“I still would have preferred to have seen you sat there.”
“I stand when I pee. Most men do.” Liam got on his knees and started tidying away the bedding.
“Really? On your feet? How does that work?” Cassie took out a nutrient bar and took a small bite. She knew little about men and how their bits functioned. Did it come out of their penis, the bit that got stuck in the woman down there? She suddenly felt a bit sick and put the food away.
A blush had risen on Liam’s cheeks. “Look, you just have to believe me.”
“You know, that’s fine by me.” Cassie tried to empty her mouth of the bite she’d taken. The taste was kind of bland, and there was an aftertaste that lingered for hours. What she really wanted was the sensation of putting more than just a mouthful in her stomach. No matter what Ed said, that a bar gave enough of everything for a day, it still didn’t stop her stomach from rumbling for very long. Nausea be damned, she’d need the sustenance. She took a big mouthful and tried to savour it, maybe it would trick her stomach into thinking it was full for longer. It got to the point of becoming an unappetising paste in her mouth. Cassie rinsed her mouth with a slurp of water and swallowed.
Another bang echoed out of the bathroom.
“Still hunting in there, Ed?” asked John.
There was a bang of a different sort.
“Something wrong, mate?” John took a step closer, his eyes wide. Maybe he was watching for attacking rats.
“Just fixing the lid down. Don’t want any surprises for the next user. The rats must have found their way in through the sewers.” Ed came back into the main room and tidied away his bedroll. He flicked off the heater and grabbed his bike. He stood by the door, staring out for a moment. “At least it’s stopped raining.”
“And we didn’t have any problems with the locals,” Liam said.
“Maybe the rats found their way into the other houses as well. Ever thought about that? Maybe there is nothing but bones in the flats above us.” Dan grabbed his bike.
Cassie watched him. It seemed ages since Dan had something to say, but he had a point. Cassie found herself gazing upwards, as if she might suddenly develop x-ray vision, and see the heaps of stripped skeletons left by the rats. Maybe they ate the bones as well.
“We’ve all got to eat. All the creatures still left, that is,” Dan added.
“And on that happy note…” Ed opened the door. Outside had a crisp early autumn scent, sweet from the rain, and chilled from the changes in the season. “If we work hard today, we can get to the German border. Then,” he smiled back at them before wheeling his bike onto the street, “you are in for a treat.”
Cassie’s legs were just about getting used to the bicycle. The aches had finally lessened. She wondered if it was the muscles simply giving up and accepting their lot. Although her bottom was still so tender to the touch, it was a wonder she could force herself stay on the seat at all. Liam kept pace with her, the other three staying just ahead. Ed had ordered they all remain silent, he didn’t want to chance any of the locals catching them.
Then as they crested a hill, Cassie caught sight of something amazing. All of them did, and despite Ed’s obvious disapproval, they stopped to stare.
A great concrete wall had been erected, tall enough that only the top floors of the abutting flats could see over. The barrier stretched away into the distance, disappearing into an early morning fog in both directions.
“What the hell’s that?” John asked.
“It’s a wall. A great big wall.” Ed looked about nervously. “You’ve seen it now. There’ll be locals turning up soon. Get pedalling.”
“But why is there a wall? Who would do that?” Cassie tried to find where it started or ended. But the fog was just too thick to see far.
“Either get moving, or I go without you.” There was a tone of panic in Ed’s voice. He started cycling.
A noise behind them startled Cassie. There was a painfully slim woman, one hand held out as she emerged from a block of flats. Begging for food. The poor woman looked incredibly close to death, like she might keel over at any moment. Their group must all look so fat to them, so huge and healthy. The woman staggered out onto the street. Behind her, more people appeared out of the neighbouring buildings.
“We should go,” Dan said, and followed Ed.
The rest of them got going. Not that there was much threat from these folks. Cassie could see how close to the end they all were. It made her stomach shrivel and go hard at the thought of the nutrient bar she’d been munching all day. For a moment, she considered tossing a handful of bars out onto the road. But for what? To give them a few more days of misery? If she ever became that hungry, she’d want to die.
