A.N. There's been a couple of chapters where not much happens, and this is kind of one, imo. But I promise I'll put more exciting stuff in it :) Just gotta set some stuff up, shit's building. Also, to iDoN'tEvEnKnOw, read closely :3
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Chapter 10
“Ok, calm down now,” King warned as we set off along the road. The first few buildings were clearly empty, the the first inhabited ones were getting nearer and nearer. “We need them to trust us. Until we get ourselves sorted, we're not Killjoys, we're just travellers. They're not gonna take us in if they think we're trouble.”
“We're better trouble than those basta-”
“Fever. Watch your mouth.”
“Soh-ree. Geez. But we're better trouble than those Dracs are, anyway. They'll thank us for being here if they turn up.” Fever attempted a scowl, but couldn't stop himself from grinning. As old as he pretended to be, he was still a kid like us. Plus, he looked very handsome when he smiled. I'd bury him in the snow if it made him look like that more often.
“What're you smiling at?” El poked me in the side. I straightened my face as best I could and shrugged.
“Nothing, nothing.”
I could feel the eyes on us before we saw anyone moving inside the houses. At first, they stayed inside, watching from behind the safety of their windows, but then a few of the braver ones opened their doors to get a better look.
“Who are you?” called out a voice after a moment. They sounded nervous, and the old me understood why – like I'd told the adults, nobody travelled any more. For years after the bombings and fighting that destroyed the old Britain, everyone just stayed inside as much as possible for fear of radiation sickness. When they finally emerged, all means of long-distance communication were down. No phones, no postal system, definitely no Internet. Nobody knew where was safe to go to, which towns had survived and which hadn't. So they just stayed where they were, tucked themselves safe into their own small towns and let the endless snow barricade them in. Chances were you'd grow up knowing the same people and the same buildings all your life, and you'd never know anything of outside apart from what the older people told you. After the Killjoys and BL/ind, these were the only people I'd ever seen that I couldn't instantly name and reel off various facts and pieces of gossip about. It was a completely new experience for me, and a little unnerving; like trying to draw a picture without looking at the paper or the pencils, or even knowing what the picture was going to be.
“We're, uhm, travellers,” King began, smiling welcomingly. The few people that had come out of their houses backed off at the sound of his strange accent – it was almost comical, now that I was used to it. Siren reached up and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I think we should let one of the kids talk. They're local, y'know?” she was thinking along the same lines as I was. Karin, Dock and El heard her and pushed me forward straight away. I rolled my eyes.
The speaker was a man who looked about forty years old, stocky and redhaired, with pale skin from lack of sun like the rest of us.
“Who are you?” He repeated. To my surprise, he was actually holding a small gun, albeit an old-fashioned one, and had it half-raised in our direction.
“We're travellers, like she said,” I shrugged, “There was a fire back in our old town and nobody's left. These ones -” I waved my hand at Siren, King, Fever, Desert and Sunshine, who stood out like a sore thumb even though we had dyed hair and bright clothes as well, “-are from America. They were travelling down to where the capital was to find some of their family, and to see if there's any government left over here because the Americans haven't been able to send forces over here properly, and they picked us up. We're just looking for somewhere to rest for a few days until we can get ourselves sorted.”
Inside my head, I was wondering where I was making up all the rubbish I was spouting – admittedly most of it wasn't too far from the truth, but I hadn't had any idea what I was going to say beforehand. The rest of me was completely calm, even though the man's gun-hand was wavering up slightly. At the sound of my voice – and my more reassuring accent – he lowered it, although he and the others were still watching us cautiously.
A short woman with reddish-brown hair came jogging up to the man and whispered something in his ear. He frowned at her for a moment, before holding his hands up and sighing,
“Fine. We've got an old house back a way down there, youse can sleep in there for a bit. You're not mooching off us, though, for as long as you're here, you'll work and you children will be going to school.”
A whisper passed around the crowd that had gathered, and they parted to let the man through as he passed and we followed.
“I'm John,” he said as he led us along the main road, “John Kaye. I'm a mayor of sorts, or councillor. I look after the food stores, I handle any legal matters. Anyone causes you trouble, come and find me. You cause anyone else trouble and I'll come and find you.”
A few minutes later, he stopped abruptly outside one of the larger houses that remained unlit. The curtains on the windows of the houses on either side rustled.
“There's no lock, since the last owners took the key and we don't have the materials for a new one. There's a latch on the inside, though, and nobody here steals. You lot better not, either, no matter what Joanne says.”
He turned on his heel and stalked off, rubbing his large, calloused hands together to warm them up. He was a little rude, I had to admit, but I couldn't blame him; we were strangers, threatening-looking strangers dressed like hallucinations. Fever shot a dirty look at him, but said nothing, and King pushed open the door to our new home.
It was smaller than the last one, I could tell straight away. The front door opened straight onto an abandoned living room with a threadbare armchair and an old leather sofa covered in scratches. There were stairs up to the floor above against one wall, and a door into what looked like the kitchen by their side.
By chance – as by chance as it could be when I was staring at him every five seconds - I caught Fever's eye and knew straight away what he was going to do before he did it. I just had time to subtly shake Dock's sleeve to get his attention before Fever dived for the stairs. Dock tackled him to the ground and I jumped over him, steaming up the staircase before he could shake him off.
There were four rooms; one bathroom and three bedrooms. I found the biggest one straight away and did a clumsy commando roll into it.
“Ours!” I yelled as Fever finally managed to make his way to the top of the stairs, panting as he heaved his feet forwards and pulled against the weight of Dock and El, who were laughing maniacally as they clung on.
“Keep it down!” Siren called up. Fever rolled his eyes at me.
“You're so childish,” he muttered as he prised his legs free and stalked off to find another room.
“Says you,” I retorted. It wasn't the best, but drooling thirteen-year-olds have never been famed for their wit.
Once we'd all got our rooms sorted – Fever actually ended up sharing with us because the other rooms were only big enough for two of the adults to share each, although he insisted on herding us all to one end of the room – we headed back downstairs for our evening serving of tamaydabeans. As we tucked in, absolutely starving after the long day of walking, and coming down off our brief high from finding somewhere to stay, I noticed Siren grinning more than usual.
“What're you smiling at?” King asked her. Her grin widened.
“Didn't you recognise her?” she asked, “The people just now. That woman he called Joanne, the woman who talked to him. The one who convinced him to let us stay.”
“I don't think so . . .”
“Oh come on! Just imagine her with redder hair and big black boots on.”
“No. Oh, wait . . . No!” King and Sunshine exlaimed simultaneously. Even Fever and Desert gasped. What were they talking about?
“Yes, who else could it be? I knew it was her straight away. I didn't want to say anything though, I think she's undercover like we are.”
“Who?” El asked. Siren's smile got so huge I wondered how her face hadn't split open completely. For someone who had seemed pretty scary-looking at first glance – and still could be, when I remembered the telling-off we'd had – she was an insanely cheerful woman.
“A friend of ours, from back in the Zones,” she explained, “I don't think we've seen her in about two and a half years. She didn't look like that when we saw her last. We didn't know anyone else was coming over here in the first place. She goes by the name of Dead Joker usually, and her being here is a very good thing for us.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because she's a scout. She checks out a place to see if it's safe or useful before calling in the rest. That she's here, means only one thing. Party Poison, Fun Ghoul, Jet Star and Kobra Kid – them and anyone else they can find. They're coming over.”
