As the fog lifted from his mind, he looked at the masked face in front of him. Fighting to catch his breath, he forced the word from his lungs. “Raven?”
Holding a gas mask out to him, her voice muffled by the one she wore, Raven said, “Put this on.”
Ignoring the offer, Ferdinand looked around the room. His brothers and sisters were still sleeping. “What time is it?”
“Three a.m.” Her dark eyes widened. “Now put the bloody mask on!”
Was he dreaming? It wasn’t possible to be awake at this time. “But what about the gas?” Suddenly his head spun and stars swam in his vision.
“That’s why you need to put this on.”
The image of his best friend blurred. “Why are you here?”
The gas mask hit him in the chest, and Raven grabbed his shoulders. Shaking him, she leaned forwards, her red face just inches from his. “Stop asking me bloody questions and put the mask on!”
Each blink was heavier than the last. Feeling for the mask, his vision slipping, Ferdinand managed to find it in his lap.
“Hurry up, you idiot.”
Lifting it, his leaden arms refusing to cooperate, Ferdinand looked up at his friend again. His world tilted, and his vision swam.
When he woke for a second time, Ferdinand watched Raven pull the aerosol away and put it in her back pocket. Taking the mask that she’d left on the bed for him, he put it on, his warm breath filling the glass front and turning the skin on his face clammy.
After a minute or so, he felt confident the sleeping gas wouldn’t affect him and looked at Raven. Even in a gas mask she was beautiful, the big glass front putting an oval frame around her deep brown eyes and full smile. “How did you get in?”
Raven looked at the open window and raised her eyebrows.
With his cheeks flushing hot, he smiled. “Ah, that would make sense. What are you doing here?”
“I have something to show you.”
“And it couldn’t wait until morning?”
With a sharp shake of her head, Raven looked into his eyes. “Everyone’s awake in the morning. Now come on, get up.”
Had it been anyone else urging him out of bed at three in the morning, Ferdinand would have politely declined and stayed exactly where he was. But it was Raven, and he’d crawl over broken glass for her. Sighing, he threw the covers back. It was only then that he remembered he was dressed in his boxer shorts.
Covering himself when Raven looked down, he cleared his throat. “Can you… uh… turn around, please?” It was odd hearing how the mask distorted his voice.
Throwing her head back, Raven laughed and turned her palms to the sky. “Seriously? I’ve seen you naked, Ferdinand. When did you get so shy?”
“That was fifteen years ago when our parents used to bath us together. My body has changed a lot since then.”
Looking down at his crutch, Raven smirked. “Probably less than you think.”
Ferdinand pointed at the wall. “Turn around!”
Sighing, she turned around.
Forgetting himself, Ferdinand remained where he was and studied her form in her tight black clothes. He could get lost in those curves for hours.
“What are you doing, Ferdi? Come on, hurry up.”
“Um… right, yeah. Sorry.” Getting out of bed, he slipped his tracksuit bottoms on.
Once he’d stood up, he tapped Raven on the shoulder. Looking at the two bunk beds in the room, his two younger brothers in one set and his younger sisters in the other, he shook his head. “It’s amazing that no one ever wakes up, isn’t it?”
“The gas is potent stuff.”
“So how come you’re awake?”
Tapping the glass-fronted gas mask, Raven smiled. “I went to bed with one of these on.”
“Where did you get them from? And the gas to wake me up?”
“You know who Dad works for.”
Gasping, Ferdinand shook his head. “You didn’t!”
“Yep.”
“President Solstice? You stole from President Solstice’s office?”
Nodding again, Raven folded her arms across her chest and pulled her shoulders back. She pointed down at his trainers on the floor. “You’ll need those.”
After he’d put his trainers on, Raven took his hand and Ferdinand’s entire body tingled with goose bumps. “Where are we going?”
Leading him over to the window, Raven hopped up on the sill.
Ferdinand looked back at his brothers and sisters. “But I can’t leave them on their own.”
