Authors: Kara Karnatzki
Chapter Thirteen
Curtis spent ten minutes trying to bust the door to the link corridor. He took his shoes and socks off, waded into the water, and wrestled the door handl
e–
only to conclude it was locked. Greg, wh
o’
d been filling his head with all sorts of website-of-doom facts about floods, suddenly started yelling:
‘
Be careful! The watermight be contaminated
!
’
When Curtis heard this, he got out fast and began to scream.
‘
My feet! The
y’
re melting! Acid water
!
’
It was funny. For a nano-second. But Curtis being Curtis carried the joke on. And on. Ten minutes later he was still telling people he had no feeling in his big toes - until Byron interrupted.
‘
It might be funny to you now
,’
he said coolly
,‘
but contamination is a killer. Once a plumbing network is overrun, the nasties get everywhere. And when I say nasties, I mean
nasties
.
’
‘
Like what
?
’
‘
Toxic waste, garbage, fertilizer, excrement, dead animals
–
you name it
.
’
‘
Yuck
,’
said Curtis, rubbing his feet
.‘
How do you
know
all this stuff
?
’
As for Leon and I, it felt like we had to make the most of the time we had left. We sat by the radiator and chatted about the various music festivals w
e’
d been to and the ones we wanted to go to. It felt good, sparky, excitin
g–
until the subject matter strayed into different territory.
‘
So, what about boyfriends
?’
he said
.‘
Alittle bird told me you were seeing a guy from Slode Business College
?
’
Marshall Finch.
Why
did he have to bring up Marshall Finch?
‘
We broke up,' I replied, as quickly as I could.
That was all I wanted to say on the matter. Do
n’
t get me wrong, I was flattered he was curious. I knew it could only mean good things, but my messed-up ex boyfriend was
n’
t a topic I liked to discuss.
‘
What's his name again
?
’
Like he didn't know. Everyone knew. I exhaled, clenched my fists, forced myself to say it.
‘
Marshall. Marshall Finch
.
’
'Oh, yeah.
Him
. But you're through? It's over now, yeah
?
’
He eyed me suspiciously.
‘
Definitely
.
’
‘
Wha
t’
s he up to
?
’
‘
Not much. He quit college. He works no
w–
sort of
.
’
Sort of, meaning he sat on his butt in a bedsit, drinking and smoking and playing computer games, while dodging parole officers and pretending to employment agencies that he was up for work. But really, I did
n’
t want to go into it. Mostly, because it still had the power upset me. My mum, my sister, my best frien
d–
they'd all warned me about Marshall, but I hadn't listened. I'd only seen an older guy in college with a car, who went to gigs and knew about music and art and festivals, who said he could get me back-stage passes for any concert I liked, who bought me my first alcoholic drink, introduced me to his mates, promised w
e’
d go backpacking together.
That was the idea.
The
reality
was that Marshall Finch was a selfish control-freak with a twisted streak.
And the rest.
‘
Do you still see him
?
’
‘
Not if I can help it
.
’
‘
So, would you say yo
u’
re, like, available? No badassboyfriends waiting in the wings
?
’
‘
One hundred per cent. And you
?
’
Leon Prentice, about to look me in the eyes and tell me he was available and ready for love.
‘
Well
,’
he said, embarrassed.
‘
Not
exactly
..
.
’
Splat! My heart hitting the floor at high speed.
‘
To be honest, Kate, i
t’
s complicated, but I can
-
’
BEEP BEEP BEEP
We both jumped. My phone again. My mum. She always was good at interrupting. The first time I kissed Marshall in my room, she popped her head round the door to ask if we wanted pizza. I took the call.
‘
Kate, listen, we're having trouble
-
’
Her voice was shaking. Suddenly, the reality of our situation came crashing back.
‘
What? What is it
?
’
‘
The roads are wrecked and now the bridge has gone. It's
gone!
The flood obliterated it. We were trying to get a rescue team to drive up to the school, bu
t…
ther
e’
s no way. W
e’
ve heard people talking about helicopters, but w
e’
ve not seen any. Yo
u’
ll have to hold on, Kate.
I’
m so sorry
.
’
I glanced at Leon. He looked as worried as I was.
‘
For how long?
She paused.
‘
W
e–
we do
n’
t know
,’
she said.
‘
One of the rescue workers told me things are going to get worse before they get better. Aside from the flooding, ther
e’
s no let up in the weather. At least seventy-two people have been reported missing. I do
n’
t want any of you adding to that list, do you hear? Stay indoors, up high. Oh, and another thing, everyon
e’
s being advised to
-
’
Before she could finish, the signal cut out. I clutched the phone to my chest and stared at the ceiling. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.
