The Dawn: Omnibus edition (box set books 1-5)

by Michelle Muckley

  The other Guardian arrived alongside President Grayson. “This is the room, Sir.” President Grayson noted the disappearance of the second Guardian as a quick flash of anger spread across his face. But his attentions were soon diverted to the room in question.

  The door was wide open and the only sign anybody had been here recently was the slight disruption to the sheets on the end of the bed. There was a smell of fish in the room and President Grayson saw the trays of almost untouched food.

  “There were supposed to be two Guardians on this room,” President Grayson bellowed at the remaining Guardian as if he was personally responsible. “Under no circumstances was she supposed to get out.” He felt a constriction grip his throat and he rubbed at it desperately with his hand trying to work it free. “Emily,” he shouted. “Emily, where are you?”

  The lights of a Wildcat helicopter poured in through the windows and the drumming of the propeller came and went just as quickly as it whizzed around glass tower for another circuit.

  “Where is she?” he asked of the Guardian, but as he turned he realised there was nobody to answer his question. The proximity of the Wildcat had sent the other Guardian into a frenzy, careering away towards the lifts. When President Grayson stepped into the corridor he saw that there was nobody left. He marched through to the lobby and found a small crowd still struggling with possessions too precious to risk losing. He pressed the button to call the lift, but after ten seconds when it hadn’t arrived he made his way to the stairs and charged all the way down to the Presidential Suite. There were no Guardians on duty and the corridor was eerily quiet, the doors to his home wide open. He stepped in cautiously, never feeling more alone. He called out, “Maurice,” but not even the butler responded. “Williams?” Still nothing.

  He heard a commotion coming from the room where Maurice usually took his rest. He ran up the corridor breaking into a light sweat as he opened the door. A Guardian tumbled out, his face covered in dried blood as if he had eaten an animal alive. He tried to say something but his words were mumbled. President Grayson considered helping with the tape strapped to the Guardian’s head, but the rumble of the Wildcat helicopter completing another circuit as it scaled his glass tower ushered him onwards. He pulled his Communications Panel from his belt as he ran towards the lobby, pressing the buttons for Brent Ravenscroft. There was no signal.

  He charged through the double doors shouting, “Emily, Emily,” but she did not respond and nobody came to his cries. The apartment lit up as the Wildcat circled again. He ran up the bedroom corridor and charged open Emily’s bedroom door, clutching at the last shreds of hope. He saw her tartan bag on the bed and snatched it open. He pulled out the photograph of Emily and one of her friends whose name escaped him. It was this very photograph that she had run back into their house for on the day when the bombs had fallen. Now this would be all he had left of her if he didn’t find her soon.

  With the photograph of Emily in his hand he charged towards his wife’s bedroom, but he was interrupted by the beeping of his Communications Panel. He snatched it from his belt.

  “Brent, talk to me,” he said as he gripped the handle to the bedroom door. Brent confirmed that he and Margareta were underground. All but one of the Conservators were safe. Only Roland Gladstone was missing. “He will turn up. He always does. I want you to move with the plan for the immediate destruction of the Zeta and Delta.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Brent, did you find Emily?” The line crackled and static replaced the words for a moment before the line cleared. “Brent, I asked if you found Emily?”

  “No, not yet, Sir, but she too will turn up. Just like Gladstone, she always does.”

  “I have one more place to look and then I’m on my way. Give me five minutes to get underground.” He opened the door just a fraction and the cool grey light of the monitors flickered into the corridor. “Organise cars for us and the Conservators. Have every Guardian who is there searching for Emily. She will be in the crowd somewhere. When you find her I want you to lose the Delta resident with her. Should be easy enough. Then destroy the last things that we created.”

