we’re doing.’
‘And what do you say back?’
‘I tell them we’re scavenging, exploring, that kind of thing.’
‘I don’t get it. They always wave us east, never north. I thought they wanted to scare us north and leave the city to them.’
Jono stirred. ‘Hey, yeah. That’s right. We’ve beengoing east all this time. Can’t you ask your
brethren
to let us through?’
In a fight with Jono, I’d be the one surfacing with fewer teeth than I took in and fewer bones in working order, but there’s times, I swear, there’s times it’d be worth it, just to see how far I could get. I bit my tongue and shut up.
But Dash pulled the beetle chugging to the gutter. ‘It’s true, Nik. We’re in Moldam North already. We’re gonna end up at Port at this rate.’
‘There must be a way through,’ said Jono. ‘They can’t be holding the whole bank – that’d mean they had all the bridges. No way could they have all the bridges. They’d need firepower and organization way beyond what they’ve got.’
‘We don’t know what they’ve got,’ I said.
‘You might,’ said Jono.
‘Jono,’ said Dash. ‘Leave it!’
I said, ‘If they’re so disorganized, how in the hell are their roadblocks so well armed? And where the hell is our freakin’ army?’
‘Go and ask them,’ said Dash.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Sure.’
‘I’m not kidding. We need to go north and we’re not going north. I don’t know how much longer this fuel cell will hold up. You can talk to them – you could be one of them. Go, ask.’
‘I’m not one of them!’
‘Okay, okay, but you could be. If the cell gives out while we’re still here, we’re stuck. We could be there by tomorrow night if we can just get through. Ask them how far they’ve got, that’s all.’
‘Got my vote,’ said Jono.
Fyffe stopped praying in that whispering way of hers and said, ‘We’ll make it. I know we will.’
Silence from everyone. I listened to my heart hammering.
Dash said, ‘I’ll keep the engine running – if they sense you’re a city kid just take off back here and we’ll run for it.’
‘Dash, if they sense I’m a city kid, they’ll shoot me.’
Jono said, ‘Scared, are we?’
‘Jono –’ said Dash.
I got out of the car and looked back at their faces – wide eyed and pale under the dirt. I must’ve looked as bad. ‘Yeah,’ I said to Jono. ‘I think we are.’ I looked at Sol. ‘Back soon.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Don’t go.’
I went to look for a roadblock.
CHAPTER 10
I headed back to the corner we’d just come around and stopped in the doorway of a tiny shop that a week ago had been a friendly little lunch bar. A whitewash scrawl on its broken window announced cheese rolls and meat pasties, which, in different circumstances, might have depressed me – we hadn’t eaten anything for a whole day. A street sign on the wall said Moldam Road. Behind me, the road ran down to the river through terraced houses hung with signs about rooms to rent, money to lend, old gear to buy and sell. A couch, a table and chairs, and a flatscreen sat on the pavement outside one of them, and I wondered whether that was looters busy looting, or some brave soul thinking, why should business stop for war? In the distance Moldam Bridge, the Mol, arched against the afternoon sky.
Ahead of me the road climbed a hill through moreof the same. About twenty houses up was the roadblock we’d just been turned back from – four people were sitting on the pavement smoking. They were Breken, and they had guns.
Taking armed hostiles by surprise seemed like a bad idea so I walked into the middle of the road. Of course, walking up a hill with hostiles training guns on you isn’t such a great idea either. I made myself put one foot in front of the other while my brain was spinning in panic about how was I going to ask anything without them thinking there was something odd about this scruffy kid – like, why does he look so terrified and
‘And what do you say back?’
‘I tell them we’re scavenging, exploring, that kind of thing.’
‘I don’t get it. They always wave us east, never north. I thought they wanted to scare us north and leave the city to them.’
Jono stirred. ‘Hey, yeah. That’s right. We’ve beengoing east all this time. Can’t you ask your
brethren
to let us through?’
In a fight with Jono, I’d be the one surfacing with fewer teeth than I took in and fewer bones in working order, but there’s times, I swear, there’s times it’d be worth it, just to see how far I could get. I bit my tongue and shut up.
But Dash pulled the beetle chugging to the gutter. ‘It’s true, Nik. We’re in Moldam North already. We’re gonna end up at Port at this rate.’
‘There must be a way through,’ said Jono. ‘They can’t be holding the whole bank – that’d mean they had all the bridges. No way could they have all the bridges. They’d need firepower and organization way beyond what they’ve got.’
‘We don’t know what they’ve got,’ I said.
‘You might,’ said Jono.
‘Jono,’ said Dash. ‘Leave it!’
I said, ‘If they’re so disorganized, how in the hell are their roadblocks so well armed? And where the hell is our freakin’ army?’
‘Go and ask them,’ said Dash.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Sure.’
‘I’m not kidding. We need to go north and we’re not going north. I don’t know how much longer this fuel cell will hold up. You can talk to them – you could be one of them. Go, ask.’
‘I’m not one of them!’
‘Okay, okay, but you could be. If the cell gives out while we’re still here, we’re stuck. We could be there by tomorrow night if we can just get through. Ask them how far they’ve got, that’s all.’
‘Got my vote,’ said Jono.
Fyffe stopped praying in that whispering way of hers and said, ‘We’ll make it. I know we will.’
Silence from everyone. I listened to my heart hammering.
Dash said, ‘I’ll keep the engine running – if they sense you’re a city kid just take off back here and we’ll run for it.’
‘Dash, if they sense I’m a city kid, they’ll shoot me.’
Jono said, ‘Scared, are we?’
‘Jono –’ said Dash.
I got out of the car and looked back at their faces – wide eyed and pale under the dirt. I must’ve looked as bad. ‘Yeah,’ I said to Jono. ‘I think we are.’ I looked at Sol. ‘Back soon.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Don’t go.’
I went to look for a roadblock.
CHAPTER 10
I headed back to the corner we’d just come around and stopped in the doorway of a tiny shop that a week ago had been a friendly little lunch bar. A whitewash scrawl on its broken window announced cheese rolls and meat pasties, which, in different circumstances, might have depressed me – we hadn’t eaten anything for a whole day. A street sign on the wall said Moldam Road. Behind me, the road ran down to the river through terraced houses hung with signs about rooms to rent, money to lend, old gear to buy and sell. A couch, a table and chairs, and a flatscreen sat on the pavement outside one of them, and I wondered whether that was looters busy looting, or some brave soul thinking, why should business stop for war? In the distance Moldam Bridge, the Mol, arched against the afternoon sky.
Ahead of me the road climbed a hill through moreof the same. About twenty houses up was the roadblock we’d just been turned back from – four people were sitting on the pavement smoking. They were Breken, and they had guns.
Taking armed hostiles by surprise seemed like a bad idea so I walked into the middle of the road. Of course, walking up a hill with hostiles training guns on you isn’t such a great idea either. I made myself put one foot in front of the other while my brain was spinning in panic about how was I going to ask anything without them thinking there was something odd about this scruffy kid – like, why does he look so terrified and
Similar Books
