‘What were you thinking of, jumping in the river like that? Were you frightened of me?’ asked the stranger.
Rowan’s pride was hurt. He looked at the man with mistrust, even though he knew he had just saved his life.
‘I ... I slipped. The bank is very wet and steep here,’ whispered Rowan quietly.
‘It was a good job I was here then!’ said the man. ‘By the way, my name is Zordar. What are you all doing here? It’s a dangerous place to be. The wasters here are particularly mean. I guess by the clothes you are wearing you have met David. Where is he? He should have reached the bridge by now.’
Kayleb looked at the others. He wondered if they recognised Zordar’s name. Rowan was too concerned with his soaking-wet clothes to notice but Indigo raised his eyebrows at Kayleb, so he too had realised that this was the man who had killed David’s daughter.
‘Thanks for saving Rowan,’ said Kayleb. ‘He’s always getting into trouble.’
Rowan cast an injured look at Kayleb. ‘We have heard about you,’ continued Kayleb. ‘David told us about you when he took us in; we were travelling with him until yesterday. We have been on a rescue mission. Rowan got himself caught by wasters and we managed to track him down to this village. Now we’ve rescued him we are going to go back and find David. We will have to let him know that if he is on this side of the river we’ll have to go around the village and that will put hours on our journey. If he’s on the opposite bank we will be able to continue as the village is only on this side of the river. I hope they haven’t crossed the river like we did.
‘You don’t have to worry. There is a crossing point not far from here,’ said Zordar. ‘We will bridge the river there and find David. I have some bad news for him.’
Kayleb looked at Zordar uneasily.
‘We were going to meet you at the coast, near the tunnel. How come you are here?’ asked Kayleb.
Zordar looked anxiously at everyone. His brow was furrowed and they could see by his eyes that something was terribly wrong.
‘There’s a problem,’ he said. ‘The tunnel has been discovered by the authorities; they’ve destroyed it. I need to warn David. How far ahead of him do you think you are?’
Kayleb looked down the river; he was thinking hard. The three of them had walked most of the night and now it was late afternoon. David and the others should have been at the bridge hours ago.
Indigo had been thinking along the same lines.
‘They should be here by now. I hope nothing has happened to them,’ continued Indigo. His voice sounded sluggish; he felt weak with hunger.
‘I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s usually able to look after himself, but if he goes to the tunnel entrance he will be overpowered. Come with me. We will walk down the river to my camp. You all look exhausted; I have food and water. We will be able to watch for David in safety from there.’
Rowan knew this made sense. The sun was beginning to set and he felt chilled. He needed to dry his clothes and eat.
The dog ran up-river with them, on the opposite bank; he seemed to know that he would be with them all again soon.
‘There’s a crossing point by that tree stump,’ Zordar said, pointing towards the remains of an oak tree.
As they approached the stump, Kayleb realised that the body of the tree was lying just below the surface of the water; only a thin strip along its length was exposed and had been carved flat creating a walkway across the river.
Zordar led the way and soon everyone had crossed the river, much to the relief of the dog, who greeted them all affectionately.
‘Somebody is pleased to see you,’ said Zordar, stroking the dog. ‘He’s not a hunting dog. He is much too friendly. Where did he come from?’
‘The village,’ announced Kayleb proudly, ‘He started following me when I was searching for Rowan.
Zordar looked concerned. ‘You didn’t drink any water in the village when you were there, did you? I think that the water is infected. It is probably cholera that is making everyone sick. The trouble is they don’t have a sewage system, just a pit on the edge of the village, and eventually the sewage seeps into their well water and festers. Whole villages get wiped out that way.’
Kayleb shook his head. ‘No, I didn’t drink any water. Did you, Rowan?’
Rowan was thinking hard. There had been a canister of water in the stud pen and he had picked it up to see what was inside. He had lifted it to his lips and the water had touched his lips but he had not drunk, as the dog barking outside of the pen had distracted him.
‘No ... nearly ... but no. I swallowed a lot of the river water. Do you think that’s contaminated?’
‘You should be all right,’ said Zordar, smiling. ‘We will keep an eye on you and even if you did get sick David would be able to help you.’
