Текст книги "The Enemy"

Автор книги: Charlie Higson

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Текущая страница: 22 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

66

David’s two guards had been sitting outside the sick-bay for five hours straight. They were bored stiff. David had promised them that somebody would come to relieve them after three hours. No one had come.

This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t as if anything was going to happen, anyway. The heavy wooden door was locked. There were only three kids in there. Two girls, one of whom was injured, and a boy with concussion. What were they supposed to do? Batter the door down and overwhelm the two of them?

Fat chance. They had guns after all.

‘They’ve forgotten about us,’ said the taller of the two. He had short brown curly hair and a bad case of acne.

‘They always do,’ said the other one, a fair-haired boy with a big nose. ‘Everyone thinks that just because we’re in David’s guard our lives must be great. But this sucks.’

‘We do get a bit more food than the others,’ said Spotty.

‘Oh whoop-di-doo,’ said Big Nose. ‘If I could, I’d jack this in and do farming or something. This is just tedious.’

‘We’re the elite.’

‘So what?’

‘When we take over London,’ said Spotty, ‘we’ll be in a really strong position. It’ll be like in the Middle Ages. When the king invaded another country he’d divide up all the lands and all the wealth to his favourite dukes and barons, the ones who’d helped him.’

‘When we take over London?’ said Big Nose, mockingly. ‘You mean if we take over London, don’t you? All we ever do is sit around the palace with these bloody guns trying to look important. We weren’t even allowed to go on the raid to the squatter camp.’

There was a clatter on the stairs and they tried to look alert as Pod appeared, red-faced and flustered.

‘Everything OK here?’ he asked.

‘Yeah.’ The boys shrugged.

‘You haven’t seen anything? Heard anything?’

‘Like what?’ said Spotty.

‘The royals have escaped,’ said Pod, sounding hacked off and harassed.

‘You what?’

‘They got out somehow, yeah? David’s gone absolutely ballistic. It’s silly down there, everyone’s, like, running around trying to catch them.’

‘We should come and help,’ said Spotty, standing up.

‘No, you need to stay up here and guard the prisoners.’

‘They’re not going anywhere.’

‘Even so. If the prisoners got out as well, David would go off the scale.’

‘One of us could stay here, the other could come with you,’ said Spotty.

Pod thought about this for a moment.

‘All right.’ He looked at Spotty. ‘You come with me.’

‘What about me?’ said Big Nose.

‘Stay put until further orders,’ said Pod.

Big Nose watched sadly as the two of them hurried off down the narrow staircase.

Now, with no one to talk to, it would be even more tedious sitting here. Big Nose spat. Feeling a guilty pleasure as the gob of saliva sat there on the patterned carpet.

He swore loudly and colourfully, and for a moment it lifted the boredom.

67

Godzilla was asleep in Ella’s lap. She was gently stroking his head and talking to him about Sam.

‘I wish he was here, Godzilla. I really miss him. I don’t like to think that I might never see him again, but every day I forget a little bit more about him. What he looked like. How he spoke. It’s like he’s slowly disappearing. What I remember most is that he was small. I’d do anything to make him come back.’

Godzilla yelped and wriggled out of her arms. He jumped off the bed and Ella chased him over to where Whitney was standing at the open ballroom door, looking off down the East Gallery.

Whitney saw Godzilla and grabbed him. She looked angry.

‘Who’s supposed to be looking after this dog?’ she asked.

Ella looked like she was about to cry. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

Whitney’s expression softened. She handed the puppy to Ella.

‘Just keep him with you, darling,’ she said kindly. ‘All right?’

‘All right.’

As Ella went back to her bed Maeve came over to join Whitney.

‘See anything?’ she said.

‘Not a lot. No, wait a minute, here comes Pod.’

In a moment Pod came bustling into the dormitory with two of David’s guards.

‘What’s going on?’ said Maeve. ‘There’s people running everywhere.’

‘It’s nothing to worry about,’ said Pod. ‘Some royals have escaped, that’s all. It’s a bit of a drag. We need some of your lot to, like, come and help round them up, yeah?’

‘Nothing to worry about?’ Whitney exploded. ‘With grown-ups on the loose.’

‘They’re harmless,’ said Pod.

‘No grown-up is harmless,’ said Whitney.

‘So, why don’t you come and help look for them?’

‘No way. I’m getting the kids to somewhere safe, man.’

‘Listen.’ Pod offered Whitney a big cheesy grin. ‘It’s no big deal. Nothing to get hung about, yeah?’

