Outside - a post-apocalyptic novel

by Boland, Shalini

  The sun is rising fast and a milky light begins to flood the expanse we have to cross unseen.

  We go for it, crouching low and running fast. I feel so vulnerable and exposed, expecting to hear a shout or running footsteps at any moment. But we reach the AV without incident and I run and stand behind a large horse chestnut tree. Its green spiky pods remind me of more innocent autumns, of hard-baked, vinegar-coated conkers smashing into each other.

  Luc tries the door of the AV and finds it locked. He scrabbles beneath the vehicle, searching around for the spare keycard which is normally magnetically fixed to the underside. We didn't check if it was still in place after the run-in with the raiders on the floodplain and I’m praying it didn’t get dislodged during my bumpy getaway. Luc's mother always keeps a spare under there, much to the disapproval of his father who thinks it a dangerously obvious thing to do.

  Luc is taking a long time though and I peer out from behind the trunk. He beckons me over.

  ‘Riley,’ he hisses. ‘I can't find it. It's not in the usual place. Come and give me a hand, quick.’

  I creep over and slide under the vehicle on my back.

  ‘I wish we had a torch,’ I say. ‘It's too dark under here. It's impossible to see.’

  ‘I don't think it's here.’ Luc slides out from underneath and I join him. His fists are balled up tight and he has smears of oil on his eyebrows and cheek.

  Then I see a movement out of the corner of my eye and a streak of fear flashes up my spine. I tap Luc on the arm and point. He turns around to see what has me frozen in terror - a procession of black robed figures streaming out of a small door in the outside wall and heading towards us.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Eleanor

  *

  The following day I took the bus up to Abi’s house, sure she would have some information from Samuel about what had happened to Connor. The story she gave me was so ludicrous, I could hardly believe she said it with a straight face.

  ‘Ellie, you won't believe it - Connor’s a terrorist!’ She looked at me, waiting for my reaction, but I couldn’t speak. I didn’t understand why she would say such a thing. ‘Ellie, you’re in love with a murderer.’ She was clearly joking. ‘God, he could have killed us all.’

  ‘Are you joking?’

  ‘Do I sound like I’m joking? I’m really sorry, Ellie, but they’re going to interrogate him and then they’ll probably shoot him.’ She said this with no regard for my feelings. No words of comfort. She treated it like a piece of juicy gossip. Something to be savoured.

  ‘You spiteful, evil cow!’ I slapped her on her smug face as hard as I could. Her hands flew up to her cheek. I looked at her and shook my head. ‘Why would you say those things?’ I asked. ‘What could possibly make you be so horrible to me?’ Tears escaped with the shock of what was happening.

  Still holding her cheek. Abigail raised her head and looked at me. ‘I’m telling the truth and you’ll regret doing that, Eleanor Russell.’

  *

  When I got home, I sat down with my family and we tried to piece together what had just happened. After several hours of tears and speculation, we all reached the same awful conclusion - Samuel and Abi had probably cooked up the accusation out of sheer spite.

  ‘In which case,’ said Oliver, ‘the army will realise they have no evidence against him and let him go.’

  ‘But what if Bletchley (I couldn’t now call him by his first name, Samuel, because it was too friendly and familiar. And I accompanied his surname with a retching sound, for good measure) has planted some evidence?’

  ‘He doesn’t have the brains. He wouldn’t have thought that far ahead,’ reassured David.

  ‘No, but Robbins does.’ (Ditto the retching sound for Abigail).

  ‘They wouldn’t go that far, darling,’ Dad said. ‘Look, give it a week and I bet we’ll hear Connor’s van puttering up the Lane and he’ll be telling us all about his adventures. He’s a sensible lad. He’ll realise what’s happened and he’ll plead his case well.’

  My family did a good job of trying to calm me down. They had known Connor and I were fond of each other, but it wasn’t until the previous night that they’d seen the true extent of my feelings towards him. I think my cries and tears had shocked them almost as much as his arrest had. I was so relieved they hadn’t believed Abigail Robbins’ ridiculous accusation and my brother Tom was almost as upset as I was. Connor was one of his best friends.

