The Unleashed

by Sarah Dalton

  He moved through the awakening bodies, avoiding the little kids running and jumping over some of the sleeping Compounders. They skipped around him giggling.

  It was a cold morning with little sunshine. Daniel preferred cold weather to warm most days, but after his dream he felt as though the lack of warmth represented something deeper. An absence. The smell of cooking kippers drifted from a nearby stove, and he grimaced. He wouldn’t be eating breakfast this morning, not with the sick feeling in his stomach.

  “Daniel!” Kitty ran over to him, her feet moving swiftly through the grass of the camp site. She moved like a cat – graceful and prowling. “Have you seen Mina?” She clutched her forehead with her hand. “I woke up on top of the table in the farmhouse.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, just with my head on the table. I must’ve passed out.”

  “How much did you drink?” The sick feeling grew in his stomach.

  “Not much,” she replied. “A few glasses. Nothing to make me pass out on top of a table.”

  “Something’s wrong,” Daniel said. “Where’s Mary?”

  “I don’t know. Everyone left before me.”

  Kitty faced the border and the wind whipped up her long blonde hair. “Anna Hart’s car is gone. And… oh… I can taste it…” she drifted off, her eyes wet with tears.

  “She’s gone,” Daniel whispered.

  “It’s her trail,” Kitty replied. “It leaves the Compound.”

  Daniel walked so quickly Kitty jogged to keep up.

  “I’ll be able to track her. If they give us a truck we can follow them,” Kitty said. “We’ll all have to go, even Hiro. We can’t split up. Not when one of us is missing––”

  “Why not?” Daniel snapped. “It’s not like we’ve always been together. I’ve only known you a few months.”

  Kitty’s head dropped, and Daniel immediately regretted his harsh words. He started to say sorry, but was no good with words and gave up before beginning. They were nearly at the wall anyway, and Daniel saw a crowd gathered around a body lying on the empty gravel path – near where the car had been. He pushed through the group and saw that it was Dave, the soldier guarding Anna.

  Mary stood over him scratching her head. “Ah cannae believe this. The woman tricked us, drugged us an’ effin’ bolted.”

  “Is he all right?” Kitty asked.

  “Just out fer the count,” Mary replied. “Musta got a large dose o’ whatever we had last night.”

  Daniel swore. “How could you let this happen, Mary? Someone should have heard the car. Why wasn’t someone on guard?”

  “There’s nae one on guard because there’s nothin’ te guard,” Mary said between gritted teeth. She straightened up to full height, almost meeting Daniel on the same level. “Ah didnae let this happen. Ah did everythin’ ah could te stop it. She tricked ye as well, Danny-boy. Usually sleep this late de ye?”

  Daniel tore his eyes away from Mary’s. She was right. He’d slept like a baby last night. He only awoke because of his dream. She’d drugged him too; probably slipped something into his orange juice.

  He moved to stand next to the Professor and Matthew. Ali rubbed his temples and grimaced down at the grass. The Professor glared at Matthew, his face bright red and his eyes bulging out of his skull. Hiro moved around to take Kitty’s hand, and a few Compounders stood back, watching the show.

  “And you?” the Professor said to Daniel, his voice loud with anger. “I take it she got you drunk and drugged did she?”

  “I only drank orange juice,” Daniel said. “She tricked everyone – even Hiro.”

  “My mind got blurry after a few drinks,” Hiro admitted. “I didn’t hear anything. I need practice with my filtering. I just thought it was that.”

  The Professor raked his fingers through his hair. “Mary we need a truck, now. We have to follow them.”

  “Hold on, nae, ye dunnae know where they’ve gone. An’ we’re short on trucks as it is, Jonathon. Ah’m sorry fer what happened te ye daughter but––”

  “Sorry?” Jonathon moved closer to Mary, standing at his full height over her. “You let this happen.”

  “Ah put a guard on her. Ah spared men fer ye.” Her eyes widened, and she pointed at Jonathon.

  “So much for a guard,” Jonathon spat. “My daughter has been kidnapped.”

