20 Years Later (33 page)

Erin drew up alongside the fallen doctor, aiming the arrow at his neck. “If they're wrong, Jay, I'll finish him.”

Jay took the measure of her statement, and then a fearful whimper from the new boy snapped his attention away from the standoff. “Don't let 'im near my Boys,” he hissed and then hurried over to scoop the frightened child up and take him
to his square.

“Is he going to die?” Titus asked Zane in a hushed voice.

Zane was staring into his father's chest. “It's pierced his lung, but I think I can save him.”

“Are you sure he was telling the truth?” Erin's bow creaked as she held the string taut.

“Yes!” Titus replied impatiently.

“But then why are they all so scared of him?” Erin pressed, not letting her aim slip.

Titus fell silent, recalling the memories he had seen in Squeak's mind. He shuddered. “I don't understand it yet … but I know you shouldn't kill him.”

Erin sighed and let the arrow slip down as she lowered the bow.

Shannon's face was pale in the moonlight, a sheen of sweat glistening in the silver light. Barely conscious, his breath was ragged, with an awful rasping sound. Zane placed his hands either side of the embedded arrow shaft and looked up at Erin. “When I say so, pull the arrow out as quick as you can.”

Erin nodded and made herself ready. At Zane's “Now!” she pulled it out swiftly and Zane trembled with effort as he fought to close the wound. There was a brief spurt of blood as the barbed arrowhead was pulled free, but then no more. Within moments the tension in his father's body lessened and his breathing became stronger and steadier. The cuts on his arms began to close, the steady trickle of blood that ran from them also slowed to nothing.

Zane shook with exhaustion but smiled when his father's eyes opened and looked up into his. “Are you ok? You were –”

“Winded,” Titus interrupted, giving Zane a pointed look.

The doctor only blinked for a few moments, then smiled weakly up at Zane. “Eve said she dreamt of a boy,” he whispered, “A boy that looked like me with brown eyes.”

Zane nodded. “That was me!”

“Miri's eyes,” he whispered and the tears began to tumble from his own. Zane fell upon his father's chest and their arms locked around each other as both wept unashamedly.

Titus stood back, watching carefully as Erin took a pace back also, her nose wrinkling at the display of emotion.

“I thought such terrible things about you!” Zane cried. “But I was wrong, wasn't I? You saved that boy, didn't you?”

“Yes,” his father whispered hoarsely. “I've been bringing them up here for years. Any time I could get one away.”

Titus narrowed his eyes. “But you hurt them too.”

The doctor released Zane from his embrace and sat up shakily. He looked down at his chest, confused, but then shook his head. “It's very complicated,” he replied. “I don't have time to explain now. If I stay here any longer, Eve may get caught.”

“You and Eve are working together?” Erin asked and he nodded.

“I couldn't do this without her.” He clambered to his feet, Zane supporting him as he found his balance once more. Even though his wounds had been healed, it was clear he'd lost a lot of blood from the way he swayed when upright.

“Are you one of the Unders gang or not?” Erin demanded, her stance shifting as if readying herself to take aim once more. “You can't be both.”

“I'm not one of them!” the doctor retorted. “I hate what they're doing!”

“Then why help them?” Erin threw back at him.

The doctor struggled to contain himself. “Because they force me to!” he spat. “If I don't do what they tell me to do, they will come up here and kill Miri and my son. Don't for a minute think that I have done any of these experiments willingly.” The sudden rush of rage began to ebb as he swayed again. Zane quickly tucked himself under his father's arm and held him up. “I'm no monster,” he whispered as he struggled to stay on his
feet. “Please, son, don't think that I'm one of them.”

“I don't,” Zane replied and shot a warning look at his friends. “That's why you left Mum that day, isn't it?”

The man nodded, his head drooping. “They took me the day she told me she was pregnant.”

There was an awkward silence as the three children took it all in. Zane didn't know whether to be overjoyed or upset.

“I have to get back to Eve,” the doctor said. “But I'll come back, son.”

