The Battle for Perfect

by Helena Duggan

  “I don’t like the look of them zombies though. One of the lads reckons a nurse made ’em, Powell or something – he said she sewed ’em together!” another Watcher said.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call ’em zombies, more like robots with flesh on and not a brain between them,” Fists replied, holding up a black box like the one Powick had shown to Arnold earlier. “That’s why the other young Archer, the twin with them weird blue eyes, snuck us these weeks ago! Said once you have one, you can control those creatures, you see! There’s loads of ’em comin’ in for a show later I’m told. Oh, I’ll put on a show all right when I’ve a few of them zombies under my control – I’ll have fun getting ’em to chase the No-Man’s-Landers!”

  “They’re moving everyone to No-Man’s-Land now, I heard. Even them annoying Perfectionists won’t be wandering free this time. I always thought Ed and George should have locked ’em all up from the start. Makes stopping a rebellion much easier! Reckon that’s where the twins got it wrong,” the heavier Watcher stated.

  “Come on,” Fists said again. This time he jumped from the table and walked to the steps. “We’ve a job to do! This place is clear, but we’ll find Boy Archer before the day is out!”

  “Killjoy!” one of the men huffed quietly as the four climbed back upstairs.

  The landing door slammed and, before Violet had time to crawl out, Boy poked his head under the table. She jumped, hitting her head on the wood.

  “Argh, don’t do that!” she gasped.

  “Sorry.” Boy looked serious. “Did you hear what they said?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “They’re looking for you!”

  “But why?” he asked, his face lined with worry.

  “Well, at least we know they don’t have William yet,” she said quickly, grasping at a silver lining. “If we find him and the others, they’ll know what to do. We have to get into No-Man’s-Land – that’s where they said they’re putting everyone.”

  The pair raced up the steps, through the solid-stone door and into the long thin room beyond. This place had once been lined with metal shelving filled with jars of stolen imaginations. Violet remembered how they had glowed, lighting up the space.

  The tinkle of a bell and a distant bang reached them.

  “I think they’re gone,” Violet whispered.

  They passed through the next room and waited, listening for signs of life on the shop floor before entering. The door brushed over the thick red carpet.

  Her parents and William hadn’t changed anything about this space since they’d taken it over. They’d kept the dark mahogany shelving that traced the walls and the gleaming gold and sparkling glass cabinets that housed the glasses’ frames for customers to browse.

  Something crunched under Violet’s foot as she stepped out. She looked down. The carpet was covered in shattered glass. The cabinets were smashed open and frames were strewn across the floor.

  “They’ve wrecked the place,” Boy said angrily.

  Violet was just picking up a stray lens when a zombie prowled by outside. She ducked behind the reception desk and gestured to Boy to hide.

  The zombie stopped and stared in the window, sniffing the air as if sensing something. Violet watched, petrified, as the creature marched backwards and forwards across the shopfront, clawing at the glass. Then a flaming torch passed by outside and the monster turned, racing after it.

  Violet ran to the window. Two zombies stood sentry-still outside the butcher’s across the road as some Watchers hustled inside.

  A large balding man was dragged roughly from his home over the shop, while his wife and two children cried frantically behind him.

  “That’s Mr Hatchet and his family,” Boy whispered, horrified.

  “Look over there!” Violet pointed down Splendid Road.

  Watchers were pulling pyjama-clad Townspeople from their houses all over the street. Some put up a fight but many were too terrified to do anything but scream.

  “We have to help them!” Violet croaked.

  “What can we do? Go out and take on all the Watchers and zombies by ourselves? That sounds like a great idea!” Boy replied sarcastically. “We should stick to the plan to find Dad and the others. They’ll know what to do. They’re probably working something out already!”

  “Well then we have to hurry – we need to get to No-Man’s-Land fast.” She hesitated. “But it means going outside.” Violet looked through the window. People were now being herded up the street like cattle. Some shouted at their captors while others cried and held tight to their families. She eyed a band of Townspeople, half dazed, passing by the shop.

