Boy X (23 page)

‘Pierce, put it down,' Cain repeated. ‘I don't think they like it.'

‘What? Who?' Pierce sounded incredulous.

‘Them.' Cain tipped her head towards the monkeys perched in the trees.

‘Don't be ridiculous. Why would they care what—' He stopped mid-sentence.

The other monkeys had come forward now. They loomed over the clearing, each of them baring their teeth in warning.

A confused expression fell across Pierce's face as he scanned the troop of howlers. ‘What are they doing? Why would they—' He looked down at Ash, eyes widening. ‘My God,' he whispered. ‘They're protecting you? It must have worked. In some . . .
strange
way . . . our little secret worked. And there's something I didn't expect. A connection.'

‘The rest of you, weapons down.' Cain gestured to her soldiers. ‘No sudden movements. And Pierce, for God's sake will you lower your knife?'

Pierce stepped away and lowered the weapon, staring at Ash as if he were in some sort of trance. ‘
It worked.
'

The shock of those two simple words was like a flare lighting up inside Ash's head. He turned and stared at Pierce as the veil of confusion was finally ripped away.

It worked.

With those words, everything finally began to make sense.

Since he had woken in that white room, Ash had been wondering what was happening to him. Why he felt the way he did. Why he could do the things he could do. Why he'd had such a strong sense of having been in the bunker before. And now he was beginning to understand.

It was because he
had
been in the bunker before.

He had locked the terrible memories away, but seeing Pierce and hearing his voice was bringing them back. This was not the first time Ash had been on
Isla Negra
.

Ash stared into Pierce's eyes as he remembered . . .

The house on the cliff is the boy's favourite place on the island. With its white walls and gold-trimmed windows, it's like a castle in a storybook, overlooking the sea that twinkles in the sunlight. From the tower, he can look out and see the whole world. But now something dark and terrible dwells in that tower. ‘This will be our secret,' the monster says. ‘Our little secret. You can't tell anyone.' But the needle is glinting in the light from the window and it looks so sharp when the monster holds it up for the boy to see. The boy's face crumples and the tears begin to flow. ‘Please, Uncle Damian, I want Mummy.' He pulls away, but the monster holds him tight and leans down to whisper in his ear. ‘Do as I say, you little brat. Stop snivelling and keep still or I'll hurt you. And then I'll hurt your mummy. Is that what you want?' The boy shakes his head and bites his lip. ‘Then keep your mouth shut. And remember; this is our little secret.' And then the needle comes down and disappears into his skin, and . . .

The jumbled flash of images and sounds hurtled into his mind and exploded. Ash reeled with the force of their arrival, and put his hands up to his dirty face as if he could protect himself from his own buried memories. He muddled through the shapes and hazy pictures of the building and
the needle and the man, without being able to fix on anything, but when he opened his eyes and looked up, he knew exactly who he was looking at.

The man behind the voice. The monster in the dark.

Damian Pierce.

The man who had made him what he was.

Now Ash was ready to understand everything.

04 hrs and 40 mins until Shut-Down

K
neeling in the wet dirt, Ash composed himself and looked around the camp. A burning hatred for Pierce reared inside him like a flaming dragon, but he had to control it. The scientist was not important now. All that mattered was the bag he was carrying.

Three other soldiers – including Hulk – were standing close to the flames, but they weren't watching Ash; they were turning in slow circles with their eyes fixed on the shapes that moved in the canopy. The fourth soldier was missing.

‘Get up.' Cain crouched beside Ash and leant close. ‘On your feet.' She grabbed the piece of material round his neck and hauled him up.

In the trees, one of the monkeys grunted. ‘What are they doing?' Hulk swept his weapon around in the direction the noise had come from. ‘You think they're a threat? There must be more than twenty of them up there.'

‘They're just monkeys.' But Cain kept one eye on them as she nudged Ash towards the centre of the camp. ‘How did you get out of the BioSphere?'

Ash kept quiet and tried not to look at Pierce. He continued to cast his eyes about the camp, looking for an escape. His whole body was shaking with fear and frustration, his mind still swimming with the flood of memories.

‘And what's this?' When they were close to the fire, Cain took hold of the makeshift spear that was embedded in the dirt and pulled it out with one quick tug.

The tip of the spear was still sharp where Ash had whittled it with the knife, except instead of raw wood the tip was now covered with dirt and traces of white dust. Cain sniffed at it, then touched it and rubbed the dust between finger and thumb. ‘How did you make all that smoke?'

‘It was Thorn. He's out there right now,' Ash said, trying to sound as cold and mean as he could. ‘Probably just waiting for the right moment.' It was difficult to hide the tremor in his voice.

Cain raised her eyebrows and studied him for a moment before smiling. ‘Clever boy. Keeping us on our toes.'

A light thump came from somewhere by the treeline.

‘Check it out, Winter.' Cain signalled to Hulk.

Despite his size, the big man was light on his feet as he ventured closer to the trees. ‘Can't see anything.' Another
thump made him snap his head up and look at the waterproof shelter they had improvised. ‘Maybe something—' An orange-green fruit hit the ground beside him, making him step back and scowl at the trees. ‘The monkeys are throwing fruit. Can you believe that?'

Pierce clasped the messenger bag to his chest. ‘We need to get away from here.'

‘We can handle Thorn,' Cain told him.

‘You almost couldn't handle this
child
.' A flash of anger in Pierce's eyes. ‘Anyway, we've got more than just Thorn to worry about.' He nodded towards the trees. ‘We need to get away from them.'

‘They're just monkeys.' Cain glanced at Pierce. ‘It's just fruit.'

‘Nothing on this island is “just” anything,' he replied. ‘Something even
I
forgot.'

