Contagion

by Contagion (retail) (epub)

  Callie disappears for a moment, then directs me.

  We find a service station that is still open. I wander in, glad the house we’d stolen the car from had some clothes I could wear without looking like a complete freak. They’re boys’ clothes, but the jeans fit okay with a belt. The shoes are too big, but not clown big with the double-thick socks I found.

  I check out the newspapers and confirm what I’d suspected: they’ve brought us to the closest city from where we were picked up—Inverness. And as far as papers go, there seem to be two main candidates.

  I smile at the guy behind the till. “Have you got a phone book I can borrow?”

  “Business directory any good?”

  “Yes, please—can I have a look?”

  He rummages around under a desk and passes it over. I find the addresses of the two newspapers and commit them to memory.

  “Do you stock maps of Inverness?”

  He finds one. I memorize it, then fold it up and hand it back.

  “You buying that?”

  “No. But thanks for your help.”

  I head up the road to where I left the car and Callie and get in.

  “Okay, I’ve got the addresses for two newspaper offices, and I know the way. Let’s try them.”

  The car grinds and jerks up the road. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”

  Yeah. I can see that.

  The first office we try is dark and empty.

  We find the second one and park down the road a little. It must be 2:00 a.m. by now, but there are lights on behind the blinds.

  I walk up the road with Callie, hugging the shadows. We walk around the building, and there, parked in shadows behind it, is a police car.

  Bingo.

  I’ll go and see if he’s there, Callie says. A moment later she’s back.

  She’s smiling. Kai is half-asleep on a chair. The policeman is there, arguing with someone who must be his uncle, the editor.

  “I’m going to try to reach Kai, so he knows we’re here,” I say.

  I close my eyes. I know Kai said not to do this, but isn’t this an emergency?

  I reach out, all around me.

  And into the offices up above.

  Kai’s mind is like a familiar footprint, one that fits mine. I hover outside him at first. There’s a spider in a web in the corner, and I use its eyes to check out the room.

  Kai is near the door, in what looks like a waiting area. His feet are up on a chair. The other two are deep in discussion.

  Kai? I say his name inside like a caress. It’s me, Shay.

  He’s startled. His first reaction is to push me away, but then, like he realizes what this is and what it means, he makes himself relax and lets me stay.

  Shay? he thinks, hesitant. You’re okay?

  Yeah. I got away from the hospital. You okay too?

  Yes. What are you doing here?

  Rescuing you, of course.

  I told Callie to tell you to go. Didn’t she tell you?

  No, but it wouldn’t have made any difference. Now listen. Callie and I are parked around the corner. I picture the car we came in. And I’m just outside the back of the building now.

  You drove that? His thoughts chuckle.

  Yes! Now, how do we get you out? Any suggestions?

  These people aren’t the bad guys. But I’m not sure they’d let you leave if they saw you. Give me a moment; I’ll see what I can do.

  He stretches, stands up.

  “Where’s the bathroom?” he asks.

  “Down the stairs. Left door. You need a key.” The editor throws a set of keys at Kai; he catches them and walks down the stairs.

  He tries the back door; it’s locked. The ring of keys has several on it. He tries them all, but the door won’t open.

  Wait.

  I leave Kai’s mind, open my eyes, and move to the back door of the building. I can see Kai through the glass window in the door, and I hold my hand up against his on the pane.

  “You all right down there?” a voice calls from above. Kai looks behind him.

  “Yeah,” Kai answers out loud. I’ll see if there are windows in the bathroom, his thoughts say.

  He tries a few keys in the door to the left until one opens it; he goes through and returns a moment later, shaking his head.

  He tries a door to the right; it’s locked. He tries one key in it, another.

  There are footsteps above. Someone is coming this way.

  The lock clicks open. Kai goes through the door. Seconds later he’s pulling a window open and climbing out. There are footsteps coming down the stairs as he jumps to the ground.

  I take Kai’s hand and we run.

