Peering over the boat’s edge, Winter thought she could make out shadows of the dead beneath the water. She knew they would not drown, but she also knew they could not swim. The dead were trapped in watery limbo, unable to do anything.
They sat aboard the ship, Winter sitting inside because the air had turned cold, and finally, Cedric figured out how to set the ship into motion. It took him a little while to get used to the directing, and he took it incredibly slow, for fears of hitting other ships nearby, but once out in the water, he gained confidence.
“It’s not much different from driving a car,” Cedric said, though Winter thought there was a lot of difference in it.
The wind screamed by, rattling the flimsy windowpanes. Underneath the bow of the ship were sleeping quarters, rather nicely designed. A bathroom was full of shampoos, body lotions and shower caps, reminding Winter that the owner of this ship had a life.
“The ship doesn’t have a name,” Zach said. “I just had a look, but it hasn’t been painted on.”
“Maybe some wealthy French man only just bought this, before getting wind of the apocalypse.”
“Maybe!” Zach agreed. “Or maybe he got bored and left it at the harbour.”
“So we could find it,” Connor said, lounging on one of the built in sofas.
“I think he was on board,” Winter said. “And judging by one bedroom, he either had a daughter or a wife.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, the bed sheets are pink, and the walls are white, and there are flowers everywhere.”
“Maybe he was a botanist,” Zach replied.
“You could be right.”
They came to a stop in the middle of the black water, a little while away from a lone, black and white yacht. Connor helped Cedric and David lower the anchor.
Once rested, they gathered inside. Cedric stared out at the window, at the black mass of huddled buildings that were Cannes. There was no sign of life.
Chapter Forty-Three
Violet, Heidi and Missy had been walking for what felt like forever. They soon learned that no matter how many corners they turned, or how many steps they counted, every tunnel looked just like the last.
They were soon venturing into unmarked territory. The floors, which had been littered mildly with crushed bone back in the other tunnels, were now becoming thicker with debris. Their feet crunched over bones that had been left behind by rats, mice and the occasional human.
“I don’t like this,” Missy moaned. “It’s getting cold, and dangerous, and we’re going to get lost.”
“This is the way out,” Violet said. “It has to be. We’ve headed straight down, even with the twists and turns.”
“To be honest,” Heidi said, leading the way by carrying a flaming torch. “We could have gone anywhere. Those turns were enough to make us lose track of our senses.”
“That’s the test.”
“The Martyrs could be tricking us.” Missy groaned. “This could be their way to get us to go further down, and then die at the mouths of the dead.”
“Would you rather be locked in there with no way out?”
“No, but…”
“Exactly, so be quiet.” Violet hissed.
They kept walking, feeling the chill in the air. They stopped when they heard a noise.
It came from the darkness ahead of them: a dragging sound. It seemed to be getting closer, but slowly, as if it knew it was being listened to.
Violet huddled closer to Missy. Heidi stood her ground in the front. All three girls knew they had no weapons, but instead were left defenceless to whatever was underground with them.
The noise stopped with a clang. Metal rattled, vibrating against the force of a body. Heidi stepped forwardly slowly, before shining the light of the flames on a gate.
Stood on the other side of the gate was a thin woman. Her head rested against the bars, her eyes bloodshot, though she wasn’t one of the dead. Her clothes, which had once been that of designer, were now torn and dirty. Her bony arms stuck out of the gate, hanging limply in the air. She looked at the girls standing before her and tried to speak, but her voice cracked.
Missy stepped forwards, and the woman’s eyes flickered with recognition.
“M…Missy?”
Missy covered her mouth, unable to say anything.
“Who is that?” Heidi asked.
“Missy, that’s really you?”
The woman was British. She spoke politely, even though she had gone through a huge ordeal, judging by her appearance. Violet thought she looked like she had been starving.
“Olivia,” Missy gasped. She turned to the girls behind her and said, “This is her. This is Olivia Smith.”
Olivia managed a smile, one that was empty and void of any warmth. Her lips were chapped, and cut at the sides. “Nice to see you.”
“Olivia Smith…” Violet gasped, moving forwards and placing a hand on the gate. “Olivia…Are you Winter’s mother?”
Olivia lit up at her daughter’s name. She nodded, quickly, looking into the darkness. “Is she here with you? Is my daughter safe?” Olivia scanned the faces of the girls before her, and when nobody answered she stumbled backwards ever so slightly. “My baby…my baby. Is she dead?”
“No, she’s not dead,” Missy replied. “She’s alive. But she’s…she’s not with us.”
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know, we got separated.”
“Oh, god,” Olivia groaned, resting her head on the gate. She shook it, anguished. “Oh, this isn’t good.”
“Relax, Olivia, relax.”
“Are you bitten?” Heidi asked.
Olivia blinked, looking at Heidi. “Bitten?”
“By the dead? Have you been bitten by the dead?”
“I haven’t seen the dead since I was abducted.”
“Olivia, how long have you been down here?”
“I’ve lost track of weeks. I’ve been down here since I was abducted.”
