by Helen Harper
I smiled slightly. ‘I do.’ It wasn’t a task I’d particularly relish. From the expression on Felicity’s face, she felt the same.
‘It could be a whole lot of work for nothing,’ Monroe said. ‘Although it seems likely that the message is for us, it might not be. Even if it is for us, what’s it likely to say? “Hello? How are you guys doing in there?”’
He glanced round our assembly. ‘Maybe it doesn’t matter what it says,’ he said more quietly. ‘Maybe the intention is for us to send a message out to those families that are waiting for word about their loved ones who chose to stay. As Charlotte pointed out, with no more of those pigeons we can’t send anything back. Until this morning, we weren’t thinking about communicating with the outside world. Perhaps we should just forget about it.’
From the mutters around us, no one was willing to forget about it.
‘What if it’s not a friendly hello?’ Felicity said. ‘What if those messages are a warning?’
‘Such as?’ Julie asked.
It was Monroe who answered. ‘Such as “We’re tired of having you in our country. We want our city back so get out before we obliterate you all.”’
I licked my lips. ‘They wouldn’t do that. The government wouldn’t do it. The army wouldn’t do it.’
‘How can you be sure?’
I looked at him. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer.
‘Is there any sign of more pigeons?’ Julian asked.
Several of the werewolves shook their heads. ‘We’ve been checking around. There might have been lots of them initially but they’ve all gone now.’
Monroe lifted his chin. ‘If we’re sending out trackers to find the hound that ate the pigeon and wait for it to,’ he glanced at me and adjusted his language in a manner that amused me, ‘defecate the message, we might as well keep an eye out for more pigeons at the same time.’
Julian nodded. ‘Agreed.’ He looked round. ‘You all know your teams. We’ll divvy up the city areas.’
‘I will travel to the south,’ Monroe said. That made sense; it was the most likely location for the hell hound to return to.
‘If you wish.’ Julian’s response was mild. ‘But take Brewster’s pack with you.’
I knew that, deep down, Monroe wanted to refuse. Despite months of therapy and genuine healing, he was still afraid of travelling with others in case his actions led to their deaths in the same way that his own pack had died. He was getting better, however; he was learning to trust again. ‘Fine,’ he said.
I opened my mouth, ready to throw in my oar and declare my intention to go with Monroe. Both he and Julian beat me to it. ‘Charley, you should go in search of the shadow beasts’ lair,’ Julian said. ‘We don’t need the added complication of that baby monster along with everything else. You can keep an eye out for any pigeons while you’re out.’
‘Besides,’ Monroe added, ‘you can’t track like the rest of us. You sound like a marauding rhino even when you’re doing your best to keep quiet.’
That was a bit uncalled for. ‘Rhinos are a threatened and yet still wonderful species,’ I said, more loudly than I’d intended.
‘Then,’ Monroe said mildly, ‘you’d better take some back-up with you in case you’re threatened. You’re too wonderful to risk.’
I was exasperated and pleased in equal measure. It was good for my self-esteem to have him tell me I was wonderful – but it didn’t matter how often I proved my wondrous worth, he still worried about me.
I knew Monroe was right. Given what had happened with Lucy’s mother, and the fact that the hell hounds were this far out of their den, it made sense not to travel alone. If he could be the bigger wolf and go with another pack, then so could I. My pack was just a tad more … motley.
‘I’ll take Lizzy, Jodie and Cath,’ I said.
‘And me, darling,’ Julie declared.
I looked at her quizzically. ‘It’s mid-morning.’ In August.
The vampire waved an airy hand. ‘Don’t you worry about me. I can protect myself from the sun.’
‘It’s settled then.’ Julian set his jaw. ‘No one’s tried to contact us from the outside before now. If that’s what is happening, let’s not mess it up.’ A distant look came into his eyes and I knew he was thinking about both our dwindling supplies and the danger that might be about to hit us from our own people. ‘We might need this.’
Unfortunately, might didn’t come into it.