‘I’m taking everyone outside the building. Now. Into the yard.’

‘You won’t be safe out there,’ said Pod. ‘We’ve called all the guards in to look for the royals.’

‘We can look after ourselves, thank you very much,’ said Whitney.

‘No – you should stay here,’ said Pod, trying to sound like he was in control. ‘If you keep the doors closed you’ll be fine.’

‘You don’t tell us what to do, posh boy,’ said Whitney. ‘We’re going to the parade ground till this is all over. End of.’

‘Actually, I really do think you’ll be a lot better off in here.’ Pod’s smile was slipping.

‘Like I care what you think,’ said Whitney. ‘With Blue and Maxie not around I’m in charge. And if I say we go outside, we go outside. When you’ve found your precious royals we’ll come back in.’

Pod planted his feet wide apart and folded his arms. The smile had become a superior smirk now.

‘You are not in charge here, actually, babes,’ he said. ‘I am.’

‘Who you calling “babes”?’ said Whitney, and she belted Pod hard in the stomach. He gasped and doubled over in pain. The two guards sprang to life, raising their rifles, but Big Mick and another of the Morrisons fighters had been standing ready. They seized the guns and wrenched them out of the boys’ hands.

‘We’re going outside,’ Whitney said coldly to the two guards. ‘You stay here and look after Pod.’

Pod had collapsed on to the floor and was sitting with his back against the wall, clutching his belly.

‘It’s all right,’ he groaned. ‘Let them go.’

68

Three royals shuffled down a long corridor lined with paintings of past British kings and queens. They looked bewildered. David was waiting for them, one of his guards at his side. Apart from his freckles and a red flush across his cheekbones, David’s skin was bone white. He was absolutely livid.

He held up his hand.

‘Stop!’ he shouted, his voice firm and clear.

One of the royals moaned. It was the young man with the bloated face. He was the son of a duke. He’d once been something of a party animal. Now he was a shambling wreck whose brain was so riddled with disease you could hardly even call it a brain any more. It was just a tangle of damaged nerve endings, randomly firing off, as if someone had poured water into a fuse-box.

He walked on.

‘I command you,’ David said, louder this time, ‘to stop.’

Still the royals staggered down the corridor. Whining, stiff-legged, red-eyed.

The guard turned to David. Scared. ‘They’re not going to stop,’ he said.

‘They will stop,’ David snapped, and he stepped forward. The young royal sped up, his arms stretched out. Drool was pouring from his open mouth and had soaked his filthy shirt.

There was a deafening bang and the corridor filled with smoke. The royal went down, a bullet in his skull.

‘You idiot,’ David yelled, wrenching the gun from the guard’s grasp. ‘That was the Marquess of Tavistock!’

He battered the guard to the floor with the butt of his rifle.

‘You can’t go shooting them, you moron,’ he said. ‘We need them alive. They’re no bloody danger.’

Another royal, a middle-aged duchess, grabbed hold of David’s sleeve and he angrily shoved her away. She hit the wall, spraying pus over one of the paintings, and gulped with surprise.

David hauled his shaking guard to his feet.

‘Grab hold of them and drag them back to their room, for God’s sake,’ he commanded. ‘Just don’t let them bite you.’

Jester appeared, running down the corridor with Rose. ‘Any sign of the rest of them?’ he called out.

‘Not yet,’ said David. ‘It’s only a matter of time, though. They won’t have got far. They’re too stupid. But how the hell did they get out?’

‘The door was forced,’ said Jester.

‘Was anybody guarding them?’

‘Not as far as I know. We don’t always keep a guard on them. And with two of your boys tied up at the sick-bay…’

‘So someone let them out?’

‘Looks like it.’

‘Could it be the squatters?’

Jester shrugged. ‘It could be the Holloway kids. Maybe they’re up to something.’

‘I want you to find whoever did this, Jester, and I want them punished. Properly punished.’

‘OK.’

‘And where the bloody hell’s Pod?’

‘Last I saw of him he was heading for the ballroom.’

‘Right. Come with me.’ David strode off down the corridor.

‘Where are we going?’ said Jester, hurrying after him.

‘To the ballroom.’

69

Big Nose was falling asleep. His head kept nodding forward and jerking him back awake. He could hear people moving about in the palace below and wished he could join them. It was very quiet up here. No sound came from behind the door. The murmur of voices from the sick-bay had died away. He was utterly, utterly fed up.

