Lucas didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then he pulled back, held her shoulders again but more gently this time. ‘It’s dangerous out there,’ he said, then. ‘Are you sure?’
Evie nodded. ‘I can’t stay. Not now. And anyway, they’ll know it was me. Raffy would have to have broken a window or something. And if we do that my father will wake up and raise the alarm and no one will escape.’
Lucas met her eyes; he looked miserable. ‘I shouldn’t have come here,’ he said.
‘You had to come,’ she replied. ‘And anyway, if what you’ve just told me is true, about my parents, I mean, I can’t stay here. Not now. They took them away from me. They lied to me. My whole life here has been a lie.’
‘They lied to everyone,’ Lucas said quietly.
‘So then we’ll all go.’ Evie swallowed, trying to pretend the huge lump in her throat wasn’t there. She wanted to be cold like Lucas used to be, wanted to be a machine so it didn’t hurt so badly. And suddenly she understood why he was like he was. Because machines didn’t feel pain. Because if you were made of ice, you didn’t get hurt.
Lucas caught her eye and for a moment she saw something in it. It was something she half recognised, something that reminded her of Raffy again but in a way that unnerved her, because she suspected her eye had the same desperation in it. She had hated Lucas. She had despised him. And now, now . . .
‘I can’t come,’ Lucas announced suddenly, turning and breaking the connection that had existed between them for those few, strange seconds, and leaving Evie feeling as though she was stumbling backwards, but into what she didn’t know. ‘I must stay here. There are things I must do. I . . .’
His eyes were darting around the front garden; Evie knew that it was his head talking, not his heart. And suddenly she understood him – not everything, but enough. She saw that he had survived, that he had done what he’d had to do. She saw that he was real, that he had suffered and that he was still suffering. ‘There are things to do. Things to . . .’ Lucas muttered, then looked up at her again, and this time Evie felt the full power of his stare: the desperate need in his eyes, the hunger for solace and for understanding. Without meaning to, without thinking too much about what she was doing, she moved towards him again and allowed her hands to touch him, his chest, his shoulders, his neck. He wrapped his arms around her once more and his lips found hers. She could feel his tears mingling with hers, his pain mingling with her pain until it felt almost as though they were one and the same person, full of the same anger, the same desperation, the same fear. And then, as soon as it had begun, it was over; they pulled away, their hands holding on to each other for just a few seconds longer before they, too, dropped away. And Evie knew it was the same thought that had made them stop, had broken the connection once more. The same thought of the same person. Raffy.
‘I’ll be back,’ Evie whispered, and headed to the front door. ‘I’ll be back with the key. But I am leaving the City, Lucas. I can’t stay here. Not now.’
‘I know,’ Lucas said, looking away, his blond hair glinting in the moonlight, his clouded eyes now surveying some arbitrary object on the path below. ‘I’m so sorry, Evie. For everything.’
Evie took one last look at the house she thought she’d live in until she got married, before closing the door. Lucas squeezed her hand.
‘You ready?’ he asked. Evie nodded. ‘Okay. Let’s go and get Raffy.’
He didn’t let go of her hand, or perhaps it was she who was holding on, she wasn’t sure. She just knew that she couldn’t do this on her own, that she needed to feel Lucas’s skin, his warmth, needed to know that she wasn’t alone. She had thought that in the City you were never alone; the entire civilisation had been built on community, citizenship and togetherness. But now she knew that she’d never been part of it, that her life had been a lie. That she was on her own; that she always had been.
It only took a few minutes to get to the house that Lucas shared with his mother and brother. But as he walked towards the door, Evie pulled him back, looked up at him; there was so much she wanted to know, so much she couldn’t comprehend beyond a vague feeling of trust and respect.
‘All this time?’ she asked. ‘You’ve really been pretending? All this time?’
Lucas met her eyes, then looked away. ‘Surviving,’ he said quietly. ‘We all have to survive in our own way.’
‘And . . .’ She frowned as she tried to piece together the jigsaw in her mind, but there were too many parts, too many questions. ‘The communication device? Does it mean . . . Do you know what it is? Did you . . . ?’
Lucas nodded. ‘My father put it there,’ he whispered.
‘Your father?’ Evie stared at him incredulously.
Lucas nodded. ‘Evie, there is a world outside these walls. Not a pretty world, not a world full of resources, but a world nonetheless. There are people who can help you. People my father made contact with . . .’
‘Another City?’
Lucas nodded. ‘You need to find it. You’ll be safe with them.’
