Tremor: If your world was falling apart, how far would you go to save it? (The Tremor Cycle) (10 page)

Althea backed away, grabbing William’s hand.

‘You’re wrong,’ Ichabod cried. ‘There are no gods; the tremors will continue with or without us, no matter what this Erisia has told you.’

‘The tremors call for our sacrifice, they hunger for our blood.’ The Overseer pulled out a metal ring and dropped the object. ‘It is time to feed them.’

The room vibrated and everyone froze to their positions.

‘We have to get out of here now!’ screamed Althea, pulling William towards the door. ‘It’s a bomb, a grenade!’

William’s elbow twisted painfully as he was flung out of the room by Althea. There was a millisecond of calm, and then the shrillest noise he’d ever heard ruptured his ears. It was as if all the sounds around him had been compressed into one piercing shriek, digging deep into his brain. He was propelled across the hallway, feeling his face burn against ribbed carpet.

‘Will, get up!’ screamed Althea.

‘I–I can’t feel my arms,’ stammered William, trying to push himself up with the help of the wall, but failing. He looked back into the Overseer’s office, but could see nothing human there, only a devastated mass of splintered plasterboard, furniture and carpet, all splattered with blood.

‘We’ve got to go. In five minutes this place will be swarming with Enforcers,’ echoed a deep voice, which had to be Ichabod’s.

The cut on William’s forehead had reopened slightly. A small amount of blood trickled into his blurry eyes, and all he could see was a dark mess of colour. He tried to wipe it out, but his arms were like jelly.

‘Come on Will, it’s just the shock of the explosion. We have to move!’ shouted Althea, grabbing him and dragging him down the corridor.

When William’s pupils finally focused and he’d become fully aware again, he pulled away from Althea’s grip and ran as fast as he could. Even though Ichabod’s arm was dislocated, he was in the lead, using his cane to propel himself through the corridors.

‘We–go–pany,’ fizzed a voice from William’s back pocket.

‘Say that again Ori,’ said William, pulling out the walkietalkie.

‘We got company. A group of Enforcers just went into the plant. You better be quick.’

‘We’re nearly at the exit. Can you start the engine?’

‘I’m on it, over and out.’ Silence for a second and then, ‘I turn the key right?’

‘Yes, the key, turn it now!’ shouted William, tucking the device away and running straight for the emergency exit.

They burst out and clambered down the hillside, heading to the other side of the rocky outcrop. By the time they’d skipped through the rocks, the bus was already spewing out dark fumes and the door was open. William climbed in first and helped Ichabod into the driver’s seat.

‘You’ll have to watch me William. I may pass out, so we need someone to take the wheel if that happens,’ Ichabod said, swaying slightly.

‘I’m on it,’ William said, closing the door and winking at Ori, who ran back and sat with Althea in the passenger seats. ‘Where are we going now?’

‘I think Erisia should be our next target,’ said Ichabod. ‘She’s the one leading the abductions. We can make her tell us where your mother and my wife are.’

After what he’d heard just now, William tried not to think about what might’ve happened to them.

‘I doubt it will be easy to get to her,’ Althea called. ‘She’ll be protected, massively.’

‘We’ll visit some friends of mine first. They’ve been big protesters against Terrafall since after the war, so they might know where Erisia is. They were the ones who helped plan this little venture,’ said Ichabod, turning the bus out onto the dirt track. ‘We’re going north, to Deep Rest Hollow.’

‘The Scavenger camp?’ said Althea. ‘I’ve heard really bad things about that place. Do we really want to cross Scavengers?’

‘Terrafall has no idea what truly lies in the Hollow, or even where it is, as a matter of fact,’ replied Ichabod, cranking the engine harder. ‘Terrafall doesn’t like what it can’t control, so it makes up lies.’

‘So did you get what you wanted?’ asked Ori, wrapping his arm around Althea. ‘Do you know who’s got Will’s mum?’

Althea nodded. ‘Sort of. Have a sleep now Ori. We might not have time later.’

Night was gradually turning into day and William was exhausted. His body ached and he just wanted to lie down in his own dust-ridden bed. His eyes began to flicker. He would’ve fallen asleep if it wasn’t for the sound of screeching tyres. He jumped up and raced down the length of the bus to look out of the rear window.

‘It’s one of Terrafall’s jeeps, we’re being followed,’ said Ichabod, eyes frozen on the rear view mirror.

William looked back at Althea and then the crossbow. She turned, guessed what he was suggesting and nodded silently.