He closed his eyes for a moment. The sounds of hurrying footsteps died away. He was drifting off again. Dark fizzy milk filled his head. Bubbles swam and burst. He had a brief flash of a memory. Being on holiday in Florida. A giant Mickey Mouse.

Mickey called out his name. His head jerked forward, he opened his eyes with a grunt.

There were two boys standing there.

Two of the newcomers.

He recognized one. It was Achilleus, the one who’d been in the fight with the squatter. He’d missed that as well. The other one was tall and skinny with coffee-coloured skin and a messy Afro hairstyle.

‘What are you doing up here?’ he said, struggling to look like he was on top of things.

‘The royals have got out,’ said Achilleus.

‘I know.’

‘They need your help. It’s mad down there, man.’

‘I’m not allowed to leave my post.’

‘We’ll take over,’ said Achilleus. He and his friend were casually edging closer as they talked. But not casually enough for Big Nose not to notice.

‘You can’t,’ he said, standing up and levelling his gun. ‘You’re newcomers, you might try to –’

The boy had been concentrating on Achilleus; he knew his reputation. The other boy looked too dozy to be much of a threat. Suddenly, though, he moved. And moved fast. With startling strength and speed. Before the guard knew it, the newcomer had him pinned to the wall. His rifle trapped, uselessly, between their bodies.

‘Don’t make a sound, cowboy,’ said Lewis, and he grinned at him. ‘Or I’ll bust your face.’

Big Nose nodded.

‘We’re not very good at this sneaking-up business,’ said Achilleus. ‘We should have just rushed him.’

‘Take his gun,’ said Lewis, ‘before he shoots me in the foot.’

Inside the room, Maxie and Blue had silently forced the window open and were seeing if there was any way they could remove the bars that blocked it.

They turned together as the door swung open.

One of the guards from outside, the one with the big nose, stumbled into the room. Behind him came Lewis and Achilleus, who was carrying the guard’s rifle.

Maxie set her face into a cold mask.

‘What do you want?’ she said.

‘It’s like that scene in Star Wars,’ said Lewis. ‘We’ve come to rescue you.’

Maxie laughed without much humour.

‘Straight up,’ said Achilleus. ‘And you’d better hurry, we ain’t got much time before David realizes what’s going on.’

‘I don’t get it,’ said Maxie. ‘I thought you were on his side.’

‘That prick?’ said Achilleus. ‘You got to be kidding me. The only side I’m on is my side. And as I see it, that’s your side too, Maxie. And yours, Blue.’

‘You can count me in,’ said the girl from the Museum.

‘Who’s she?’ said Achilleus.

‘I’ll explain later,’ said Maxie. ‘All you need to know for now is that she’s coming with us.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘Where’s everyone else?’ said Maxie.

‘If it’s all gone to plan Whitney should be waiting for us outside on the parade ground with the other kids. We’re all going over the wire. We’ve had to keep it quiet in case David found anything out. But so far so good.’

‘But David’s bound to find out what’s going on,’ said Maxie. ‘He’ll try and stop us.’

‘We created a diversion,’ said Lewis. ‘Let out his pets. With any luck the palace bozos are going to be way too busy to notice we’ve gone till it’s too late.’

‘My man,’ said Blue and he gave Lewis a hug.

Achilleus looked at Maxie. ‘You want a hug?’

‘Nope.’

‘Didn’t think so.’

They went to the door and checked that the coast was clear.

‘Wait!’ Big Nose shouted, and they turned round, ready for anything.

‘Take me with you.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve had enough of David’s crap. Please. Take me with you. He’ll only punish me if I stay.’

‘Fine with me,’ said Achilleus. ‘But if you try any funny stuff, Big Nose, you’re sausage meat.’

Five minutes later the six of them burst out through the front arch on to the parade ground, where they found all the Holloway crew assembled in battle formation, ready to leave. Maxie laughed and whooped and tilted her face up into the rain to shout ‘Yes!’ at the top of her voice.

Paddy The Caddie hobbled over to Achilleus, struggling beneath the weight of his golf-bag and Achilleus’ shield.

‘You need your spear yet, Akkie?’

‘Not yet, caddie-boy. Give me one of them cans, though.’

Whitney gave the order and the whole group marched towards the already-open gates. Maxie could hardly believe it. Ten minutes ago everything had looked hopeless. And now they were walking to freedom.

It wasn’t over yet, though.

As they were trooping out on to the road there came a shout from the balcony.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

It was David. He had Jester and five guards with him. The guards were training their rifles down towards the block of kids.

