Tremor: If your world was falling apart, how far would you go to save it? (The Tremor Cycle) (9 page)

Chapter 8

Into the Furnace

The doors opened, the chain mechanism clattering into the empty landscape. William’s knees shook, but he pushed himself forward. As expected, a guard appeared, holding out his hand. William pulled out the work pass, and the man tipped his filthy, blue cap, taking hold of it.

The man regarded the work pass, glaring at the small plastic card and then back to William until finally he said, ‘Where did you get this?’

William’s throat became dry. ‘Err–I…’

‘Spit it out boy. I haven’t got all day.’

‘Both my parents, they… they died. So I went to some people at Terrafall and told them what happened. They gave me this and told me to come here, said they’d look after me. I’ve been walking for ages.’

The man tapped the work pass on his knuckles. ‘Yeah, yeah, I hear that story a lot. Shame. Report to Sector Two for briefing,’ he said, indicating the gloomy entrance hall. William was unsure if the guard was trying to convey genuine sympathy, or if he was simply entertained by the encounter. ‘Good luck,’ he finished, not waiting for William’s reply.

William took a step forward.

‘Hang about.’

William felt as if his legs were about to liquefy. Crap, had the man guessed he was lying? He tried to control his breathing and turned around slowly, fists at the ready. He couldn’t risk being found out now; he’d have to try and fight. He gulped, hands shaking.

But the man was smiling. ‘You’ll need this,’ he said, passing back the work pass. ‘Jeez, you look like you’re about to be sick, boy. Make sure you get far enough away so I don’t have to clean it up. Go on, off with you then.’

William shoved the work pass into his pocket and swallowed nervously. Thank God! Running down the hall, he found a quiet corner and pulled the map out of the pocket of his new jacket. Sector Two was very close to the emergency exit he needed to open. His luck was changing. He carried on through the hall, feet padding on the steel floor. There was nothing to the place, just metal. It was like being in one of those freight containers.

‘Crap, this is scary,’ he whispered, to himself. The wound on his forehead began to bother him, itching like crazy, but he tried to ignore it and pushed on.

Ahead was a set of stairs. He looked for it on the map and saw it led up to Sector Two. As he progressed, the air became warmer and water dripped from the pipes that snaked up the walls. There was also a dull clunking sound that seemed to time itself to his heartbeat. He tried not to think about the orphans who, unlike him, were stuck in this place.

He lowered his head when a group of half-starved boys slogged past him. God, how could Terrafall do this? These kids had lost everything, they’d lost their families, and they had no one. They’d come here under the impression that they’d be rewarded for their hard work with food and comfort. This was a new kind of slavery, and William felt Terrafall’s sinister vibe more strongly than ever.

Did these horrible working conditions support the notion that Terrafall might be involved with the abductions? The link they’d found in Archive Row implied it, but they needed more evidence to prove it.

These thoughts pushed him on. The image of his mother in awful conditions like the orphans was not something he wanted to think about.

William stopped at the turn-off to Sector Two, looked left then right to make sure no one was coming, and ran quickly towards the steel door that doubled as an emergency exit. He looked at the map again, just to check the door was the right one.

He knocked three times. Three knocks sounded back. He glanced around once more, making sure everything was clear, and then pushed down on the bar, releasing the door from its hinges.

Two faces peered in at him.

‘Are we good to go?’ whispered Ichabod, cane held in front of him.

William nodded.

Althea followed Ichabod into the corridor.

‘Where’s Ori?’ asked William, looking behind them.

‘We needed a lookout, so he’s guarding the bus. Bod has walkie-talkies, can you believe it? I thought things like that were all destroyed in the war.’ Althea held up a black box with a big antenna. ‘Ori’s going to let us know if trouble’s coming.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ said William. This was almost going too well… He didn’t want to jinx it by saying it out loud, though.

Taking the walkie-talkie from Althea, he examined it. William had seen one before, just as he’d seen a lot of things before they’d disappeared during the fall.

The modern technology that had made life so easy just didn’t exist anymore. There was nobody there to control big computers or manage the Internet; technology had deserted them. It was worthless. Well, to the masses anyway. From what he’d read in his father’s journal and seen in Kentvale, he knew that Terrafall had saved some technological devices, but they didn’t share those luxuries with the wider population.