Ed was saying something. Cassie pedalled faster. He was explaining about the wall.
“…a barrier between Germany and France,” she heard Ed say.
“Is this to do with their population reductions?” Dan asked.
“What, you think it’s to hide what they’re doing? To hide the virus victims?” Ed smiled as Dan nodded. “Oh no. They are hiding something completely different. Something beyond your wildest dreams.”
They were approaching the wall. From close up it was less impressive. A simple construction with huge concrete slabs slotted together and bolted through with huge metal fixings.
“Why are these buildings empty?” John asked as he touched a crumbling wall.
“The Germans released the virus all along the length of the wall. The French government haven’t a clue it was them. They decided the ground must have been polluted with some kind of poison. They think it’s still too dangerous to come back. The pity of it all is they could do so much with this land. Instead it all goes to rot.” For a moment, an expression of sadness fleetingly crossed Ed’s face. “We need to lock our bikes away.”
He led them to another safe room. This building was in better condition than the others, but Cassie still wondered how long before entire blocks started coming down. She put her bike inside with the others.
Ed sat on the tarmac outside the safe room. Cassie guessed he didn’t think the buildings entirely safe either. “We’ll have a short break. Then I’ll take you through the passage to the other side of the wall.”
“Well, thank God for that. I thought you were going to have us scale it.” John laughed.
Dan stared thoughtfully. “So what’s over there?”
Ed touched the side of his nose. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Okay, fine. Can you tell me how far then? How much further is it to the laboratory?” Dan pulled a nutrient bar out of his backpack. He bit off a large chunk and stared up the wall, all the way to the top. Cassie followed his eyes. Barbed wire topped the structure. Under that, was a layer of broken glass.
“We have to leave our bikes here. But it’s not far, a less than an hour’s trekking.”
Dan nodded and fell silent. Cassie noticed he’d been doing that a lot. Like he was simply gathering information, and nothing else mattered.
Liam grabbed her hand. “Good luck kiss?” he asked and leaned forward.
Cassie turned a little so his lips brushed her cheek. Did she want a man right now, want the risk of another baby? Just because the Prime Minister said he’d set them all up did not give them carte blanche to create as many babies as they could. Besides, the rest of the group was watching.
Her snub didn’t dull the grin on his face. “Still works,” he whispered in her ear.
Ed lay on his back. Cassie copied him, and watched as clouds swept by overhead. They were white and fluffy today, and relatively infrequent. All rained out from yesterday, she decided.
Somehow, it was late in the day. The sun slowly dipped down below the buildings, and she shivered. What a long way they had come. Cassie couldn’t have imagined an adventure like this before. Her idea of something exciting was discovering they’d put an extra item in her ration box.
When dusk finally took over from the da
y, Ed sat up. “Come on, folks. Time to go.” He headed into a building that all but rested against the wall. Cassie prayed it wouldn’t fall down today and followed the others through the doorway.
Inside was another dusty room, empty except for the concrete tube that stuck out of the wall. It was bigger than the escape hatch in the safe room. Maybe it would be easier to crawl through, Cassie thought.
Ed swung his pack to his front and rolled a heavy metal lid to the side. He dropped down onto his knees and crawled a little way inside.
“You lot coming?” His words echoed out.
“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Liam said, and not unkindly.
Last time she was in one of these tunnels, Dillon died. She prayed there’d be no rats, no mad Frenchmen, nothing to hurt them at all. Dan pushed her forward.
“You’re next,” he said.
Cassie knelt. The tunnel was dark inside. Light from the room didn’t stretch far, just lighting the soles of Ed’s shoes as he shuffled forward.
“Go on, Cassie, nothing’s going to go wrong,” Liam called in to her.
She turned and gave him a weak smile. Famous last words, she thought.
The tunnel floor was wet. She sighed and gingerly placed her hands on the damp surface. Ed was a few feet up ahead already, moving in short sharp movements. God, the man crawled quickly.
