Boy X (19 page)

For once, Ash was not afraid. He somehow knew the insects would not touch him. He heard the beat of their tiny wings and felt the faintest breeze on his cheeks.

‘This is amazing,' Isabel said. ‘I've never seen anything like this.'

Ash couldn't stop himself from smiling. He closed his eyes, putting his head back, and felt as if he were floating in space. Even with his eyes closed, he could see the fireflies flickering on the inside of his eyelids. When he opened them, though, he saw something else.

Something was watching them.

High in the branches of the closest tree, a howler monkey sat on its haunches, tail curled round the branch. It was at least Ash's height, with thick, muscular shoulders and a powerful back covered by glossy black hair with a faint grey stripe running the length of it. Its mouth was set in a tight expression, and it was staring directly at him.

‘Look.' The familiar feeling of fear began to creep back.

Isabel glanced up and saw the monkey, but its eyes hardly even flickered to acknowledge her movement. Just like the monkeys in the lab, it was only interested in Ash.

‘There are others,' Isabel said.

But Ash didn't need her to tell him. As he watched
through the cloud of shimmering fireflies, he spotted more monkeys sitting in the branches of the surrounding trees, perched like gargoyles on a church roof, all of them staring at Ash.

‘What do they want?' he said. ‘Why are they looking at me?'

Isabel shook her head. ‘Maybe they are curious?' she guessed. ‘Like the insects and the boar. Even the spider did not attack you. I think the way you are – they know you are different. They sense it.'

‘What do you want?' Ash raised his voice to the nearest monkey.

The animal flinched as if it were about to dart away, but stopped with its head half turned towards the forest beyond the pool, eyes still fixed on Ash. Its body tensed, and its lips came forward to make an ‘O' shape. It grunted, low and deep, then opened its mouth to bare its teeth. When Ash saw those sharp incisors jutting from its upper and lower jaws like daggers, he imagined them ripping into his flesh. He had always thought monkeys looked cute, but not these ones. These looked like vicious killers.

He took a step back, thinking it might be time to take cover in the bunker, but something else caught his eye. A bright flash, deeper in the forest. The light flickered again, but it wasn't the tiny yellow glow from a firefly. This was white and lasted much longer before it disappeared from view. It was accompanied by the sound of boots on the ground, and the heavy beat of breathing.

‘Thorn is coming.'

‘What?' Isabel didn't dare look away from the howlers. ‘How could he find us? In the dark? How did he cross the river?'

‘I don't know, but he's here.'

In the tree, the howler leant forward, put out its lips and grumbled. It was an unsettling sound – long and deep and croaking – and within a second or two, another monkey had joined it, then another and another, their pitch and tone changing. In just a few short moments, the night was filled with the whoops and grunts and barks of more howlers than Ash could count.

‘I think they're warning us,' he said. ‘Get back inside and close the door so Thorn doesn't see the fire.'

They backed into the room, watching the light flickering in the trees, heading in their direction. As soon as they were inside, they pushed the door shut.

‘What do we do?' Isabel sounded scared.

Ash glanced around the room, then back at the door. ‘I think I've got an idea.'

08 hrs and 01 mins until Shut-Down

W
hen they were finished, Ash nodded and stepped away from the dampened fire. ‘We're ready. You get back, I'll open the door.' Creeping forward, he grabbed the handle, took a deep breath and yanked it wide. Like before, it screeched on its rusted hinges, but it was almost inaudible because the howlers grew more agitated, filling the night with their demonic grunting and growling.

‘He's coming.' Ash hurried back to join Isabel in the darkest shadows of the bunker.

They huddled together, squeezed as far into the corner as possible. Earlier, Ash might have been worried about spiders crawling over him, but right
now
, the only thing he
was scared of was Thorn. Right
now
, the only things he could think about were the broken bodies in the BioSphere and the man without expression.

(
He'll gut us both.
)

Between them and the door, the fire was little more than a gentle glow, so the room was almost in darkness, but there was enough light to attract Thorn's attention.

Outside, the monkeys raged as the light moved in the forest, flickering when Thorn passed behind the trees. Ash could have sworn he was following the exact route he and Isabel had taken, as if he were some kind of sniffer dog. Again, Ash had the fleeting thought that Thorn might be like he was. Thorn Plus.

‘Maybe . . .' Isabel's dry tongue clicked. ‘Maybe we should have hidden in the forest.'

‘This'll work,' Ash said.

It won't
, said the voice.
Thorn is going to take your knife and cut you down the middle.

Ash touched the identity tag for reassurance, then looked down at the survival knife in his fist and gripped it tighter.

‘He's there.' Isabel's whisper sent a shiver down his spine and Ash looked up to see the white light come to the edge of the trees. It stopped and scanned left to right, before shining towards the bunker.

They crouched together, knives held out in front of them, and watched as Thorn came right out into the clearing and angled his light towards the canopy, illuminating a frenzy of activity in the trees. The monkeys leant out from their
perches, baring their teeth, grunting and howling. Thorn turned on the spot, surrounded by the baying animals, then flicked off his torch so he was nothing more than a dark shape. Then, like a ghost floating over the rocks, he moved quickly towards the bunker.

Isabel's breathing was loud. Ash could feel her fear as much as he felt his own. He could smell the acrid burnt plastic, mingled with the over-ripe sweetness of
Kronos
flowing through her veins, spreading its death.

