Blemished, The (27 page)

W
e staggered into a clearing and the Enforcers bundled us into trucks. The others were split away from me and I was alone with only my captors. As the doors slammed I knew everything was over and I felt hollowed out. A husk. I put my head in my hands. I’d let them down. The tears burned my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. For the first time since being on the run I hated my dad. How could he leave me in all this mess? The truck began to move, bumping over the rough woodland. In front of me Enforcers sat in a line, their hands neatly placed on their laps.

“Where are we going?” I said. “Where have you taken my friends?”

They sat solid. Not a twitch or an acknowledgement between them.

“Please don’t hurt them,” I said. I struggled against my handcuffs. “Tell me where we’re going.”

They did not speak.

I raised my voice. “Where are my friends?”

An Enforcer leaned forward and pushed his gun in my face. “Be quiet.” He leaned towards me, so close that I could just make out his features inside the helmet. I saw his eyes, the line of his nose, and then the strangest thing happened – he winked.

He sat down and I shut my mouth. I put my hands on my lap, mimicking the others. I tried to stay calm but inside I was a whirlwind. Why did he wink at me? I searched the helmet for his eyes. Only the black visor faced me now. The truck bounced over pot-holes and I struggled to keep my balance on the bench.

We travelled in silence. My gaze never faltered from the Enforcer who winked. I had something powerful now. Hope. I thought of Daniel and my heart clenched. He was wounded. He needed me.

There was an almighty crunching sound. I flew across the truck, landing messily on top of the Enforcer – the winking Enforcer. He gripped my wrists as the truck rolled sideways, throwing us around like dolls. Heavy men fell on top of me, bruising my ribs. The truck bounced jerkily. My head s
napped back and forth, but the Enforcer pulled me closer, almost cradling me from harm.

“Keep hold of me,” he whispered in my ear.
His voice had a strange accent to it that I had never heard before.

The truck rolled again, finally settling back on its wheels. The door flew open, revealing a grassy bank. I landed in a tangle of helmets and leather. I felt my nose and it was bleeding.

My Enforcer stood up, dragging me to my feet and said to the others, “I’ll do a check of the perimeter. I’d better keep the girl close. She’s a flight risk.”

Before they could protest we were outside.

“Are ye hurt?” he whispered.

“No,” I replied. “Aren’t they going to figure out that I would be much safer with them?”

“Yes,” he said. “That’s why we’re gunnae run. Now!”

*

“Who are you?” I shouted as we ran.

“Ali,” he said. “
I’m here te take ye te the Clans. There’s a new plan.” He pointed in front of him. It took me a few seconds to realise where we were – the road leading to St Jude’s school. I was back where it all began. The moonlight glinted against the windows.

Gunshots rang out in the distance. Ali swore. He grabbed me and pushed me ahead of him.

“Run te that tree. Fast as ye can.”

I obeyed. I was still in my bandaged feet and the rough chipping underfoot cut into the soles. I ignored the pain and gritted my teeth. If I could get away I could rescue Daniel, Angela and Sebastian. I had to try. I had to push harder.

We made it to the tree and Ali reloaded his gun. He tossed me a loaded pistol.

“Know how te
use it?”

I shook my head. Ali took it and pulled a small lever. “Point and pull the trigger.” He said bet
ween ragged breaths. “We need te get te the front yard of yer school.”

I nodded. We were hidden behind the old Oak tree at the bottom of the GEM running track. We had a playing field to cross and then a run around the side of the school. Luckily, we had darkness to cover us.

“Okay. Go!”

The gunfire was closer. I ran, unbalanced with the cuffs on my wrists, the gun in one hand. Ali ran with his arm outstretched, shooting towards the noise. Bullets pelted the lawn around us. I forced my calves to go faster, even though they felt like they were about to pop. I kept my head low. The footsteps gained on us.

“Faster,” Ali instructed.

I thought of Daniel, hurt and losing blood. My legs moved faster. The school loomed on.

“Ministry Officials. You must stop!” someone growled behind us. We ignored him.

