Skylight (Arcadium, #2) (30 page)

He straightens
and gestures for the axe. I pass it to him and stash the vial in my
pocket again. And Trouble hands over his baseball bat. It’s kind of
an honour.

A thought hits
me: once upon a time I never would have handed over my best weapon,
not even to my best friend (if she were still alive, that is). But
for Trouble, I have no problem. I trust him so utterly and
completely I don’t ever have to think about it.

Trouble holds
the end in one hand and slaps the other end in his palm, testing
the weight.

When he looks
at me again, I know he means business. “I will protect you,” he
says softly. I know that if anything happens to me, there is no
other person in the world more capable of saving my sister.

That is,
assuming this blood thing works. I keep forgetting it might not. I
keep forgetting I don’t trust Jacob. I just want it to be real so
much.

Trouble takes a
practice swing, away from my head (he’s always polite like that).
All he needs are red overalls and yellow hat and he’d be a
firefighter. He could have been, I suppose, I still don’t know what
he did before the apocalypse.

“Think we could
use one of these camping beds as a battering ram?” Kean says across
the shop floor.

I raise one
eyebrow. “Maybe. It’ll be temporary though.” I grab my backpack off
the ground and can feel the little Doc Marten boots digging into my
back. I feel for the glass necklace, hidden behind my shirt.

Trouble goes to
help Kean and Jessie. Adrian saunters over to me and shines his
torch right in my eyes. I bat it away and he looks briefly shocked,
and then his veil of arrogance slides across his features
again.

“Too scared to
make it to safety on your own?” I say.

“I came to help
you.” Adrian feigns an innocent look that disagrees completely with
his eyes. “I was thinking of you, Florence.” He pauses suddenly to
look around the room. “Where’s that little tag along of yours?”

I just stare at
him.

Adrian smiles.
“Is she dead?”

I grit my
teeth, hard and walk away. Right there. That’s the creepy Adrian I
remember. The one who says odd things, stands too close for
comfort, soaks up other people’s pain like it’s joy.

Trouble rifles
through the cupboards of the shop counter, Kean and Jessie go
through some boxes at the back. We have plenty of hockey sticks and
tennis rackets and soccer balls to choose from. Plus an excellent
selection of climbing shoes. Just nothing quite as good as the
axe.

Adrian follows
me at a distance, not doing one thing to help.

“Is your
brother okay with you killing innocent people, or did your dad
survive?” I say, speaking my words like punches. “I didn’t get a
chance to read his journal too.”

I’m not sure if
it’s the mention of his dad or the surprise of knowing I could
identify him from a journal that lands the biggest hit. Adrian’s
nostrils flare, his jaw tightens. He twists his neck to one side
and all the bones in it crack and pop with relief.

I don’t know
what makes me need to hurt him, but I guess that’s the thing about
toxic people, isn’t it? They leak everywhere and if you’re not
careful you absorb them and become just like them. Maybe Adrian got
his ways from his dad; maybe he was born this way. Most of the time
he’s locked down, but this radiating and writhing hatred is capable
of breaking loose. And this time when his eyes fix on me, steely,
sharp, and cold like a casket of metal, I know I’m the only one he
sees—the only target worth destroying.

I feel the
danger humming in the air, not from the infected, but from this
strange boy. Right now, knowledge is my power against
him—everything I know about the infected, the soldiers, and Jacob.
Adrian doesn’t even know it.

“It’s kind of
hard to believe you made it here all on your own,” I say.

Adrian just
smiles.

“You’d be like
a house cat let out the front door for the first time,” I say.

Adrian glows
with amusement. “I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoyed your
company.”

We stare at
each other for a few seconds, and then I glance away.

Our weapons are
ridiculous. We look like one of those corny DIY shows
. Craft
your own weapons from everyday household items. It’s easy!
Kean’s found one of those huge Maglight torches — the ones you can
run over with a truck — that’s the length of my forearm. Jessie’s
broken apart the clothing rack and is armed with a decent sized
silver bar. She hands a second one to Adrian. Adrian turns the thin
metal pole over in his fingers, keeping his eyes down. He looks
almost nervous.

“Where’s this
secret passage then?” I say, pulling my backpack straps tight.

