by Sarah Dalton
She had to remind herself that they were united to fight against the GEM. They had a common goal, therefore a common interest for all parties. Somehow, she couldn’t shake the sick feeling in her stomach that none of these people were much better than the GEM. If any of them took power, except Mary, or at a push Alfred, would they rule any better?
The leaders of each group argued tactics in another part of the clearing between the forest and the border walls. Angela couldn’t hear their voices but she noticed Mary flailing her arms, Terrifica’s great cat frightening the Area leaders, and Alfred rubbing his temples.
“Do you think we should go over there?” Sebastian suggested. He paced around their campfire.
“They wouldnae listen te us anyway,” said Cam. “Let ‘em battle it out. When we get through the borders we’ll break off te find Mina an’ Daniel. An’ then we fight wi’ them an’ nae one else.”
“Aye,” Ginge agreed. “Ah hate te leave Mary an’ the Clan but we came fer them an’ ah think we should stick te our plan.”
“How are we going to find them?” Angela said. “London always seemed really big on the screens.”
“The Ministry knows we’re here an’ that means most o’ the fight will be by the border. Mina an’ Daniel will come where the fight is.”
“If they know we’re here shouldn’t we attack now?” Angela said. “It seems stupid just waiting. How do they know….? Oh, spies.”
“Aye, they’ll have ‘em everywhere.” Cam frowned at the walls looming down.
Ginge stoked the fire and rotated the skinned rabbit on the spit. Angela cringed, yet her stomach growled. She was too hungry to be squeamish now.
“I bet that’s what they’re arguing about.” Sebastian continued to pace up and down with his arms folded. “About whether we attack now or not.”
“Whatever happens,” Cam said, staring up at the clouds forming in the late afternoon sky, “we’ll have te wait ‘til night. The GEM have the advantage in the day.”
Angela followed Cam’s eyes up to the sky. The first spots of rain fell on her cheeks. Cam stiffened next to her. She closed her eyes to take a moment to process everything. When she opened them again, Mary crouched opposite their camp, her features hard and set.
“We’re attacking after nightfall,” she said. “Get enough fud in yer belly. Have a kip. Ah’ll wake ye when yer needed.”
*
Angela dreamed of Mina. She lay on the ground unmoving. When Angela knelt to check her friend was alive, Mina turned over and wore Daniel’s face; bloody and still. Angela backed away screaming… until Cam shook her to calm her down. When she woke, Cam stared down at her in the moonlight, with his blue eyes open wide with worry.
“Hey now. Are ye all right?” he said in his soft Scottish lilt.
She sat up and leaned into Cam’s chest. “I think so.”
Sebastian and Ginge were already up, packing guns and ammo into their pockets. Mary had given them a handgun each. Ginge took an extra rifle, and Sebastian carried a few grenades. Cam claimed a machine gun along with his handgun. Angela stared at the weapons, wondering when they’d become child soldiers. She stood up and collected bullets, checked her gun, and packed them in the holster around her body. Then she took a few petrol bombs. There were tears in her eyes. She wasn’t ready to face this. She wasn’t a fighter. Not like Mina or Ginge.
Cam took her by the shoulders and spun her to face him. “Yer gonnae be all right. De ye hear me? Ah wouldnae let anythin’ happen te ye.”
She nodded and he kissed her fiercely. This time Ginge and Sebastian stayed quiet. When Mary came to get them, Ginge walked hand in hand with Sebastian as they headed towards the border.
“Alfred’s laid explosives at the weakest part of the border. Don’t get too close,” Mary instructed. “There’s a portion where some o’ the wall broke down, an’ was replaced by metal sheeting. We’ve packed the hole with dynamite. Ah dunno how much it’ll blow, but ye need te stand back. There’s another wall inte London. We’ll have te fight Enfocers on the other side o’ this wall. We’ll have the dark an’ the element of surprise.” Mary forced animation into her voice, trying to sound more positive than she felt. “Keep te the shadows. Stay outta the main fightin’. Ah dunnae want ye getting’ hurt. Ah dunnae want ye in the fight at all. If ye have te be, I want ye te at least stay safe. Ginge, ye’ve more combat trainin’ than most, but this isnae gonnae be like a Scavenger trip. Find cover an’ take oot as many wee Enforcer gobshites as ye can. Keep this lot safe, eh.” She stopped and took Ginge’s face in her hands. Tears filled her eyes. “Ye a daughter te me. Ye know that.”
