Mutation

by Chris Morphew

  ‘Can you turn that off?’ said Luke. ‘If they’re still guarding the crater, we don’t want –’

  ‘Yeah.’ I took one last look around, making sure we were headed in the right direction, then switched off the torch. But all the darkness in the world couldn’t hide us if Mr Weir couldn’t keep Shackleton away from the tracking computer. ‘I hope Peter’s dad knows what he’s doing.’

  ‘I hope we know what we’re doing,’ said Luke.

  The first few minutes were slow. Stumbling blind through the bush. But eventually my eyes began to adjust enough to see the trees before I crashed into them. We crept forward, quiet as possible.

  It was freezing out here. Cold enough to see my breath if it wasn’t so dark. How had I come out here without a jumper?

  Focus, I ordered myself. You’re way too distracted. You can’t afford it.

  The next tree I touched felt different. Smoother. I moved on, rubbing my fingers together. Something dry and powdery had come off on my hand. Ash.

  We’d reached the edge of the burnt-out area.

  A couple more steps and we were in a clearing. It was lighter here, out from under the shadows of the trees. A dim, hazy glow, like the sun was starting to think about rising.

  I could see the dark shape of the crater only metres away, surrounded by a ring of black ground and the charred remains of trees. Shoots of grass were already springing up to fill the empty space.

  ‘Doesn’t look like anyone’s here,’ Luke whispered, in a voice that said he was sure they must be out there somewhere.

  I crossed the gap, crouching a metre before the edge of the crater. The sparking lights shooting out of it after the explosion had gone dead now. Nothing left but shadows. I thought I could see some lighter shapes jutting out from the sides, but I couldn’t make out any of the details.

  ‘Need the torch,’ I said, flicking it on again.

  Luke spun around, ready to run. But nothing came to get us.

  We were alone. Security tape would be enough to keep most people away, and the Co-operative didn’t need guards to tell them if we came out here.

  Luke bent down next to me and I shone the torch out across the crater. The beam hit the far side. The hole was smaller than I’d expected.

  There was concrete sticking out from the dirt a little way down the crater wall. Thick and crumbling. I traced over it with my torch. It ran horizontally along the crater, a whole line of it. No, a ring of it. Broken up in places, but definitely a ring. Like a ledge, all the way around. And more concrete down at the bottom, lying half-buried in big slabs.

  ‘A building,’ Luke whispered, pointing at the concrete just below us. ‘I think maybe – What if all that concrete used to be the roof of something? Like, if it stretched all the way across...’

  ‘Underground, you mean?’

  ‘Yeah. Like one of the Co-operative’s tunnels or something. Those big bits further down – they look like they might’ve broken off –’

  ‘The explosion must’ve come from down there,’ I said, flashing the torch around again, visualising it. ‘Smashed through the concrete. And then it caved in.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Luke. ‘Didn’t Calvin say something about the ground being unstable?’

  I stretched forward, trying to get a better look down at the foot of the crater. It was pretty deep, but the walls looked like they were sloped enough to climb.

  ‘I want to go down there,’ I said. ‘I can’t see the bottom properly.’

  ‘I dunno,’ said Luke. ‘What if we get stuck?’

  ‘Should be fine. Plenty of handholds.’

  ‘What if I get stuck?’

  I got to my feet. ‘All right. I’ve got an idea.’

  I started walking around the edge of the crater, reaching into my bag as I went. Luke followed. I didn’t need to see his face to know exactly what kind of exasperated look he was shooting at me.

  We stopped when my torch hit the burnt hulk of a fallen tree. The same one I’d hidden behind to eavesdrop on Calvin and Shackleton, back when this was all on fire.

  I pulled out my coil of rope and shoved an end down under the tree.

  Luke sighed. He sat down and started pulling off one of his shoes.

  ‘Probably don’t need to do that this time,’ I said, climbing over to pull the rope out the other side.

  ‘Oh.’ He put the shoe back on.

  I tied the rope in a loop, pulling it tight around the tree. Then I unravelled the rest and threw it down over the lip of the crater.

  ‘There,’ I said. ‘All sorted.’

