It took a great effort to get the words out, the parting between Spike and his parents still raw in his heart, but this wasn’t a time for balance, for having everything he wanted, for keeping everyone happy. He had to decide what he valued most. Several paths in front of him, he had to choose one. As hard as it would be, it seemed like there was only one correct choice. As he held onto his love, her body trembling with her grief, he whispered, “I think we should try our luck outside the city. I think we should wait for nightfall and leave this place.”
Matilda stopped crying for a moment, pulling back and locking onto him with her watery gaze. She then fell back into him and squeezed harder than before, her tears rushing from her in convulsive bursts.
Chapter 41
In any other situation, Spike wouldn’t have asked her to remain outside, but in her current state, Matilda needed to walk the path of least resistance. For once in their young lives, Spike probably had more to offer than her. After making sure she’d be okay, he snuck into what had once been team Minotaur’s dorm. Who knew what names the teams had chosen now? Who cared?
Spike walked more easily on his right foot because Matilda had cleaned and bandaged it for him during the day. He still moved with a slight limp, but it didn’t restrict him like it had. As he snuck inside the door, a leader he didn’t recognise lay snoring in her bed. Like with all the other leaders, she kept her door wide open in what had proven in Spike’s experience to be a useless attempt at catching cadets leaving when they shouldn’t. The sounds of sleeping rookies issued from the darkness in the rooms on either side of her. Happy they were all asleep, he walked on tiptoes to the wall of broadswords.
Although much better than it had been, Spike still clenched his jaw against the sting in his right foot, held his breath, and pulled down two swords in their scabbards.
The snort of someone waking up snapped Spike rigid. He slowly turned to look at the team leader. A thickset woman with a tight afro, she sat up in her bed and squinted while staring at him in the dark corridor. Her voice bubbled from her throat. “River? Is that you?”
While trying to hide his limp and suppress his breathy response, Spike shifted closer to her door, but remained in the darkest shadows so she couldn’t see him. “Yeah, it’s me.” He nearly put a voice on, but he didn’t know what River sounded like—hopefully, River was a boy.
“What are you doing?”
“I have to do an extra shift on the gate tonight.”
“I didn’t hear about that.”
“Sarge asked me to do it.”
From the way the woman squinted into the darkness, Spike guessed her eyesight wasn’t her strongest sense. Maybe that was why she trained cadets rather than became a protector herself. The silence lasted a few seconds, the woman squinting harder. “Come closer,” she said.
His heart already on overdrive, Spike froze.
“Come on, I need to see you better.”
“With all due respect, ma’am.”
“Ma’am?”
“My mum raised me right. She said when you like a woman, you have to be respectful, especially when that woman is only wearing a nightie.”
The squint eased on the team leader’s face, her features falling until her jaw hung loose. “What are you saying to me, River?”
“I’m saying that I love you. I have from the moment I met you. And I know nothing can go on.” He laughed. “I’m just a kid, right? But I also don’t think it’s appropriate for me to enter your bedroom.” Heat flooded Spike’s cheeks as he thought about the words he needed to say. His throat nearly locked up, but he kept going. “I already lust after you every day. I don’t want to stoke those feelings by being closer to you while you’re dressed as you are.” A slightly darker patch of shadow to his right, he shifted into it so she found him even harder to see.
The woman stared, saying nothing for about thirty seconds. “Well, um … thank you for telling me. Um, I don’t know what to say, but I think you’re right. Now go and do your guard duty. Well done. I’ll … um, see you in the morning.”
“I’m looking forward to it, ma’am.” Best not to push his luck, Spike did his best to hide his hobble as he left both the dorm and confounded team leader behind.
Chapter 42
“What kept you so long?” Matilda said as Spike helped her strap the broadsword to her back.
On any other occasion, Spike might have laughed about what had just happened. In the future, he might find it funny, but at that moment, he saw no humour in it and simply shook his head. “You don’t want to know.” He walked past her in the direction of the gates. “Let’s get out of here while we still can.”
The night limited their visibility, but as they drew closer, Spike made out the silhouette of the cadet on guard. “There’s just one of them. That’s good.”
“Have you thought about how we’re going to get out?”
“We have swords. They don’t.”
“Good point.”
As they got closer, the cadet tensing at their approach, Spike recognised the tall and slim beanpole silhouette. “Trent?”
It took the boy a few more seconds before he said, “Spike? What are you doing here? I thought you were on the trials.”
“Look, Trent, Matilda and I are leaving the city tonight, so I need you to let us out.”
It forced the kid back a step. “You want me to open the gates?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you realise how much trouble I’ll be in if I do that?”
“Have you seen we have swords?”
Before Trent could reply, Spike caught him on the chin with a right cross. It knocked him back into the gates, which shook from the impact, the chains at the top swinging out before slamming back against the wood. While holding his face with his left hand, Trent said, “What was that for?”
