I nodded, then darted out of the doorway after him and on toward the end of the lane. The road here was wide as well, but on the other side a park was visible.
‘Over there,’ I said.
Matt nodded in agreement, and as casually as we could we hurried out into the traffic and across.
At some point many years ago somebody had scattered the park’s walkways with luminescent paint, so as we moved deeper into the shadow of the trees it was like descending into a magical garden, or might have been if it weren’t for the groups of people standing around under the trees or sleeping on the benches. In the park’s centre there was a pond, the dark water illuminated by the lights from the road; as we passed it the reflections shifted and merged.
Hurrying around the edge of the pond we crossed another main road and turned down a street lined with houses. A block or two further on we came to a tiny park between two houses and sat down.
I was hot and covered in sweat, and now the adrenaline was wearing off I felt sick and edgy. I lowered Gracie onto the seat beside me and tried to wipe her face, but as I did she burst into tears.
Horrified I drew her into my arms. ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry, we’re okay now.’ But Gracie just sobbed harder.
‘Are you hurt?’ I asked, trying to examine her. She shook her head in a violent motion.
‘Then what?’ I asked.
‘They were after me, weren’t they?’
I hesitated. ‘Yes,’ I said.
‘I was scared,’ she said. ‘I thought they would catch me, take me away.’
I squeezed her tight. ‘I’ll never let that happen. Never.’ Against my chest Gracie shook and sobbed quietly. I saw Matt looking at me, his long face pale in the half-light.
‘Thank you,’ I said.
He didn’t answer, just nodded and turned away.
8
Although we were safe for the time being we were in a strange city with no friends, no plan and nowhere to go. I knew we had to find shelter, somewhere to rest up and work out where to go next, but as I sat with Gracie against me the whole question seemed so overwhelming I didn’t know how to begin to formulate a plan.
Perhaps Matt understood some of this, because instead of interrupting he sat quietly as I calmed Gracie. When he finally spoke his voice was quiet, careful.
‘We need a place to sleep.’
I looked at him in surprise. ‘We can’t go back where we were.’
‘I may have an alternative,’ he said.
‘What kind of alternative?’ I asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice. It made no sense, the idea of him helping us. He barely knew us, and although he had helped us a few minutes before there was no guarantee he would make that choice again now he knew Gracie was infected.
‘I have a . . . friend . . . who lives somewhere near here. She might be able to help.’
I stared at him for a moment. His knowledge about Gracie made us vulnerable, which meant the smart thing was to tell him no and walk away. Yet as I listened to Gracie snuffling quietly in my arms I also knew I had to get her somewhere she could rest. Unsure whether I was making a terrible mistake I nodded.
‘Okay,’ I said.
Without a phone or a screen I couldn’t access any information, but Matt had a screen, and so I waited with Gracie while he made a call. Who he was calling wasn’t clear, nor was it possible for me to hear what was being said, but after a few seconds he stuffed the screen in his pocket and said, ‘Come on’, his old brusqueness reasserting itself.
‘You found them?’
‘Hopefully,’ he said, shouldering his bag.
Shifting Gracie’s weight onto my hip I stood and tried to slip my backpack on.
‘Let me take that,’ Matt said.
I knew he was trying to apologise, but I was still irritated by his abruptness so I shook my head.
‘Please,’ he said, more gently this time, and I relented.
His friend lived a couple of kilometres to the east, in a tangle of narrow streets crowded with old terrace houses and apartment blocks. Once it must have been a pretty place; now it was broken down, the streets littered with rubbish and the buildings jammed with people who had fled south to escape the Change.
When we reached the door Matt motioned to me to stand back. He knocked and the door swung open to reveal a woman only a couple of years older than me. She was small and thin, with delicate features that were emphasised by her cropped black hair and a pair of rings through her left eyebrow. She glanced from Matt to me, and as she did her expression altered.
‘What the hell?’ she said.
‘Please,’ Matt said. ‘I can explain.’
‘You’ve got to be joking.’
‘Just let us come in. We’ve got nowhere else to go.’
She stared at the three of us, then she shook her head and stood aside.
Gracie and I stood awkwardly in the hallway while the woman stood by the stairs watching us, her arms folded and her face set in a look of fury.
‘This is Callie,’ Matt said. ‘And that’s Gracie.’
Our host didn’t reply. Her black hair was so short the dragon tattoo that coiled around her scalp and down her spine was visible through it.
‘I’m sorry,’ Matt said. ‘You’ve got every right to be angry.’
She looked at him coldly. ‘Really? How good of you.’
She turned and stared at Gracie, blanking Matt. ‘She looks exhausted,’ she said, her voice if not quite gentler then certainly less angry. ‘Shall I make up a bed or does she need to eat first?’
I put a hand on Gracie’s head and she leaned against my leg. ‘I think just bed,’ I said.
I followed her warily up the stairs to a room at the back of the house. The room was tiny and furnished in the most cursory way, with a mattress on the floor in one corner and an old blanket pinned across the window. Thanking her I waited until she left and then sat Gracie on the mattress.
