Every Second Counts (31 page)

I wandered over to the bed. Lucas, his hands tied like mine, was nudging open the top drawer of the bedside table. He peered inside.

‘Nat?’ he whispered. ‘Look.’

He indicated something in the drawer. As I bent over to see what it was, my vision blurred again and a wave of nausea rolled through me. I stopped moving, closing my eyes for a second, fighting
off the feeling of sickness. How much time did I have left? Another whole day? Until midnight? Whatever, Jas had even less time. Not wanting to think about it, I looked up.

Lucas was still staring down at the drawer. I leaned closer, my vision clearing. A pair of nail scissors met my eyes. The points looked sharp but the blades were short.

‘If you hold them, you can cut through my ropes,’ Lucas said. ‘Then I’ll do yours.’

I thought it was unlikely the scissors would cut through anything tougher than our hair, but it was better than doing nothing.

‘Okay.’ I scrambled off the bed, turned around so my back was to the drawer and felt for the scissors. I opened them and, holding one blade between my fingers, I started sawing at
Lucas’s binding.

Even if we managed to cut through the rope around our wrists there was nothing here – other than the wooden lamp by the bed – that could conceivably be used as any kind of
weapon.

Still, Lucas was not yet showing any effects from the virus and he had once been trained as an EFA agent. If we could get the ropes off we stood a chance of overpowering whoever next came into
the room.

It was hard work, sawing at the rope without being able to get my bodyweight properly behind what I was doing. I frowned, trying to press harder. I couldn’t tell if the scissors were
making any difference or not.

As we worked, Riley’s voice rose up from the floor below. ‘You little idiot. What were you thinking?’ he shouted.

Another voice, younger and male, shouted back. It was Spider. ‘You said no one would die. You said it was controllable.’

‘I said
containable
,’ Riley’s voice was like ice. ‘You know sometimes sacrifices have to—’

‘They’re not
your
sacrifices though, are they?’ Charlie’s voice sounded above the others.

I froze, the scissor blade still in my hand. She was here, just downstairs.

‘Get her
out
of here.’ Riley sounded furious. ‘As for you, Spider, I’m sending you back to your mother.’

Silence fell.

‘Nat.’ Lucas moved his wrists impatiently. ‘
Nat,
keep going.’

I redoubled my efforts with the blade.

Taylor shoved me into the living room. I sank on to the sofa, my head in my hands. Where were Nat, Lucas and Aaron? And what about Parveen and Mayor Latimer and the rest of the
resistance? Where was Riley keeping them? Were they prisoners somewhere in the house? Or were they already dead?

At first I had thought it was Spider who had betrayed us. After all, he was the one who had told us about the Silvercross Institute. But as soon as we’d got back to Riley’s home,
Uchi had explained that he had been suspicious of Spider and forced the truth out of him earlier today.

‘I told him I didn’t want anything to happen to you,’ he had said.

‘So Spider thought he could trust you?’ I shook my head, despair filling me to my fingertips. I couldn’t believe after all my efforts I was back here, a prisoner, and that
Taylor had taken the vials of antidote I’d found.

At least I knew Spider had genuinely tried to help us. Not that it mattered now. Riley had everyone exactly where he wanted them. And even if Nat
was
still alive, he would only
stay
alive for a matter of hours without the antidote. Jas, who’d been infected first, had even less time.

Outside in the hall, Riley was barking out orders. He sounded more stressed than I’d ever heard him. Taylor was in the doorway, arms folded, watching me. I stood up, all my frustrations
and fears turning to fury at this man who had done so much to train us, to give us a sense of identity and purpose – then who had ripped it all away with his betrayal. I stormed over to him.
He looked down at me, his eyes hard and clear as emeralds.

‘I suppose you’ve been given the antidote?’ I asked.

Taylor nodded.

‘You’re a coward and a liar and a murderer,
sir,
’ I spat.

Taylor’s expression didn’t waver.

‘I hate you.’

There was a long pause. For a second I thought I saw just the faintest tinge of regret in Taylor’s eyes. ‘I know you do,’ he said, then he left the room.

I heard him a moment later in the hallway. He was on his phone, talking about arrangements for tonight’s rally. I shook my head, my fury now morphing into coruscating despair. How could
Taylor and Riley carry on electioneering with all this upheaval going on in the house? It was a sign of how powerful they were, of how easily they had controlled Nat and me – and everyone
else – right from the moment I arrived here.

