by Sarah Dalton
“I suppose you could say that.” I folded my arms and looked at her with level eyes.
“What de ye know?” A wicked grin spread across her face. Ginge was into danger in a big way. “Do I need te get me rifle?”
“Possibly.” I returned her smile.
Before Ginge could ask me any more questions Ali jogged over to us, his boots crunching against the gravel. We’d not made it far out of the castle gates and were stood facing the rest of the Compound. Afternoon sun peeked out from behind the castle, glinting on the trailers. Ali had to squint.
“We’re Scavenging. Need ye and yer rifle now.”
Ginge grinned and saluted at her leader before turning to head towards her trailer. “Meet ye at the border?”
Ali nodded. When Ginge was out of sight he turned to me. “Want te come?”
27
“Do I have time to tell my dad?” I asked Ali.
“If yer quick. Leaving in ten.” Ali leaned on the castle wall and threw a sweet into his mouth.
I chewed my lip. Was there any point in telling my dad? He wouldn’t let me go anyway. I could tell Daniel, but he’d been a bit protective recently, and I didn’t need a lecture from him either. I needed to get out of the Compound. There were only so many times I could run around it without going crazy.
“How long are you going for?” I said.
“Three days, mebbe four.” Ali shrugged. “This is ye chance fer a bit of excitement, kid. That’s if ye want it.”
“Give me ten minutes. I’ll meet you at the border.”
I was running before Ali had the chance to answer, my feet moving so fast they churned up the stoney path. What was I doing? I couldn’t leave Sebastian in that prison room. There was no way my dad would let me go. Daniel would insist on coming with me, but after what happened in the tent I needed some time away from him, time to clear my head and figure out what I wanted and when I wanted it. I had to find Kitty, or maybe Mike. Kitty would be best. I could rely on her. But how could I get her without alerting the others? I turned from the gravel and ran along the edge of the crèche, dodging the older children getting in my way, and ignoring the usual stares from the mothers. I skipped across the entrance to the market, still in tatters from the storm, and took a sharp left towards the barn. Then I slowed to a walk and thought very loudly in my mind, Hiro, I need to speak to Kitty alone. Can you ask her to meet me around the right side of the barn?
There was no way of knowing if Hiro heard me, but I hoped that he did. My hand throbbed to remind me to take the painkillers nurse Susan had given me. I wouldn’t have been able to train for the next few days anyway, and this gave me a convenient opportunity not to have to explain how I bruised my hand.
Being careful not to attract any attention I sneaked around the outside of the barn and waited – my heart in my mouth. This was the most exciting thing that had happened in a while, if you didn’t count almost being dragged out of a tree and finding out a crazed Clan were planning to attack. It felt good. I liked having the kind of excitement in my life that tickled my belly with nerves. I didn’t like having the kind of excitement in my life which made me wonder if I was going to plummet ten feet whilst upside down.
There were footsteps. “Mina?” Kitty hissed as she arrived around the side of the barn. “What is it? Where have you been? Daniel is worried sick.”
My stomach clenched. I didn’t want him to worry about me. “I’ve been talking to Ali. They are already sending the Scavengers out to look for Nomads and fighters.”
“So… what does that have to do with us meeting outside the barn?”
I moved towards her and lowered my voice. “Ali has invited me to go with them.”
“Why?” She looked at me with her jaw clenched. “Why you?”
“I don’t know – because I was there? Anyway, I really want to go, but I know Dad wouldn’t let me and Daniel would get all funny about it.”
She rolled her eyes. “This is so typical. Why don’t I get asked on adventures?”
“Are you going to help me or not?”
She sighed. “Fine. How long are you going for?”
“At least three days?”
Kitty looked at me with an open mouth. “I can’t cover for you for three days.”
“I don’t want you to cover for me… just don’t tell them until later on today.” I licked my lips and shifted the weight to my other foot. I had to ask her about Sebastian even though I knew what an enormous ask it was. “There’s another favour that I need from you and it’s a big one.”
“What a surprise. Go on, what is it?”