Jumping down again, Raven walked over and took both of his hands. “They’ll be okay.”
“I have to look after them; I’m the man of the house now.”
“And you do a wonderful job, but they’ll be okay. Everyone’s asleep.”
“We’re not.”
“That’s true, but we don’t mean them any harm, do we?”
Accepting her point with a nod, Ferdinand looked at his sleeping siblings, frowning as he heard his mum’s last words to him. “Take care of your brothers and sisters, Ferdinand. They need you more than ever.” When he looked back at Raven, he swallowed a gulp. “Okay. But we’ll be back before the city wakes up, right?”
Smiling, Raven let go of his hands, leapt up onto the windowsill and out onto the roof. She moved with the grace of a cat.
Following her out, Ferdinand shuddered. It may have been summer, but a T-shirt was barely adequate against the early morning bite in the air. All the muscles in his body locked tight as he took in the view. “The city looks so different from up here. And at night time, it’s so peaceful.”
“I know. I never get tired of it.” Taking two large strides, Raven leapt onto the neighbouring roof.
When she turned around and beckoned Ferdinand with a curled finger, he shook his head and looked down at the ground below. “No way. There’s no way I can jump that.”
“If you live your life in fear, you’ll never truly realise your full potential. Just don’t look down.” Her wide smile filled the glass-fronted mask. “I believe in you.”
Taking a lungful of air, his heart beating in his throat, Ferdinand ran at the edge of the roof and jumped, his stomach lurching as he pushed off.
Hitting the loose stones on the next roof, his feet slipping and his arms windmilling, Ferdinand managed to keep his balance. Before he could say anything, Raven was off at a sprint, jumping onto the roof of the next building.
Watching her getting farther away, Ferdinand turned around to look at his open bedroom window, the gentle breeze licking the net curtain. Biting his bottom lip, he shook his head and took off after his friend.
Ferdinand’s confidence grew as they leapt from roof to roof. Each leap took them slightly higher, revealing more of the city around them.
When Raven stopped on the roof of the Metropol Hotel, the usually neon sign dull from where it had been switched off for the night, she pointed at the streets below them.
Moving through the dark down Main Avenue, Ferdinand watched a cleaning bot picking up litter with its twirling brushes, and he laughed to himself. “I wondered how the streets stayed so clean.”
When he spun full circle, Ferdinand could see the cylindrical wall surrounding the city. Looking at the huge metal ceiling, he stretched his arms up.
“What are you doing?”
Snapping his arms back down, Ferdinand blushed. “Nothing. I just… I dunno, it kind of feels like I should try and touch the ceiling.”
Stood with her hand on her hip, her other one jutting out to the side, Raven cocked an eyebrow. “But it’s miles above us.”
“Not exactly miles, is it?”
“Okay, I was exaggerating. But there’s no way you can touch it.”
Sighing, Ferdinand let his shoulders drop. “I know. But until tonight, I never thought I’d see the night time either.” Spinning around again, Ferdinand took in the dimmed lights that ran a ring around the top of the walls. “I thought it would look different at night, but it j
ust looks like someone’s hit the dimmer switch. It still feels like we’re living in a tin can.”
When Raven took off again, he watched her for a moment before shaking his head and following.
Dropping his hands to his knees and hunching over, Ferdinand pulled heavy gulps of air into what felt like ever-constricting lungs. The run didn’t seem to have had any effect on Raven. Looking up at the blonde girl, Ferdinand spoke between gasps. “How long have you been doing this?”
Shrugging, Raven looked around. “Dunno. Two, maybe three years.”
“Years! Jesus, Raven, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”
“Finally!”
Spinning full circle, Raven looked out over the city. “I used to enjoy the time alone. I felt free as I moved from rooftop to rooftop watching our sleeping city. It’s nice to sit high up and realise just how small we all are—how insignificant our lives are in the grand scheme of things.”
“Insignificant?”
Raven shrugged.