‘We’re off,’ said Maxie. ‘You blew it. That’s all you need to know.’

‘I don’t think so,’ David shouted. ‘You go any further and I’ll order my guards to open fire. And don’t think I won’t, because –’

There was a sharp crack and one of the guards fell back with a cry.

He’d been hit by a slingshot. From this distance it wouldn’t kill him, but it sure would hurt. Maxie looked round. Ollie was already fitting another steel ball into its pouch and pulling back the elastic. His skirmishers were with him. The next moment a hailstorm of shot was rattling up on to the balcony. David’s guards ducked down and cowered behind the parapet, Jester ran back indoors and David was left crouching behind a pillar.

The Holloway kids laughed and jeered, and with Ollie’s missile unit watching their backs, they all safely left the palace grounds.

As they regrouped in the road one of the little kids pointed to the Victoria Memorial and shouted. ‘Look at that!’

Achilleus was standing there. He had added his own message to Freak’s. Big clumsy red letters spelled out two words.

FREAK LIVES.

And under them the tag – ‘AKKIE DEAKY’.

Maxie smiled and ran over to Achilleus. This time she hugged him.

‘I finally figured out what Freak’s original message meant,’ said Achilleus. ‘I was wrong about him. Blamed him for what went down with Deke and Arran. Wasn’t his fault, any more than it was mine. Should have listened to him more. He was all right. He believed in what Arran believed in. For us to be together and strong and to do the right thing. In the end, all the bad stuff that happened to us, as well as all the good stuff, we got to share.’

‘I thought you’d gone over to David’s side,’ said Maxie. ‘I thought you liked it here.’

Achilleus shrugged. ‘Once I found out David had locked you up, that was it. You’re one of us, Maxie. You’re our leader. And besides, it’s like I said, I wasn’t gonna sit around here counting potatoes. I go where the action is.’

‘And what about Ollie?’

‘You best ask him yourself. That boy is way too complex for me.’

As the kids tramped off down the road singing a selection of TV themes, Maxie went to find Ollie.

‘I thought you’d sold me out,’ she said.

‘It did cross my mind,’ he said with a grin. ‘I genuinely thought David had a good set-up here. I didn’t want to leave. But at the same time, I never really trusted him and I needed to find out how far he’d take things.’

‘All that stuff you gave him in the sick-bay…’

‘By then I’d found out. He’d played his hand. And the last thing I wanted was to get locked up in there with you and Blue. Someone had to tell the others what was going on.’

‘You’re a devious little red-haired rat,’ said Maxie. ‘But I love you.’

‘Steady on, girl,’ said Ollie.

Maxie went to take her place at the front and Ollie was left with his thoughts.

He looked at his watch. Quarter to eleven. Not long till midnight.

He hadn’t told anybody about tomorrow. The others may have forgotten what date it was, even what day it was, but not Ollie. He had it all logged.

Tomorrow was his birthday.

Ollie knew a lot of things, but he had no idea what was going to happen to him as he got older. None of them did. If you made it to the end of the day, then it was a good day. You didn’t think any further ahead than that. The future was a mystery.

How could Ollie know if he’d get sick or not? He was only a kid after all.

He would just have to wait and see.

They marched down the middle of the road. Maxie, Blue, Achilleus, Paddy the Caddie and the girl from the Museum at the front with a fighting crew. Whitney in the middle with Maeve, Ben and Bernie, all the non-fighters and the little kids. Blu-Tack Bill, Monkey-Boy and Ella fussing over Godzilla. Big Nose walking with them, not sure if he’d made the right decision. Lewis and his fighters were on one flank, Big Mick on the other with the gun he’d taken from the guard. Ollie at the back with the other skirmishers.

The little kids weren’t scared. They’d been through too much together for that. They knew that the big kids would look after them. They trusted that they’d find a safe place to sleep and food and water.

They headed west away from the palace. And as they entered Belgrave Square they came across a group of ten grown-ups who were eating a dead dog. When they lifted their heads from their filthy meal and saw the resolute army of kids approaching they were like rabbits caught in the headlights.

Weapons bristled from the front rank of kids.

‘You want to try and take us on?’ Maxie shouted. ‘Come and get it, you sad old losers!’

The grown-ups took one look at each other, then turned and bolted, leaving their dinner behind.

Maxie laughed, Achilleus joined her. Blue put his arm round her waist. The other kids joined in and soon their laughter was bouncing round the square and echoing off the empty houses, filling the night, chasing away the demons.

