The Battle for Perfect

by Helena Duggan

  Boy was very upset that so many people in Town would believe he could do the awful things his brother did in his name. Violet had tried to persuade him that it wasn’t anyone’s fault. She said that nobody knew he had a brother and so it was easy to be confused, especially since they were identical twins, but Boy was still finding it hard to accept. Violet’s mam said it’d take him some time.

  “Quick,” Lucy whispered again, watching the street.

  Violet took one last look at her friend, then back at the skulking zombie sniffing nearby – they had no choice. She slipped across the garden and in through Lucy’s front door. Boy seemed to come to the same decision and pulled himself from under the barrow, sprinting in behind her.

  Lucy closed the door gently then took a few deep breaths, her back to the solid carved wood.

  “I saw them chase you!” she panted, as if she’d been running herself.

  Violet imagined that Lucy had never been in trouble before or done anything even slightly dangerous – all of this must be new to her.

  “What are they looking for?” she asked Violet.

  “For Boy.” Violet nodded at her friend.

  “Oh,” Lucy said, not looking at him. “Why though? What’s going on in Town? Who let the Watchers out? There’s zombies in the streets!” The girl’s large brown eyes seemed double their usual size.

  “It’ll be fine,” Violet soothed, feeling the need to say something comforting. “We’ll all be fine.”

  Lucy looked at Boy for the first time.

  “I’m sorry about…you know,” she whispered. “I thought it was you who stole my bike. I didn’t believe you, but you were telling the truth all along. I got you in trouble. I understand why you ignored me when I tried to apologize before at school. I don’t blame you…”

  Boy blushed and his face softened a little. He looked at Violet, then back at Lucy.

  “It’s okay…I suppose,” he replied. “Simple mistake.”

  “Simple mistake! That’s a change of heart,” Violet snorted.

  “Well, I suppose me and Tom do look alike.” Boy smiled, his face even more flushed.

  Lucy relaxed and smiled now too. “I guess that’s the trouble with twins,” she added softly.

  All three suddenly burst into laughter, the danger outside making them nervously giddy.

  “So do you need my help? It’s the least I can do,” Lucy asked, serious now.

  “Well,” Violet replied, “if you really want to…”

  She filled Lucy in on their plans to escape No-Man’s-Land and how they needed to reach the house at the bottom of Forgotten Road to get to the wall. When she’d finished explaining, Lucy nodded and opened her front door.

  “Leave it with me,” she whispered, disappearing outside.

  Violet and Boy watched anxiously from a long slim window by the side of the door as Lucy marched out of her gate.

  With a bravery Violet was sure even Lucy didn’t know she possessed, she walked straight past the zombie sniffing around her front garden and up to one of the Watchers. She talked to him for a few minutes, her face animated, then pointed towards the orphanage. The large bulky man shouted orders and the whole group turned and headed up the street into the old stone building. Lucy followed behind them.

  “Now,” Boy said urgently.

  Without another word, he opened the front door, jumped the garden fence and sprinted towards the other end of Forgotten Road, ducking into the derelict house that would lead them to the rooftops of Town. Violet darted in behind him and the pair bent over against the wall, catching their breath.

  “Where have you been?” Anna squealed, rushing down the dark stairwell and flinging herself around Boy’s waist.

  Jack stood up on one of the steps above. “We’ve been a little worried.” He nodded at Anna. “What happened?”

  “Someone in the Market Yard alerted the Watchers to Boy.” Violet gulped in air. “We had to hide for a while. Lucy saved us.”

  “Not Lucy Lawn?” Jack sounded surprised.

  “Yeah.” Boy nodded. “And some people in the market too. They stepped in when the Watchers saw me. Maybe people are sorry for what happened last time.”

  “Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along?” Violet huffed.

  “Yeah, but why would I listen to you?” her friend mocked, leaping two steps at a time up the rickety staircase past Jack, heading for the slime-green bathroom above.

  A short while later, they’d all climbed outside, reached the wall and descended the rope to the cobbled street below.

