Zoe turned on them. “I expected better of you two, Emma and Ewan. You both know what will happen if we’re caught.”
Emma waved Zoe down. “It’s Ok.”
“Is Toby back?” Zoe demanded.
“Not yet.”
“Where’s the other guard? There must be two on the door.”
The guard marked as Dobbin said, “Jack is taking a box to the kitchen.”
“Lord save us,” Zoe hissed. “I’m going to get Barney or Steve to take over here.”
“They were on the night shift last night,” Dobbin answered.
“I’ve had enough of you, Dobbin.”
The boy stepped defensively away from her.
Ewan intervened. “I’ll get Pete to come down and stay with this one.”
“Fine,” Zoe walked off. “I need to talk to Martyn. Let’s see if he’s rebooted.”
The sooner they got away from here the better.
Stepping deeper into the building, Zoe felt the aches and pains of the morning setting in. She needed to clean off the sweat and city smells in a long, hot bath. Before that though, there were things Martyn needed to know.
The base was busier than usual. Most of the Ackersons were contained inside, thanks to Hywel. The Ackersons had more mouths to feed and less food coming in. Life was getting difficult around here. Martyn was failing them now. They needed a new, strong leader to pull them through.
Their brave and fearless leader was slouched on a sofa in the snug at the back of the warehouse. His unwashed slovenly husk must’ve repelled all the others to the far dining tables. Alone, Martyn was unseeingly watching the news reel in front of him. He didn’t even twitch.
“Martyn?” Zoe wasn’t sure who he was any more. “Martyn, I’ve found a better base. We should move tonight.”
His eyes refocused on the TV. “How could you possibly find a better base than this one?” He asked.
“Martyn, Toby’s out looking at the police profile in town. Hopefully all’s quietening down there. When he comes back we should prepare to leave,” Zoe said.
“Toby’s not looking at police movements,” Martyn said. He smirked defiantly. “I ordered Toby to go get Alex.”
“You ordered him?” Zoe asked, her voice laced with venom. “You don’t even know if she’s in the cells?”
Martyn turned. Zoe felt his heat but held her eyes steady. “You’d leave her there to rot? She deserves better.”
“Martyn, you know Toby would do anything to save Alex. I can’t believe you put him in danger like this.”
“We’d all be dead, Zoe. I am dead without her.”
“We don’t know if they’ve got her,” Zoe said.
“They’ve got her! They’ve got her and she’s trying to escape. When she does Toby will be there to help her,” Martyn said.
Zoe could see the edge of sanity burning away. Alex was always the trigger. Any discussion about Alex fed his madness.
“Martyn, I need you to concentrate on the here and now. When Toby comes back we’ll need to move quickly. You need to accept that he might come back empty handed. If he comes back at all,” Zoe said.
Martyn sat up straight in the chair. “And you’re suggesting we move to one of your bases? You’re the person who led us here. This place is a complete death trap!”
“We didn’t have a choice.”
“Today, while you were out galivanting, one of the kids cut themself when a pane fell out of a window. The guards have cordoned off a section of the bed area because they think the floor is going to collapse into the cellar,” Martyn snapped.
Zoe bit back. “I know, and the west wall is rusted through, and the roof is probably too dangerous to patrol. That’s why we need to move.”
“That’s why we need to wait for Toby to bring Alex back. Then Toby will tell us where to go next.” Martyn slumped back into his chair.
Zoe scowled at him. “I’ll give Toby another hour to get back. Then Toby and I will talk to you about this again. Think about what you’re doing, Martyn. Go take a bath at least.”
“Leave him be, Zoe,” Ewan dragged her a few steps away. “Leave it.”
Ewan settled down on the sofa next to Martyn, ignoring Zoe’s curses. He picked up the remote control and flicked the TV over to the football. The Middle Mead Mountains were winning two goals to nil against Kettering Clangers with five minutes of half-time commentary left.
“Well that’s no surprise,” Ewan said, goading Martyn to talk. “The Middle Meads’ season has been near perfect. They’re gonna be higher up the table than the Drayton Demons soon.”
