by Leyland, L J
The crowd cried in anger and shouted its objections at the Mayor. A female voice shouted, ‘Let the granddad go!’
Hexhevan wheeled around in panic and signalled to a Parrot. The Parrot marched to Noah and tried to bundle him back to the gallows. A heavy fist met Noah’s stomach when he refused and the crowd cried out in disgust. Noah’s grandfather was pitifully wailing like a baby and struggling against the noose being tightened hastily around his neck. The Mayor stalked across the stage, roaring in rage. He didn’t even bother to try to hide his true nature now. It was laid bare for all to see.
His fingers closed around Noah’s hair and he yanked with as much force as he could muster. Noah struggled as he was dragged to the gallows but it was useless. The Mayor’s fury was volcanic, his face as red as an inferno. He dragged Noah easily, as though he weighed no more than Edie. The crowd began to throw grenades made from the shrapnel of everyday life at the Parrot barricade: bottles, shoes, pipes. Anything they could get their angry fists on.
The crowd carried me forward and I surfed to the front of the stage on a wave of townsfolk’s anger and hatred. The warriors punched, kicked, and barged a route through the truncheons of the Parrots. I was thrown on stage by them just as the Mayor tightened the noose around Noah’s neck and was about to give the signal for the lever to be pulled. My gunshot rang out over the crowd like a death knell. The Mayor turned to find my gun pointed directly at his heart. The crowd fell silent.
‘Stop right there,’ I said.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Facing him down was like standing still whilst a bull hurtled towards you at full speed. It took all my resolve not to run. It took all my strength to stand there in the blazing fire of his gaze.
‘You,’ he said.
The Highlanders had climbed onto the stage, hauling each other up, and now struggled to hold back the Parrots and the Metropole officials. The Parrots squawked nervously, unsure what to do, awaiting instruction from their master. The Mayor gave them none. I noted with relief out of the corner of my eye that Noah and his family had been rescued from the gallows. They were hidden behind a wall of Highlanders with Matthias and Grimmy. Regina and Hexhaven had been pushed to the back of the stage. The way had been made clear for our showdown.
‘People of Brigadus, people of the Empire,’ I said. My gun remained trained on its target. ‘You have been lied to. The Metropole and the Officials have been lying to you all these years. The Mayor has deceived you, kept you ignorant. Not only that, he has colluded in killing thousands. He has colluded in your misery. He has deliberately ruined your lives for his own gain. And still he colludes. We are all in grave danger because of the actions of the Metropole. And I have proof.’
I signalled to Edie and Aiden who had scaled the rig and invaded the technical booth. I saw Mhareen holding a knife to the technical man’s throat as Edie and Aiden moved to press play. The giant screen behind us went black. I prayed that the tape worked. My breath stopped in my throat. Images burst onto the screen; a shower of light and noise. I breathed in relief and watched as the crackly images haphazardly tumbled one after another onto the screen.
The Metropolites shooting a bullet into the sky. The rolling wave of darkness engulfing the land. The Mayor dancing in the rain. The images were jaggedly spliced together like a movie that was playing in fast forward. More rain, hurtling to the ground, blurring the picture. A close-up of a Metropolite’s mouth as he said, ‘The real device is much bigger.’
Snatches of pictures and dialogue were patch-worked together to form a grotesque portrait of their deception. It was the imaginings of Iris’s brain – a mad and confused nightmare ratcheted together into something truly horrific. Image upon image, piecing together the jigsaw. The earthquake came next; a grainy, shaky image of the deer park. The trees swayed and the ground rumbled. A giant rift was cleaved down the centre of the earth, swallowing grass and soil down a black hole.
The audience gasped. Someone shouted, ‘The earthquake!’
The Metropolites and the Mayor were clinking glasses of claret. ‘To the new method,’ they cheered.
The Mayor receiving the phone call to go to higher ground. ‘How many will die?’ he asked.
‘Enough,’ came the reply.
Then the Flood. Oh, the Flood. It was more terrible than I ever imagined. A wall of water. Dark skies filmed from the Complex roof. Far-off cries for help left unanswered. The coast completely submerged. The film cut indoors. The Mayor was receiving a golden plate from a Metropolite. ‘As a token of our thanks.’
