Beyond These Walls (Book 2): National Service

by Robertson, Michael

  The beast on Hugh’s back reared up, its mouth opened wide.

  Spike kicked it before it could take a bite, sending the thing sprawling.

  Shannon came at Spike next. He hacked at the side of her head and split her skull, wincing away from the spray of warm blood.

  Tom rushed in a second later. Spike drove the tip of his sword into the front of his face, turning the boy off, but Tom’s momentum ripped the sword from his hands, taking it with him as he fell dead on the ground.

  The shrill scream of the first diseased exploded through the air; it then ran at Spike.

  Only a second to react, Spike heard Hugh call his name. He turned to see the boy’s sword coming at him. Despite the diseased’s thunderous approach, he focused on the airborne weapon, caught it by the handle, and continued its momentum in a swing aimed at the beast’s neck.

  Enough to wound the creature and knock it to the ground. Spike stood over it and used both hands to drive the tip of Hugh’s sword into its face, burying it into the soft ground beneath.

  Sweat ran into Spike’s eyes and he fought for breath while staring down at the pinned creature. When Hugh crashed into his side, he just managed to remain standing, accepting the hug from his friend, but not returning it.

  Spike finally looked up to see the cadets had pulled back inside the perimeter of the wall. All of them watched him. He looked at Ranger and the bitter twist on his face. He wouldn’t let him win. He’d save his friends no matter how many times the little psychopath tried to kill them. Then he turned his attention to Bleach. Too much distance between them for his team leader to say anything, he looked like he wanted to tear him a new one. But it didn’t matter what Bleach said, Spike wouldn’t ever let his friends die.

  Chapter 20

  As Spike watched the last person leave the canteen, he shoved his dirty dinner plate aside and rested his elbows on the table in front of him. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours. A late night on guard duty where Ranger had turned up, put a knife to his throat, and told him about Matilda’s sword. Although, he still hadn’t decided whether he spoke the truth. The boy would do anything to get under his skin. Then he’d had to go against Bleach’s orders to save Hugh, which again Ranger had played a hand in. More cadets had died, and now as punishment—as if the last day hadn’t been bad enough—he had to clean the dining hall.

  The doors to the dining hall opened, and Spike turned around to see Bleach. “I’m getting on with it, okay? It’s been a long day. I just need a moment before I start.”

  A few seconds of silence followed, the wind from outside entering the hall through the open door. The slightest smirk lifted one side of Bleach’s mouth.

  “You think this is funny?”

  Bleach cut in. “Careful, William. I’m not here to berate you, so don’t make me change my mind.”

  “Then why are you here? You’ve told me to clean the dining hall, which I intend to do.”

  “I’m not allowed to praise you for today.”

  “But?”

  “Hugh’s an important member of the team. I’m glad he’s not dead. And you have the potential to be a great protector. Try not to jeopardise that. I’d like to go on my break after this national service knowing you’ve given yourself every chance to be selected.”

  Although Spike opened his mouth, Bleach turned away and walked off into the early evening, letting the dining hall door close behind him.

  It gave Spike the jump-start he needed. Starting with his table, he grabbed the plates around him and stacked them one on top of the other.

  Nearly all the plates cleared away, Spike got to where Ranger sat. The dishes he and Lance had used were on the table and free of food—as were most of the plates; the cadets worked too hard to skip meals. But in the centre of both of them swam enough saliva and mucus to cover the bottom of each one. To look at it clamped tension through Spike’s stomach, and he tasted bile in the back of his throat.

  After a second, he lifted the plates. His shoulders were so taut it felt like they might not uncoil again. But what could he do? Of all the battles he had ahead of him, this seemed like one he should let go. He’d make Ranger pay in other ways. He just needed to make sure he was smart about it. Bide his time. If he reacted to provocation, he’d come unstuck.

  After he’d stacked the dirty dishes in the kitchen, Spike wiped the tables and was currently mopping the floor. He looked out through the large windows at the gates. The cadets and leaders had all returned to their dorms. The setting sun highlighted everything with a burned orange tinge, and the air had turned grainy as day transitioned to night.

  Spike looked at the two guards on the gate. At least he’d done his night shift for the next few days. But it would come around again soon—sooner than he would have liked; fewer cadets meant more guard duty. They’d also have to build the wall quicker, carry more supplies, and be better fighters. How many would be left at the end of the five months?

  It didn’t help that Spike had to clean the dining hall on top of everything else. But if it meant he still had a chance for the apprenticeship trials, he’d clean the dining hall every evening. Not that he’d tell Bleach that. Less than four months until the trials and less than ten months before he’d be able to start living the life he wanted. It would all be worth it. Of course, from the looks Matilda had given him when they were having dinner, she was furious, but she’d come around. Especially when everything worked out.

  The room now smelled of lavender like Bleach’s dorm. Spike put the mop in the bucket and headed for the kitchen to attack the mountain of dirty dishes. However, before he could get there, the door hinges released a sinister groan. It stopped him in his tracks.