Bullets skimmed the wall of the school as we ran around the perimeter. My heart pounded against my chest, my lungs burning. I gasped in air but I couldn’t slow down. I refused to slow down. Sweat trickled down my back. Ali grabbed my elbow and pulled me around the corner of the school. We were close now. Another bullet whizzed past us, so close I felt the air move by my ear. I ducked. Brick dust coated my skin.

Then I saw the van, a battered white thing tricked out with machine guns, including a man through a trap-door on the roof with an intimidating automatic weapon. Ali waved and the man nodded in return. A few seconds later the back door swung open and a middle-aged woman with her hair in an ashen blonde plait motioned for us to hurry. She held up a rifle, pointed, fired and I heard a thud behind us. Ali pushed me forwards. When we reached the van he threw me into it and jumped in. The door slammed shut and we were moving.

Ali pulled his helmet away and I saw him for the first time. He was young, brown-skinned and attractive. He threw the helmet to the side as though it was dirty and peeled away the leather gloves.

“We’ve got four, maybe five on the chase,” he said to the woman with the plait.

She nodded and poked her rifle through a peep-hole in the van wall. “Hold it steady, Reg,” she shouted. “To the
right,
to the right.” She fired. She pulled her body back and flattened herself against the van. “Keep yer head down, lass.” She said to me.

I turned and grabbed hold of Ali’s shoulders. “We have to find my friends.”

His mouth opened to answer but then the van was pelted with a shower of bullets. None of them made it through the van.

The blonde woman winked at me. “Reinforced steel.”

The man from the roof pulled his head and shoulders into the van. He was shaven headed and bulky. “Three trailers, Reg. Put yer foot down.” He looked at Ali. “Want to take over, boss?”

Ali shook his head. “Yer
doing a grand job, Stevie.”

“Please,” I said. “My friends are in trouble.”

Ali turned back to me. “We’re all in trouble, kid.”

“You don’t understand. They’re going to die,” I pleaded.

The blonde woman shook her head. “So are we if we don’t get out of here pronto.”

“Now, now, Mary,” Ali said to her. “The girl’s been through a lot. Play nice.”

“Haven’t we all,” Mary mumbled.

The van swerved. More bullets hit us.

“Any get the tyres, Reg?” Ali called into the front of the van.

“Nah,” he replied. “They’re lousy shots.”

I fell forwards into Ali, knocking us to the ground. My bruised ribs ached, but I was alive. Against all odds, I was alive and I wouldn’t give up on my friends.

I pulled myself to my knees and grabbed Ali’s wrists. “If you don’t help me I’ll jump out of this van right now and help them myself.”

Mary whistled. “She’s got some spirit, I’ll give her that.”

Ali set his jaw and held my eyes for what felt like an eternity.

“Please,” I insisted.

Ali swore and rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“Jesus, Ali,” Mary said. “Yer gunnae get the lot of us killed.”

Ali ignored her and turned to me, grabbing my arm. For a second his eyes lingered on my wrists where the cuffs tore at my skin. Blood trickled down my forearms. He swore again.

“Mary, if ye want three children’s deaths on yer conscience that’s up to ye. But I can’t,” he said. “Stevie, get the hell outta the way I need the gun a moment.” He pulled me up through the roof just as Mary swore back at him. He lifted me so I could see properly. “Look through the scope an’ tell me if ye see anything.”

I gripped hold of the roof to steady myself as we swerved all over the road. Two Ministry trucks were following now, we’d lost one. Both were more like pick-up trucks, with unroofed portions. I saw the Enforcers sat in the open sections, taking aim with their guns. The first truck was filled with the usual black helmets. But there were three faces standing out in the far truck. My heart swelled. Angela, Daniel and Sebastian were in that truck.   

“I
see them!” I shouted.

Ali took the gun from me and pressed his eye to the viewfinder. “All right. Get back down into the van.” He ste
pped down after me. “Reg, yer gunnae have to do some fancy driving here. Get rid of the truck behind us.”

Reg nodded.

“Stevie, take out as many Enforcers as ye can. From the front truck only.”