  CHAPTER 14

  CALLIE

  THIS IS MUCH MORE RELAXING.

  “Callie prefers your driving to mine.”

  Yes!

  “Turn left,” Shay says, thankful she’d memorized enough of the map to know the way out of Inverness.

  He turns the corner and sighs. “I feel really bad about running out on Euan like that. I hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

  “Euan? Isn’t this the guy who arrested us?”

  “Well, yeah. He also put you in an ambulance. And when he worked out that the army was up to things they shouldn’t be, he called the officer guarding you and told him to stop them from taking you.”

  “I was probably gone by then.”

  “But Euan didn’t know that. And when his uncle called back, he got me out of the cell, out of the station.”

  “Before the army got there.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Why would a policeman do that?”

  “Told you: he isn’t one of the bad guys.”

  “Roundabout, take the second exit. I mean, what did his uncle say that made Euan get you out of there?”

  “He looked into Kirkland-Smith. You remember him, from Killin?”

  “The lieutenant in charge of the soldiers who killed Duncan, tied you to a bench, and shot at me? Hard to forget.”

  “Yes. He was the one demanding that both of us be released into his custody. Anyhow, apparently that army regiment he’s in charge of—SAR—is some kind of shadowy secret. No one quite knows what they do or under what authority. Which way now?”

  “Left at the lights. We should dump this car somewhere it won’t be seen. They have dogs. If they trace me to the house I got it from and work out a car is missing, they could report it stolen and driven by a famed murderess.”

  “Good point. Should we try to get another car?”

  “It’s harder to steal stuff around here; we could get caught. Everyone is at home this time of night, or if they aren’t, their neighbors are. It’s not empty like in or near a quarantine zone.”

  “How far are we from Elgin?”

  “I don’t know; I didn’t look at maps that far. Wait a sec.”

  She opens the glove box and roots around; nothing. She feels behind the driver’s seat and reaches into the pocket. And presto! A map of Scotland. She opens it up.

  “It’s about—oh. Forty miles to Elgin.”

  “We can’t walk that far.”

  “Not in a hurry. But I’m nervous staying in this car. What do we do?”

  “Let’s drive a while longer and hope it’ll take some time for them to work all that out. Callie can keep an eye on the road ahead.”

  Shay stifles a yawn. “Now that we’re on the main road along the coast, you just keep going straight on for ages.” She folds the map back up and yawns properly this time.

  “Get some sleep while you can,” Kai says.

  Shay closes her eyes, and soon her breathing is even, her body relaxed into the seat.

  “Callie?” Kai’s voice is low. “Listen to me. I’m not very happy with you. I asked you to tell Shay to get away and not risk getting caught coming back for me. You should have told her what I said, but you didn’t. And you should at least have tried to convince her to go.”

  I stare at Kai. He’
s sitting there, calmly driving and telling me off at the same time. After all I did! Rescuing his stupid walks-into-trees girlfriend, telling her about the editor so we could find him.

  I scowl, arms crossed. Thanks a lot for nothing! But he can’t see me or hear me, can he? He can say whatever he wants, and I can’t tell him he’s an idiot.

  “Anyway, can you watch the road ahead and behind? Check there aren’t any soldiers, or police, or roadblocks—swing back and forth between the two? And wake Shay if there’s anything we need to know about.”

  And now he’s asking for favors?

  He can shove it.

  “Thank you, Callie.”

  I glare at him, but he doesn’t know it. I’m so sick of this, of not being heard—of do this, Callie; do that, Callie.

  I could fly out of this car and go anywhere I want, just let them fumble along running into trees and roadblocks on their own.

  But I can’t. I need them. I need them to find Dr. 1.

  And then they can shove it.

  For now, I do the next best thing and leave the car. I fly through the night air free and alone. I stay on this road and know where the car is behind me but pretend it isn’t there.

  CHAPTER 15

  SHAY

  SHAY, SHAY, WAKE UP.