  It had to be lunchtime, Violet thought, as her stomach growled and she ducked in through the broken door of Iris Archer’s house.

  “What are you doing?” Boy hesitated before following her inside.

  “I need food and we need to think this out properly,” she whispered, rummaging through the kitchen cupboards. “It’s daytime! Someone will see us sneaking around the streets. We can’t get caught, Boy!”

  “Violet’s right,” Jack said quickly. “There’s a zombie at the top of Rag Lane and there seems to be loads going on up on Edward Street. How are we going to slip through all that?”

  “I know!” Anna said, racing out into the hallway and up the stairs.

  Grabbing some bread, Violet, Boy and Jack followed her into Iris’s bedroom. Now that she wasn’t rushing to hide from a zombie, Violet had a chance to take in the whitewashed walls and dark timber flooring. The large wooden bed they’d hidden beneath sat in the middle of the space, beside a single locker and facing a wardrobe.

  “Iris has these!” Anna exclaimed, stepping out of an attached bathroom.

  She carried two pink-labelled cartons. The little girl shook one and released lots of white powder into the air like perfumed snow.

  “It’s talc powder – my mam has some too! Old people use it all the time. I smelled it on Iris, so I knew she had to have it! We can dress up as zombies, just like at Halloween! The zombies won’t notice and I’m sure the Watchers won’t either – how are they supposed to know what every zombie looks like? I’ve seen some smaller ones around too so our size shouldn’t matter. We just need to stay out of their way a little so they don’t see we’ve no metal frames. The only people we really have to avoid then are the Archers and Powick, and that should be simple enough!”

  “Genius.” Violet sneezed as Anna began to smear white powder all over her face.

  Then the little girl ran out of the room and back downstairs. Violet had never seen her move so fast – she clearly loved playing dress-up. Anna returned with a fistful of coal.

  “We can use this to make ourselves look dead like the zombies and we can draw their stitching lines on too. We’ll have to ruin our clothes though,” she said, pulling scissors from her back pocket. “I found these in the bathroom too!”

  Anna set to work ripping her clothes, then she grabbed a brush and frizzed her hair, covering it in talc too. Finally she pulled off one sock, rubbed more talc on her bare foot, looked up at the others and growled.

  “Does it work?” She smiled – her teeth were also coated in coal.

  “Brilliant!” Boy laughed. “You look like Hugo’s child!”

  The other three then hurried to get ready. Boy and Jack helped each other as Anna sat Violet on Iris’s bed and got to work. The little girl was riffling through Iris’s locker drawers for some hair clips when Violet spotted a leather-bound photo album in the bottom one and pulled it out.

  There were lots of photos of the Archer boys when they were children, including one of William sitting picture-perfect by the base of a Christmas tree, a cheeky smile plastered across his young face. There was another, which appeared to be from the same day, of all three boys together, Edward and George both scowling. She flicked further on as Anna pulled wildly at her hair.

  There were gaps in the album as though pictures had been taken out and Violet wondered if they were ones of Arnold. She turned another page and stopped at a photo of a large group of youngish pe
ople. They seemed to be in someone’s yard, smoke from a barbecue evident in the background. Everyone had weird hairstyles, like something from an old film. The girls wore short skirts and the boys had tight trousers that flared out round the ankles.

  Violet studied the faces, stopping at a small pretty woman who looked a little like William.

  “Iris,” she gasped, touching the image.

  She was sure it was Boy’s granny, just a lot younger, crouched down at the front of the smiling group. Everyone was waving happily at the camera except for a single figure. A woman at the edge of the gathering stood straight and stern in a stiff white blouse buttoned to the neck. Beside her was a tall smiling man in tartan green trousers, his elbow resting on one of her square shoulders.

  Violet shook her head.

  “It can’t be! That would mean they knew each other…”

  “Who?” Anna peered round.

  “Nurse Powick! She’s in this photo with Iris.”

  “Show me.” Anna reached forward and grabbed the photo from Violet’s hand. “Is that her, at the back?”