  “Nae hold on.” Mary put her hands up in warning. “Ye dunnae know that. Ah know it’s hard te hear, but what if Mina wanted te go? An’ what if she went willingly?”

  “No,” Daniel blurted out. He couldn’t bear to hear anymore. “She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t leave without me.”

  Mary placed a hand on his shoulder, her face full of pity. She opened her mouth to speak then seemed to think better of it; squeezing his shoulder instead. Jonathon paced around the group shaking his head angrily.

  “If you’d never brought her, this wouldn’t have happened,” he yelled at Matthew.

  “Hey,” Ali stepped in. “Don’t ye think he knows that?”

  Daniel sighed. The longer they stood around fighting, the more ground Mina and her mother covered. “Stop it!” He directed his words at Jonathon. “We should go. Mary, please. We need to find her as soon as possible. If Anna is dangerous enough to drug us – what will she do to Mina?”

  The group fell silent. Mary’s eyes dropped.

  “There’s more,” Kitty said. She wrung her hands. “I can taste more than just Mina’s trail leaving the Compound. I think others left last night. Angela, Cam, Sebastian and Ginge.”

  “Ye what?” Mary put her hands on her hips and glared at Kitty. “Ginge has gone too? What the hell is going on ‘round here, eh? It’s a flamin’ circus!” She shook her head.

  Daniel stared at Kitty in disbelief. “So you’re telling me that not just my girlfriend, but also my sister left the Compound last night.”

  She nodded sheepishly.

  Daniel put his head in his hands for a moment. When he straightened up he said to Jonathon, “We leave now, and we get a truck. We have to follow them.”

  “Mary, we have to get them all back. I don’t know what is going on, but we have too many young people out there, none of them even eighteen, and we can’t just turn our backs on them,” Jonathon begged.

  “Aye, ah agree,” Mary said. “Ah’ll sort somethin’ out fer ye.”

  *

  Daniel helped load the truck with a heavy heart. The shadow of the dream played on his mind. He sensed the cogs revolving, moving the events towards their inevitable conclusion – his vision. First Anna arrived in the Compound. Then she stole Mina away. And worse, whilst all this went on his little sister slipped out of the Compound without so much as a goodbye.

  Jonathon lifted a pack up into the old army truck, and Daniel helped him. “Do you think we’ll get her back?”

  The Professor held his eyes. “We have to.”

  “What’s going on? What didn’t you tell her? I know there’s something else about Anna, something you’ve not told us,” Daniel said.

  He shook his head. “Anna has been corrupted by the GEM. I don’t believe her when she says her intentions are to get to know her daughter after a decade. Mina is a weapon, the greatest weapon the Ministry could ever own.”

  “And you think she’s taking Mina back to the GEM?” Daniel asked. “But what would she want with Angela and the others?”

  The Professor leaned against the truck. “I don’t know. That could just be an unfortunate coincidence. Has Angela said anything about leaving the Compound?”

  Daniel shook his head.

  “This must be harder on you than anyone. I know how much Mina means to you.” He paused. “And then there’s Angela. Look… we’ll get them back. We have to.”

  Daniel glanced around them to check for anyone within earshot. Ali and the others remained a fair few feet away carrying their packs to the van. He knew they had some time. “I had a vision.”

  The Professor moved away from the truck and folded
his arms. “Tell me.”

  Daniel fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt, unsure of where to begin. Was he doing the right thing? Could he trust him? All he knew was that he needed to share the problem, and he just hoped Jonathon loved his daughter enough to help him.

  “It was Mina using her powers on all the people she loves. It was horrible.”

  Jonathon’s face paled. “Have you told anyone else?”

  “Hiro saw it in my mind.”

  “He must stay silent about this,” Jonathon said. “Don’t tell anyone else.”

  “What about the other Freaks?”

  “No.”

  Daniel puzzled over this. He trusted them with his life. Why would Mina’s father react so harshly? He knew that the vision was unpleasant. He didn’t want to think of Mina in that way. Then he remembered waking up with the vision, and the gut instinct not to tell anyone. For some reason, he felt that helping Mina meant keeping this to himself.

