They left by the back door and slipped through the garden to the path that lay beyond. They didn’t speak; at every corner they stopped, surveying the path or road ahead before continuing again, their heads down. The rucksack on Raffy’s back seemed huge; several times Evie asked if it was too heavy, if she could help, but Raffy just grunted in reply. Then they started to leave the City behind, the densely populated roads made way to the farming districts; fields of corn and wheat, and grass for the few herds of cows that were allowed to graze. With each step, Evie felt herself get colder, as though she were leaving the comfort of a fire. But the fire wasn’t there to keep her warm, she kept reminding herself. The fire was going to consume Raffy if they stayed. Her, too. And so she kept her head down and half ran after Raffy, suppressing the worries and fears that circled in her head, telling herself that she had no choice, that the Evil-inhabited land outside the City was still safer for them than the world within the City’s walls.
Then Raffy stopped, and Evie did too, and they gazed around in surprise. They were at the swampland, the land so soaked in water that their shoes felt like they might sink into it, the land that her father had shown her, warning her never to set foot in it because it would swallow her up, just as it swallowed up any Evil who tried to invade the City.
Evie took a deep breath and pulled Raffy’s rucksack off his back; in silence, they put on the waterproofs.
‘Where now?’ Raffy asked, his voice tinged with sarcasm. He still hadn’t forgiven her for being part of Lucas’s plan, Evie realised. She wasn’t sure she had forgiven herself, either. She’d kissed Lucas. He’d looked into her eyes and she’d felt something, something she shouldn’t have felt.
‘There’s a cottage. A shack,’ she said suddenly under her breath. She scanned the horizon, then felt her stomach tighten when she saw it – with relief, but also with anxiety, because it was real and they were so close now. ‘Over there.’ She signalled to the ramshackle cottage in the distance, which was exactly as Lucas had described it. ‘There’s a watchman in there with a guard dog. Behind it is a path which leads to the East Gate.’
‘A path. Through swampland?’ Raffy raised his eyebrows.
Evie shrugged in response. ‘That’s what Lucas said.’
‘Oh, well, if Lucas said it then it must be true,’ Raffy retorted angrily. ‘And how long have you and Lucas been planning this anyway? Since when have the two of you been such good friends? Oh, but I forget. You’re matched. What a huge shame you’re leaving with me. Or is that another bit of the plan you haven’t told me yet? The bit where you ditch me outside the gate and come back in so you can live happily with Lucas, just like you’ve always wanted to?’
Evie stared at him, her lip beginning to quiver. ‘That’s not true,’ she whispered desperately. ‘Raffy, don’t do this. Not now. We have to get out before anyone realises you’ve gone.’
Raffy glared at her, then shrugged. ‘Fine. So, we head for the house?’ he asked, starting to walk.
Evie followed him. ‘We have to be careful of the dog,’ she said, but Raffy wasn’t listening; he was striding ahead and Evie had to break into a jog just to keep up.
When they reached the house, Raffy circled it then rounded on Evie. ‘Path? There’s no path. There’s just bog. We’re trapped. Now do you trust Lucas?’
Evie swallowed uncomfortably. Raffy was right – there was no sign of a path, just swampland. Already their boots were sinking into the ground; if they went any further they would be swallowed up. Was that really what Lucas had wanted? No. No, she knew it wasn’t. Lucas was good. Lucas had to be . . .
There was a bark and they both froze. ‘So now the dog gets us,’ Raffy said bitterly. ‘I told you. I told you.’
But Evie wasn’t listening. She was running up and down frantically looking for the path. It was here; she knew it was. She tried to remember what Lucas had said. Directly behind. Directly . . . And then she looked back at the house and realised their error. They were to the side of it. They had run to the back from where they had seen the house, but it was slanted to the side; they were in the wrong place.
‘This way,’ she hissed, tugging Raffy’s arm. She tried to run but the ground was too heavy underneath her feet; it took for ever to go just a few steps. The barking was getting louder; she saw a light go on in the shack.
They got to the back and Evie stared, willing herself to find the path, thinking she could see paths everywhere that were just shadows on the ground. And then, suddenly, she saw it in the moonlight. A slightly raised section leading out from the back of the shack; made from stone, or something similar. It was stopping the shack from disappearing into the swamp; it would lead them out of it.
