A Silence Heard

by Nicola McDonagh

  “What gives Wirt? What did Stillman say to you?”

  “He said that we must leave and forget about the others for they are doomed.”

  “Not doomed. We save,” Marcellus said and pulled free of my grip.

  “How Marcellus, how?”

  The sound of raised voices from behind the wall ceased our questioning.

  I looked to where the chatter came from and backed away.

  A small gap in the far wall appeared.

  “You must sing my dear.”

  “No, the place is too confined. I may harm you all.”

  “Kendra is right. Sing. It is our only chance,” Eadgard said and clutched Alfred to his chest.

  The slit in the wall became an opening and in poured ten fully armed guards.

  They raised their weapons at us.

  All the lights in the labrooms went out.

  All the lights where we stood became brighter.

  “Sing, Adara,” Marcellus said.

  I ran toward the guards and opened my mouth. One of them lunged towards me and slapped his hand against my lips. The other guards pointed their guns at my chest and the Agro that held my gob shut, shuffled around till I was pressed against his chest. I gagged and struggled to no avail as I was dragged backwards. Helpless in the clutches of the Agro guard, I could do nowt to appease the look of horror on the faces of my friends.

  Marcellus ran forward.

  “Do not try to intervene or we will shoot,” a guard without head hair said.

  Marcellus stopped.

  “Be so good as to stand at the opposite end of the room. You too Kendra, Wirt, and most definitely you, Backpacker. Oh, and hand me that gun you have used to terrorise me,” Alfred said and stepped away from Eadgard, who reluctantly gave the Agro said firearm. Then he and my friends walked to the far wall. “Guards, join them and make sure they do no more harm.”

  The guards lowered their weapons and walked away as though nowt had occurred.

  The male that made me dumb pressed his foul hand harder over my mouth. I retched at the taste of sweat and piss upon his palm and grabbed at the fingers that stifled my voice. I dug in my nails. My attacker let out a roar but did not release his smothering grip. I dug deeper until blood oozed. Then he let go.

  I spat out the taste of him and watched as the feeble ‘dult knelt on the ground and cradled his injured paw. With a surge of hope that spurted throughout my innards, I took in a lungful and heard Marcellus call out to me, “Sing, Adara.”

  Then I heard the sound of him being thwacked.

  “Do not move or dare to let out one sound.”

  Alfred’s voice behind me.

  I turned.

  “Not so cocky now are we?” he said and stared into my eyes. He snorted and walked past me to stand next to a guard I recognised from when we landed. “Adara, be so good as to go to that far cubicle with the rest of your friends. And do not think of making a sound Auger. As you can see,” he pointed behind me. I turned my head. “We have the advantage.”

  I saw Eadgard, Wirt and Kendra facing a blacked-out lab room. Behind each of them a guard stood holding a metal spike to the base of their skulls.

  “If you harm them I’ll…”

  Alfred laughed.

  I felt a sharp thump in the small of my back.

  “Move.”

  I did not.

  Another jab in the spine from something pointy.

  “Move wolf bitch, or I swear I’ll push this thing in deep.”

  I let out a cry as whatever it was that was digging into my flesh touched muscle.

  “Easy Horace,” Alfred said. “I suggest you do as he says. He is quick of temper.”

  I straightened and arched my back away from the spiky thing that said guard pressed into it, and began to walk towards my friends. From behind I heard the sound of many feet approaching. I twisted my neck around and saw at the opening a gathering of guards. Although I only caught a glimpse, I could not help notice what they carried. Nasty looking guns with spikes and blades and laser pointers all along their round black barrels. Horace backhanded my cheek and my head swung around.

  “The guards have orders to shoot anyone who causes trouble. Including any Meeks that have been speaking to you. They are forbid to make contact with anyone outside their quarters.”

  I stiffened at the sound of metal being dragged along metal.Horace pushed me towards my friends. I stumbled and fell against the guard that stood over Marcellus. He pushed me away, and my dear one, turned to face me.

  “Sing, Adara. Care not for rest. Sing, sing now.”