Another projectile hit the ground, followed by a
pat-patpat
as three more missiles came from the trees in rapid succession.

‘All right.' Cain threw the spear to one side and gripped her carbine with both hands. She examined the shapes lurking in the canopy and addressed the other soldiers. ‘Where's Petersen?'

She had to be talking about the orange-haired soldier. He was the only one missing.

‘Still out there,' replied Hulk. ‘You think Thorn is out there too?'

Cain reflected for a moment, still scanning the camp, and Ash saw a shrewd intelligence behind her eyes.

‘Sounds like they've stopped,' she said eventually. ‘Young, go and check on Petersen. Stay sharp. Winter, you watch the perimeter. And
you
' – she looked at Ash – ‘can tell me where Thorn is hiding.' Her eyes searched Ash's face, and he knew she would detect his lies. She would not be easy to fool, and she was not afraid. When he read her, there was no scent of burnt plastic hanging around Cain – just a powerful smell of oil and what he guessed was gunpowder. Her heart had the strong and slow pulse of an athlete.

‘We need to go,' Pierce said again. ‘Petersen can catch up.' Pierce, on the other hand
stank
of burnt plastic. But there was a tang in the air too, like electricity. He wasn't just afraid. The way his voice heightened and his pulse quickened, Ash knew he was excited. ‘Forget Thorn. Just bring the boy. That's an order.'

Cain shifted her eyes and looked at Pierce standing there in his scruffy suit. ‘What did you mean just now,' she asked. ‘When you said “it worked”?'

‘What?'

‘You looked at the boy and said, “It worked”.'

‘Did I? What the hell does it matter?'

Ash knew why it mattered, though. He had dreamlike half-memories of Pierce injecting him, watching him, testing him. He was the worst kind of monster, because he looked like a harmless fool. A wolf in sheep's clothing who had called Ash useless when the injections showed no sign of working. But now it
was
working and
that's
why it mattered.

‘We're leaving,' Pierce said, coming forward, reaching
out to take hold of Ash. ‘Right now. Bring the boy with us.'

‘Not yet.' Cain moved between him and Ash.

Pierce stopped and tried to stand even taller. He stared Cain right in the eye. ‘I think you're forgetting who's in charge here – who's paying the bills.'

‘I haven't forgotten, but you don't give the orders any more. I do. And I do not leave my people behind.'

‘You left Thorn.'

‘He was
your
man.' Cain's eyes narrowed, and she glared at Pierce. Her fingers tightened around her weapon. It was clear they didn't like each other; maybe Ash could make use of that. So when Cain coughed, just a small and insignificant sound, it gave Ash an idea.

‘
Kronos,
' he said. ‘It's not just in Mum's lab; it's all over the BioSphere. Starts like flu, makes you cough. My friend Isabel has it, and now so do you.'

‘Impossible,' Pierce said. ‘We've all been vaccinated against the virus. Anyway, if it escaped the lab and your friend has it, then why don't—' He glanced up at the monkeys and a vague smile passed across his lips as if he had just stumbled upon a secret.

‘
You've
got it,' Ash said to Cain. ‘All of you. Pierce probably injected you with
Kronos
instead of the cure. It would be a good way to get it off the island: inside you. He probably—'

‘We'd be dead before we got to San Jose,' Cain said. ‘No, we don't have it. The real question is, why don't
you
have it? You're telling the truth about your friend, I can see it in your eyes, but why aren't
you
sick?' She turned to
Pierce. ‘And why do
you
look so smug about it?' She raised her weapon at Pierce, and the other soldiers followed suit. ‘Something's going on here,' she said, ‘and I want to know what it is. Are you and Thorn trying to pull some kind of trick?'

Pierce backed away, lifting his hands and shaking his head. ‘There's no trick. Really, this is getting out of hand.'

‘Thorn was your man.' Cain looked down the sights at Pierce. ‘You insisted on bringing him along. How did he get out of the BioSphere? That place was supposed to be locked down. Did you have some kind of plan to take us out? Pick us off in the jungle and save yourself some money?'

‘Of course not. We're in the jungle by accident. We were supposed to be in the bloody helicopter, miles away from here by—'

‘Then tell me what's going on.' Cain's tone was cold and unyielding. ‘Why isn't the boy sick?
Where is Thorn?
'

‘I . . .'

‘Winter, cut his throat.'

Hulk drew a large black-bladed knife and approached Pierce with purpose.

‘No! Wait!' Pierce put his hands in front of him, palms out. ‘I really don't know where Thorn is.
Really.
And the boy?' He looked to the trees. ‘It's because of them. The monkeys. It's the same reason they don't have it.'

Cain signalled one-handed to Winter, and the huge man stopped in his tracks. He remained poised to act as soon as Cain gave another order.

‘Please.' Pierce took a deep breath, his attention jumping from Winter to the knife in his hand. ‘I hardly know Thorn any better than you do. He's The Broker's man.'

‘
What
?' Cain couldn't hide her surprise.

‘And that boy' – Pierce pointed at Ash – ‘is more valuable than any virus. I thought it didn't work. I thought it was all wasted, but there he is. Can't you tell he's different?'

Different.
The word stood out to Ash. It repeated over and over in his head. He really
was
different.

‘What are you talking about?' Cain said.

‘Back there.' Pierce moved his hand and waved it behind him. ‘When he came out of the forest, he was so quick. I didn't think anything of it, but he just lifted me off the ground like I was no heavier than an overnight bag. Look at him, for God's sake, he's just a scrawny little kid. I'm eighty-five kilos, and he can't be more than thirteen years old. How many other children do you think could do that?'

Cain glanced down at the boy she had captured, re-appraising him as if she were seeing him for the first time. Ash stared back at her, feeling the strength in his muscles, preparing to accept and understand what he was.