‘Here,’ she whispered, pointing it out to Raffy and striding towards it as quickly as she could. When she reached it, she stood on it, shot a hopeful smile at Raffy and started to walk. The path was a few feet wide, wide enough to run down. But as she upped her pace and called to Raffy to be quick, the back door of the shack opened and a dog charged out, large fangs emerging from its mouth as it emitted a deadly growl and ran towards them. Evie froze: she was beyond the flatter swampland. If she lost her footing, if she left the path, she would drown. But the dog was on the path already; it was running towards her. There was no escape. Evie braced herself, gritted her teeth and felt her hands curl into fists as everything seemed suddenly to slow down in front of her. As she watched, she saw Raffy run towards her then lunge at the dog, forcing it off the path into the marshlands. The dog opened its mouth and tried to jump at him, but its back legs were sinking – just as Raffy’s were. He caught Evie staring at him and started to scramble. ‘I’ll be fine,’ he shouted. ‘You go. Run for it!’
But Evie wouldn’t go. Instead she ran back down the path towards him, took off her waterproof and threw it out across the marsh, holding on to one arm so Raffy could grab the other. It was still a few feet away from him; resolutely he moved towards it, each step seeming to drag him lower. ‘Raffy,’ Evie screamed. ‘Raffy!’
He grabbed at the arm, once, twice, and finally captured it in his hands. Evie lay down on the path, holding the waterproof in both hands, pulling with all the strength she could muster. Twice Raffy’s head disappeared beneath the swamp, twice she cried out his name, and twice she saw him reappear, his eyes full of fear, his teeth gritted with determination. And then, finally, he was there at the path, pulling himself up, a vile stench covering him from top to toe.
The back door of the shack opened again; this time a man appeared, grey and grizzled, something in his hand. A rifle. Evie recognised it from books she’d seen, pictures that had been handed around at school to show them the extent of human evil before the City. They’d been told that no guns existed within the City walls. And yet . . .
‘Come on,’ Raffy said, seeing the rifle too, and pulling Evie towards him. ‘Quick.’
They started to run; then fell as a sound louder than anything Evie had heard before, louder than thunder or lightning, rang out.
‘You okay?’ Raffy whispered.
‘I’m okay,’ she replied.
‘Stay down. We’ll crawl until we’re out of sight.’
Evie nodded and followed Raffy, crawling on her belly as shots rang out behind her; eventually the man appeared to give up and they stood again, running for their lives.
‘The gate,’ Raffy said, after what felt like an hour but had probably been mere minutes. ‘It’s here. Lucas was right.’
Evie saw it appear before her like an angel, like all her wishes coming true at once. A huge, metal gate with spikes at the top and bottom and sticking out horizontally all over. On the left hand side there was a lock. Tentatively she took out her key and handed it to Raffy,
‘You do it,’ she said, not trusting herself.
Raffy took the key, put it in the lock and turned it. Evie didn’t know what she expected – another shot, perhaps, or an army to appear. Something. But instead, the gate quietly opened; on the other side was a grey, flat barren land.
‘You’re really sure you want to leave the City?’ Raffy asked her then. She looked at him – at his matted hair, his swamp-covered face, his shivering body, his soulful eyes. And suddenly she wasn’t afraid any more, because what was there to fear? They were leaving behind the place that would have Raffy dead, that had lied to her about everything.
‘I’m sure,’ she whispered.
Raffy smiled, his eyes crinkling, and he took her hand; they walked through the gate together, then closed it again behind them.
‘Now what?’ Raffy asked, leaning back against it, surveying the landscape ahead.
‘Now we run,’ replied Evie. ‘Now we run and we don’t stop.’
Raffy stirred and opened his eyes. Then he stretched, stood up. ‘Did you sleep?’
Evie shrugged her shoulders half-heartedly. She hadn’t slept a wink, but didn’t want to say so. It had been light – too light even in the cave that they’d found. And strange noises had whistled around them, sounds that made Evie tense up with fear and she’d longed to wriggle nearer to Raffy, to feel his body close to hers, for comfort, protection. But there was no comfort to be found with Raffy, just anger and sarcasm.
