The Fear (5 page)

‘Exploring,’ said Courtney. ‘Seeing what’s out there. Meeting other kids. Pulling everything together.’

‘You jumping ahead of yourself,’ said DogNut. ‘We ain’t met no one yet.’

‘But we will.’

‘Look at that,’ said Jessica, from her bench directly behind them.

DogNut and Courtney looked round. They had reached the edge of the fire damage. The buildings all along the south side of the river were blackened and broken – it was a desolate wasteland. With no emergency services to put the blaze out it had raged for days, eating away at the city until rain and a change in the wind had finally halted it. A haze of smoke had hung over London for months after it had happened but now the skies were clear.

As the kids stared in fascination at the ruins they lost concentration and the boat was quickly out of control and turning in the water. It took some shouting and cursing until they finally got it straightened up and moving smoothly again, but they still couldn’t help looking as they slid past the seemingly endless devastation. It brought it home to them all just how dangerous their mission was. Just how much London had changed.

As if to ram the point home, two dead bodies floated past. A little girl who must have been no older than five or six, her body puffy and bloated, her eyes eaten by fish, and a middle-aged man, his greenish skin covered in lumps and boils and swellings so that he looked like nothing so much as a giant dead toad.

The boat fell silent, all their efforts now focused on rowing, which was much more tiring than they’d expected, despite all their practice. It had felt easy at first, but they were becoming all too aware of just how big the river was, how heavy the boat was and how far it was to Lambeth Bridge. The bench seemed to dig into DogNut’s backside so that he could feel every knot and ridge of grain in the hard wood. His back and arms ached; his hands felt raw.

They’d come to Waterloo, where there was a big bend in the river. They realized they would have to fight the fierce current that wanted to pull them to the north bank. Marco and Felix, who had been muttering at each other for the whole journey, raised their voices.

‘You got to row harder,’ Felix snapped.

‘It’s you who ain’t rowing hard,’ said Marco. ‘The boat’s, like, twisting round. You got to dig into the water.’

‘What with? A spade?’

‘No, with your oar, stupid.’

‘I am digging in with my oar, you spaz. What do you think I’m doing?’

‘Don’t call me a spaz, you spaz, you’re gonna get us drowned.’

‘Will you two shut up!’ DogNut shouted. ‘And concentrate on not hitting the bridge. If we don’t hold our line, we’ll smash up against it.’

‘You know you shouldn’t use that word,’ said Olivia to Marco and Felix.

‘What word?’ said Marco, fighting for breath.

‘Spaz. It’s a bad word. Paul hit someone once who said it.’

‘Who’s Paul?’

‘He’s my brother. He’s the one we’re going to find.’

‘Right.’

‘We had a cousin who was disabled. He was always getting bullied and Paul was always sticking up for him.’

‘He sounds like a nice guy, your brother,’ said Marco kindly.

‘He sounds like a dick,’ Felix murmured under his breath. Marco tried not to laugh. Luckily Olivia hadn’t heard him.

‘He’s brilliant,’ said Olivia. ‘When my mum and dad died he looked after me.’

‘We’ll find him,’ said Marco.

‘The dick,’ Felix added, slightly too loudly, and Marco snorted.

Olivia was about to say something else when Finn spoke for the first time.

Two words.

‘Big Ben.’

‘Nearly there,’ DogNut gasped. ‘Lambeth Bridge is right after the Houses of Parliament.’

But the rising tide was starting to lose its energy and no matter how hard they pulled on the oars it was almost as if they weren’t moving at all. It got harder still as they passed under Westminster Bridge. The water here foamed and churned as it bunched up by the stonework. If they weren’t careful they’d be swept on to one of the supports. Nobody said a word as they strained to keep the boat straight.

At last, nearly an hour after setting off from the Tower, they dragged the boat clear of the swirling, roaring water and emerged into the light at the other side of the bridge.

DogNut felt a surge of relief, but noise and movement made him look up and he saw a row of people craning over to peer at them from the terrace that ran along the back of the Houses of Parliament, overlooking the river.

He had a moment of panic, but was relieved to see that they were all kids. They must have spotted the rowing boat and come out to see what was happening. There wasn’t a sick adult in sight. It gave him hope and renewed strength. He urged the others on. They had planned to row across to the south bank and land at Lambeth pier, but the kids along the embankment were shouting at them and gesturing towards their side of the river.

