Days Like This (19 page)

‘It’s a pleasure, Lily,’ Kieran smiled at her. ‘We couldn’t leave you there, not after the time before, when you went back to check on Shannon. Like I said, that was brave, no matter what Sal says. And bringing people over the Wall is what we do. If we can rescue even one person, it’s worth it. Plus, I’ll do anything I can to mess with those bastards on the Committee.’

‘So you’re coming over the Wall with me tomorrow to find Daniel and Alice?’ Lily said quickly.

‘Wouldn’t miss it,’ Kieran said.

As they threaded their way towards the back of the cavern, Lily gaped at the honeycomb of openings that led off the main cavern.

‘I’ve been wondering what those pipes are for,’ Lily said, pointing to the tubes that were attached to walls and which snaked down passageways.

‘That’s our ventilation system. Fresh air comes in from an outside vent quite a distance away, cooling as it passes over water. You’ll see when we get to the water area. it’s brilliant, actually.’

‘This place is even bigger than I thought,’ Lily said softly. ‘It’s amazing. Who found it?’

‘Peter is the best person to ask about that,’ Kieran said. ‘He was part of the group that stumbled onto the cave system years ago, not that long after the Wall went up. He helped to develop the water system, too. As you can see, we’re heading gradually downwards. The entire system is embedded in a massive layer of rock. It’s ingenious really. it’s like someone prepared it, knowing one day there’d be people who’d need to hide and have access to a permanent water supply.’

‘The water must come from deep underground,’ Lily said, thinking about the dry rivers and parched landscape that the warming had brought.

‘Yes, apparently there wasn’t much water at first,’ Kieran said. ‘It was just a single spring, but gradually Peter and his team of engineers increased the volume and split the flow. Something about tapping aquifers, pumping, whatever – it’s not my area. I’m just glad it exists.’

They’d arrived at last at the end of the cavern and now stood on a flat rock platform. Lily looked back the way they’d come. She couldn’t see even the faintest glow from the entrance. The only light now came from the globes.

In front of them, three separate waterfalls gushed out of the rock face at the very back of the cavern. Lily moved to the edge of the rock platform and peered over. The waterfalls fed into three separate pools. Stone steps led down to each pool. Lily saw that the overflow from the pools gushed over small rapids and disappeared underground. Moisture coated the cavern walls, trickling down the rock. The air was thick with the constant low hiss of water. There was more natural water here than Lily had ever seen in her life. She breathed deeply.

‘Pretty awesome, isn’t it?’ Kieran smiled. ‘The water in the first pool is for drinking, the second is for bathing and washing, and the last one’s for power generation.’

The third waterfall flowed strongly, driving a large water wheel, which was attached to some serious-looking equipment.

‘That wheel generates all our energy,’ Kieran said. ‘Peter helped build it and it’s maintained by people like him who know about hydro-power generation.’

‘And are those the ventilation pipes?’ Lily said, pointing to a series of pipes that emerged at the side of the power-generation waterfall and had been fixed to the rock walls. The pipes snaked away into the cavern.

‘Yes,’ Kieran said. ‘That’s the start of the vent system that draws in the air from outside and circulates it through the cavern. As I said, the air passes over water on it’s way to these pipes and is cooled that way.’

The water sounds drew Lily’s attention to the fact that she itched all over from sweat and dirt, despite Rosemary’s fresh clothes and her brief wash the night before.

‘I’d love to take a dip in the washing pool,’ Lily said.

Kieran walked across the rock ledge and selected a faded towel from a small pile. He also picked up a lump of something from a dish.

‘Soap, allegedly,’ he said with a grin. ‘Doesn’t look so good but it works pretty well. Take it and the towel with you when you’re finished. You’ve just inherited them. I’ll do you a favour and get going now Leave something on the top step to show anyone who comes along that the bathing place is in use. I’ll see you later. Enjoy.’

Lily weighed the soap in her hand. Despite it’s irregular shape, it was as smooth as a pebble, with a lemony eucalyptus fragrance. She shivered slightly, suddenly feeling a little lonely without Kieran. Telling herself to snap out of it, she left her sandals at the top and went down the steps.

The pool was almost perfectly circular in shape and the water was a brilliant green colour. It was incredibly cold when she first plunged in, but she quickly got used to it.