  Horace walloped my brave one across the face with the handle of the pointy weapon he had thrust into me. Marcellus reeled backwards, holding his chin. Horace gave him another hard smack and down my sweet one went. The guard loomed over his scrunched up body and lifted his weapon ready to give him a fatal blow. A thing I could not let happen.

  I hurled forward, glad I leant towards the bulky side, and smashed into his back. We both topple and I was able to straddle him. Marcellus rolled out of our way and I would have delivered a two fisted punch to the base of Horace’s spine, but I was dragged off by another Agro guard. He held my arms behind my back, and despite wriggling more than a bub being washed, I could not free myself from his grip.

  “Sing, Adara. Sing now!”

  Marcellus hurtled towards the cubicle where Eadgard, Wirt and Kendra stood. He gave forth a mighty yell and leapt into the air. Before the guards could move, he landed on them, bringing all three to the ground. Quicker than a Wolfie on a hunt, Eadgard came to Marcellus’s aid and gave each decked Agro a full on head thwack. Then all my friends crouched down and put their fingers in their ears.

  I opened my mouth and let rip a thunderous cry that shot throughout the place like a bolt of lightening. I watched as the Agro filth crashed to the ground, blood streaming from nose and ears. The guard that had me contained weakened his grip and I managed to yank my arms away from him. Just before he fell from the force of my voice, I gave out one more thunderclap roar.

  Even my sound holes rang from the boom I emitted. I shook my head and nodded in satisfaction at the senseless forms of the Agro menace. Then I stepped over the slumped bodies towards the entrance in the wall, looked out into the corridor and saw dozens of guards all downed by my voice.

  I touched my throat.

  It hurt like an open wound.

  I swallowed and thought for one sec that I had gulped down shards of broken glass. The sound I’d made all but tore away my air tube. I breathed in slow, turned and walked over to where my friends lay. Slumped forward, faces squashed against the floor.

  Chapter Ten

  Pressing Anything So Long As It Works

  I knelt by Kendra and put a shaky hand to the side of her neck. Still warm. A goodly thing indeed, for the thought of my new-found pal deceased because of my singing, made me question the use of it. A different kind of hurt filled the back of my throat and I gulped down the guilt quick before it threatened to clog my actions. I pressed two fingers against her skin and felt a pulse. I shuffled round and pulled her up and back so that she rested on my chest. Then gently shook her bod until she woke. Kendra sucked in a breath, turned her head and said, “Did it work?”

  “Yep,” I said in a hoarse whisper.

  Kendra placed her hands on the floor, pushed herself up, stood, blinked, then went straight to Eadgard. She bent close and rolled him over. He snapped open his eyes, stared into hers and smiled. Smiling back, she held out her hand and helped him to his feet.

  “All well?” she said, and clasped his fingers.

  “Well enough. The others?”

  “Not sure, my dear. I awoke not so long before your dear self.”

  “You are without harm?”

  “I merely quake a little in my thighs.”

  “Then I shall see to those that remain prone.”

  They dropped hands and Eadgard walked over to where my other friends lay. He squatted next to Wirt, p
ulled him to a sitting position and patted his cheek. He twitched, opened his spy holes and coughed up blood. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt and stood. Eadgard gave him a gentle slap on the shoulder. I threw him a smile and looked to Marcellus. The brave Clonie was already getting to his feet. He wobbled a bit, and then stood straight. I went to him, took his great mitt in mine and squeezed. He looked around the room, at the floored Agros, and nodded his head.

  “Goodly deed.”

  “All laid out flat. My dear, what a talent,” Kendra said. “How are the little ‘uns?”

  Her words sent Wirt racing to the cubicle where his kin was put. He was somewhat shaky of leg, stumbled over a collapsed guard and near fell head first into the glass, but stopped just short of the window. He bent over, hands on his knees and caught his breath. Then he stood, placed his palms against the window and looked inside.

  “Too dark. No light to see.”

  It was as if they heard him, for as soon as he finished speaking, the cubicles lit up. Wirt turned to us and said, “They are not harmed. Thanks be to the Greenman.”

  He went to the other rooms and peered in. “All good, all in shock judging by the roundness of their eyes, ye voice did nae penetrate this tough material.”

