Every Second Counts (25 page)

n.
(1) carrying out an action;
(2) putting someone to death

I paced around the cell, my fury at being imprisoned building with each step. Hours had passed and just one thought consumed me: I had to save Nat. Of course I wanted to save
Jas too, not to mention all the other people who had – or were going to be – infected with the deadly virus. And I still burned with desire to expose Riley for being prepared to
sacrifice human beings to achieve power.

But mostly I wanted the boy I loved to stay alive.

It didn’t look hopeful. It was surely late evening by now and I was still stuck inside this police station. Apart from the officer who brought me food and water and accompanied me to the
bathroom, Riley was the only person I’d seen or spoken to in hours. For all I knew, he was planning on keeping me here for days. But I didn’t have days. Nat would be dead by the end of
tomorrow, Jas even sooner.

The first thing I needed to do was get out of the police station. Then I needed – somehow – to track down the antidote Riley had spoken about and get it to Nat and his sister.

I was exhausted, my mind running over the options for escape on an endless loop. Each one seemed as hopeless as the next. There were no windows and the only door was firmly locked. I had nothing
I could use either as a weapon or to get past the lock. Apart from my clothes, the only item in the room that wasn’t nailed to the floor was my plastic water cup.

The door creaked open. I scrambled to my feet as the bright electric light from the corridor outside streamed into the room. A man stood in the doorway. I squinted, trying to make out who it
was. I was expecting Riley again. Or maybe Uchi.

But as the man stepped towards me, a furious scowl on his face, I saw that instead it was Aaron’s father, Mayor Latimer.

The clock in the hospital canteen ticked loudly on. The room itself was shut up, all the food display counters empty and covered. A kind porter had let Lucas and me sit here,
in the shadow of a drinks dispenser, after Lucas had insisted on taking his first trip away from his ward. He had refused the offer of a wheelchair and was, instead, hobbling around on some kind of
walking frame.

At least the canteen was empty. The nurses had swallowed my story about being Lucas’s cousin and – thanks to the fact that I’d only visited him a few times in the past year
– no one so far had recognised who I really was. Still, there was a strong chance that sooner or later someone would do so and, as I was still wanted for terrorism, I was sure that their next
step would be to call the police. In fact, the police could easily already be searching the hospital for me.

I needed to leave. But before I could get away, I had to explain everything to Lucas. And he wasn’t making it easy.

‘I want to speak to Taylor myself,’ he demanded. ‘I don’t believe he set me up.’

‘Listen to me,’ I persisted. ‘He’s working for Riley. They’re terrorists themselves. They sent you into that market, knowing the bomb would go off once you left it
there, not caring if you lived or died. Just like they did with me.’

Lucas shook his head. There were grey rings of exhaustion under his eyes. ‘I was carrying a bag full of disposal gear. My job was to leave it in the market, then get away. It was just bad
luck I was caught up in the bomb.’

‘No, you were
carrying
the bomb,’ I explained. ‘You left it and it went off and you hadn’t got far enough away to be safe.’

Lucas shook his head again. I went on, explaining how after his death our family had fallen apart, how I’d thought he’d been one of the terrorists.

‘You thought I was capable of
that
?
’
Lucas put his head in his hands.

I hurried on, feeling worse and worse as I told my brother how I’d tried to find out more about the terrorists I thought he’d been involved with and ended up being recruited and used
by Riley’s secret English Freedom Army myself.

‘They took
you
?’ Lucas raised his eyebrows. It was weird to see his expressive face moving, after over a year of pale, still, silence. ‘But you’re just a
kid.’

I felt the old irritation rise inside me. When was Lucas going to see that I’d grown up since he’d gone into his coma? Why was it so hard to accept what I was telling him?

I told the rest of my story as quickly as I could: how, like him, I and the rest of my cell had been set up and betrayed, how I had almost died and how – most recently – Jas had been
captured by Riley.

‘But I got her out,’ I explained. ‘She’s safe with Mum and Dad.’

‘Right.’ I couldn’t tell if Lucas believed me now or not, but his hands trembled as he tried to push a straw through the top of his juice carton.

