Desolation Boulevard (51 page)

“
Gabby honey, some more
people are outside the farm this morning.”

“
Aha,” she replied through
a mouthful of milky oats.

“
Did you know they were
coming?”

“
Um, sort of.”

“
What do you mean sort
of?”

“
Um, I kind of thought they
would come, but I can’t know for sure. I know they wanted to, but
sometimes they can’t make it.”

Bonnie and Sally looked at each other;
amazed by the matter-of-fact way this little girl spoke about these
extraordinary things. Gabby shovelled another spoonful of porridge
into her mouth.

“
Why can’t they make it
sometimes, honey?”

Gabby raised her face from the bowl, and
looked at her mother with a puzzled frown. “I’m not sure. I think
someone stops them sometimes.”

“
Feeders?”

“
Not always. In some places
I think there might be bad people.”

Bonnie could see that Gabby’s demeanour had
changed slightly, as the questions became a little more
confronting, so she changed the subject. “Gabby, what about the
people outside the fence? Why are they here, do you think?”

“
That’s easy,” she replied.
“They’re scared.”

“
Scared of
what?”

“
You’re asking a lot of
questions mummy. Can I go and play now?”

“
No sweetie, not just yet.
I know these questions aren’t fun, but mummy needs you to answer
them before you go play, okay?”

“
Okay,” she said, obviously
getting bored with the whole discussion.

“
Okay, sweetie, now tell me
why the people are coming to us? Why don’t they go somewhere
else?”

“
Oh, they feel safe
here.”

“
But why?”

“
Because I’m
here.”

Bonnie glanced at Sally again, who shook her
head. Bonnie knew that this meant that the situation was escalating
quickly, because if people sensed that Gabby was their salvation,
they would just keep coming. The farm would turn into a refugee
camp, and they would end up being trapped, with all their freedom
taken away as a cult built around Gabby. God, she wished the others
were here to tell her what to do!

“
Gabby, honey I need to ask
you something else, but I don’t want you to be scared
okay?”

“
Okay mummy.”

“
Do you think those people
outside the fence would ever hurt us?”

Gabby looked at Sally and Bonnie in turn, as
her brow furrowed. It was obvious that this was a question she
would prefer not to answer. Bonnie encouraged her with a smile,
“It’s all right sweetheart. Just tell us what you think. Whatever
you say, we won’t mind. Are we safe from those people?”

“
Well, I think so,” she
answered, hesitantly. “But there are others that want to hurt us.
It’s safer somewhere else.”

“
Where sweetie? Where is it
safer?”

“
A long way away. I don’t
know what its name is, but lots of people are going there. Not bad
people - just good ones, like us. I think it’s somewhere shiny.
Like glass.”

“
What do you mean shiny,
like a lake?”

“
Mmm. I don’t know mummy,
just glassy.”

“
Okay sweetie, that’s
enough questions. Let’s go and get you dressed.”

Later, while Gabby was playing in her room,
Bonnie and Sally sat in the lounge room and tried to analyse this
new information, as the crowd continued their vigil outside.

“
I don’t want to be an
alarmist,” Bonnie said, “But what happens if Matt and the others
don’t come back?”

“
Oh my god, I can’t even
think about it. I’m scared. What are we going to do?”

“
Look, there’s no point
panicking just yet, but we have to consider our options. If we stay
here, we’ll end up trapped by that mob out there. Shit, we may be
already, who knows? I think that if the others don’t come back
soon, we should think about leaving and head west. I think that’s
what Gabby was talking about, when she said “shiny”.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
I think she must have
meant Diamond Creek. You know, like glass. Diamond. Remember when
Bill said there was a big community building up out
there?”

“
Wow. Yes, that makes
sense. Do you think we’ll be safe there? Bill could have been lying
about that you know. We might be better off staying here, we
haven’t had any real trouble yet have we?”

“
No we haven’t. But if this
crowd keeps building, there won’t be enough resources to go around
even if they’re friendly. I think we need to consider an escape
plan.”

“
You’re right I suppose,
but can we wait a few more days for the others to come
home?”

“
Absolutely. We just have
to be ready for anything, that’s all. There is one other thing I
need to do, though.”

“
What’s that?” asked
Sally.

“
I need to go down and
speak to those people at the fence.”

-

Montana was being marched through the
corridors by Scarface and two armed guards, on her way to see the
boys for the last time. Balled up in her hand was the note she had
written the night before. She knew that it was getting damp from
her sweaty palms, but there was nothing she could do about that.
She needed Matt or Dylan to read the note for the plan to succeed,
but there was a huge risk involved in getting it to them. If
Scarface caught her, her punishment would be swift and merciless,
and the boys would die. The plan she had devised was clumsy and
unlikely to succeed, but it was the only thing she had been able to
come up with. As she went over each part of the scheme in her mind,
she could only see ways it could fail, but despite that, she knew
there was no option but to try and carry it through. She did have
one slight advantage, though, and that was the likelihood that The
Doctor and his legion of marauders would underestimate her. Their
complacency about their own strength and power might just become
the instrument of their downfall.

The guard in front of Montana came to a stop
at a large steel door, which she recognised as the door of the
school’s computer room. It was a perfect prison - there were bars
on the windows and the door would stop all but the most determined
burglars. Inwardly, she smiled - this fitted in with her plan
perfectly. Scarface took Montana by the arm as the guard opened the
door.

“
I’ll give you three
minutes with your friends and the door will stay open. If you or
anybody in that room tries anything, you will all be shot. Is that
clear?”

“
Yes. That’s
clear.”