  Callie’s voice is insistent, and I give up trying to ignore it.

  “Mmmm. What’s up?”

  There are police and army up ahead! Tell Kai.

  Fully awake in a hurry, I pluck at Kai’s sleeve. “Police and army ahead. Get off this road.”

  He brakes dramatically to make the first turn to the left.

  “What are they doing?” Kai says. “Are they looking for us?”

  How should I know? Callie says. She’s sitting behind me on the back seat, arms crossed, and holding herself as far away from us as she can.

  “Where are they?” I say, and add, inside: Are you okay, Callie?

  I’m just fine. They’re pulled over on the shoulder; you’d have gone right past them if you kept going that way.

  I turn around and look at Callie. “Just fine” doesn’t sound fine. Are you really all right?

  She shrugs. Sorry, I’m in a mood.

  I smile at her, nod. Rough few days for all of us.

  Yeah, Callie says, and gives me half a smile back.

  “How far do we still have to go to Elgin—where are we now?” Kai says, and I pull out the map, study it, and find the turn we just took.

  “It looks to be less than ten miles now.” I commit the map to memory, then stash it away.

  “Time to dump this car, I think,” Kai says. “Do we walk?”

  “It’d be risky to try to steal another one. There’s a bike trail down this coast. We can join it not far from here and walk, if we can find it in the dark. Do you need a rest?”

  “No. I’m good. Let’s find a place to stash this one out of sight.”

  Kai drives down a narrow lane; there are farms all around, fields, buildings. There’s a gate to a field. He jumps out to open the gate and maneuvers the car behind a ruined barn, watched by some bemused, sleepy sheep.

  “Hopefully it won’t be noticed anytime soon,” Kai says. “Let’s go.”

  We step out of the car, go through the muddy field, and close the gate. We head down the single-track road.

  “I think it’s straight this way, back to the other road we were on,” I say. “Then let’s find some street signs if we can, and I should be able to work out the way from the maps I looked at before.”

  We pass under some lights.

  “What are you wearing anyway?” Kai asks.

  “The height of stolen fashion.” I pirouette in my boys’ jeans, rolled up at the bottom, too-big hoodie, and too-big shoes that are already rubbing, even with double-thick socks.

  He wolf-whistles, takes my hand, and we walk.

  And walk.

  And walk…

  * * *

  The sky is starting to lighten when we finally stop for a rest, above the coast. The sun rises: beautiful pinks and reds streak through clouds over the sea.

  “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning,” Kai says.

  “I thought it was shepherds?”

  “Them too, but we’re the ones who hope to get on a boat soon.”

  I lean against Kai, and his arm wraps around me. I’m hungry and thirsty, and there are blisters on my ankles that I could probably heal if I could summon the energy, but I’m too tired even for that. Kai leans down and kisses my forehead, and his arm tightens around me.

  I push everything else away, to be in this one perfect moment—Kai warm against me; the sunrise; the sea and the early-morning birds twittering; the spring countryside at our feet.

  Past him, down the path, Callie sits on a rock. The sunlight doesn’t touch her; she is darkness in light, a shadow cast by nothing—absence in presence.

  As if she feels my scrutiny, she turns. Her eyes—darker patches of darkness in her face—meet mine, and I shiver.

  CHAPTER 16

  CALLIE

  IT’S LUNCHTIME when we finally find Café Marbles in Elgin. It’s busy and trendy, with people dressed in the kind of clothes that cost a lot but are made to look like they don’t.

  I can feel Shay’s hunger when she and Kai go through the door and see food on tables around them.

  A harassed-looking waitress walks over to where they stand. “A table for two?” she asks, with a raised eyebrow and a dismissive glance. The last days have them looking scruffy.

  “Can we speak to Lochy?” Shay asks.

  “He should be here, but he’s late. Do you want a table?”

  They exchange a glance. They don’t have any money.

  “Yes,” Kai says.

  They are shown to a table by the kitchen door and bathrooms at the back.

