Part 17 (1/2)
9:00 a.m. GMT onwards, July 29, 2019
A t seventeen, Jack should have taken Sparky aside at the first opportunity to ask him how it was, was she hot, and to give him all the details. But that would have been in normal times, and these times were far from normal. There was a quietness to Sparky the next morning, and while Jenna helped Ruben and Rosemary prepare the best breakfast they could from old tinned foods, Jack sat beside his friend on the sofa.
”Okay, mate?”
”Yeah.”
”Hope today's a bit better than yesterday.”
”Well...” Sparky began, then he smiled. ”Yesterday was mixed.”
”What's up?”
Sparky sighed. He scratched at his arm where his brother's name was tattooed, then leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. ”We've got no control over any of this, you know? We follow Rosemary from one mess to the next. We lose Lucy-Anne, and can't do anything to try and help or find her, and how b.l.o.o.d.y frustrating is that?”
”We all feel the same. But Rosemary's right, there's no way of even guessing where she is.” He drummed his fingers on his knee, tapped his foot. He'd dreamed about Lucy-Anne, but today he could not remember his dreams.
”And last night, Jack. My first time. Incredible. And...I should be telling Steve about it, you know? I should tell him, and he should laugh and be pleased, and it should be a secret from Mum and Dad because that's just the way it is with brothers...” He trailed off, blinking slowly.
”You just told me,” Jack said.
Sparky looked at him with tears in his eyes. ”Thanks.”
”You're welcome. s.h.i.+thead.”
”Ha!” Sparky stood and stretched, leaned sideways so that he could see through the hallway and into the kitchen, then turned back to Jack. ”Mate,” he whispered, ”she was hot!”
Emily came down a few minutes later, and they all sat around the kitchen table and ate baked beans, hot dog sausages, and tinned peaches. For what it was, Jack enjoyed it immensely.
He tried not to catch Jenna's eyes, embarra.s.sed, but he felt her glancing at him all through breakfast. When he finally stood to tidy up, he took an empty tin from her hand and she held on tight. He looked at her, and realised what a fool he'd been. She looked so anxious and tense, that when he smiled and winked she seemed to deflate.
”Thank you!” she said as she let go of the tin, but Jack knew the real thanks was for something else entirely. Yeah, he'd certainly been a fool. He'd known that Jenna had liked him, just not how much.
”Ruben will be leaving us soon,” Rosemary said. ”He's not one for sneaking along dangerous streets and scrambling through tunnels.”
”I'd only get stuck,” he said, tapping his not inconsiderable stomach.
”Are you going home?” Emily asked, and a dark cloud touched Ruben's face.
”Yes, dear,” he said. ”All the way home.”
”Thanks for taking a bullet out of my guts with your bare hands,” Jenna said, raising her bottle of water in a toast.
”Any time.”
”b.l.o.o.d.y hope not!” Sparky said, and they all laughed.
As they left, Rosemary took a quick look around the house, her expression blank. ”Doubt we'll use this place again,” she said.
”Why not?” asked Emily.
”Too dangerous, dear. I've stayed here three times myself, and Ruben a couple of times. Too much activity attracts attention.”
”So it'll just stay shut up?” Jack asked.
”Yes. Once we're out, I'll drop the key down a gutter grating.”
Sparky checked that the coast was clear before they trailed out into the street. It was still early, only seven thirty, and the air was cool and clear. Pigeons cooed softly from window sills and rooftops, a scruffy ginger cat strolled without care along the middle of the road, but apart from that all was quiet.
Rosemary pulled the door closed until it clicked. Jack didn't like thinking about the empty house, and how it could be like that forever. They had filled it with life for a night, and even some love, and now it stood alone and abandoned once again, one of many sad monuments to the foolishness of humanity. There were a hundred thousand buildings like this all over London. Houses were built to be lived in, not left empty, home only to the dust of memories.
They walked along the street, and when they came to a gutter Rosemary dropped the key through the grating. Jack heard a faint splash, and the house was lost to them. If anyone ever explored its insides again, they would have to smash down the door or break a window first.
He noticed Sparky and Jenna share a glance and wondered what they were thinking right then.
Ruben said his goodbyes, sparing Rosemary a hug. They seemed very close. Jack and his friends gave their quiet thanks, then the fat man sauntered away, his incredible hands swinging by his sides. There goes another miracle, Jack thought. The city killed by humans seemed full of miracles today.
Rosemary huddled them together at the end of the street. She listened for a minute, head c.o.c.ked, but there was nothing to hear except the birds.
”It's not too far until we go back belowground,” she said. ”As I told you, Jack, she spends most of her time down in the old Tube station. But I promised to be honest with you from now on, so I have to tell you, the place is disguised. And it's protected from the Choppers.”
”Protected how?” he asked, instantly fearing the worst. Alligators? Lions? Monsters?
”There are two people down there, boy and girl twins, whose seventh sense has been incredibly boosted.”
”Seventh?” Emily asked.
”That's what they call it, for want of a better description. They can project images and ideas onto people's minds. It's remarkable...and it can be really quite disturbing, too. Everyone who goes down there has to pa.s.s through the twins' projections. Those who should know about the hospital can work through them, because they know the images are false. Anyone else...they wouldn't go very far.”
”What sort of images?” Jack asked.
Rosemary pursed her lips. ”They won't be very nice. But I'll tell you when we're getting closer, and you'll all have to...”
”Work through it,” Jenna finished for her.
”Yes, dear.”
”Piece of cake,” Sparky said. Jenna glanced at him and smiled, and Jack felt the growing warmth between the two of them. It made him feel good.
”Maybe Lucy-Anne will be down there,” he said. But no one answered, and he realised it was a vain hope.
They set off, walking through the early morning streets and watching the wildlife. It was unsettling, and yet beautiful, how so many animals had made the devastated city their home, as if nature had been patiently awaiting its moment. All the usual birds that Jack would expect to see in a city were there; pigeons, sparrows, starlings, blackbirds, magpies, and the occasional robin. But he also saw a woodp.e.c.k.e.r, wrens, a kingfisher skimming a ca.n.a.l, goldfinches, siskins, and several pairs of buzzards circling with their offspring. The untempered plant growth throughout the city sustained many more seed-eating birds, and close behind them came the birds of prey.
The birdsong barely lessened as they walked along the street. The creatures were confident. That, Jack thought, was the unsettling part of it. This was no longer a city of people where the birds had to find their own way to survive. Now, the situation had been reversed.
Rosemary made them pause every few minutes and hide in a garden or an alleyway, just to take time to listen and watch for any dangers. They heard no motors, though once an aircraft flew past high overhead. It was fast and loud, and obviously military. Rosemary made them hide in a burnt-out shop, afraid of the detection technology the aircraft might have.
After the aircraft had gone, and as they approached a road junction, a lioness stepped into view from the street perpendicular to theirs. She was sleek and fit-looking, and she paused to look their way.