by Natasha Ngan
Butterfly nodded. ‘Someone must have helped him out.’ He leant in and kissed her, his lips hot against hers, before backing away towards the Limpets. ‘Find your parents. I’m going to help Sauro. He doesn’t need to be a slave in the Limpets any more.’
Silver watched Butterfly go, feeling such a strong rush of love for him that it took her breath away. Then she turned, walking again towards the break in the wall. Beyond, past the vast stretch of dehydrated wasteland, she could just make out the green of grassy hills and forests. The sight filled her with hope. Hope for the future of the city, for its people. For her. She was sure now her and Butterfly’s lives were never meant to be confined to Neo-Babel’s walls. Before she could find out what those lives would be like though, she had to focus on finding her parents. Plans for the future could come later.
Silver forced herself to look away from the view past the broken wall and to the crowd in front of it. There must have been hundreds of people gathered there, and the place was chaotic with activity as vehicles came and went. She didn’t know how she’d ever manage to find her parents. She looked frantically around at the crowd, searching for them.
They didn’t appear to be there.
Fear started to well up in Silver’s throat. What if after everything she had been through, after doing everything to find them, she’d find out it had all been for nothing, and the only reunion she’d have was with the bodies of two of the people she loved the most in the world?
No, she thought. I’m not going to think like that. Remember what Dad said – we are family. We will always find our way back to each other, no matter what might stand in our way. And as she moved through the crowd, forcing herself to believe that any second now she’d see them, the cluster of people in front of her parted, and there they were, just a few feet away –
Her parents.
They were standing close together, heads lowered as they talked to each other. Silver’s father’s left leg was bandaged, and her mother had one arm in a sling, but apart from that they looked healthy. Her father was saying something to her mother. As he turned, his eyes fell on Silver. He stopped speaking. Silver’s mother looked up, following his gaze, and clutched a hand to her chest as she spotted her.
It was as though time had slowed suddenly, slowed right down to just a crawl, and Silver was staring forever at the glorious sight of her parents standing there; her mother’s small, bright eyes, her father’s gentle face trembling. For one, wonderful moment, Silver looked at them, hardly daring to believe her eyes.
And then the moment was broken. Silver broke into a run, her feet slamming across the ground, her heart pounding in her throat, and she slammed so hard into her father that they staggered back, clutching at each other. In a second her mother was there too, her face buried in Silver’s neck. Her mother was laughing, and Silver felt tears spring to her eyes at the sheer beauty of the sound.
She held onto her parents as tightly as she could. All the heartache and pain she’d felt over the last few weeks seemed to melt away as a warmth radiated through her body, bright and exuberant, and she knew that it had all been worth it just to hear her parents’ laughter again.
They’re alive, she thought, tears streaming down her face. They’re alive. No word had ever sounded so wonderful in all her life. Whatever happened in the future, Silver knew that if she thought of this moment and remembered how it felt to have her parents’ arms round her after weeks of not even knowing if they were alive, she’d have the courage to face anything life could possibly throw at her. It was proof that she’d fought – bled – for what she’d believed in.
Silver had heard the rumours about the Elites. That they were superhuman. That they didn’t bleed. But of course they did. They were no more or less human than anyone else. And what some people didn’t understand was that bleeding wasn’t a sign of weakness; it was a sign of strength. It demonstrated to the world that you were vulnerable and ordinary, but when you wanted something enough, and fought hard enough for it, you were capable of doing extraordinary things.
‘Silver,’ her parents kept saying over and over as they held onto her, ‘Oh, Silver,’ and she heard her name then for what it really meant. Not the money Senior Surrey had paid to get her birthchip hacked. Not the Council’s ownership over her as an Elite. But the actual substance silver –
Something bright.
Something strong.
Something precious.
First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Hot Key Books
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT
Copyright © Natasha Ngan 2013
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4714-0153-4
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