Evie opened her mouth to speak but Lucas shook his head. ‘No more questions. There’s no time,’ he whispered. ‘Once we’re in the house, there will be too much to do. Raffy won’t listen to me, it will take him too long to understand. But you need to listen to me now. You have to lead the way. Leave by the East Gate, then head north. Can you do that?’
Evie nodded.
‘Keep moving until it’s light, then find somewhere to hide. There are caves to the north that you should reach. If not, find any cover you can. You need to understand that the world was almost destroyed by the Horrors. You’ll need to take water and food. And you’ll need to be careful, Evie. Look after Raffy. He can be too rash, too quick to get angry.’
Their eyes met and something flickered between them, but before Evie could interpret it, Lucas had looked away again.
‘Go east through side roads until you reach the edge of the City.’
‘The swamplands?’ Evie asked, trying to stop her voice from wavering. Everyone knew about the swamplands that surrounded the City, the swamplands that divided good and evil. Evie had only seen them properly once, many years before, when her father had taken her. He had told her that the swamps were there because of a clever irrigation system that kept the water flowing in the City’s rivers, and as a further defence of the City’s boundaries. He told her that contrary to schoolchild mythology, there were no monsters in the swamps – they were nothing to fear and they protected and nourished all the City’s citizens. And Evie had listened seriously and nodded her head, but she’d still been relieved to leave, to get back through the small fields just inside the swamplands where farmers grew food, to the safety of the roads and houses that made up the inhabited part of the City, the part she knew. The part she thought back then she’d never leave again.
‘There’s a path through the swamps,’ Lucas said, nodding. If you keep due east, look out for a cottage. It looks derelict but it isn’t. There’s a watchman in there and he’s got dogs.’
‘Dogs?’ Evie gulped.
‘You’ll be okay. You’ll have waterproofs. They’ll mask your smell a bit. Go directly behind the house and you’ll find the path there. It will lead you to the East Gate. Go through, start to run, heading north, and don’t look back.’
‘And you?’ Evie asked. ‘What about you?’
Lucas shrugged, managed a little smile. ‘I’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry about me. So – ready?’
Evie took one last look at him – at those eyes, once so cold, that now radiated sunshine – and she nodded. ‘Ready,’ she said, and Lucas quietly opened the front door.
The house was pitch black; Evie held onto Lucas as he guided her up the stairs and into Raffy’s room. He turned on a small light and Evie gasped; Raffy was tied to the bed, his eyes closed, his breathing laboured. Every so often he tugged at the ropes in his sleep and for a moment Evie’s stomach clenched in fear, because Lucas had tied his brother up, because this was not what she’d expected. And for the briefest of seconds she looked over at Lucas and half expected to see his cool eyes laughing at her for having believed him, for having fallen for his trick. But all she saw in Lucas’s eyes was pain; his expression was one of tenderness as he leant over his brother and untied him. ‘I’m sorry, Raffy,’ he whispered as he did it. ‘I’m so sorry, but it was the only way.’
Suddenly Raffy opened one eye, then two, and they looked glassy as they surveyed the scene. Then, seeing that his hands were untied, seeing Lucas looming over him, he hurled himself at his brother, pushing Lucas to the floor, then jumped up and ran towards Evie. ‘Quick,’ he said urgently. ‘We have to get out of here. We have to get away from him.’
But Evie shook her head. ‘Raffy,’ she said. ‘We’re leaving. Lucas is helping us leave the City.’
Raffy looked at her in surprise and shock. ‘Lucas? The machine? Don’t trust him, Evie. He tied me up. He’s been keeping me prisoner here.’ He grabbed Evie and tried to run but he fell, pulling her to the ground. Immediately Lucas jumped on him.
‘Quiet,’ he hissed. ‘If Mother wakes up . . .’ He looked at the door apprehensively and motioned for Evie to hide. ‘Just in case,’ he whispered. Evie scurried behind the thick curtains that lined Raffy’s windows, but no sound could be heard except for the juddering of Raffy’s body as he tried to escape his brother’s clutches. Eventually Evie came out again.
‘Raffy,’ pleaded Lucas, but it was no use – his brother was thrashing against him, refusing to listen. Evie crouched down next to him.
‘Raffy,’ she said, taking his hand. ‘Do you trust me?’
Raffy’s eyes travelled from her face, to Lucas’s, then back again. He nodded.
