Boy X (21 page)

‘The injection?' Isabel looked back at him. ‘Not yet.'

‘Do you feel worse?'

‘No.'

What if Thorn had been lying and Ash had injected Isabel with something else? Something even worse than
Kronos
? He shuddered at the thought of it, but all they could do was wait for it to take effect, so they walked on and on, climbing higher and higher.

With his heart heavy from the weight of everything he now knew, Ash glanced back at the monkeys from time to time, seeing them move like shadows through the treetops. He could hear their breathing, detect the beating of their hearts, and he was sure there were more of them than before. The creatures were growing in number the further they moved into the forest, keeping their distance but always watching.

When the trees began to thin and the ground levelled out, Isabel stopped and looked out across the moonlit
jungle. ‘We are on the ridge. The BioSphere is that way.' She pointed behind them, then turned to point ahead. ‘And the bay is that way.'

‘How far?'

Isabel rubbed her eyes and shrugged. ‘A few hours' walk – three, maybe four? – but it is much easier up here than down there.'

Over to the right, Ash could make out the forest canopy spread below, but to the left the trees thinned out until there was just a never-ending blackness. ‘And over there . . .' He sniffed the air, detecting the faintest hint of salt on the breeze. ‘The sea?'

‘Right,' Isabel said. ‘It's close, but there are many cliffs. The bay is the only place where there is a beach.' She looked out at the world spread beneath them.

‘I'm glad you're here,' Ash said. ‘I could never have got this far on my own.'

‘We still have a long way to go.'

After some time, Isabel shone the torch back into the trees. The light reflected from countless eyes. ‘They're still following,' she said. ‘They're following you.'

‘I can hear them,' Ash looked up. ‘I can smell them too.' It was a sweet, fruity smell, mixed with the musky smell of fur. ‘But I'm not scared of them. Not any more. I don't think they want to hurt us. Actually, they' – it felt like a strange thing to say – ‘kind of make me feel safe.'

‘When Thorn was coming to the bunker, they warned us he was there. And he was scared of them. But I think
maybe they like you.'

‘How could they
not
like me?'

Isabel managed a half-smile before she reached up to pull a vine towards her. She cut through it with a clean slice from her knife and tipped back her head to let the moisture drip into her mouth.

‘You look better.' Ash moved closer and focused on the sound of her heart. It wasn't so weak now – it hit every beat – and that sickly smell was becoming faint. Thorn had been telling the truth after all.

‘I
feel
better.' The drips fell on Isabel's chin as she spoke. ‘Not so much pain in my muscles. It really was the cure, Ash. I know it.' When she finished drinking, she held the vine out to Ash, warning him, ‘Don't put your lips on it.'

Ash had expected drinking from a vine to be like turning on a tap, but it was more like turning a tap
off
and trying to catch the last few drops. He had taken less than a mouthful before he caught the scent of something unexpected on the breeze.

‘I smell burning.'

Isabel sniffed the air. ‘I don't smell it. Maybe it's from the bunker?' she suggested. ‘From our fire?'

‘No. It's closer than that.'

‘You think it's
them
?'

‘Yes. And I think they're close.' He scanned the forest, searching for the flicker of a fire or the winking of a light – anything that would tell him Pierce was close.

Isabel put a hand into her pocket, pulling out a disposable lighter she had taken from Thorn's pack. When she
flicked the wheel, there was a spark and a small flame jumped to life. The flame leant back in the breeze, pointing in the direction they had just come from.

‘Wind's coming from the north.' Isabel let the flame die, then put the lighter away and looked ahead. ‘It must be carrying the smell from somewhere in front of us. OK. No talking and no torch.'

Somewhere over the sea, a bright white light flashed for an instant, then the sky rumbled long and low.

‘More rain coming,' Isabel said.

They were cautious as they progressed along the ridge. Isabel tested the ground for traps or anything that might make a noise and give them away. Ash followed, stepping wherever Isabel did, just like when they had first entered the forest.

There were more flashes over the sea, and the sky continued to grumble. As he was walking, Ash tried to make sense of everything Thorn had told them. There was so much to remember, so much to digest and understand. There was
something
, though, that didn't feel right. Ash couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was niggling at him, and the voice in his head knew what it was.

I'm keeping it to myself
, the voice said.
It's a secret. You'll have to figure it out on your own.

Ash went over it again and again, trying to remember everything Thorn had said and exactly how he had said it.

Can you really trust him?
the voice whispered.
Can you really trust Thorn?

‘I can smell it now.' Isabel's voice snapped him out of his
thoughts. She had stopped and was staring along the ridge. ‘Look,' she said. ‘You see that?'

Ahead, maybe a hundred metres away through the trees, something flickered orange.

‘Fire,' Ash said. ‘It's Pierce and Cain.'

05 hrs and 26 mins until Shut-Down

‘
I
know what you're thinking.' Isabel watched Ash staring at the orange glow dancing through the trees. The air grew cooler as the rain approached, pushing the wind ahead of it. ‘But we should go past,' she said. ‘This is our chance to reach the boat before them. To stop them from leaving the island. They're soldiers. They have guns. We are just kids. We have to get to the boat and call for help.'