Titus stepped forward. “You have to help us to stop them,” he said, and the man nodded.

“I will, gladly,” he replied. “I can't do it without help from people up here, but if you know people that are willing to take a risk …”

Titus nodded. “Yes, we do. Just tell us how to stop them.”

“Two nights from now, I'll come back here at the same time,” he replied, “And I'll tell you all you need to know.”

“Everything will be okay now, Dad,” Zane said hopefully. “I'll tell Mum and she'll be so glad and –”

“No,” Shannon interrupted. “Don't tell her you saw me, not until this is all over.”

“But she thinks that you're one of them!” Zane protested.

“Just wait until this is done,” his father insisted. “If something happens to me, I don't want her to lose me twice.” He placed a hand on Zane's shoulder and squeezed gently. “If I get the chance, I want her to hear the truth about me from my own lips. And if that's not meant to be … then you can speak for me.” He glanced at Titus. “Gather all the help you can. You're going to need it.”

By the time of the meeting, Titus was exhausted. Nothing about arranging it had been simple. Arguments about why they should meet, who would be there, where it should be held, constant bickering and posturing. Through this muddy frustration, his determination pierced like an arrow set on its target. He was so close, so close to understanding enough to destroy those who had hurt his sister. Those who had hurt him.

Zane had helped him as far as he could, but he'd been distracted by the anticipation of speaking to his father again and the sheer magnitude of the secret he was keeping from his mother. Several times, when he had heard her twisting and turning in bed, her mind too fraught with emotion to permit rest, he had almost gone to her. He wanted to reassure her, to let her know that the man she'd loved so much hadn't become the villain she thought him now.

It was dark when they assembled: the children, Luthor, and Jay. They met at the end of the street in which Shannon had been found, the end farthest from the heart of Jay's territory but still within sight of it.

Both Jay and Luthor arrived prepared for conflict, the Hunter in full armour. Erin was also armoured, on her father's insistence. They were very close to true no man's land, where no protection whatsoever existed against wild beasts and scavengers, some of the human variety.

They waited in an uncomfortable silence, the moon only partially full. It cast enough light in the breaks between clouds to outline in silver Jay's thumbs, hooked over the handles of his twin blades, and the tight grip of Luthor's fist around the riser of his longbow.

The creak of un-oiled hinges alerted them to the doctor's arrival. Before any misunderstandings could occur, Zane rushed to his father when he emerged from the shadows down the street. He was relieved to see how much better his father looked than the night they were last together. Their embrace was brief and tight as Shannon was clearly pressed for time once more.

“How long do you have?” Zane asked as he drew his father into the circle.

“A few minutes.”

“Then tell us sommat first,” Jay said in that voice, the one that always made Zane nervous. “Why should we trust you? What's in this for you?”

“I can't make you trust me,” Shannon replied. “That's impossible in the time we have now. But I can tell you that I have everything to gain from the end of Hex. My freedom, my life, and the same for Miri and my son.”

Luthor snorted. “You walked out just now freely enough.”

“Not without huge risk,” Shannon said patiently. “If they realise I'm gone, there will be repercussions.”

“We don't have time to debate whether he's trustworthy or not,” Titus spoke up. “I know he's sincere and that's enough for me.”

“It may be enough for you,” Luthor began but Erin touched his arm to interrupt him.

“Titus is good at this sort of thing,” she said quietly. Seeing Luthor's anger at Erin's intervention, Titus spoke quickly to divert his attention. “Where is Hex based and how do we get in?”

Shannon's eyebrows shot up. “You want to get
into
Hex?”

Jay, Luthor, and Titus nodded in synchrony. “It's the only way to be sure we got 'em,” Jay explained. “Gotta get right in
their patch and trash it. If we don't, they'll just keep doing what they're doin' to the other kids down there. How many other kids are there?”

“How many Guardians are there?” Luthor asked before Shannon could reply.

“Wait,” he held up his hands. “Too many questions. Let's look at this in some kind of order.”

