by Steph Matuku
‘Finally. Moses, find out if he knows anything. We’ll see you up there.’ He left, fingers pressed to his temples.
Moses gave a mock salute to the empty doorway. ‘He’s not himself at the moment.’
‘Whatever,’ said Rocky. ‘I bet he was always a dick.’
Moses grinned. ‘Yeah. You could be right.’ He held Rocky’s head gently and looked into his eyes.
With one swift movement Rocky brought his hands up, grabbed Moses around his thick neck and head-butted him.
Moses’s nose broke with a sickening crunch, and he cried out. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground with Rocky and the chair on top of him. He tried to heave Rocky off him, but Rocky jabbed two fingers at his eyes, once, twice.
Moses howled and, blinded, lashed out randomly with his fist, catching the side of the chair instead. Rocky rose up, turned and rammed the chair into Moses’s gut. The big man let out a whoomp of air and lay gasping, unable to catch his breath.
‘His belt!’ Devin cried.
Rocky fumbled for the knife and then quickly hacked at the ties holding his legs. He waved the knife threateningly at Moses, but Moses was in no condition to retaliate. He lay in a ball, groaning, his hands over his eyes, blood seeping through his fingers.
Rocky sawed at Devin’s restraints, and when she was free, he tore the mosquito net from its hook and coiled it round and round to make a thick rope.
‘What are you doing?’ Devin said.
‘Tying him up. Like they did.’
‘But he wasn’t all bad. He lied to Griff for us. And he’s hurt.’
‘He’s still one of them,’ Rocky said. ‘He’s still responsible.’
Devin reached for Rocky’s hand. ‘It’s okay.’ Her voice was warm and there was a teasing smile on her face. ‘Forget about him.’ Still holding his hand, she stepped lightly in towards him and out again and then raised his arm and twirled underneath, her hips swaying to a beat Rocky couldn’t hear.
He twisted his hand away and pinched her arm. ‘Devin!’
‘Ow!’ She blushed. ‘Sorry.’
Rocky looked down at Moses. ‘Don’t come after us. I’ve got your knife.’
Moses lifted his hands away from his face. It was covered with blood, and his eyes were swollen closed. ‘You got no worries about that.’
Rocky averted his gaze from the damage he’d done to Moses’s face and checked through the little plastic window.
‘It’s all clear,’ he said to Devin. ‘After you.’
They slipped out the door.
82
Security had lapsed with most of the camp out looking for Joshua Worthington, and no one noticed two unfamiliar guards enter the Restricted Area from the bushes by the river.
Eva and Jahmin took up position behind a tent.
‘Try to blend,’ Jahmin said. ‘Look like you belong.’
‘I blend more than you,’ said Eva indignantly. ‘You look like a ghost.’ She could have kicked herself as soon as she said it.
Jahmin gave a tight smile. ‘Don’t worry about it. Just focus.’
A guard came up the track from the river leading a skittish horse. Another followed on horseback, and then another.
‘They’re clearing out,’ Jahmin said. ‘They must be getting ready to blow the thing up. Hey, check it out.’
Eva followed his gaze over to two men emerging from a little tent on the other side of the compound. ‘That’s Griff McKenzie, the big boss. He doesn’t look happy, does he?’
Griff stopped, gripped his head and shook it. The other man touched his arm as if to calm him, but Griff lashed out, catching him across the face. The man stumbled back, his hand automatically going to the belt at his side. Griff pressed his hand to his lips. He looked as if he was apologising. The other man raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture, and they carried on, towards the river.
‘The ship’s got him,’ Eva said. ‘Pity.’
A stifled cry came from the direction of the small tent, followed by muffled banging. Eva and Jahmin dithered, not knowing what to do, and then like a miracle, a familiar face appeared at the window.
83
Devin followed Rocky around the side of the tent and straight into a pair of Seddon guards. She didn’t know whether to run, fight or cry out, and then she saw who it was and gasped in delight instead.
‘Told you they were together,’ said Eva, hands on her hips. ‘Thank God.’
Devin hugged Eva so tightly she cried out in pain.
‘Oh, your shoulder, I forgot.’
‘It’s sweet. How are you guys?’
‘We’re okay,’ Rocky said. He awkwardly patted Eva on the arm. ‘I’m glad you’re all right.’
Eva lifted her eyebrows so high they almost disappeared off the top of her head.
Rocky turned to Jahmin. ‘Look, about before …’
Jahmin grinned. ‘It’s all good.’
He held out a hand, and Rocky took it, bracing himself for the unpleasant feel of dead skin against his. To his surprise, Jahmin’s touch didn’t repel him. It felt odd, yes, but familiar too, like cool, polished pounamu. Again, he had the strange sensation of icy water zipping through his veins, but this time it wasn’t healing his body. It was healing his spirit. Pounamu and water. It made sense. The two elements had always gone well together.
Rocky pulled Jahmin in for a tight hug and gave a quick, silent thank you to whoever might be listening, that he had another chance to make things right.
‘Ugh,’ said Eva with a grin. ‘Bromance.’
‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Rocky said. ‘These guys have this massive agenda, you have no idea.’