“I need you to talk to someone on the Council, maybe Sergeant Kinsella, and try to convince them to let Sebastian out of prison. He’s going crazy in there, Kitty. I saw him on the way out of the castle. He’s losing his mind.”
“You want me to convince the Council to let out a crazy GEM who likes to get drunk and start fights? Yeah, I’m sure that’s what they’ll do.”
I clasped Kitty’s hand. “This is important. I’m really worried about him. Something is happening to him in there. He’s being haunted by his own memories… or something. Either way it’s not good. Please help?”
“If you were that worried you’d stay.” She looked at me with hard eyes.
“I need this, Kitty. I need to get out.”
Whether it was the tone of my voice or the desperation in my eyes I don’t know, but her features softened and she squeezed my hand. “All right. But you know that there’s going to be trouble, right? You’re going to get in some deep––”
“I know,” I interrupted. “Dad will go mental. But he doesn’t understand.” I shrugged. “He’ll just have to deal with it. And Daniel. I need this.”
“I believe you,” Kitty replied. “But it doesn’t make it any less selfish. Just make sure that it’s worth it. Have an amazing time and stay out of trouble.”
I pulled her into a quick hug. “Look after Hiro for me.”
“Of course.”
I turned and ran before Kitty could throw anymore guilt at me. She was right. I was being selfish, but for some reason that didn’t stop me going. Despite all the doubts and worries about Sebastian in prison and Daniel worrying about me I still jogged to my trailer, packed clothes and food into a rucksack and made my way to the border. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck as I thought about leaving the Compound, seeing the world outside the border again. Would Enforcers be waiting for us? Did they have spies watching the gate, waiting for someone to leave? They probably wouldn’t even believe that I was stupid enough to leave the safety of the Compound, away from the protection – if you could call it that – of the Scottish army.
But none of that really mattered. I could deal with Enforcers when I had Scavengers around me. I could deal with Daniel and Dad when I got back, and Kitty would be looking after Sebastian and Hiro. She had Mike to help her if she needed it. None of it mattered when I thought about getting away from Angela and the Compounders and the threat of attack from Hamish. Finally, I would be away from the blank stares of the women and the harsh glares of the men. I would be able to stop worrying about the Celebration and the weird rituals performed by the Children of the People. Everything could stop for just a few days. They would have to give me this, just once, and as I approached the border I found my shoulders lifting.
The black van stood by the entrance gate, and Reg tooted the horn to encourage me to hurry up. I broke into a jog and waved at him and Stevie in the front seat. The memory of seeing the van for the first time came flooding back; the moment when Ali had rescued me from the Enforcers and led me to safety, seeing the van in the school playground, tricked out with the machine gun on the roof and the large metal grills over the bumpers. It was almost magical. I’d been so scared then, but I wouldn’t be anymore. I knew how to fight.
The door swung open and Ali leaned out. “Come on if yer comin’ we haven’t got all day, kid.” He grinned at me.
For some reason he was
happy to have me along. I hadn’t really thought about why he’d invited me. Maybe he thought they needed my power.
I ran the last few feet at full stretch and launched myself into the van with Ali catching my wrist at the last moment, helping me with my balance. I was a little out of breath but so happy to see the dark insides of the van. Ali pulled the door shut and banged on the ceiling for Reg to get moving.
Mary took one look at me and shook her head. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“She’s helping,” Ali said. “Ye chucked our sixth member in the clink so I thought I’d invite her along.”
“Does yer da’ know yer here?” Mary asked.
“He will do soon,” I said. I fiddled with the sleeve of my jumper, having trouble meeting Mary’s icy stare.
“Ye’ll be the death of me, lass,” said Mary, causing Ginge to giggle from her usual corner of the van. Ali settled himself on the crate nailed to the floor. It doubled up as a step for whoever needed to work the machine gun. I stayed crouched by the van wall. “What ye waitin’ fer? Sit down. Yer making the place look untidy.”
