by C. J. Harper
I open my arms and she stumbles into them.
‘Blake,’ she says, ‘I have to tell you my sorry.’
‘You don’t have to be sorry. You saved the day. You were perfect . . . You are perfect.’
She looks up at me and a jolt shoots through my body and out to my fingertips.
‘I’m sorry about Rex. I thought I wanted to be Dom. I had a long time wanting to be Dom. Then we found out about Rex and all things were bad and I thought if I could still be Dom then it would be okay.’
I stroke her hair. ‘Everything is okay,’ I say.
She looks down at the shrieking Specials surging around the front of the Academy and laughs. I laugh too. She wraps a hand around my neck and draws me down to her. She presses her full lips against mine. Oh, she is so sweet. I put my arms around her and pull her closer to me. She kisses me harder. It’s so good. She is so good. When we draw apart I keep my arm around her. It feels right.
She gestures down to the escaping Specials. ‘Look what you did, Blake.’
‘It’s because of you. I didn’t know how to do anything before I met you.’
We’ve reached the front of the queue. She presses her lips against mine again and then she starts down the ladder.
I follow. My hands are shaking so hard I have to concentrate to grip the rungs. The metal is rusty. Soon my sweating hands are coated in orange-brown flakes. The ladder shakes as we climb. I think about the explosion and hope there won’t be another one before we reach the bottom.
On the ground there are Specials everywhere. There’s a group fighting over some packets of food and some of the older boys are trying to smash in the windscreen of a parked car, but most of them are surging away into the trees.
My ears are ringing from listening to the alarm for so long.
I look around for Ali and Kay.
Rex has laid Ali on one of the wide stone steps leading up to the grand Academy entrance and is standing guard over her.
‘Find Ilex,’ I say to him.
To my surprise Rex listens to me for once and ploughs straight into the crowd bawling, ‘ILEX!’
I crouch down next to Kay, who is holding Ali’s hand.
Ali is staring up at me. She’s taking slow, rattling breaths.
‘You did it,’ she says to me.
‘We did it. Kay and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.’
‘Blake can do anything. You can get rid of all the bad.’
I stroke the hair off her face. A spasm of pain goes through her.
‘Just lie still, Ali,’ Kay says. ‘Ilex is coming and we’ll get someone to make you better.’
Ali grips my hand hard. ‘Tell Ilex I was brave,’ she says. ‘Tell him . . .’ She struggles for breath. ‘Tell him that I said Ilex is the best brother.’ She smiles at me.
I try to hold her here with my eyes. I try to keep her blood pumping by willing it. But I can’t do it. I can’t help her. I watch the sweetness and the brightness and the life run out of her like water through my fingers and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
She’s gone. Little Ali is gone.
Kay slumps against my chest and I put my arms around her. We sit like that while the Specials are running around screaming, throwing stones at each other and fighting over stolen food.
Kay breaks away to close Ali’s eyes. I stand up to see if I can see Ilex or Rex. They’re not there. In the distance I hear a siren.
‘We have to find Ilex and get out of here,’ I say.
‘Out?’
‘Away from the Academy.’
Kay’s eyes flick wildly between the Academy and the drive leading into the trees. Her lip is quivering. ‘I don’t think . . .’ she says. ‘I don’t know . . .’
She’s afraid to leave. The Academy is awful, but it’s all she knows.
‘It’s okay,’ I say. ‘I’ll be with you.’
‘We have to stay with Ali.’
Somewhere down the drive, men are shouting and Specials are screaming.
‘Kay, they’re coming to round us up.’
‘We can tell them. We can tell them about the Academy and how The Leader is bad.’
‘Kay.’ I hold her by the shoulders and force her to look at me. ‘The guards are coming. The guards work for The Leader. They will take us away and they will put us in another Academy.’ I fear that what they would actually do is worse than that, but I mention another Academy to shock her into listening.
Kay is shaking. She looks back at the Academy again. ‘What can we do? Where can we go? I don’t know how to.’
‘I’ll look after you. We’ve got to try to get to the entrance.’