‘It was horrible,’ said Kayleb. ‘They’re very sick in the village. I saw piles of dead bodies. Could David help them too?’
‘I wish he could,’ replied Zordar, climbing down the riverbank, ‘but they’re scared of David. They think his healing powers are unnatural and treat him as an outcast. If he went into the village today, they would probably kill him.’
‘That’s awful,’ said Indigo. ‘He would only be trying to help.’
‘I know,’ replied Zordar. ‘I think the leaders of the villages feel threatened by David’s abilities and they preach to the wasters that David is evil and should be rejected to safeguard their own positions of power.’
‘That’s crazy,’ said Kayleb. ‘Don’t the wasters see that David could help them?’
Zordar shook his head. ‘I don’t understand why but I guess some people will let themselves be led by another, even if it is detrimental to them. Life out here is hard and these are desperate times.’
21
Rowan sat by a stove and felt the heat from the furnace warming him. His clothes were almost dry. He looked around. There wasn’t much to Zordar’s camp. It was underground, the entrance hidden by a large boulder that had broken in two after Zordar had touched different parts of the rock face and then sealed itself after they had all passed through. The cavern was lit by a strange glowing crystal, the size of a person; it was lodged in a hole in the roof of the cavern and seemed to be feeding off the daylight, generating enough light to see the whole living area clearly. There was a stove with a long flue stretching up to the ceiling, a deep sink, a small table and rush matting across the floor with large scatter cushions to sit on, similar to those found in David’s fort. Rowan looked towards the door. On the right-hand side there was a small screen that lit up and showed whoever was walking along the adjacent riverbanks. Rowan had first noticed it when a waster had walked by; he had felt anxious for a moment but the waster had not noticed their hideaway and had walked on. Zordar had been chopping up meat and vegetables. He had thrown a large handful into a boiling pot of stock and had not noticed the waster walk past.
Rowan’s stomach was aching for food now and the smell of the stew boiling on the stove was intoxicating. His skin was beginning to glow and prickle. He moved away from the furnace as his skin felt like it was burning. He thought back to the last few days. He felt foolish for going off on his own and guilty that his friends had risked their lives to find him. Rowan looked over at Cornwall. Her green eyes looked bright and sparkled in the crystal light.
Cornwall noticed Rowan watching her and smiled at him. Rowan was confused. Her smile was friendly and caring. He wanted so much to relax and trust her but he also had the voice of doubt in the back of his mind, warning him to be wary. He was still not sure what she had done to him when they were at the fort. All he could remember seeing was her golden hair, like a halo in the moonlight, and those eyes weighing down his eyelids and his body being sapped of all its energy.
Rowan shivered, he had spent all his waking life in control of his destiny and now he sat in this cavern afraid and uncertain about his future and he felt cross with himself for being so pathetic. He looked back at the screen and saw
movement.
‘There’s David,’ Rowan called out to Zordar. ‘He’s outside.’ Zordar looked up from stirring the stew. ‘He will come down here. It is almost dark; they will stay here tonight.’
Kayleb looked towards the screen. He could just see David and the others. They were on foot and there was no sign of the donkeys. Kayleb looked at David’s face as he entered the hideaway. He looked pale and tired.
Zordar helped David over to the stove and Rowan moved across so David could sit in his place. David sat down heavily on the cushion.
The other members of the group seemed happy to be in the cavern and were tired too but unharmed.
‘Are you all right, David?’ asked Zordar. ‘What happened? You look awful. Are you hurt?
‘No ... no, don’t worry yourself, I’m fine. We were attacked by wasters again. The donkeys would not hold still, so I wasn’t able to protect everyone. I told everyone to dismount and form a ring so I could create a shield. The wasters gave up on us and went after the donkeys. I should not have used the donkeys. I put everyone’s life in danger.
David looked towards Kayleb, Indigo and Cornwall with exasperation.
‘What were you all thinking of, trying to find Rowan by yourselves?’ David asked. ‘You meant well, but these are difficult times and sometimes you have to let others find their own way.’