  “I think so.” Violet nodded.

  “You’re right, it definitely is her, but then why didn’t Iris say anything?” Anna pushed her face closer to the picture. “I think I recognize that man too.” She pointed to the one in the tartan green trousers. “I’m sure I’ve seen him before.”

  “I don’t think I know him,” Violet replied uncertainly.

  “What’s going on, aren’t you two ready yet?” Boy’s face was even paler now and shadowed in coal as he stepped out of Iris’s bathroom.

  Suddenly Jack burst from behind him, his arms outstretched. He stomped around the room, dragging a leg while groaning like a zombie.

  “Stop it, Jack!” Anna squealed in delight, hiding behind Violet.

  Jack grabbed her sides. “I’ll tickle you to death,” he grunted as she rolled around the bed, kicking and laughing.

  “Shush,” Boy snapped, looking out the window. “We don’t want anyone to hear us!”

  “Show them the photo,” Anna panted as she sat back up. “Violet found it in Iris’s drawer.”

  “You shouldn’t be looking in there, Violet!” Boy scolded.

  “I know, it’s just…”

  He walked over and took the photo from her hands. “Is that Iris?” he said as Jack peered over his shoulder.

  Violet nodded. “And look who that is.” She pointed to the woman at the back.

  “It couldn’t be…” Jack shook his head, sending talc flying through the room.

  “Powick?” Boy replied, disbelieving.

  “Yeah, I think so.” Violet nodded. “But that means Iris knew her already.”

  “She would have told us though, wouldn’t she?” Jack questioned.

  “Maybe not. Macula said that Iris was a well of secrets!” Violet answered.

  Boy took the photo and put it in his pocket.

  “We can’t worry about that now,” he said, moving back to the window. “We’re losing time – we need to find the scientists to see if Dr Bohr can help us.”

  “Right.” Jack turned around in a swirl of white dust. “Everyone ready and know what they’re doing?”

  “Yes.” Violet coughed, choking on the talc. “I’m heading to Splendid Road. I’ll check out Archer and Brown too. We were there earlier though and didn’t see any sign of them, but just in case!”

  “I’m going with Jack to George’s Road and the tea factory,” Anna added.

  “And I’ll search Edward Street,” Boy said, stepping out of Iris’s room. “I might be able to sneak into the Town Hall too!”

  “Don’t take risks, Boy,” Violet warned. “Remember they’re looking for you. Don’t look at anyone and stay out of the way as much as possible!”

  “Yes, miss!” her friend teased. “Meet you all back at the wall in an hour or so?”

  “Let’s meet here, in Iris’s,” Jack replied. “It might be safer than all of us standing on Archers’ Avenue.”

  They all headed from the room down the stairs, Violet jumping as she caught their reflections in the mirror by the front door. At a quick glance, they were convincing zombies.

  “Right.” Boy stepped outside. “I’ll go first. It’ll be better if we leave separately!”

  Butterflies spun round Violet’s stomach as she watched him turn left towards Edward Street.

  “Right, you’re next.” Jack nodded at her.

  She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the avenue. The cold on her bare feet sent darts up her body – she’d forgotten she wasn’t wearing any shoes.

  “Remember to walk like a zombie!” Anna hissed from Iris’s doorway as Violet took her first careful paces over the cobbles.

  Violet leaned forward and tilted her head a little. She held one arm straight out in front, the other left stiff by her side. Then she lurched forward, dragging a leg. Getting even more into character, she groaned long and slow, just like she’d heard Powick’s creatures do many times.

  Passing a real zombie on the corner of Edward Street, she hobbled by, hoping it couldn’t smell fear. The thing didn’t flinch and she relaxed a little, more confident in her disguise now. Her progress was slow – it’d take for ever to get to Splendid Road.

  Edward Street was a hive of activity, with Watchers patrolling up and down. Fists, the head man, shouted orders at zombies who were erecting seating opposite the Town Hall. It looked like a mini-version of the viewing stand Violet had seen at a concert once.