The Mayor’s fingers closing around it greedily. ‘The ice?’
‘All gone,’ was the smug reply. ‘It was easier than we thought. The oil will be extracted soon. Thank you for letting us test the method. Your help has been invaluable. You will be rewarded.’
Iris zoomed in on the Mayor’s eyes, cold as a snake’s. The final images, of rain, floodwater, thunder clouds, the rift, flashed across the screen in a frenzied flurry. The screen went black once more. It became as quiet as the eye of a storm.
A rock sailed through the air silently. I watched it fly from deep in the audience and make a sickening sound as it made contact with the Mayor’s head. Its impact was the catalyst for an explosion of fury. The townsfolk went wild with rage.
‘What have you done?’ screamed a woman.
Fists, feet, teeth; the townsfolk used their bodies as weapons against the Parrots who struggled to keep control. The mob surged forward, trying to take back what was theirs; their land, their freedom, their dignity. The Highlanders fought to keep hold of Officials and Metropolites, unwilling to let them sneak off in the fray. The Mayor crouched on the floor, fighting against the effects of concussion. The rock had torn a gash near his hair line and blood dripped down his face.
I took the opportunity to speak into the camera, to contact the world, to call for help.
‘People! What you have seen is true. The Metropolites melted the ice caps on purpose to get the oil and gas underneath. They have killed millions and will kill millions more. They are dangerously close to causing an underwater earthquake in the Arctic.’
The crowd quietened and turned to listen to me.
‘They are using a method called deep mantle fracking. It causes earthquakes like the one that destroyed so many homes here before the Flood. They are damaging the seabed. If they don’t stop soon, there could be a terrible earthquake. A wave will come. It will be another Flood. We have to stop them now, before it’s too late. People of the world! Listen to us! Help us!’
An anguished scream left my throat as pain fired through my ribs. A Parrot had broken loose from the Highlanders and had bowled headlong into my damaged side. I sprawled on the floor. The slippery golden gun left my hand and arched through the air. It landed with a tinkle and skidded to a stop next to a pair of feet. Tentative hands reached down to pick it up.
The gun had chosen Regina.
She looked at it, turning it over in her hands. Silence and stillness. Everyone stopped their struggles to see what this strange woman would do with her weapon.
Shakily, she held it out in front of her. With slow feline steps, she stalked across the stage.
Hexhaven whispered, ‘Do it my love. Do your duty.’
‘My duty?’ she repeated. ‘My duty.’
She seemed to ponder the meaning of this before nodding her head. Her eyes glazed over and her face became lifeless. With gun grasped in her cold hand, she motioned towards Noah. ‘You. Come forward, boy.’
No, no, not Noah. My stomach lurched with fear. My chest burnt with the pain of my heart breaking. Not him, please.
Noah kissed his grandfather’s head and whispered, ‘It’ll be OK. It’s nearly over.’
He straightened up and lifted his chin defiantly. He walked to the centre of the stage exuding a calmness only available to those who have embraced their fate. Why fight against it? Embrace it, it cannot be changed. His tearless eyes fixed on the gun, as though he was welcoming a
n old friend. I realised with horror his plan. He was willing to do what Regina did not finish eighteen years ago. He was willing to give the townsfolk what they needed. A reason, a cause, a sacrifice, a martyr.
‘Noah!’ I cried but the Parrot covered my mouth, rendering me speechless. I would have to watch him die with nothing but silent tears to comfort me.
Regina pulled the catch back. It clicked with a finality that echoed in my chest. I could hear my own heartbeat and it frightened me. Perhaps it would be better if my heart stopped now – it would stop when I lost him anyway. I wanted to escape but had to drink in every last second with him. I couldn’t tear my eyes from him but I so desperately wanted to look away. Regina shook her head and raised the gun. Noah’s eyes found mine. I would be the last thing he ever saw and he would be the first thing I saw when I closed my eyes. Every day. Forever and always. I couldn’t let him down. I couldn’t turn my face away and be a coward. I couldn’t abandon him.