  We went to Wirt and peered inside the newly illuminated rooms. The kiddles stared back; mute statues whose fearful faces said more of their sad situation than any words could. I gripped onto Marcellus’s hand.

  The silence was broken.

  “More guards will come.”

  We turned and saw Alfred. He leant against the side of the opening in the wall and wiped a trickle of blood from underneath his nose with his embroidered sleeve.

  “Do not look so surprised Auger. I am well aware of your ability. Ryce and Atyhtan gave very accurate reports from the Monastery. I too knew to block my ears from your destructive voice.”

  Marcellus pulled his hand free from mine and strode toward the Agro.

  “Do not come any closer, Clonie,” Alfred said and pressed himself against the wall. Marcellus moved nearer to the squirming Agro. “Guards are already on their way.”

  “Adara, sing again, fell all who come,” Marcellus said. He reached out, grabbed Alfred by the arm and threw him across the room.

  The wimpy male landed on his backside on top of a guard. He endeavoured to stand but Wirt would not let him. My friend picked up one of the fallen weapons and aimed it at Alfred. The Agro gulped, and then narrowed his eyes. “You are unfamiliar with this technology,” he said and scuttled away on all fours.

  Wirt followed him pointing the gun at his head. He pressed nodule after nodule along the barrel then turned to us. “Do any of ye know how to use this thing?”

  Alfred stood and laughed. Wirt struck him across the head with the butt end of the weapon. The Agro staggered to the window of Deogol’s cubicle, scratched at the emblem on his sleeve and slid to the floor. My bro and all the kiddles slapped their hands to their foreheads, and opened their mouths wide in a contorted scream.

  We looked to the other cubicles and saw the same look of suffering on each kiddles face. Alfred, all slumped against the lab room wall, rubbed and rubbed the emblem on his sleeve. The kiddles inside the cubicles clutched at their faces and sank to their knees. Wirt ran to Alfred and raised the gun ready to strike him again.

  “Freeze!”

  The order came from the opening. A guard flanked my dozens more, stood at the entrance. He held up a weapon like the one Wirt used to floor Alfred, and said, “Drop that and step away from the gentleman.”

  Wirt lowered the weapon and walked slowly back to where I stood. The guard marched into the room. “Orders are to take you alive Auger,” he said and aimed the gun at my knees.

  I moved backwards and the guard raised the weapon so that it was parallel with my noggin. “But I have other plans.” He lifted his forefinger and pressed a button on the side of the barrel.

  Marcellus jumped in front of me.

  The guard sent a beam of red light towards his upper bod and down he fell as if a pack of Wolfies had knocked him to the ground. He lay on his back, a smoking wound cut deep into his chest.

  The guard aimed again, but before he could press down, Eadgard and Kendra hurled themselves forward and smacked into his stomach, sending him flying backwards into the guards still gathered at the entrance. They collapsed in a heap and Eadgard and Kendra adopted a defence stance, ready to fight them off when they came to their senses. Wirt ran to Alfred and let him have the full force of the weapon across his cheek. Alfred fell hard onto the ground and lay still.

  I looked to the kiddles.

  All ceased their screaming.

  I turned my attention to the entrance.

  Kendra and Eadgard were throwing thwacks and smacks and thumps at Agro after Agro guard that tried to enter. But no matter how many they floored, more came. Wirt looked at me with anxiousness, lifted the gun and turned it over and over in his hand.

  “I do not know what to press,” he said.

  I went to him, grabbed the thing from his shaking hands and pointed it at the doorway. “Kendra, Eadgard, drop,” I said.

  They didn’t.

  My voice over taxed from my earlier efforts had left it weak and hoarse and useless as a means to convey danger.

  “Do ye know how it works?” Wirt said and tugged on my sleeve.

  I shook my head.

  “Use it. Press anything,” he said and raced to help our friends. Good, brave, Wirt threw himself into the fray and kicked and punched heads, torsos, and any Agro limb that came his way. He was kicked and thumped back, but did not fall.

  More guards came.