“Back in July.” Violet thought back to their arrival in France, when they hadn’t known better. “Sometime around then.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Olivia replied.
“How have you survived?” Heidi asked.
“The Martyrs give me food. Terrible things. I tried going on hunger strike when I first got here, but I soon realised I wouldn’t live long if I did that. I hate taking food off their rotting hands. But I’ve been surviving with the thought of seeing my husband again.” She paused. “And my daughter. My Winter.”
“Olivia, we need to know how we can get to you, and once we can do that, we can get you to Winter,” Missy said. “She is desperate to see you, and desperate to know you’re alive.”
“We can find her?”
“Yes, we can find her.”
Olivia tried the gate, but it barely moved. Her energy was lacking. Violet stepped forwards and gave it a budge. It moved, opening, but slammed to a stop when it caught on a stone on Olivia’s side.
“It’s blocked in.” Olivia stated.
“Can you move the stone?” Heidi asked.
Olivia nodded. She bent down and began moving the stone, slowly, as if it pained her to do so. Each time it moved, Violet pushed the gate, until finally the gap was wide enough for the girls to push their way through.
Once on the other side, Violet shut the gate again, and moved the stone where it had been originally. “Just in case anyone comes this far down.”
“They don’t,” Olivia replied. “I’ve been hiding down here for at least a week and a half.”
“Why?”
“The Martyrs are telling me something is happening soon. Something about my death.” Olivia shook her head.
“Your death?”
“They’ve been keeping me down here for a reason. They want to kill me, but they’ve been waiting.”
“Why?” Heidi asked.
“I don’t know why.”
“Well, we won’t let it happen.”
&
nbsp; “We can’t go back there. The Martyrs will make sure you die, too.”
Violet sighed, looking down the dark tunnels that were yet to be explored. “Tell me, Olivia, what is it like down there?”
“Back down there? Tunnels. Catacombs. I always wanted to visit the catacombs, but not like this.”
“What about an exit?” Violet asked.
Olivia thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. “There is an exit. I see the Blitzers using it often, to check on my progress, to make sure I’m still alive. They come and go through one door, but I don’t know where it leads.”
“And that door, is it guarded?”
“No.” Olivia shook her head. Her hair, tamed but tangled like Winter’s, shuffled along her bony neck. “But I don’t know if it’s guarded on the other side.”
“It’s our only way out of here,” Violet said. “That we know of for certain. It’s either now or never.”
“Can’t we explore a little further? Try and get out some other way?” Missy asked.
“If you go further down there, you will die,” Olivia replied. “I’ve heard the Martyrs talk of legends of people who have come here but never come out. Nobody gets outs of the catacombs if they go too far.”
“Well, we haven’t gone too far,” Violet replied. “We’re getting out of here, Olivia. I promise you.”
They turned away from the gate. Violet led the way, trying to appear brave for the girls behind her. Olivia was whispering something, talking about her ordeal, but Violet blocked it out. She decided she would rather not know what Olivia had been through until they got out.
The further they walked, the more it became apparent that they were walking into tunnels that were not open to the public. There were no lit torches, instead there was just darkness. They felt their way forwards, until they finally came across a clearing that was dimly lit with small candles.
“What’s this?” Missy asked.
They were looking at what looked like a ritual site. Hanging from the ceilings were decaying bodies of rabbits, their throats slit and their fur matted with blood. The skeleton walls were covered in handprints and dark drawings, depicting the human race dying out at the hands of the dead. A pentagram had been drawn in the dirt on the floor, candles placed on each corner.
There was nobody around except them, but they felt as though they were being watched.
“This happens regularly,” Olivia said. “The Martyrs eat animals. They can’t eat the living, it poisons them.”
“Is that true?” Heidi gasped.
Olivia nodded. “They can process animals, but not humans. We’re like a drug to them. They overdose. I learned it when I heard them talking. They’re confined under here to look after the prisoners who are being held.”
“Why is she keeping prisoners down here?”
Olivia shrugged. “V has plans.”
“How many people are down here?” Violet asked.
Olivia thought for a moment. “We’ve all been separated. I hear people sometimes, but I haven’t seen anybody in a while. They could be anyone.”
“We don’t have time to save anyone else,” Heidi said.
Violet nodded her agreement. “Let’s get ourselves out of here.” She peered at the pentagram on the ground. “Just be careful you don’t touch anything.”
“Why?” Missy asked.
“Could be a curse.” Violet shrugged.
They walked slowly around the pentagram, as if it would burn them if they got too close. Once away from the area, they walked down narrow tunnels, still lit with small candles, and came to a stop at another clearance entrance.
Straight in front of them was the door to freedom.
It was propped open with a stone, enough room to slide through the entrance and get into the hallway. Once through there, they would have to be quick. If they met Blitzers on the way down, they would surely be killed.
They began to edge out into the clearing. Once all out, and in the clear, they sped up, towards the door.
Violet began to taste freedom. She touched the door in her hands and pulled it open. The stone moved across the ground, leaving a mark. The door felt heavy, but it wasn’t heavy enough not to open.
The hallway in front of them stretched away, distorting perception the further they looked. It was lit by dim, yellow lights, exposed wires on the sides of the walls.