Titus nodded at that. “Tell us where they are, that's a good place to start.”

“Hex is contained in several old underground tunnels, predominantly the Piccadilly and Jubilee Lines,” Shannon replied. “They're the deepest lines and the easiest to defend. The government was building underground bunkers extending from Westminster adjacent to the Jubilee Line for a long time before It happened.”

“Them funny clothes they wear,” Jay spoke up, “That's to stop 'em dyin', right?” Shannon nodded. “So do they wear 'em all the time?”

“No,” Shannon replied. “All entrances to Hex are hermetically sealed, with rigorous decontamination procedures for any Guardians or scientists who come up to the surface.”

“What does that mean?” Erin asked.

“That the doors are sealed so tight that air can't get through,” Shannon explained. “When people come up here, they get washed lots so the bad stuff in the air doesn't stick to them.”

“They do that to you?” Luthor asked but Shannon shook his head.

“No, I don't get to go into Hex proper. They keep me in the same spoke as the children. We all have an immunity to the virus, so they don't have to follow such strict measures for us, and that saves a lot of electricity, water, and chemicals.”

“To keep the air clean, supply their suits with oxygen, those guns they use, that all takes electricity,” Luthor commented.
“Where do they get it from?”

“Green Park,” Shannon replied. “It's been cleared in the centre and is full of solar panels and wind turbines. All renewable sources, all out of sight from the streets around it. I know where the back-up generators are too.”

All the assembled, save Luthor, and to a lesser extent Titus, looked somewhat blank at this discussion.

“The power from Green Park also runs Hex, I take it?” Luthor continued and Shannon nodded again.

“Air filtration, purification and recycling, waste disposal, door seals, everything,” he elaborated. “It's an amazing system. Entirely self-sufficient and sealed from the outside world.”

“The people in Hex,” Titus was frowning, “They can't live up here because the virus would kill them … and the electricity from Green Park stops the bad air getting in … so it seems there's only one thing to do.”

Luthor was nodding as he spoke, having come to the same conclusion. “Destroy the power supply so the door seals will fail and the rest takes care of itself.”

Shannon nodded slowly. “Yes, I suppose you're right.”

“Hang on, them Giants–I mean the Guardians–they'll still be able to breathe up 'ere,” Jay interjected.

“We pick them off with arrows,” Luthor replied. “The suits only need to be pierced once for them to die quickly.”

“If you want to do this, tonight is perfect,” Shannon advised. “Radley is collecting supplies and samples from St Mary's hospital and they've doubled the Guardians looking after her because of what happened with Lyssa.”

“Excellent, then it should be tonight,” Luthor said. “The Red Lady is keen for the Unders to be removed as a threat and has placed all of our Hunters under my command. I will post our best archers at various high points, and when the seals fail –”

“Wait!” Zane cried, and the group turned to him, noticing for the first time the look of total horror on his face. “If we break the door seals, won't everyone in Hex die?”

Titus blinked at him. “Yes. That's the point.”

Zane's jaw was slack. “But … but that's terrible. How many people live there?”

When his son's eyes fell on him, Shannon's face showed the first signs of guilt. “About forty or so.”

“Zane, they're monsters!” Erin exclaimed. “They took Lyssa, and they put horrible black stuff in children and cut them and –”

“Do all of the people in Hex do that?” Zane pressed his father, and watched him shake his head. “Then we can't do this. We can't kill them all. In fact, we shouldn't try to kill anyone–we should try to talk to them.”

“Are you mad?” Jay snorted. “They don't talk, they shoot lightning! Remember?” He lifted his shirt to reveal the lurid scarring left by the burn on his torso. “They didn't talk when they did this. They just shot me, killed my Boys and nicked Titus' sister. You forgot all that?!”

“No, of course not,” Zane sighed. “But can't we find a way to try to talk to them? Dr Radley–the one that Titus swapped for Lyssa–she didn't seem horrible or violent. How do we know that there aren't other nice people down there too?”

“We do not have time for this,” Luthor growled. “It's irrelevant.”