  The team grouped around the truck, with Ali directing the loading. Daniel glanced at each of them; the people who would help bring back Mina and Angela: Matthew, Ali, Kitty, Hiro – who refused to stay in the Compound alone – Mike, and Jonathon.

  “Aye then, we’re ready.” Ali banged the side of the truck. “Time te get yer women back, Danny.” Ali pounded his shoulder.

  Mary walked over to them and pulled Hiro into a hug. “Take care, wee man.” She glared at Jonathon. “Keep him out of any, and I mean any fighting.”

  Jonathon nodded, and Daniel watched each person climb into the large truck. It was one thing keeping his vision to himself… it was another knowing these people put their lives at risk for Mina. He swallowed dryly, and stared out through the broken Compound wall to the green fields surrounding. What lay in wait?

  11 ~ Mina ~

  A gentle rocking woke me from a pleasant slumber, and a cool breeze lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. I felt cushioned against a plush head rest, but my body pressed against some sort of constraint; it squashed my chest. My eyelids fluttered and bright sunlight rushed in, making me squint. I rubbed my eyes, and patted down my body to feel for the constraint. It was a seat belt, and it dawned on me that I was in a car moving at speed. I wiggled the fabric out for extra space and turned to find Mum in the driver’s seat.

  “Morning, sleepyhead,” she said.

  Pleasant air scented with wild honeysuckle poured in through the open window.

  “What are we doing in a car?” I looked out to see us travelling along a wide road surrounded by limestone walls and large fields. It reminded me of my journey to the Compound.

  Why weren’t we in the Compound? I couldn’t remember the events before getting into the car. We’d been sat around a table, enjoying food… What happened next? It blurred.

  “We’re on our way home, sweetheart.”

  I felt groggy. “The house with the yellow door?”

  “No, that’s the house you lived with your father in Area 14. I’m taking you to the place you were born.”

  “But I don’t remember where that was,” I said. I’d never really thought about it before. My memories aged five upwards were all really blurry. I remembered story time, yet nothing about where we lived or what it was like.

  She beamed at me. “You’ll soon see, sweetheart. You’re going to be so happy.”

  I stretched out my arms and legs. “What about Dad and Daniel? Are they following in another car?” I peered through the back windscreen hoping to see them waving back. Instead, the empty grey road greeted me. My stomach dropped with disappointment.

  “No,” Mum said. “They’re going to join us at a later date.”

  I settled into my seat. Her words comforted me, and I did feel happy – despite the grogginess. There seemed a sort of euphoric rush pulsing through my veins, but at the same time my arms and legs felt heavier. My stomach growled.

  Mum laughed. “You’re hungry, I take it. There’s food in the back.”

  It took more effort than usual to reach through to the back seat and grab a few packets of sweets. I ripped open the packets, and shoved a few in my mouth.

  “Are you still feeling ill?”

  “What do you mean? Was I ill? Is that why I can’t remember last night? Weren’t we having dinner?”

  “Don’t you know, sweetheart? We agreed to go home. You and me.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  I watched the scenery pass me by as we shared the chocolate and tuned into the radio. My first road trip with Mum. Just the two of us.

  If only Daniel could be with us. It would take him a little while to adjust. He could be distrusting sometimes and that made sense. He’d had a rough time. My heart soared with the hope that one day he’d learn to love my mum and then we could be a real family.

  We’d live in a big house outside Area control. Kitty would probably want to make a little nest in the garden away from everyone, and Mike would spend all of his time wherever Kitty went. Hiro could have a room all to himself right on the top floor so he could tune out our thoughts. Daniel would have an art studio and a work bench for his woodwork. I imagined him creating beautiful furniture like elegant tables, and ingenious children’s toys. Mum would make us all breakfast in the mornings: fried bacon and eggs on thick toast. Maybe she’d learn to live with Dad. Maybe I’d learn to forgive him. I imagined him making us spaghetti, and teaching Daniel how to read.

