Olga replied in a sombre tone, “They’re not here yet. We hoped you might have them with you.”
“Shit.” Something else lay beneath Olga’s delivery. The slightest hint of an apology. “You’ve held up four fingers to the camera, haven’t you?”
“It’s been a couple of hours since we left the arena. Can you blame us?”
“You could—”
“How long did you expect us to wait? How long is too long?”
“So you’re ready to trust Gracie now?” William said. “Now it means saving your arse.”
Olga sighed. “Really, William? After all we’ve been through. Besides, is there another option that’s going to get us out of here? We’re tired.”
“And I’m not?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Look.” Max spoke this time. “We decided together. We’ve waited.”
“Not long enough.”
“Come on, William,” Max said, “we’re going around in circles now.”
Olga said, “We all need to rest and get cleaned up.”
William shrugged, for what good it did in the darkness. Max had been to hell and back. He’d not been himself for weeks now. He’d earned the right to rest. “I’m not going with you. Not until I’ve found Matilda and Artan. I’d rather die than leave them behind.”
Light flooded into the space. William spun in the door’s direction, mirroring Hawk as he readied his baton.
“Gracie,” Max said. His voice cracked from where he clearly struggled to hold onto his emotions. “Thank you for coming.”
The red-headed girl dipped a stoic nod, slipped into the room, and closed the door behind her. “Where are Artan and Matilda?”
“We don’t know,” William said.
“But Olga signalled for me to come and get you. We never come into the city in the daylight. That’s the rules. Are you now telling me you’re not ready to leave?”
“No.” Olga’s firm voice whipped around the enclosed space. “I’m ready to go, and I’m pretty sure Hawk and Max are too.”
When neither of the boys argued, William’s heart sank. His voice weak, he said, “I’m not. I can’t give up hope on Matilda and Artan. If that means you won’t come back and we’re on our own after this, then so be it.”
A soft hand rested against William’s forearm, and Gracie spoke gentle words. “I will come back, but not in daylight again.”
“At least that gives me the entire day. Better to have a bit too much time than not enough.”
“Okay,” Gracie said. “We’ll monitor the camera for your return. The same thing applies. When you’re ready for me to come and get you, hold up four fingers on your right hand. Unless I see you waiting with Matilda and Artan.”
“You will see me with them.”
“I hope so. Right, let’s get the hell out of here before I regret my decision to come out while it’s light.”
Dazzled again by the sun’s glare, William blinked while his friends followed Gracie, and then joined them in leaving the tower. There seemed little point in waiting alone in the dark. If Matilda and Artan hadn’t made it to the tower by now, the chances were they needed his help.
Chapter 34
Where else for William to go but back to the arena? He’d travelled the relatively safe route across the rooftops and now stood several hundred feet from the enormous structure. An open patch of concrete separated him from the sporting venue. A spot where fans would have gathered on match day, waiting for the big event. But instead of fans, over one hundred diseased congregated in the space. They snarled and snapped, hissed and spat. They slammed into one another with their aimless wanderings. Many of them were dressed in Fear’s blue uniforms. The pity that usually twisted through his stomach to witness the wretched degradation of a human being was remarkably absent for those dressed in blue. The matching clothes highlighted the uniformity of their purpose. A hive mind with just one goal. The disease drove them. Slaves to it, they existed to ensure it thrived.
But no sign of Matilda and Artan. Unless …
Five drones hovered around the corner of the large arena like wasps around a rotting apple. They swerved and twisted, bobbed and weaved. They were waiting for something. But what?
Matilda and Artan had to still be alive. They were survivors. If he’d gotten away from this in one piece, surely they had too. The mid-morning sun glistened on the scrapes and dents in the arena’s steel roof from where the drones had shot at the building. But they were still there, so they couldn’t have caught their prey. Something held the drones’ attention. Whatever it was, he had to investigate.
Although, how on earth would he get past the creatures between him and the arena?
William crossed over the roofs from one building to the next. He shouldn’t get his hopes up, but it had to be them. Who else would hide so close to the arena? Whoever it was, they were an enemy of the blue army; otherwise the drones would have left them alone. The white gravel crunched beneath his steps. Some small stones sprayed up when he skidded to a halt on the roof of the building next to the scavengers’ warehouse.
Dropping onto his front, William crawled along the gravel and peered over the edge. They’d tied the double doors shut with chains and a chunky padlock. Had they abandoned the place?
Tock!
A scavenger climbed out of a first-floor window onto the metal walkway attached to the side of the building. William drew his baton. He lay flatter than before, the small white stones digging into his chin.
The scavenger, a man with long, greasy, unkempt hair, walked with stooped shoulders and barked a phlegmy cough.
William’s heart slammed against the rough roof.
But the man had come out to check on the diseased.