Suddenly distant voices were raised. Who was arguing? Taylor was still on his phone call just outside the door. Was that
Uchi
yelling at Riley? I strained to hear what they were
saying.

‘For the last time, it’s the cleanest option,’ Riley shouted. ‘It deals with Nat
and
Charlie. It’s the only way.’

Deals with Nat.
My heart skipped a beat. That meant Nat must still be alive. Was he somewhere here, in the house? Were the others?

‘Not Charlie.’ Uchi sounded emphatic. ‘You went against my wishes using her as bait in the first place. And I didn’t force the truth out of Spider earlier only
to—’

‘Will you
shut up
!
’
Riley roared.

Silence. I opened the living-room door a crack. Taylor was still on his phone. He stood by the coat stand next to the front door, his back turned to me. He was ordering a car for Riley. There
was no sign of Riley himself – or of Uchi – but I could just make out their voices, now lowered to the point where I couldn’t hear what they were saying, coming from the dining
room. A moment later, Taylor finished his call and bounded up the stairs. He was calling out to one of the men. His voice faded away as he went into a room on the first floor.

I walked into the empty hall determined to look around upstairs, to see if I could find out where Nat and the others were being held. I tiptoed towards the stairs.

‘Charlie?’

I spun around. It was Spider, whispering at me from the kitchen doorway.

‘Go away,’ I hissed, still mad at him for telling Uchi where we were. ‘You
talked
.’

‘I know, I’m sorry.’ He hurried over. ‘I need to speak to you. In private. It’s about Nat. About the antidote.
Please
.’

I hesitated for a second, then followed him into the kitchen.

With a final, ragged cut, I sliced through Lucas’s ropes. He spun around and grabbed the scissors from my hands.

‘My turn,’ he muttered. He began carving through my rope as my vision blurred again. ‘We need to be ready. Are you sure you’re up to this?’

‘Definitely,’ I said, ignoring the weakness in my limbs and the sick feeling in my stomach. There was no point worrying Lucas by admitting how horrible I felt.

It took Lucas just a few minutes to free my wrists. As my vision cleared again, a tumult of thoughts raced through my head. Where was Charlie? Had she found the antidote? Might there be some in
the house? How much time did Jas and I have? And what about Lucas and our parents? Soon they too would be showing symptoms.

Lucas sawed at my wrists for a couple of minutes, his movements fast and hard. ‘There.’ He stood back, triumphant. The rope fell from my hands and I rubbed my wrists. I should have
felt glad we were free, but all I could think was that my hands, like my feet, were numb. And that I felt weak and achy – all signs of the virus taking hold. I couldn’t ignore them any
longer.

Metal on metal. The sound of a key, turning in the lock, made me spin around. Lucas was already at the door, fists raised.

I tried to focus, praying my eyes weren’t going to blur just at the wrong moment.

The door opened softly. A masked soldier walked in. Quick as a flash, Lucas jumped forwards, landing two swift punches to the man’s sides.

Except it wasn’t a man. It was a woman, and quite a slender one. She staggered sideways, clawing at her mask as Lucas loomed over her, reaching for her arm.

‘Wait.’ It was Parveen. She ripped the mask off her face and glared at Lucas. ‘Stop it, I’m freakin’ trying to help you.’

Lucas’s mouth fell open. He glanced from her to me.

‘
Par?
’ I gasped.

She rolled her mask down over her face again. ‘Come on,’ she said, beckoning us to the door.

I hurried over. Lucas was still staring at Parveen.

She peered out, along the corridor.

‘How did . . .?’ I started.

‘I was being held outside,’ she whispered. ‘I heard you were up here. I just got away, took down the girl on guard at the front door. If we hurry we can get out that way
too.’

I grabbed her arm. ‘What about Charlie? And Latimer and Aaron? We have to help them.’

‘Latimer and his men are somewhere else. Aaron’s with them,’ Parveen said, her chocolate-coloured eyes narrowing with impatience. ‘And Charlie’s okay here for now,
her dad’s protecting her. Come on, we need to go.’

I opened my mouth to protest, but Lucas spoke before I had a chance.

‘Whoever this is, she’s right,’ he said, flashing Par a quick grin. ‘Er,
who
are you?’