‘So what now?’ he asked, looking down at her insolently. ‘Run some more? Stay here and wait to be ravaged by wild animals? What did Lucas say? Or did he not plan this far ahead?’
Evie closed her eyes and forced the tears pricking at them to recede. She’d hoped that sleep might help, that Raffy might be calmer. But if anything he seemed more angry. She was sick of fighting. They’d fought ever since leaving the City – over whether they were heading north or not, whether Lucas had told them to escape just to get rid of them, over how much water they should drink. And then, slowly, the sun had started to rise and they’d argued over whether they should run some more or find somewhere to hide. Eventually Evie had won and they started to look for somewhere they could rest, somewhere they would be safe until night fell again. But they had chosen this cave in silence, had eaten and drunk in silence; Raffy had barely looked at her before announcing that they should sleep and curling up with his back to her.
The land they had travelled through had been strange and horrible, like a fevered dream; buildings that had been taken over by trees, roads that had crumbled, huge areas of grey, lifeless land that seemed to stretch out indefinitely, and then more fallen buildings. Had people lived here? Had they raised children, gone to work, lived, unaware that annihilation lay around the corner? Had they fled before the Horrors started or did the bombs take them by surprise? These were the questions that Evie had asked her teachers at school; these were the questions that had plagued her. But she’d never been given answers; the teachers were unable or unwilling to respond. The people had brought the Horrors on themselves, they’d told her. The people had been corrupted by their amygdalas; violence, selfishness and pride held sway over everyone. Evil was a way of life for them.
‘He just said to keep going north,’ Evie answered quietly. She opened her eyes and saw Raffy staring down at her; as she looked at him she saw his eyes soften slightly.
‘Hungry?’
She nodded.
‘Me too. Let’s eat. Then I think we should get going.’
She was tempted to caution Raffy, to remind him that they had so little food they needed to ration themselves, but she stopped herself. She was tired of conflict. This new world was harsh and empty enough as it was; she could not contemplate more loneliness than she felt already.
Raffy opened his bag and threw her some bread and cheese which she started to eat half-heartedly, then found herself wolfing down as hunger got the better of her. But she eyed Raffy cautiously as she ate. All their lives they had longed to be together; now they were and they could barely talk to each other. Was this what the world outside the City would always be like?
‘Should we head for the other City?’ she asked eventually. ‘The place that was communicating with the System?’
Raffy finished eating, got a bottle of water out of his bag and took a swig. Then he stood up. ‘So you believe me now?’ he asked. ‘Well, don’t. Lucas made it clear that I was wrong. It was a glitch, that’s all.’
Evie shook her head. ‘He told me he said that to protect you. So you wouldn’t tell people. He told me it was a communication device. He said it was his fault you found it.’ She met Raffy’s eyes and stopped talking; he had heard the warmth in her voice and his expression was hostile. ‘That’s what he told me, anyway,’ she said abruptly. ‘When he asked me to help you escape.’
‘Then it must be true,’ he said again, looking away. He took another swig of water from the bottle, then stood up. ‘Look,’ he said, packing the bag. ‘We can’t think about the other place. Not now. We’ve got to get as far away from the City as we can. They’re going to be looking for us. And we need to avoid the Evils. And find food, water, shelter. I think that’s probably enough to be getting along with, don’t you?’
He was barely looking at her; it was as though she was the last thing he wanted to see.
‘But . . .’ Evie’s face twisted involuntarily. She knew he was right. But she didn’t want to hear it. She wanted to run towards something, not away. She wanted answers; she wanted to vent her rage at the City and to find the other place. The place that she had come from.
‘But what?’ Raffy sighed impatiently.
‘But we’ll look for the other City when we’re sure we’re safe? Lucas said to head north, and I’m sure that’s because—’
‘Lucas says a lot of things,’ Raffy interrupted angrily. ‘But Lucas isn’t here now. I’m going this way. Are you coming?’
He started to walk towards the mouth of the cave and for a few moments, Evie watched him go. She was on her own. She was on her own in the middle of a desolate nowhere. She was tired, she was hungry, and Raffy was angry with her for saving his life.
‘You know that K stands for Killable?’ she shouted suddenly. ‘You know that they were going to let the Evils kill you? If I hadn’t helped you to escape. If Lucas hadn’t helped you.’