DogNut looked at Finn. There were still strong currents in the water and they were struggling to control the boat.

‘Maybe we should go closer and see what they want.’

Finn said nothing, just gave a brief nod.

‘Over to you,’ said DogNut. ‘Guide us in.’

Finn nodded again. ‘There’s a set of stairs leading up from the water,’ he said. ‘At the other end of the buildings. Might be a safe landing place.’

‘We could give it a shot.’

Whatever happened, they couldn’t stop rowing. If they did, the current would take over and pull the boat sideways along the river past where they wanted to land. So they kept close to the edge and Finn directed them towards the steps. They could hear the kids shouting down at them from the terrace.

‘Where are you from?’

‘Where did you get the boat?’

‘Who are you?’

He couldn’t make out the rest – they were talking over each other. And DogNut had a question of his own.

‘Are those stairs over there safe?’ he yelled.

‘As far as we know.’

‘They should be.’

‘Haven’t you never used them?’

‘We don’t have any boats.’

‘What do you reckon?’ DogNut asked Finn. ‘Shall we risk it?’

Finn shrugged, squinting ahead and scratching his arm in its grubby sling.

‘No reason why it’s gonna be any more dangerous than the pier on the other side,’ said Courtney. ‘This is as far as we was gonna go. I say if there’s steps here we use them.’

‘We’re gonna try and land at the stairs then,’ DogNut shouted up at the kids on the terrace. ‘Can you give us a hand?’

The kids above started running back into the building and through to the other side, so that by the time the rowing boat had reached the stairs there was a small crowd waiting for them, all shouting directions at the same time in a very unhelpful manner.

The stone steps sloped gently down to the water and although they looked slimy and wet they also looked pretty solid. They must have been used for hundreds of years by boatmen arriving at the parliament buildings.

Finn came alive, shouting instructions to the rowers, but this was the trickiest part. They knew that if they went too close to the edge too early their oars would simply crunch against the embankment wall that rose several metres above them. At some point, though, they were going to have to raise the oars and drift in to meet the stairs. If they overshot it, it would mean trying to row back against the current, which they all felt too tired to even think about.

They heaved at the oars in grim silence, concentrating hard. No one wanted to make a mistake.

DogNut’s arms ached all the way up to his shoulders. They were rigid with tension. He risked looking round. They were only a couple of metres from the stairs. Finn was guiding them in expertly. He allowed himself to relax.

‘Get ready to raise your oars on my side,’ he said, and just then the boat jolted and there was a horrible scraping sound along the bottom. He felt it through his bones. As if something was gouging into his own body.

‘We’ve hit something,’ Olivia screamed.

The boat nearly tipped over, and the kids scrambled madly to right it, tangling their oars in their panic. Then it gave another lurch and there was the sound of splintering wood.

‘Crap. Must be a wreck, or something,’ said DogNut. ‘Pray it ain’t done too much damage.’

But even as he said it he knew they were in trouble. Water started to bubble into the bottom of the boat. Then there was another rending crack and a ripping sound and this time they could see a metal spar tearing through the planks at their feet.

The kids in the boat were thrown into chaos, floundering about and yelling at each other. They completely lost control and a couple of them dropped their oars over the sides. Now they were paddling and poling and splashing inelegantly as they struggled to get the sinking boat to the edge.

The skiff rocked madly from side to side and the stern was lower than the front. There was a real danger now that they might not make it to the bank. And if they fell in …

Courtney remembered what had happened to Aleisha when the tourist boat had sunk not far from here. How the water had seemed to reach into the cabin and grab hold of her. How quickly she had been dragged away.

DogNut tried to hold his nerve and not give in to the fear that was causing the others to be totally useless. He needed to try to think straight. He was their captain, after all. He lifted his oar from the water and held it out towards the knot of kids on the steps who were all shouting at the same time.

‘Someone get a hold of this!’ he shouted back at them. ‘Pull us over!’

A big lad wearing a T-shirt with a Coke logo on it managed to get a hand to the oar, then his other hand, and he grunted as he tugged with all his might. A couple of his friends joined in and the boat, weighted down and sluggish with all the water in it, slowly drifted closer to the edge. Marco saw what was happening and was clear-headed enough to offer his own oar to the kids on the stairs. For once Felix didn’t have a go at him; instead he gripped Marco’s oar and the two of them held it hard.