Martyn smirked at him. “You know I hate football.”
Ewan crossed his arms. “I love it. Nobody can take football away from us.”
“I suppose,” Martyn scoffed.
The conversation stalled and Ewan fiddled nervously. He waited, not wanting to fill the gap too soon.
“Martyn,” he said eventually. “What can I do to help you?”
Martyn shrugged. “Take over as leader?”
“You’re a good leader, Martyn.”
“Am I? Better than Zoe wants to be?” Martyn’s voice cracked and his forehead wrinkled. “I didn’t see it coming. After my Dad died... huh, after my Dad died I looked to Hywel for advice. Hywel was at my side the whole time, advising me and keeping me on track.”
“He fooled us all,” Ewan said, keeping his tone cool.
“But I should have seen it. I let everyone down,” Martyn said.
“Even Alex missed it,” Ewan said.
Martyn glared at Ewan. “And look where she is now. I loved her, Ewan... I love her. Now all we can hope is that she’s hiding somewhere out there on her own. But that’s not what really happened, is it? She’s dead.”
Ewan could see where this conversation was leading. “The best thing we can do now is protect the people around us. The kids. And hope that she’ll come back to us in a couple of weeks. Yeah?”
Martyn shrugged. “What else is coming for us, eh? When’s our bomb dropping from the sky?”
Ewan ran his hands through his choppy hair. “We need you, Martyn. If you don’t feel like a leader anymore then you need to be a good actor. Act like a leader. Act just for one more move. Just one more. Then we’ll have a vote, Ok?”
Taking a deep breath Martyn nodded. “Ok. Ok, I can do that.”
Ewan smiled kindly. “Good, good.”
“It’s time to focus on something new, something that can bring all the people closer together,” Martyn said.
“You mean the illegals, now that the Erikssens are gone?” Ewan asked, confused.
“No, bring the whole city together.” Martyn looked out towards the kids playing near the med station. “We’ve never had this many close calls. So close. Something is changing. For better or worse, the time is coming when there won’t be illegals anymore.”
Ewan’s thoughts were interrupted when the main door rattled open. The bang of the door and the slice of daylight lifted both men from the sofa. Should they expect scouts or the slim hope of Alex arriving at base?
“It’s Jen and Sam,” Pete called from the door.
The two scouts were offloading their coats and peeling off their boots. A young boy sprinted across the warehouse and crashed into Jen’s legs. Jen scooped her boy up and swung him in circles, casting giggles around in spirals.
“Hey, Jen,” Martyn called as he jogged over.
Ewan ruffled the kid’s head. “Hi Andrew.”
“Where’re Toby and Matt?” Martyn asked.
Jen looked anxiously down at her kid. “Um, we got separated.”
“What happened?”
Ewan took the little boy’s hand, exchanging glances with Jen. “Come on, Andrew. Let’s go play.”
“Bye, baby,” Jen waved to him, smiling sweetly.
“Sam, Jen, what happened?”
Slipping on his tattered daps, Sam passed a folded slip of paper to Martyn. “We’ve mapped out the police sentries around the squa
re. No guarantees they won’t change, but it looks like there’s only one safe way in.”
The paper was roughed around the edges and folded down small to fit inside a pocket. Unfolded it revealed a sketched plan made of blotchy blue squiggles. There was the Square, with the main thoroughfares at each corner and random little side alleys splitting off. Lots of little x marks peppered the roads and most of the alleys.
“These are the cops?” Martyn asked.
Sam nodded. “Yep. They’re everywhere.”
“That’s four times the number we saw there last week,” Jen said.
Sam pointed to the north end of the map. “They were securing the gallows.”
Martyn screwed the map up and threw it to the floor. “Argh! This is shit.”
“The gallows... they’re not for Alex,” Jen said. Martyn snorted. “There were posters up. People were handing out flyers.”
Sam snatched up the map and smoothed it out. “They’ve changed the bus routes into the city. Most of our maps aren’t right anymore.”
“We didn’t have time to plot the new routes,” Jen said.
“The underground is out too. They’ve installed CCTV all over the place,” Sam said.