  She pointed them out to Boy. “If we leave now we can try to blend in with them.”

  Boy nodded and gently opened the front door. The terrified sounds from the street were suddenly amplified. The pair snuck out, keeping to the shadows of the shop, then skipped quickly down the steps and slipped unnoticed into the line of petrified people.

  A woman in the middle of the group – Violet recognized her as a teacher in their school – held on to her young daughter’s hand, trying desperately to calm her as she wailed.

  “Shut up, you snivelling fool,” a Watcher leading the group roared.

  He pulled the small child away from her screaming mother and shoved her roughly ahead. Violet felt sick as they continued in tense silence, broken only by the girl’s sobs. They passed the Town Hall and turned onto Archers’ Avenue.

  Boy grabbed Violet’s hand as the group veered down Rag Lane and pulled her into the cover of the high wall that surrounded No-Man’s-Land.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered urgently. “I thought the plan was—”

  “We’re near Iris’s,” he interrupted. “Maybe she’s still there? She’ll know where Dad and the others are.”

  Quickly they snuck down the avenue, raced round the side of Boy’s grandmother’s house and climbed into her garden. Boy poked his hand into the bright-yellow flowerpot that rested by her back door and pulled out a dirty key, then placed it in the lock.

  “Iris?” he whispered as they tiptoed inside.

  Nobody responded; the house was eerily quiet. They entered the kitchen, where the table was laid, a half-eaten plate of toast and a pot of tea on its surface. Violet felt the pot with her hand.

  “It’s warm,” she said. “She mustn’t have left that long ago.”

  Violet went into the hallway. Iris’s long black coat was still on its hook and her flat leather shoes sat on the mat in their usual place. Though the old woman went barefoot inside, she’d normally put her shoes on if she was leaving the house. Maybe she was still here.

  Violet was just rounding the first step to check upstairs when someone pounded on the door.

  “Iris, I’ve come back to haunt you,” a familiar voice called from the street outside. “Open up! This is not a dream, darling, though I’ll bet you’ll wish it were!”

  The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Violet locked eyes with Boy in the hallway as the door rattled, shaking on its hinges.

  “It’s Arnold,” she mouthed.

  “Get that creature to break the door down, Father!” another voice grunted.

  “Edward!” Boy whispered, alarmed.

  Violet nodded to the stairs. As quietly as possible, the pair snuck up the wooden stairs and along the landing to Iris’s room, creeping inside as the banging continued below. Boy slid onto his knees and crawled under the double bed. Violet followed, the space just big enough for both of them.

  There was a louder bang this time, followed by the splintering of wood and a huge crash as the front door burst open. Violet stiffened as what sounded like a small group of people pounded into the hallway below.

  “Search the place,” Edward Archer ordered.

  A few minutes later, heavy footsteps plodded into Iris’s room.

  Violet held her breath and Boy squashed in closer as bruised bare feet walked round the edges of the bed. Most of the toenails on one foot were green
and crusty, while on the other they were missing and a cracked bone protruded awkwardly from the creature’s heel.

  She tensed as the zombie stopped, groaned and then pounced onto the bed above them. The springs creaked. The pair flattened to the floor as the mattress sagged and the creature moved around on the bed. It sounded as though it was sniffing the air like a dog.

  “Hey, you lazy lump, you sleepin’ on the job or somethin’?” a voice boomed from the doorway.

  The round bulbous tip of a Watcher’s black boot stepped into the room.

  “Get out here and check the rest of the house!”

  The mattress sprang back as the zombie’s bare feet planted on the floor. The creature groaned again and pounded back outside.

  Violet released a long slow breath. They were just above the sitting room and she peered down through a small gap in the floorboards as Edward – the short, stout twin – stomped inside, stopping by the marble mantelpiece. Behind him was his brother George, who was tall and spindly and slightly crouched because of the low ceiling.