  President Grayson housed the Communications Panel on his belt as he pushed the door to his wife’s room. The grey light soon disappeared as the room flooded with brilliant white light from the Wildcat helicopter that was hovering outside. “I.....” he said, but before he could finish his sentence the Wildcat unleashed two CRV7 missiles. The fireball ripped through the Presidential Suite. As the Wildcat helicopters cleared out the inferno tore through the upper levels of Omega Tower. Those who were not underground were shaken to the floor by the shock wave as the lights flickered before finally shutting off. Veins of lightning ripped through the glass walls, tearing the Unity Panels from their positions, the fire forcing its way down. It reached level seventeen and soon engulfed the Community Level, causing the Renunciation Booths to explode.

  Brent Ravenscroft did as he was asked and sent forth his many Guardians in search of Emily. He marched with them up the stairs to the lobby where hordes of Omega residents were trapped. He saw the lights on the vehicles outside and was thankful for the force of the Red Eyes. But as he stepped forwards onto the stage to begin his instruction the twinkling eyes of every Omega resident fell not upon him but instead on the troops who were lining up outside the building. They were draped in shadow, cast in silhouette from the light of the Red Eyes behind them. But as the blue emergency lighting blinked into action Brent realised that the vehicles were not Red Eyes, and the troops were not Guardians or Comrades. They were dressed in the camouflage greens of infantry. Each held a gun. They tore the doors open and they flooded in. Two of them approached the stage, the light from their weapons blinding Brent. He didn’t see the others coming as they grabbed his arms from behind and wrestled him to the floor. After handcuffing him they turned him over and shone the light in his face. He heard the turning of paper sheets on a clipboard.

  “That’s him,” the gruff voice announced.

  “Mark him off the list.” As the light was cast away from Brent’s face and they hauled him to his feet, he caught sight of a soldier walking away with a clipboard. On it he saw his face, and as the sheets of paper were tossed about by the breeze from outside he saw the face of the president. The soldier behind him forced a knee into his thigh to push him forwards, past the troops who were focussed on rounding up the Omega residents. There was a glint of laughter in the soldier’s voice as he said, “Welcome back to Britain.”

  Chapter Sixty Eight

  Zack and the three rebels moved through the tunnels towards Delta Tower. The occasional sounds of Guardians interrupted their progress, and at one point they hid in a small recess as a band of soldiers bustled through. They weren’t dressed like Guardians, and Zack wondered if they represented another layer of control in New Omega that he didn’t know about. The troops were moving towards Omega Tower at a good clip, and they didn’t try to mask themselves. They were carrying guns with lights on the shaft. The four hung back in the recess shielded from view. When they disappeared into the dark of the corridor Zack turned to Emily.

  “Who were they?” he whispered.

  “Never seen them before,” she whispered back. They wasted no more time and continued along the line, crossing sleepers and gravel pits with delicate feet. With Street insisting on remaining on point, Emily followed a close second to guide the way, her feet moving almost silently even over the rough ground. Zack tried to keep in third position but his speed was limited and Jackson often overtook.

  The first switch was crawling with Guardians. The group hung in the shadows of the distant tunnel, listening to the muffled instructions of the Guardians as they barked and challenged one another. Street relinquished her position up front as Emily led them away. She knew the tunnels and had negotiated them with Duke and Millward on a number of occasions when a Guardian’s shift had unexpectedly changed, forcing them to find an alternative exit. She guided them along a narrow platf
orm under which water trickled and the smell of old fumes and petrol rose in the stale air. Other than the sound of their feet clattering against the metal grid work, the eerie squeals of rats and the dripping of water broke the silence. Foul-smelling stalactites hung overhead, and puddles of slime clung to the floor in the corridors that followed.

  “This is new,” she said as they stumbled over a pile of bricks and an unstable looking crack in the side of a tunnel. “It was never here before.”

  “Stay away, and nobody touch anything,” urged Zack. “It can’t be safe.”

  “After Gamma fell apart they decided to blow the District line. It’s probably from the charges they set. We’re going this way.” She diverted them right up a dank and dark tunnel, slowly narrowing until they had to crouch to get through. The chamber on the other side opened out and she pointed ahead to a small metal door that was covered in rust. “We are going through there. It’s a disused line. Duke showed me this way.” They ascended a narrow stairway and followed the disused tunnel. Their footsteps echoed behind them which pushed them on, the sensation that there was somebody on their tail never leaving them behind. At the end of the corridor the tunnel was blocked by a crude brick wall, hastily built with cement oozing out of the spaces between the bricks. Emily motioned upwards with her head.