The walls were black and slimy with damp and there was an odd odour… like something had slithered in there a long time ago and died. The material of her trousers soaked through instantly. And the water stank. Was the dead thing dissolved in the water? She shrivelled up her nose and forced herself to start moving. But breathing through her mouth didn’t make things any better, she swore, she could taste the dead thing more and more with each inhalation. With the first movement she made, her hands slipped out from under her. It was that black mouldy stuff, it was like squidgy ice. They’d be in real trouble if they had to do this quickly, she thought. She slowed down and tried to move a little more carefully.
“Come on.” Ed’s voice echoed back to her. He sounded impatient. Her hand slipped out from under her again, and she smacked her elbow on the concrete.
“Oh, Jesus.” She rubbed at the pain.
“You okay up there?” That was Liam. He must have been sent in behind her.
“Just hurt my arm. Be careful. It’s treacherous.”
The tunnel seemed to go on forever. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could just about make out Ed’s backside and his feet as he shuffled along silently. He was getting further and further away. Cassie had to concentrate on what she was doing. Her elbow still throbbed, and she really didn’t want to slip like that a second time. She glanced up to check on Ed, but he was gone. The tunnel ahead was black.
“Where’s Ed?” she yelled out. “Where the bloody hell is Ed?”
“Maybe it’s all an elaborate trick, and he’s left us in the tunnel to starve.” Liam laughed.
“You’re not funny.” Cassie frowned. “But he really is gone.” In the dark, undulating forms became giant rats. Then something grabbed her shirt by the collar and pulled.
“Don’t be so daft.” It was Ed. The tunnel exit was in the top of the tube. He guided her out and into a dark room. “Here, wipe off the mould.” He threw a rag at her and reached down to give Liam a hand out.
“Sorry Ed. Tunnel humour, I guess.” Cassie scrubbed at her hands.
“Number one reason I don’t usually work with women.” Ed reached down for John. “Their humour sucks.”
Cassie handed the rag to Liam and crossed her arms. Wasn’t her fault she’d been dragged along. She’d begged everyone not to come.
Dan came out last and helped Ed slot the cover back on to seal the tunnel. Enough time had passed that dusk was deepening to night. A chill was in the air, even here inside the room.
“Now you get to see what they want for us in England.” He drew a hand across his neck – a sign for silence, and cracked the door open.
Chapter 26
Even before Ed tentatively eased the door open, Cassie caught the scent of something… different. Kind of like her memory of the greenhouse, but without the humidity. Then she knew – she smelled something earthy. She shook her head. Couldn’t be. Maybe it was a reaction to the terrible stink of the tunnel. She swigged at some water, trying to wash the taste of dead things from her mouth. Ed checked all was clear and opened the door a little more. He indicated they should follow with a hand gesture.
They formed a line and followed Ed outside. There were rows of buildings up against the wall at the German side as well. Cassie frowned. There was no big revelation here. Just more abandoned, crumbling old buildings. But as they rounded the corner, Cassie saw something that made her heart skip a beat. There were three blocks of buildings beyond the great wall. After that, the land had been cleared. A vast open space met them. Instead of the normal monotony of grey concrete buildings, and occasionally older brick buildings, there was a sight she’d never seen before. It made her dizzy, sick and exuberantly happy all at once.
“Is that real?” Cassie asked Ed, and took a hesitant step from between the two buildings where the group stood.
Ed beamed back. “Beautiful, isn’t it.”
Fields ran along the edge of the border, a thin strip of buildings had been left – presumably for camouflage. They wouldn’t want the French finding this. They’d have nothing left. She imagined hordes of the French swarming over the fields, picking them clean.
Ed stepped out of the cover of the alley and in amongst the crop. “This is corn. It’ll be harvested very soon. But for tonight, it’ll give us perfect cover.” Green stalks shot from the soil, and grew at least a foot higher than Ed stood.