  A third figure followed behind them. It was Arnold Archer. He made a beeline for Iris’s wall of gold-framed family pictures above the fireplace.

  “Oh the lies we tell ourselves!” He laughed as he pulled one of the images down and flung it across the room.

  Violet flinched as the glass smashed.

  “We’ll thoroughly search the house, of course, but it would appear at first glance that Mother is gone.” Edward coughed, clearing his throat.

  “You’ll have to track her down then, won’t you, Ed!” Arnold snarled.

  “She might be in No-Man’s-Land already. I promise we’ve followed your instructions to a T, Father. We put the Watchers into action the minute we were set free. They’ve been moving people from their homes since the early hours…”

  “Are you looking for a pat on the back?” Arnold snapped abruptly.

  “No…ahem…I’m just—”

  “I gave you numerous chances!” Arnold Archer raised his voice. “I rescued you when your plans fell apart in Perfect. What would have happened if I hadn’t been watching and sent Tom to the graveyard that night to bring you to me? I let you in on my plans, even allowed you some of your own, which backfired yet again. Where would you be now had I not come to your rescue a second time when turning Town against your brother didn’t work either? I’ll tell you where, still locked in the Town Hall with George while that cursed brother William ran this place!”

  “But, Father—”

  “No buts, Edward. You swore you’d prove yourself to me last time and I foolishly believed you, but all you managed to do was release that brainless brother of yours before you both got caught again! I won’t allow either of you to mess this up now. This is not a trial run! If you step a foot out of line I’ll have no qualms about locking you in the Town Hall myself.”

  “Just let me expl—”

  “No, Edward, not another sound!” Arnold moved menacingly close to his son.

  The stout man flinched and George backed away towards the fireplace. The twins looked more like trembling children than the terrifying men Violet knew.

  “You may think you’re big shots around here – that was always your problem when you were children. Playing up to me, showing off your experiments, trying to impress me with juvenile science. You know, at your age I was heralded all over the world for my research into the workings of the mind. What have you two done? Controlled a few people in this measly little place. Grow up, Edward, and you too, George! You will not make a single decision around here. I am taking over Town. The timing is too important to me now. I didn’t waste years of my life hiding in that dilapidated castle just for everything I’d planned to be ruined at the last moment because of childish mistakes! You will do as you’re told and there will be no backchat. Understood?”

  Silence filled the room.

  “Understood?” Arnold roared.

  “Understood,” Edward and George whispered, bowing their heads.

  “Good.” The old man smiled. “Now find your mother and bring her to me! And Boy too, before tomorrow! Priscilla needs him if this is to work. I’ll be in the Town Hall.”

  Arnold Archer stormed back out onto the street.

  “But, Father …” George mocked after Arnold had been gone a few minutes.

  “You didn’t say a word, George, so don’t laugh at me! Let’s just find Iris – I bet she’s in No-Man’s-Land. That’ll keep him happy!”

  “Keep our father happy, Edward?” George scoffed sarcastically. “I heard that nurse raving to him earlier about how lovely this town is. She said it’d make a perfect home for them. I bet he plans on giving it to her and her zombies when he’s through with his show. You said he’d promised to hand it to us if we helped him with this idiotic scheme. Perfect is all we’ve ever worked for. Perfect should be ours!”

  “He’ll come round, George,” Edward replied. “You remember what he was like when we were younger, before he submitted research? He’s just stressed. When this is all over, he’ll change his mind. He’s only stringing Priscilla Powick along to keep her onside. We’re his family, we’re his flesh and blood!”

  “So is Boy.” George tutted, shaking his head. “And I heard about their plans for him!”

  Boy shuffled out from under the bed as Edward, George and their crew left the house. Violet crawled out beside him and sat on the dark wood floor, suddenly feeling very tired as she tried to gather her thoughts.