  “We have to go up there. This leads to a small room in Basement Level Four of Delta. Near NAVIMEG.” A metal stairway led along the wall towards a circular panel in the roof of the tunnel. Emily led the way, unclipping the locking latches and pushing the metal panel which sealed the tunnel. She cleared the exit, and then leaning down with an outstretched hand she helped them, one by one to enter Delta Tower.

  As they stood in the bowels of Delta Tower only metres from where Zack had first met Emily, he couldn’t believe that he was back to where he started. He knew that just up ahead NAVIMEG would be on his left hand side. On B3 a range of dubious delights would be on offer, and no doubt Guardians on the ground floor keeping it all under wraps. But as they left the room and passed what should have been NAVIMEG, he realised that the place was beyond recognition.

  “There has been trouble here lately,” Emily said. “I overheard Brent talking with my father. But I didn’t expect this.”

  Silence hung over Basement Level Four, as heavy as lead. They glanced inside NAVIMEG to find an empty bar, white dust over every surface as if they were back to day zero of the war. They climbed the stairs, glancing in at each empty basement level, finding the same scene of abandonment repeated each time. As they neared the ground level they found the doors open and unmanned, but the lobby was far from empty.

  Street was the first to see a body, trapped under a fallen door. There were others that littered the floor, a carpet of death which they had to pick their way through one step at a time. Another row of bodies was slumped against the glass walls, bullet wounds in their backs as if they had been lined up and killed by a firing squad.

  “What the hell is this?” asked Street as she tiptoed her way through the lobby. Some of the faces were so badly beaten they were almost unrecognisable as human. Each one of those wore a Guardian’s uniform.

  “An uprising,” whispered Zack sadly. He had always expected to feel excitement or pride at the thought of the Delta residents attempting to take the tower. But there were many more bodies of residents than there were of Guardians and he took no satisfaction.

  Zack moved as quickly as he could towards the lift and when he found it working he hit the button for the thirtieth floor. Just before the lift doors closed Street got her foot in to hold them open and Jackson and Emily followed him in.

  “Together is the only way, remember?” said Emily.

  They were met by a scene of relative calm, the only light from a few weak emergency lamps which were throwing off a weak yellow glow. From the corner of her eye Street saw a figure run down the corridor as they stepped from the lift, scampering away from the intruders. More bodies blocked their path as they tried to pick their way forwards, and Zack could feel the anxiety rising in his throat. Street and Jackson glanced around in awe, and even Zack had to admit that it was a shock to see inside Delta Tower again. One of the televisions was still playing advertisements, promises of feeling like your Omega-self. But it was a shock in the sense that besides the lack of light and the addition of the dead bodies, Zack realised that it had changed very little. Only he had changed.

  “Is this really what it was like?” asked Jackson, barely able to comprehend the conditions. All the years they thought they had it rough. All the times they had dreamed of the security of a tower. Now neither he nor Street were so sure. The air vents were still working and as they approached the smell of sulphur made Street retch. Zack had forgotten how awful it really was.

  “Yes, I think this is exactly what it was like,” said Zack as they arrived outside his old room. The body of a Guardian was sprawled out by the door. Zack crouched down to get closer and saw that it was Sam.

  “I knew him,” said Zack turning to Street. “He was Serena’s contact. I think he was the one she got pregnant by.” They heard broken glass being trampled nearby and it shook him into action. He stood up, knowing there was no time to waste. “This is Leonard’s room.” Zack tested the handle and it opened enough to glimpse inside. Zack saw Leonard’s prone body blocking the door. He shoved harder and with Jackson’s help they opened it enough for Emily to sneak through. She slipped her hands underneath Leonard’s armpits and pulled him away from the door and the others piled into the room.

