Every Second Counts

by Sophie McKenzie

  Nat

  ‘What is it?’ Aaron tightened his grip.

  ‘Come on, Aaron,’ his mother said, an edge of worry to her voice. ‘We need to get you home. You were assaulted a few hours ago.’

  ‘I’m fine, Mum.’

  ‘Are you really okay?’ I asked.

  Aaron nodded. ‘What were you going to say?’

  ‘It’s just . . . It’s Lucas – he woke up from his coma . . .’

  Aaron’s eyes lit up. ‘That’s amazing. Jas will be thrilled.’

  ‘Yes.’ I paused. ‘The thing is, he refused to stay in the hospital but he’s not well enough for me to take him with me to – to find out where Charlie is . . .’

  ‘We’ll take him,’ Aaron said without hesitation.

  ‘We’ll what?’ His mum stared at him.

  ‘Where is he?’ Aaron turned, ready to go back inside the hospital. ‘Which ward?’

  ‘Aaron, wait.’ His mum exchanged an impatient look with the bodyguard. ‘We can’t just take him.’

  ‘He’s Jas’s brother,’ Aaron said firmly. ‘We have to help him.’

  ‘He won’t go back inside the hospital,’ I said. ‘He’s basically fine, just a bit weak. I don’t have anywhere to take him so, if you don’t help, he’ll spend the night outside.’

  ‘Oh, goodness.’ I could see Aaron’s mum wavering.

  ‘Where is he?’ Aaron repeated.

  ‘Er, he’s actually waiting for me over there . . .’ I pointed to the patch of shrubbery where I’d left Lucas. ‘He’s really okay, considering; just needs to, er, rest a bit—’

  ‘Please bring the car over there, Mum.’ Aaron cut through me, suddenly full of authority.

  His mother hesitated, then shrugged. ‘Okay, if he’s really well enough.’ She issued a long-suffering sigh. ‘I suppose we could look after him until Jas’s parents can take him.’

  She set off to get the car while I led Aaron and the bodyguard across the car park. Lucas was still slumped where I left him. He attempted a smile when he saw me, which turned to a look of alarm as he clocked Aaron and the bodyguard.

  ‘Who are they?’ he asked.

  I indicated Aaron. ‘This is Aaron.’ I paused. ‘He’s Jas’s boyfriend.’

  ‘What?’ Lucas’s eyes widened. ‘Jas has a boyfriend? When the hell did that happen?’

  ‘Aaron can tell you all about it,’ I said. ‘He’s going to take you somewhere safe.’

  ‘Somewhere where Riley and the EFA won’t think to look for you,’ Aaron added.

  Lucas gazed from me to Aaron, then back to me again. He looked dazed. ‘He’s against Riley as well?’

  I nodded. Perhaps sending Lucas off with Aaron – and giving him a chance to talk to him and Jas – would convince him at last about Riley’s real nature.

  ‘Let me help you up.’ Aaron hurried to Lucas’s other side. Between us we lifted him off the ground. I was shocked, again, by how slight he felt. With the bodyguard’s help, we got him on to the tarmac, just as Aaron’s mum pulled up.

  Aaron opened the back door and Lucas collapsed on to the seat.

  ‘Are you sure we shouldn’t take him back into the hospital?’ Mrs Latimer asked, leaning out of her window.

  ‘No way.’ Lucas sat up, opening his eyes. ‘If everything Nat’s told me is true, then Riley will want me out of the way as soon as he realises I’ve come round.’

  Aaron’s mum looked anxious.

  ‘He’ll be fine, Mrs Latimer, he just needs food and rest,’ I said, hoping that this was true and that Lucas wasn’t about to relapse into another coma because of all the stress of being moved about.

  ‘Remember you promised to call me if you hear from Jas before I do, yeah?’ Aaron said, walking around the car to the other side.

  ‘I will,’ I said.

  From inside the car, Lucas gave me an exhausted nod. My chest tightened as he was driven away. Had I done the right thing, letting Aaron take him? I gave myself a shake as I hurried away from the hospital, on to the street. There wasn’t a choice. I had to find Charlie. According to my phone it was a quarter past eleven. I should be able to get to Riley’s house within the hour.