‘
Guys
,’
I said, tearfully, as everyone turned to me.
‘I’
m really sorry, but i
t’
s bad news
.
’
Chapter Fourteen
The atmosphere plummeted. It was hard to know what was worse. The wait? Or not knowing how long the wait was going to be? A mass of cloud sunk over the hill, darkening the town. The rain came down harder, but
I’
d gotten used to the sound, the constant drumming as it hit the glass - it was almost hypnotic.
We sat around, chewing our nails, jiggling our feet, fighting our fear. There was a bit moretalk about another escape mission, but it did
n’
t stick.
‘I’
m
so
hungry
,’
said Curtis, for the fifth time.
‘
We're
all
hungry
,’
said Gemma. 'But you make it worse by going on and
on
about it.'
‘
Yeah, yeah,' said Curtis. 'And
you
make it worse by being such a moaner.'
‘
I'm only moaning because I'm in
your
company,' Gemma retorted.
'Just stop
,
both of you,' said Leon. 'It's not like we're going to be starving here for weeks. We can survive a few hours.'
‘
Speak for yourself
,’
said Curtis.
‘
But
I’
m literally
starving
. And
I’
m thirsty. People die of thirst, do
n’
t they? A man needs water before he needs solids
.
’
‘
Ther
e’
s a tap over there, moron
,’
Gemma growled.
‘
Not all liquid has to come from aluminium cans, you know - '
At this, Curtis launched towards the sink, craned his neck, and held his mouth at the spout of the tap.
‘
Don't
!’
yelled Greg.
‘
You ca
n’
t drink from there. I
t’
s not safe. The website said even tap water gets poisoned
.
’
‘
Yeah, right
,’
said Curtis nonchalantly.
‘
All the toilets overflow and the crap goes everywhere. Would you drink your own crap
?
’
‘
My crap is pure, so
I’
d be delighted to drink it. I
t’
s other peopl
e’
s stinky crap tha
t’
s the problem
.
’
‘
Jesus Christ, Curtis
!’
said Leon, riled.
‘
Do
n’
t drink the water. Come back, sit down, and
stop
moaning. No on
e’
s going to starve or die of thirst. Instead of arguing, we need to stick together.'
A little later, he pulled me aside.
'Someone needs to take the lead,' he whispered. 'Not wanting to sound big-headed, but I think it should be me. I'm the only one who seems to know anything about survival skills. And le
t’
s face it, no one else has the right attitude. Gemma's too stroppy, Gre
g’
s too negative, Curtis is too nuts, and Byron, well, I do
n’
t think we ca
n’
t trust that creep as far as we can throw him. Which leaves me. And you. You're good of course. W
e’
ll work as a team
.
’
He stared into my eyes. His self-assuredness overwhelmed me. I tried to find a reason to question him, but all I could think about was
the fact that he was suggesting we work as a team. A pair. A couple.
‘
Yeah. Sure. It makes sense,' I said. 'You and me
-
’
He nodded.
‘
The Dream Team. The Dream Team takes control
.
’
He stroked my elbow and my heart started to race. I smiled, lowered my eyelashes, tried to present the best angle of my face, tried to look sexy. Then I realised Byron was a few feet away, watching, listening in on our conversation. Leo
n’
s comment began to loop in my head:
we ca
n’
t trust that creep.
‘
YOU IDIOT
!
’
Gre
g’
s shout shattered the peace.
Evidently, Curtis had ignored Gre
g’
s warning and had drunk from the tap. He came back from the sink wiping his mouth. As soon as he had everyon
e’
s attention, he groaned, clutched his stomach and fell to the floor. I ran over.
‘
Curtis! Are you okay
?’
I said, crouching over him.
He rolled over, waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
‘
Katy
,’
he said.
‘
Yo
u’
re so sweet. Shamefully gullible, but ever so sweet.'
'And you're a dick!' said Greg. 'I told you, that water's rancid. If you get sick, it's your own fault
.
’
'Whatever,' said Curtis.
'Okay,' saidGreg.
‘
I'll prove it.
I’
ll show you the websites. They all say same thing: don't drink the tap water.'
'Yeah?'
'Yeah.'
'Come on then.'
Greg returned to the computer. He pulled up a website and clicked on the mouse. He reached to adjust the monitor, so that Curtis could see the screen, but just as he did, a blue flash came from the plug. The power in the computer crackled, sparked, and cut. Giant Greg, all six feet of him, flew across the room. His limp body landed hard against a stack of chairs and for a second there was silence.