‘Bet you’re glad I brought it now aren’t you?’ she said, gently resting a sleeping Ori on her seat and picking up the weapon.

The hours seem to crawl by. She stares into the darkness of the metal box. There’s no keyhole she can attempt to crack. Her head’s too woozy anyway. Her nails sting, she’s clawed that much.

She’s exhausted, but hates herself for being so weak. She shouldn’t have wished for oblivion. Giving up is like sitting in a puddle while it’s raining. Pointless and painful.

She lifts an arm, it shakes and falls. Her legs won’t move either; they’re frozen.

‘Is anyone there?’ sobs a voice, coarse but youthful in sound.

She jumps, a little life flooding back into her. She drags herself to the side of the box where the voice came from. ‘Who is this?’

‘I was grabbed by these people and now I’m in this box. They cut me,’ the voice replies.

Her hand rests on the cold surface of the wall as she tries to comfort the boy. He can only be thirteen, fourteen? ‘The same happened to me,’ she says. A tear clunks onto the metal.

‘Are they going to kill us?’ says the boy fearfully.

She doesn’t answer and sinks back against the box as it suddenly jolts. They must have hit a crack in the tarmac. Next there’s a bang. The side of the box vibrates.

‘Are you OK?’ she calls, but the boy doesn’t answer. Her eyes narrow and she bangs against the metal again. Her fists strike hard but there is no response.

She tries again. She won’t give up. She won’t let this journey be her last.

Chapter 9

Road Rush

The black rusted jeep swerved next to the bus, bashing into its side. Ori was now awake and huddled next to William, clutching the inside of his arm. Althea stood next to the door, crossbow in one hand, the other gripping a metal rail.

‘I think I’ll be able to take out a tyre, at least I hope I will,’ she said, gulping, crossbow rested on the door.

‘You can do it Alfie,’ said Ori, curling further into William as the jeep smashed into the bus again.

‘Goddamn them!’ shouted Ichabod from the wheel. He pushed a button and released the door. ‘Teach them a lesson.’

Althea’s lips twitched nervously. ‘OK, let’s do this. I can do this!’

William held Ori to shade his eyes. If anything went wrong now, if Althea fell out of the bus, he didn’t want Ori to see. He tried to close his own eyes, but he couldn’t, he had to carry on watching.

Althea hooked her arm around the metal rail and aimed the crossbow. ‘One, two, three!’ she screamed, pressing the trigger.

An arrow flew out, speeding towards the car. William held his breath. It flew through the windshield, missing the tyre, and burst through the back window.

‘No, no, no!’ screeched Althea, pulling the crossbow back and reloading.

The jeep hit the bus again, harder this time. Althea was knocked forwards and almost fell into the road, but she’d managed to grab the edge of the door and hung on tightly, the tips of her feet nearly scraping the ground.

Ori screamed. William held his breath and Ichabod stomped on the brake, his foot almost smashing through the thin metal of the floor. The bus skidded.

‘Don’t stop!’ screamed Althea, still hanging onto the edge of the door. She swung herself back into the bus and positioned the crossbow again. ‘I’m still here.’

Ichabod hit the accelerator and the bus regained speed. William crossed his fingers as Althea pressed the trigger and another arrow was released.

The world stopped for a split second and then a cloud of smoke filled the road, followed by the sound of churning metal and violent eruptions.

William looked back. The jeep was upturned in the middle of the road and was on fire, an arrow just visible in the remnants of the wheel. Car chase scenes from lost films flashed before him. He placed his hand over his heart and was sure he saw it jumping off.

‘I did it!’ cried Althea, pulling herself into a seat as the door closed.

Ori ran to her. ‘Don’t do that again Alfie, you silly idiot,’ he said, sobbing into her shoulder.

‘We should find somewhere to hide for the night. I need some rest,’ breathed Ichabod. The bus swerved off the road but he quickly pulled it back on. ‘I’m beginning to lose consciousness.’

Althea rummaged in her bag. ‘I’ve got some aspirin left, you should take it.’ She opened a bottle filled with cloudy liquid and pressed it against his lips.

‘You finally trust me?’ The corners of Ichabod’s mouth curled upwards.

‘Just drink the aspirin, for goodness’ sake.’ Althea returned the smile. ‘And yeah, I suppose I do.’

‘Thanks, Fear,’ said Ichabod, downing the aspirin. His face scrunched. ‘Oh heavens, that tastes awful.’