“Nae
problem,” Stevie replied with a grin.

“Ginge. Yer
covering me,” Ali said.

In all the chaos I hadn’t noticed a young girl with red hair opposite Mary. She nodded sternly.

“Mary––”

“I know the score,” the blonde woman said.

Ali moved forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. Mary’s ice cold exterior melted for a second. She clasped Ali’s hand.

Ali broke away and turn
ed to face me. “Word is that ye have a special talent.”

I nodded. “That’s correct.”

“Can ye use it now?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Well then. Yer coming with me.”

Reg slammed on the brakes. I fell back hitting my head and the van screeched to a halt. Ali worked the machine gun, the sound of the gunfire hammering my ears. I heard a scream. My heart twanged. I hoped my friends were safe.

“NOW!” Ali shouted. “Everyone keep your head down.”

Ali dropped down from the roof and grabbed hold of my elbow. Ginge and Mary moved to the back of the van, their guns in position. They nodded to Ali and he kicked open the van door. Keeping hold of me we leapt from the vehicle, Ali ducking quickly to the side. It was horrendous. Enforcers lay bleeding in the trucks, slumped over the sides. I fought back the urge to vomit.

“Stay calm,” Ali whispered. “We have te get te the last truck and ye need to disarm the men.”

I nodded. “I can do that.”

“Can ye disarm them from here?”

“Yes,” I said.

The truck moved towards us, but someone from the van shot the driver and it veered off course into a nearby house. It took me a few moments to notice that we were in the heart of the ghettos with normal Blemished people running for cover. I put a hand over my mouth in horror. The second truck approached, the Enforcers firing towards the van.

“Ye
need to do it now,” Ali said. “Come on.”

I focussed, trying to block out the noise and the chaos and the blood. I thought of Daniel with his injury. I thought of him trussed up by the Enforcers in cuffs. My palms itched. Heat spread all over my body. I thought of Mrs Murgatroyd taunting me about the boy in the river. More heat. Then it ripped through my mind. The pain was searing but I embraced it.

“Holy Moly,” Ali said with a laugh. “That’s incredible.”

With one single thought I’d disarmed all of the Enforcers in the second truck. The guns floated above their heads while the Enforcers jumped up to reach them. With another push I scattered the guns as far as I could. Then Ali ran forward to help free Daniel and the others. I collapsed to the floor, blood running from my nose. Finally, everything was going to be okay – we’d got to Matthew’s people, I’d saved my friends and we were getting to the Clans. I began to cry, realising that it was going to happen, we were going to get away from the Operation like I’d always wanted and the people I loved most in the world were coming with me. But then, just as I began to relax, cold fingers wrapped around my shoulders. Someone dragged me away.

*

It was her.

She dragged me into an alley way. Cold metal pressed against my head. A gun.

“You ruin everything,” she said. “You ruin everything and somehow nothing ever happens to you. You break into my house. You behave like a
slut
with those boys. You escape. You kill. You’re a murderer, a thief, a liar and a whore.”

“If I’m a whore what does that make you?” I said quietly. My voice trembled. “I know about Joseph.”

The fingers on my shoulder faltered. The gun at my head quivered.

“What did you say?” she hissed.

“Joseph. Your
son
,” I said. “The baby you were pregnant with. What happened to him? Was he taken away? Did you give birth to him?”

I felt her breath on my neck. She sounded choked, as though crying. “How dare you speak his name?” She was crying. “My beautiful boy.”

“It’s all about him, isn’t it?” I said. “The reason why you hate me? You’re bitter because you made a mistake and had to pay for it. They took your unborn child away and now you punish girls because you’re jealous of our youth, you can never get it back and you can never carry a child.” I paused, trying to control my breathing. “Well, I’m going to have a better life, a life that you want, with proper choices and you can’t bear it.”

“No!” she said. She sniffed away her tears and adjusted her stance. The gun remained firm against my temple. “This isn’t personal. You’re wanted by the Ministry. You’re an…
abomination
. You’re a freak who shouldn’t exist. Just like Daniel––”

“Don’t you touch him!” I shouted. My palms began to heat. I tried to muster enough power to rid her of the gun. Anger helped. “Don’t you touch a hair on his head.”