“Wow,” Liam touched a green bulge at the side of the plant.
“That’s the corn. Watch.” Ed pulled the bulge down, like a lever, and twisted at the same time. The green mass came away in his hands. Then he stripped off a leafy covering and stringy things until Cassie spotted something yellow underneath.
“What’s that, then?” John asked.
“Corn on the cob.” Ed smiled. “Have a few kernels each.”
He pulled off some of the yellow bits and handed them around. The taste was unbelievably sweet, ever better the sugar snap peas she’d had in the greenhouse.
“And that, folks, is fresh food.” Ed nodded and bit into the cob, slurping and sucking at the corn.
“I want one,” Liam said, and tore off his own cob. Moments later, they all had one. Ed sat them down, at the edge of the field as they ate.
“You understand better why we’re doing this now?” Ed suddenly asked. He’d finished his cob before anyone else, and tossed it away into the undergrowth. “England could have these. Fields. Can you imagine? And wait until you see the natives.”
Cassie didn’t bother to ask why, and no one else seemed bothered by Ed’s lack of clarity. She nibbled off the kernels, savouring each one. Finally, her stomach was full, and for the first time in years, she was actually satisfied.
Ed stood up and patted his clothes clean. “Right. They do have decent security wondering around these fields. We need to get moving. Lab’s in this direction.”
Ed took them through the maze of corn, dipping down one row, crossing over to another, turning so many times, Cassie was certain they’d be lost. It was creepy out here. Anything could be hidden, just a row or two away, and they’d never know it. Maybe it was the unfamiliarity of being among so much green, but Cassie started to wish the field would end, and soon. She craved the uniform familiarity of tall buildings and the logical straightness of roads.
But as suddenly as the fields began, they ended. Cassie took a steadying breath, suppressing the urge to dash out of the corn. Ed indicated they stay under the cover of the plants while he checked all was clear. He darted across an empty strip of land and back between the buildings. He waved them on, and the rest of them ran across. They were back among the familiar – buildings, and row upon r
ow of safe dependable concrete.
Ed pointed up the street. “Not far now.”
Making their way up the street was slow progress. Patrols seemed to go past every ten minutes, and each time they had to dip into the shadows and pray that next time a patrol passed there would be a new place to secrete themselves. Excitement built in Cassie. They were almost at the laboratory. Ed would get them there, and then it was up to the rest of them. They’d been studying the plans all evening, Ed talking them through the plans until all of them could recite their roles word perfect. She wiped her palms on her trousers. In half an hour, if all went well, she’d be back here, ready for Ed to lead them back to England.
Ed stopped across from a building that seemed no different to any other and opened his backpack. He pulled something out. “Here’s the case for the vials. Dan you hold onto that.” Ed handed it over. “Do you remember how to operate it?”
Dan nodded. His eyes were fixed on the entrance opposite. “That the one?”
Ed nodded. “Got the codes?”
John nodded.
“Memorised the route?”
Liam grabbed onto Cassie’s hand and gave the tiniest of squeezes. “We won’t get ill, will we?”
“Not if you do everything right.” Ed backed up a step. “Liam, have you got the route memorised?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Cassie, you’ll be handling the virus. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
Cassie nodded. She was numb. They were going to have to do this right. She was going to have to make sure she didn’t mess up. All their lives depended on her. She swallowed hard.
“We going or what?” she asked and checked for patrols.
“I’ll whistle when you come out. If everything is safe, one of you whistles back. Agreed?”
The rest of them nodded. And like the ghost the Prime Minister had once said he was, Ed backed away into the shadows and was suddenly gone.
Dan seemed to fall right back into his familiar role of leader. He ordered them across the road with hardly a word, and stood watching for patrols as John typed in the code. The locks clicked and door opened. Deja vu hit her as she remembered another night, and another lab, and a raid so incredibly similar, she could be repeating the whole thing. Just no smashing, she nervously thought, and suppressed an errant giggle.
The Ultimate Choice Page 20