  At the Town Hall Watchers were hanging long, red velvet curtains across the stone arches, converting the canopy of the old building into a theatre stage. In the middle of the flagstone floor stood the DeathDefier, a mass of electric cables running into its gold base.

  The glass tube sparkled as two heavyset men rigorously cleaned its surface. She stepped closer, pretending to be polishing too. The inside frame wasn’t gold as Violet had first thought but more copper in colour, and it gleamed.

  As one of the Watchers looked up from his work, she grunted and trudged away. She had to concentrate – she was meant to be looking for the scientists.

  Violet went through one of the yet un-curtained arches and down the steps, passing a huge, freshly made eye-plant bed.

  As she shuffled by the Brain, she was sure she saw Edward Archer fiddling with the screens inside. Like William had said, they must be planning to transmit Arnold’s show via it to the rest of the world.

  Violet kept up her steady plod towards the other end of Edward Street, reaching Mr Hatchet’s butcher’s. The door was ajar. With a shiver, she remembered Mr Hatchet being dragged out earlier that morning.

  She slipped inside and ducked down beneath the large display window that faced out onto the street. Hand-scrawled advertising for delicious sausages was written across the glass, making her mouth water.

  She decided to survey Archer and Brown from here for a minute, looking for any signs that the scientists might be held inside that building. She had just sat down on a brown sack Mr Hatchet used to decorate the shop floor when a familiar zombie snuck past outside.

  Boy? He couldn’t have searched the whole of Edward Street already, so what was he doing here this quickly?

  Violet crept back outside. There was no sign of Boy anywhere, though he’d only passed by moments before. She inched along the footpath and peered up Scholars’ Road, catching sight of him climbing the hill towards her school.

  She followed behind. The street was quiet but she kept up her limp in case anyone happened to spot her.

  “Boy,” she hissed. Her slow pace meant she couldn’t catch up – her friend was moving quickly, seemingly having forgotten he was meant to be in character.

  He kept going and ducked behind the school wall. His thick mop of talc-covered grey hair poked back up a few seconds later.

  “Boy,” she hissed again, a little louder this time.

  “Violet?” he whispered, spotting her hobbling up the street.

  She chec
ked around. The place was deserted, so she broke from character too and raced behind the school wall to crouch beside him. Subconsciously she checked the colour of her friend’s eyes.

  “It’s me!” he snorted, annoyed.

  “Sorry,” she replied, embarrassed, “I think it’s a habit now!”

  Ignoring her, Boy turned towards the school.

  “I think the scientists are being held in there.” He pointed. “I heard a Watcher talking about it.”

  “But why the school?”

  “I didn’t ask them, Violet!” he said – then darted across the yard to the large arched entrance.

  She followed and stepped uneasily into the cream-painted hallway behind her friend. The place felt cold and empty. The huge space, usually filled with hundreds of voices, was eerily quiet. The silence scared her as they stole along the tiled floor, past the colourful collages and posters that decorated the walls.

  “Check the classrooms,” Boy whispered.

  Violet stopped outside the first red-painted door and turned the knob, easing it open. Familiar rows of small desks and chairs were lined up facing the blackboard, which had the remnants of homework still visible in the partially rubbed-out chalk. She stepped back out. Boy shrugged, closing his door on the opposite side of the corridor.

  They moved on separately, covering the rest of the ground floor. There were no signs of the missing scientists.

  “Upstairs,” she whispered, pointing above.

  The pair snuck up the tiled steps and stopped at the top. In front of them, across the landing, was a cloakroom of coloured metal railings, normally filled with coats. To their left was a blue door into the girls’ toilets and on the right a corridor that led to the science labs.

  Violet stepped onto the landing, then ducked straight back into the stairwell.

  “The science labs,” she gasped. “There’s a Watcher and two zombies guarding them.”

  She peered out and glanced towards the labs.

  The Watcher had his feet on a chair and was reading a children’s book that he must have taken from one of the classrooms, while the zombies stood on guard either side of the door. She relayed the information back to Boy.