  Charlie

  I hurried up the road towards the underground station. I was shivering with cold now and people were still staring at my bare legs and at the torn skirt of my dress. I had to find a way to cover up. It wasn’t just my legs; I also needed to find a way to hide my face from the CCTV cameras in the tube station.

  I passed a tourist shop selling badges and teddy bears. A shelf of scarves and jumpers met my eyes. I darted inside, quickly glancing over a rack of sweatshirts. They were hideous – either pale pink with an embroidered rainbow or neon yellow with a rag doll – but at least they had hoods and came with a pair of shorts. Gritting my teeth, I snatched a pink set off the rack, shoved some money at the guy behind the counter and left.

  I tugged the sweatshirt on as I walked, then stopped to hoik the shorts up over my dress. I looked awful, I was sure, but at least with the hood pulled up it would be harder for the police and Riley’s men to spot me.

  I reached the tube station and quickly bought a ticket. I had two objectives. Firstly, to find Nat and warn him that he and Jas were ill. And, secondly, to find out where Riley was keeping the antidote and steal enough to cure them both.

  I would start by breaking in to Riley’s own house. Even if he didn’t have any antidote on the premises, he would almost certainly have information about Operation Silvercross – including, I was hoping, where the antidote was being stored.

  As I headed down to the platform, I couldn’t stop thinking that in less than two days Nat would be dead. It filled me with terror. This wasn’t the same as the adrenalin-fuelled nervousness before a mission that was almost enjoyable for the sharp focus it gave me – the anticipation of triumph after dread. No, this was a dark, pitiless horror that if Nat died I wouldn’t be able to bear it. That I had already lost Mum, that Uchi was useless as a father, that without Nat I had nothing and no one who truly mattered in my life.

  The thought of it made me feel sick. I shook myself. I had to concentrate on my mission.

  Half an hour later I arrived at Riley’s house. I crept the last few metres, peering around the trees through the bars of the gate at the end of Riley’s drive. Two cars and a van were parked in the drive and an EFA soldier stood outside the front door. After ten minutes he set off on a patrol around the house. It took about ninety seconds. Ten minutes after he reappeared, he set off again. I stored the information: the grounds of the house formed a perimeter and the soldier was sweeping it every ten minutes.

  As I watched from the dark shadows of the trees, a light came on in the downstairs window. For a few moments I could see Riley, talking animatedly with Taylor, Uchi and Martina. A figure was shoved in through the door. I gasped with horror. It was Latimer, his arms tied and his face bruised.

  Had he just been punished for helping me escape?

  A moment later a soldier I didn’t recognise brought Latimer out of the house. I watched, feeling helpless, as he shoved the Mayor across the gravel.

  ‘This won’t work,’ Latimer was muttering. ‘It will get out of control. Riley won’t be able to contain the spread of the virus. Too many people will die.’

  ‘You’ll be dead too, if you don’t shut up,’ the soldier snarled.

  I shrank into the shadows as the man bundled Latimer into the back of a van then drove off. I peered back at the house in time to see Martina drawing the curtains at the dining-room window.

  I took a deep breath. If Latimer had been taken, then the resistance had lost its only political ally. Nat was in trouble. Operation Silvercross was underway. It was down to me to turn things around.

  And then a hand touched my shoulder. I jumped, started to turn, but the hand pulled me back as the best, most familiar voice in the world whispered in my ear.

  ‘Charlie, shh . . .’

  Nat released me and I spun round.

&n
bsp; He was standing right in front of me, his finger to his lips. His dark hair was ruffled, falling over his face, his bright blue eyes full of emotion.

  We stared at each other. I couldn’t speak. Was he alright? He didn’t look ill, but then Riley had said the symptoms didn’t properly show until the final day.

  ‘Charlie?’ He frowned. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Just – just surprised. I didn’t hear you creeping up on me,’ I whispered.

  Nat’s face broke into a grin and my heart cracked into a million pieces. I loved him so, so much. It was terrifying but amazing, all in one.

  ‘You’re not the only one with stealth and combat training,’ he whispered, moving nearer.

  His face was so close to mine, our lips almost touching.

  ‘I thought you were in prison,’ he went on.