The situation was desperate. “I need Toby here,” Martyn said.
“Martyn, he’s on his way,” Jen said, brushing her hand over his shoulder.
Flicking her hand aside, he said. “If he doesn’t come back then we’ve got nowhere to go. I don’t trust Zoe to find us somewhere safe.”
“We’ll find somewhere,” Jen said.
“Yeah,” said Sam, “and we’ll get some more food too.”
“Food?” Martyn said. “You’re thinking about food now?”
“We’ve got three days of supplies left,” Sam said.
Martyn scanned the warehouse. “Why didn’t I know about this? Where’s Emma? She’s in charge of the supplies.”
“Martyn, she’s been telling you about this for weeks.” Jen called after him as he marched towards the medic station.
Kids were scattered around the medic station, colouring pictures or listening to stories. Debbie was sitting next to a seven-year-old blond lad, handing him coloured crayons at his demand.
“Lello,” the kid said, clawing at her hand.
“That one’s green, not yellow,” Debbie said, laughing. She looked up. “You Ok, Martyn?”
Martyn perched down on a seat at the table, almost hovering in anticipation. Jen and Sam were right behind him. “Have you seen Emma?”
Debbie teased the little boy by twirling the crayons across the top of her knuckles. “Martyn, don’t be angry with her.”
“Just spit it out.”
Debbie looked up tentatively. “She’s gone to meet with a contact. There are big problems with supplies right now.”
“She’s gone out without telling me?” Martyn’s face reddened.
“No offence, but you’ve been a bit hard to communicate with,” Debbie said, letting her voice sing song. “So, Emma had to go out and find food by herself.”
“What do you mean?” Martyn asked.
“Let’s step away.” Debbie dropped the crayons down and drew Martyn away from the onlooking children. “She’s gone to meet Ian Harper.”
“Oh hell,” Jen said under her breath.
“I remember something about that,” Martyn’s face wrinkled as he thought back. “Ian... I remember Luke said... he said Ian had plans to hijack a police truck?”
“And Emma’s gone to help him?” Jen asked.
“The food supplies are too important for her not to go,” Debbie said. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“She’s never held a gun,” Sam said. “She’ll get them all killed.”
“Debbie, when did she leave? Where is she meeting Ian?” Martyn asked.
Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out a torn corner of a sheet of paper. She passed it to Martyn. “This is the address. She’ll be there soon.”
Martyn passed it to Jen without a glance. “Take Sam, Pete and Steve. Go bring Emma back.”
Sam shuffled nervously. “Martyn, this is a bad idea.”
“Emma is our only medic. We need her back at base,” Martyn said.
Jen crumpled the piece of paper into her pocket. “Sam, go get Steve and meet me at the door.”
She waited for Sam to reluctantly leave. Then she pulled Martyn away from Debbie, careful not to be overheard.
“Martyn, what if she won’t come back?” Jen nodded towards the storeroom. “This could be our big chance of getting supplies.”
“It’s too risky for her to do this. She’s too soft. She’s got no experience.”
Looking over to where her kid was playing, Jen stuttered her words. “We’ve got experience. Sam, Pete, Steve and me.”
Martyn gave an imperceptible nod. “I know.”
Sam and Steve were waiting near the door.
Jen took a deep breath. “Ok.”
Jen kissed her boy on the head. Then they were gone.
Martyn scanned the room. Where were his council members? He counted them off as he scanned the room. Zoe was shouting orders to one of the teams shoring up a corrugated iron wall. Today she was the reliable one, for a change. She was trying to correct her recent mistakes. As for his other council members... well, Emma was off base. Hywel... was dead. Marcus must be around somewhere, but where?
“Debbie, have you seen Marcus?”
Debbie had settled back at the table, happily colouring in the picture with the boy’s crayons. She looked up. “Over by the old office, I think.”
“Thanks.”
Martyn shouldered past Gina. She was watching the warehouse from the corner of the kitchen. Something about her creeped him out. She seemed to blossom from the manure of other people’s pain.
“Martyn.” The shout came from the outside door.
