“Come back,” she said.
“I can’t promise that.”
“Come back. Please.”
He wanted to argue. Wanted to protest. Didn’t want to make any promises.
But in the end, he just tightened his arm around her. A reassuring squeeze.
“I’ll do my best.”
He turned around, then. Saw Shel kicking the dirt on the ground, eyes lowered.
“Keep an eye on this one, Kel,” Noah said. “Her heart’s in the right place. But she’s a bugger.”
Shel looked up at him. Scowled. “High praise, dickhead.”
“Yeah, well. Look after yourself. Glad you saw the light in the end.”
“Whatever,” she said. “You’re not all that bad.”
A cough through the megaphone.
“In case you’d forgotten,” the voice said. “We have some very fucking serious business to deal with here.”
Noah looked around. A shiver ran down his spine. His mouth went dry.
He saw the guard. Saw Iqrah beside him.
He saw an inevitable confrontation he was going to have to face up to, sooner than later.
He tightened his fist.
Gritted his teeth.
“I’ll fix this,” he said. “I’ll sort it. I promise.”
He didn’t totally believe his own words.
But he took a deep breath and walked into the distance, towards the Reds, towards Iqrah.
The sun sunk below the horizon, and the blood-red landscape turned jet black.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Noah stepped up to the Reds, to Iqrah, and stopped right in front of them.
The darkness had set in. He looked over his shoulder, back at the industrial estate. Saw Kelly standing there. Shel standing there. A few others behind them now, rifles raised, standing their ground. Like they were watching over him. Standing their ground in case anything happened. Showing solidarity with Noah.
And as much as he knew there wasn’t a damned thing they could do to help him, it felt good having them there, watching over him. He felt stronger, somehow. He didn’t feel alone.
The leader of this group stared at Noah. Rifle still pointed to Iqrah’s head. “Well,” he said. “That took a while, didn’t it?”
Noah looked at Iqrah. Lying there. Eyes closed. Rifle to her head. “Can we stop fucking around now?”
The Red’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You could’ve just fired one of those darts into me the second you saw me. Why the theatrics?”
The Red smiled. Laughed. “Ah, Noah. The more we pump you guys with that shit, the more we weaken what you’ve got. Now, we had to pump Iqrah here with some of it. Had to get her to comply. She’s a slippery one. Stronger, too. And anyway. Figured we only had to sedate one of you to get the other to comply.”
Noah nodded. It added up. They were right, of course. Iqrah was his weakness. Didn’t matter how much of a strong front he tried to put across. They knew he’d do anything for her, to protect her, and they’d tapped right into that weakness. No point even trying to hide it.
“So what’s the plan here?” Noah asked. “You take me back to your place. You test on us. You kill us trying to extract what we’ve got. And then what?”
“And then it ends,” the Red said. “We find a way to distribute what we’ve got. Or... well. We make sure our people are safe. We make sure our people are protected. We make it the appeal of our place. The draw of our place. That’s how we achieve order. That’s how we achieve power.”
Noah nodded. Smiled. He might’ve known. There couldn’t be consensus for the common good of humanity. There had to be a descent into tribalism. There had to be these battles for power, for control. It’d always been the way. Why did he ever believe it would ever be any different once the Society was involved?
Tribalism was humanity’s way.
“And if it doesn’t work?” Noah asked.
The Red puffed out his lips. “Well, we keep trying. We’ve had our setbacks before. There’ll be more out there like you. Like Iqrah. A long search, sure. But it won’t be the end of the world.”
“And you’re really willing to put a bullet into Iqrah’s head?” Noah asked. “You’d really kill her just to get me on board?”
The Red shrugged. “As long as we hold on to one of you, we’ll find another, you know? It’s not ideal. Believe me. But like I say. It’s a risk we’re willing to take.”
It was the nonchalance he said it with that scared Noah. At first, he thought he might be bluffing. Questioned just how serious he was.
But now, standing here, he had no choice but to believe him.
He sounded like he really meant it.
“The time for dicking about is over,” the Red said. “Truth is... your friends over there. You don’t want to put them in danger. Iqrah here. You don’t want to put her in danger either. You’re a noble man. And I know you’d die before Iqrah here died. If that’s what it comes to, well. It’s what it comes to. But I’d far rather you just complied. Far rather you just joined us here. Think about the benefits to society, too. To your friends. To—”
“To your people,” Noah said.
The Red sighed. “Look. Your friends over there. The second they hear we’re rolling out a vaccine, a cure, whatever... you really think they aren’t gonna want to join us? Help us, and you help them. What you’re doing is selfish, really. You’re thinking about yourself and not really seeing the bigger picture.”
Noah felt conflicted again. Because he heard the guy’s concerns. He knew how valuable he was. How valuable Iqrah was. How much they could help.
But then there was that conflicting voice.
“I do see the bigger picture,” he said. “And the bigger picture is... I don’t trust you people with the future of this country.”
The Red sighed. Tilted his head. “Well, that’s just a shame, isn’t it?”
Noah looked down at Iqrah, sitting there underneath that rifle.
He saw her closed eyes.
Saw the dried blood on her nose.
Saw...
Her eyes opened.
She looked up, just for a moment.
And even though her eyes looked glazed, even though she looked