  A big Agro lifted a metal bar ready to thump it down on Wirt’s skull. He held his arms over his head. I pointed the weapon at the opening and pressed a golden button on the top of the barrel. A projectile of unknown material shot out and exploded in a spattering of tiny metal shards that embedded themselves into the flesh of those unfortunate enough to be in its path. A screeching and a squalling ensued and the guards toppled to the ground. Hands held to bloodied faces.

  Wirt crawled along the floor. He stood and I noticed that although bruised and swollen of cheek, he did not appear to have succumbed to the bombardment of metallic splinters. The same could not be said of Kendra.

  She was on her knees, head bent, rocking back and forth. Wirt hurried to her side. Eadgard pushed away a shrieking guard that lay on top of him and stood. It did not take him long to see Kendra, and he raced to where she knelt. Both he and Wirt pulled her up and led her to where I stood. Her face had taken some of the force and was embedded with nasty slivers of metal. I gulped hard at he sight of her perfect features all torn and bloody, and moved my eyes from the sorry sight, only to see the motionless figure of Marcellus on the floor.

  I felt a soft touch on my arm and turned my attention back to Kendra, who stood opposite me, pale and trembling. I bit my lip. She patted my hand and said, “Do not look so sad my dear. The injury is not so bad. Now, aim that thing again and fire until all are dead.”

  My eyes were clouded with wet, but I did what she asked, pressed two more buttons and fired. This time, a flurry of nails escaped along with a vast net that shot into the air then landed on top of all the guards. The nails slammed into the edges of the thing, so that all were pinned beneath it. Not much of a weapon I thought, and threw it to the ground. Still it did the trick and kept them trapped all blubbering and moaning. Weaklings that they were.

  “Tend to your cherished friend,” Kendra said.

  Eadgard took my arm and together we walked to where Marcellus lay. I knelt by his side and placed his great mitts in mine. I raised them to my lips and kissed.

  “Wait long time for that.”

  “Marcellus! Alive!” I cried and without restraint, kissed and kissed again his wrists and fingertops.

  “Nice, but not so hard,” he said and I released his hands from mine. He opened his eyes and winced.

  “Your
injuries are serious my friend,” Eadgard said, and knelt beside me.

  “We Clonies, heal fast.”

  “Maybe, but this wound is from a weapon we have no knowledge of.”

  “Help to feet,” Marcellus said and tried to raise himself, but slumped back down.

  “No, lay still, you are too much injured,” I said and gently stroked his cheek.

  “Must stand. Must leave. Cannot stay here.”

  Eadgard stood. “This is true. More guards are bound to come.” He stared around the room and I did too.

  The place was strewn with a whole heap of guards squirming underneath the sturdy mesh that trapped them. Some were on their backs, fingers intertwined between the holes in the material, desperately trying to pull it apart. But the webbing proved to be too strong, and their efforts did no more than give them extra wounds to nurse in the form of deep cuts to knuckles and hands. They kept trying though amid moans and grunts of frustration. Eadgard shook his head when one guard nearly sliced his lip off in an attempt to bite through.

  He turned to me. “Adara, have you any meds that could help Marcellus or Kendra?”

  “Some, not much. Kendra may have more. Attend to her injuries and I will see what goodies I can salvage to somewhat restore Marcellus.”

  He nodded and left. I removed my Synthbag and peered at the hole in Marcellus’s chest and saw that it was deep. Much blood had escaped and a tiny flow remained. I rummaged through my bag and could find little that would absorb such a stream of blood, and then I noticed the very things that would. I swallowed back my embarrassment and pulled out four reddy sponges, some steri-wipes and bandages. Marcellus clocked the blood soakers and despite his lack of colour, went a pale pink.

  “Use what must,” he said and closed his eyes.

  I squeezed a steri-wipe into the hole and used another to clean around the edge of the gash. He stiffened in pain and I caressed the back of his hand. He relaxed a little and as gently as I could, pushed two of the sponges deep into the wound. He gave out a small cry and I discretely wiped away the moisture from his tight-closed eyes. Then I pulled him forward so as to rest against my shoulder, and wrapped the bandage tight around his chest. I searched for a pain relief capsule and found two.