Was that from weakness? Or emotion? Either way, it was hard to see Lucas looking so vulnerable. Before the coma he had been the happy-go-lucky brother, a charismatic charmer with a new girl
every five minutes, popular with his friends, always in the middle of everything, universally loved.

‘Well if I can’t speak to Taylor, let me speak to Jas,’ Lucas insisted. ‘At least switch your phone on to see if there’s a message from her yet.’

Reluctantly I did so. As I expected, there was nothing yet. ‘I don’t want to keep the phone on,’ I said, turning it off again. ‘It might be brand new, but Riley’s
hacked things before.’

‘Right,’ Lucas said again.

I glanced at the time. With a jolt I realised I’d been with Lucas for nearly thirty minutes. I had to get back to Aaron’s ward, find Latimer and see if he knew where Charlie was.

I stood up abruptly. ‘I have to go.’

‘Yes.’ Lucas struggled to his feet, leaning heavily against the chair he’d been sitting in. ‘Have you got any money for a cab? We need to get to Mum and Dad and I’m
not sure I’ll make it on public transport.’

I stared at him. ‘You can’t leave,’ I said. ‘Not for a couple of days at least. Look at you, you can barely stand up.’

‘But we have to find Mum and Dad, show them I’m okay. They were here every day, sitting with me. Well, Mum was. The nurses told me she came all the time. I can’t let her worry
about me a second longer.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘But if Mum and Dad know you’re okay, they’re going to want to see you, which puts everyone at risk.’

‘Not this again.’ Lucas stared at me as if I were mad. ‘Of course they’ll want to see me. I want to see them. Jesus, Nat, I’m sure I can find a way to do it without
Riley luring us into a trap.’

I bridled. That was so typical of the old, impulsive Lucas, brimming with a confidence that bordered on arrogance.

‘Riley didn’t have much trouble luring you into a trap before,’ I snapped.

‘So you say.’ Lucas sighed. ‘Man, you’ve changed. Before I “went away” you were all geeky and shy, now you’ve grown muscles
and
an
attitude.’ He paused. ‘Look, we need to go now. Both of us. You can help me.’

Silence fell. In the distance someone clanked a door open. We heard voices on the other side, then the door shut again.

I
had
to leave. ‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘I need to find Charlie first.’

‘But it’s too dangerous for you to go off on your own,’ Lucas insisted. He straightened up. ‘I can’t let you do it.’

A hot wave of anger washed over me. This was how it had always been with me and Lucas, I suddenly realised. Lucas in charge, dominating family life; me looking up to him, eager to please and to
follow his lead in everything.

But not any longer.

‘You can’t stop me.’ I glared at my brother. I was as tall as him now. Well, almost. ‘You can’t tell me what to do any more.’

I don’t need your approval.

The thought rushed through my head, the truth of it – and its implications – startling me to my core. I suddenly realised why Mum and Dad had seemed so different earlier. It
wasn’t really them who had changed.

It was me.

I took a step back from Lucas. ‘I’m leaving to speak to Latimer, then find Charlie. Go back to your ward. When I hear from Jas and Mum and Dad, I’ll explain you’re
okay.’

Lucas’s mouth gaped. For a moment I thought he was going to argue, but instead he held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘You win, little brother. But there’s no way I’m staying in this hospital a second longer. I’m okay now – I just need to build up my
strength – and I’m certainly not going back to that room or letting a bunch of doctors poke around doing tests on me.’

‘But—’

‘No “buts”.’ Lucas pointed across the room to where one of the canteen workers had left a pair of orange overalls. ‘Fetch me those. You can go and find whoever you
like, but I’m getting out of here.

I shrank away as Latimer strode towards me, his fist raised.

‘My son is unconscious, thanks to you,’ he roared.

I caught a glimpse of the female police officer in the corridor. She looked horrified. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her turning, hear her calling to someone, and then Latimer’s
hands were around my throat, spit flecking at the corners of his mouth. He looked insane.

I tried to pull away, but he was holding me too tightly, yelling terrible names at the top of his voice. Panicking, I punched at his stomach. He grabbed my wrist with one hand. Let go of my
neck. As I reared away from him, he slid a piece of plastic into my palm. ‘Play along,’ he whispered.