  I shoved the torch into the pocket of my jeans, gripped the rope with both hands, and leant back over the edge. My feet slipped down through the loose dirt at the top, hitting the concrete ledge a metre or so down. I grinned up at Luke, then jumped out past the concrete and continued down the slope. ‘See? No worries.’

  The crater was no more than ten metres deep. Probably more like five. I let my feet slide down the wall, digging them into the dirt only a couple of times to dodge bits of debris. Closer to the bottom, the slope got gentler. I dropped the rope and ran the last few steps down to the foot of the crater.

  I pointed the torch up at Luke. ‘You coming?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Keep shining the – argh!’

  Luke slipped over the edge. He landed awkwardly on the concrete, then fell off again, thudding into the dirt wall below, still clinging to the rope. He stared down at me, squinting in the torchlight.

  ‘Come on!’ I said, hoping he couldn’t hear the laughter in my voice. ‘You’re like halfway there!’

  He sighed again, pushed out with his legs, and made his way down the rest of the slope, almost cutting himself on a nasty bit of pipe.

  His feet touched the ground and he threw down the rope. ‘Why can’t we ever go on a deadly mission to, like, a pillow factory or something?’

  I turned around, shining the torch across the ground in front of us. Giant slabs of concrete stuck up out of the dirt, some of them almost as high as my head. There was other stuff too. Splintered remains of the trees that had once been up on top of all this. Half-melted bits of metal that looked like they’d been part of some pretty heavy-duty machinery. Maybe that was what had exploded.

  I stepped out into the wreckage.

  ‘Careful,’ said Luke. ‘The ground might not be safe to walk on. We don’t know how deep –’

  ‘What part of this did you think was going to be safe?’ I asked, climbing on top of one of the slabs.

  I turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. This place was like something out of a disaster movie. Rubble everywhere. Everything still and dead.

  Whatever all this used to be, whatever more there was of it, there was no way we were uncovering it without an excavator.

  I jumped back to the ground and kept searching.

  My right foot got caught on something and I lurched forward on my other leg, almost falling. I righted myself, then pointed the torch down to see what had tripped me.

  A pale grey tree branch. Old and dry. Not burned like the rest.

  Stained with blood. The weapon Mike had used to bash Peter’s head in.

  I picked it up, avoiding the red end. It was like a baseball bat.

  ‘Hey, can you bring the torch over here a sec?’ Luke had moved out past me. He was right in the middle of the crater, kneeling over another one of the concrete slabs. This one was lying almost flat in the dirt. ‘There’s something on here, but I –’

  I dropped the branch and shone the torch down over his shoulder.

  ‘– Oh.’

  More blood.

  The rain had washed away the worst of it, but the stains were still there, soaked into the concrete.

  This was where they’d left him.

  ‘Jordan …’ said Luke. ‘There’s a lot of blood here.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘No, I think maybe it just looks like a lot because the rain came and spread it out. It’s probably just –’

  �
�Jordan.’ Luke pulled on my arm.

  ‘No, listen, he’s fine. This is nothing. It can’t be as bad as it –’

  ‘Jordan,’ said Luke more urgently. ‘Look.’

  He was staring up at the lip of the crater.

  Two silhouettes were staring straight back.

  ‘You’re dead,’ Tank called out of the darkness. ‘You are so dead.’

  ‘You know what, Tank?’ said Mike. ‘You might actually be right this time.’

  Chapter 26

  THURSDAY, JUNE 25

  49

  Mike and Tank jumped down into the crater, sliding feet-first down the steep dirt slope.

  I glanced back at our rope. No way we’d get up there before they reached us.

  No choice but to confront them.

  Tank hit the bottom of the crater. He rolled forward, landing on his hands and knees, almost impaling himself on a jagged shard of something poking up out of the ground. Mike was right behind him. He landed slightly more gracefully, but only because there was less of him to hit the ground.

  ‘We should probably get out of here,’ said Luke nervously.

  I stayed where I was. ‘Not yet.’

  Mike and Tank strode over. Tank was dressed in his black shoplifting clothes, but Mike was wearing an old T-shirt and flannel pyjama pants. His hair was a mess and he looked like he’d finished waking up on the way over.