‘Don’t tell me you have a gun hidden in your bag too?’ he said, pouting.

Ichabod frowned. ‘Almost impossible, they’re useless now, since all the ammunition was confiscated by the armies for the war effort. Ammunition is gold dust.’

William tucked the walkie-talkie into the back of his trousers. He supposed having no guns was a good thing, not bad. Having caused so much damage before, they’d only add to the destruction.

The trio walked through the winding corridors for about ten minutes, pausing at every corner and hiding whenever potential danger approached. Ichabod had taken the lead, which William appreciated. The map was hard to read.

When they stepped through the next door, the area that appeared on the other side was a complete contrast to the rest of the power plant. Carpets covered the floors and silk wall hangings draped the walls. ‘I think we’re in the right place,’ said William, before being pulled into a storage cupboard by Althea.

‘Shush, there’ll be guards ahead,’ said Althea, gently closing the door behind her.

Ichabod unfolded the map again. ‘At the end of this corridor is the room we need. Enforcers will guard it. We’ll need to incapacitate them.’

‘How?’ asked Althea.

‘That’s where the Taser comes in,’ said William, pulling out the small device with two metal needles sticking out at one end.

‘Correct!’ Ichabod opened the door and slid out of the cupboard, beckoning them to follow. ‘Keep to the walls.’

The silk drapes tickled William’s neck, but he pushed himself closer to the wall, ignoring the sensation and suppressing a sneeze. He could feel the Enforcers’ presence even if he couldn’t see them.

Ichabod held up a hand, cocking his black walking cane forward. ‘Ready–’

‘Sound the alarm, intruders!’ screamed a voice from behind, cutting Ichabod off.

William spun around and held up the Taser, his hand trembling. He felt acid rise into his throat. This wasn’t going to go well.

Thankfully, Althea snatched the Taser and ran forward, ramming it into the man’s side.

The man collapsed into an unconscious pile, but he’d alerted the other Enforcers in the corridor and they were speeding towards them. Ichabod swung his cane, hitting the first on the head with its silver handle. The Enforcer rolled onto the floor, unmoving. Althea stopped one with the Taser. William tried to stop the next, but he was flung out of the way, and the Enforcer managed to strike Ichabod with his baton, crunching down into his shoulder.

William shut his eyes, the excruciating noise of the dislocation painful to hear. He didn’t have time to react, but luckily Althea did. She ran to Ichabod, but he lunged forward, his impacted arm swinging loosely by his side. He thwacked his cane across the Enforcer’s face, instantly knocking him cold.

William released all the air in his lungs, catching Ichabod as he swayed backwards.

‘W–we should move,’ stammered Ichabod, passing William his cane then patting him with his good arm.

‘What about your arm?’

‘I’ll use the inside of my coat sleeve as a sling for now,’ said Ichabod, grunting in pain as he adjusted his black coat. ‘Let’s get into that office before the boss realises what’s happened.’ He took his cane back from William and strode forward.

William opened the door ahead of them, marked with the nameplate ‘Overseer’ and peered inside. The room mirrored the corridor with fancy crimson decor and furniture, but it had a stale smell to it, possibly from a tobacco pipe. William scrunched his nose. Whatever it was, it wasn’t nice.

A man dressed in a smart pinstriped suit with neatly parted grey hair sat behind a desk in the middle of the room, stroking his tidy moustache. He looked up from a notepad and stared directly at them, his towering frame casting a thin shadow across the floor.

‘Who the hell are you? I had no appointments today!’

Althea walked forward. ‘We want answers.’

‘My, my what an attitude!’ The man’s wrinkly lips barely contained his sneer. ‘Answers? What answers?’

‘What do you know of the abductions?’ demanded Ichabod, waving his cane menacingly.

William guessed the man would deny knowing anything, but kept quiet nonetheless and just watched. The man straightened his suit and adjusted his posture so that he appeared even taller in the chair, pushing the notepad aside. Was he actually going to talk? They’d not even had to throw a punch! William held his breath.

‘I knew this day would come. The day ignorant fools try to stop the redemption of man. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone put two and two together.’ He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

‘So Terrafall is behind this…’ William breathed out, raking his cheeks.

The man laughed.

