Boy X (8 page)

‘Yeah.' Ash was confused. ‘It's just there. I mean . . .' His eyes locked with Isabel's.

‘You hear good
and
you see good,' she said.

Ash shrugged. ‘I guess. Yeah.'

He glanced back at the locker, wondering what was happening to him. How had he been able to read the stencilling and Isabel hadn't? In the total darkness of the corridor he had been as blind as Isabel, but with just a little light, he could see better. He wished there had been time to ask Mum about it. Maybe it was something to do with
Kronos
. Or the BioSphere. Whatever it was, it was freaky, but at least it was becoming easier to control.

Isabel was staring at him as if she were trying to figure him out, so Ash changed the subject. ‘You're serious about this? We're going to
blow
our way out?'

‘Yes.'

‘No way. I mean, it's kind of cool, but there has to be something else. An emergency door or . . . something.'

Isabel blinked and looked down at the box. ‘In lockdown, everything is closed.
Everything.
This is the only way out.'

‘We'll kill ourselves.'

Isabel placed the light on the ground, and reached in to unfasten the catch on the front of the box. When she popped it open, the scent of marzipan oozed out.

‘Careful.' Ash took another step back.

‘It's safe,' Isabel said. ‘I've used it before.'

‘You've used it
before
? Why? Why is it even here?'

‘It's something new,' Isabel said. ‘For research.'

‘That doesn't make sense. I thought this place was for, like, medicines and stuff.'

Isabel glanced up at him. ‘This
is
stuff.'

‘No, this is weapons. They make weapons here?'

‘Not guns. Other kinds of weapons, I think.'

Ash tried to digest what Isabel was telling him. ‘Other things like what?'

‘Like this, I guess.'

‘And why have
you
used it?'

‘Well.' She shrugged and leant back to let Ash see what was in the box. ‘Papa tested it and I watched. Out in the jungle. It's very safe until it's ready to . . .'

‘Explode?'

‘Yes. Or flash or smoke. It can do many things. Soon it will be for the army to use, I think.'

‘The army? My God.' Ash rubbed a hand over his head.

‘This place is getting crazier by the minute.' He paused,
trying to make sense of everything. ‘Anyway, you said your dad didn't talk about his work.'

‘Well . . . he is not supposed to. I'm not really allowed in the lab or to know what they are doing, but he told me about this. Said it was fun and let me watch him test it.'

Ash took a step closer and studied the contents of the metal container. At one end was a number of what looked like plastic pencil boxes, while the rest was stacked with bricks wrapped in brown paper. Each brick had HEX13 printed on the top.

‘High Explosives Experiment Number Thirteen,' Isabel explained.

‘What does that mean? That it took them thirteen tries to get it right?'

‘Yes.'

‘Sheesh.' Ash shook his head. ‘You sure it's safe?'

‘It won't go off without these.' Isabel took out one of the small plastic boxes, and opened it to show Ash what appeared to be a smartphone and a collection of metal matchsticks. ‘They're . . . how you say . . .?' She waggled her index finger like she was firing a gun.

‘Triggers?' Ash tried to sound brave and like he knew what he was talking about, but he couldn't stop thinking that he was standing in front of a box full of
explosives
!

‘Detonators.' Isabel tapped the metal sticks as she remembered the word she was looking for. 'And this is the handset.' She picked up the object that looked like a smartphone. ‘We take them with us to the shutters and make a hole.'

‘Just like that?'

Isabel shrugged. ‘It only needs a little.'

‘What about using it to get them out of that lab, then? To break the glass?'

‘I think it would be too dangerous. Maybe kill them.'

A clear and horrible picture popped into Ash's head – of Mum and the others blown apart inside the lab. ‘Yeah, you're probably right.'

‘So.' Isabel grabbed a satchel from beside the metal box containing the HEX13, then opened it wide so they could place the bricks inside. ‘Let's do it.'

But as Ash reached out to take the first one, he realized he had made a mistake. While he had been worrying about explosions and escape, he had failed to notice something important. His own heart drummed in his chest, steady and firm. Beside him, Isabel's beat harder and faster.

But they had been joined by a third heartbeat. A slow and strong rhythm accompanied by the strong scent of peppermint and new leather . . .

Ash whipped round, as a soft voice spoke from the darkness.

‘I think you kids better let me take over now.'

23 hrs and 09 mins until Shut-Down

A
sh's hand went down, feeling for the crowbar lying on the floor.

‘That looks like dangerous stuff.' The voice again. Smooth and deep. ‘You'll kill yourselves.' Something stepped closer to the edge of the semi-circle of white light. It was just a silhouette, but Ash recognized the slender shape.

‘Thorn.' The word escaped his mouth before he realized he was going to say it.

‘Give it to me and I'll get you out of here.'

Isabel backed up against the lockers, breathing hard.

‘No . . .' Ash managed to say. He was both afraid and annoyed with himself for allowing Thorn to creep up on
them. ‘You . . . injected me. My mum too.'

Thorn took a small step closer, making hardly a sound. ‘An unfortunate necessity. But you're all right, aren't you? I made sure of that.'

‘You killed Paco,' Isabel stuttered. ‘And the guards. Gave Papa the virus.'

‘The virus?' Thorn took another step forward. ‘No. Cain did that. And Pierce.'

‘You're one of them,' Ash said as his fingers touched the cold metal of the crowbar.

‘You're wrong about me, Ash.' Thorn's voice was quiet and soft. He was like a snake hypnotizing its prey. ‘Let me
help
you.' He reached forward, his hand breaking into the light as if it were just floating there. ‘We'll find a way out, together.
Trust
me.'