Now I saw her in the light she was filthy, her face grimy and curly hair matted. Her clothes were no better and I found myself wishing I’d thought to bring some kind of nightie she could sleep in. Although she’d been asleep in my arms for much of the past hour or so, she was awake now, and as I drew the sheet over her she took my arm and pulled me down next to her. I put my arms around her, feeling the warmth radiating out of her. How long would she want me to do this, I wondered, even if I could get her to the Zone? Once she Changed, would she still be Gracie? Would she even know me? Tears came, suddenly, unexpectedly; swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and pushed them down.
Once her breath had slowed and deepened I sat up, careful not to disturb her. In sleep she looked little different from the way she had on any of a thousand other nights. There were times when I saw myself in her, not just in the colour of her skin, but in the shape of her eyes and the set of her mouth, and this was one of those times, the reminder of Dad, of our shared parentage, suddenly comforting.
As I closed the door behind me and descended the stairs I could hear Matt and our host somewhere beneath me. Although they were speaking quietly it was obvious they were arguing. I slowed down, listening.
‘I don’t care whether it was you or Cain who ripped me off, it was me who ended up paying for it,’ said our host.
‘I know,’ Matt said. ‘And I’m sorry.’
‘And how do I know you won’t bring the cops down on me again?’
‘I won’t. And I promise, it’s only for tonight. We’ll be gone in the morning.’
Briefly I thought she might say more, but one of the stairs creaked beneath my weight and the two of them fell silent. Not wanting them to think I’d been eavesdropping I continued down.
‘She’s asleep,’ I said.
‘I’m glad,’ our host said, her expression softening for the first time. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have
to share with her.’
‘That’s fine,’ I said, glancing at Matt.
‘I can sleep on the couch down here,’ he said, and as he spoke I saw something pass between him and our host, not quite a look but a shifting of tension.
‘The toilet’s out the back,’ she said. ‘Don’t put anything down it, the sewers are no good.’
As I was undressing for bed the woman opened the door, a pair of towels in her arms.
‘I thought you might need these,’ she said, placing them on a chair by the door.
‘Thanks,’ I said. With the light behind her it was obvious how thin she was.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘If we had somewhere else to go we’d have gone there.’
‘Don’t apologise. But Matt should have known better.’
Perhaps I looked confused. ‘You don’t know him very well, do you?’ she said.
‘Why do you say that?’
‘I don’t know, just an impression. Did he tell you how he knew me?’
I shook my head.
‘We were in one of the camps here in Sydney for a while. Me and him and his brother, Cain.’
I didn’t reply.
‘We did some stuff I’m not proud of.’
‘What kind of stuff?’
‘His brother is the sort of guy who knows how to get things people want. He’s easy to like, easy to trust. Matt worshipped him when he was younger.’
‘But?’
‘But in the end the only person Cain really cares about is Cain. I learned that the hard way. I’m not sure Matt ever did.’
‘He said his brother’s up north now,’ I said.
She regarded me carefully, her expression unreadable. ‘Did he?’ I thought she was going to say more but then she seemed to change her mind. ‘You should get some rest,’ she said and turned away, but then she turned back to me.
‘I’m Tran,’ she said. ‘Just by the way.’
I woke early, Gracie still asleep beside me. For a few minutes I lay quietly, enjoying the sensation of being alone, safe, then I sat up and, taking one of the towels Tran had brought me, headed downstairs to wash.
Matt was still asleep on the couch, his face turned into the cushions. I once read that the way you sleep reflects your personality; and looking at him I tried to remember what it had said about sleeping on your side, but the detail eluded me, and without my phone or a screen I had no way of looking the article up again.
The bathroom was in a sort of concrete shelter just off the backyard; it might have seemed cave-like were it not for the louvres of glass set into the wall. As I entered it was difficult not to be struck by the tropical abundance of the vines and flowers coiling in through the windows: since the Change people had grown so uneasy about plants, about biological matter, that it was unusual to encounter a home where they were tolerated so casually.
There was plenty of plant life inside as well, especially on the floor and walls of the shower, but it was so good to be able to wash for the first time in the best part of a week that I didn’t really care. Even better there was shampoo, although as I rubbed it through my hair I realised it probably wasn’t Tran’s.
When I emerged I found Matt in the kitchen, a screen open in front of him. In the daylight he looked paler, thinner as well. I saw him take in the fact I was only wearing a towel and look away.
‘You’re up,’ he said.
‘I’m sorry if I woke you,’ I replied. ‘Is Tran up?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. Gracie?’
‘Not when I left her.’
‘That’s probably good,’ he said. ‘I’m sure she needs the sleep.’
‘Tran told me. About how you know her.’
Matt looked around and I saw something flash behind his eyes.
‘You were in the camps?’
He nodded.
‘She told me about your brother. About how you and he grew up together.’
Matt didn’t reply.
‘Your brother. Where is he?’
‘Up north.’
‘Up north where?’
Matt shot me a look.