‘We can’t go yet,’ Eva said. ‘We’ve got something to do first.’
‘What?’ Devin asked.
‘They’re going to blow up the cliff, bury the ship,’ Jahmin began, but Eva shushed him. Two horses with their riders were approaching from the river.
‘Act like our prisoners,’ she said.
As the horses passed, the teens fell in behind them, Eva pushing Devin before her, Jahmin leading Rocky.
The guard on the gate, distracted by the nervous animals sidestepping and pulling at their reins, barely looked at the two guards with the teens, even when Jahmin said loudly, ‘Just taking them for processing.’
‘Processing?’ muttered Eva. ‘You make them sound like cheese.’
Once out of the gate, they peeled away and ducked into the shadows by the mess tent. They watched as the riders swiftly dismounted, unsaddled the horses and turned them into the corral where they joined the other horses milling about, ears flicking back and forth and tails swishing irritably. The riders leant against the fence and watched the horses with worried eyes.
Rocky nudged Eva. ‘What’s going on? They’ll know we’ve shot the gap any minute. The longer we hang around here–’
‘It’s not just about us any more,’ Eva said. ‘We have to stop this now or it’ll never stop.’
Jahmin nodded. ‘She’s right, bro. Trust her.’
There was silence.
‘Okay,’ Rocky said.
Once again, Eva’s eyebrows lifted in disbelief. ‘Have you gone crazy too?’
‘Don’t push it.’
‘We’ve got to get the ship out before they bury it,’ Jahmin interrupted.
‘And how are we supposed to do that?’ Rocky said.
‘It’s powered by living energy. Life force,’ Eva said. ‘The ship’s been stealing it, which is why people keep karking it.’
‘Our mauri,’ Rocky murmured. He looked around at their uncomprehending faces. ‘Mauri is like … your inner essence. It connects everything together. Mauri is in everything. You, me, birds, rocks, rivers–’
‘Yeah,’ said Jahmin. ‘And horses.’
Devin looked puzzled, and then her mouth dropped in horror. ‘Not the horses! You can’t! They’re so beautiful! And innocent!’
‘Okay,’ Eva said. ‘Then go and kill one of those guys over there instead. Go on! T
en points if you can, because we couldn’t.’
‘She’s hopeless,’ Jahmin said. ‘Underneath all the aggro she’s a pure pacifist.’
‘That’s classic, coming from the worst zombie ever,’ Eva said, stung.
Devin wrung her hands. ‘Oh, but are you sure?’
‘No,’ said Jahmin and Eva in unison.
‘We’ll have to distract them,’ Rocky began, but stopped short as he saw a guard heading their way. They ducked inside the mess tent, breathing a collective sigh of relief as he hurried past without a second glance.
Devin bumped into a table near the cooking area, and a long-handled gas lighter fell to the ground. She picked it up, clicked it, watched it flame.
‘I can do the distraction,’ she said. ‘But it might be a big one.’
‘Do it,’ said Eva at once. She didn’t even ask what the distraction entailed. Devin would have it under control, just like she always did. ‘Rocky, you help her, and we’ll go do the horses.’
‘Are you sure?’ Jahmin said. ‘They don’t like me much, and you nearly got nailed by that other one, and–’
‘This is your chance to be a hero,’ Eva said, tugging him out of the tent. ‘Don’t waste it.’
‘Okay, what’s the plan?’ Rocky said when he and Devin were alone.
‘Can you bring those gas cylinders over?’
A slow smile warmed Rocky’s face. ‘Seriously?’
‘I haven’t done it before, but I’ve seen it on YouTube.’
She bent and fiddled with the gas cylinder under the stove, eventually unhooking it. Rocky rolled two other cylinders over to her.
‘Now we push them together so the metal heats and expands.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Get ready to run.’
‘Do you want me to do it?’
‘No way. I’ve always wanted to do this. Are you ready?’
She opened the valve on one of the cylinders and flicked the lighter. A blue flame flared.
They ran.
84
Jahmin and Eva had just reached the trees near the corral when Devin and Rocky ran out of the mess. There was a deafening explosion followed by two more loud blasts. Smoke and flames billowed from the tent.
Heads turned, someone screamed, and people began running in all directions. Jahmin and Eva climbed over the wire fence of the corral and chose a horse each. Jahmin quickly ripped off his horse’s helmet. Eva did the same. They managed to remove three more helmets before the horses started to go crazy.
85
On the riverbank, Griff and his team heard a series of muffled bangs and turned to see a thin plume of black smoke rising up through the trees into the sky.
‘What the hell?’ Griff said, staring. His coms device squawked, and he grabbed it, listened and barked, ‘I can’t do everything! You put it out! We’ve got to blow this thing!’
‘This can wait, boss,’ Jesse said.
Griff hurled his device to the ground. ‘It can’t wait! She can’t wait! She needs to go back!’ He pointed a shaking finger at thin air and crooned, ‘It’s all right, baby. We’ll send you back.’
Jesse tugged Griff to where the rest of the crew were waiting in position. They looked uneasy.
‘One more minute,’ he soothed.