The other groups had already departed by the time my crew got themselves together. First of all, it took considerable thought on my part to come up with a way to tether Lucy. I didn’t want to leave her behind in case she decided to grow twenty feet while I was away; neither did I want her roaming around the streets with us. Given her squishy body, simply tying a leash round her wasn’t going to cut it.
In the end, after experimenting with various harnesses and halters, I gave up and stuffed her into a backpack, leaving the top open so she could peek out. She chirped happily, as if she were pleased to be venturing out on a day trip.
‘When I tell you to be quiet,’ I said, ‘you be quiet. No squeaking unnecessarily if we come across any beasties.’ I paused. ‘Even if they’re your own beasties.’ I still wasn’t sure what would happen if we met any more shadow beasts while we had Lucy in tow. No doubt I’d find out.
Lucy blinked at me adorably and yawned. I patted her head and swung the backpack onto my shoulders.
Lizzy, my erstwhile Australian housemate, took a more lackadaisical approach. She loped up with nothing more than a bottle of water. She gave me an easy smile. ‘This will be like old times,’ she beamed.
‘Yep,’ I said. ‘Except in old times we were usually wandering down to the pub. You weren’t likely to turn furry and I wasn’t likely to start shooting magic from my fingertips.’
‘Perhaps,’ she drawled. ‘But you always liked venturing into new places and taking risks. Plus ça change.’
Cath grinned. ‘I like risks,’ she said. ‘Do you think we’ll bump into any more hell hounds? I’m gutted that I missed the last one. All the good stuff happens when I’m not around.’
Despite everything that had happened, she still had a propensity to be awed by danger. ‘You’ll stick by my side,’ I warned her, wagging my finger.
Cath snapped out a salute. ‘Yessir!’
Jodie stomped up. ‘The vampire is taking forever,’ she said huffily. ‘I waited for a while but she’s putting on some stupid outfit. We don’t have to bring her with us, you know. She can stay behind.’
‘She can come if she wants to.’ I smiled. For all that she moaned about Julie, I reckoned that Jodie secretly liked her. The two of them had been together at the beginning of the apocalypse, after all; they’d probably be together at the end as well.
‘I’ve been practising,’ Jodie sniffed. ‘I can use magic to shoot down a glass bottle at fifty paces. If she gets in my way, she’ll be sorry.’
I frowned at her. ‘You’ve not been overdoing it?’ Magic, like food, was rationed. The apocalypse had been caused by too much of it being released into the atmosphere; we didn’t want to create a second disaster if we could help it.
Jodie rolled her eyes. ‘No. Because I’m not a psychopath.’ She turned and watched the strange figure sashaying down the street towards us. ‘Unlike her.’
Jodie might have described Julie’s clothes as stupid but there was a certain ingenuity to her get-up that I had to admire. She was wearing the same reflective fabric that the other vampires had taken to wearing, but she’d fashioned it into a dress that trailed the ground and covered every inch of her bare skin. It wasn’t the dress itself that was particularly odd, however: it was the umbrella perched on top of her head which really made the outfit.
‘Hello, darlings,’ she said. She held out a small hip flask. ‘Gin, anyone?’
Jodie tutted. ‘It’s not even midday.’
Julie winked. ‘It’s for the road.’
Cath stared at her. ‘N
ice hat.’
Julie twirled. ‘It’s not my best look, I’ll admit,’ she said. ‘But I came across it in an old charity shop. I knew it would do the trick and keep me safe from the pesky sun without me having to use my hands to hold my parasol.’ She leaned in and tapped her nose. ‘I always was a trendsetter, you know. Just you wait and see – before too long, every vampire in Manchester will be sporting these. In fact, I imagine the trend will pass on to the humans and the werewolves too.’
I tried and failed to imagine Monroe wearing an umbrella on his head. Perhaps it was a look I could work on for the future. If I could manipulate him into making a bet with me, his forfeit would be to wear Julie’s headgear when he lost. And nothing else.
‘You’re getting that look on your face again,’ Lizzy said.
The others turned to me. ‘Yeah,’ Cath agreed, while Jodie and Julie nodded.
‘What look?’
Jodie folded her arms. ‘That look you get whenever you think about Monroe. All dreamy and…’
‘Like you want to whip off your knickers,’ Julie finished for her.