  “How are we going to pay?” Shay says, voice low, after the waitress rushes away.

  “At this point I’m too hungry to care. Hope Lochy turns up and wants to buy us lunch? Wash dishes?”

  They study the menu. “One of everything?” Shay says, and Kai laughs. When the waitress comes back with a jug of water and a basket of bread, the bread vanishes so fast she looks puzzled when she walks by again.

  “Could we have more bread, please?” Shay asks.

  “Are you planning to order as well?” she asks, eyebrow up again.

  “Of course.”

  She brings another basket, which is soon empty as well.

  Maybe that is Lochy, by the door? I say. A twenty-something guy in dark-framed glasses and a T-shirt that says “time is relative” is getting an earful from the waitress at the front. She must then say something about us, as he glances over to our table and nods his head.

  He comes over. “Hi, I’m Lochy, Iona’s friend. Shay and Kai, right?”

  “Yes.” Shay smiles, so pleased to have found him, and he smiles back.

  “Jess thinks you’re going to eat all the bread and run out.” He laughs. “Are you hungry?”

  “Just a little. But broke.”

  “Lunch is on me; I recommend the pasta special. Then you can go back to my house.” He tells them the address, how to find it, then pretends to lean down to point at something on the menu and slips a key into Shay’s hand. “Have a sleep or a shower, or both. I’ll be back tonight.”

  CHAPTER 17

  SHAY

  THE FRONT ROOM OF LOCHY’S FLAT is like Iona’s bedroom tech multiplied by a factor of a thousand, with computers, screens, and wires everywhere—all in organized, neat chaos. There is also a minimal kitchen at one end and a futon against the wall. There is one bathroom and one bedroom, door open. The bedroom is the opposite of the organization elsewhere—it’s a disaster.

  “Shower?” Kai asks, rubbing his eyes.

  I shake my head. “Should. But tummy full, time to sleep,” I say, and take his hand. We somehow work out how to fold down the futon, and sleep has us in seconds.

  * * *

  “Helloooo�
�?”

  I open one eye. Lochy stands there. Kai stirs as I sit up. It’s dark through the blinds now: it’s night.

  I yawn. “Did we really sleep all day?”

  “You must have needed it,” Lochy says. “Feel better now?”

  “I think so, once I wake up.”

  “We’ve got some things to talk about, but no hurry. First up, I’ve got to get over the horrors of catering and capitalism with level sixteen of Martian Massacre.”

  I get up, and Lochy takes my hand, leads me to a cupboard. “Just a suggestion. Towels are in here, shower is there. I’ve got some clothes somewhere”—he starts going through a wardrobe—“from an old girlfriend. She left in a hurry.” He hands me an armload of stuff. “Here. See if any of that fits.”

  He looks over at Kai. “You’re bigger than me, but I might have something…yes, here. Try this. From an old boyfriend.”

  “Did he leave in a hurry too?” I ask.

  “Don’t they always?” He grins.

  I shower, then Kai goes in. I rifle through Lochy’s ex-girlfriend’s clothes. There must have been more than one ex-girlfriend; there’s stuff in different sizes, and some of it is a reasonable fit for me. I wander out into the main room: Lochy is shooting at space aliens with grim determination.

  There is a TV screen up on the wall; the news is on. They show a quarantine zone map of Scotland, and I gasp to see how the red areas have grown. They stretch beyond the Cairngorms now and enclose Inverness.

  When Kai emerges from his shower as well, in borrowed clothes that are a little tight, Lochy whistles and shuts his game down.

  Time to talk.

  “How much do you know?” I ask Lochy.

  “The theory of relativity. How to make a mean soufflé. Too many things about computers to add to this list, unless you have a few days to listen.” I raise an eyebrow, and he grins. “Oh, do you mean more specifically? Iona has told me you need to get to Shetland and a little of why. That it may hold a key to unmasking the fact that this disease rampaging through the UK is manmade and what can be done about it.”