“Old factories and warehouses, I think,” he replied quietly, so we couldn’t be overheard. “They started off with supermarkets and places like hospitals. Once those ran out, they had to cast their net wider. Nobody is making food or farming anymore. If it didn’t exist in the Event, then it doesn’t exist now.”
“There’s probably places they haven’t found yet.”
“Probably. It’s a big city.”
“I want to explore and find blankets, coats, food, anything I can,” I said determinedly. The adults wouldn’t do anything, but I could. I had two legs, I had a brain, I was fully capable of walking around the city. It wasn’t like I had anything tying me to one place.
I needed to have something to do. Otherwise the frustrations of getting nowhere with the adults, with Jet, with Oliver… They were going to overwhelm me. Achieving something, having a purpose, it would be the distraction I severely needed.
“We don’t know what’s out there,” Oliver warned.
He was right, but that didn’t mean we should skulk away in fear. The gangs couldn’t be worse than those we’d already encountered. I had a gash on the back of my head and a still-healing dislocated shoulder to prove it. They could keep beating me down and I was going to continue to get up and keep going.
“I still want to go,” I decided.
“Then I’m coming with you.”
Oliver.
My rock.
My constant.
The source of my heartbreak.
Chapter Fifteen
The city’s public transport system had long wasted away. The rust spread like cancer once they stopped being operated. Nobody knew how to drive the trains or buses so they remained wherever they were at the time of the Event. They were now only reminders of what we used to have.
There were a lot of reminders like that around.
Oliver and I walked the train tracks, occasionally needing to step off so we could walk around a carriage. I never looked through the windows, I knew there would be long-dead bodies inside. Perhaps they might even be only skeletons now. Whatever remained, they would still be in there.
We would always return to the tracks, however, knowing we were at no risk of getting run over. Not even ghosts could drive trains.
We had debated whether it was safer to walk out in the open like we were or whether it would be better to stick to the shadows of the buildings.
Considering anything could hide in the shadows, we decided to take our chances in the open. So far, nobody had hassled us. Anyone we passed just watched with suspicion, their gaze never leaving us until we passed.
But it only took one glance to get the attention of the spirits. My eyes had lingered on one for only a second longer than it should have.
One second too many.
“She can see us!” the spirit shrieked, racing toward me without needing to move her feet. She would have been in her twenties had she not died. She was pretty too, with honey-streaked brown hair framing her delicate face.
It was the younger adults that always pained me the most. Only a few years separated them from those that had survived the Event. They didn’t get a proper chance to live before they were taken.
They were also the angriest.
“Tell us what we’re doing here,” she demanded. She was quickly joined by at least twenty others, all swarming me as I walked through them. The cold that shivered my body was mostly their fault.
“She’s not listening. She can’t see us.”
“She looked right at me. She knew, I swear it.”
“Tell me where my daughter is. I need to find her.”
“Your daughter? How about my sons? All three of them. I can’t find them anywhere.”
“What happened to us?”
“Why are we here?”
“It hurts too much.
“Speak to me! Just listen. Please.”
“Please, stop.”
I picked up the pace, trying to get away from them. If I ignored the voices long enough, surely they would give up eventually. I was fooling myself, but it was all I had.
My mind wandered to the underground. It was so peaceful there. No spirits followed me down. Whether they couldn’t or whether they wouldn’t, it didn’t make any difference. Only there could I feel the peace that didn’t exist above ground.
Pity it was also populated with liars and thugs.
If Oliver noticed my distraction and haste, he didn’t say anything. He purely walked faster, just as eager to get to the outskirts of the city as I was.
We were heading toward the industrial area. Once, it was a bustling Mecca full of factory workers and trucks. Smoke would have spilled from the tall stacks and the machinery within the concrete walls would have hummed with life.
The area was now just as dead as the adults.
An eerie calm washed over the streets as the buildings stood like lifeless soldiers by the road. Anything could be hiding behind those walls, treasures or danger alike.
“Where do we start?” I asked, standing at the end of one of the major streets. Some of the biggest companies used to make their goods here before the Event.
Oliver shrugged. “At the beginning, I guess.”
So we started at the beginning.
We carefully walked around the first building, trying to find a way in. Many of the windows were broken, either by age, the weather, or vandals, it was hard to stay. It could have been all three.
My ears strained to hear any sign of life inside. If we walked into someone’s home, they wouldn’t exactly welcome us. No doubt, they would react in the same way as the mole people had. I couldn’t take many more injuries.
We stopped at a door and I tried the handle. It was open. Someone had been here before us. Which wasn’t a surprise. It had been over a year. It would be difficult finding anywhere untouched in that time.
The stench hit us first as the door pushed open.
My hand instantly shot up to cover my mouth. It smelled like rotten food and animal excrement. If there was anyone around, they would have been warned off by the smell alone.
