Children Of The Mountain (Book 2): The Devil You Know (14 page)

She opens her eyes and slowly looks around. He knows she won’t be able to see much, not yet, but nevertheless he shrinks back a little further as her eyes glide over his cage. He doesn’t want to scare her, the way 98 had frightened him when he had first seen what she looked like. But then she looks right at him and his heart leaps with joy. Her eyes are still normal. She will probably be here for a long time.

Her hands reach forward and grasp the bars of the cage and for a moment she explores them, testing the thickness of the plastic, its strength. Her fingers move to the edges and she finds the hinges and then she searches on the opposite side for the release. She’s wasting her time of course. He knows where the catch is, but there’s no way it can be reached from the inside.

She must figure that out because after a while she gives up and instead grips the bars with both hands and pulls. When that doesn’t work she braces herself against the sides and starts kicking. That won’t do any good either; the plastic’s strong. He saw everything that 98 did to the cage in the end and still it held. But she’s making a lot of noise and now he’s worried; if she keeps this up the mean soldier will come down, and then there’ll be trouble. He creeps to the front of the cage and tries to hush her, just like 98 did with him when he first arrived. It takes her a moment to notice but then she stops and looks right at him. He knows she probably can’t see him but he retreats from the bars anyway.

‘Who’s there?’

That’s a difficult question when you’re not sure of your own name. He thinks about it for a moment and then figures Johnny 99 will do for now.

She repeats the name, like she’s testing the sound of it.

‘Well Johnny, hello. I’m Mags. Do you know where I am?’

That question is difficult too, so instead of answering he tells her she needs to be quiet. But she doesn’t seem to get it, because she just asks more questions. As quickly as he can he explains that making noise isn’t allowed; even talking like this is bad. She must go to the back of her cage and be still, or the soldier will come. That finally seems to work, because for a moment she says nothing.

‘So the soldier comes if I make noise?’

He nods. Yes, yes. At last she’s getting it. But then she just starts kicking the bars again and shouting, and she won’t stop no matter how much he pleads with her. Soon he hears footsteps on the stairs outside and he knows it’s too late now. He scurries to the back of his cage, presses himself into the corner and starts counting. He must have missed the first few steps because of the racket the girl’s making; he only gets as far as eighty when they stop, and then the door at the end of the room opens with a soft groan.

He tells himself it might be okay. Maybe the mean soldier won’t do anything to her this time. She’s new; she couldn’t be expected to know about the rules yet. He hears the sound of his boots on the concrete, growing louder as he marches towards them between the cages. The beam from his flashlight bounces ahead of him, getting stronger with each step. Moments later grubby fatigues appear in front of his cage, the bottoms tucked into a pair of large boots. He’s got the stick; he’s holding it behind his back. Johnny 99 can see the two metal prongs that protrude from the end of the black plastic. The girl mustn’t have noticed it yet because she doesn’t move away. She just looks up at him.

‘Corporal Truckle. What am I doing in here?’

The mean soldier doesn’t say anything. He just pushes the stick through the bars. There’s a flash of blue light and the girl cries out once but doesn’t let go. Her hands grip the plastic tighter as the muscles in her arms spasm. Johnny 99 covers his head with his hands so he won’t have to see. Surely the soldier will stop soon. But he keeps jamming the stick through the bars. Soon the air smells like it’s burning.

Before Johnny 99 knows what he’s doing he’s shuffled forward to the front of the cage. He shouts at the mean soldier to stop.

The soldier hits the girl one more time with the stick and then uses it to push her way from the bars. She slumps to the floor of the cage, twitches once and then lies still.

The last thing Johnny 99 remembers is the blue light arcing between the metal prongs as the soldier turns around to face him.

*

I
WAKE SOME TIME
just before dawn. When I look over at the table I see Hicks is already up, sitting in the same spot where I left him last night. I banked the fire before I went to bed but it’s died anyway and now it’s bitterly cold. He doesn’t seem to care though. He’s just staring into the dead hearth, occasionally sipping from his thermos.

