They fell to the floor as the beam tracked them and Zack took Leonard from Street’s shoulder and cradled him in his lap. Somewhere in the distance they heard a series of other explosions as the Wildcats picked off the remaining Red Eyes in the south, the north, and the west.
“Leo, we made it,” Zack whispered. Tears fell from Zack’s eyes and fell into the dust on Leonard’s face. The sensation roused him and Leonard smiled, reaching up and touching Zack on the cheek. “I told you there was another way out.”
“I know, Zack. I never stopped believing the clouds would clear.”
Soon they were surrounded by troops. They were taken by van back towards what Zack thought was the Resource Centre. On the way they passed Omega Tower, burning in the distance, alight like a candle. Zack looked to Emily who travelled in the seat next to him. They both knew the likelihood was that neither her father nor mother had made it out. She tried to stop it before it happened, but the tears were strong and she couldn’t help but cry for that which she had lost. She wished she had the photograph of her parents, but it had been left in Omega Tower. Zack held her while he watched the soldiers tending to Leonard’s wounds, feeding drips of saline into his arms.
The warehouse-like structure had been turned into a field hospital. Somebody was stringing up emergency lighting and propping up beds for the injured. Another team was piling up body bags, filled with those who hadn’t survived the slaughter. Those in charge were dressed just like the soldiers who had passed them in the tunnels. Many of them were collecting names and numbers, registering everybody on one of three lists.
Resident.
Guardian.
Regime.
Zack sat with Emily at his side, dust still covering their faces. He looked at the destruction all around him and realised that sometimes it was only chaos that could bring peace. But he also knew that he was not the first person to think such a dangerous thought.
Chapter Sixty Nine
Over the course of the next few weeks each individual was allotted a residency status based on which list they had been registered upon. Emily had been registered on the REGIME list, and it had taken a degree of convincing and two days of separation from Zack for the authorities to accept that she was an innocent bystander who didn’t deserve punishment. Even then the decision was only taken to free her from custody when Zack agreed to keep her under house arrest. He had been allocated a small, two bedroom house on a narrow side street close to the sea on Canvey Island. In the morning it was possible to open the widows and hear the sound of the waves lapping against the shore. The breeze whipped through the house each day, coating everything in a layer of sand. Leonard managed to put on weight and was soon up to walking. The fresh air seemed to do him good, bringing blood to his cheeks and life to his spirit.
The population in the north had survived Operation Boa. They had been there all along, but due to a tight defensive line called the Northern Defence Dome they had struggled to breach the border. The so-called President Grayson had utilised a powerful defence technology system called the Ring of Fire, made up of ground troops and Challenger Two tanks equipped with ground to air missile systems. The radar system had been almost impenetrable and managed to block communication completely to the point that not even the rest of Europe knew they were there. Only when they lost power were their radio transmissions able to get through, allowing for a temporary two way exchange of information. They managed to intercept a miscellany of communications in the last days of New Omega and decided that it was time to strike. The second interruption to power enabled the passage of the Wildcats. But by that time Brent Ravenscroft had already given the order to destroy the towers. He had also taken it upon himself to instruct the Guardians to kill all remaining residents in the dying stages of New Omega. They knew it was over and wanted to cover up what had been created. The Guardians followed their instructions well. Even Epsilon had been rigged with charges, set to explode when all other towers were targeted.
The Guardians were being held underground in what used to be the Underground system, along with the rest of the regime. Trials were planned, but considerable delays in justice were expected, perhaps taking years to process the numbers. The only trials rushed forwards were that of the Conservators, Brent Ravenscroft, and Margareta. Emily was not in attendance under the conditions of her house arrest. Instead Zack attended and returned with news of their imprisonment on a nearby island. It was anticipated that the war effort in Europe would stabilise and that all prisoners would be tried under international law. The authorities seemed keen to return to a degree of pre-war normality, and just hearing the mention of ‘The Hague’ seemed to settle people - even those who had followed the regime of New Omega like a religion. They even managed to integrate the surviving Drifters from Dover and Hastings. They were either relieved it was over, or damned good at adapting to circumstance.
It took over two months for the authorities to determine that Emily was no longer required for further evidence, and that she was free to leave the house she shared with Zack and Leonard. On the day when the news of her freedom came, delivered in a small note by one of the soldiers who manned the old Town Hall of Canvey Island, there was only one thing she wanted to do. She walked with Zack until they reached the edge of land where they looked out to sea. They stood for a while watching the waves, listening to the sound of time passing by, full of unknown promises. She turned to him as they sat down, their feet dangling over the old sea defence wall, the taste of salt rich on her lips, her newly cropped hair matted from the bitter wind.
She took his hand in hers. Their gloves were thick, but still her fingers were numb from the cold. She wasn’t accustomed to life outside yet. “Zack, is this what freedom is?”
He smiled. “Yes. Feeling the wind against your skin, listening to the sound of the world ticking along. This is freedom,” he said as a wave crashed against the wall, spraying them with sea foam. It was overwhelming for him even now after two months of having the freedom to come and go as he pleased. He couldn’t imagine how it must have felt for her.
“That’s not what I meant.” She edged in close and he slipped an arm across her back. She rubbed the back of her hand against her nose and wiped away a drip. The sun was edging towards the horizon and she watched as it reflected in the irises of his eyes. It made him look alive with fire, full of energy and potential.
“What did you mean?” he asked.
“To have the choice to be here. To have the choice to be with the person we want to spend our life with. To know that you are with me. To know that I am with you.” She nuzzled into his neck and brushed her forehead against the stubble on his face.
“I think so.” He pulled her in tighter. Her hair didn’t smell of sage or jasmine anymore. Instead it smelt of her. “But it’s not just that. It’s about always believing in possibility.” He thought of Leonard asleep on the couch back at home, wrapped up under a blanket and warmed by the fire he had set just before they left. “It’s being able to see the lights, even when you know they are not there.”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
> Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty Two
Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter Thirty Five
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty Seven
Chapter Thirty Eight
Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty One
Chapter Forty Two
Chapter Forty Three
Chapter Forty Four
Chapter Forty Five
Chapter Forty Six
Chapter Forty Seven
Chapter Forty Eight
Chapter Forty Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty One
Chapter Fifty Two
Chapter Fifty Three
Chapter Fifty Four
Chapter Fifty Five
Chapter Fifty Six
Chapter Fifty Seven
Chapter Fifty Eight
Chapter Fifty Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty One
Chapter Sixty Two
Chapter Sixty Three
Chapter Sixty Four
Chapter Sixty Five
Chapter Sixty Six
Chapter Sixty Seven
Chapter Sixty Eight
Chapter Sixty Nine
The Dawn: Omnibus edition (box set books 1-5) Page 66