‘You monsters!’ Althea cried. ‘Who do you think you are?’ She lunged, but Ichabod managed to stop her. ‘You can’t get away with this. We’ll stop you!’

The man rose, slammed his hands on the desk and craned his neck forward. ‘You will never stop her. The Tremor Project is our salvation!’

‘You’re making no sense!’ said William, looking from the man to Ichabod.

Althea raised her fists again. ‘He’s stringing us along; probably waiting for more Enforcers.’

‘I agree, he’s talking nonsense,’ whispered Ichabod, grip tightening on his cane.

The man shrugged. ‘I am not, but believe what you will.’

‘Who do you speak of then, who is this woman?’ shouted Ichabod, flinching.

‘I speak of Erisia Morret of Terrafall,’ said the man. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her! In our early days we placed all our faith in science but slowly that faith eroded. Science just didn’t hold the answers we needed. But Erisia helped us regain a faith, a new kind of faith!’

‘Faith? How do you find faith by kidnapping people?’ asked William, stepping forward. He could feel a furious heat rising into his face.

The man was still now, only his voice expressing emotion. ‘We tried to find a reason for the tremors; a way to stop them, but we couldn’t. Our resources failed us… science failed us!’ he snarled, spit shooting from his mouth. ‘We had to try something else. Erisia suggested turning to the ancients for inspiration, the Aztecs in particular.’

‘What are you on about?’ Althea said.

‘Sacrifices. To pacify the tremors and settle the Earth. Sacrifice worked for the Aztecs, Celts, and on desperate occasions, even the Romans, so why wouldn’t it work for us?’

‘You sacrifice… p-people?’ William couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He would never have guessed Terrafall would do such a thing. This couldn’t be true…

‘Naturally, boy. The more the person has done to help others or this planet, the better the sacrifice. They have an urge to save running through their veins. Sacrifice may sound ancient, but this kind of blood may stop the destruction! It will quench the tremors’ thirst and halt their devastating onslaught.’

‘You barbaric cowards!’ shouted Ichabod, raising his cane with his good arm, but shaking due to the awkward position of his injured limb.

‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You can’t be serious about this!’ said William, frowning. Sweat dripped from his forehead, stinging his cut, but he didn’t care. Was the Overseer saying that his mother had been taken for a sacrifice? It was crazy.

‘He’s deluded, lost his mind,’ Ichabod said, voicing William’s thoughts.

The man’s sneer remained. ‘Your opinion is of no consequence. Those ancient peoples sacrificed their own to appease the Earth; to bring about a peaceful existence, and we have resurrected that tradition.’

‘But why only people connected to Terrafall?’ Althea asked, inching closer to the man with each word she spoke.

‘To begin with, we did only use those connected to Terrafall, as they were working to save this planet, and so made perfect sacrifices. They were easy to access too, being right on our doorstep. Sadly, we ran out of suitable employees and had to search further afield. Erisia explained that most people could be given to the tremors, as long as they had a will to save running through them. Blood is powerful, and through it, the Earth will be appeased.’

William’s fingers closed, knuckles tightening. ‘You took my mum…’ He wobbled a little, tears clouding his vision. ‘Tell me where she is! She’s called Judy Bateman and worked as a nurse at the hospital.’

Althea joined in. ‘You sacrificed my parents, you killed them! They didn’t do anything to you, just helped you grow food, for goodness’ sake!’ She looked the man directly in the eyes. ‘Why not sacrifice yourself then? Surely those at the top of the Terrafall tree would make the best sacrifices?’

William and Ichabod murmured in agreement. The man squirmed, looking uncomfortable for the first time. He pulled out a jagged cross, which hung from his neck, and clenched it tightly.

‘I’ll tell you why, it’s all a load of rubbish. You make me sick, you really do.’ Tears were streaming down Althea’s face but she refused to wipe them away.

The man regained his composure, let go of his pendant and took out a bumpy, oval object from the desk drawer. ‘Think what you will, it matters not. However, I do agree with you on one matter – I should be sacrificed in order to appease the Tremor Gods. I see it now. And if it works, I shall be considered a hero for ever more.’ He leered. ‘And now you’re here with me, we shall all be sacrificed together. You’re mission to save will be appreciated by the tremors. They need to be fed, and Terrafall will provide until they are finally pacified.’