‘We’ll walk together down the line; and see the sun begin to shine;
the past is dead, our joy divine; our dream is won, the future’s mine.’
The haunting lyrics drifted across the stage. Regina gasped as the words danced around her. ‘Who sang that?’ she cried. ‘Where are you?’
Grimmy stepped from behind a Highlander. His face was glowing. He had shed eighteen hard years of worry from his shoulders. His hunchbacked slouch was replaced by a straightened, tall posture. He radiated a happiness that came from deep within him, a place he had never shown anyone since she had left. It was a part of him that had been cut out and thrown away when he had lost Regina. But now it had been carefully sewn back in. ‘Regina, it’s Dylan,’ he said.
A groan escaped her lips and her shaking hands reached automatically for her scorch marks. ‘I don’t … I don’t understand,’ she said.
‘It’s OK,’ he soothed. ‘I’m here now.’
He moved slowly to her. ‘Put your hand in my hand, together as one. We’ll march together, ‘til we reach the sun.’
‘I know … I know that,’ she whispered.
‘It’s your song, Regina. Remember? No rest until our job is done; the future’s mine, our dream is won.’
‘No, no, no,’ she muttered. Her fingers felt for her scorch marks frantically and she began whimpering.
‘Put the gun down, Regina,’ Grimmy said.
‘Shoot him, you imbecile!’ cried Hexhaven. ‘Shoot him!’
‘I don’t … I don’t …’ She was in the midst of a meltdown. Memories and feelings that had been dormant under a layer of lies rose to the surface catastrophically. Hexhaven and Grimmy both shouted encouragements of a different sort at her.
‘Don’t do this, Regina.’
‘Shoot him, now!’
‘You’re confusing me!’ she cried.
Grimmy suddenly decided that it was time he intervened and he strode towards her, intending to wrestle the gun from her grip.
‘Get back!’ she screamed, turning the gun on him.
He raised his arms in a gesture of surrender and backed away, muttering, ‘OK, OK. Let’s all calm down.’
She turned the gun back on Noah. She advanced towards him. ‘You! All of you! I’m sick of being your pawn. I’m sick of having you control me. I make my future from now on. The future’s mine. I decide what will happen. I will decide what happens to you all. And I should’ve done this a long time ago.’
My eyes never left Noah’s eyes, even as metal met flesh. The gunshot reverberated in my ears and still I did not look away. I didn’t even look away as he fell to his knees. Our eyes said all we needed to. We knew there was no other way. This had to be done. There had to be a reason, a sacrifice. There had to be a martyr. And now the townsfolk had got one.
Chapter Thirty-eight
In the noise and chaos that followed, I found myself floating away. I became detached and was floating above the confusion. I watched benignly as the townsfolk finally found the trigger that ignited their wrath. I saw their martyr lying in a pool of rich red blood. I saw Hexhaven, the Mayor, and the Metropolites surrounded by Officials bearing truncheons. I saw the townsfolk fighting the Parrots. But I didn’t feel part of it. It didn’t feel real.
Grimmy’s cry brought me back to earth. He draped himself over Regina’s lifeless body, wiping the blood from her face in a futile attempt to save her. A perfectly round hole decorated her forehead.
Noah knelt beside her, stroking her hand. ‘Put your hand in my hand, together as one. We’ll walk together ’til we reach the sun ,’ he whispered. ‘You did it, Regina. You’ve started your rebellion. You’ve saved us.’
A shadow of a smile crossed her face and she breathed no more. Grimmy refused to be dragged from her, clinging on as though the warmth from his body could heat her up and bring her back to life.
‘Grimmy, she’s gone.’ I pulled him away and he fell into me, weeping with eighteen years’ worth of frustration and hope.
I wept with him; for myself, for my family, for Regina. My mother lay lifeless but I could feel her all around me. I could feel the presence of who she used to be. She had sacrificed herself for us. She had finally finished what she had started.
A cry from Mhareen instinctively made me turn to where I had last seen Edie and Aiden. I watched as they climbed down the rig and ran across the stage. Edie flung herself at me and I clung to her like a life raft. I needed someone, someone close, to anchor me in the chaos. The tracks of frightened tears were visible on her face.