We continued in anyway. Chances were, if someone else had caught a whiff of the place, they might have left quickly. Which meant they might have left things behind.
There was no electricity so our only source of light was from the skylights hanging high above. They cast a white glow around the open space, also allowing for a million shadows to hide horrible surprises.
“I’m going to take the right side. You try the left,” I said. Oliver hesitated but I waved him away.
Large pieces of machinery were stationary, frozen in time acting out the last duty they ever performed. The items they were manufacturing were still half-made on the conveyer belts. They were covered with dirt but still recognizable as hubcaps.
Hardly edible or warm.
The factory was a bust. Metal wheel decorations were no good when there wasn’t anyone driving cars anymore. The fuel had long since dried up.
I turned around and wove my way back through the mess to reach the entrance. I waited for Oliver. He would soon come to the same conclusion as I had, it was only a matter of time before he returned.
He eventually did, wearing a grim set to his jaw. “There’s spiders in here.”
“Glad I didn’t see them. I found hubcaps. You?”
“Same. At least we’ve started somewhere.”
That was Oliver.
The eternal optimist.
We left the factory and moved next door. The building was in the same complex, the walls outside painted the same shade of beige. This one’s windows were all smashed. We didn’t need to bother with the door, there was no glass in the windowpanes.
The layout was similar, the lighting exactly the same. We split up again and explored the dark depths of the factory. This time, I kept an eye out for spiders.
There were several.
Several dozen.
I didn’t scream once.
The machinery here was s
maller, nothing on the production line. I found Oliver at the other end of the building when he was done with his row. A door leading to a storage room took us into the next part of the factory.
Shelves were lined up in rows. They were laden with boxes. Whatever they produced, they were keeping them neatly stacked.
Once, anyway.
Now, the boxes were askew and torn. Ripped and shredded in places. Someone else had beaten us to it. There was scarcely anything left save for a few stray packets.
“Dog food?” I said, picking up a torn piece of packaging. I held it up so Oliver could see. He squinted in the low light.
“It was probably edible to someone hungry enough,” he commented.
“There’s plenty of people that hungry,” I agreed. Given the option, I might be hungry enough to try some myself.
Everything of value in the storeroom had long since been taken. Oliver and I weaved our way through the factory and back to the door we first entered.
The next five factories were all a bust. People had beaten us to the punch line and left nothing – only rodents and insects. If someone started a rumor that rats were delicious, we’d probably all eat until we were fat.
The next building was larger than the others had been. It wasn’t in a complex, rather a stand alone. The roof was taller, the building wider. It was massive. More than one airplane could have easily fit inside.
Unlike many of the others, the sign outside still stood, declaring it was once the manufacturing plant of Woolen Wears. That sounded right up our alley.
“This looks promising,” I said, perking up from the previous disappointments.
“We should find blankets or coats here. We have to,” Oliver agreed.
The side door was locked but the window beside it had already been broken. I carefully slid my arm through and managed to unlock the door from the inside. It was an easy reach, no doubt I wasn’t the first one who noticed.
As soon as we were through I wanted to run around the factory and find the items we needed. We would take as many blankets as we could carry and return with volunteers from the shelter for the rest. They could be distributed to the most needy, the youngest of the kids left to fend for themselves.
I could almost feel the thick woolen coat wrapped around me. I could imagine the warmth and comfort of the weight. It would be just like when I was little and dressed up to play in the snow. Maybe we’d even find scarves or mittens. Even a beanie was enough to get me excited.
The only thing that slowed me down was the thought of missing something. Because the factory was so large, Oliver and I stuck together. If either of us got lost in the building, I don’t think we’d ever find each other again.
Immediately inside the entrance was a shop. Everything had already been taken off the racks, leaving only a few stray hangers and empty shelves. It wasn’t a good sign for the rest of the place but I refused to get disheartened yet.
We moved past the store and into the factory floor. There was machinery and debris everywhere. People had made a mess of the place and my money would be it happened after the Event. When adults worked here, it was probably spotless.
Halfway down one side, we hit the jackpot.
One box, barely reaching my hip, was full of winter blankets. At some point the damp had seeped in, making the wool reek with mustiness. But they could be washed, it was only a temporary problem.
“This is a good sign,” I said. If there was one box, there had to be more. The place was big enough to hold thousands. Maybe tens of thousands.
“Leave them and we’ll come back after we’ve checked the place out,” Oliver suggested. I closed the box again, promising to return to it soon.
Finding blankets was like finding gold.
Or diamonds.
Better than both.
We continued on down the dark passageway. The machinery parts were dangerous, at times jutting out and catching my foot. Somehow, I seemed to trip over everything. Oliver, on the other hand, walked as elegantly and easily as he always did. He wasn’t born with the clumsy gene.