  But Connor’s van didn’t come puttering up the lane any time during that week, and I could get no news of his whereabouts. My father called Samuel's dad for me, but he said they’d had no news from their son and didn’t expect to hear from him until Christmas.

  I knew I would have to swallow my pride and my hatred and go and visit Abigail once more. But the thought made me feel sick and I was afraid I would physically attack her if she so much as looked at me with that smug expression ... But then I thought of Connor and knew I would do whatever it took to get him back and if that meant sucking up to Abigail, then so be it.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Riley

  *

  The black robed figures are flocking towards us. We realise, too late, that some parts of the wall are hollow in the middle. Now that the sun has risen higher, casting a stronger light, I can see odd bricks are missing here and there. Enough for the guards inside to look out and see what’s going on, while remaining undetected. They can probably see through to the outside in the same way.

  ‘Holy crap,’ says Luc.

  ‘Holy, is right,’ I reply.

  As they glide closer, I can see their guns. There is absolutely no point in us running. There must be at least twenty of them, all with heavy metal crucifixes swinging over the top of their homespun cloaks. They surround us and the AV. Deep overhanging hoods conceal their features, giving the impression we’re being looked upon by a black sea of faceless creatures.

  It is the most chilling sight I have ever seen in my life and to add to the terror, they are chanting in some unknown language. They don’t raise their weapons, but their chanting’s getting louder and more insistent, almost deafening. Suddenly they stop and the silence that ensues sounds worse than the eerie voices.

  Two of them step forward and put us, unresisting, into arm and leg shackles which clink and rattle. They lead us away and we stumble across the courtyard, along pathways and across gardens, through corridors and into a huge echoing hall. I’m too shocked and afraid to think about exactly where we are headed.

  They shepherd us through a bare ante chamber into a large, austere room. The walls and floor are of grey stone and the ceiling is high with a central circular metal pendant light. Small high windows stud the walls. It feels like a large cell. Morning has barely dawned, but Grey looks very much awake, sitting alone at the head of a large wooden refectory table set for breakfast. I know it’s him. Who else would it be?

  ‘Well.’ The man smiles at us down his patrician nose. He would be aristocratically handsome if it weren't for his cold, dead blue eyes. ‘My new children,’ he smirks. ‘What? You don't like my hospitality? Were your quarters not satisfactory?’ He laughs.

  Luc looks down at his feet, his fists still clenched and his ears red with anger and humiliation. But I can't take my eyes off this man. This bogeyman we have heard tales of for most of our sheltered lives. James Grey. How have we ended up here? Shackled and alone.

  ‘Were you looking for this?’ He picks up the AV keycard from the table and waves it in front of us. ‘You can’t have thought we’d have left this in its hiding place. That would have been remiss of us, wouldn’t it? And that’s quite a cache of weapons you have in there. I wonder what two such young ones are doing with such a fine vehicle and so much valuable cargo. Stolen I imagine.

  ‘I very much look forward to hearing your stories. They did very well, sending two such lost souls to me.’ He pauses. ‘I am sorry about our little deception, but you really will thank us in the end. I promise
it. And I did enjoy your early morning shenanigans. Climbing out of bathroom windows, shinning up and down drainpipes. Very enterprising. Must have been cold in that bathroom, Riley.’

  My skin crawls with the knowledge that he’s been watching us, that he knew all our plans in detail. That he is, in fact, laughing at us. I feel humiliated and stupid, which I suppose is his intention. Luc must be livid. I can feel the anger radiating off him. The whole episode of our escape has been documented by Grey and here he is gloating. Revelling in our helplessness.

  In front of him sits a large plate of food - toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, beans and tomatoes. Somewhat different to the thin, grey, salty porridge that we call breakfast in this place. He loads up his fork and eats noisily. A thin line of runny egg yolk travels down from the corner of his mouth to his chin. I’ve got a direct view of the disgusting mashed up contents of his mouth as he continues to speak.

