“Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“But if it does. What then?”
Noah looked at her. Mouth ajar. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that something might happen to her. That she might fall into some kind of danger.
But it was a possibility he had to face up to. A very real threat.
What would he do if something happened to Iqrah?
“I’ll worry about that if it comes to it. Which it won’t. But for now… we’ve gotta focus on this. On what we’re gonna do next.”
“What do you think?” Iqrah asked.
Noah looked around. He wasn’t expecting to be asked what he thought. The question threw him. Disoriented him a little.
He wanted to tell Iqrah what she wanted to hear.
But instead, he just levelled with her. Told her the truth.
“I don’t like it. One bit. But I know you’re right. And Kirsty’s right, too. What other choice do we have?”
Iqrah didn’t say anything. Not for a while.
Then she reached over. Fumbled, and placed her hand on Noah’s.
“One final push,” she said. “One final journey. Then we get there. We make it.”
He looked into Iqrah’s glazed eyes and wanted to tell her it was never going to be ‘one final journey’. Not with the Society after them. Not with their abilities. This was their life now.
And he knew deep down Iqrah realised that anyway.
But he put his thumb on the back of her hand. Squeezed a little.
And this time, he did tell her what she needed to hear right now.
“One final journey,” he said.
He saw Iqrah nod. Saw a slight reassured smile to her face.
Then he looked around at Kirsty sitting there on the other side of the road.
“One thing, though,” Noah said.
“Go on.”
“Our… abilities. I think it would be better if maybe we didn’t tell Kirsty about them.”
Iqrah was quiet for a few moments. Like she was really weighing things up. And Noah felt conflicted about it. Because simply being in their presence was dangerous for Kirsty.
But at the same time, he didn’t want Kirsty knowing everything about him and Iqrah. Not yet.
“Unless she already knows, with you going missing.”
“She doesn’t know,” Iqrah said.
“We keep it that way?”
Iqrah took a deep breath. Sighed. “I guess. But she’ll find out eventually, one way or another.”
Noah nodded. It wasn’t ideal. But it was about as much of a commitment as he was going to get.
“Come on then,” Noah said. “Let’s get moving. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.”
And then, hand in hand, they walked towards Kirsty; towards a new beginning; towards a final journey.
One final journey.
That was the lie he’d tell himself today.
“You guys ready?” Kirsty asked.
Noah looked at Iqrah. At Bruno. He wanted to say no. He wanted to resist. Wanted to go his own way. Giving up control, it didn’t sit easy with him. Made him cautious. Nervous.
But he knew he had to, now.
He looked back at Kirsty, then he nodded.
“We’re ready,” he said.
Kirsty smiled. “Good,” she said. “Then let’s get going.”
Chapter Eleven
Colin Hendrickson saw Blackpool Tower up ahead, and he smiled.
He’d always liked Blackpool. Ever since his old stepdad used to bring him up here as a kid. Loved the lights. Loved the candy floss. Loved the arcades. It was like heaven to him. Didn’t understand how anyone could hate it, not really.
Sure, he got it was a bit tacky. But what damned sissy ass kid cared about “tacky” anyhow?
All that should matter to a kid was fun. Real good fun.
And Blackpool ticked all those damned boxes.
He stepped onto the promenade and took a deep breath of that fresh sea air. Well. Not exactly “fresh” anymore. Bit of a sourness to things like everywhere else. But it was fresher than some places, anyway. Could always count on frigging Blackpool to bring a bit of freshness to the world in these shitty times.
He stood there with his rifle in his hands. Wrapped head to toe in this tight black gear, mask over his face. He hated the damned masks. It was just pseudoscientific bullshit at the end of the day. Truth was, no mask could save you from the virus if it were gonna get you. He’d seen it himself, so many times.
Besides. There were bigger threats than the virus out there these days. Those Red bastards, those old Society fuckers who’d defected. They were the real danger.
But he kept his mask on today. ’Cause he’d heard stuff. Talk. Rumours about shit going down here in Blackpool.
Shit he and three others had been tasked with investigating.
He looked at the road ahead. There’d been a small group stationed here for a good couple of years now. Tents and stuff. Might be deep into No Man’s Land, but they allowed ’em to exist here ’cause they didn’t cause any trouble. Had a few conflicts and scraps early on and whatever, sure. But most of these No Man’s Land lot weren’t all that bad once you got to know them. Some nutters amongst them, sure. But for the most part, they were just folks trying to make their own ways in life.
But Colin and his gang were here today from District 16 for two reasons. Not just because of the weird shit going doing—the radios scrambling, the sightings of helicopters at the coast. That shit was one thing they were investigating, sure, but it wasn’t everything.
Because the main reason he was here?
A sighting. A sighting of the girl, Iqrah. And the dude, Noah.
The ones who’d escaped the labs. The special ones. The ones who had these “abilities,” apparently. Abilities the Society were desperate to get their hands on to try and reverse the virus. Humanity’s greatest hope, that’s what they said.
Truth be told, Colin thought it was all bullshit. Humanity’s greatest hope was locking itself down and staying as goddamned-far away from the virus as it possibly could.
But the Society seemed pretty serious about these folks.
And looking at the mass of bodies on the promenade before him—infected bodies, no damned doubt—Colin started to wonder if the things