‘You’re going to be made a K tomorrow,’ she whispered. Raffy’s eyes widened in alarm and he started to thrash more violently, but Evie tightened her grip on his hand and he stopped. ‘We’re leaving the City. You and me, together. Lucas is helping us. I’ve got my father’s City key. Lucas isn’t who you think he is, Raffy. He’s not a machine. He’s been protecting you.’
Raffy looked at her in disgust. ‘Protecting me?’ he seethed. ‘He’s the reason I’m being made a K. He tied me up. He told me I was a danger to myself.’
‘You were,’ Lucas said, his voice low but measured. ‘You were talking about things that could only bring you harm. I had to pretend you were ranting, that you were disturbed. Otherwise—’
‘Otherwise what?’ Raffy asked angrily. ‘Otherwise it would reflect badly on you? Affect your glorious career?’
‘Raffy, don’t,’ Evie said, understanding his anger but unable to bear the look of hurt on Lucas’s face, however hard he was trying to disguise it. ‘You just have to believe me.’
‘You have to leave now,’ Lucas said. ‘Tie me up so it looks like you overpowered me.’ He let go of Raffy and reached under Raffy’s bed, pulling out two waterproof overalls and some waterproof boots. ‘You’ll need these for the swamp,’ he said, matter-of-factly, putting them into a rucksack that was sitting at the foot of the bed. ‘There’s food and water in here too, enough for a few days.’
Evie stared at them, then at Lucas. ‘You knew I was going to go?’ she asked quietly. ‘You had this all planned?’
Lucas looked at her intently. ‘I thought I’d be going,’ he said.
‘You did?’ Evie asked, trying to disguise the wobble in her voice.
Lucas turned his eyes away. ‘But this way is better. If I’m here I can protect you until you’re safe.’
‘Safely out of the City, you mean?’ asked Evie.
‘Safely out of Lucas’s way and starving to death pretty quickly. Right, Lucas?’ Raffy asked sarcastically.
‘And then you need to find your own food and water,’ Lucas continued, ignoring their questions. ‘If you take more than this it will weigh you down too much. There are water sources from the City river. It’s been dammed to the west but it flows in from the east.’ He finished packing the rucksack and handed it to Raffy. ‘Can you carry this?’
Raffy snatched it from him. ‘So we’re seriously going to run away? And you’re just going to let us?’ He rolled his eyes. ‘No way. I know what’s going to happen. You’re going to send the police guard after me. Just like you sent them after Father.’
‘Raffy.’ Evie shot a warning look at him. ‘Don’t say that. It isn’t true. Lucas is helping us.’
‘It is true,’ Raffy replied angrily. ‘I heard him do it. I heard him talking to them. He’s not helping us. He wouldn’t know what it means to help someone.’
Evie turned to Lucas uncertainly. He didn’t meet her eye.
‘Tell me you didn’t call the police guard on your father,’ she said, her voice catching slightly. ‘You didn’t. You couldn’t have done.’
‘I did what I had to do,’ he told her, his voice low.
‘No!’ Evie gasped; she couldn’t stop herself. ‘No, that’s impossible.’ She blinked away a stray tear, stared at Lucas, willing him to explain, to tell her it wasn’t true. She had believed that he was good, that he was her friend, that he was angry with the City because of his father. He’d made her believe that he had suffered and that he understood. But Lucas didn’t say anything,
‘Not impossible,’ Raffy said, his eyes narrowing. ‘Anything’s possible, right, Lucas?’
Lucas stayed silent; his face was flooded with guilt as he pulled Raffy’s ropes towards him and started to tie them around his own ankles, then his own wrists. Evie saw his gold watch glint in the moonlight and felt herself shudder.
‘You . . .’ Evie stared at Lucas in dismay, her head shaking in disbelief as Raffy tied the knots for him, tightly; Lucas winced but didn’t say anything. ‘You really called the police guard on your father?’
‘Of course he did. This is Lucas we’re talking about. He may have tricked you, but not me,’ Raffy said, picking up the rucksack and shooting his brother a look of disgust. ‘Come on, Evie. Let’s see how far we get before Lucas sends them after us. Let’s see how long it takes him to betray his family this time.’
Evie nodded hesitantly; she didn’t understand, wouldn’t understand. But Lucas was looking away; she spoke his name, but he only glanced at her long enough to motion that they had to leave.
‘Goodbye,’ she mouthed as she followed Raffy out of the room. But Lucas didn’t see her; he was staring fixedly at the wall ahead of him, and Evie couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw his eyes lose their warmth once more and slowly return to steel.