  Chapter 21

  “Elizabeth?” The perfect partner for Hugh. As much mouse as he was mole, she had long brown hair, sticking-out ears, and her front teeth were slightly oversized. “Are you okay? Is Hugh all right?”

  She let the door close behind her before smiling and dipping the slightest nod. “We’re both fine.”

  “Then …”

  “What can you help me with? I was hoping I could help you. I’ve been waiting for Bleach to leave the dorm so I can come over and lend a hand. I wanted to say thanks for saving Hugh’s life today.”

  Spike carried the bucket and mop towards the kitchen, peering at the stack of dirty dishes. He’d already filled the sink with cold water. When he saw Elizabeth follow him, he waited for her to catch up before walking through the door. “You two have gotten quite close, huh?”

  “Yeah. He’s a sweetie. He’s kind to me.”

  “It goes a long way.” After setting the bucket down, Spike plunged a plate into the cold water, grabbed a cloth, and cleaned it. When he put it down on the side, Elizabeth picked it up and dried it with a towel before putting it on a rack, ready to be used for breakfast.

  It seemed like too obvious a question, but Spike needed to know. “So what are your plans after we’re done here?”

  “When Hugh and I go back to separate districts?”

  The slightest numbness already spread through Spike’s knuckles from the frigid water. Thank god he didn’t have to do this in the height of winter; it would turn his hands into claws. “It’s an obvious question. You don’t seem like the kind of person to go into politics.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You have a shred of humanity.”

  “Thanks. I think. And I don’t want to be a protector either.”

  “Well, that leaves f—”

  “Hugh thinks we can both work in the labs and live on the campus there.”

  “And your family?”

  “I’ll miss them.”

  “But …?”

  The slightest twist turned her soft features momentarily jagged. “Life isn’t what you think it is in the woodwork district.”

  Spike handed her another clean plate before tipping a tray of cutlery into the sink, the rush of metal hitting the bottom.

  “Th
ey have gangs there.”

  “Gangs?”

  “Youths on the street who are controlled by some right horrible bastards higher up. It’s insane. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, life’s hell if you belong to a gang, but it’s worse if you don’t. They tend to leave you alone after that.”

  “But four years is a long time.”

  “Right.”

  “And the guards don’t do anything about it?”

  “The guards are afraid of them. The gangs have such a tight grip on the woodwork district, and there’s so many of them, if they chose to revolt, Edin would fall. The last guard that stuck his nose in ended up dying in a warehouse fire. His entire family was in there with him too. Twelve of them in total from eight months to eighty. Every one of them died with the promise cousins would be involved next time.”

  “I heard about that fire.”

  “Didn’t hear about why it happened though, did you?”

  “No.”

  “Instead, it would have been told as a tragic accident to befall a poor innocent man and his entire family. Because a guard and his family would be spending the night in a warehouse …”

  “So what’s the point of the gangs?”

  “They want to live a life of freedom.”

  “Don’t we all.”

  “They give the government enough output from the workshops to keep them off their backs. They then manage the distribution of rations.”

  “Giving themselves the largest slice of the pie.”

  “Of course.” After drawing a deep breath, Elizabeth put the next plate down, tucked her long brown hair behind her ears, and lifted her top.

  Spike turned away, raising a hand so he didn’t have to look at her exposed body. “What are you doing?”

  But she stopped lifting when she revealed the scar on her stomach. A five-pointed star, the angry red wound looked fresh. “They tag you before you go on national service. A reminder of who you belong to.” After a pause, her eyes swelling with tears, she spoke with shaking words. “When you belong to a gang, they do what they want with you.”

  It turned Spike’s stomach to think about it. “As in …?”

  “Whatever they want.” After drawing a stuttered breath, she said, “They do it before you go on national service. They take turns. They make sure …” She broke off, pressing the back of her hand to her nose. “They make sure they don’t get you pregnant, but they let you know who you belong to. They make sure they humiliate and degrade you just because they can. They do it to girls and boys.”

  As she stood in front of him, crying, Spike filled his lungs and released a long exhale. “My god. And Hugh’s your chance to avoid that?”

  “I care about him.”

  “I never said you didn’t.”

  “Yes. We’re going to live away from them. Hopefully, I’ll find a way to get my brother and sister out before they’re old enough to appear on the gangs’ radar.” She stared into the middle distance through glazed eyes. “Although, I didn’t think I’d find a way to get myself out until I met Hugh.”

  Although Spike wanted better words, he only had, “I’m sorry. If I’d have known—”

  “You’ve done more than enough. My hopes for a better life rest on Hugh getting through this alive. With you as a best friend, he has a better chance than most.”

  Spike half-smiled.

  “What?”

  “I’d not thought of Hugh as my best friend. But you’re right; since getting here, we’ve definitely gotten close. I suppose he is. I used to think of Matilda in that way.”

  “But she’s so much more, right?”

  “So much more.” Spike used the cloth to clean some cutlery before he handed it to Elizabeth. “Does he know about what you’ve been through?”

  Elizabeth shook her head while biting down on her bottom lip. She finally managed, “It’s a lot to get your head around.”