When we reached the back, I froze. My ears strained to hear what I had sensed only seconds before. I put out my arm for Oliver to stop. He did, cocking his head as he listened.
Voices.
We weren’t alone.
They were voices belonging to males – both older and younger. I crept forward, Oliver right beside me. Crouching down, I followed the sound like a moth to a flame. If there were other people here, they might be trashing the items. We couldn’t let that happen, not when kids needed them so badly.
A light was glowing through a wall of boxes and machinery. I tiptoed along until I could catch a glimpse of who was on the other side. They weren’t trying to keep their voices low, they obviously felt safe from anyone who might attack.
When I caught my first sight of who the boys were, I was flooded with a wave of nausea.
I knew them.
They knew me.
It was Jet’s gang. Not the mole people, but the far deadlier ones from the streets. The same ones who had tortured me for days on end that felt like months on end.
Oliver noticed too, his fingers going to his lips in a shushing motion. There was no way they could know we were here. I did not want to go a second round with the group. It was bad enough seeing Jet alone.
Taz was standing with the others, his arms crossed as he spoke. He hadn’t lost that sneer. “Hurry up, I want to get the hell out of here. It smells.”
“Jet said we need to check everywhere,” one of the others replied. I never knew his name but I recognized his flat nose and thin lips.
“Well Jet’s not here, is he?” Taz replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Just get whatever you can and let’s go. I’m hungry and it’s cold in here. And there’s rats.”
“There’s no rats.”
“I saw one.”
The boy standing on the outskirts spoke, making everyone turn around to look at him. I got the feeling he never usually said much. “Jet says he needs as many supplies as we can get. We have to do a thorough job or he won’t be happy.”
“Well Jet won’t know any better, will he now?” Taz again, managing to bob his head around like a puppet at the same time. “Are you gonna tell him?”
The boy shook his head, scared he had already said too much. Taz shoved a box in his arms, nearly sending him backwards onto the ground from the impact. He righted himself and placed the box on the cement floor.
Taz found it hilarious, holding his belly while he laughed at the poor kid. Jet seemed like a saint in comparison. And that was saying something.
If the gang were here to raid the place, all plans of bringing back supplies to the shelter were going to go up in flames. I didn’t want that to happen but I wasn’t sure how I could stop it either.
I had to find a way.
Oliver was looking at me when I glanced his way. I nodded toward the path we had followed in, silently asking him if we should get out now while we still could.
He nodded.
We started creeping back down the aisles again. This time I was extra careful not to trip over anything. We could not make any noise.
There were only about half a dozen boys in the place, they couldn’t carry everything. If we waited until they left, we could come back inside and take the rest. They’d never know we were here.
My ankle caught on a lever and tripped me. I bit my lip so I didn’t cry out, but my foot hit the ground hard. The noise sounded like a jet engine in the quiet of the factory.
Oliver and I both froze. If we could stay completely still, maybe they wouldn’t notice us. Maybe they never heard the sound or didn’t think it was worth investigating.
Maybe wishes were pennies.
And I’d be rich.
The sound of the feet rushing toward us echoed the beating of my heart. There were four of them standing in front of me before I could react.
Taz had to be at the front of them, of course. “It’s
the princess!” He stepped closer, walking around me like I was the prized cow at the county fair. “I was hoping I’d see you again. Our time before was cut too short.”
My eyes followed his figure, not daring to leave him for a second. I didn’t trust Taz. Not by a million miles. The memory of his hands on me last time we had met was still painfully real in my mind. All I had to do was close my eyes and I was back there again.
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” He purposefully rushed at me, expecting me to flinch or step backwards. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
“I just don’t wish to speak to you,” I replied, refusing to let my voice shake. I wished it sounded more confident than it did. The boys would be able to see right through my little act.
Taz spat at my shoes. I still refused to move. No matter how disgusting it was.
He turned away from me, addressing the others. “Tie her up, we’ll deal with her later. Then, get back to work.”
I didn’t have a chance of moving before the boys grabbed me. One on either side made sure I couldn’t go anywhere. They dragged me away, the entire time I cursed my stupid clumsy feet and awkward machinery.
As I was turning to go around a corner, I glanced back to look for Oliver. He was crouched behind some boxes, his eyes wide with the horror of what was happening.
For just a second, we locked eyes.
It was all we needed.
He told me he would find a way to get me out. He told me he would come to my rescue before the boys could hurt me in any way. He told me he was there for me.
Forever and always.
Chapter Sixteen
Behind all the boxes at the back of the factory was a set of stairs leading to a mezzanine level. There was no railing, just a sheer drop – a fact the boys liked to exploit by shoving me toward the side every chance they got.
They found my fear funny.
I found them repugnant.
The only consolation when we reached the top was that it was brighter up there. Large windows allowed the sunlight to come in, even through the winter weather. It was warmer, almost pleasant if that was at all possible.
All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) Page 18