I coughed. They laughed.
‘All I can do is use my imagination where Monroe is concerned,’ Cath said. ‘Despite the whole werewolf thing, he takes care not to shift in front of me in case my delicate teenage sensibilities are offended.’
‘He is pretty impressive,’ I finally admitted. ‘But stop your imagining. You have your own werewolf boyfriend now, Cath. You should be focused on him.’
She smiled. ‘Nero is on fleek.’
Julie turned to me. ‘I still have no idea what she’s saying half the time.’
I grinned. ‘Come on, ladies.’ I felt ridiculously happy to be venturing out into the city with them. Monroe might have my heart and soul but these guys were still my family. ‘We have our mission. Let’s show the rest of Manchester how it’s really done.’
Lizzy whooped. ‘Let’s do this!’
Chapter Five
Less than two hours later, much like with any family members, I was ready to throttle the lot of them. Julie was tottering along, still swigging at her seemingly unending supply of gin and checking her reflection in every window and smashed-up car mirror that we passed. Cath was dragging her feet and moaning about blisters. Jodie was moaning about everything.
Even Lizzy’s sunny Australian attitude was beginning to grate. ‘There’s another pigeon!’ she yelled. She took after the hapless bird with her leggy gait, her bare arms bursting out with golden fur at her excitement. She still hadn’t full control of this shifting business.
‘Lizzy!’ I cursed. ‘You have to stop shouting all the time. We’re trying not to draw the attention of any beasties!’
Jodie took a bite of her apple. ‘That bird isn’t carrying anything,’ she said, as much to herself as to anyone.
We watched as Lizzy bounded up to the surprised pigeon. It wasn’t afraid of her, although it did flap its wings and move to an old lamp post where it could peer down at her. She started shimmying up the lamp post towards it, only getting about halfway up before she squinted. ‘It’s not carrying anything!’ she called. She slid down to the ground again while the bird preened itself.
From my backpack, I hear the faintest sound of a snore. Lucky Lucy, I thought.
‘Let’s not go chasing after every single pigeon, shall we, Lizzy?’ I said aloud. ‘There are thousands still living in the city that have nothing to do with our mission. Besides, if you run after them you’ll scare them off.’
‘Or get covered in bird poo,’ Jodie remarked, taking another bite. She gave an arch glance towards Julie. ‘I wonder how nice your new umbrella hat will be when it’s covered in guano?’
Julie smiled serenely. ‘Well, darling,’ she said, ‘at least the bird shit won’t be on my head. You’ll have fun trying to wash it out of your hair when there’s no hot water.’
Jodie scowled. Before the situation could degenerate further, I stepped in. ‘Random pigeon chasing isn’t going to do anything other than make us very tired.’
‘Well,’ Cath said slowly, ‘we could collect the guano. It might be a useful manure for the crops back at home.’
‘Hold that thought. We can leave manure collecting for now,’ I said. ‘Let’s keep an eye out for pigeons carrying messages but focus on finding the shadow beasts as Julian asked. We still need to work out what we’re going to do with Lucy.’
As if aware that she was the topic of conversation, her snores grew louder.
‘Good plan,’ Jodie said. ‘We should find her aunties and uncles before she wakes up every other monster within a ten-mile radius.’
‘If we’d taken a car, we would have found the shadow beasts by now,’ Cath said, even though none of us had been in a car that actually worked for weeks.
‘But,’ Lizzy pointed out, ‘we can’t catch pigeons if we’re in a car.’
‘We’ve not caught any pigeons on foot,’ Jodie muttered.
I counted to ten in my head. Right now, Monroe and the other werewolves would be silently padding though the city, each pack working together in perfect symbiosis, fluidly acknowledging each other’s thoughts without so much as a single snarl or moment of confusion. Then I smirked to myself. How very dull.
‘We’re almost at the spot where we came across Lucy’s mum,’ I said. ‘There are bound to be other shadow beasts lurking in the area.’
‘Do you think that shadow beasts bleed?’ Julie mused. She licked her lips slowly.
Cath gasped and jumped over to me. ‘Cover your ears, Lucy!’