  The weight of the past few days pushing down on him, Spike nodded. “Yeah. Well, don’t worry, I won’t say anything to him. It’s your story to tell.”

  While Elizabeth sobbed, Spike thought about Matilda. The ray of hope. The reason to keep going. “Everything will work out.”

  For the first time since she’d walked into the hall, Elizabeth smiled. “I believe that. I really do. Thanks to you.”

  Chapter 22

  The sharp knife burned as it cut into Spike’s stomach. The first line of the five-pointed star, they’d surrounded him and pinned him to the ground. The one with the knife had an evil grin that caught the light. The glint of his blade. The grin turned into a grimace as he pushed down and started the next line.

  Waking with a gasp, Spike saw the person over him and reached up, halting before he grabbed her throat. “Tilly?”

  She pushed a finger to her lips. “Shhh!”

  His heart pounding, his breaths uneven, Spike’s head spun when he sat up too quickly. Matilda jumped down from his bed and silently beckoned him to follow her.

  After he’d pulled his duvet back—the cold night biting into his exposed legs—Spike slipped from his bed, his bare feet landing on the chilled floorboards.

  Once he’d gotten dressed, Matilda led the way from their dorm, moving with the grace of a highly skilled assassin. If only she could compete in the trials, they’d stand a much greater chance of one of them winning it.

  When they stepped outside, their breaths visible in the chill air, Spike’s tiredness left him. “It’s the middle of the night.”

  Instead of responding, Matilda ran off across the national service area.

  Nauseated from being awakened too soon, Spike gulped before he followed her, the dewy grass soaking his shoes, the ground uneven underfoot.

  Matilda ran around the back of team Phoenix’s dorm. The place had been abandoned for weeks now. A site no one visited. A ghost ship among an active fleet. But it hid them from whoever guarded the gate that evening. Someone from team Chupacabra.

  After she’d peered around the side of the dorm, Matilda sprinted for the dining hall. It felt like Spike had only been in there a few minutes previously, talking to Elizabeth about what it had been like for her in the woodwork district.

  Before Spike caught up to her, Matilda ran for the gym, vanishing around the back like she had the last time they climbed on its roof.

  When Spike caught up to her again, he saw she’d made it halfway up the rungs on the back of the building. He followed, taking it slower than before because of the dew on the bottom of his shoes and his still mildly unresponsive limbs from having not yet properly woken up.

  On top of the roof, Spike sat down and caught his breath, large clouds of condensation billowing from him. He looked at the training area on the other side of the wall. “They’ve finished the first two trials now. I wonder who’s in the lead and what they’ve made them do so far.”

  “It’s not like you’ll ever find out. Not with the way you’re going.”

  “Wha …? Huh?”

  “When will you stop being a hero, Spike?”

  “What?”

  “Hugh, earlier. I heard about what happened.”

  “What? I should have left him?”

  “You left me the other day when I was being attacked.”

  As much as he wanted to tell her it was because he knew he had no chance of getting to her in time, Spike shrugged. “I know you can look after yourself.”

  Red-faced and wide-eyed, Matilda clenched her jaw. She dragged a deep breath in through her nose and released a large cloud of condensation. It seemed to help, her words softening. “I just need to know we’re pushing in the same direction.”

  “Hugh would have died had I not done something.”

  “What about Artan? What about the apprenticeship? What about us?”

  “It’s okay.”

  “How?”

  “Bleach has told me I haven’t jeopardised my chances of being the next apprentice.”

  “But what if you had? What then? You could have thro
wn it all away. And what about Max?”

  “What about him?”

  “While you’re standing out for all the wrong reasons, he’s standing out for all the right ones.”

  “I’ve killed more diseased than him.”

  “Only just, and he’s proving to be much more reliable than you.” A moment passed where she looked away from him as if to gather her thoughts. “I need you with me. I need to know you’re going to be okay. That we’re going to be okay.”

  Instead of replying, Spike looked at the training area again. The large and empty arena. The dorm all the cadets shared. What would it be like to share such a confined space with Ranger? He’d have to sleep with one eye open.

  “Ranger could have stopped the diseased that attacked Hugh. He set it up. If you were there, you would have seen it. The diseased were running at Ranger, and instead of fighting them, he avoided them so they ran at Hugh.”

  Matilda opened her mouth and drew a breath, but Spike cut her off. “Like he removed the bolt from your sword.”

  “What?!”

  “He’s gunning for me. He’s trying to make me fail by taking down the people I love.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Not even he’d do that.”

  “Just after you visited me at the gate the other night, Ranger turned up. He had a knife with him, which he put to my throat.” Spike looked up and pointed to the cut on his neck. He heard Matilda gasp. “He threw the bolt at me that he’d removed from your sword.”

  “It could be a lie.”

  “It could be. But he definitely led the diseased to Hugh. And like Hugh saved your life by giving you his sword, I saved his. I would have done it even if I didn’t feel indebted to him. That’s what friends do.”

  Matilda’s anger gave way to tears and she shook her head. “What’s happening to me? I’m getting so focused on what I need to do, I’m not thinking about anyone else. This place is eating away at who I am.”