She grips my hand and stares into my face. Then she nods. ‘What about Ali?’
‘We have to leave her, Kay. We’ve got to save ourselves. That’s what she would want.’
I stoop down and kiss Ali’s forehead.
‘We have to tell the Specials. They need to run away too,’ Kay says.
The forecourt is no longer jammed with Specials, but there are still hordes of them milling about.
‘Listen!’ I shout.
No one can hear me.
Kay climbs to the top step. She puts her fingers in her mouth and gives a piercing whistle. A lot of Specials turn round to look at us.
‘SPECIALS!’ I yell. ‘The guards are coming to lock you up. You’ve got to run. Run this way! Try to get out of the gates.’ Some of them don’t hear. Some of them look around wildly, paralysed with fear. But once the running starts, most follow.
I take Kay’s hand and we join the stampede into the trees.
‘When I arrived, I came from this direction,’ I say. ‘There must be a gate up here.’
We stay off the drive where we’ll be easily seen and instead fight our way through the overgrown bushes. I aim for where I think the entrance must be. Up ahead, we can hear Specials clashing with guards.
‘King Hell, Kay, look.’
Through the trees there’s an army of red advancing.
Kay sucks in her breath. ‘We can’t get out.’
What the hell are we going to do? Should we try and slip past the guards in the crush? Maybe we could try to hide.
‘Blake,’ Kay says.
I look up. There’s a guard ripping through the greenery on a motorbike. The Specials scatter on either side to avoid being hit. He’s heading straight for us.
I grab Kay by the wrist and run in the opposite direction. We stumble back through the trees.
I look over my shoulder. The bike is twisting and swerving, but it’s hard for the rider to make a path through the undergrowth. We move further away from the gate and the rest of the Specials.
‘I think we’ve lost him.’ I turn in a circle, scanning through the greenery in all directions.
Something red streaks out from behind a tree and grabs me by the shoulder.
Kay swings a fist straight into the streak’s face.
It’s not a guard. It’s Janna. She reels backwards from the impact of Kay’s punch.
‘Kay! Stop it. This is the girl I told you about. The one who can help us stop The Leader.’
‘What the efwurd are you doing?’ Janna spits at Kay. Her nose is bleeding.
‘What the efwurd are you doing?’ Kay says.
‘I’m trying to get you out of this mess.’
Kay scowls.
‘How?’ I say. Hope rises inside my chest.
‘Come with me.’ Janna looks Kay up and down. ‘Not her.’
I step closer to Kay. ‘I’m not going without her.’
Janna rolls her eyes. A gunshot goes off up ahead. She flinches back into a tree. ‘Just move it.’ She strides away.
‘Come on,’ I say to Kay.
She doesn’t move.
Panic tightens my chest. We’ve got to go with Janna. This is our way out. ‘Please . . .’ I say.
Kay shakes her head to herself, but she lets me take her hand and lead her after Jana.
Janna takes us
to a van parked in between the trees. My steps slow. I reach out an arm to stop Kay.
The van has got the guards’ logo on it.
Janna has double-crossed us.
I tense, waiting for guards to appear.
Janna turns back and sees my face. She gives an exaggerated sigh. ‘For efwurd’s sake, relax,’ she says. ‘It’s not a real guards’ van.’ She pats me on the cheek. ‘Anyone would think that you didn’t trust me.’
Kay lets go of my hand.
Janna scans the trees around her and then unlocks the side door of the van. I clamber into the windowless space and gesture to Kay to follow. She takes one last look back in the direction of the Academy and climbs in beside me.
Janna slams the door behind us. I shift up to give Kay room. In front of us a metal grille separates the back of the van from the front seats; through it I see Janna climb into the passenger seat. ‘Let’s go,’ she says to a blond young man in the driver’s seat. He’s wearing a red shirt, which I guess is supposed to help him look the part, but up close like this, you can tell it’s not a guard’s uniform. He starts the van and negotiates his way between the trees.