Everything was going to be all right.

70

The fog inside his head was strong tonight. There was a red sheet in front of his eyes. And the pain was worse than ever. It was a living thing in his veins, like battery acid running through him, making him itchy and scratchy. His whole head throbbed. With the red mist and the hurting and the voices screaming in his skull it was hard to think straight. He had to try to sneak up on his thoughts, take them by surprise before they slipped away from him. Like rats.

Or kids.

The kids were fast; you had to be clever to catch ’em. But he was clever. Somewhere inside his seething brain he knew that. He was learning that if he snatched hold of one of his thoughts he had to act fast before it slipped away again and he was lost in the fog of confusion and pain.

He looked over at the buildings and saw someone looking back at him. Cheeky. Wrong. No. Anger rose inside him, more powerful than the pain.

Who are you looking at?

A man in a white vest with a red cross on it.

He closed his eyes and clamped his hands over his mouth and rocked backwards on his aching feet as a fresh agony clawed at him. Needles were sprouting from his brain and piercing outwards, breaking the skin of his face. He growled in his throat and was comforted by the sound, the feel of the vibrations in his neck. He growled again. Enjoying it. It took his mind off everything else.

He opened his eyes.

He was surrounded by people. Why were they looking at him? All their bloody eyes on him. He snarled at them and some of them backed away. God, that was good. He had power over them.

Yes.

It came back to him now. He was their boss. They were his army.

He’d been doing something.

What was it?

He shook his head. Growled again. Spat on to the floor and looked at his spit. Maybe the shape of it would give him a clue. The spit was thick and yellow, flecked with red. He was momentarily hypnotized by it.

A thought was there. Circling. He pounced.

The car.

That was it. He turned round and clambered on to the boot. Then up on to the roof. He could see all the people now. Spread out around him, filling the road.

What was this road? He’d known its name once. He’d known the names of everything around here. It had been his manor. All gone now. All the words. All the difficult ones. Only a few remained.

Car. Road. Shop. Kid. Blood. Eat.

Look at them. His people. They worshipped him.

Scum. Boss. Kill…

Those sneaky kids. They tried to run. They tried to hide. Like words. Like thoughts. They were clever. But he was strong. And strong beat clever. He would kill them, every one of them. He would eat them. Like the one what had been in the shop.

He remembered that. Him sitting there. The kid. That boy.

They had his head. On a pole. It was their battle standard.

He roared. He was a lion. The top lion. He could choose the best bits from a kill. He looked over at what had once been the shop.

Fire.

That was another good word. Well, there it was. All on fire. He would move on now, take his army with him. Find every kid. Burn them, eat them, smash them. All the clever ones.

A memory came back to him. Clever kids at that place. With all the other kids. Laughing at him.

What was that word? A powerful one. One he didn’t like.

School.

All the other kids laughing.

Well, look at me now. Boss. King. Lion. Killer…

He spread his arms wide, opened his mouth for a shout of triumph, but as usual nothing came out, just a low strangled growl.

They understood, though. His army. They raised their arms, shook their fists. The smarter ones, they shook weapons.

He looked over and saw that same man again, looking back at him. He hadn’t moved.

Fat man. Bald. White vest with a red cross on it. He knew the words.

St George.

Then he smiled. The man was him. It was a… What was it? A mirror? A window? A flexion? Yes. He was St George. A crusader. That made him happy. To remember hard words like that.

You see. If he was sneaky… If he come round the side. The words were there, just hiding.

He had a plan. Crusade. He would go into the lands of the enemy and burn and kill and break. And his people would follow him.

He began to stamp up and down on the roof of the car, hammering out a rhythm with his big feet. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, one two, one two… Strictly come dancing.

Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, one two, one two…

His people joined in. Stamping up and down in the road. Their feet hammering the tarmac. Thud-thud-thud-thud…

The sound of an army marching. And that was what they were. They would march and they would kill and they would smash everything in their path.

He climbed down off the car and broke all its windows with his club. All the while stamping, one-two-one-two… And the more he stamped, the more he smashed, the more words came back to him, the more thoughts he could hold on to.

Everything he broke made him stronger.

He went into a frenzy, attacking every car in the road. Still stamping. It was the comforting sound of a machine.

Then he led them on. Back towards the battleground. The battle they had lost against the kids. They wouldn’t lose any more battles. They were too many now. They were too strong.

He was St George.

This city belonged to him.