  Which means they weren’t planning on being out here, I realised.

  One of them must have seen us sneaking out. Tank, I assumed, since he was the one who was dressed. He must’ve run to get Mike and dragged him straight out to find us.

  Mike stopped a few metres short of Luke and me. He reached down and grabbed the branch with the blood on it.

  ‘You going to try that on us too?’ I asked. ‘Or do you only beat up people who can’t walk?’

  ‘Who told you?’ Mike demanded.

  He turned to Tank, who backed away, frantically shaking his head. ‘Mate, you know I would never –’

  Mike wheeled back around to face me, eyes bulging. ‘Cathryn?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Apparently watching Peter’s face get smashed in was a bit much for her. Who would’ve thought?’

  ‘Oh mate,’ said Tank, suddenly panicked, ‘she’s gonna die. They’re gonna kill her.’

  ‘You think she didn’t know that?’ yelled Mike. ‘You think she doesn’t know what happens if we fail them? What’s the first command they gave us?’

  ‘It all has to stay a secret,’ said Tank.

  ‘Which means even if we don’t like what they tell us to do,’ said Mike, ‘we keep our freaking mouths shut!’

  ‘Yeah, but …’ Tank frowned, like he was trying to say something more complicated than he had the words for. ‘They didn’t tell us to hurt Pete. We just did it.’

  ‘We had to!’ said Mike. ‘What choice did we have?’

  Tank didn’t seem to have an answer to that one. ‘So what now?’ he asked.

  Mike looked uncertainly at the branch in his hand. ‘Now we have to finish it.’

  He leapt forward, swinging the branch at my head. My torch thudded into the dirt as I threw my arms up to block it. The branch slammed into the side of my left hand, sending pain rocketing up my arm. My right hand closed over the end of it, over the patches of dried blood, and I pushed it back, straining to keep it away from my face.

  I glared at him. ‘What’s the plan here, Mike? You going to kill me?’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘We’re going to leave you for the overseers. Let them decide what do with you.’

  A thump and a shout from a few metres away. Tank had Luke pinned against a chunk of concrete.

  Ignoring the screaming pain in my fingers, I grabbed onto Mike’s branch with my left hand and tried to twist it away from him.

  Luke shouted again. I looked back in time to see the dark shape of Tank’s fist drawing back from a punch to Luke’s head.

  I twisted the branch again, angling my arm up to elbow Mike in the face. He snarled, holding on tight.

  Tank’s fist came down and there was a dull thud as Luke’s head got knocked back against the concrete.

  ‘Get off him!’ I shouted, like that was ever going to do anything.

  I elbowed Mike again, then heaved back on the branch, throwing him off balance. I grabbed a fistful of his hair, trying to pull him to the ground. He shouted, toppling forward onto one leg.

  Luke was flailing and kicking, but Tank was way too big for him. A couple more blows and he’d be gone.

  I drove a knee up into the side of Mike’s leg, hard as I could, and he finally dropped. He knocked me back into the dirt, landing right on top of me. I let go of the branch. If he’d been a few seconds quicker, Mike could’ve smacked it down across my head and it would all have been over. But he hesitated just long enough for me to roll him off and pin him to the ground. I dug a knee down into Mike’s back and tore the branch out of his hands.

  Another cry of pain. But this time it was from Tank. Luke must have got him. I glanced over as Tank reeled away, a hand to his eye, then swung back his arm for another punch.

  ‘Tank, WAIT!’ I yelled, grabbing one of Mike’s flailing hands and yanking it up towards me.

  Tank turned to look. His fist hung in the air.

  ‘Hit him one more time and Mike’s arm comes out of its socket!’

  I gave Mike’s arm a tug, trying to convince them both that I meant business.

  Mike yelped. ‘Don’t just stand there, you idiot!’

  Tank rushed over.

  Which was lucky, because I didn’t have the first clue about how to dislocate a shoulder.

  Luke staggered up from the concrete, holding his head. Blood was bubbling down from his nose.

  ‘Run!’ I yelled.

  ‘No,’ said Luke, spitting out what was probably more blood. ‘I’m not –’

  ‘Trust me!’

