Chapter 14
943 Words
Chapter 14
At that, I can't help myself. I look up, expecting my eyes to contradict what I've heard. But, to my surprise, the vision matches the voices. A boy and girl a few years younger than me, with blond hair and fair skin. They helped clean me up when I first crawled out of a Groove Tube all those months ago.
'Cian?' I say dumbly. 'Awnya? What are you guys
"Waiting for you,' Awnya says. And playing catch,' Cian chuckles.
The twins sweep forward and hug me. I can only stare at the top of their heads like a dope, wondering
if I'm dreaming.
Then Cian says, 'What happened to your
And Awnya says, 'Ew! Gross!' And suddenly I know it's real. With a cry of shock
stomach?'
doing here?" and delight, I wrap my arms round them, and for the longest time I just stand there, hugging the young twins hard, without a single other care in the world, all thoughts of suicide forgotten, lost for a short, blissful period to an emotion I thought I'd never feel again in this undead life.
Happiness.
Eventually the twins tire of the hugging and let go. I would have been content to hug them forever, but I don't want to appear like some kind of des perate creep, so I grin shakily and force a weak chuckle.
'You guys will never know how relieved I am to see I mutter.
you,
'Who did you think we were?" Cian asks.
'Bad people?" Awnya laughs.
"The very worst,' I tell them, my smile slipping. The twins see the pain on my face. They study my wounds, this time seriously, saying nothing, concern and compassion in their gaze.
Are you OK, B?' Awnya asks.
'Of course she's not OK,' Cian huffs. 'Look at the hole in her stomach. How could anyone be OK when they look like that?'
Awnya ignores her brother. 'How bad is it?'
'Pretty damn bad,' I admit with a grimace. "But I've plugged up the worst of the damage and made it this far. I can battle on a bit further.'
'Maybe we could find something to patch you up more efficiently,' Awnya says. "There are some phar macies close by. We could get proper bandages, plasters, anything you need.'
'It'll take more than that to put me together again,' I sniff.
'I think even all the king's horses and all the king's men would have a tough time with this one,' Cian nods.
'i***t,' Awnya snorts, and we exchange a look that girls everywhere have been sharing since the dawn of time boys!
'So, all kidding aside, what were you doing on the Belfast?' I ask.
'Waiting for you, Cian 'Really,' Awnya adds. says.
I frown. 'How did you know I'd come this way?' 'We didn't,' Awnya says.
'But Dr Quinn hoped you'd return to a place you were familiar with,' Cian explains.
'He posted Angels here, Battersea Power Station, your old flat,' Awnya says. "'Anywhere he thought you might turn up if you managed to escape.'
'He didn't think I was a lost cause?' I ask hoarsely. 'He feared the worst,' Awnya sighs.
'But he said if anyone could get out of that mad
clown's den, it was you,' Cian smirks. 'He never gave up on you,' Awnya says softly.
'He prayed and had faith,' Cian whispers.
And his prayers have been answered,' Awnya fin ishes with a shy smile.
I shake my head wordlessly. I'm overwhelmed. I knew the doc loved us, but for him to pin this much hope on me, to keep the faith even though he must have known the odds were stacked sky-high against me...
When I was a child, I believed completely in my dad. I thought he'd always be there for me, that no matter what happened he would turn up to save me if I got into trouble. It's been a long time since I had that sort of unreserved belief in a person, but Dr Quinn has restored it, made me feel like a kid again, in all the best ways.
'That crazy, beautiful old saint,' I croak. Then I remember what I witnessed at County Hall and my happiness evaporates. 'But he should have been look ing out for himself. County Hall has fallen. Mr Alfie attacked. I saw his troops killing everyone. Dr Quinn is probably dead. He should have focused on his defences, not wasted his time on a stray wretch like me.'
'Easy, B, Awnya says. "The doc is fine.' 'He doesn't overlook anything,' Cian says proudly.
I stare at them uncertainly. But County Hall did fall. I saw it, just before I came here. The mutants overran it. There were dead bodies piled outside. Mr Alfie's crew were throwing them on to a bonfire." Cian and Awnya both look downcast. 'Dr Quinn thought that might happen,' Cian
says. 'He wanted to withdraw everyone,' Awnya says.
'But Master Zhang convinced him to leave a small group of Angels behind,' Cian goes on. "To make it look like we were still based in the building.'
'He didn't want our enemies to know that we'd moved,' Awnya says.
"The doc wasn't keen,' Cian says glumly. "But in the end he agreed to Master Zhang's plan,' concludes.
Awnya 'What plan?' I snap. 'What are you talking about? This isn't making sense.'
Awnya casts a disapproving look in my direction. 'You should know that Dr Quinn thinks of thing.' every
Cian nods. 'He figured we were in trouble as soon as he heard that Mr Alfie had kidn*pped you, and he immediately made plans to move us out of County Hall.'
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