Reuben’s heart slammed against his ribcage as if desperate for release. He snapped his head left and right. Lower his guard for a second and someone would take his back and cut his throat.

  The three tallest towers in the city were the only landmark Reuben recognised. Night or day. They stood proud. Going for them had to be better than running without direction or purpose.

  The main roads were a straightforward route to travel, but they left him exposed.

  “Fuck this!” Reuben turned off the main road and jumped through the large hole where a window had once fronted an old shop. Pieces of rotten wood lay scattered across the ground. Kicked from the frame, years of entropy had turned it soft. His steps pressed them to dust. The moonlight highlighted the flecks of paint peeling from the grimy walls.

  Another check behind, Reuben darted through a small doorway and burst out into an alley. A long and dark walkway, it ran parallel to the main roads on either side. Both the one he’d left behind and the one loaded with landmines.

  Closer to the three towers, he now moved through their long shadows. They loomed over him. They fixed him with their judgement. So the rookie had made it this far, but did he know his way home? A lost child in the market. Maybe his only option would be to sit on the ground and cry in the hope an adult could help him find his way. He sneered up at the phallic guardians. “What do you know? I’ll get back to Fury. You’ll see.”

  The towers stood in a line. And while they were almost identical, slight differences distinguished each one from its neighbours. He might not have been in the city many times, but he hadn’t needed to go beyond the walls to know these structures. They’d watched over him from the day he’d been born. When boredom struck, he’d wish away the hours staring out at the city, dreaming of his future life in the military. He shook his head. The reality had come nowhere near to his fantasy. But, with the spare time of a child, he’d noticed things a busier person might have missed. Like the design around the top of each of the towers.

  All three of their pinnacles had a tiled lip. On two of them, the tiles were shaped like diamonds. One had triangles. That one stood the farthest away from Fury.

  The scuff of a footstep on his right. Reuben gasped. He spun toward the nearest alley. His hands balled in fists. His baton remained on the floor of the hotel’s car park

  For the next thirty seconds, the city held its breath with Reuben. The only sound came from the raging battle at the base of the hotel behind him. He continued towards the towers.

  The triangle-tiled building on his left, he turned right. “See.” He swore at the buildings with two raised fingers. “I’ll find my way home from here.”

  Reuben ducked through another shop, this one filled with the twisted metal that had once been clothes rails. His unblinking eyes stung. He hopped over the small wall that had supported the weight of the shop window, several chunks of glass popping beneath his steps. The shadows continued to observe.

  He ran across the main road towards more alleys.

  “Hey!”

  The accusation struck like lightning and Reuben froze. “Shit!”

  “Enemy!” A blue soldier pointed at Reuben.

  “Fuck!” How had he missed them?

  Fifty feet away, the soldier shouted again. “One of Fury’s soldiers. Enemy!”

  Reuben vanished into the alley.

  The soldier gave chase.

  The steps of one multiplied. Reuben’s already tired legs weakened. He should just give up now. Curl into a ball and hope they ended him quickly. But he kept moving. The need to survive overrode his faltering courage. He rounded a right-angled bend.

  The close alley amplified his pursuers’ steps. They were gaining on him.

  No time to check, Reuben ran from the next alley, crossed the next main road, and vanished into the darkness again.

  Fear’s soldiers were faster than him. If he didn’t evade them, he’d die.

  Reuben turned left down another narrow path instead of heading for the next main road. It led him to a smaller street flanked by rows of shops. All of them had flat roofs. Fire escapes clung to the sides of many. Should he go through them or over? On a roof, they might miss him. It would give him somewhere to hide. Somewhere to hide as long as they didn’t know where he’d gone. If they followed him, he’d get cornered.

  Reuben jumped into another old shop. He kicked the wooden door at the back from its hinges. A cloud of dust burst from the breaking wood. He dragged in a lungful with his next gasp. His chest twisted, and he coughed several times. He heaved, but the tickle remained deep in his throat.

  The white glow from a drone’s beam affirmed Reuben’s decision. Had he been on the roofs, the spotlight would have found him in seconds.

  Back on another main road. He knew this place! A left turn would lead him to the old shopping centre. Right took him to the labyrinthine residential area. He ran right.

  The soldiers might have remained on his tail, the hum of at least one drone behind him too, but the twists and turns of the tight alleys allowed him to stretch his lead. The itch in his throat grew worse. His chest wound tighter. Stars swam in his vision. He had to find somewhere to hide. It might not pay off, but he couldn’t run forever.

  Reuben entered an old house through the back. He ran down the hallway and out the front door. Fear’s army remained on his tail. If he could hear them, chances were they could hear him. He ran into the next derelict house, into one of the reception rooms, and out through a window into the back garden.

  A seven-foot wall, Reuben grabbed the top and dragged himself over. His feet slapped down against the path on the other side. Fear’s army’s steps had grown fainter.

  At the next house, Reuben halted in a small dark room. It had a built-in, full-length cupboard in the corner. A shelf sectioned off the top quarter. He dragged himself up and curled in the dark space, pulling the door closed behind him.