  ‘Come closer, children, I wish to talk to you.’

  His affected way of speaking would be laughable if we weren't in so much danger. The two guards at our shoulders push us forward and force us to shuffle up until we’re close enough to smell his scent. A repugnant odour of soap and something else, something sour and rank which rises up above the smell of fried food. I lean back a little.

  ‘Leave us please.’ He waves the guards back and I hear them softly swoosh away. ‘I see you looking at my breakfast. Are you hungry? We can remedy that in a moment, but first I need you to understand something.’ He pauses and stares hard at each of us. ‘My disciples want to be here. I am their saviour. You run from me now, but soon you will run towards me. You think I am taking you against your will, but you are young and you have no idea what you want from life.

  ‘It's an evil world out there and I can save you from it. In a few weeks you won't want to be anywhere else, I guarantee it. Just one month, that's all I ask. Embrace my way willingly for thirty days and if you still want to leave after that time, you will be free to go.’

  ‘A month so you can brainwash us, I don't think so,’ Luc spits out the words. I silently cheer his defiance, but it also scares me. I don't want to see this man turn angry.

  Grey holds up another forkful to his mouth, unfazed by Luc's outburst. He closes his eyes, anticipating the flavours. He’s enjoying our discomfort and revelling in his power. I can tell there is something really wrong with him. Not just the obvious power trip, but something more. It’s like he’s a totally different species to us, as if his brain is wired in another way. It is paralysing and terrifying to be in his presence. The one word replaying in my mind is evil. This man is evil.

  The room remains silent, apart from Grey's hypnotic voice and the occasional clink of our shackles. Grey is unhurried in his sermon. He takes long pauses to savour his breakfast, his fork held to his lips, his eyes closed again.

  Luc glances at me and I have the nervous feeling he’s about to do something.

  I’m right.

  As Grey holds his fork aloft, Luc lunges forwards with his shackled hands stretched out in front of him. He shoves as hard as he can and sends his whole body weight forward, towards the fork poised in front of Grey's open mouth. Luc rams the loaded fork down Grey’s throat with what can only be described as gruesome consequences. Grey gurgles and chokes, grasping at the fork and at his neck.

  I scream. I can't help myself. But that wasn't the smartest thing to do in the circumstances, as it instantly alerts the two guards who come running in.

  Before they can grab us or check on Grey, Luc seizes one of the heavy pewter candlesticks from the table. He has to hold it in both hands because of the shackles. He spins around, swings it upwards and catches one of the guards under the chin with it. The man instantly goes down.

  At the same time, the other guard grasps me around the neck and tries to pull his gun out from his robe, but Luc is too quick. He shoves the end of the candlestick into the guard’s stomach and the man doubles up. Luc then brings the metal cuffs down onto his head with a dull thud.

  The guards are both out cold in under thirty seconds. I can't believe it. I know that, as a trained guard, Luc knows some stuff, but I’m shocked to witness it first hand. I stand here uselessly, my mouth open, but Luc doesn't stop. He reaches down to the first guard's waist, trying to get the keys off his belt.

  ‘Come here, Riley, quick,’ Luc calls.

  I shake myself out of my shocked stupor and shuffle over to him. I hold my shackled hands out, next to the guard's waist as Luc goes through the keys. At the sixth attempt we hear a beautiful click and my hands are free. We soon unchain our hands and feet. Luc swiftly disrobes both guards and tosses me one of the cloaks. I put it on and try to block out the sickening sounds coming from Grey, who is writhing on his back on the floor, his hands still clutching at the fork. Luc throws me the guard's pistol and picks up the machine gun. We hide the weapons under our cloaks.

  ‘Mustn't forget this,’ says Luc, picking up the AV keycard from the table. ‘Let’s go.’

  We hurry back through the empty ante chamber and across the echoing hall, through the maze of buildings we hope will lead us back to the AV. Luc seems to know exactly where he’s going and only pauses briefly, before resuming his confident navigation. Then I hear the inevitable – hurried footsteps and loud, gruff voices behind us.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Riley

  *

  ‘Run!’ Luc shouts.