She laughed. “It would seem that we both know each other’s weaknesses. Now start walking. I’m taking you in. Try anything and I pull the trigger. Do you really think your little trick is as quick as my finger? I guess we’d find out, but do you really want to––”

There was a thud and the gun dropped from her hand. I spun around. Murgatroyd was laid on the floor, blood seeping from her head, black in the moonlight. I gaped. A beautiful girl stood in the teacher’s place clutching an iron bar.

“Thought you needed some help, Blem,” Elena said with a grin.

I hugged her awkwardly with my bound hands, never so relieved and happy to see another human being as in that moment. She laughed.

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard all hell breaking loose from our house. I just followed the noise, and hey, guess what? Led me to you.” She laughed again. She turned and gestured to the wall at the back of the alley. “I had to climb over that thing so I hope you’re grateful – it ruined these babies.”

She pointed down to her shoes and I laughed. Trust Elena to chase danger in heels.

I kissed her on the cheek. “You just saved my life.”

“Yeah well.” She shrugged. “No biggie.”

“I don’t know how I can…” I trailed off. Tears burned behind my eyes. “You’re a good person, Elena.”

She sniffed and looked away. I caught just a glimpse of moisture in her eyes. “You’re not bad for a Blem.” She poked Mrs Murgatroyd with her toe. “I didn’t want old Murder-Troll here having the last laugh.” She wiped her eyes. “You leaving town then?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Shouldn’t you get going before the witch wakes up?”

I heard the screeching of sirens in the distance. “Yes.”

She sniffed again. “It won’t be the same around here. Quieter.” She laughed. “I’m going to miss you.”

I looked behind me. The sirens were closer now. “Do you want to come with me?” I held out my cuffed hands for her to take.

She thought for a moment. But then she shook her head. “No. I don’t.”

“Okay.” I stepped back. “You should go before you get into trouble with the Enforcers.”

She saluted and winked. “Will do.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I ran, leaving her in the darkness. Ali, his face in a panic, appeared around the corner of the alleyway.

“Where the hell have ye
been?” He snapped. “No, don’t tell me. Just get the hell in the van. We need to leave. Now.”

“Daniel––”

“They are all okay and in the van. Now
move
!”

I jumped into the van as the sirens approached, travelling fast. All around us people peeked through their curtains. This was the last I would ever see of the ghettos. This glimpse of cold, vague, slack faces, all gaping in my direction, would be the last I saw of the Blemished. I blinked and they were gone.

Daniel wrapped his good arm around me. He pulled me tight into his chest, so tight that I could barely breathe. “You’re all right,” he whispered into my ear. “I can’t believe you’re all right.

I pulled back and looked at him. “You look terrible.”

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Mary said. She reached into a pack and took out medical supplies.

I turned to Angela and Sebastian. “Are you both okay?”

Angela wrapped her arms around me. I pushed my head into her shoulder. “I’m glad you made it, Mina.”

“I’m glad too.” I said. “I don’t think I could start a new life without my best friend.”

Sebastian smiled at me shyly as I pulled back from Angela. “I’m glad you’re safe, Mina.”

I sighed. “We all made it.”

“We’re not there yet,” Reg shouted back as he swerved into a tight corner, trying to throw the Enforcers off course.

Mary slapped me on the back. “Let the girl enjoy her moment. We’re past the worst now, lass. In a few days’ time we’ll be in bonnie Scotland. Yer friend here’ll have proper medical treatment and all will be well.”

“You think?”

She smiled. “Ah know so.”

“The Professor will be looking forward to seeing you,” Ali said.

“What?”

“The Professor. That’s yer dad, right?”

“Yes,” I breathed. “He’s in the Clans?”

Ali nodded. “Waiting for ye.”

I felt about to explode with emotion. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Ali laughed at my stunned expression. “No need to cry, kid. Yer going home to family.”