  Despite his best efforts to get his breathing under control, Reuben panted and gasped. Curled in a ball, it crushed his diaphragm.

  Less than a minute passed before the glow from a drone lit up the outside of the house. Shards of light found the gaps in the cupboard’s door. Three male voices entered the building. They spoke one after the other.

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s got to be here somewhere.”

  “Jacobs, you wait here. Sound your whistle if you see him.”

  A female voice replied, “Yes, sir.”

  The glow from the drone vanished. The hum of its propellors faded. The soldiers’ steps followed. But they’d left Jacobs behind. Reuben could wait it out. They’d give up on him eventually. In a big city like this, he could be anywhere. At some point they’d have to write off the search as futile.

  His breaths easing, Reuben sank into the low thrum of fatigue occupying his body. He just had to wait it out.

  The shelf creaked.

  Apparently, the cupboard he’d used as a hidey-hole had very different ideas. “Oh, fuck!”

  The vibration from the splintering wood ran through him. A popping crack like the surface of a thawing lake.

  Another creak. This time it ran from one side of the shelf all the way to the other.

  He didn’t have long before it dropped him like a sack of rocks.

  Chapter 21

  The shelf broke with a crack and tearing of splintering wood. It turned Reuben weightless, throwing his stomach into his throat. He hit the ground with a thud that drove the air from his lungs. It sent a streak up his back that ended as a fiery ball of agony beneath his right shoulder blade.

  Barking for air, he rolled away from the cupboard. Footsteps descended on his location. They started outside and came quickly. It sounded like just one person. The woman they’d tasked with watching him?

  Reuben scrambled to his feet, holding his back with his right hand. He stabilised himself against the wall with his left.

  The tight hallway condensed the sound of her steps. Reuben could meet her head-on. But what threat did he pose? He could barely stand, and he had no baton. Who knew what weapon she carried. It had to be more than a pair of fists and a body that hadn’t learned how to throw them. What if she had a drone with her?

  A glint of metal caught his eye. One of the poles that had supported the now fallen shelf. Covered in rust, but it’d do. Until he grabbed it. The thing crumbled in his grip. “Fuck it.”

  Reuben fell back into the cupboard and covered himself with what remained of the broken wooden shelf. A snivelling creature cowering in the corner. He pulled his knees into his chest and trembled. The heavy pieces of the wooden shelf leaned against him. He drew air in through his nose and let it out through his mouth.

  The steps slowed down as the woman entered the room. Reuben’s heart hammered. His chest tightened again. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth.

  Tock. Tock. Tock.

  Her steps came closer. She must have been just feet away. Were it not for his own quickened pulse driving his hammering heart, he might have been able to locate her better. Had she already seen him?

  In through his nose. Out through his mouth. Cowering behind the sheet of wood. In through his nose. Out through his mouth.

  The steps halted. Maybe she stood watching him. Maybe she had her back to him.

  Reuben tensed and slowly reached up to feel the back edge of the broken shelf, the wood jagged from where it had snapped. Clamping his top teeth on his bottom lip, he lifted the shelf away.

  He froze.

  The silhouette of the soldier stood over him.

  The tip of their sword hovered a foot from Reuben’s face. One lunge would end him.

  But it wasn’t the woman tasked with watching him. The soldier stood about as tall as Reuben, but his frame had thickened with age. He spoke in a measured tone as if trying to encourage Reuben to remain calm. An attempt to control the situation. “Now move slowly.”

  His stomach in knots, Reuben’s body betrayed him, his hands shaking as he tried to lay the shelf flat. It hit the concrete ground with a gentle slap.

  The soldier backed away. “Now come out with your hands up. Or I can come in there and stick you like a wounded pig?”

  “No!” Reuben’s echo mocked him. A pathetic warble. A febrile plea for mercy. But maybe he should remain in the same spot. Force the soldier to execute him now. It would be much easier than what Hicks had promised would happen. Compared to the fate of many others, dying curled in a ball in a dark corner would be a blessing.

  But, once again, his survival instinct kicked in. A tiny shred of hope that everything would be okay. That maybe this time would be different. He used the wall to push against so he could get to his feet. More spasms streaked up his back, stoking the already burning pain beneath his shoulder blade. It gripped his body. Restricted his breaths. Adrenaline flooded his system, and he shook beyond his control.

  As Reuben came forward, the soldier stepped back, allowing him the space he needed. The moonlight shone through the window, revealing more of the man than just his silhouette. In his late twenties to early thirties, he’d done some time in the army. He had experience. He knew all the tricks. His thick black hair had been closely cropped, and his brown eyes were soft, almost as if he already felt remorse for Reuben’s fate.

  “What are you going to do to me?” Reuben said.

  Fear’s soldier stepped back again, moving closer to the window. He shook his head and sighed. “Would you look at this. A rookie. What, you been on the job a day? A week? Your uniform still has the creases in it. You look like your mum dressed you.”

  Reuben bit back his reply. He gulped it back down. He clenched his jaw as if it would somehow ease his trembling. His words warbled. “Yeah, something like that.”

  “You’re probably still believing in the ideal sold to you by the higher-ups. That you’re fighting the good fight. That you can win this war and take this city back.”