I stopped struggling instantly. What was he doing?

The Mayor’s eyes narrowed. ‘You little bitch,’ he roared.

Then, for a split second, he leaned in close and whispered in my ear.

‘Riley’s plans . . . virus . . . Operation Silvercross,’ he hissed. ‘I just found out. Get away . . . Warn Nat.’

The piece of plastic he’d given me dug into my palm. Latimer’s hands clamped around my throat again, but though he was holding me tightly still, he wasn’t exerting any
pressure.

His fury was a front; he was trying to help me.

I slid the piece of plastic into the pocket of my dress as he resumed his yelling. Hands free, I punched out again.

A second later two officers rushed in and dragged him off me. Still yelling and cursing, he was hauled out of the room. I rubbed my throat as Riley came in.

‘Are you alright?’ His voice oozed concern.

‘Like you care.’ I glared at him, resisting the temptation to check that the plastic card, whatever it was, was still safe in my pocket.

Riley shook his head. ‘Actually I do care,’ he said. ‘And so does your father. You’ll be with him again in a couple of days, when all this is over.’

So the plan was to keep me here while Nat and Jas died and Riley made out like some hero, supposedly saving London from a bio-weapon he had himself created and deployed.

The female police officer appeared with a blanket and a pillow. As she laid them on the floor, Riley spoke again.

‘Get some rest, Charlie. This will pass.’

I glared at him. Did he seriously think I would ever forgive either him or Uchi for what they were doing – what they
had
done. But I said nothing. I wanted to get rid of Riley as
soon as possible, then see what Latimer had left me. His words echoed in my head.

Operation Silvercross.

Was that what this terrible plan with the bio-weapon was called?

With a final concerned look, Riley said goodnight and swept out of the room, closely followed by the female officer. I sat down on the pillow and carefully retrieved the piece of plastic. It was
Latimer’s bank card – with the numbers 3299 written in black marker above his name. Was that the PIN? Had Latimer given me a way of getting out money? I glanced up at the door. Perhaps
he had, but he had also given me my best chance of getting out of here. I had always been good at opening locks using the edge of a card or a knife; of all the ‘exit strategies’ Taylor
had taught us, this was the one I had truly excelled at. Did Latimer know that?

There was no time to think about it. Nat was under a death sentence. Jas too. I hurried over to the door and pressed my ear against the wood. I couldn’t hear anyone.

Taking a deep breath, I slid the bank card down the gap between the side of the door and the frame, feeling for the edge of the lock.

Lucas was in trouble before we reached the end of the car park. Only able to move in a slow shuffle and breathing heavily, every step was clearly a terrible effort for him.

‘This isn’t going to work,’ I said, as Lucas steadied himself against his metal walker. I stared beyond the wall, past the small patch of trees and shrubs, all shadowy in the
darkness, then glanced back towards the hospital. I had hoped I could get my brother temporarily settled in a nearby café, then go back to Aaron’s ward and find his dad, but the state
Lucas was in, I didn’t think I should leave him alone.

‘I’m fine,’ Lucas muttered. ‘Just need a bit of a breather. Get my legs used to moving again.’

I chewed on my lip. Even if we made it out of the car park and into a café, I had no idea where I could take Lucas after that. Our home was out of the question – Riley would almost
certainly be watching out for me there – and I couldn’t simply turn up at a friend’s house and expect them to take us in, with all the risk and danger we brought with us. I should
never have let Lucas talk me into helping him leave the hospital.

‘I’m not going back inside,’ Lucas went on, as if reading my mind.

‘But—’

‘No, Nat,’ he went on. ‘You’ve got no idea. I nearly went mad when everyone around me started talking and I couldn’t speak or move or even let them know I could
hear.’

I stared at him, shocked. ‘You could
hear
? But the doctors—’

‘Doctors don’t know everything,’ Lucas said, darkly. ‘Look, I was only conscious or whatever for the last few days or so before my body started working again, but believe
me that was enough.’

My thoughts sped back to early this morning, when I’d stood at Lucas’s bedside and shouted at Mum and Dad to look after Jas. Had Lucas heard that?

‘Why don’t you rest there for a bit?’ I said, pointing to the patch of shrubland to our right.