‘In one of the army camps.’
‘He’s a soldier?’
Matt nodded, although I could tell he was holding something back. ‘Something like that. And you? Where will you go?’
I hesitated. ‘North,’ I said.
‘To the Zone?’
I didn’t reply.
‘On your own?’
I gave a small nod.
‘Do you know how to get there?’
I shook my head. Matt glanced at the door behind us.
‘Perhaps I could help you.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘Because I can.’
I hesitated. ‘Okay,’ I said at last.
9
The day they took my father was a school day. I had just arrived home when he appeared at the door.
I was excited to see him – because he’d been shuttling between work and the hospital for the two weeks since Gracie’s birth, he’d been around even less than usual – but it was only as I put down my screen and jumped up to say hello that I saw the expression on his face. Perhaps upset he had frightened me he attempted to smile.
‘Hi, sweetie,’ he said.
I didn’t answer, just stood, staring.
‘What are you doing there?’
I looked down at my screen, confused. ‘Just homework.’
He nodded, and smiled. ‘That’s great.’
I looked at him. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.
He hesitated. ‘I’ll explain in a second. For now I have to do something.’
Reaching into his back pocket he took out a flat case and opened it; inside were three small hypodermics. I looked at them in surprise.
‘This is going to sting a little,’ he said, taking my arm and removing the first of the hypodermics.
Confused, I didn’t resist until the instant the point pierced my skin, but my father held me tight. As he withdrew the needle he released me and I pulled away, tears pricking my eyes, as much at his betrayal of my trust as at the pain.
‘I’m sorry, Callie,’ he said. I thought he would say more but as he spoke Vanessa appeared in the doorway, Gracie in her arms. Seeing him kneeling beside me she stopped.
‘Christian?’ she said in surprise. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’
He stood up and took a step toward her.
‘What is it? What’s happened?’
He didn’t reply, just smiled, his eyes filling with tears.
‘Christian?’ she said again, but then her expression changed, her face growing pale.
‘Oh no,’ she said.
He didn’t reply.
‘There must be some kind of mistake.’
‘It’s not a mistake.’
‘But how . . .’
‘Please, Vanessa, we don’t have long.’
‘What?’ I said, moving toward him in confusion. ‘What’s happened?’
He knelt back down and gripped my arms. ‘Whatever happens I want you to know I love you,’ he said. As he spoke someone pounded on the door. He gripped me tighter.
‘Who’s that?’ I asked.
‘It’s for me,’ he said.
The pounding on the door grew louder, then a woman’s voice shouted, ‘Dr Adeyemi, we know you’re in there.’
My father smiled one more time, his eyes wet with tears. Then he stood up. ‘Look after them for me?’ he said to Vanessa.
‘Please, Christian . . .’ she said, but he was already backing away.
What happened next is difficult to think about even now. I remember him backing away and the door bursting open, the room suddenly full of black-uniformed bodies, all shouting and shoving. I remem
ber Gracie crying, and Vanessa shouting, the sound both deafening and distant. I remember grabbing my father’s arm, struggling and kicking as two of the Quarantine officers tried to drag me off. And I remember his face as they dragged him away out the door and across the lawn to the waiting van, the way he looked at us as they closed the door, as if committing our faces to memory.
Although my memories of that afternoon are confused, the days after are preserved with awful clarity. Left alone with a new baby, Vanessa retreated into herself, losing herself in caring for Gracie so completely it sometimes seemed my father had never existed. Once or twice I found her weeping, but otherwise she seemed less sad than blank, as if she was no longer quite part of the world.
Meanwhile I was largely on my own, left to sit around the house and stare at my screen or try to read. Claire came and took me out a few times, but otherwise it was just me and Vanessa and Gracie, so on the Monday after it happened I got out of bed, put on my uniform and set off for school.
I didn’t have to go: Vanessa wouldn’t have made me, and to be honest I’m not sure she even noticed I was gone, but I needed to do it, for myself.
At first it wasn’t strange: in a way what was worst was how normal everything seemed as I walked the kilometre or so through the streets. Yet once I was inside the school grounds I knew I had made a mistake.
It wasn’t that the other kids were mean to me, it was that they didn’t know how to talk to me, to look at me. Although they made a show of being friendly when they had to speak to me, my friends were wary of me, anxious not to catch my eye as I passed, avoiding my company as much as they could.
Now I understand they were afraid, not of me or my pain, but of the way my loss reminded them of what could happen to anybody, at any time, but back then I was angry and hurt. Then, near the end of lunchtime on my first day, a girl called Edie McDonald came and sat next to me in the playground.
Edie was short and wiry, with dark hair she wore pulled back hard in a long ponytail and a face that might have been pretty if she didn’t always look like she thought everybody around her was beneath contempt. Although I’d never spoken to her before, I knew she had a reputation for starting fights, and that she had once beaten up one of the boys when he threatened her younger brother, Marley. I also knew that the year before, a week after school began, her mother had Changed, leaving the two of them alone with their father.
The Silent Invasion Page 7