  “Don’t they say that to everyone?”

  For someone about to cut him down, the soldier’s gaze remained sympathetic. Poor stupid rookie. “They do. But very few believe it by the time they come out of the other side. You’ll see that when you’ve fought for years and seen no change.”

  “You say that like I have a future.”

  “Were I in your situation right now—”

  “Weaponless and standing at the mercy of an experienced soldier with a sword?”

  The soldier pulled in a deep breath before letting it go again. He spoke measured words, his tone as soft as his kind gaze. “Were I in your situation, I’d see I had the advantage. That I was closest to the only way out of this room.”

  The door leading to the hallway on Reuben’s left.

  “I’d think about where the soldiers and drones were last, and recognise they walked away from the front of this house. I’d go out the back. I’d thank my lucky stars, and I’d think twice about any further encounter I have with Fear’s soldiers. I might focus on the similarities between them and myself rather than the differences. I might show them the same kindness I was being shown right now. Sure, they’re from a different city, but they’re still sent outside its walls to fight a war without end. They’re still lied to by those in power to make them believe their sacrifice will force some kind of change. That it will make the world a safer place for future generations.” The man shrugged. “But I’m not very smart. How can I be to get myself in his situation where I have a sword, but I’m at a disadvantage? So maybe what I’d do isn’t very important or the best course of action.”

  Reuben stepped towards the open doorway on his left, his fingers splayed as if testing the air around him for the soldier’s deceit. He’d spent too much time with Hicks. Was the man playing a cruel trick on him? Just one step at first. Like entering a cold pool, he dipped his toe in.

  The soldier sighed and tapped his foot.

  Reuben took another step left.

  The soldier remained still.

  The next step took Reuben out into the hallway. “Thank you,” he said.

  The soldier shrugged. “I don’t understand why you’re thanking me.”

  Reuben turned his back on the living room and ran through the old kitchen at the rear of the house. Many of the metal appliances were pockmarked with rust, but maintained their form. Every cupboard had been reduced to a doorless and rotting carcass.

  The back garden was a dust bowl of neglect. What remained of the back fence stood as five-foot-tall concrete pillars.

  The moon continued to shine bright enough to guide him. The soldier still hadn’t given chase. He ran faster. He needed to get away from there. Had he been set up? Would this turn out to be a trap? Some kind of sick game? When would he hear the drones’ hum? Reuben shrugged. What did he have to lose by running? Maybe they were toying with him. But what were his options? He could either run, or remain in the house and have a sword driven through his stomach. At least if he ran, he had a chance.

  Chapter 22

  Reuben ached from ankles to temples by the time he reached the road leading to Fury’s gates. He itched all over. His skin had turned tacky from where he’d sweated and it had dried again several times. He stumbled and shivered, hugging himself for warmth. But he’d returned, and he was still alive. Regardless of what he’d been through and witnessed, he’d been lucky tonight. And if the narrative sold to him about Fear’s soldiers and their violent tendencies were true, he’d been very lucky. He’d met one of the few good eggs out there. What would have happened had he run into someone like Danko with a vicious bitch like Hicks whispering in his ear?

  The imposing steel gates remained closed. The first time he’d returned to the city without them opening automatically. He knocked with a shaking hand, the cold and hard steel stinging his knuckles.

  The strong wind called across the city. The flapping of a bird’s wings as it took flight. Dawn still a few hours away, the ruins now lay dormant.

  He knocked again.

  A letterbox-sized hatch shifted to one side with a snap! The open gap framed a pair of scowling eyes. “What do you want?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Don’t get smart with me, boy. Why are you coming back at this time?”

  “I got separated from my unit.”

  “A deserter?”

  “Doesn’t deserter suggest I’d be heading away from the city?”

  “What did I say about getting smart? I can leave you outside until morning if you want, rookie?”

  “Hicks?”

  “Who else?”

  “What are you doing on guard duty?”

  “I’m the one who asks the questions.”

  The surrounding city remained clear. And it might stay that way, even if Fear’s army came close. They might have hungered for war, but it would be suicide to attack someone outside Fury’s gates. But the diseased didn’t understand boundaries and the likelihood of a city’s very capable defence. The second they saw him, they’d charge. If that happened, the gates would most certainly stay closed. “Will you please let me in?”

  A voice came from behind Hicks. Male, it resonated with a bass note boom. “Who is it?”

  “No one,” Hicks said.

  A different pair of eyes stared through the slot. Sarge’s cold steel gaze.

  Reuben stood to attention, his arms at his sides. He continued to shiver. He needed a shower, some food, and a good eight hours’ sleep.

  “Oh. It’s you.”

  Two bolts released on the other side of the gate. Crack! Crack! The hinges on one side cackled as it opened.

  The second the gap had stretched wide enough, Reuben slipped inside.

  Before Reuben had stepped through, Hicks slammed the gate shut, catching the back of his heels. She glared at him while re-securing the locks. Crack! Crack!

  Sarge stepped forwards and stopped just inches from Reuben. He folded his thick arms and looked him up and down. “So what happened?”

 

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