Ash tightened his grip around the crowbar and tensed his arm, ready to use it. Thorn took another step closer and Ash saw something metallic glint in the torchlight. The blade of a knife.

Thorn almost split him in half
, Pierce had said.

Ash remembered the dead guards, the blood, and acted without further hesitation. He raised the crowbar as if it were no more than a large stick, and threw it at Thorn as hard as he could. After that, everything dropped into bizarre, frame-by-frame slow motion. Ash had time to watch the crowbar tumble, spinning lengthways as it crossed the distance to the edge of the semi-circle of light. He saw Thorn's shadow standing motionless, the crowbar heading towards him like a propeller, and when it was only a metre
away Thorn began to react. He must have moved like lightning, even though it looked so much slower to Ash.

Thorn bent at the knees, then twisted and started to shift sideways, but he wasn't quick enough. The curved end of the tool struck his right shoulder, and Ash saw the wrinkle in the material of his jacket. The crowbar jerked when it made contact, flicking up so the straight end caught Thorn on the chin. Ash had time to see the ripple spread out across his cheek and his neck, then Thorn went down with a grunt, disappearing into the darkness.

A rush of air and the world hurried back into real time with a sharp clang as the crowbar hit the floor, and a clatter as Thorn's knife spun away to be lost beneath the shelving.

All Ash could do was crouch there, staring at the space where Thorn had been standing. He couldn't believe what he had done. What had felt like ten seconds must have happened in the blink of an eye.

‘You got him,' Isabel said. ‘You . . . you
hit
him.' Her words were tight and breathless.

Ash stared at the spot where Thorn had been standing. ‘I killed him?'

‘I don't think so. Just hit him.'

As if to confirm it, a long groan came from the shadows.

‘We have to get away.' Isabel reached into the locker, taking the first block out of the metal box and shoving it into the satchel. ‘He's waking up.' She grabbed another two, jamming them in, then threw in a box of detonators and took hold of Ash's arm. ‘We must go.'

‘Yes.' Ash shook himself, still trying to understand what
he had done; how he had moved so quickly and felt so strong.

‘Come on.' Isabel threw the satchel over her shoulder. ‘We have to get out of here. Leave him in the dark.'

Ash nodded and snatched up the light before they took off, hurrying between the shelves, racing along the length of the storage facility towards the way out. Somewhere behind them, Thorn groaned again and tried to get to his feet.

It wouldn't be long before he came after them – they didn't have much time . . .

Sprinting past the rack where the tools were stored, Ash glanced over at them, an idea forming. ‘This might give us some time.'

He grabbed a second crowbar without breaking stride, and continued along the length of the cavernous storeroom. Isabel's boots thundered on the concrete floor and their panting echoed around them. By the time they reached the exit, Ash was ahead, running so fast that he slammed into the doors, arms out to avoid hurting himself. He grabbed the handles, yanking them open, and the two of them rushed out into the corridor. Ash then turned to push the doors shut and slip the crowbar through the handles.

‘That should slow him down.'

They ran and ran, blundering on with only the cocoon of light around them. Isabel stayed just ahead, picking out the right way to go, and Ash followed close behind, watching the satchel bouncing about on her back.

Boom!
the voice kept saying in his head. That sneering
voice, floating down from the dark tower in his mind.
Boom! She's got a bomb on her back.

When they came to the lobby stairwell, they raced down, taking the stairs two at a time, turning the corner then jumping the final few steps. Debris from the helicopter crash dug into the soles of Ash's feet as they hurried over to the building's entrance. Without power, the sliding doors remained firmly shut. Isabel shucked the pack from her back and crouched to remove one of the bricks of explosives. She was breathing heavily.

‘You're not tired?' she asked.

‘No.' Ash dismissed the comment. ‘You sure you know what you're doing?'

‘I saw Papa do this.' She tore off the brown paper to reveal a firm, white putty underneath.

‘Careful.' Ash took a step back, expecting it to explode in Isabel's hands as she twisted off a piece the size of a matchbox. She squashed it flat and stuck it onto the glass doors like a giant blob of used chewing gum.

‘Is that enough?' Ash asked.

‘It's powerful.'

‘Oh.' He winced and took a step back.

When she was done, Isabel reached into the satchel and took out one of the metal matchstick detonators. She pushed it into the putty and switched on the trigger device that looked like a smartphone.

It burst into life, displaying a large red button on the touchscreen with the word
PAIR
on it. Isabel tapped it once. Immediately, a tiny green light appeared at the end of
the matchstick detonator. At the same time, three words materialized on the device's touchscreen.

HE

FLASH

SMOKE

‘Do you know what they all mean?' Ash peered over her shoulder, then glanced back at the stairwell.

‘Mm-hm.' Isabel nodded. ‘This one is High Explosive.' She touched
HE
which flashed once before it was replaced with two other words.

TIMER

MARK

Isabel touched
MARK
, and a white dot began tracing across the screen in a ‘
Z
' pattern. The word
CONFIRM
appeared above it.

‘I think that's it,' Isabel said.

‘You
think
? God, I hope you're right about this.'

‘Me too.'

Ash took a deep breath and shook his head in disbelief. ‘OK. What now?'

Isabel looked at Ash and blinked hard. There was sweat on her brow and determination in her eyes. ‘We get back. Right back.'

‘Behind the counter?' he asked.

‘Further.'

‘The stairs?'

Isabel got to her feet and picked up the satchel. ‘Further.' Without waiting for Ash, she started walking back to the stairwell, taking strong, purposeful strides. ‘Bring the flashlight.'