeted. It was hard to know what was worse. The wait? Or not knowing how long the wait was going to be? A mass of cloud sunk over the hill, darkening the town. The rain came down harder, but I’d gotten used to the sound, the constant drumming as it hit the glass - it was almost hypnotic.
We sat around, chewing our nails, jiggling our feet, fighting our fear. There was a bit moretalk about another escape mission, but it didn’t stick.
‘I’m so hungry,’said Curtis, for the fifth time.
‘We're allhungry,’said Gemma. 'But you make it worse by going on and on about it.'
‘Yeah, yeah,' said Curtis. 'And you make it worse by being such a moaner.'
‘I'm only moaning because I'm in your company,' Gemma retorted.
'Just stop, both of you,' said Leon. 'It's not like we're going to be starving here for weeks. We can survive a few hours.'
‘Speak for yourself,’said Curtis. ‘But I’m literally starving. And I’m thirsty. People die of thirst, don’t they? A man needs water before he needs solids.’
‘There’s a tap over there, moron,’Gemma growled. ‘Not all liquid has to come from aluminium cans, you know - '
At this, Curtis launched towards the sink, craned his neck, and held his mouth at the spout of the tap.
‘Don't!’yelled Greg. ‘You can’t drink from there. It’s not safe. The website said even tap water gets poisoned.’
‘Yeah, right,’said Curtis nonchalantly.
‘All the toilets overflow and the crap goes everywhere. Would you drink your own crap?’
‘My crap is pure, so I’d be delighted to drink it. It’s other people’s stinky crap that’s the problem.’
‘Jesus Christ, Curtis!’said Leon, riled. ‘Don’t drink the water. Come back, sit down, and stopmoaning. No one’s going to starve or die of thirst. Instead of arguing, we need to stick together.'
A little later, he pulled me aside.
'Someone needs to take the lead,' he whispered. 'Not wanting to sound big-headed, but I think it should be me. I'm the only one who seems to know anything about survival skills. And let’s face it, no one else has the right attitude. Gemma's too stroppy, Greg’s too negative, Curtis is too nuts, and Byron, well, I don’t think we can’t trust that creep as far as we can throw him. Which leaves me. And you. You're good of course. We’ll work as a team.’
He stared into my eyes. His self-assuredness overwhelmed me. I tried to find a reason to question him, but all I could think about was the fact that he was suggesting we work as a team. A pair. A couple.
‘Yeah. Sure. It makes sense,' I said. 'You and me -’
He nodded.
‘The Dream Team. The Dream Team takes control.’
He stroked my elbow and my heart started to race. I smiled, lowered my eyelashes, tried to present the best angle of my face, tried to look sexy. Then I realised Byron was a few feet away, watching, listening in on our conversation. Leon’s comment began to loop in my head: we can’t trust that creep.
‘YOU IDIOT!’
Greg’s shout shattered the peace.
Evidently, Curtis had ignored Greg’s warning and had drunk from the tap. He came back from the sink wiping his mouth. As soon as he had everyone’s attention, he groaned, clutched his stomach and fell to the floor. I ran over.
‘Curtis! Are you okay?’I said, crouching over him.
He rolled over, waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
‘Katy,’he said. ‘You’re so sweet. Shamefully gullible, but ever so sweet.'
'And you're a dick!' said Greg. 'I told you, that water's rancid. If you get sick, it's your own fault.’
'Whatever,' said Curtis.
'Okay,' saidGreg. ‘I'll prove it. I’ll show you the websites. They all say same thing: don't drink the tap water.'
'Yeah?'
'Yeah.'
'Come on then.'
Greg returned to the computer. He pulled up a website and clicked on the mouse. He reached to adjust the monitor, so that Curtis could see the screen, but just as he did, a blue flash came from the plug. The power in the computer crackled, sparked, and cut. Giant Greg, all six feet of him, flew across the room. His limp body landed hard against a stack of chairs and for a second there was silence.
Chapter Fifteen
Three meters. I swear. He was blown a clear three meters from the computer table.
‘Greg!’ Gemma screamed. ‘GREG!’
She ran to his side. The distress in her voice was awful.
Some force, it must have taken, to send a huge gangly boy across the room like that. His arms and legs were splayed. His neck and shoulders were at a funny angle, where he’d hit the chairs. The worse thing was that there was smoke coming from his hands, char marks on his fingers.
‘Mate!' said Curtis, horrified. ‘Mate, I'm sorry. Wake up!’
They lay him down flat. Gemma started gasping, shaking all over.
‘Do something!’ she screamed. ‘Help him!’
I d
idn’t know what I could do for Greg, but I knew I could help her. I gave her a hug, held her hands, reassured her.
‘He’ll be all right,’I said.
I never felt like such a liar in my whole life. The rain surged again and the sound on the windows was deafening. It was like we were standing beneath a firing range. Gemma got to her feet and raged.
‘Why the hell can’t it JUST STOP RAINING?’
Her fists clenched. I held them tighter, cupped them in mine, and eventually she broke into sobs. However tough she seemed on the outside, she was soft inside, scared of everything going wrong.
‘He’s moving!’Leon cried.
We tensed and watched. Greg began to stir. He lifted his head and opened his eyes. Leon and Curtis held his shoulders, helped him to sit up. He looked completely dazed.
‘What the hell happened to you?’ said Curtis, with an expression that was likeguilt and fear and relief mixed into one. ‘One minute you're there, the next minute you’re over here. Seriously, that was some sic air! You should get a skate board!’
Gemma threw her arms around Greg’s shoulders, smothered him with affection. They kissed, rubbed noses. This time, I didn't begrudge them for it.
‘That was mad,’said Leon, patting Greg on the back.
Greg leaned forward and examined the burns on his fingers.
‘I got a shock, I guess, from the computer. It was when I touched the power cable on the monitor -’
Leon stood up, looked around.
‘What if it happens again?’he said. ‘I don’t think we should touch anything electrical. No one touch anything.’
‘That goes for you too, Byro’,’said Curtis.‘No touchy electrickery, got it?’
‘Yes, thank you,’said Byron, stepping into the light.
He was the only person who hadn’t rushed to Greg’s side. I wondered if he felt awkward, not really knowing him, not being part of our group. Or was it deliberate, like the way he'd walked away from Gemma when she was crying?
‘Nothing electric,’he repeated. ‘No touching. Advice noted. And it’s wise. I mean, when floodwater gets into the mains it’s lethal. By now, the generator is probably immersed, which means the whole school is live. Definitely a safety hazard.’
Rain In My Heart Page 5
