Страница 15 из 68
"We'll have to search some of the apartments for carkeys later," Noi said as they headed down. "But my bike should be enough for this trip. Meet me out front."
It was still early, a breezy and overcast day with a chillsouthern breeze. Madeleine wished she'dadded a jacket to her ensemble, and tucked her hands into her armpits as shewalked slowly down the wharf, attention on the Spire flirting with theclouds. Every velvet step reminded herof warm, u
A tutting motor warned her of Noi'semergence from the driveway on the eastern side of the wharf. Her curls foamed beneath a white helmet andshe rode a cream moped, speeding to a precipitous stop at the curb.
"I've only the one helmet, sorry," she said. "The Cross is closer, so we'll headthere. Anything you particularlyneed?"
"Underwear," Madeleine said, sliding onto the seatbehind the shorter girl and feeling a little ridiculous.
"Underwear it is!" Noi said, and shot them acrossthe street, past the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, and by a collection of tinyterrace houses. She rode with verve andobvious pleasure at having no competition for the road, but it was the shortestof trips, and when they reached the shop-lined streets around King's CrossStation she slowed to a crawl, staring at ragged holes and spills of safetyglass.
"Looks like we're late to the party," Noisaid. "Looting: the neweconomy."
Madeleine was shocked by the destruction: there was hardly ashopfront intact. King's Cross had acertain reputation for a drugs-and-prostitution nightlife, but it was anordinary enough i
"What would anyone need from a nail salon?" shewondered.
"Cuticle crisis? Hangnail emergency?" Noishook her head. "Let's do thisquickly."
Tucking her moped between two cars, she led the way into a Best& Less, snagging a couple of enviro-bags froma checkout. The store offered a fullrange of cheap, serviceable clothing, and there was no sign of whoever had brokenthe door open, so Madeleine quickly stuffed bags with clothing suitable for aSydney winter, and slipped on a plum-coloured coat with a white lined hood.
"Did you see a shoe store?" Noi asked, joining herat the door. "I want some seriousboots."
"Next to the chemists?"
They left the unwieldy bags at the moped, and headed to anup-market shoe store, with a brief detour for chargers from a phone specialtyshop. Madeleine quickly found sneakersand some comfortable slip-ons, then told Noi she'd be next door.
The chemists was a disaster zone, and she hesitated at thedoor, not overly surprised at the mess. The scatter of items in the front of the store was nothing compared tothe complete shambles at the back, where a pharmacist would dispenseprescription medicine. But Madeleinedidn't need anything serious, and slipped off her backpack to do a cautioustour, collecting aspirin, toothbrushes, tampons, and a couple of bottles ofcough mixture in anticipation of flu season. Heading out, she paused and picked a box off a shelf, reading the labeldoubtfully.
"They were four very fanciableboys weren't they?"
Madeleine hastily tried to put the box back, but Noi pluckedit from her hand.
"No, no, it's just what I was thinking. Though I see this packet has Science Boy'sname written all over it."
Madeleine stared. "I didn't–"
"Oh, come on. I lookedat that sketch pad of yours. Some nicepictures of me and the other three, and about a thousand ofhe-who-dives-down-stairs. You couldn'thave been more obvious if you'd drawn love hearts around each one."
"He's just a good sub – what are you doing?!"
Noi, attempting to shovel an entire shelf of condom packetsinto Madeleine's backpack, sent half of them scattering to the ground, buttucked in the rest. "No, don't backdown on good sense. Even if not ScienceBoy, it can't hurt to put in a supply. There's got to be a few thousand reasons whygetting preggers during a starry blue apocalypse is a bad idea. Better yet–"
She slung the black boots she was carrying around her neckand waded into the mess in the pharmacy section.
"Drugs, drugs, damn, someone really cracked a rage fitback here, didn't they? I should haveput the boots on first." Glasscrunched. "Hmm, that might beuseful. Hey, does your phone have enoughjuice to Google the name of – oh, wait, that looks right..."
Arms full of boxes, Noi waded back and tumbled her load intowhat little space was left in Madeleine's backpack, scrunching them down so shecould zip the bag up. "Painkillers,antibiotics and the Pill. Probably. We'll look them up when we get back. All done?"
Madeleine considered the backpack uncertainly, thinking Noi's practicality immensely premature given that Madeleinehad never even kissed anyone, and Fisher hadn't looked at her twice. Then she sighed and slipped the bag over oneshoulder. "Which of them is it you keeptexting?"
Noi's grin broadened. "Pan. Which, damn, is giving me fits because, seriously, a Year Ten boy? He's got to be only sixteen. Or fifteen. I don't know if I could handle fifteen. I don't think fifteen's even legal."
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen! And,yeah, I know – no-one would think it strange if our ages were the other wayaround but it's a big mental adjustment for me to be chatting up someone inYear Ten."
"Half the world is dead, we just robbed four stores, andyou're worried about liking a guy two years younger than you?"
"Priorities, I have them."
They headed out, Noi swinging her new boots by their tiedlaces as they debated the best way to occupy the rest of the day, and thenpuzzled over transporting so many stuffed bags on a moped.
"Hey, hey, more damsels in distress! You two want a hand?"
Three people were walking toward them: two guys in theirearly twenties and a younger girl.
"No, we're good," Noi said. "We don't have far to go."
"You sure?" asked the one in the lead, tall andblonde with a surfer tan. "It's noproblem."
"Yeah. Thanksanyway."
The blonde guy shrugged and waved, but his friend, short andsandy, gave them a dirty look as he turned away which made Madeleine glad Noihad refused. The girl, between the twomen, hesitated, fine pale hair drifting across her face. She looked painfully young and overwhelmed,and Madeleine felt suddenly sick.
"You okay?" Noi called.
The girl's eyes widened, sending a frantic message which shestopped short of saying aloud.
"Hey, what's the problem?" surfer guy said. "This is our friend Emily. We're taking care of her."
"You need a place, come with us," Noi said,speaking directly to the girl.
"Mind your own business, bitch," snapped sandy guy.
"Just walk over here," Noi said, still talkingstraight to the girl. She swung her pairof boots lightly.
"Little girl, you think you can fight us withthose?" Surfer guy sounded pleasedby the idea. "Man, even in the oldworld you wouldn't have a hope. But thisis the new world! The Blueworld!" He laughed, bubbling overwith good humour, then lifted an arm and pointed his palm at a nearby shopwindow.
Nothing visible came out of his hand, but the window stillshattered, a wide round hole punched through the safety glass, little crystallinesquares showering the display.
"Shit, all of us can do that," Noi said. "You think you're special?"
"Uh-huh. Bigtalk, shortie. I think you're the onlyfighter on your side. You might want toget out of here before you get hurt."