  ‘I got out,’ I whispered, feeling my knees wobble. ‘Oh, Nat, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you before. You were right; Riley was really hard to lie to and he didn’t believe me any—’

  ‘Shh.’ He took my arms. ‘None of that matters, it’s just so good to—’ He stopped as I winced at the light pressure of his fingers against my sore skin. Nat’s face clouded over.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ he said.

  ‘It’s nothing, I—’

  But Nat was already rolling up my right sleeve. He let out a low, angry hiss as he looked at the red raw skin on my arm.

  ‘Who did this to you?’ he demanded.

  ‘I did it myself, escaping.’ I reached up and took his face in my hands. ‘I’m okay. Really.’ I looked into his eyes. He had no idea he was infected, no clue that he was under a death sentence right now and that he was a walking weapon – fatal to anyone he came in contact with who hadn’t been given the antidote. ‘It’s so good to see you.’

  Nat smiled again, then lowered his face to mine.

  Nat

  For a minute I actually forgot where I was. Then the reality of the situation flooded back and I pulled away from Charlie. I had come to find her – and she was here. All that mattered now was getting away, picking up Lucas, and finding Jas and Mum and Dad.

  Riley would go on and the resistance would crumble. If Parveen and the others had been captured, they were probably already dead. If they’d got away, then they could hide out too.

  None of that mattered any more. All I cared about was making sure Charlie and the rest of my family were together. Together, we could be safe.

  Charlie was smiling up at me, but there were tears in her eyes. I’d never seen her so close to crying before. I hugged her, unable to find words to express how I felt. She let me hold her for a moment, then disentangled herself.

  ‘We have to get inside,’ she whispered.

  What on earth was she talking about? ‘Inside what?’

  ‘Riley’s house,’ she said, pointing towards the gates. ‘He’s in there; so are Uchi – that’s, er, my birth dad – and Taylor. So was Mr Latimer until a couple of minutes ago. They’re holding him prisoner. I just saw them take him away in a van.’

  I swore. ‘Latimer’s a prisoner? I need to let Aaron know.’ I took out my phone.

  ‘So I’m thinking we enter via the back garden. I know the layout.’

  I stared at her. ‘But you just said they’d taken Latimer away?’ Was she mad? ‘Besides which we don’t have any weapons and there’s a guard on the front d . . .’

  Charlie bit her lip. What wasn’t she saying?

  A thought struck me. ‘Okay, so I came here for you,’ I said hesitantly. ‘But – but why on earth are you here?’

  ‘I came for details about Riley’s next operation,’ Charlie said briskly. The tears were gone from her eyes now. She folded her arms. I suddenly realised she was wearing a pale pink sweatshirt with a rainbow on the front. I had never seen her in anything remotely so girly before.

  ‘Don’t say anything.’ Charlie had followed my gaze to the sweatshirt. ‘I know it’s hideous. I needed a hood.’

  I took a deep breath. ‘Never mind Riley’s next operation. Let’s just leave here, right now and forget Riley.’ I said. ‘Mum and Dad and Jas are in hiding. And Lucas . . .’ I stopped, remembering that Charlie would have no idea about him coming out of his coma.

  ‘We have to find out about it,’ she said stubbornly. ‘It’s called Operation Silvercross. Mr Latimer told me the name. He helped me escape so I could help stop it happening.’

  ‘Okay, but there’s nothing we can do unarmed and alone. The resistance is gone. Latimer’s a prisoner. Riley’s won. At least for now.’

  ‘I won’t accept that.’ Charlie hesitated, as if there was something else she wanted to say, but couldn’t bring herself to. ‘We need to know about Operation Silvercross. We’re here. There must be information inside Riley’s house. It’s down to us to find it.’

  ‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ I insisted. ‘If we try and break into Riley’s house, we’ll just end up being captured ourselves.’

  Charlie looked away. What was going on?

  ‘Charlie?’

  ‘What were you going to say about Lucas?’ she asked, still not meeting my eyes.

  I explained quickly, then took Charlie’s hand. I was still sure there was something she wasn’t telling me.

  ‘Please, Charlie,’ I said. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘We need to find out about Operation Silvercross,’ she repeated stubbornly. ‘You have to trust me on that.’

  ‘Tell me why.’

  Charlie pressed her lips together and stared up at me. Her dark, slanting eyes looked haunted.