“The access
corridor runs alongside the subway tunnel and comes out at the
science centre.” His gaze falls on me. “And I have the magic
code.”

“Directions?”

“Left. Next to
the bathrooms on this level. Where the big skylight is.”

“Towards the
infected,” Jessie says. “Great.”

“What’s the
plan?” Adrian says, his gaze flickering between Kean and I.

Kean shrugs and
walks to me. “There is no plan,” he says. “There’s never any
plan.”

Adrian opens
his mouth to protest but stops himself.

Kean grabs my
face and pulls me in close. Jessie looks awkward and kind of spins
away to give us some privacy, thoughtfully blocking Adrian out
too.

Kean goes in
for a long slow kiss and when he pulls back he runs his finger
along the leather necklace at the base of my neck. “It’s time we
put the family back together,” he whispers in my ear.

“Think we can
make it?”

“I think one of
us can make it.”

I take a deep
breath and step away. I pick up the camping bed, hooking the
baseball bat through my bag straps. The bed shield is super light
and easy enough to manoeuvre. Even so, Jessie grabs the other end
and I don’t complain.

Trouble cracks
the door open as Kean crouches and peers out into the centre.

“Wish you had
some guns in those,” I whisper, nodding to Jessie’s holsters that
hold nothing more deadly than stationary.

Jessie looks
down and gives a tiny nervous laugh. “You and me both.”

We creep out
into the grey. The light is muted but just enough to see where
we’re going. Jessie and I move first, holding up the camping bed
like a wall. It must look pretty silly, but I don’t care. I’ve seen
how many infected are currently roaming within the walls. It seems
clear ahead for the moment.

“Where’s
Jacob?” Jessie whispers.

“I didn’t think
you cared,” I reply.

“I don’t.” She
tightens her grip on our shield. “I just thought he would be useful
in this situation.”

“Everything you
know about him is wrong,” I whisper. “I know what you are. You
can’t blame him for it.”

“I can.”

“Yeah, well,
he’s trapped in the science centre because he needed the serum to
save himself and my sister. So technically you’re blaming a dead
person.”

Jessie’s head
snaps over. “Where?” But I don’t need to answer. Slowly, her eyes
fill with understanding. “You told him about the serum.”

I nod.

“You’re not
going back?”

“I can’t save
him.”

Trouble
dispatches the only infected person behind us, and we keep moving
in perfect silence. It doesn’t look like anyone’s returned to their
rooms since I last passed. The doors are all half open, the shops
in a state of extreme darkness. I hope everyone else is safe,
wherever they are. I also hope those soldiers aren’t blacking out
and having seizures on the floor when they’re supposed to be
protecting us all.

Adrian, of
course, situates himself in the middle of the group, his eyes
darting around, his breath short and panicked. I guess he’s not
used to fighting battles he might lose.

I focus on
breathing deeply and slowly. Lightening flickers through the glass
cone, bleeding light over everything before dying again. I can hear
them everywhere. Moans and bumps and bare feet on cold tiles. I
think the sounds are rising from the pit below, but I swear it
sounds like they’re up here with us. At least they didn’t seem to
follow me up the escalator. I wonder if they can even work out how
to scale the escalator without falling all over each other.

Jessie glances
at me, trying to seem casual, and nods. I look back at Adrian with
brows raised. He points further on, eyes jittering away. It gets
lighter and lighter, the further we go. I think I can hear rain
battering the roof.

Ahead I count
five sets of dazed, dead looking eyes. Their bodies lumber around
aimlessly until they spot our movement. They all perk up
suddenly.

“There, the
door. Oh God, we’re not going to make it!” Adrian squeals in the
highest pitched voice I’ve ever heard.

I glance
sideways at Kean and we share a look in which we both question how
Adrian has made it this far.

Our camping bed
shield doesn’t entirely block the walkway, but Jessie and I use it
to shove three of the infected back while the other two slip around
the sides. Trouble and Kean are quick to get those ones as Jessie
and I become involved in a push and shove game with the other
infected. They claw over the shield, looking for anything to grip
onto. Jessie slides a surprise butter knife from her holster and
stabs one through the eye. Then another. They both drop. I stare at
her for a second in amazement. Who knew a blunt knife could be so
effective?