‘Fear?’ said William, eyebrow raised.

‘Her new nickname,’ replied Ichabod. ‘She is truly fearless, and so I find it quite fitting.’

‘I like it,’ Althea said, smiling.

They drove on for a couple more miles, eventually stopping and turning into secluded woodland. William looked out at the spindly trees. A few green leaves still hung onto the branches, adding a small amount of colour to the area.

The sight of green life made things slightly more tolerable, but William knew it was a rarity. The effects of the war combined with Terrafall’s aggressive ways had turned most of the land into an uninhabitable wasteland, all because it wanted to make sure its enemies couldn’t survive out here, where it couldn’t keep an eye on them. William detested Terrafall for this.

‘Should we start a fire or something?’ he asked, looking at Ori with concern.

‘No, we’ll probably have Peace Enforcers looking for us,’ Althea replied, pulling Ori right into her side. ‘We’ll just have to cope with the cold.’

‘I suppose you’re right,’ said William, turning to Ichabod who’d moved to one of the seats and was lying down, grunting as he moved his bad arm into a comfortable position. ‘You OK, Ichabod? I’m guessing the aspirin hasn’t helped much?’

Ichabod coughed. ‘The aspirin has done as much as it can.’ He paused and stroked his arm. ‘But moments of silence like this bring memories, and they make this physical pain worse. I’ve tried to forget the bad memories, but you can never forget the loss of a child.’

‘You had children?’ asked William.

‘Yes,’ whispered Ichabod. ‘But they were killed. I was away fighting in the war when they were taken from this world. I curse the day I was called up to fight. I should’ve taken my family and hidden, then maybe my children would still be alive and my wife still by my side.’

William considered leaving it there, but couldn’t resist asking one last question. ‘What was fighting like? We were taken to some bunkers when the first T-bomb was dropped, and then when it was over we carried on the best we could, pretending it never happened. That’s when Terrafall really started to take over I suppose.’

‘You were the lucky ones, but if you must know, it was the quickest and most violent war in history. It was during this time that my leg was injured and I became reliant on the cane,’ Ichabod replied. ‘The most powerful countries wiped themselves out in a matter of months and then everyone else followed. The last I heard from London was that the city had fallen and only small pockets of the government remained. But that government doesn’t matter anymore. People have taken things into their own hands, like Terrafall for example. It rules now.’

‘Dad fought for a bit, but he was forced back to the bunkers when it got really bad. He never told me anything, didn’t like to talk about it.’

‘I just don’t understand why Terrafall resorted to sacrificing people,’ said Althea, lying on her makeshift bed next to Ori. ‘And to think it started off as a relief organisation for victims affected by natural disasters like volcanoes.’

‘As the man said at the power plant, science failed Terrafall, so it’s turned to something else. Something inconceivable,’ explained Ichabod. ‘The collapse of society has made Terrafall go backwards in time, to the days when men believed gods lived among us.’

‘My dad was trying to stop the tremors. After his death I got his journal and really hoped I’d find something in it to help figure out how to stop them, but someone destroyed it before I could. The only real answer I got was that the Earth needed time, but that wasn’t what I wanted, because we don’t have time, do we? We could be dead tomorrow,’ said William.

‘Yes, time is precious, and we may die tomorrow, but we may not. It’s best to live in the moment,’ Ichabod said. ‘The past is gone, it shattered this planet and left us with the tremors. So let’s not look back – focus on the future, and hope it will be better than this.’

‘Do you think they’ll ever stop?’ said Althea, raising her head a little.

‘The tremors? Maybe, maybe not, but it won’t be because of sacrifice. Maybe William’s father was onto something with the time theory. He’s right. The Earth needs time to heal.’ Ichabod turned. ‘Now go to sleep, we’ve got a long day ahead.’

William walked to the back of the bus and lay down on the seat, using his scrunched up jacket as a pillow. Sleep seemed so far away. So much had happened and he really hadn’t had time to make sense of it all. His mind churned with thoughts of the day, and he knew if he didn’t rest soon, they’d make a mess of his brain.

The air was thick with cold, almost dense enough to be a chilly sleeping bag. He cupped his hands and blew into them.

Ori and Ichabod seemed to have no problems sleeping, both were out like fire in heavy rain.

‘I can’t sleep,’ he whispered, looking across to Althea, her face half covered with dark auburn hair.

‘What are you thinking about?’ she asked sleepily.

What wasn’t he thinking about? ‘Just stuff…’ he decided to say.