I sighed in amused exasperation. ‘Come on. We’re going this way.’
I led my troupe down a street to the right. It had long since been cleared of the worst of the apocalyptic debris, although several gnarled roots still poked up from the broken road. The smashed shop fronts which lined our path no longer had dangerous shards of glass poking from their windows; nor did they have any useful supplies inside to plunder. Rather than glance into the darkened interiors or be distracted by the remnants of the destruction around us, we fell into a careful walk, moving abreast like we were entering some godforsaken Wild West frontier town. Part of me hoped to see some tumbleweed blowing across the road in front of us. This was Manchester, England, however. The best we’d see right now would probably be a few disintegrating crisp packets tumbling across the street. Pickled-onion flavour maybe. Or perhaps smoky bacon. My mouth began to water. It was better not to think of such things.
I wasn’t the only one who was thinking of times gone by. With the bickering between her and Julie now over – at least temporarily – Jodie pushed back her hair and glanced at the rest of us. ‘Do you think things will ever be like they were?’ she asked quietly.
Cath gave an awkward shrug. ‘Maybe. I mean, they can’t stay like this forever, can they? We’ll work out the supply problems and we’ll get better at growing crops and raising chickens and catching fish. There will be children soon. That means schools. And I’m not the only one learning more about medicine – lots of people have signed up for lessons. We’re all becoming more useful members of society. We contribute properly instead of doing things like working the stock market or telemarketing or valet parking.’
‘Those things have value,’ Julie said. ‘I knew a great guy who valet parked my car at the Ritz in London. His name was Billy and he had the tightest, plumpest little arse you could imagine.’
Cath smiled slightly. ‘You know what I mean.’
Julie looked away. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘I know.’
‘I don’t really miss it,’ Jodie said suddenly. ‘I mean, I miss McDonald’s when I’m hung over, and window shopping at the Arndale with my friends when I’ve got time off. But I don’t really miss the life I used to have. Not all that much. The magic more than makes up for everything. I feel … useful now. Worthy. I didn’t really get that before, even though I worked in a pub run by a faery who was doing his best to make our world better. I just,’ she paused, ‘I just wish I coul
d call up my sister sometimes and chat to her. Tell her how I’m getting on. Make sure that she’s okay and that her bastard of a husband is still on the straight and narrow. That sort of thing.’
‘My home is on the other side of the world,’ Lizzy told her. ‘I’ve been distant from it and my old friends and family for years. When I felt homesick, I used to listen to Australian radio.’ She deepened her voice. ‘“Brisbane Hit105. Your local station for all your music needs.”’ She smiled faintly. ‘I miss that a lot. But I always felt that something was missing. Even with Charley as a best mate, I never quite fitted in. That must have been the bunyip part of me because I don’t feel like that any more. I belong to a community now. I feel … whole now.’
Julie let out a brief tinkle of laughter. ‘Well, you all know my position,’ she said. ‘I used to live in fear. I might have been an actress but I still felt like I was in the shadows. I was hunted and on edge and…’ her voice faltered. ‘It wasn’t enjoyable. Despite our deprivations, life is much better for me now too.’
They all glanced towards me. I nibbled on the inside of my cheek for a moment before speaking. ‘I have Monroe,’ I said simply. ‘And I have you guys. The magic is great and exciting and fun, but it’s the people who really make this life. I worry about what the future holds. We might be able to deal with the shadow beasts and the canal monsters and the odd community squabble, and we might be able to cope with rationing. But what happens when we run out of stuff? I’m not talking about what we need to survive but what we need for a comfortable life. What happens when there are no tampons or sanitary towels? Or if the reservoir gets poisoned or drained or ruined, and we no longer can rely on running water? Or when we run out of condoms?’
‘I’ve seen the warehouse supplies,’ Cath interjected. ‘It’ll take a crap ton of sex and many years before we run out of condoms.’
I smiled at her. ‘You know what I mean. I’m glad I stayed in Manchester. I’ve never once regretted staying when the army evacuated the city. But I worry about the years to come. I wonder how we’ll cope with this isolation five years down the line. Or ten.’
