Something in the way she said it turned William’s blood cold. However they can.
His movements erratic like that of a diseased, the scavenger’s arms twitched, spasms snapping through him. He giggled to himself.
More shifting in the shadows, several more scavengers emerged as if birthed from the surrounding buildings. How did they hide themselves so well? Men and women, some of them children as young as nine or ten. At least ten to fifteen of them. They formed a semicircle around the suspended soldier.
As if buoyed by the support of his peers, the scrawny man burst to life. He closed the final few feet between him and the soldier. He turned one way and then the other as if spooked by his surroundings. On his third erratic shift, he fixed on a large lump of rubble, skipped to it, and giggled as he dragged it back to the boy. He stepped up onto the lump of concrete so he stood at the same height as the soldier.
A check over each shoulder again. The scavenger’s crew remained close by. He grabbed the soldier’s hair and lifted his limp head. Eyeball to eyeball with the boy, he leaned so close their noses touched. He giggled the entire time.
Several of the older males in the group clicked their tongues. The sharp cracks whipped through the abandoned streets.
The scavenger on the lump of rubble poked the boy’s face. Was he testing him? Seeing if he’d suddenly burst to life?
This seemed to satisfy the others, who closed in. The children and women replaced the tongue-clicks with a low hum. They continued to hold back, their tone increasing in volume.
“What are they going to do to him?” Artan said.
One of the older males stepped forwards. The one on the rubble jumped clear. The group’s scout, he made sure everything was safe for the elders. The older male carried a blade, the glint of it catching the moonlight. He stepped up onto the rubble and sawed into the soldier’s bicep.
The soldier dragged a breath in through his clenched teeth. His chest swelled and his eyes rolled in a battle for consciousness. He yelled when the elder made a second cut.
But the strength left the soldier, blood raining down from his wound as the elder held up a strip of wet flesh. A slug of human anatomy. He held it over his open mouth in a pinch before letting it fall.
Blood ran over the elder’s lips and chin as he turned to face the others while he chewed on the soldier.
All the while, the women and children hummed.
The elder jumped from the rock to make space for the scout. The next one to feed. He now also had a blade in his hand.
As the scout cut into the boy’s stomach, Dianna barked with an effort to suppress a heave and stumbled away down the stairs.
Her steps heavy, she ran into the darkness, retching as she vanished. The splash of vomit hit the tiled floor far enough away to not attract the scavengers’ attention.
Before the scout feasted on his cut of flesh, William and the others followed Dianna back into the station. A thick tang of vomit hung in the air.
It took a few seconds for William’s stomach to settle. “You never told us about them,” he said to Gracie.
“I’ve already told you, there’s a lot to know about this city, and I haven’t had time to explain it all.”
Olga threw her arms wide, the slap of them hitting her sides when they came back down again. “And you didn’t think the scavengers might have been worth mentioning? And if not, what the fuck else are we going to run into that you’ve not told us about?”
“I’m not withholding information,” Gracie said.
“You are.” Matilda this time.
“But I’ve already said, if I held a Q and A about what lies ahead, we would have been on the edge of the city for another week. Look, this is the last time I’ll offer this; if you want to go back, I’ll help you return to the edge of the city.” She pointed towards the scavengers. “When I get to the top of those stairs, I’m not turning around. I can’t promise you what we’ll come across, but I can promise you I’ll do my best to make sure you’re safe. If you listen to me.”
Hawk remained unconscious, lying on his back on the train station’s dirty tiled floor.
“One thing I’m pretty certain of, is you’ll witness some more awful things before we’re out of the other side of this place. But I’ve done this enough times to be confident we can get through. You need to decide what you want to do.”
As one, the group turned to look at William. Even Olga.
Chapter 7
If they wanted to get south of the wall, the easiest and most efficient way would be to pass through the city. William had seen one of the walled communities bordering the ruins, and if Gracie had told them the truth, another one sat on the other side. Surely, using the abandoned buildings as cover had to be their best chance of getting through unnoticed. They’d stand out from a mile away if they tried to travel across open land. When William put that to the group, none of them objected.
They gave Hawk the time he needed to recover from Olga’s punch and to then apologise for being a moron. While they waited in the train station’s darkness, the soldier’s screams ended, and the chains rattled from where they untied him and took his body away.
The moon created more shadows than light. Danger could have been hiding in the darkness, but they couldn’t let unseen enemies halt their progress. They stepped from the station onto a wide road, the asphalt streaked with cracks packed with dense clumps of grass.
They were all on a strict order to only talk when essential. Questioning Gracie’s choices didn’t count as essential. Not that it stopped Olga trying every time they slowed down.
William ran