“You need to justify letting us out. Now you can tell them you were attacked.” Spike drew his sword and pointed it at Trent. “Not only attacked but held at sword point. Say we threatened you and roughed you up, but we made sure we left you conscious to let us out and then lock the gates behind us. That way, the city’s safe, and I’m sure they won’t give a shit about us going missing.”
Trent worked his jaw as if testing for breaks. He was just a kid, and Spike hated himself for saying it, but needs must. “I can cut you if you like? Make it look as authentic as possible?”
Even in the poor light, Spike saw the colour drain from Trent’s face. Without a word, he walked over to the wheel on the right side of the gate while Spike and Matilda readied their swords in preparation for any diseased outside. As he turned it, the right gate slowly opened.
The gap no more than a foot wide, Spike led the way, his sword out in front of him as he peered into the darkness for signs of the diseased. When he saw none, he slipped outside, Matilda a step behind him.
The moon lit the space in front of them enough for Spike to see the change that had occurred since they’d been there last.
“They’ve nearly finished it,” Matilda said as she appeared at his side.
The wall swept around in a wide arc, a gap where the new gates would go several hundred metres away. Other than the space for an exit, the rest of the wall had been filled. The moonlight also showed the area was free of diseased, and they now had just one way in and one way out. It made their escape much simpler.
As Trent closed the national service area off behind them, Spike felt too guilty to thank him. They hadn’t given him a choice. One last sweep of the open space confirmed what he’d first seen: there were no diseased in the enclosure. He noticed two large gates resting against the wall on either side of Edin’s new exit. “It looks like they’re close to finishing.” He sighed. “It’s a shame we’ll never get to see it, especially as we gave so much during national service.” After a moment or two longer, he reached across and took Matilda’s warm hand. If he didn’t say it now, he might never say it. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
As they wa
lked, Spike thought about his parents, and tears burned his eyes. He knew how much it would hurt them, but hoped they’d understand. After all, they liked Matilda and they’d want him to do whatever made him happy.
Chapter 43
At least they’d reached the end of winter. The evenings were still cold, but if Hugh had been locked in the hole overnight a few months previously, he would have frozen where he sat, or at the very least spent the night in motion to keep his blood pumping. Sat in the spotlight from the strong moon in the clear sky, he kept looking up. No idea of the time, but it had been dark for hours. If anything, the sky had started to lighten a little with the first signs of morning. He’d waited long enough, but if he left it any longer, he’d miss his chance.
When Hugh stood up, it agitated the diseased around him and filled the space with fresh wafts of their vinegar tang. The funk thickened the air like the grease of a cooking animal in a humid kitchen. It clung to his skin.
After tying the rope around the middle of the thick stick, Hugh looked up at the moon again. In his left hand, he held the rope’s slack, and in his right, he held the wooden stick like a spear. A silent countdown from three in his mind, he launched it up through the hole.
The stick went through on the first shot, but when Hugh snapped it back down with a quick tug on the rope, it returned to him at twice the speed. He jumped aside at the last moment, the stick crashing into the ground where he’d stood as atrophied arms reached through the cage, pawing at him. Had he not had more important things on his mind, he would have fought back. Instead, he simply twisted free of their palsied grips and returned to the spotlight above.
A very slight adjustment to where he’d tied the rope, Hugh slid it a few inches one way along the stick and tried again, launching it up through the hole with a similar pace and accuracy to his first attempt.
This time, when Hugh tugged on the rope, its new position pulled the stick sideways. As he dragged it back down, it landed across the hole like a bar, the rope hanging down for him to climb.
After several tugs to test it, Hugh lifted his weight from the ground and swung in the tight space. It held. He then climbed out of there.
Just to breathe the fresher air aboveground sent a surge of energy through Hugh. He’d made it out; now he needed to get to Spike and Matilda … wherever they were.
Two wooden doors separated Hugh from the rest of the national service area: one that led from his cell, and the other the main exit. Both of them were bolted shut from the other side. Both of them broke like rotten wood when he kicked them. They clearly had too much confidence in the cadets not being able to get out of the holes.
Because his exit had been far from quiet, Hugh set off at a jog, finding the shadows and keeping a hold of the rope and stick Max had given him. He needed to get rid of them somewhere they wouldn’t be discovered.
Even with the noise he’d made, from what Hugh could see as he journeyed across the national service area, no one stirred. A sleepy atmosphere hung over the place, and it wore the low-lying mist like a cosy blanket. The dew-soaked grass squeaked beneath his steps, and he kept bursting through his own large clouds of condensation. He’d get to the gates leading back into Edin. If he got into the city, he could avoid capture long enough to get the message to Spike and Matilda in their respective districts. In a world with very little hope, he had to make sure they knew the truth.
So caught up in his thoughts, Hugh only heard it at the last moment: the sound of heavy steps from someone running close to him. One of the dorms was nearby, so he scooted around the back and hid in the shadows. While catching his breath, he peered around to see what looked like a cadet run into the dorm he’d chosen to use as cover.
Although he couldn’t see him, Hugh moved closer to the dorm’s entrance and listened to the conversation going on inside.