Jessie winks at
me as Trouble comes over my shoulder and clobbers the fifth one.
“Bet they didn’t
see
that coming,” she says.

“Hah,” I say.
“I see what you did there.”

We keep moving
forward because we have to get to the door Adrian’s talking about.
I think I can see it from here. Our fighting noises attract more
straggles of infected. We pause to let Kean and Trouble dispatch
the next wave of infected Jessie and I keep them at bay with our
shield.

Naturally,
Adrian is no help at all.

We advance
again, making it to this security locked door that I’m not even
sure will open in a lockdown. I hope Adrian’s code is enough to
override the security lockdown.

I duck as a
pale peeling hand comes clawing at my face and Jessie stabs the
infected man in the eye. It’s so gross, I try not to look, but
there’s not really anywhere that’s pleasant for viewing at the
moment.

“Behind!
Behind!” Adrian alerts us to a new pair of infected.

“I’ve got it,”
Kean calls and runs to them, swinging his torch in a big arc for
maximum power.

I kick at the
infected feet below the shield to see it I can knock them down, but
it’s not enough. I grip the bed leg in one hand and release the
baseball bat from my backpack straps. I swing the bat about madly.
My technique probably makes Trouble cringe but at the very least
we’re still moving forward.

We’re a
whirlwind of ferocious movement. Trouble darts back and forth,
doing most of the work. He’s so nimble and free flowing, I swear he
must have done some kind of martial arts in the normal times.

A trail of
truly dead infected lie in our wake. Adrian screams and grabs the
back of Jessie’s shirt as Kean battles an infected behind us.
Jessie stumbles and throws an elbow back. She just taps Adrian’s
cheekbone but he reels back like he’s been hit by a train.

When Jessie and
I clear a wave of infected I look back. Kean dispatches an infected
man with a crushing blow to its brain, but the torch slips from his
fingers and goes sailing over the side. Kean reaches over the
railing but all he can do is watch as his weapon disappears.

“Rear’s clear,”
Kean shouts, and then in a lower voice to Adrian, “give me your
damn weapon if you’re not going to use it.” Kean wipes his hands on
his jeans. “They’re really swarming down there.”

Kean’s right up
against the railing, surveying the scene below. Adrian goes to pass
him the weapon. Kean looks up and reaches out, expecting his hands
to grab the pole, but Adrian snatches it back at the last
second.

Everything else
happens in the split-second it takes me to frown.

Kean is off
balance and surprised, but not as surprised as when Adrian plants
his hand on Kean’s chest and pushes with all his might. He fists
Kean’s shirt and lifts, and Kean’s face transforms. I can
practically see the exclamation marks in his eyes as he goes over.
Right over the railing. And he drops.

“No!” I scream,
but it’s already too late. If the fall doesn’t kill him, the sea of
infected will. I drop my side of the bed and managed to get
clobbered in the head by an enthusiastic infected hand. I stumble
back, hoping Trouble and Jessie will pick up my slack and I sprint
to the railing.

Adrian watches
me, eyes gleaming, dagger-sharp grin shining. I try to look over
the side — I mean, I don’t want to see Kean dead but I have to see
him one last time.

“Kean!” I
scream so loud and long I swear it can’t be coming from me.

Adrian grabs my
wrist and drags me back before I can snatch a glance of Kean. In
the shock, I lose my grip on the bat and it clinks to the floor.
Adrian is all kinds of strong and I stumble along behind him,
trying to stay on my feet, trying to hit him and pry him off me. I
go cold when I realise what he’s going to do. I look for Trouble
but he’s busy fighting two infected. Our eyes meet and we both
realise we’re helpless to stop him. Adrian punches in the door code
and pulls me through.

He makes a
point of closing the door hard and suddenly we’re in a
white-painted concrete corridor. It’s so quiet in here. I stand at
the door, trying to open it, but without Adrian’s code I’m stuck.
There’s a small window about head height that allows me to see
through to the other side. I can’t see anyone. I’m stuck on this
side and Trouble and Jessie will be overwhelmed by infected, and
Kean is either dead or dying and I’m just stuck standing here.