Her entire body froze.
She lowered her rifle and felt a smile stretch across her face.
“Noah,” she said.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Johnny Burch stared into the distance and smiled.
It was early morning. They’d been walking all goddamned night. At first, he wasn’t sure why he’d been sent on a bullshit mission like this. Something about a girl, a guy, how special they both were.
But then he’d heard rumours. Whispers. Talks that this man and this girl were the answer; that they were the key. They were the ones they were looking for.
He’d been sceptical at first. Sounded like some Society bullshit, not the kind of crap Reds like him were supposed to buy into. Too corny. Too far-fetched.
But then he’d seen the bodies. He’d seen the exploded heads. How they matched up with the reports of what this girl and this dude were capable of.
He’d stayed back. Watched the alleyway from afar.
Watched his friends shake and writhe and…
Yeah. They popped. Popped like a fucking firework display in the middle of November.
And then he’d stood there and waited a little longer. ’Cause he needed to know. He needed to see for himself.
He was waiting a good goddamned while before there was any movement. Any sound at all.
But eventually, out of nowhere, he saw her.
She staggered out of the alleyway. Looked like she was trying to crawl along the wall like she couldn’t see a damned thing. And that’s when he realised she couldn’t see a damned thing. She looked around. Looked right at him. But her eyes were all glazed. Looked right goddamned through him.
There was this mutt with her, too. Limping away. Whining. Little shit. Johnny never liked dogs. Crushed as many dog skulls as he could since the world went to shit—and a few before then, too.
Really wanted to get his boots all into this one’s brains, too.
But shit. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.
He stared into the distance. Smiled. Saw the industrial site up ahead. Well populated. Plenty of people here. No bother. Not yet, anyway.
Sad to say, he was about to bring a whole world of shit onto the doorstep of this place.
He thought back to the moment he’d found the girl.
She turned around. Walked in the opposite direction to him. Even the dog didn’t seem interested in him either.
Not until he stood up.
Shuffled around to get a good sight on her.
And as much as he wanted to put a bullet in her… he knew how “important” she apparently was. The boss would never fucking forgive him.
So he’d switched to the darts.
After that, it all happened so goddamned fast.
The girl turned around.
So too did the dog.
Johnny fired three of those darts into her chest for good measure.
Went to fire a couple at the dog, too, only for it to limp off and disappear into nowhere.
“Fucker,” he shouted.
He ran over to the girl, who slumped to the road. A little blood rolling from her nose. Looked around for the dog, but with no luck.
“Fucker. I’ll crush your fucking skull eventually, you little shit.”
He looked down at the girl. Her eyes closed. Her body shaking, just a little, with these weird vibrations of energy. Like she was gonna be hot to the touch.
He shook his head. Lifted her up. Threw her over his shoulder.
No girl or woman was getting the better of him. Never had, never would. Just the way in his life.
He looked off into the distance and saw a derelict old bus. Shivers crept up his back. He remembered what he’d seen earlier that day. Those bodies. The ones with the weird slime all over them.
And then the whispers.
The talk of helicopters.
The talk of something coming. Someone coming.
Someone far, far bigger than Society.
He spat on the ground.
Turned around, Iqrah on his shoulder.
Then he walked back towards his friend.
Johnny Burch took a deep breath as he stood there, staring at this industrial estate.
Two people walking towards it.
A woman. Short bitch.
And a man.
One arm.
He looked down at the girl’s sleeping, unconscious face beside him, and he smiled.
It was time to get to work.
It was time to end this.
Once and for all.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Noah saw Kelly in the distance, and a smile crossed his face right away.
It was getting late. The sun was setting over the industrial estate, casting an orange glow. It felt strange being back here so soon. The last time he’d seen Kelly, he was pretty much convinced he’d never see her again. Seeing her again would be dangerous—for her.
But Iqrah was gone. Bruno was gone. Kirsty was gone.
And he knew exactly where they were going to end up if they weren’t careful.
Which meant he had to try something different.
He had to open himself up. He had to let someone else in.
He had to believe in Kelly when she said she wanted to help him, even if helping him might put her in grave danger.
“This the place?” Shel asked. “Really?”
Noah rolled his eyes. “It’s a better suggestion than fucking Renault’s place, surely?”
She tilted her head. “Fair point. If us two just rocked up at Renault’s, it’d be bye-bye. If there’s a few more folks… Hell. Maybe we’ll actually be able to speak a little sense into him.”
“That’s the plan,” he said.
He looked ahead at Kelly. Couldn’t actually believe she was standing right there, waiting for him. Some would say it was fucking cheesy. Or contrived. He was beginning to learn that life worked in weird ways, and one of its weirdest ways was the way it seemed dead set on bringing people back together.
He hoped the same was true for Iqrah. For Kirsty. For Bruno.
He had to believe it would be.
“And this chick,” Shel said. “You really think she’s gonna just agree to what you’re suggesting?”
Noah swallowed a lump in his throat. “It’s not gonna be easy. But if anyone can win people over to her way of thinking, it’s Kelly.”
“You really trust her, huh?”
Noah looked around at Shel. As hard as it was to do, he nodded. “Yeah. She’s probably the last person left who