  Luke shot me a pleading look, then ran off through the rubble, towards our rope.

  ‘Back off!’ I warned, catching a glimpse of Tank’s hands coming down.

  Tank raised his hands up into the air, completely at a loss. ‘Mike?’

  ‘GET HER OFF ME, YOU FREAKING MORON!’

  ‘Back away, Tank!’ I said. ‘Right back to the edge of the crater, or I swear I’ll –’

  Tank snatched Mike’s branch up from the ground.

  ‘Don’t,’ I said, bending Mike’s arm further back. ‘Don’t even –’

  ‘DO IT!’

  The branch came down hard across my back. I screamed as a jagged bit of wood drove its way into my shoulder, tearing a hole in my shirt.

  Tank drew back the branch and I collapsed down on top of Mike.

  There was a sickening crack.

  Mike howled in pain.

  I’d come down right on top of his arm, snapping it flat across his back, up over the opposite shoulder.

  Accidentally following through on my threat.

  Mike screamed again as Tank grabbed me roughly by the back of the shirt, dragging me off. I caught a fleeting glimpse of the mangled arm before he shoved me facedown into the dirt.

  ‘Mike!’ he said. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘DOES IT LOOK LIKE I’M OKAY?’

  I jumped up and bolted, grunting at the pain in my shoulder, but knowing it was nothing compared to Mike’s. I almost ran straight into Luke, who’d been standing at a distance, watching.

  ‘What are you waiting for?’ I hissed. ‘Move!’

  We ran for the rope.

  ‘You broke his arm?’

  ‘It was an accident!’ I said, feeling the blood soaking through the back of my shirt.

  ‘NO!’ yelled Mike behind us. ‘YOU THINK YOU CAN FIX A BROKEN ARM? GO GET THEM!’

  ‘Crap,’ said Luke, reaching the rope first.

  Luke pulled the rope tight and started walking up the dirt slope, digging his feet in with every step to keep from slipping. As soon as he was up above my head, I grabbed the rope behin
d him. My shoulder burned as I pulled with my right arm, and I almost fell back down again. Tank’s lumbering form burst out behind me. I shoved the pain aside and kept climbing.

  ‘Hurry!’ I said as Tank made a grab for my foot. I kicked at his fingers, pulling myself out of reach just in time.

  Luke was almost halfway up, but the slope got steeper at the top. He was slowing down.

  I felt the rope move below me. Tank had just picked it up.

  But he wasn’t climbing.

  He started jerking the rope, yanking it back and forth, trying to knock us down. Every movement sent another blast of pain up my arm.

  A grunt from above me. Luke lost his footing, kicking dirt down on top of me. He slid, feet scrabbling against the slope, until one of them finally caught on the bit of pipe that had almost sliced him open earlier. He straightened out and kept climbing.

  I heard unsteady footsteps on the ground below, and ragged, heavy breathing. It sounded like Mike had finally gathered the strength to get up and join us.

  ‘What – are – you – doing?’

  ‘Shaking ’em off,’ said Tank.

  ‘No – get up there!’ Mike commanded, unable to get through a sentence without wincing. ‘Grab Jordan! Luke won’t leave – without her.’

  The rope pulled tight below me. I looked down. Tank was on his way. He wasn’t exactly agile, but he was the only one of us who hadn’t been injured this morning, and he was getting up the rope surprisingly quickly.

  Luke had made it as far as the concrete ledge. He pulled himself up, stretching a foot over to the dirt on the other side.

  And then the whole rope shifted backwards.

  Luke dropped back, scraping his leg on the concrete.

  The fallen tree. Strong enough for one or two of us. Not three. Not when one of them was Tank.

  It was moving.

  ‘Tank, get off!’ I shouted down at him. ‘There’s a tree up there! You’re going to pull it down on top of us!’

  The rope shifted again.

  The sudden drop made Tank slip, but he righted himself and kept climbing.

  I stared at the concrete above me. Luke was still only halfway over. I climbed up as close as I could get behind him and latched onto the narrow ledge with my left hand. I found a foothold on a piece of debris and abandoned the rope, swinging my other hand up to the concrete.