The Enemy

‘What are you trying to say, Blue?’

‘I like you, Max. Always did. That’s why I act the way I do. I know you liked Arran. I didn’t think I had a chance at first. I’m Fat Boy, remember. Bookface, the computer nerd. Girls never used to go for me. Well, not in that way.’

Maxie looked over at Blue. He was staring fixedly at the ceiling. Might even have been blushing.

‘Are you saying you fancy me, Blue?’

Now Blue looked embarrassed.

‘No. Yes. No. Not like that.’

‘Like what then?’

‘I don’t know like what. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘It’s all right. I’m confused right now, Blue, I don’t know what to think. About Arran, about you, about me. Until we can get out of this mess and I can get my head together and think about things, then I can’t think about anything. Does that sound dumb?’

‘No more than anything I said.’ Blue sat up. Smiled. ‘You didn’t yell at me. Does that mean that if we get out of here I might have a chance?’

Maxie laughed. ‘Let’s get out of here and we’ll see.’

‘But, say we did get out, yeah? Where would we go?’

‘We’ve got the whole of London to choose from.’

‘But we don’t know it round here, we don’t know where’s safe.’

‘There must be other kids,’ said Maxie. ‘This can’t be it.’

‘Nowhere else is going to be as well set up as this,’ said Blue. ‘Nowhere else is go

They both jumped as a voice came from across the room.

‘David’s a liar.’

They had forgotten all about the girl with the bandaged face in the other bed. The one they’d rescued at Green Park.

They both sat up and looked over at her. Her eyes were glinting in the half-light.

‘What did you say?’ Blue asked, even though he had heard her quite clearly.

‘David’s a liar,’ she repeated. ‘He’s been lying to you all along. Why do you think he’s been keeping me out of the way up here?’

‘Because of your injuries?’ said Blue. Wasn’t it obvious?

‘They’re not as bad as they look,’ said the girl. ‘When you cut your face there’s a lot of blood. Rose fixed me up pretty well. I’m going to look like hell, but it’s only skin. David didn’t want me mixing with you lot, though. He didn’t want me talking. Once it was clear they were keeping me prisoner I made sure I didn’t speak, hardly even moved. Just listened.’

‘I don’t get it,’ said Blue. ‘Where are you from?’

‘The Museum.’

‘Museum?’ said Blue. ‘What museum?’

‘Natural History Museum,’ said the girl. ‘There’s loads of us live there. It’s better than here, there’s more houses around, more places to find food. Though we do grow stuff as well.’

‘Just like David?’ said Blue.

‘Just like David,’ said the girl. ‘But he didn’t want you to know that.’

‘For sure,’ said Blue.

‘And it’s not just us,’ said the girl. ‘There’s kids all over London, set up, in safe places. Surviving. We’ve tried talking to David before, about all linking up and sharing, but he wasn’t interested. He wants it all for himself.’

‘King David,’ said Maxie.

‘Me and my friends from the Museum,’ the girl went on. ‘We were searching for some friends of mine who I’d got split up with last year. We’d heard they might be on the other side of town. We thought it was going to be easy. We got careless. It’s mostly safe round here now. There’s a few adults, but it’s not like it used to be. Or so we thought. We hadn’t been going more than an hour… and then… We came across those ones… Hunting…’

The girl broke off. Stared at something a thousand miles away.

‘It’s all right,’ said Maxie.

‘I just want to go home.’

‘To the Museum?’ said Blue.

‘Yeah. If you get me out of here I’ll take you with me.’

‘If there’s kids everywhere,’ said Blue, ‘nicely set up, why should we come with you?’

‘Because… well, just because… I can’t give you a reason other than a selfish one, other than I just want to get home.’

‘That’s good enough reason for me,’ said Maxie. ‘If you’d given us a load of bullshit I wouldn’t have trusted you.’

‘We’ll do it on one condition,’ said Blue.

‘Which is?’

‘That you don’t never tell anyone anything about what I was talking to Maxie about just now.’

‘It’s a deal.’

‘OK,’ said Blue. ‘We’re on our way.’

‘The only problem is,’ said Maxie, ‘we do have to actually get out of here first.’

63

On the other side of London, Sam was standing on the battlements of the Tower of London staring out at the great swollen river Thames, a wide strip of silver in the moonlight. It had risen a metre or so since the disaster and the Tower once more had a water-filled moat around it, just as it had done hundreds of years ago. Sam felt as if he was living inside a brilliant medieval story. When they’d arrived he and The Kid had eaten some hot food and drunk some clean water and rested in soft beds. Sam still couldn’t quite believe they were here. Living in a castle, safe at last from all the dangers of London.

The Kid was standing next to him. His chin resting on his arms on top of the wall.

‘What are you thinking about?’ said Sam.

‘Cheese.’

‘Cheese?’

‘The Kid used to like cheese. Hasn’t eaten any for a wicked long time. Tasty cheese. Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese… Did you spot it? Down there?’

‘What?’

‘They got a genuine hundred per cent cow. A living breathing lawn mooer.’

‘I saw it, yeah,’ said Sam. ‘And chickens and pigs and a goat.’

‘Well, if there’s a cow, there’s milk ain’t there?’ said The Kid. ‘And if there’s milk there’s possible cheese.’

‘Could be,’ said Sam. He didn’t want to disappoint The Kid, but he was pretty sure you needed a bull if you wanted a cow to make milk, though he wasn’t quite sure exactly how it all worked.

Who knows? Maybe they had a bull as well?

‘What you thinking about, over there yourself, Babybel?’ The Kid asked. ‘If not cheese.’

‘My sister, Ella.’

‘You think she’s all right?’

‘I hope she’s still alive somewhere,’ said Sam. ‘I hope she made it to the palace and they’re looking after her like we’re being looked after here. I mean, if I can make it. Me. Small Sam. Right the way across London all by myself –’

‘Hey! Don’t I count?’

‘You know what I mean,’ said Sam. ‘If tiddlers like us can do it. Then surely Ella, with all those other kids, Akkie and Freak and Josh and Arran and everyone. Surely she can do it too.’

‘I’m sure she’s hunky-dory,’ said The Kid.

‘Is that a good thing?’ said Sam.

‘The best.’

‘You’re quite weird, you know?’ said Sam.

‘I’m different,’ said The Kid. ‘My gran always said I was half clever, half stupid and half crazy.’

‘That’s three halves,’ said Sam.

‘Yeah. I told you I was different.’

‘When we’re strong enough,’ said Sam, ‘will you come with me?’

‘Where? To Bucko Palace?’

‘Yes. To find Ella.’

‘Course I will,’ said The Kid, and he put an arm round Sam. ‘It’ll be a new grand adventure of the old school. They’ll write books about us. Long books. Nothing’s go

64

Blu-Tack Bill was sitting on his bed playing with his lump of Blu-tack, moulding it into shapes. One moment it was a horse, then it was a house, then it had become a tree, then a little man, then a bomb. He was playing a game and the Blu-tack became anything he wanted it to, any toy he could imagine. Sometimes he would pull it apart and turn it into two figures, or more. He was never alone as long as he had his Blu-tack. It spoke to him in the voices of the characters in his story. He could sit like this for hours, lost in his own little world.