  I hitch up my robe with one hand and clutch my weapon in the other. We run along a narrow hallway and Luc shoves open the door at the end. It leads out into the courtyard where our AV gleams in the sunlight. The footsteps behind us are growing louder now, crunching across the gravel. A shot rings out. I don't dare turn around. I hear shouted instructions and a burst of machine gun fire, but we don't stop. Luc pushes me ahead of him and at the same time he presses the keycard into my hand. He turns and sprays bullets in an arc around him.

  ‘I'll drive,’ Luc shouts to me. I wave the card at the vehicle and see the lights flash. I leap into the passenger seat and slam the door shut. Never have I been so glad to smell the warm leathery interior of that vehicle. It feels like home. I push the card in all the way and the engine purrs to life. I inch down my window and fire a few shots in the guards' direction. I know I’ll never hit them from this distance with such a small revolver, but I hope it’ll delay them until Luc’s safely in.

  Luc dives into the driver's side and pulls his door shut. I bang on the blackout mode switch and Luc activates the shockplates. The guards re-enact their original manoeuvre, starting up their spooky chanting and glide forward to surround the AV. The main difference is that this time we’re inside the vehicle, shielded by heavy armour and high voltage shockplates.

  ‘Hold on!’ Luc yells and slams the vehicle in reverse, knocking down several of the dark-robed figures. Sparks fly, where the shockplates have buzzed into action. The guards’ frenzied chanting soon degenerates into shouts of alarm and warning.

  My stolen gun has no more bullets, so I scrabble down into the footwell, under the mat and find the catch that opens the hidden cavity where our emergency provisions are stashed. My shaking fingers eventually close around cold smooth metal and I lift out the small loaded revolver and click off the safety. Luc screeches to a halt and accelerates hard to the left. He guns it across the courtyard.

  With immaculate timing, the gates start to open and a dark green delivery van has its nose through the opening. A couple of robed figures run across the courtyard to try to close the gates. Our engine roars and I poke the barrel of the gun out through a crack in my window. I fire a couple more shots, immediately triggering a volley of machine fire in response.

  ‘You don't need to shoot anymore, Riley, they can't get us in here,’ Luc says. I close my window as shots ricochet off the electrically charged AV.

  The green van slowly enters the courtyard and I see the driver staring around in confusion. He stops midway through the gates, unsure how to proceed. He looks fro
m our vehicle, to the robed guards. Luc puts his hand on the horn and holds it down. He flashes his lights and drives directly towards the van. It works, and the driver reverses back out of the courtyard. Our AV is almost on top of him and we power our way out through the gates, smashing into the front corner of the van as we go. The van spins around and careens into a shallow ditch outside the gates.

  Luc turns right onto the bumpy road, away from the bright morning sun in the east and towards Warminster and Gloucestershire to the west. In the jumbled chaos of my mind, I hope this is a conscious decision on his part, to carry on with our quest and not head back home.

  I glance behind us and see a few robed figures flapping and gesturing like demented crows. Shots still follow us and I wait for vehicles to zoom out in pursuit, but miraculously the road behind stays clear. For now, we are safe.

  After a manic fifteen minute drive over the potholed road, there’s still no sign we’re being followed. We hope, with Grey seriously injured, perhaps even dead, they will have more important things to attend to than a couple of escaped kids. Although I know our reacquisition of the AV will be a serious loss to them.

  I peer into the back of the AV and see nothing. They've taken all our possessions. I hadn't expected anything less, but it’s still a huge blow to know we’re miles from familiar territory with only our limited emergency provisions.

  ‘It’s all gone,’ I say.

  Luc looks at me with a resigned shrug of his shoulders.

  ‘All of it,’ I repeat.

  ‘We've got our lives, Riley, and that's more than I thought we'd have a couple of hours ago.’

  ‘You're right.’ I sigh. ‘I don’t know how you were so calm back there. You didn't freak out at all. I don't know how you thought of that thing with the fork. I feel ill just thinking about it.’