But as Thorn approached, Ash could sense that the killer was unnerved too. The monkeys had scared him, and the way he moved wasn't like in the BioSphere. He wasn't as calm now. His heart was beating faster, his steps were less confident, and when he reached the bunker he came straight inside and pulled the door shut behind him.

The instant it closed, the howling stopped as if someone had pressed a button. Every monkey fell silent at once.

‘Ash?' Thorn's voice was like a cold hand around Ash's throat. ‘Isabel? Are you in here?' He stepped further inside and switched on his torch, shining it from wall to wall, finally coming to rest when it was pointing right into the far corner. ‘Ash.'

Holding the knife at arm's length, Ash got to his feet and puffed out his chest. He spoke in a low, strong voice. ‘Leave us alone.'

Thorn took another step into the room. ‘You've given me quite the runaround.'

‘Leave us alone.'

‘I'm here to help. I tried to tell you before but you threw a
crowbar at me. Good shot, by the way.'

‘Help us?' Ash tried to read him – to listen to Thorn's breathing, to hear his heartbeat and sense if he was lying, but there was too much to think about. Too much to confuse him. ‘No, you're here to
kill
us.'

Thorn took a step closer and pointed the torch at the wall, holding out his other hand. ‘Kill you? No, Ash, you don't understand.' He took another step forward. ‘I really am here to help you. Both of you. You have to list—'

Thorn's next step came down on the old tarpaulin they had dragged from beneath the table and draped over the hole in the floor. Before Thorn could finish his sentence, the thick material disappeared beneath him, and he fell forward. The torch flew out of his hands, clattering on the concrete, and he reached out, trying to grip the side of the hole. It was too wide for him, though, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye, vanishing into the darkness below.

There was a thump, followed by a sudden flurry of movement as a colony of large bats, disturbed by Thorn's fall, spiralled up in turmoil. They poured out from the room below, circling and chattering around the bunker, then made for the hole in the ceiling and vanished into the night.

When they were gone, an eerie silence fell over the room.

‘It worked,' Isabel said. ‘We got him.'

07 hrs and 49 mins until Shut-Down

T
horn's torch lay on the floor to one side of the gaping hole, the beam shining out in a cone that lit up the moss-patched wall beside the entrance.

Ash snatched it up and sidled to the edge of the hole. When he shone the light into the darkness, all he could see was Thorn's canvas survival pack hanging from an exposed reinforcement bar, then he saw the stinking black water and the wall lined with rusted cages, splattered with bat mess.

Isabel came to his side and spoke in an urgent whisper. ‘Can you hear anything? You hear so good, I thought maybe you could use your . . . whatever it is.
Read
him.'

Seeing her expectant expression, Ash nodded and took a deep breath. ‘I'll try.' He touched the tag round his neck
and concentrated, pushing his fear deep inside.

There were so many sounds. The breeze whispering through the hole in the roof, the flicker of bats' wings outside, the lap of water in the room below, and—

‘I hear him.' Ash looked at Isabel. ‘It's quiet, but I can hear him breathing. He's alive . . . sounds hurt.'

‘OK,' Isabel said. ‘Let's see.' She held her knife in front of her, and together they moved closer to the edge of the hole to get a proper look.

Thorn was lying on his back on the pile of rubble in the centre of the room. The tarpaulin was tangled around him. His eyes were closed, but when Ash shone the torchlight on his face they eased open.

‘Ash?' His voice was strained. ‘You have to listen to me. I really am here to help.' He grunted in pain. ‘I work for MI6. My job is to protect the world from threats like
Kronos
. We've been watching your mother for weeks . . . monitoring her work since we heard what she was doing. The people I work for think the virus she created is too dangerous.'

For a second, Ash was too shocked to say anything. ‘She made the
cure
,' he blurted. ‘Not the virus.'

‘She made
Kronos
too, Ash.'

‘No way. Why would she make something like that? Why would—'

‘Because she works for BioMesa. And making pharmaceuticals is only a part of what they do. They research and create biological weapons.' Thorn stopped for breath, his chest wheezing. ‘
Kronos
is a weapon. In the wrong hands . . . it could kill everyone on the planet . . . in a matter of
months.' He tried to sit up again, but the pain was too much for him. His eyes rolled up and he slumped back, taking quick shallow breaths.

Ash looked at Isabel. Everything had been flipped upside down. If Thorn was telling the truth, then it meant Mum wasn't some amazing scientist trying to save the world; she had, in fact, created a virus that could wipe it out.

Millions will die.

Below, Thorn let out a cry of pain and pushed himself up. He pulled the tarpaulin away from his lower body, revealing that the material of his trousers was torn down the right leg, and a sharp piece of shinbone had broken through his skin.

He looked up at Ash and Isabel. ‘You'll have to stop Pierce and Cain on your own.'

‘What?' Ash glanced at Isabel, seeing that she was just as confused, then looked down at Thorn. ‘What are you talking about? You're
helping
them. You injected me. You killed all those—'

‘No, I came here to stop them. My job was . . .' He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘I need water. Please, I'll tell you everything. About the virus, about your mum. I have clean water. In my bag.' Thorn's words were quiet and strained. ‘Painkillers too. Give them to me and I'll tell you what I know.'