  “Is he.....” said Zack, before trailing off as if he had forgotten what it was that he wanted to say.

  Emily rested her face to his mouth. “He is breathing.” She looked up to Zack who looked pale, as if he was about to be sick. He slumped to the ground next to them. He cradled Leonard into his arms, pulling him up into his lap. He was so easy to move, lighter than a translucent cloud.

  “Leo,” said Zack. “I promised you. I promised you I’d come back. I’m so sorry. Can you hear me?” Zack pulled at Leonards cheeks, stroked his hair, squeezed him tighter. “I’m here now. I’m with you.” Leonard’s eyes flickered open and the suspicion of a smile found its way onto his lips. “You were right, Leo. The sun came out. The winter is over. We have to get you out of here so you can see it.”

  Emily reached down into the pillowcase bag, pulled out the remaining water and held it up to Leonard’s dry, cracked lips. When Zack saw her stroke her hand across Leonard’s wrinkled forehead he lost it, and the tears began to flow across his dirt-stained cheeks.

  “Hold it together, Zack,” said Street as she leaned down and gripped his shoulder. Her fingers were tight, just enough to shock him into listening. “He needs you to get him out, not fall apart.”

  It was then that Zack remembered that the grey sky he saw before him wasn’t real. He took Emily’s hands and pulled her to her knees and shifted Leonard into her lap. He stumbled upwards.

  “Jackson, help me with this.” Zack pulled on the edge of a shelf until it worked loose from the wall. Jackson added his force and soon the shelf was free. “After three,” Zack shouted, and without any explanation Jackson understood what they were to do. “One,” Zack began.

  “Two,” Jackson continued, as they swung the metal shelf back for momentum.

  “Three,” they said in unison, driving the metal shelf at the window. A crack appeared, fracturing like a cobweb in concentric rings. A buzz of electricity surged and the image rippled. They didn’t count for the second strike, and instead pummelled the shelf straight back into the screen. It shattered and the view and the late summer sky poured in through the window, indigo streaks bringing forth the night. He raced towards Leonard, pulled him to a sitting position and tried to rouse him.

  “Leo, look.” Leonard opened his eyes and saw the stars, saw the freedom for which he had never lost hope. A smile began to grow across his face. “Let’s get him out of here.”

  That’s when the floor began to rumble. />
  They stumbled as the first charge exploded somewhere on the fiftieth floor, blowing a hole in the yellow pyramid of Delta Tower. From the crack in the window they saw a Wildcat helicopter swing past the building and Zack’s first thought was that it had fired. But then as it flew away a second explosion ripped through level forty nine.

  “We have to get out of here,” Emily screamed. Zack tried to pick Leonard up but it was obvious that he was too weak, even with Leonard as light as he was. Street handed Zack her weapon and hauled Leonard over her shoulder into a fireman’s lift and they started for the door. Jackson led the way and Zack took Emily by the hand.

  When they arrived at the lift Jackson was already inside. “No,” Emily shouted. “We’ll be trapped.”

  They diverted to the stairs, flying down levels faster than Zack could really manage. The levels above continued to explode, and at first Zack tried to count them, but barely made it past level thirty five before he lost his concentration.

  They burst through the doors into the reception on ground floor. Street was red-faced and sweating with Leonard still over her shoulder. She was shouting at them to get to the basement. But Zack wasn’t listening. There was only one way he was leaving Delta Tower for the last time; the same way he came in. He grabbed the gun from the pillowcase bag and fired at the door. After a third shot he struck the spot. The lock shattered and the doors flew open. They piled outside into a storm of debris and dust raining down. They ran without any knowledge of direction until the dust clouds cleared. Jackson was first, followed by Emily and Zack. Street was only seconds behind with Leonard. As they looked back they saw Delta Tower exploding as the charges ripped through the building. Level thirty was already lost. Above, a swarm of Wildcat helicopters circled, until the searchlight of one picked up the five who had survived.