“We’re all that’s left of humanity, Raven! Everyone else was killed by radiation poisoning. I think that makes us pretty bloody significant!”
Regarding him with her deep brown eyes, Raven pointed over at one side of the city.
When he turned around, his stomach sank and his voice warbled. “The camps.”
Moving next to him, Raven rubbed his back. “We’ll get your parents out of there one day.”
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Ferdinand sighed as he continued to look at the huge buildings. “They look even worse from this high up. They take up over a third of the city. I can’t believe Solstice gave them life for questioning whether it would be safe outside of the walls.” Sneering, he ground his teeth. “Bitch!”
Tugging on his hand, Raven broke away and leapt onto the roof of the library.
With his lungs burning and a stitch in his side, Ferdinand’s heart pumped like a piston as he pushed himself to keep up with Raven. Knowing he should be focused on his footing didn’t stop him looking at the surroundings as they passed from one building to the next. Despite spending his entire life in the canister, he’d only seen the parts he’d needed to visit; the rest of it he knew by reputation alone.
When they leapt onto the hospital roof, Ferdinand suddenly saw the exercise yards stretching away from him. They were a space for the admin staff to go when they needed to stretch their legs. The large concrete areas were grey and uninspiring, much like the city itself.
A little too distracted by the scenery, he collided with Raven. When he saw her stumble, he grabbed her waist and pulled her close.
Pressing both her palms against his chest, she gently pushed herself away. “Easy, lover boy. Calm down.”
Ferdinand looked at the floor. “I’m sorry. I was worried you might fall. I…”
When he received a playful punch on the arm, he looked up at her smiling face.
“I was just thinking how I’ve never seen this much of the city.”
Looking around, Raven lifted her eyebrows. “Small, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I think because we’re not allowed to go anywhere unauthorised, I kind of always assumed it was bigger.” Pointing over at the huge patch of fields on the opposite side to the prison camps, he said, “I can’t believe how many fields there are.”
“This city needs a lot of food.”
Looking again at the walls and roof, Ferdinand turned back to Raven. “Do you think we’ll ever leave? Will the air outside ever be safe to breathe?”
Raven reached out and put a hand on his arm. “Yes.” Turning her back on him, she looked out across the city. “I’m guessing you know where I’m taking you?”
Looking at the phallic tower in the middle, its shaft standing higher than all of the other buildings, Ferdinand nodded.
The presidential tower stood much taller than any other building in the city. The top of it was layered like a small pyramid, creating steps up the side of it. Looking up at Raven as she climbed, her toned thighs in tight trousers, Ferdinand tried to fight the shake in his limbs. Having never been good with heights, his energy was draining from his muscles like air from a fast puncture.
When Ferdinand looked down, his stomach dropped. Closing his eyes, he fought for breath and tried to hold on to his spinning head. Once he’d recovered, he continued his climb and finally sat down next to her.
Raven leant against the top of the tower. “The view’s amazing, isn’t it?”
Ferdinand didn’t reply.
“I said—”
“I heard what you said, Raven. It is an amazing view, you’re right. But…”
“But what?”
“Well, to see how small my city is. To realise that the final habitat of the human race can be circumnavigated in a day… I dunno, it just makes me sad. Also, to see how much of humanity’s final resting place is devoted to incarceration.” Shaking his head, he looked over at the camps again. “We’ve not learned anything, have we?”
When Raven took her mask off, Ferdinand’s heart rate trebled. “What are you doing? What about the gas?”
“There’s no gas this high up. It’s totally diluted by the time it gets up here.”
Looking down again, Ferdinand’s stomach rolled. If he passed out, the fall would shatter every bone in his body, but Raven looked fine, so he pulled his gas mask free. After taking his first deep breath, he relaxed, Raven was right.
Despite scanning the city—the admin section, the factories, the agricultural quarter, the exercise yards—Ferdinand couldn’t help but look at the camps again. “I’d love to see those buildings reduced to rubble.”
Opening her mouth to reply, Raven stopped when the distant sound of a car engine came from the streets below.