  ‘What is this?’ I demanded. ‘Why won’t you trust me?’ She said nothing. I moved closer again. ‘You can keep pushing me away if you like,’ I said, ‘but I’m not going anywhere. So you might as well tell me whatever it is.’

  Her lips trembled.

  I wracked my brains. ‘Is this something to do with your dad? Or that boy I saw you with on the video? Riley’s son?’

  ‘No.’ Charlie’s voice shook. ‘This has nothing to do with Spider. Or anyone else. We have to break into Riley’s house and find out about Operation Silvercross because of you.’

  And then she told me.

  Charlie

  Nat listened in stunned silence, only speaking once I’d finished.

  ‘What about you? Are you sure you’re alright?’ he asked.

  I nodded. ‘Riley said my father insisted I was given the antidote to the virus. Aaron’s had it too. But anyone who hasn’t had it will be infected if you or Jas get within a metre of them.

  ‘So Jas will die too,’ he breathed. ‘And Mum and Dad. And Lucas.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Nat.’

  ‘And everyone that any of us have been anywhere near . . .’ he went on, clearly in shock. ‘People at the hospital . . . Aaron’s mother . . . the bodyguard . . . everyone I brushed past on the way here, everyone Mum and Dad and Jas have been near.’

  ‘That’s right, unless they’ve had the antidote. Riley’s planning on pretending to uncover the whole thing and finding the antidote in time to save almost everyone, but . . .’

  ‘But not me and Jas – and quite possibly not Mum and Dad and Lucas . . . And anyway there’ll be people who won’t know they’re sick until it’s too late and –’ Nat groaned, ‘– oh my God, Charlie. This is . . .’ He looked at me, unable to find the words to express the pain that was etched in his face.

  ‘I know.’ As I spoke, I felt a stab of guilt that I’d already been given the antidote. I wanted to apologise. But that wasn’t going to help Nat. Instead, I took his hand. ‘Do you see now why we need to get inside Riley’s house and find out about Operation Silvercross?’

  ‘I do, but – but surely there are other people we could tell about this. It’s so extreme, even Riley’s supporters will think he’s gone too far if they know what—’

  ‘No one will believe us; we’re still wanted, remember? And even if they do, by the time they’ve got it together to raid Riley’s house, hi
s spies will have told him they’re coming. Either way, it’ll be too late to get you or Jas the antidote.’

  Nat stayed silent for a long time. His face was pale and strained. I wanted to put my arms around him, to hold him and share with him how terrible I felt about him being infected. But he seemed too lost in his own thoughts and I didn’t know how to break through them – or even if he’d want me to.

  At last he looked up, a new determination in his eyes.

  ‘Okay, let’s break in,’ he said. ‘The information is most likely to be in Riley’s office on the first floor at the back of the house. We can get in through the back garden, like you said.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘There’s a gate through to the garden at the end of the side passage. We have to time it between the soldiers doing their sweep of the house every ten minutes.’

  ‘We can do that.’ Nat grimaced. ‘Hey, d’you remember when we broke in here before? That stupid test Taylor made us do?’

  ‘Yeah, when we thought it was a League of Iron house.’ I made a face too. ‘Riley’s made fools of us too often.’

  Nat gave a curt nod. ‘Believe me,’ he said, ‘Riley’s made fools of us for the last time.’

  Nat

  My head reeled as we waited for the soldier to disappear from the front of the house on his next patrol. I was ill, infected with a deadly virus. It was surreal, especially as I felt fine. And yet if everything Charlie had found out was true, I only had a day or so to live. Jas, who had been captured and infected with the virus before me, must have even less time; our parents and Lucas maybe a little more.

  I shook myself, forcing myself to focus on the task in front of me. Charlie had counted that it took approximately ninety seconds for the EFA solider at the front door to walk around the building, which gave us a window of approximately twenty seconds – while he was on the far side of the house – to get into the back garden.

  Still trying to push all thoughts of the virus out of my head, I busied myself with my phone. I had two messages. One from Jas and one from Aaron. They had been in touch with each other. Jas was safe with Mum and Dad. They were all overjoyed that Lucas had come round from his coma. Lucas himself was asleep. Mum, Dad and Jas were travelling to Aaron’s house now. This was risky, of course, but I could just imagine how my family would react if I told them to stay away from Lucas.