Now the boat moved more quickly and at last bumped against the stonework. Helping hands took hold of the side as DogNut and his crew desperately chucked their soaking-wet belongings ashore. Bags of food and water, backpacks, spare clothing, sleeping bags, blankets, armour and weapons were passed in a chain from the stricken boat and up the stairs to dry land.

Finally, to a chorus of cheers from above, the kids scrambled ashore. DogNut was the last one off, and he jumped clear just as the edge of the boat dipped beneath the swirling grey water. It was too heavy now for the kids to hold on to. They let go and it disappeared into the murky depths. They all thought that would be the last they saw of it, but a few seconds later the prow bobbed up and skimmed along the surface like a shark’s fin for a few metres, before it slowly sank and was swept away with all the other debris that was floating on the river.

DogNut swore. Unless they found another boat they would have to walk all the way back to the Tower. It had been going so well. If only he’d stuck to their original plan and gone over to the pier on the other side. He was suddenly filled with a vicious rage.

‘Why didn’t none of you tell me that wreck was there?’ he blurted into some poor kid’s face, spraying him with spit.

‘We didn’t know.’

‘Yeah … well …’

DogNut stopped, deflated. There was no point in taking it out on this lot.

‘Who’s in charge?’ he asked, looking around.

‘I am,’ came a voice from above and he looked up to see a girl with pale skin and a bright flash of flaming red hair leaning over the wall. The sun caught in it and it looked like a golden mane around her head. DogNut smiled. The sight of a pretty girl always lifted his spirits. He bounced up the steps and offered her a high five.

She returned it self-consciously – this was obviously not her style. She stood there slightly unsure of herself, a group of guys standing around her holding clubs. DogNut sucked his teeth, giving the girl the once-over.

‘Pleased to meet you, gyal,’ he said. ‘The name’s DogNut.’

The girl raised her eyebrows, but didn’t smile. She looked very serious.

‘Was my gamer’s tag,’ DogNut explained. ‘And it, like, stuck.’

The girl looked none the wiser.

‘You know what a gamer’s tag is?’ he went on.

‘No. Do I need to?’

‘Not really.’ DogNut laughed. ‘I ain’t played no computer games in ages. So, what’s your name?’

‘Nicola.’

‘Cool.’

Nicola had a posh voice, which only made DogNut fancy her more. He’d always been attracted to posh girls. Although they weren’t always attracted to him. Not wanting to be caught staring at her, he checked out his surroundings. As well as the guys with clubs there were about twenty other kids arranged in a loose circle round DogNut and his crew. They were in a long triangular park surrounded by trees that extended from the end of the Houses of Parliament. The kids had added to the original fence with poles and spikes and barbed wire to keep out intruders, and the lawn had been dug up and planted with vegetables. The planting looked much more professionally done than their efforts back at the Tower.

DogNut spotted the equipment that had been rescued from the boat piled up a few metres away.

‘We better get our gear,’ he said, and made a move towards the pile. Nicola put up her hand, halting him.

‘In a minute.’

Now it was DogNut’s turn to raise his eyebrows.

‘You got a problem?’ he said, keeping it polite for now.

‘You tell me.’

‘I ain’t got a problem.’

Nicola turned to the watching kids.

‘Get back to work,’ she said, and the kids drifted away in ones and twos. Only the ones who were armed stayed with Nicola. They didn’t look very welcoming.

Nicola turned back to DogNut. ‘We need to talk.’

‘Do I look like a sicko?’ DogNut threw up his arms in protest. ‘Do I look like a grown-up? A zombie? Whatever you might call them. Do I?’

‘No.’ Nicola held DogNut’s gaze.

‘Well then.’

They were in the middle of the park, DogNut and the other kids from the boat crew surrounded by the boys with clubs. Other boys and girls were busy working at the rows of vegetables: digging, weeding, checking for pests. A few more patrolled the perimeter along the road. They weren’t as well-armed as the guards back at the Tower, and carried an odd assortment of spears, knives and clubs. DogNut was trying to stay cool, and the rest of his crew were angry rather than scared, except for Olivia who was holding on to Finn’s good arm.