Lily wanted to stand under the waterfall forever, with the icy, jade screen beating down on her. Her skin squeaked. The wound on her wrist didn’t look too gross and the back of her head no longer throbbed. She tipped back her head and drank deeply. Like the water at breakfast, this was sweet and delicious.

She prodded her head gingerly with her fingers and felt only a small twinge, much the same as when she had woken that morning. There was no sign of the headache that had plagued her in the last days at her parents’ house. This should have made her happy, but it just reminded her of Daniel.

She had to go back over the Wall; she couldn’t be here while he was there. And Alice, too. Lily hurried out of the pool, dried herself and dressed quickly. When she reached the top of the steps, an unfamiliar boy sat waiting.

Her breath caught in her throat. He was possibly the most beautiful person she had ever seen.

‘Hello,’ the boy said. He was about Lily’s age, with an incredible smile and fine, regular features. Lily couldn’t take her eyes off his hands, which looked like an artist had drawn them.

‘Is everything all right?’ He was looking at her curiously and Lily realised she’d been staring.

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘Have you been waiting long?’

‘Nope, you get to know the times when there won’t be that many people here.’ His eyes twinkled.

‘Um, well I’ll leave you to it,’ was all Lily could think of to say. His looks were ridiculously distracting and she couldn’t afford to be distracted, not now. She had to stay focussed on going back inside the Wall the next day. Lily nodded quickly and made to pass him, but the boy sprang up nimbly and held out his hand.

‘You must be Lily, our new arrival. I’m Luca.’

‘Hi.’ She took his hand, noticing his heavily scarred wrist. The indented tissue told her that he’d been lucky not to lose his hand. She should stop staring and leave, but he held on to her hand, grinning, so she had to pull away awkwardly. This made him grin even more.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m not used to seeing boys, er, people, my own age.’

‘We all feel a bit like that when we first arrive,’ Luca said.

Lily nodded, biting her lip. ‘Better go …’

‘I take it you were kept inside?’ Luca interrupted.

‘Yeah, my parents …’ She shrugged. ‘I didn’t see much of outside after the Wall went up.’ Her hair was dripping water onto the floor.

‘So, Lily, would you like to see what’s outside our cave?’

‘Sure,’ she said.

‘Okay. I’ll have my bath and then I’ll come and find you when I’m finished.’ He dropped his shirt on the top step, waved and disappeared.

Rosemary was busy sewing when Lily returned. ‘I see you’ve got yourself a towel and soap,’ she said.

‘Yes, Kieran gave them to me.’

‘Our water supply is pretty fantastic, huh?’ Rosemary said.

Lily nodded. ‘Rosemary can you give me something else to wear, please?’ she asked.

Rosemary put down her sewing and laughed. ‘Is that a polite way of asking if there’s anything more stylish?’

‘I don’t care about that,’ Lily said, even though she did a bit. Rosemary’s clothes were too big and without the bandages on her feet, the sandals flapped about.

‘Don’t worry, I was young once,’ Rosemary grinned.

‘I tried to find Peter earlier, to talk about going back over the Wall tomorrow,’ Lily said. ‘He wasn’t in his room.’

‘First things first,’ Rosemary said, leading Lily back out into the cavern. ‘Let’s get you changed and then we’ll see if we can find Peter to talk about the plan for tomorrow.’

‘Rosemary, I’m definitely going,’ Lily said. Rosemary merely nodded.

Following Rosemary, Lily wondered how she was ever going to find her own way around the network of passageways and whether she’d ever fit in here.

People passing them smiled at Rosemary, some of them stopping to exchange a few words. A few people nodded at Lily, most simply stared then looked away.

‘Don’t worry. You’ll meet them all eventually,’ Rosemary said. ‘We’ll just take it slowly.’ She looked at Lily meaningfully.

Lily knew she was going to have to get used to having people all around her; she wanted to get used to it. She’d dreamed about it often enough in her silent house with her silent parents.

Rosemary led her down a passageway to a small room filled with shelves of neatly folded clothes. Shoes in various sizes, designs and conditions lined the walls.

‘We’ve salvaged all of this from abandoned houses inside and outside the Wall. We’re never short of clothing, but it’s always sad going through the houses and taking things, thinking what might have become of people,’ Rosemary explained.