Behind them, they heard a sound. Without waiting to see who it was, they hurried into the hall, Violet and Heidi pulling the door shut behind them, until all that was left was a narrow gap.
Olivia gasped. “I can’t believe it.”
Violet glanced at the ceiling. The stone told her they were still underground. The air had an edge to it, which was stagnant. They began to head away from the door, further away from the tunnels.
“What are these wires?” Heidi asked, as they kept moving. They were encased in red coating, and disappeared into the earthy walls.
Violet stopped. Missy crashed into her, and only just managed to steady herself.
“They’re electric wires,” Violet said. “Where are we? Where are we near?”
“I don’t know,” Olivia answered. “I was taken out of The Louvre headquarters, into a van and then I was here.”
Violet nodded slowly. “How long were you in the van?”
“About ten minutes?”
Violet looked at the red wires again. She vaguely remembered reading about the catacombs in the past, how they were secret tunnels underneath Paris, and stretched for miles. If Olivia really had only been in the van for ten minutes, it meant The Louvre was nearby. Violet estimated they had walked enough miles of the underground tunnels to be underneath The Louvre itself: government headquarters.
She touched one of the many red wires, which laced from the door they had escaped from all the way up and away from them.
“I’ve got a plan.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Ruby Minister placed the mask over her face and sat back down behind her desk, waiting for her guest to arrive. It was her final time in this role, and she felt nervous.
She had failed in tracking down Winter Smith, the main girl that was needed to keep the apocalypse functioning. She had also let Connor Getty disappear, another young man that was key in the apocalypse’s future.
She had truly failed in being the decoy, having to kill the main man underneath her, which had raised suspicion from the men underneath the true creator of this apocalypse.
The lift dinged in the hallway, and Ruby sat up straight, worried, feeling as though judgement day had come. The lift doors opened slowly, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Kylie walk out.
Her dark hair flew behind her as she strode with purpose to the glass doors. She opened it, and didn’t stop walking until her thighs rested on the table edge.
“Who are you? Where is my sister?”
Ruby swallowed. She had been found out again. Everyone must know that she was the decoy. Everyone knew because she had fucked up.
“She will be here shortly,” Ruby said.
Kylie reached for the mask over Ruby’s face. Her fingers scraped the top, but Ruby gripped her wrist.
“Get off me.” Kylie ordered. She had always been mouthy, but had never ordered her sister around. Now she knew this girl was a stranger, she didn’t care.
“No,” Ruby replied, calmer than she felt. “No, you will find out in a few minutes.”
Kylie relaxed and let her arm drop. She stepped back from the table and shook her head. “I just don’t understand what’s been happening. How long have you been here?”
“Since June.”
Kylie’s mouth dropped open. “S-Since June?”
Ruby nodded. “Since June.”
Kylie let out a deep growl. “I can’t believe my bitch of a stepsister has been lying to all of us.”
“She hasn’t been lying. It has all been part of the plan…”
“Bitch, I know you fucked up. Everyone has found out about the impos
ter upstairs before they were supposed to. You’re out of here.”
“I know.”
Kylie went to answer back, but paused. Her angry expression turned to a wicked grin. “You really are nothing, aren’t you? You really are weak. You’ve just been sat here doing nothing, whilst my sister has taken a break and had a holiday.”
“She hasn’t been on holiday.”
“She has. That’s why everyone is pissed off. She has been taking a break whilst the rest of us slave away here, holding up her flawed apocalypse.”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “What exactly is it that you do?”
Kylie faltered. “I….”
“You don’t do a thing. You sit up here having a go at the woman you think is your stepsister. Did you not know it wasn’t me?”
“I don’t know that bitch well,” Kylie answered. “My mother married wrong.”
“It got you here.” Ruby shrugged.
Before Kylie could answer, the lift in the hallway dinged again. Ruby knew immediately who it would be. The dread she had been feeling tightened around her heart. She stared through her cover at the lift doors opening.
First, she saw Nickel Solo, then there was Juliette Weiglass. Finally, there was Maria Temple, her green hair tangling below her shoulders, her eyes narrowed.
They walked into the office, Nickel and Juliette walking to separate sides of the room. Kylie stepped forwards, blocking Maria from walking to the desk.
“Where the fuck have you been? You left everyone here to run this shit for you, and you employed some girl who hasn’t a fucking clue what the fuck is happening here.”
Maria slapped her stepsister across the face. Kylie gasped.
“Don’t talk to me like that, or I’ll feed you to the dead.” Maria snapped. “Move out of my way, Kylie.” Kylie, clutching her stinging cheek, moved aside. Maria stared at Ruby, underneath her robes. “Stand.”
Ruby stood, her feet feeling heavy as she did so. She was shivering under the robes, even though she was warm.
“Take off your robes.”
Ruby dropped the robes from her shoulders, so they fell down her skin, revealing her blue dress. She then lifted her helmet off her head, so her blonde hair fell away from her head and her face was revealed to the room.
Winter Smith (Book 2): The Secrets of France Page 26