Ginge nodded, swallowing down emotion. Sebastian put his arm around her and squeezed tightly.
They hung back under the shelter of trees. It drizzled above them and Angela worried about firing a gun with wet hands. Did it make a difference?
No one spoke. The rain tapped against their coats and Angela pulled her headscarf so that it covered her ears, protecting herself against the cold. She tried to steady her breathing and ignore the way her heart hammered against her chest. Cam kissed her cheek one more time before gripping his machine gun.
An almighty boom sounded and a huge, bright spark exploded from the wall. Her arm flew to cover her face as smoke gushed from the blast. Brick, stone and metal sheeting burst upwards, and rained down on the grass before them. Most of the crowd surged back out of the way. One Blemished man almost knocked Angela to the floor. Cam grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. It was so much louder and more chaotic then Angela had imagined. She coughed and hid her eyes from the smoke, waiting for it to die down. Then Alfred bellowed and the crowd roared with the sound of battle cries and woops. They surged forward towards the wall. Angela followed them with Cam, staying a safe distance behind. Not so close that they got mixed up in the rush.
The army disappeared into the smoke. Angela shielded her eyes from the dust, as they ran through the enormous hole left by the dynamite. She tripped over the loose stones, and once caught her foot on metal sheets. Somehow she never fell. With Cam by her side, they climbed through the hole into the enclosure between the two walls. Her boots found solid ground. She saw little more than a few feet ahead of her. The sound of screams and guns rang out in the night. Cam led her away and they followed Ginge and Sebastian to a spot to the right of the explosion, where a number of large stones had fallen to create a small nook for them to take cover. It was dark, but Enforcer spotlights gave enough light for them to find their way.
Ginge dropped to her belly and set up her rifle in the stones. She pressed her eye to the viewfinder.
“Ye all right?” Cam asked Angela.
Apart from her heart beating faster than it ever had before, and the amount of dust in her lungs, she was fine. She hugged Cam. It was only the beginning, but she was still glad to be okay. Cam’s grip tightened on his machine gun. As the dust settled, Angela began to make out the armies clashing together, like opposing waves in a tempestuous river.
“Holy shit,” said Cam. He stared out at the fighting with his mouth hanging open.
An army of identical men marched from the opposite border wall. There were hundreds more than their combined Blemished and Clan army. Angela had never seen anything like it. The men marched in step and in line, like a rectangular squadron of tin soldiers. They attacked in rigid, regimental movements, shooting and tossing attackers as though they were little more than a bug to be quashed. They walked into battle with no fear, like a herd of cows unknowingly walking into a slaughterhouse, as though they didn’t care about their own safety one tiny bit.
But worst of all, they were strong. A Glasgow Acrobat flew at one of the soldiers, only to be tossed away like a broken toy. When a Blemished man threw a punch, the clone squeezed his fist until the man screamed with pain and dropped to the floor. Angela had to look away.
“They knew we were coming,” Cam said with a low, defeated tone to his voice. “And now they have us surrounded.”
> 44 ~ Daniel ~
The train stopped and everyone filed off. Daniel held Mina tight and tried to ignore the fact they were about to fight the battle of their lives. He wanted more time with her. More time to relish the fact they’d found each other again. Against all odds they still loved each other, and he wanted to celebrate that. But there was no time.
As they moved closer to the open air, Daniel heard the sounds of sirens wailing. People screamed. There were gun sounds rataratarata, relentless and churning.
“We head towards the border!” K shouted. “The fighting has begun. We must detonate the bombs and let the army in!”
With that the Resistance poured through the exit to the old Underground station and out onto the streets.
“Elena,” Mina said, taking hold of her friend. “Keep Hiro here. Please. Keep him safe.”