I followed her gaze to the floor and noticed that Ali had stuffed a mattress into the van. It filled almost the entire space. I looked over at Ali who was grinning from ear to ear. I burst out laughing and collapsed onto the mattress. It was the lightest I’d felt for days.
28
Stevie tuned in the radio to something with a pop beat and then sang out of tune whilst everyone else groaned. I leaned back against the wall of the van, calmed by the rhythm.
“Have you even done this before?” I asked.
Mary looked at me under her hooded eyes. “What? Collected Nomads te build the world’s worst army? Or harboured a wee girl with a Napoleon complex?”
She disarmed me again, and my cheeks flushed. When would Mary stop reminding me that I was young?
“No,” Ali answered. “We haven’t done this before and te be honest I don’t know if it’s going to work.” He stretched out his long legs. “As ye can see we have’nae room in the van. We don’t know if they have any transport. We don’t know if they’ll even agree te fight.”
“Aye,” Mary grumbled. “That bloody doctor. Smarmy git. I’d like te see him ge Scavenging. See how far he’d get, ey?”
“Not even out the gate, Mary,” Ginge added. It was a surprise to hear her speak again.
“I’ll say,” she agreed.
“So you don’t have much of a plan then?” I asked.
Mary sucked air through her teeth. “Would ye listen te the girl? Nae plan indeed. The cheek of it. Tell her, Ali.”
Ali laughed. “We’ve got no plan, so te speak. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know what we’re doing.” He tossed me an apple from a bag by his feet. “Here – have some grub, get some sleep. We’ll be on the road fer a few hours.”
I ate my apple and then curled up on the mattress wondering what the others must think of me. Was I their peer or just a burden? Maybe they didn’t like me at all. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about it.
*
Ali had to shake me. I’d slipped into a deep sleep, dreaming about a dead Enforcer floating down a river covered in flowers. It reminded me of a painting my dad showed me once. I woke up feeling disorientated, and Ali put a finger to his lips. When I sat up I realised that I was in the Scavenger van, and everyone except Reg and Ali were asleep.
“Bad dream, kid?” Ali sat back down on his crate.
“I don’t remember much of it.”
“You were talking in yer sleep. I had te wake ye before the van woke up. Ye dunnae wanna see Mary when she’s been woken up.”
I laughed. “I bet.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “I can never change what happened.” I took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of new air in my lungs. “I guess I just have to learn to put it behind me.”
“Wise words, kid, wise words. Ye’ve got an old head on them young shoulders.” Ali leaned back against the front seat of the van, where Reg and Stevie had their back to him. “Listen, I wanted te thank ye fer what ye did fer me at the fete. I don’t get much opportunity te talk about ma parents. It felt good te think about them again.”
“That’s okay,” I replied.
“And I wanted to return the favour.” He paused. “I reacted badly when ye brought up what ye did.”
“You mean the Celebration?”
He looked around at the sleepers. I’d noticed Reg’s head twitch in my direction as I’d mentioned the word.
“Yes, that,” Ali said. “It’s something that’s been a tradition fer a long time but stopped when Mary’s husband died.”
I glanced over at Mary who was snoring against the back of the van. It was just dark outside. The Scavengers must have learned to sleep at the drop of a hat; either that or everyone was exhausted from the fete the night before.
“When the Compound was first formed there was a problem. There were more men than women. And don’t ferget that Britain had just gone through the Fracture. The people in the Compound were against cloning and against the GEM.” Ali paused and stared down at his boots. “It was Mary’s husband who suggested it, but from what I’ve gleaned over the years, she never approved.”
“Tell me what it is, Ali.” I had a sinking feeling that I already knew.
“It’s a quiet ceremony, a ritual or tradition if ye like, where a lad an’ a lass, when they reach sixteen or so – it’s not proper strict – are encouraged te… make love. It’s more of a way te encourage reproduction.” Ali turned away from me. “It’s hard fer non-compounders to understand.”