David looked directly at Rowan. ‘Like a fish out of water, it will only be luck or your own determination that will let you swim again!’
Rowan looked darkly at David. He did not like being compared to a fish or being analysed by him in front of everyone.
Zordar broke the silence by handing David a bowl of stew and a piece of bread.
‘Eat, David. Get your strength back. I’m afraid I’ve got bad news for you. The authorities have found the tunnel that we have been working on for so long. They have destroyed it. We will have to get to London another way.’
‘Can’t we find a boat and sail across at night? There’s a chance we’d get past the patrol boats in darkness,’ Kayleb suggested.
‘The signals from your heels will be read and will show up as being unauthorised on the patrol boat’s radar. They will find us very quickly.’
‘What if we were on a patrol boat?’ suggested Indigo. They must carry lots of lifers trying to escape from the Isle of Wight or the odd waster trying to get back into London. ‘What if we took over a patrol boat, somehow? The guards on the other boats will just think we are being transported back to the island or to the wilderness.’
‘We can’t turn back now,’ said David. ‘Indigo’s right. We will have to get on one of their boats and then overpower the patrolmen. After a rest tonight I will be able to do that. We will have to think of a way to get access to the boat. It is a shame about the tunnel; so many have worked so hard and long to create it. I know how it was discovered, I feel it in my soul. One of us here has let the authorities know about the tunnel. I do not know who but I feel there is a traitor amongst us who is able to guard their identity.’
Everyone looked at each other to see if he could see guilt in each other’s faces. Kayleb looked at Rowan and wondered if it was him that had blabbed when he was held by the wasters and then at everyone else, but they all looked shocked by David’s statement and gave nothing away.
Rowan looked around the cavern for a space to lay out his sleeping bag. Luckily Zordar had spare bedding, as Rowan had lost his to the wasters when they had captured him. Rowan saw a space on the floor on the far side of the cavern. He got up from his cushion and walked across the room. He felt self-conscious and knew that someone was watching him as he climbed into his sleeping bag. He slowly looked around the room and realised that it was Cornwall. He tried not to catch her eyes and turned over on his side to face the wall. Rowan wondered why she was staring at him and felt a little guilty that he wasn’t being friendlier. He turned over but Cornwall was now chatting to Prozac and he felt cross with him for stealing away her attention and then cross with himself for caring. Rowan turned over and shut his eyes to try and sleep.
Kayleb lay quietly in his sleeping bag. The morning had come all too quickly and the thought of what lay ahead that day made him uneasy. If someone in the group had managed to get word to the authorities about the tunnel then they would be sure to sabotage the boat plan. He would have to keep his wits about him.
Kayleb knew that, as a tasker, things were going to be hard but he had never imagined that he would have to risk his life in order to survive. He wondered what sort of person had come up with the idea to cast sixteen-years-olds into the wilderness to see if they could survive. It was obvious that it was someone who enjoyed watching other people suffer. This barbaric ritual had been invented hundreds of years ago. Surely civilisation had advanced enough to throw out such an insane practice; it was 3004 for goodness’ sake, not the Dark Ages!
Kayleb could taste fear in the air for the entire journey as they travelled to the French coast. They reached the sea without seeing another soul but the tension within the group was almost tangible. Kayleb had been eager to see the waves, the Isle of Wight and, beyond that, the coast of London, with its wind turbines sticking out like candles on a crazy-looking birthday cake.
Eventually, they reached the coast as the sun was setting. Kayleb could see the sea with the sky biting into the horizon, but not London. There was just a black land mass jutting out of the sea, dark and foreboding – the Isle of Wight did not look at all inviting.
‘It’s not quite how I remember the Isle of Wight,’ sighed Indigo.
‘I’m glad we’re not going there. It feels like something bad is happening on the island. You can feel the malice and wickedness oozing from it.’
‘It’s an evil place, Indigo, believe me. I spent long enough there,’ said Zordar. ‘It is rotten to the core. Staan now leads a large band of lifers and has become top dog. I am lucky to have escaped and been released from my treacherous ways. Staan is evil, pure evil, and shows no mercy; he has only survived this long because, like David, he can protect himself with a force field.’