Hiro pulled away from Elena’s grip. “No! You need me. You need my power.”
“Please, Hiro. Stay here with the other children,” Mina begged.
Elena picked up the squirming ten year old. “I’ll keep him safe. You go on. Help the Blemished. Mina, use your power.”
Daniel saw the fear in Mina’s eyes. “What if I can’t?” she said in a small voice, only just audible against the noise from the streets above.
“You can. I believe in you.” Elena moved backwards into the darkness, taking Hiro with her.
Mina rubbed a tear from her eye and replaced her hand in Daniel’s. “Let’s go.”
They ran up the steps to the city. When Daniel saw the fighting he transported back to the Compound for a moment. It was chaos, and it wasn’t just Enforcers and Resistance fighting. Ordinary people, either caught in the crossfire, or inspired to fight, lay wounded and bleeding.
On a normal London street, with tall office buildings and restaurants lining the pavements, abandoned and burnt out cars dotted up and down the road. Glass littered the streets from the broken windows of the nearby cafes and shops. Wounded and dead lay on the tarmac, their arms and legs bent at wrong angles.
“We should help these people!” Mina yelled.
Luce lifted a man with a bullet wound to the leg, moving him to the Underground station and away from the fighting. “There are too many,” she shouted.
A laser spark flew towards Luce, and Daniel pushed her away just in time. Mina turned her gun on the Enforcer and he fell backwards, blood spurting from his shoulder.
“We need to move!” Daniel yelled. He tried not to look at any of the wounded as they ran to catch up Mike and Kitty.
“I hate leaving them,” Luce shouted.
“There’s nothing we can do. If we stop, we’ll die.” Mina hopped over a felled Enforcer and ducked down behind a car.
A laser beam hit the side of the car, screeching as it cut into the metal. Daniel crouched down beside Mina and Luce. He edged his gun around the side and fired twice. He risked a quick glance and saw the Enforcer down on the ground.
“Now!” He took Mina’s hand and pulled her up. Luce rushed to her feet, and the three of them ran through the street with their heads down.
Smoke billowed out of shops and apartment blocks as buildings exploded. Small groups of fist-fighters clustered amongst shoot-outs. Another Enforcer fell to the tarmac, his helmet smashed, revealing the young person inside coughing up blood. Daniel had seen enough of the realities of war. He hurried on, hoping Kitty, Mike, and the others knew where they were going.
As the shops thinned out, the border walls appeared up ahead. He saw the rows of soldiers, only just visible in the darkness of night, their white uniforms caught by the street lights. They stood in a long line – waiting for the fight to reach them. It continued for yards and yards, hundreds, maybe thousands, all exactly the same height and build. Daniel swallowed and held Mina’s hand. He thought of the Enforcer in Area 14, the one who wouldn’t listen to reason and knew nothing except the orders programmed into his brain. They weren’t human, not really. They didn’t know emotions like love or loss. Did they even feel pain? How could the Resistance fight them? How could they ever win?
Something thwacked into his side. He went down, taking Mina with him. He hit the hard tarmac with his elbow, bashing his head and crushing his shoulder. An Enforcer flipped him over so he was on his back and punched him on the jaw, sending waves of pain through his face and neck. The Enforcer’s helmet was off, his hair dishevelled, and he had no gun. Instead he kicked and hit Daniel with his boots and fists.
Daniel tried to scramble to his feet. He lifted his arms to shield his face and block the Enforcer’s punches. Relentless fists beat him down. Mina kicked his attacker in the side, knocking him from his stance over Daniel. She spun around, her foot meeting the Enforcer’s face, and then spun again to punch him in the side. Luce helped Daniel to his feet while Mina hit the Enforcer over the head with the butt of her gun. The Enforcer crumpled to the ground, and Mina dashed over to Daniel.
“Are you all right?” she touched his face and he winced.
He tasted blood and felt a tooth loose. His lip bled and his eyes were sore. “I’m okay, keep going.”
Time spent still made them an easier target. Bullets whizzed past them as a reminder. They set off at full pelt, and Daniel clutched his bruised side. He wouldn’t slow down. He had to keep going no matter how much it hurt.