“And they attacked you?”
“Yeah. Two of them sprang at me and put a sword to my throat. They forced me to let them out.”
“What did you do?”
“What they told me to do.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“I’m from the agriculture district, so I know Spike Johnson. He had a girl with him.”
Hugh smiled to himself.
“You’re sure no diseased came in?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. I suppose there’s nothing we can do. I don’t see any risk to us from what’s happened, and you think they’ll be long gone by now?”
“It was about an hour ago.”
“Well, there’s no point in waking anyone up. We’re putting the new gates on tomorrow, so we all need our sleep. Go to bed and we’ll tell Sarge in the morning.”
Hugh waited for about five minutes after the boy had walked away, and because he heard no other sound in that time, he ran off into the night in the direction of the gates leading to the world outside. Whatever it took, he’d find them. At least he hadn’t headed the wrong way, venturing deeper into Edin in what would have been a futile attempt to find his friends.
Just threaten them like Spike and Matilda had and he’d be fine. That had to be the easiest and safest way out. Hugh saw the silhouette of one guard by the gates, but it took for him to get closer to see it was a girl. A small frame, mousy brown hair, and slightly sticking out ears. To look at her momentarily derailed him. She reminded him so much of—“Elizabeth?”
Images of her bleeding face. Of her turning into a diseased. A knife cutting into a stomach, tearing flesh. Ranger’s face. Lance laughing. Hugh shook his head as if it would help him rid his mind of the chaos.
Just a few feet separating them, the girl said, “Uh … can I help you?”
Just punch her, threaten her, and get her to let him out, but the uncanny resemblance to his love paralysed him.
“Excuse me?” the girl said.
He couldn’t do it. “I’m here to take over.”
“But I’ve not been here long.”
“I know. Sarge asked me to come down. They wanted someone with more experience. It’s for your safety.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Two cadets went outside the city earlier this evening. They attacked the person on guard. Sarge is worried more might try it and asked me to come down here and relieve you. It’s not a night for rookies to be looking after the gate.” It would be so much easier to threaten her.
“How do I know to believe you?”
“Go and ask Sarge if you like. What I know for sure is I have to be here and he’ll kill me if I’m not.” He saw Elizabeth’s eyes turning red as the disease spread through her.
“I don’t know.”
Unable to hold onto himself, Hugh shouted, “Damn you, Elizabeth. Go and ask Sarge.”
To see the girl wince at his outburst flooded him with white-hot shame. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Who’s Elizabeth?”
Hugh shook his head as if it would get the images from his mind. “I’m sorry. Sarge intimidates me. If I don’t do as he says, there’ll be hell to pay, and we’ll all be on the receiving end of it. Go and ask him now. I’ll wait here.”
As much as the girl looked like she wanted to say no, she watched Hugh with one eyebrow raised and stepped away from him. Her breathing had sped up, small clouds forming in front of her. “I’ll be back,” she said and ran off.
After he’d watched the girl out of sight, Hugh ran to the wheel on the left side of the gate and turned it enough to open a gap of a few feet. It would take her five minutes at the most to speak to Sarge and get back.
Only then did Hugh remember he still had the rope and stick in his hand. It must have added to the girl’s confusion. And why did he call her Elizabeth? What an idiot.
Hugh peered outside. The way looked clear. As he lifted his gaze to the horizon, he saw the sky had grown lighter with the promise of daylight. It would certainly help his search for his friends.
Hugh slipped through the gap in the gates and bro
ke into a jog. As he passed through the space where the new gates would be fitted and burst into the meadow, he discarded the rope. He kept the stick. The best weapon he had, he hoped it would be good enough.
Chapter 44
Maybe Spike imagined it, but as he lay in the pit with Matilda, the metal sheet covering them like it had the last time he’d slept there, he felt the itch of bugs crawling over his skin. Millipedes, centipedes, woodlice, spiders … he envisioned his body alive with the little bastards, a shudder turning through him as he thought about them trying to find a way into his ears.
Although Spike hadn’t shared his paranoia with Matilda, she clearly couldn’t sleep either. They’d spent the night talking. Maybe they could have continued on foot, but their odds of surviving in the ruined city in the dark were low. They were better off waiting for first light before making their move. They’d still have time to get away before the protectors reached the sprawling ruins.
Scared, sure, but Spike also felt free. Free from the arbitrary rules of an oppressive government. Free from the need to please people he had little respect for in the hope of gaining their approval. Free from the whims of powerful men who took their issues out on the city. What he’d give to stove in Robert Mack’s head. The outside world had more to offer them than Edin. It would be a frantic beat, but they were now marching to the rhythm of their own song.
“Who’d have thought it?” Spike said. “All those times we spent lying on the factory roof as kids, planning an unrealistic future—”
“And now we’re here in a hole, waiting to leave Edin for good.”
“I’m so sorry that it’s come to this. I wish we could have brought Artan with us.”
A febrile response, Matilda said, “Me too.”
Retribution - Book three of Beyond These Walls: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller Page 17