‘Stuff… sounds interesting,’ replied Althea.

William hugged his chest, yawning. ‘Where were you when they said we were going to war?’

‘At home, watching the news. The news reader said that everyone in Asia was fighting and she started talking about rationing.’ Althea rubbed her eyes. ‘I think you were away that week.’

William closed his eyes. ‘Yeah, I was at my grandparents, and we were watching that too.’

‘Mum locked the doors and we just kept watching. I remember some scientists coming on and talking about fossil fuels or something… then they said people would be shoved into bunkers. The image fizzled out after that and we packed and left home.’

‘I remember that bit. Mum and Dad literally dragged me and my grandparents out of the house and into the cars,’ William said.

‘The crash…’ whispered Althea, words barely audible.

William squirmed, feeling his throat tighten. ‘Lots of other people had the same idea that day. Just get out and run to the bunkers. We got past the worst of the traffic, but Grandad didn’t see the truck coming.’ He shuddered.

Althea breathed out deeply. ‘Things didn’t properly kick off until a month later. Do you remember the first panic, then the calm and then…’ she gulped, ‘…everything seemed to explode?’

‘Yep, and we were stuck in the bunkers,’ added William.

‘They were horrid. Being underground for two and a half years; I hated it. Do you remember when our dads came back from fighting and started talking about all that science stuff, saying they could create a new food source underground? They were proper geeky about it, weren’t they?’

‘Yeah, they were!’ giggled William. ‘And they didn’t even get to start on it!’ He gazed up to the uneven roof, trying to create images out of the dints. ‘Do you think it’ll ever be like before?’

Althea sighed. ‘No. I really don’t.’

‘I think I agree…’ And with that, William bid her goodnight, closed his eyes and attempted the impossible task of emptying his mind.

Bars of early light shone into the bus, beaming down the central aisle. William stood up and stretched. Pain hit his forehead and then his side, but he ignored it. He stepped down and out of the door, in need of some fresh air before they set off again.

Walking through the trees, he ran his fingers through the wiry twigs lining his path. So much had changed. The place had become so barren, so dead. He looked up, taking in the blue colour, the only vivid thing he could see. ‘At least the sky can’t fall,’ he told himself, stepping over a stray root. He wasn’t going to fall over this time. His forehead had taken enough of a beating.

The edge of the small woodland appeared, opening out onto… nothing. William frowned. Where had the land gone? Edging forward slowly, he looked over the lip of the opening.

The land had been carved out for miles into a deep hollow. Bones and rubble scattered the edges of the crater, and the unmistakable smell of death lingered in the air. William cupped his mouth, fingertips tightening on his cheeks.

‘W–what happened?’ William said, fully expecting his words to fall unanswered onto the dusty soil.

A hand touched his shoulder and William leapt into the air. He turned. Ichabod.

‘This was once a city, destroyed by a T-bomb during the war. They called it Carlith and over one hundred thousand people died here. I can feel their souls even now,’ said Ichabod, gripping his cane, hard. ‘This is what war does. Now you can truly see it with your own eyes, see what those terrible weapons are capable of.’

William felt cold inch down his spine. He couldn’t bear the sight any longer. ‘Let’s go, we have people to save,’ he said, turning away from the horror.

They drove on after a small breakfast of stale bread, carrots and warm water. It wasn’t exactly a good meal, but it was enough for William. After what he’d seen he was so grateful. He couldn’t imagine what those people had gone through. How many children had lost their parents? How many parents lost their children?

‘We’re coming up to the Bad Lands now,’ called Ichabod, pushing harder on the accelerator.

‘The place where bandits hide out,’ whispered William to Althea, looking with interest at the wide and empty moorland that filled the landscape to the east. It was a perfect place for an ambush. ‘We’re going to stand out like a single cow in a field…’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll get us through, but Fear, get your crossbow ready, we might need it,’ said Ichabod, hands tightening on the wheel.

They drove on unnoticed, passing ruined farms and villages. Most of the rivers had dried into cracked channels and nothing of any real beauty remained. William watched the scenery as they sped past, merging into a blurry mix of colour. The intangible shapes made a welcome change to the bleak realities they disguised.

He started to wonder if the environment could ever recover, but guessed it would only be possible if Terrafall stopped its aggressive ways, or just stopped all together. That would benefit everyone. The environment needed time, like his father’s journal had explained, a thing that was so precious to everyone at the moment, especially his mother… He breathed out, fogging up the window.