Toby was back. His stick was gone and his limp was back. Something was wrong. Mattie and a weathered woman hovered behind Toby as he inquisitioned the door guard.
“You finally made it back, then,” Martyn called, as he paced across the base.
Toby glowered at his approaching leader.
“Toby, where is she?” Martyn said.
Grabbing a bottle of water, Toby took a hurried gulp to calm himself. “What’s this about you sending four of my scouts out to attack a police convoy?”
“They’re my scouts. I sent them to bring Emma back,” Martyn said.
“Emma? They’re our best, Martyn. They’re needed here.”
Toby splashed a little water into his hands and rubbed it over his face. Streaks of grime dripped from his chin.
“Well, Emma’s got herself into mischief and we’re stumped without her.”
Martyn looked again at the woman who had walked in with Toby. She looked rough. Her greasy hair hung loose around her face.
“Is she one of your contacts?” Martyn asked.
Toby slumped down in his chair. “Tell you what - I won’t freak out over the scouts being out if you don’t freak about our new guest.”
“What? Who is she? I don’t recognise her,” Martyn said, all senses on alert.
“She’s an Erikssen.” Toby raised his hand to stall Martyn. “She has information for us.”
Martyn rubbed his face with his hands. “You’ve brought that murdering scum into my base?”
Toby flinched. “She’ll be on her way next time we change sites.”
“How did you find her?” Martyn said. “Did she help you when the Erikssens caught you?”
Toby shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”
Penny was staring fixedly across the room. Something half recognised had caught her attention.
“You!” Martyn shouted. Penny’s head snapped around. “Come.”
Rolling her eyes, Penny sauntered over and sat down next to Toby. Toby shuffled sideways away.
Penny’s expression turned meek under Martyn’s steady gaze. “Um, thanks for taking me in. I know I do
n’t deserve it.”
Martyn scrutinised her. “What’s your name?”
“Penny Mitchell,” she said. Her gaze flicked back across the room.
Martyn glanced over, irritated by Penny’s distraction. He saw Gina about halfway across the warehouse. She was watching them.
“Are you friends with Gina Rigby?” Martyn asked.
She shook her head. “No. I thought I recognised her from somewhere.”
“Anyway... what does an Erikssen want with us?” Martyn asked.
“I need...” Her eyes unfocused, her skin paled, her brow furrowed. “They’re all dead. I grew up with those people and now every man, woman and kid are dead. Gateway is one giant mass grave right now.”
“I can’t help you there. The Erikssens poked a bear. The Commander’s wife and kid are dead,” Martyn said.
Penny shrugged, tear in her eye. “I know. It was a big risk and they failed. Now I have no-one.”
“So, you’ve come here to trade your information for security?”
“Yes. Until it is safe for me to leave,” she nodded.
“What then? Where will you go?”
Penny raised her head high. “To the Monmouths. I am an activist.”
Martyn looked away, disgusted.
“She’s already given us great info. There’s a hidden viewpoint over City Square. The Erikssens had planned to use it for snipers,” Toby said.
Penny looked off to her left again. Gina was approaching their table.
“Not now, Gina. This is private,” Martyn snapped.
Mattie came alongside the table to usher her away, but she shrugged him off.
“She’s an Erikssen,” Gina said, forcefully pointing towards her. “You’re letting murderers in now?”
“I know you?” Penny said.
“I’ve seen posters of you,” Gina spat back.
Penny cocked her head innocently. “No, you haven’t. I’ve stayed well under the radar.”
“I’ve never seen posters of her,” Martyn said.
“Well I have. Get rid of her. She’s dangerous,” Gina said, pointing off towards the doors.
“Go away, Gina. We know she’s an Erikssen. We’re keeping our eyes on her,” Toby said.
Penny’s eyes widened and she shied backward. “Somersby. That’s Sergeant Somersby.”
The spy dived over the table. Her flick knife slipped between Penny’s ribs, two, three times before Penny twisted off her seat and onto the floor. The room was full of screams and the sound of chairs clattering to the ground. Gina twisted around on the table and slashed at Martyn stomach. A thin red line traced his chest and he fell to the floor.
Rise Page 27