I felt sick to my stomach. What was he telling me? That instead of letting teenagers grow up at the speed they felt comfortable with, they coerced them into having sex? That all of those girls with the glazed look in their eyes and the babies stuck to their hips were forced into early motherhood? It was wrong. Deep down in my gut I knew it was wrong, just as the Operation was wrong.
“Do you agree with this process?” I asked Ali.
He squirmed and then re-positioned his weight. “I did at first. But not now. Not when I see them lassies on their own with the kids.”
Heat tingled in my finger tips. I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from flipping Ali off his crate. “Did you partake in it?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “It was the most uncomfortable ten minutes of my life.”
I cringed.
“But there wasn’t any baby,” he said as though that somehow made it better. “I can tell from yer face that ye don’t approve.”
“Will I be forced into this?” I could barely say the words. Just thinking about it turned my stomach. It was my body and I didn’t want anyone telling me what I could and couldn’t do with it.
“No,” Ali said. “It’s a choice.”
“Are you sure? Because I don’t trust that doctor.”
“He wouldn’t be able te force people into it. People would rebel.”
Ali sounded convincing, but there were too many young children in the Compound. Even teenage hormones could not explain all of those pregnancies, and there were hardly any real relationships. So what was Dr Woods doing to ensure all these girls became pregnant? I didn’t like it one little bit.
“Why don’t the men help with the children?” I asked. “All I see are young girls, tired and worn out by their children. And why don’t the fathers live with them? Where are the couples? Why aren’t there any proper relationships? Do they just do it once?”
“Woah, slow down. I can’t answer everything at once.” He pulled on his sleeve while he thought up answers to my questions. “All I know is that I only did it once. There are some relationships in the Compound, but the men and women dunnae tend to live together. The men are busy with manual work and they just prefer te live in the tents away from everything. Relationships never seem te last long in the Compound.”
“I wonder why,” I muttered.
�
��Don’t judge us; ye dunnae know what it’s like.”
“No,” I snapped, “I don’t because I’ve spend my whole life out there in the Areas being told that I have to have an Operation when I’m sixteen because someone decided they wanted to control what happens to my body.” I thumped my chest, starting to lose my temper. Ali floated above his crate, his eyes wide with terror. “And now I come to the place where I’m supposed to be safe, where my dad told me I would be safe, and instead someone here wants to control my body too.”
“Fer God’s sake, Mina, put me down,” Ali said with a shaking voice.
I dumped him back on the crate and Reg laughed. Ali shot him a glare through the rear view mirror and then turned back to face me.
“You know what,” Ali said, “I agree with ye. It is’nae fair and I’ve thought so fer a while. I’ve just never said it out loud.”
I folded my arms around my chest. The discussion had left me cold. “Someone should.”
Ali laughed. “I’ve got a feeling that ye’ll be the one te do it, and do it well. We’re lucky te have ye here. This place needs someone who’ll see through the crap and get straight te the point.”
“Ali,” Reg interrupted.
Ali turned around to look at Reg through the mirror. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got a problem here, eh.”
“Enforcers?” I asked. My back straightened like a rod. They were here for me, and they would hurt my friends to get to me.
“Not Enforcers,” Reg said.
“Do I need te get on the gun, Reg?” Ali said. His legs were half bent and he crouched ready for action, ready to jump up onto the crate and work the gun.
There was a thump and someone or something whooped outside in the dark. I strained to see through the windscreen of the van, the headlights highlighting the run-down buildings of a deserted city.
“I dunnae, Ali. We’ve got ourselves hostile Nomads ‘ere.” He swerved the van to miss a man stood in the road. “Bleedin’ hell. They’re crazy!”
As the van passed the man he beat down the length of it with his fists, still whooping. I’d got a good look at him as the headlights had dipped onto his features. I’d never seen anyone with hair or clothes like that before. He had spiky, multi-coloured hair that seemed to defy gravity. At the sides of his head it was shaved with just one continuous spike in the middle. His clothes were leather and torn up and put back together with safety pins holding them together. Despite it being night-time and quite cold, he wore leather trousers and an open waistcoat which revealed a number of tattoos across his chest.