My head hurts a little from the bourbon but in spite of it I’m feeling better than when I went to bed last night. I still don’t understand how Dr. Gilbey could have forgotten about Fearrington, but perhaps Hicks has already told me as much as I need to know. It may not be the underground city Mount Weather is, but thirteen stories should be plenty big enough for the twenty-three of us that are left. And if Dr. Gilbey had planned to go there to continue her work on a cure it must have been stocked. It’d put us far from Eden too, with The Greenbrier between us, and that could be to our advantage. There’s clearly no love lost between Dr. Gilbey and Kane.

I climb out of my sleeping bag, already starting to feel excited. It’ll be a long hike for the Juvies but now that winter’s almost over they can manage it. I’d really like to go there first to check it out but the shortest route I can figure puts it seven days away, which means three weeks at the earliest before we could be back in Mount Weather. Even if we had supplies for the trip that’s too long; Peck might already be on his way. Besides, Benjamin’s codes have worked everywhere else I’ve been; there’s no reason they shouldn’t work there.

I get a fire going and open a can of devilled ham I picked up yesterday for breakfast. I offer some to Hicks but he says he’s already eaten. Must have been hours ago, because I can’t smell any of it. I reckon he’s a night-grazer, like Marv used to be. Whatever, more for me. I scoop the last of the ground meat from the tin, bag our trash and start packing up my kit.

It can’t be much after noon as we pass through The Greenbrier’s crumbling gateposts, but already it seems like the day’s darkening. Hicks cups one glove to his forehead and squints up at the thunderheads gathering along the horizon to the south.

‘Weather’s comin’.’

I follow his gaze. The sky there’s got a mean look to it. I wonder what this is going to do to our plans. Storms like this right at the end of winter rarely last long, but now that I know what we have to do I don’t want to lose any more time at The Greenbrier.

The breeze is quickening, sending flurries of gray snow dancing up the landing ramp into the helicopter’s gaping cargo bay as we pass. Up at the house the tattered flags snap and flutter on their flagpoles. We stop under the portico to remove our snowshoes and head inside. I shuck off my backpack, swap my boots for The Greenbrier slippers that are waiting for me on the bellhop cart and head straight for the corridor that leads to the bunker without waiting for Hicks. I’m hungry from the hike back but I can eat later; right now I just want to let Mags know I’m back and that I’ve found us somewhere to go.

When I get to the Exhibition Hall it’s empty. I see Truck’s makeshift spittoon sitting on the table, brimming with dark tobacco juice, but thankfully there’s no sign of him. I walk over to the corner and search for the panel he opened. It’s not easy to find, even now I know where to look, but eventually I locate the join in the gaudy wallpaper.

I push the panel and it pops out, allowing me to fold it back. In the recess behind the vault door waits. Flecks of paint still cling feebly to the underside of the handle but on top the metal’s burnished smooth from years of wear. I hesitate for a moment and then press down on the cold steel. The mechanism’s stiff and the handle reaches the end of its travel with a heavy clunk, but of course the door doesn’t budge.

I look at the intercom. Truck said Dr. Gilbey didn’t like to be disturbed, but I don’t care. Soon we’ll be gone, and then we’ll never see these people again. My finger’s already on the button when I hear a voice behind me.

‘Whaddya up to there, Huckleberry? Want to see if your little friend can come out to play?’

I turn around like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t have. Truck’s standing at the entrance.

‘I want to see Mags.’

He hitches up his pants and crosses the Exhibition Hall towards me.

‘You’ll see her soon enough I expect.’ He says it with a smile that sends a chill through me. ‘Right now Doc ain’t in there, though, so I can’t let you through.’

I sigh. Why couldn’t Kane just have released a virus that infected assholes? I tell myself it’ll be fine. Hicks will sort this out. I just need to get him.

I leave Truck in the Exhibition Hall and make my way back up the steps to the long corridor, taking them two at a time. There’s something about the way he smiled at me when he said I’d see Mags soon that’s got me worried now. As I’m passing the Colonial Lounge I hear voices coming from within. They’re muffled by the heavy door but there’s no mistaking Dr. Gilbey’s clipped, precise tones. I stop outside.

‘But you haven’t brought me one in months.’

I hesitate for a moment. There’s clearly somebody else in there with her, and Dr. Gilbey’s not the sort of person you just barge in on. My hand’s hovering over the door when I hear Hicks’ drawl.