‘We agreed.' Ash didn't take his eyes off the distant fire. ‘Cure first, boat second.'

‘Yes, but I think they are too strong.'

‘
I'm
strong. And what if this is our only chance to rescue Mum? Maybe we can get what we need and go back.'

‘In five hours?' Isabel shook her head. ‘It's quicker to go
to the boat and call for help, just like Thorn said.'

‘Why should we trust
him
?'

‘He gave me the cure. And what if we go in there and get caught? Killed? They will leave the island and everyone will die. All our friends, grandparents, uncles, aunts, everyone. The whole planet, Thorn said. We need to stop them leaving.
Kronos
can't get out.'

‘But the cure is right there, Isabel. Right.
There.
' Ash pointed at the fire in the distance, feeling the frustration build. ‘At least let's check it out.'

‘What if they see us?'

‘What if they
don't
?'

Isabel put a hand to her mouth and stared at the ground, shaking her head. ‘All right. The rain will cover our sounds.'

The rain came in a hiss of white noise that blanketed the other sounds of the forest as it bore down on them. Ash stared at the campfire further along the ridge until it was lost in the downpour.

‘The rain has reached them now,' he said.

‘All right, check the fastenings.' Isabel touched a hand to Thorn's survival pack. ‘We can't make a sound.'

Ash tightened the strap across his chest and they set off, moving to the edge of the ridge so they were just below its highest point.

Closer to the fire, Isabel stopped and scooped up a handful of mud, smearing it across her face. When she looked at Ash, all he could see was the whites of her eyes, and then the rain began to streak through the mud, like she
was melting. It was perfect camouflage, so Ash did the same, wiping mud over his face and hands.

They sneaked through the trees until they neared the place where they estimated the camp to be. With the rain still pounding them, they lay down and crawled up the incline, making their way back to the top of the ridge until Ash caught sight of the fire flickering through the trees about twenty metres away.

Drawing closer to a thick clump of vegetation, they snaked beneath the wide leaves to peer out at the camp. For an adult it might have been more difficult, but neither Ash nor Isabel was very big, so they were able to get close enough to see the camp in detail.

Waterproof sheets were propped on long sticks sheltering the soldiers from the rain. Cain was perched on a log to the right of a campfire, leaning forward and eating from a mess tin. Her carbine was across her lap as if she expected to use it at any moment. Pierce was sitting on the crate Ash had seen them carrying from the BioSphere. Across his shoulder was the strap of a messenger bag that lay in his lap. The other four men – including the massive soldier he had nicknamed Hulk – were all sitting with their backs to the fire, facing into the forest in different directions with their carbines at the ready.

Ash's eyes were drawn back to Pierce who was scraping a spoon around his mess tin, finding the last remains of his meal. Ash detected the sound of movement from inside the crate he was sitting on, and was now certain it contained one of the howler monkeys. Thorn had told them Pierce
was taking one off the island to provide the means to make more
Kronos
. But Ash ignored it and concentrated on Pierce. He tried to read the rogue scientist, hearing the clink of metal on metal, smelling the sweat that soaked his shirt and the sourness of his stale breath. And when he looked at the scientist's profile, he felt a rising hatred. He hated the way he licked his spoon and the way he looked. But this was more than he had expected to feel. He had an irrational sense that this was not a man but a monster, and there was a powerful urge to draw his knife and rush over to the man he had first seen at Dad's funeral. He would stick his knife into him, and—

Something touched his hand and Ash looked down to see Isabel's fingers there, stopping him from taking out his knife. He blinked hard, as if coming out of a trance, and shoved the half-drawn knife back into its sheath.

‘What were you going to do?' Isabel said as soon as they moved away from the camp. She was trembling and her voice was a tight whisper. ‘I thought you were going to do something stupid.'

‘Pierce's bag. Did you see it? I bet that's where everything is. We need to get it. If we can distract them, we—'

‘There are soldiers,' Isabel hissed. ‘
Soldiers!
'

‘But I'm strong and quick,' Ash argued. ‘I can grab Pierce's bag and—'

‘
I'm
not strong and quick. Not like you. And look how they guard the forest. They will see us, and then there will be no one to stop them from taking that boat. We have to keep going and call for help. We have no choice.'

‘There's always a choice. That's what Dad would say.'

‘But your dad is not here.' Isabel's words cut into him.

Ash glared at her, the rain falling between them. He reached for the tag round his neck. ‘There is one other choice. We split up. I go for the camp; you go for the boat.'

‘
What
? No way.'

‘Think about it. You're not as strong and quick as me, but you
do
know the way to the beach. You can set off now, and I'll get the bag and come after you – I can follow your trail, you know I can. I'll be so fast they won't know what hit them, then I'll catch up with you. It's the
only
way to save everyone.'

‘And if they catch you?'

Ash looked in the direction of the camp and shook his head. ‘They won't.'

05 hrs and 00 mins until Shut-Down

I
n the shadow of a large tree, Ash sharpened the tip of a long branch to make a primitive spear.