86
One of the helmetless horses whinnied and reared, bringing its hooves down on the back of the horse next to it. Another broke into a terrible human-like scream that went on and on. It banged its head against the wire fence, once, twice, heedless of the blood spurting from its face.
‘Jahmin!’ Eva cried. The horses were moving around too swiftly, and she couldn’t see him anywhere. She ducked and sidestepped between two bucking horses. One went down under the other’s hooves and didn’t get up again.
The earth heaved, making her stumble as she tried to regain her balance.
‘Jahmin!’ she shouted again, and her heart leapt as she saw him running towards her, waving, yelling something she couldn’t hear.
A shadow fell across her, and she looked up to see a sharp silhouette of black against the bright sky, hooves flailing above her. And then Jahmin was there, shoving her out of the way, and she just had time to hear him cry, ‘You stupid lesbo!’ before the horse came down.
87
The earth heaved, knocking Griff sideways.
‘We should recheck the charges,’ Jesse warned. ‘The quake might have knocked something loose.’
‘Just do it!’ Griff shrieked. ‘Press the bloody button! Do it!’
88
The Engineer pressed the button.
89
The metal hull of the alien ship shuddered as it slowly inched its way out of the earth and rock that had held it for so long.
The vibration was maddening. Griff and the rest of the crew were on their knees, hands pressed to their ears, noses streaming blood, the pulsating rhythm tearing their ligaments and tendons, wrenching painfully at their joints.
With a nauseating crunch, the ship pulled itself free, sending rocks and earth crashing down the slope into the water. As soon as the metal dome was clear, a whine of engines started, building to a deafening scream. The saucer hovered for a moment or two, the air shimmering around its silver hull as it heated up. Slowly, the ship moved forward, its shadow dark against the river. Steam was coming off the water’s surface, and the muddy shoreline was bubbling.
The vibrations set off the explosions the crew had so carefully rigged, adding to the energy waves swirling around the ship. With a roar, the side of the cliff collapsed, tonnes of earth burying the bridge under a pile of rubble. The river surged up over its banks and raced away on its altered course, dragging half the crew along with it.
The rest were scrambling to get to higher ground, including Jesse, who was shoving others aside in his haste to get away. He might have made it if several trees hadn’t abruptly uprooted themselves and collapsed on top of him.
Griff stumbled through the bush towards his little girl. She was holding out her hand to him, and this time there were no maggots falling from her lips. She was just smiling, pure and sweet. With a cry of relief, he took her hand and let her pull him into the soft white glow that was suddenly everywhere.
90
‘Eva!’ Devin screamed.
Eva could feel Devin tugging at her arm through the wire fence, but somehow she couldn’t move. Jahmin lay across her lap, his body too broken to continue, his spirit finally gone. She felt as cold as he was.
‘He’s dead, Eva! Come on.’
Rocky clambered over the fence. ‘I’ll bring him,’ he promised, and Eva finally crawled through the wire to Devin, flinching as a series of explosions went off. A dreadful vibration through the earth set her teeth rattling in her gums, and she clenched her jaw tight, scared they were going to fall out of her head altogether. Blood dripped from her nose, and her pulse jumped eagerly in her wrists as though it was trying to get out.
They ran in the same direction as the guards, Eva holding tight to Devin’s hand, Jahmin’s body held tight in Rocky’s arms. Some of the horses had leapt the fence and were pounding through the crowd, trampling those unfortunates who couldn’t get out of the way in time. The air was thick with the pungent smell of boiling mud. Trees were thrashing wildly in the vicious winds that had sprung up.
A dense shadow moved across the camp and everyone looked up at the huge metallic dome arcing overhead.
Eva and Rocky gazed at the flashing lights. Devin gave an awed, ‘Wow’.
And the ship rose high into the air, higher and higher until it was just a black dot, and then … it was nothing.
91
It was nearing sunset by the time they were ready to lay Jahmin down. They chose a bank of ferns, the leafy shadows casting long, lacy patterns across his skin. The sound of the nearby river was comforting. Devin tucked Mandy’s pink cardigan around him, and Eva knelt down to kiss his cold cheek. Rocky said a short karakia, his voice breaking as he knuckled away hot tears.
The few surv
iving guards brought rocks from the river to cover him. Most of them were in shock, nursing injuries, bewildered and frightened. But there were a few who watched the teens closely, curious and calculating.
‘I don’t trust them,’ Rocky said in a low voice as they laid the rocks in place.
‘When we get a chance, we’ll go,’ Devin murmured. ‘We can make it out by ourselves. We don’t need them.’
‘I feel bad about leaving,’ Eva whispered. She laid a hand on the rocks. ‘But we’ll be back. We’ll come and get you and take you home. Promise.’
‘Whatever happens, we stay strong and stick together. Okay?’ said Devin. She held out one hand to Rocky and the other to Eva, aware as never before that it was these three who, among all this death, had brought her to life. ‘We love you,’ she told Jahmin. ‘Always.’
They moved off, following the guards into the bush. Their footsteps faded into the trees, and soon, Jahmin was alone.
Apart from a single fantail overhead, dancing and diving in the breeze.