Holding onto a bar behind him, Ferdinand leaned over the edge. It was the presidential car driving out into the city. “What’s she doing down there?”
Pointing, Raven just said, “Watch.”
Heading to the nearest park, he watched the car drive up to a glass box in the middle of it. A door opened and the car entered. Once it was inside, the box resealed itself.
“No way,” said Ferdinand.
The president got out and walked around to the front of her vehicle.
Ferdinand pointed down. “That box keeps her safe from the gas.” Watching her white fluffy hair jiggle with her stiff walk, Ferdinand watched her hop up onto the bonnet of her car and lean against the windscreen. There was a flash of light. “What’s that?”
“A cigar.”
“A cigar? But aren’t they—”
“Illegal? Yes. She doesn’t care though. Who’s going to see her in the middle of the night?”
Before he could reply, a deep rumble shook the entire city. Hanging onto the bar behind him, Ferdinand grabbed his gas mask. But before he could put it on, he felt the warm touch of Raven’s hand on the back of his, preventing him from doing it.
The sound of cogs turning made him look up at the opening ceiling. “But, Raven, we’re going to die if that opens. What about the radiation poisoning?”
Smiling, Raven kept her hand where it was and looked up. “Sod radiation poisoning!”
The ceiling unwound as huge metal plates retracted, opening the city up to the sky. Short of breath, Ferdinand shook. “But we’re going to die, Raven!”
Still smiling, she squeezed his hand.
As his throat tightened and his pulse increased, Ferdinand looked at the girl he’d known for most of his life and swallowed a dry gulp. “I love you, Raven.” He then looked away.
When there was no reply, he looked back to see her eyes sparkle. She leant towards him. When their lips touched, he inhaled her scent. Despite the run, she smelled of flowers, and her kiss was a breeze on a summer’s meadow. The heavy whirring meant nothing to him in that moment.
When they finally pulled away, Ferdinand’s head was spinning. The sedative of love’s first kiss had calmed his fears.
; Looking up, Ferdinand saw that the roof was fully open. The thick black sky was littered with sparkling lights that were like pinpricks in a black sheet. Heat stung his eyeballs, and Ferdinand started to cry. “The air isn’t poisonous?”
Shaking her head, Raven pursed her lips. “No.”
Drinking in the sight above him, Ferdinand squinted and pointed up. “And what’s that?”
Reaching over, Raven held his hand. “It’s called the moon.”
Ferdinand sighed. “It’s beautiful.”
Sitting up, Raven peered over the edge of the building down at President Solstice. When she turned to Ferdinand, there was fire in her eyes, and she spoke in a low growl. “You just wait until we show the city the sun.”
Ends.
Teeth
Looking over his shoulder at their burning house, Josh turned to his brother. “Do you think they’re coming back?”
Archie, at seventeen, was three years older than Josh. “I don’t know. Maybe, but it’s been three days, and we can’t wait in a house that’s on fire.”
“So what shall we do?”
“We’ve got to go to Nana’s. If any of our family are still in London, that’s where they’ll be.”
“I think we should stay here.”
“And wait where, Josh? In case you hadn’t notice, they set fire to our fucking house!”
A lump rose into Josh’s throat, and he stared at the floor through blurry eyes. “I dunno. I just want to make sure we’re here when Mum and Dad come back.”
Archie’s words stabbed at his heart. “And what if they don’t come back?”
Before Josh could reply, Archie put a hand on his shoulder. “Get down!”
Hunching with his brother behind a low wall, Josh listened to the sound of the approaching voices. A couple of them were deep like men’s voices, but most of them had the prepubescent squeak of children. Shivering in the cold, Josh looked at his brother, who placed a finger over his closed lips. The accompanying frown told Josh to shut the fuck up.
It was hard to stay quiet with both the cold and adrenaline trying to wobble his body. Stuttered breaths shot out of him and turned to condensation as the voices got closer. He could suddenly hear their conversation.
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