  “We have to get into No-Man’s-Land.” Boy ran to the window to peer outside. “He wants Iris and…”

  “And you.” Violet looked over at her friend. “You heard Arnold, he said Powick needs you for their plans to work! I know they want to raise the dead and prove to the world that Arnold’s one of the greatest scientists to ever live, but the DeathDefier can do that… Why do they need you?”

  “Maybe Iris will know – she was there when he did his experiments years ago. And she must know how he thinks – she was married to him! If we can find her, Dad and the others, we can try to figure it out. They might know more than we do already! We have to go to No-Man’s-Land.”

  “Okay, but before we go anywhere you need a disguise – you can’t be caught, Boy!” She stood up and took one of Iris’s black knitted shawls from the wardrobe, wrapping it round his head and shoulders.

  “Now,” Violet teased, “you look beautiful!”

  “No way,” her friend said, pulling it off him.

  Violet yanked the shawl back on. “Do you want to be safe or sorry?” she tutted, repeating something her mother said whenever Violet refused to wear her cycling helmet.

  “Fine,” he huffed, “but you better not tell anyone about this!”

  Violet tried not to laugh at Boy, who looked like an old woman as he sidled down the stairs in front of her. He disappeared into the kitchen as she climbed out over the destroyed front door into the street. A few seconds later Boy rejoined her.

  “I was starving,” he said, handing Violet a cold slice of toast.

  Her tummy growled as she took a bite.

  The pair snuck along Archers’ Avenue until they reached Rag Lane. Violet slipped ahead of Boy to scout around the corner towards No-Man’s-Land, before turning back almost instantly.

  “We can’t go that way,” she gasped, beckoning Boy to follow her back to Archers’ Avenue, where she ducked in behind an iron bench on the cobbled street for cover. “There’s a line of zombies blocking off the entrance, and there’s a Watcher there controlling them.”

  Another group of confused people were marched past their hiding place towards Rag Lane.

  “Get a move on, you lazy swines!” a Watcher shouted as he shooed them by.

  “But what are you going to do with us? What’s going on? I demand an explanation!” a blonde-haired woman said bravely, stepping from the line to confront the Watcher.

  “You’re going back where youse belong. These streets are ours again!” The man laughed in her face
.

  “That’s Madeleine Nunn,” Violet said, “but Anna’s not with her!”

  Madeleine Nunn was Anna’s mam and one of the Committee members. Violet’s dad had told her once that Madeleine worked harder than anyone else and knew everything that happened in Town. Even lots of things she shouldn’t know, Violet’s mother often said.

  “We could slip in behind that group?” Boy inched a little out of hiding.

  “No.” Violet shook her head. “They mustn’t find you. Let’s go over the wall!”

  Boy had shown Violet his secret way in and out of No-Man’s-Land when she’d first met him in the days of Perfect.

  Her friend smiled, his eyes lighting up. “Okay!”

  They raced down past Iris’s house and stopped at the bend in the stone wall on their left. Violet gulped. She’d forgotten how high it actually was.

  “I’ll climb up and throw down the rope!” Boy said, already scaling the stones.

  “But how do you know the rope’s still there? That was ages ago!”

  “Because I still go up there!” he replied.

  “Oh.” Violet was surprised – he’d never told her that before.

  Using small crevices for foot- and finger-holds, Boy climbed the wall like a cat. Violet kept one eye on her friend and another on the street, hoping nobody would round the corner and spot them. She jigged nervously from foot to foot and pounced on the rope the minute it popped down beside her.

  “My climbing skills are definitely rusty,” she panted, finally heaving herself over the top of the wall.

  She lay back against the stone, her muscles aching. The rooftops gave a perfect view of Town.

  “I love it here.” Boy half smiled. “This is where I come to talk to Mam.”

  “Oh.” Violet was unsure what to say.

  “People always do that.”

  “Do what?” she asked.

  “Go quiet. Whenever I talk about Mam.”

  Violet thought for a moment. “Well it’s hard to know what to say – you gave out to me last time I mentioned her,” she replied honestly. “What if I upset you again or something? I thought you might not want to talk about her.”