  Angela and Cam would live next door and come over for tea. Uncle Matthew and Ali could come too, and they’d bring Ginge and Sebastian. It’d be the most perfect life ever, and I’d… I’d… what would I do? What would I do with the rest of my life? I’d never thought about it before. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to know my mum, and I wanted to be with Daniel, and I wanted everyone to get on… but what did I want to do?

  “What are you thinking about?” Mum asked.

  I pulled myself out of my reverie. “Oh, I dunno. It’s silly.”

  “No, go on. I want you to tell me.” Mum had a fancy car with lots of buttons. The car seemed to drive on its own. She pressed another button and took her hands away from the wheel. I gasped. “It’s okay, this car has auto drive. It detects any obstacles, and slows down or drives around them. It’s a robot car. See?”

  Sure enough the car negotiated a bend in the road, and then steered around a pothole. “It works using Radar and computer programming. Now, I want to know what’s on your mind. You had such a lovely, peaceful expression on your face that I’m curious.”

  “I was just thinking what it would be like if we were all together, and there weren’t all these problems between GEM and Blemished. I imagined us all living in a big house with friends living nearby. It was nice.”

  “Go on,” she said. “I can tell you’re holding something back.”

  “Well, it was just a daydream. I worked out what everyone could do, and where they’d live. It’s just that I didn’t know what I wanted to do. It made me realise that I don’t know what to do with my life. I don’t have a purpose, I guess. I don’t have anything to work towards.” I sighed, and sank lower in my seat.

  “Come on now, you can’t be thinking sad thoughts on our trip.” She patted me on the knee. “You’re not even sixteen yet. You’ve got plenty of time to sort things through. Besides, when you get home you might find that you have a purpose. There might be something you can do there.”

  “What?”

  “You’ll see,” she said, taking the wheel again.

  For a while the car lulled me into a strange sense of calm. I forgot all about my daydream. But as the road disappeared behind us, worries crept into my mind.

  “Who’s taking care of Hiro?” I asked

  “Your dad, of course. Why wouldn’t he look after the boy? After all he left you alone in area 14 to save him.”

  I bristled. It was true. I just didn’t like to be reminded of it. At one time I’d be hurt, jealous even. I’d put those feelings behind me now. I’d moved on. “He thought Matthew would take c
are of me. It’s not Dad’s fault Matthew was taken away.”

  “Isn’t it?” She idly fiddled with the radio. “If Jonathon hadn’t left you in Area 14, none of it would’ve happened.”

  “Listen, I’m really mad at him for lying about you… it’s just more complicated than that. I broke into Mrs Murgatroyd’s house with Daniel. That’s why the Enforcers came after us. Dad didn’t know, and he wouldn’t have left if he had.”

  “If you’re sure, Mina,” she said. I noticed the way she pouted like a GEM girl coming last place at a beauty pageant. “I’m on your side, and I’m just surprised that you’re quite so… forgiving about everything.”

  I thought about that for a moment. “You think I’m a pushover?”

  “Now, that’s not what I said.” She paused and took my hand. “My sweet girl. Why don’t we pull over and have a spot of lunch. Are you still feeling dizzy?” She placed a palm on my forehead. “Hmm, you’re a little hot.”

  “I do feel a bit dizzy,” I admitted.

  She clapped her hands together. “Then I shall make you some of my special tea – it’s guaranteed to make you feel better!”

  “That sounds nice. We’ll get some mother and daughter time in before the others join us. I can’t wait to see Daniel. I know he left early at the supper last night, but the alcohol made him uncomfortable. His mum drank too much.”

  “Mmhmm.” She pressed a few buttons, and pulled over on the side of the road. “Come help me set up one of those god-awful camping stoves. I’m terrible at it.”

  I sprang out of the car and helped Mum with the boot. The sun beat down overhead, and we took shade in the car’s shadow; sitting on the grass verge by the road. Mum flattened down the overgrown grass and weeds with a blanket, while I set up the camping stove.