They ran towards that terrible wall of soldiers, still following Mike and Kitty in the distance. Daniel glanced to the right to see Ali crouched low by a car, his gun aimed at an Enforcer about to attack. The Enforcer went down and Ali hurried along, keeping low to the ground, Matthew by his side. On the left, K instructed her people, yelling words he couldn’t hear over the cacophony of sound. She gunned down a group of Enforcers heading for them with laser guns. Up ahead an Enforcer shot an insurgent. Daniel saw the seared flesh of the fallen soldier, and blood seeping through the Resistance scarf.
The Resistance surged at the clone soldiers. Daniel’s boots pounded the tarmac as they followed Mike and Kitty to the right. They ducked down behind a disused border toll booth.
Mike clutched his leg. Blood seeped through his ripped trousers at the calf. “It’s just a flesh wound. Bloody laser caught me.”
“What now?” Kitty said. Her breath came out in ragged gulps and her eyes were wild. “Did you see the army? The Resistance are never going to get through them to set the bombs. We’re screwed.”
Daniel peeked around the side of the toll booth. The Resistance threw petrol bombs at the clone army. The clones never moved a muscle. They never flinched. They only swatted away K’s soldiers as they approached.
“They’re superhuman or something. They didn’t even flinch at that petrol bomb,” Daniel said.
“Maybe it’s the armour,” said Luce. “Whatever it is, we’re not gonna get through them.”
“Unless… Unless Mina pulls the wall down.”
Mina wiped sweat from her forehead and seemed to pale as everyone eyed her. He took her hand, hoping to give her the kind of strength she needed.
“It’s too big,” she said. “I… I don’t have that kind––”
“Of course you do,” Mike snapped.
Daniel caught Mina’s eye. He saw the fear there. She didn’t want to do it. After her father’s death and the way she caused it… who would want to use that kind of power again?
“I can’t.” Tears formed in her eyes.
“You have to,” Mike said.
Kitty moved towards her. “Mina there’s something else. I didn’t want to tell, but I have to tell you to make you see that you really do have to try. You have to try, Mina.”
“What?” Mina wiped the tears from her eyes. “Just tell me.”
Kitty paused. “Angela is on the other side of that wall.” Daniel’s back stiffened. “I can taste her, along with thousands of other people. Sebastian is there, too. I recognise their tastes. I think they’re fighting on the other side, and if they’re facing the same clones––”
“If they’re facing the sa
me clones they’re going to lose,” Mina finished.
45 ~ Mina ~
The realisation crushed down on me until I couldn’t breathe. They all relied on me to help them. What if I failed? They died? My friends? My family? I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. In my mind I pictured the border wall. Daniel had hold of one hand; someone else took my other hand. I didn’t pay attention; I just imagined the wall and the clones in front of it. I felt for the heat…
Cold seeped in. My father’s face as he pushed through the glass, ripping at his skin.
Another explosion. I opened my eyes to see smoke and fire tearing through a car. Bodies lay on the ground around it. More bullets and lasers sounded through the air.
“Concentrate, Mina,” Daniel encouraged. For a brief second he sounded just like my dad.
Concentrate on the pencil again, Mina. After this I’ll teach you how to box.
I heard his voice louder than anything else, louder than bombs, gunfire and screams. I’d moved the pencil that day. Not because I was powerful but because he helped me. Now the truth seemed clouded behind lies. Years of them. I had to peel away; find truth.
He loved me.
He died to save me.
“I believe in you,” said Daniel.
I pushed away the cold. I pushed away the hate – the emotion my mother told me to embrace – and instead I thought about the love. Love for my dad. Love for Daniel. I let it warm me – heart first – and then spread over my body.
“You’re doing it, Mina!” Daniel shouted.
In my mind I deconstructed the wall, exploding from midway and catching the falling stones before they fell and hit the people around the wall. I could’ve dropped them on the clones but I didn’t. I didn’t want to be that person anymore. So I threw them as far as I could away from the wall, out into whatever countryside lay beyond the border. And then I opened my eyes.