‘Thank you,’ I say to Janna, ‘for coming back for me—’
Janna lets out a shriek of laughter. ‘Come back for you? Oh, that’s good. I wouldn’t have come back to this place for anyone. Since I made my impressive escape out the window it’s taken me all this time to get hold of Ty on the communicator and for him to get this van down here to get me out of here.’
‘Then why—?’
‘I saw you. I thought you might be useful.’
The van lurches on to the main drive. Janna turns to Ty. He’s tall and he hunches over the wheel. I wonder why he’s taking such a risk for Janna.
‘Let’s make this as fast as possible,’ she says.
The van jerks forward and we pick up speed.
Kay’s fists are clenched so tight that her knuckles are turning white. I don’t think she’s ever been in a car or a van.
If I press my face against the grille I can see out of the windscreen.
‘Keep looking for Ilex,’ I whisper to Kay.
We must be nearing the gate because up ahead I can see a swathe of guards in red intermingled with the grey of Specials.
‘We’ll never get through this,’ Ty says. He slows the van to a standstill.
‘Are they winning?’ Kay says. ‘Are the Specials winning? Maybe we should stop and help them.’
‘Don’t stop,’ Janna says. ‘Just drive right through them. If you hit one, then the rest of them will get out of the way.’
‘Don’t do that!’ Kay says. ‘Don’t hurt the Specials.’
Janna swivels around in her seat. ‘I can see you’re going to be an asset.’
Kay lunges at the grille but Janna doesn’t flinch. ‘Just remember whose van this is, sweetie,’ she says.
Ty is talking to himself under his breath. ‘We’ll never get out of this . . . I should never have . . . The old man’s going to kill us . . .’
We’re inching our way through the fighting Specials and guards.
‘It’s not really your van, is it?’ I say.
Janna pouts. ‘It’s my boss’s.’
‘And her boss doesn’t know that I’ve risked my neck and “borrowed” it,’ Ty says.
Janna gives him a devastating smile and places her hand on his chest.
Kay tuts.
‘It’s a good job you’re so fond of me,’ Janna say.
‘But why has this boss got a guard van?’ Kay says.
Janna looks at me, not Kay. ‘I know you think journalists don’t do anything worthwhile, but actually we do carry out some investigations. My boss has found that painting a van in the guard style has allowed him to get into a number of places he wouldn’t normally be welcome.’
‘What will he say when he finds out you’ve got his van?’ I ask.
‘A lot,’ Ty answers.
Kay is watching the fighting out of the window. ‘I want to get out,’ she says.
Janna scowls at Kay. ‘Don’t be too effervescent with your thanks for my gallant rescue.’
‘Thank you,’ I say, before Kay can answer. ‘We really are grateful.’
‘You can pay me back. I’ve got plans for you. You know what went on in that place. And there’s the matter of your family connections. I’m not sure I’ve got much use for your girlfriend though.’
Kay opens her mouth to reply, but I interrupt. ‘You know, Janna,’ I say, ‘you’re right. I could be useful to you. You could be rich and famous. You could be the person who takes out the Academy system. You could even destroy The Leader.’
A slow smile spreads across Janna’s face. ‘No, Blake,’ she says in a silky voice.
Kay stiffens beside me.
‘We’ve already had this conversation,’ Janna continues. ‘The Leader can be destroyed, but not by me. It’s all up to you.’
‘We’re getting near the gate,’ Ty says. ‘You should get down.’
‘Blake, what about the Specials?’ Kay says. ‘They’re getting them. They’ll be taken to an Academy. We have to help. We have to.’ She reaches for the van door.
I grab her arm. ‘Kay. We can’t. There’s nothing we can do now. Maybe we could come back and—’
‘Shh. Get down.’ Janna says. She drops into the seat-well herself.
I pull Kay down so we’re hidden. Her eyes are full of reproach.
‘We have to get out of here,’ I whisper. ‘If we want to really help, then we have to get out. I will fix it. I promise.’
The van continues to creep forward.
‘Efwurd. We’re in trouble,’ Ty says.
‘What is it?’ Janna asks.
‘Quiet. Stay down.’