‘I know, ma’am, but…’

I don’t wait for him to finish. I knock once, harder than I intended to. There’s a long pause and then I hear Dr. Gilbey say ‘Come’.

I open the door and step in. The same three high-backed chairs wait in the center of the room but now they’re empty. I scan the room and find her standing by one of the tall windows, looking out at the terrace. She turns to face me. In the scant light filtering through the silted windows she seems older. Her skin looks thin, fragile, almost translucent; like if it were to get much brighter you might be able to see clear through to the bones there. The ashen hair that frames her face is so fine that when she turns her head the contours of her skull show.

‘How long were you standing out there?’

‘Not long at all. I mean, I was just walking past.’ I turn to Hicks. ‘Can I see Mags now?’

There’s a moment of silence that draws out for longer than it should. Off in the distance lightning flashes across the darkening sky and for a second the light from it plays across the lenses of Dr. Gilbey’s narrow glasses. She exchanges a look with Hicks and it’s as if a large, dark void has suddenly opened up under my breastbone.

‘Gabriel, son, you’d best sit down. There’s something the Doc needs to tell you.’

I feel my throat tighten and for a moment I think I may not actually be able to breathe, but somehow I manage to stammer out a question.

‘What is it?’

Dr. Gilbey purses her lips.

‘You must prepare yourself, Gabriel. There’s been a terrible accident.’ But the voice that delivers this news is brusque, matter-of-fact. ‘I told Magdalene she had to stay in the dormitory but it seems she didn’t listen. For some reason she took it upon herself to break into the laboratory last night. I found her this morning.’

‘Gabriel, son, she’s been infected.’

*

T
HE ROOM SEEMS TO SPIN
around me and it’s like I’ve been delivered straight into one of those nightmares where nothing’s right and you know it and all you want is to wake up but you can’t.

‘You need to bring me to her.’

Dr. Gilbey shakes her head.

‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Gabriel. Magdalene was quite distraught. I’ve had to give her something to help her rest. I don’t expect her to regain consciousness for a day or two.’

‘As soon as she comes round you can see her, son.’

Dr. Gilbey’s eyes narrow and she gives Hicks a sharp look, like this is not something she had approved. She tucks her lower lip, like she’s about to deliver a rebuke but Hicks cuts her off and in spite of what I’ve just heard gratitude wells up in me for him.

‘Ma’am, with all due respect the kid needs to see the girl. Until we know how this happened I don’t think you want to risk another accident in the lab, do you? When she comes to we’ll bring her out here.’

He turns back to me.

‘Son, I know this looks bad, but there’s hope. Doc’s close to a cure. And in the meantime she has medicine that can suppress the virus. Slow it way down.’

I look at Dr. Gilbey.

‘How long does she have?’

‘Unfortunately it’s very difficult to say, Gabriel. Right now her body is attempting to come to terms with the virus, but very soon it will try and reject it. When that happens Magdalene is going to become quite unwell.’

‘But she’s young, and healthy. That’s in her favor, right?’

‘Yes, Sergeant, that is indeed fortunate. The chances are that she will pull through.’

‘And then what?’

Dr. Gilbey folds her arms across her chest. She stares at me for a long moment before answering.

‘Well assuming she does indeed survive the initial infection the physical symptoms – the changes to hair color, the silvering of the retina – will manifest themselves. Given the pathology of the virus acute degradation in long-term memory then unfortunately becomes inevitable, even with the drugs I’ll be giving her. But I’ve had some success in staving off the more extreme changes to personality.’

She stops, like she’s done answering the question. I see Hicks’ jaw tighten, but when he speaks his tone is calm, patient, as though he’s grown used to drawing blood from this particular stone.

‘Ma’am, the kid needs a timeframe.’

Dr. Gilbey purses her lips, like she’s already provided all the information that could possibly be expected of her. But Hicks keeps squinting at her and in the end she just sighs.

‘Well, as long as she keeps taking the medication I dare say I can prevent her ultimate transformation for quite some time.’ She pauses, like this time she might not go on, but finally she continues. ‘For someone of Magdalene’s age, months, possibly even longer.’