As one guard was inserting his key into the
lock, the second trained his gun at the door. Montana hoped that
Matt or Dylan wouldn’t attempt anything foolish when the door
opened, because they would certainly be killed. As the big door
creaked open, Montana was almost beside herself with fear. She knew
that getting the note into the hand of one the boys would be a
critical moment in the execution of her scheme. If The Doctor or
one of the guards caught her, it would be over immediately, and
they would never leave the school alive.

As soon as the door was opened the guards
stepped into the room with their guns raised and ordered the
prisoners to their feet. A nod to The Doctor indicated that
everything was in order, and that Montana could now enter room.

“
Remember,” said The
Doctor, “Three minutes, and the guards will be
watching.”

She nodded and entered the room, and as soon
as Matt and Dylan saw her, they rushed over and hugged her, as the
guards watched. She clung to the boys fiercely, the note nestled
safely in her clenched fist.

“
Oh my god, I’m so scared,”
she whispered as they embraced. “I didn’t know if I’d see you
again. Are you okay?”

“
We’re okay for now, how
are you?” asked Matt. “Are they mistreating you? I’ll kill them if
they are!”

“
No, settle down. I’m
okay.”

She broke away from the embrace and looked
at the boys. Dark rings under their eyes suggested that they hadn’t
slept very well last night and Matt had an ugly purple bruise on
the side of his face.

“
Those bastards!” she
exclaimed, as her left hand gently stroked his cheek, as her right
hand moved down to grasp Matt’s left hand.

This was the moment that would count; if
Matt’s face gave anything away as she passed the note to him, she
would be taken away, and the opportunity would be gone. She forced
open his fingers, as she continued their conversation, and tried to
force the balled-up piece of his paper into his palm secretly. At
first Matt just grabbed Montana’s hand and she almost dropped the
note to the floor, but then she saw the expression on his face
change, as he looked at her quizzically, before palming the note,
right under the gaze of the guards.

“
Time’s up,” one of the
guards announced, to Montana’s surprise.

“
That wasn’t three
minutes!” she protested, turning to The Doctor, who was smiling
cruelly at the three friends.

“
Time’s up,” he confirmed,
turning to the guards. “Get her out of here.”

-

After Montana had been dragged from the
room, the five other captives, returned sullenly to their spots on
the floor as Matt and Dylan stared at each other.

“
What was that about?”
Dylan asked. “How did she get him to allow a visit?”

“
I don’t know, but she
passed me this,” he said, holding out the tightly folded note in
his hand, as if it were a fragile butterfly.

Dylan immediately forced Matt’s hand closed
and led him as far from the other prisoners as he could.

“
Shit Matt!” he whispered,
“Let’s just keep this to ourselves until we know what it says.
Knowledge is power. I don’t trust anyone in here.”

Matt looked over at the five people slumped
against the wall. To him they looked as if they were already dead.
He couldn’t imagine how they could be a threat, but he took Dylan’s
advice anyway and stuffed the note into his pocket, planning to
read it later, when it would be less obvious. He walked over to the
window and peered through the bars at the football field that had
already reverted to an overgrown meadow. What was in the note? Was
it one last declaration of love from Montana, or did it hold
information that they could use to save themselves? Later when the
time was right, he would read it and find out.

-

For Montana, the rest of the day was spent
in the company of The Doctor, who was relishing the chance to crow
about his achievements and authority. He gave her a guided tour of
the town in a limousine chauffeured by one of his henchman, under
escort by yet another armed guard on a motorcycle. As they rolled
imperiously through the streets of her hometown, The Doctor was
happy to answer most questions, taking a perverse pride in the
changes that had occurred since the event.

“
Where are all the dead
bodies?” asked Montana, at one point in the tour.

“
I had teams take them out
of town in trucks and burn them. No point surviving the feeders
only to be brought undone by pestilence, is there?” he
offered.

Another time, Montana noticed two cars full
of survivors, driving slowly through the town as they headed west.
She could see the faces of the travellers as they peered
incredulously at the limo. It was obvious, too, from their
expressions that they sensed something very wrong in Carswell, and
desired to keep moving. Montana was puzzled.

“
Why do you let some
through and not others?” she asked.

“
That’s an excellent
question, Montana, but it’s difficult to answer. I’ll try though.
Firstly, today is Sunday. We don’t take prisoners on Sunday. Why? I
don’t really know. Maybe it’s just a nod to our civilised past - a
day of rest, if you like. The main reason we allow survivors
through, though, is because I believe we’ll be catching up with
them soon enough and it will make for more witnesses when we find
the girl and destroy her. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my
little army are getting quite impatient with all this waiting, and
are very keen to begin the battle. It’s like an energy that’s
building inside them. We have the numbers, so it’s just a matter
now of waiting for the psychs to choose the right day. It won’t be
long, that’s for sure. Once the girl’s out of the picture, the
darker forces will be able to gather in numbers, and the world can
be reborn. It’s very exciting, wouldn’t you say?”

Montana stared blankly out of the window as
another car with two survivors sped west. “Very exciting,” she
muttered bleakly.

-

It was almost an hour after Montana’s visit
when Matt and Dylan had an opportunity to read the note in private.
The other captors were all dozing on the floor, so Matt crept over
to Dylan and sat down beside him on the filthy carpet. He took the
note out of his pocket and unfolded it as if it was the word of God
itself. He flattened the piece of paper out on his thigh before
holding it so that he and Dylan could read together. When they’d
finished, Matt ripped it up and took it over to one of the buckets
that they were using as toilets, and dropped the pieces in. He
returned and slumped down on the floor next to Dylan once more. He
looked as his friend, with his face full of sorrow.