28
Where they were going and how long they had left didn’t matter, all that was important was being together. Sam draped a loose shirt over Steven’s blistered shoulders, covering his weeping wounds, and led him away from the castle ruins and back along empty streets into the burning village. ‘How long has it been?’ he asked her.
‘Since what?’
‘Since the last energy pulse? I passed out in front of your dad’s house when it hit. How long ago was that?’
‘I don’t know. All the clocks stopped working long before. It’s been a few hours, though, at least. We were right in the heart of the castle when the last one hit, all of us cowering in the one space with something resembling a roof, and it was still unbearable.’
‘They’re getting closer together.’
‘I know.’
‘So we have to get under cover