‘Thank God you’re safe,’ she sobbed.
Aiden faced me with watery eyes. He bit his lip and held out his hand for me to shake.
‘Don’t be stupid.’ I laughed, pulling him into an embrace.
He collapsed into tears and I stroked his hair. ‘She’s gone and we’ve only just met her.’
‘I know. I know. But we’ve managed without her for all of our lives. We can manage without her now. She sacrificed herself for us and we should remember her for that.’
He nodded and buried his tear-stained face deep into my shoulder.
A warm hand was placed on the small of my back. I let go of Aiden and found myself in Noah’s strong arms. The place where I was meant to be.
‘I thought I’d lost you,’ I said.
‘I thought I’d lost you,’ he replied.
‘Never leave,’ I said.
His hands were gentle as he cupped my chin and tilted my face to meet his. His lips rested against mine then slowly pulled away. ‘I’ll never leave you. What would be the point in living without you? You’re my Maida and you’re my world.’
He lifted me off my feet. His kiss was fierce and sweet.
‘You’re mine, too,’ I replied.
There was a cough behind me and I saw Matthias. I made to grab him and pull him to me but his expression acted as a brake on my joy.
‘What now?’ I cried.
Beside him stood Fergus. Inexplicably, Fergus had a giant golden bird perched on his outstretched arm.
‘Is that Keir’s bird? Is that Rex?’ I asked.
Fergus nodded and flung his arm upwards. Rex spread his enormous wingspan and took flight, calling his anguished cry as he went. ‘Keir has sent us a warning with Rex.’ He held aloft a rolled up piece of parchment. ‘There’s been an earthquake … A big one. They felt it in Ben Hevan.’
My legs could no longer hold my weight and I sank to the floor. Matthias and Noah grabbed me from either side and propped up me like a dummy.
‘But … we’ve only just got through this. We’ve won. What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying that there’s not much time. We don’t know what’s going to happen but we need to be prepared. We need to get all of the townsfolk into the Complex now.’
‘What about the Mayor? What about the Metropolites?’ I asked.
Fergus and Matthias exchanged a glance. Matthias shook his head.
‘They escaped?! How? How could you let this happen? Where did they go?’
/> Fergus looked affronted. ‘My men were trying their best! They tried to stop them but the Parrots were keeping them busy. Look, lass, don’t you go blaming this on my men –’
‘She’s not, she’s not,’ soothed Noah.
I grabbed my binoculars from my bag which lay tossed against a speaker – thrown from me when the Parrot knocked me over. I adjusted the focus and held them to my eyes. From the vantage spot on the green, I could just about make out the docks. Moored against the jetty, there was a beautiful, riveted steam ship. Its polished metal hull reflected the rippling water beneath it and made it shine a thousand colours. White steam poured from its tower and sent fluffy clouds drifting out to sea. It was ready to depart.
My eyes scanned the jetty and I saw them. Running like rats back to their holes, scurrying to safety. Cowards. They had left the Parrots to deal with the island savages whilst they abandoned their stations. Hexhaven sprinted whilst the Mayor waddled as fast as his bulk would allow. Hexhaven occasionally turned to yell at the Mayor.
They reached the gangplank and the Mayor made to climb aboard after Hexhaven. Hexhevan pushed him roughly back. Hexhevan drew back his hand and slapped the Mayor with tremendous force. The Mayor fell backwards off the gangplank in shock. He might have deluded himself that the Metropole viewed him as an equal during times of peace but he was under no illusion what they thought of him in times of crisis. Hexhaven’s face was a portrait of distain and disgust. Realising that they intended to maroon him here amongst his savages, the Mayor tried to bully his way on board, punching a Metropolite official and clambering up the gangplank. The officials yanked the gangplank and tossed him into the rancid waters of the Brigadus docks. The steam engine started. It sprayed water into the face of the Mayor who floundered and struggled to stay above water. I focused in on his face and saw realization dawn across it. He had been abandoned by his masters. He was their martyr. He had to be sacrificed in order to quell the anger of the townsfolk. He would be their scapegoat and suffer the awful consequences at the hands of the barbarians. I lowered my binoculars and smiled.