‘Where did Staan come from?’ asked Rowan. ‘He’s not another alien like David, is he?’
‘Yes,’ said Zordar. ‘He just appeared on the island one night after a violent storm; everyone just presumed that he was just another lifer dumped there. I only found out when I met David that Staan was from Veenah. Veenah is not perfect. There is evil there too but that is inevitable; there is no perfect world. The murderers on the island that openly kill others usually end up being murdered themselves. Staan is different. He kills for a reason; he savours the taste of human flesh. Many have tried to wipe him out but it is impossible. It would take a miracle to finish him off. I have always wondered why anyone would want to follow such a man. It must be fear and brainwashing and some sort of self-defence mechanism. The Isle of Wight is overrun by cannibals. It is barbaric and vile. I am glad to be away from that place.’
‘Why were you sent there, Zordar?’ asked Indigo. ‘Was it because you killed Rebecca?’
Zordar’s eyes flashed angrily. ‘Did David tell you that? No, I wasn’t sent there for that!’
‘I’m sorry, Zordar. Don’t be angry,’ said Indigo. ‘David did not tell us with hatred; it was just in passing. He has forgiven you.’
Zordar stared out to sea and at the island he hated so much.
‘How can anyone forgive you for killing their daughter,’ he said sadly. ‘I was sent to the Isle of Wight for killing a man and believe me it wasn’t my intention to kill him. We fought and I hit him, just one blow was enough and he hit his head on a wall and died instantly. I could do nothing. The guilt will live with me forever. Life is a fragile thing, I appreciate that now.
‘Surviving on that island ripped at my soul and corrupted my very being. I turned into a depraved creature, as only the toughest survive over there. I worked my way up the hierarchy and eventually, I led a band of lifers. The power went to my head and I became drunk with it, abusive, corrupt.
I laughed in the face of death.
‘There is always a traitor lurking in the shadows somewhere, watching and waiting for the right moment to strike. I remember one afternoon very well, when my reign as a supreme leader collapsed. I was in a top room of my tower block listening to gunshots bouncing of the crystal buildings. It was hot and my armoured suit felt tight but I dare not remove it. I was sweating. I had been taking drugs and my vision was blurred. There was another man in my room. I vaguely remembered seeing him somewhere before but wasn’t sure where. He was wearing a simple gown. He had no armour or weapons and did not look like a lifer. He had long brown hair and a beard and was cowering under the table for some reason and he seemed to be afraid of me. I remember feeling outraged that he was trying to hide from me and dragged him to the window. I stood behind him with a gun and forced him to stand on the window ledge and then opened the shutters. A bullet flew into the room, narrowly missing him. I felt empowered again. I had this man’s life in my hands, and I knew if I held him there long enough then he would be shot. The man begged to be let down. The sound of gunshot whistled in our ears and finally he took a shot to the shoulder. He screamed and cried to be let down but I did not release him. Finally, rather than being killed by a bullet, he turned and grabbed my gun out of my hands, hurled himself out of the window and fell to his death. I had killed again and in my narcotic state felt euphoric and powerful. I am disgusted with myself and will always be sorry for killing an innocent man. He was my friend.
‘I remember looking down on his broken body with disdain, closely followed by fear as I saw another band of rival lifers being led into my building by a member of my group. I was trapped and could do nothing. I had no gun and was in no condition to fight. They broke into my room and captured me. I couldn’t escape.
‘I was taken to a black cliff and placed on the edge in front of a firing squad. I looked down at the sea far below. White froth crashed onto the black rock relentlessly, calling me to join them. My head was clearer now and my senses had returned. I watched the squad raise their guns and as their fingers twitched on the triggers waiting for the command to shoot I jumped back over the cliff as far away from it as I could, so I wouldn’t hit the rocks below. The guns fired but they had missed me. I plunged into the sea. The force almost broke my body but I was determined not to die. I pulled off my armour and watched it float to the surface before me and eventually I reached the surface too, gasping for air. I could hear them shooting at me but I was too far away for anyone to get a decent shot ...’
3004 Page 13