I turn my head a little so I can see through the gap between the two seats. There’s a guard stood right in front of the van.
‘He wants me to stop,’ Ty says under his breath.
There’s a rapping on driver’s side window. I slither down further, pulling Kay with me. The window hums as it opens.
‘Right,’ comes a voice through the window. ‘I need you t—’ The guard sucks in his breath. ‘Hey! You’re not— Get out of that van.’
‘Drive!’ shouts Janna.
‘Who the hell?’ says the guard.
The van shoots forward. I scramble up to see what’s happening.
‘I NEED BACK-UP!’ the guard roars.
We bunny-hop to a halt.
‘There are kids everywhere,’ Ty says. ‘Get out of the efwurding way!’ he shouts out of the window.
‘Don’t stop!’ Janna says. She pulls herself out of the foot-well and slams her hand down on the horn.
In front of the van the throng of red and grey figures throw themselves out of the way as we speed forward again.
I press against the grille to look at the dashboard computer, on the rear-view screen there’s a mass of red coming up behind us.
‘They’re following us,’ I say.
Beside me, Kay sits up to look at the screen.
‘Faster,’ Janna says. ‘Put your foot down.’
There’s a thump as we hit something. I’m thrown off-balance as we skid and the back end of the van swings round. The engine cuts out.
On the screen the blur of red is swallowed up by a sudden wave of grey.
‘More Specials!’ Kay says.
‘See? They can look after themselves,’ says Janna. ‘Come on, come on Ty!’
Ty starts the engine. He stalls. Janna’s door is flung open. She screams. A guard grabs her by the neck. I bang uselessly on the grille. Kay throws the side door open. She shoots out a leg, catching the guard square under the chin. He crashes down. I pull Kay back into the van and she slams the door shut. The engine springs into life. Ty pulls the van round and we pick up speed. Janna takes great grasping breaths. She wraps her arm around the neck of her seat and manages to lean out of the van and pull her door shut. I can see the gate ahead. It’s op
en.
‘Drive!’ Janna shrieks. ‘Efwurding drive!’
And we’re through the gate.
For a moment there’s silence.
‘We’re out,’ Janna says.
‘We’re not the only ones,’ Ty says. He points to the rear-view screen. A stream of Specials is pouring out of the gates behind us.
Kay breaks into a smile.
‘We did it! We did it!’ Janna says.
‘No need to be too effervescent in your thanks for my gallant rescue,’ Kay mimics Janna.
Janna turns around to stare at Kay and then throws back her head and laughs. I join in. Kay and Ty too.
‘We’re through!’ Ty says. ‘I can’t see anyone following us. We’re really through.’
I look at Kay. ‘We’ve escaped,’ I say. ‘And lots of the Specials too. We’ve done it.’
‘Really escaped?’ She bursts out laughing again. ‘Oh, Blake.’ She throws herself against me and kisses me. Hard. My hands tangle in her hair. She is everything.
Janna makes a vomiting noise. ‘You should be kissing me for my genius escape plan.’
Kay and I break apart.
Ty is singing.
Janna puts her arms in the air and stretches out her legs. ‘No ugly guard is getting his hands on me! You know,’ she says looking round at me, ‘we are pretty efwurding good at this. So what do you think, Blakey? Are you ready to take on The Leader?’
I look at Kay. We’ve made it this far. We’re free. Kay reaches out and pushes my hair out of my eyes. Anything is possible when I’m with her.
‘You can do it, Blake,’ she says.
She’s right.
I can.
And I will.
About the Author
C.J. Harper grew up in a rather small house with a rather large family in Oxfordshire. As the fourth of five sisters it was often hard to get a word in edgeways, so she started writing down her best ideas. It’s probably not a coincidence that her first ‘book’ featured an orphan living in a deserted castle.
Growing up, she attended six different schools, but that honestly had very little to do with an early interest in explosives.
C.J. has been a bookseller, a teacher and the person who puts those little stickers on apples. She is married and has a daughter named after Philip Pullman’s Lyra. THE DISAPPEARED is her first novel.