‘Parveen, from Nat’s cell, we trained together.’ She flushed slightly as she spoke, then she peered outside again. ‘It’s clear,’ she said.

We crept outside, along to the stairs. The hall was still empty, the front door ajar. I could just make out the splayed figure of the soldier Parveen had knocked out on the doorstep.

I held my breath as we tiptoed down the stairs. There, by the front door, was the coat rack I remembered from my first visit here all those months ago. Except that now the scarf I’d seen
was gone. I glanced at the row of coats belonging to Riley and his girlfriend. Taylor’s leather jacket hung from the rack beside them. I shivered. Riley’s other men were bad enough, but
Taylor was a ruthless soldier. Him being here made it even more important that we tried to rescue Charlie.

‘I think we should look for Charlie,’ I whispered.

‘Later,’ Parveen insisted.

‘Come on, Nat, it’s too big a risk,’ Lucas added.

Parveen slid out through the front door. She held up her hand, indicating we should wait for her signal. Lucas glanced around, checking I was alright. I gave him a swift nod. I could feel the
adrenalin coursing through my body, the weakness and numbness lifting.

Seconds ticked away.

Riley’s voice drifted towards us across the hall. I was pretty certain it was coming from the room opposite.

‘I’ve told you I can’t talk about this now,’ he was saying, his voice loud and tense. ‘I have to speak at a rally in less than an hour.’

‘You need to keep your sights on the big picture.’ That was Charlie’s father, Uchi. ‘And Charlie is part of the big picture. I won’t let you hurt her.’

‘It’s going to happen, old man,’ Riley said curtly. ‘Get your head around it. She’s got to go.’

Got to go?

‘Now!’ Lucas urged. He set off through the front door, immediately behind Parveen.

I didn’t follow. I had to know what Riley was planning to do to Charlie. She was right here, at Riley’s mercy. I’d left her behind once before, I wasn’t going to do it
again. I sped, silently, across the room and peered through the crack in the door.

Riley and Uchi were alone in a formal dining room, on either side of a polished wooden table.

‘I
am
seeing the big picture,’ Riley was insisting. ‘We’ve already got reports that half the boat party are affected, the early signs. Everything else has gone
completely to plan, but Charlie hasn’t worked out. As I predicted she wouldn’t. You have to accept it.’

‘I can still convince her,’ Uchi said stubbornly.

‘No,’ Riley said, his voice suddenly low and venomous. ‘Time’s up. Charlie’s going to die,’ he said. ‘Tonight.’

I gulped. Across the room, the front door was still open a fraction. Lucas and Parveen must have made it out to the road. No one had seen us. My eyes fell again on Taylor’s jacket hanging
from the coat stand. His phone was peeking out from the pocket.

As soon as I saw it, I knew what I had to do.

Spider led me through the kitchen and into the garden. The sun was no longer shining on this side of the house and the air felt chilly on my face.

‘We’ll have a few minutes before the next patrol interrupts us,’ he said.

‘What for? Do you know where the antidote is?’ I whispered. ‘Do you know where I can get some?’

‘Let’s talk over here.’ Spider took my wrist and led me over to the fishpond.

I stared into the dark water. I was suddenly certain that he didn’t know anything about the antidote. He just wanted to get me on my own. I was going to have to find some other way to help
Nat.

‘Charlie?’

I looked up. Spider was standing close to me. Too close. His dark, curly hair fell over his forehead as he gazed down at me. I wanted to step back, but the only thing behind me was the
fishpond.

‘I’m so sorry Uchi went to my dad and told him that I’d warned you,’ Spider said, letting go of my wrist and pushing his hair absently out of his face. ‘I thought
Uchi wanted to help you, not bring you back here.’

‘Never mind that,’ I said. ‘You said you knew something about the antidote?’

Spider nodded. ‘Before I tell you, I want you to know that I feel really torn. I mean, I totally get where my dad’s coming from with all the ruthless, need-to-take-risks stuff
he’s always talking about, but—’

‘Taylor took away the antidote I’d found,’ I interrupted, looking him steadily in the eye. I didn’t need to hear all this garbage. ‘If Nat and his family
don’t get some in the next few hours . . .’

‘I know.’ Spider groaned. ‘I know and I’m sorry, okay?’