‘It’s good that you’re putting the clothes to use, though,’ Lily said, picking out jeans, shorts and a couple of T-shirts, plus some socks and sneakers. She also helped herself to a hoodie, a hat and some underwear. She kind of liked that these clothes were second-hand.

‘You’re quick,’ Rosemary said. ‘Change out of those clothes. Once you’ve washed them, there’s a place outside where we can leave them to dry. it’s secluded, but we don’t want to take unnecessary risks that might give away our location so there’s always someone rostered on to keep a lookout. If there’s a problem, they hide the clothes.’

‘I thought I’d find you here,’ said a boy’s voice from behind them. ‘If you’re talking about the drying place, I can show you where it is.’

Lily’s heart jumped a little. Luca stood in the doorway. His hair was still wet and he was buttoning his shirt.

‘Oh, hello, Luca,’ Rosemary said. Lily thought she detected a hint of coldness in Rosemary’s tone.

‘You’ve met?’ Rosemary said to Lily, surprised.

‘Yup, in the water area,’ Luca said.

‘Mm.’

Again, that hint of coolness.

‘What’s wrong, Rosemary?’ Lily was sick of not understanding things.

Rosemary sighed. ‘Lily’s been through a lot, Luca. She’s not used to … well … I’ve seen what’s happened before with some of the new girls. I’m asking you to be sensitive to Lily’s needs.’

Lily should have kept her mouth shut. She was blushing so hard she could almost scald someone.

Luca kissed Rosemary quickly on the cheek. ‘Don’t worry so much, Rosie,’ he said.

But Rosemary wasn’t to be charmed. She took a step back from Luca. ‘If I worry it’s because I’m concerned and because I think I have good reason to be.’

Luca just shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

‘I’m going to get changed and wash these clothes,’ Lily said, embarrassed. She turned too quickly, spilling clothes off the top of her pile. Flushing, she grabbed them off the floor.

‘Luca will show you what you need to see,’ Rosemary said softly.

‘I’ll wait for you by the washing pool,’ Luca said.

Lily changed quickly. The new clothes fitted well and the sneakers didn’t rub her feet as she hurried to the water area.

After washing her clothes, she and Luca made their way towards the cave entrance.

As they re-entered the main cavern, a stream of people swept them up. Overcome, Lily clutched her wet clothes against her chest. It was like being caught in a tangle of undergrowth.

The cavern swelled with voices. ‘It’s raining,’ people called out.

Luca took Lily’s arm and his fingers felt hot against her skin. The wave of people carried them outside. There was a strong smell of herbs as they brushed through the hedge curling around the opening. People had spread along the gully, faces turned up, laughing.

Lily was struck by the fact that even with the water supply from underground, people still appreciated rain. She remembered looking forward to the water moon, listening to the patter of drops on the roof and watching the fluid streamers of water through her little gap in the bathroom window. She had tried to fool herself that it was as good as natural rain. Now she was actually experiencing the real thing.

Lily let the water wash over her. It slanted across the sky, driven by the stormy wind. The heat that had struck her when they’d first left the cool of the cave had dissolved as if nature had added cold water to a steaming pot.

Logs and rocks had been laid across the natural waterway that ran along the gully. Cut vegetation had been arranged across the ground that rose up the steep inclines. The storm water swelled and spread out, diverting into small holding areas. The water was gently rising, rather than flooding.

‘The logs and rocks slow down the storm water and stop the flash floods from washing away the soil,’ Luca said, leaning close to Lily and speaking loudly to make himself heard over the noise of the rain.

His breath on her neck made Lily shiver.

‘We’re slowly building up the topsoil,’ Luca continued, ‘so that one day we’ll be able to grow food and run stock. Hopefully by that time we’ll be able to live here openly, without threat from the Committee and their yes-men.’

Lily nodded dubiously. It was hard to imagine a time like that would ever come.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped. The clouds thinned out and steam began to rise from the earth. People trickled back to the cavern to escape the rising heat, but Luca led Lily against the flow.

The drying place was tucked beneath the lip of the gully. It was a small, perfectly formed natural sandstone amphitheatre that faced west, bearing the full brunt of the sun. Scrubby bushes lined the periphery.

A girl was busy laying out washing over the bushes. She wore a hat and long sleeves, despite the heat.