Coldbrook

6

Vic snapped awake at the screeching alarm, and deja vu screamed in with it.

Olivia sat on the bed wide-eyed, her arms hugging her knees. Lucy sat up, face grim, hair awry.

‘Oh, shit,’ Vic muttered, standing, tripping over his discarded boots, sitting to slip them on again, and all the while his family did not speak. The alarm thrummed into them, that awful repeating tone that could mean nothing good.

His satphone rang. ‘Yeah.’

‘Vic, they broke in,’ Holly said. ‘The garage, the plant-room wall, it was just blockwork, and it cracked under pressure. Weakened by the Hummer impact, maybe. I was there an hour ago and it was all fine, but. . Hundreds of them. I’m in Secondary, I can see them on the camera. Being held back in the common room right now. But I can’t reach Sean, he’s in Jonah’s room, you need to get there and-’

‘What are you doing in Secondary?’

‘Trying to adapt the breach. Doesn’t matter — you need to protect Jayne, Vic. It’s all about her now, and Marc.’

‘Where’s he?’

‘Here with me. Drake’s here, too. He said Moira and others are going to take the kids through.’

She means through there, Vic thought, and his spine tingled at the thought. ‘Right. I can pick up Jayne and Sean on the way.’

Gunshots, and he wasn’t sure whether they were from outside the door or had sounded over the phone. Olivia and Lucy looked at the door, startled. Outside.

‘Holly, gotta go, see you in Control in three minutes.’

‘Wait!’

‘Holly-’

‘Loved you, Vic.’

‘I’m not going through without you,’ he said. ‘We’ll wait in Control.’

‘Okay. Now go.’

‘Holly. .’ I loved you, he wanted to say. But he didn’t, because he still loved her, and to say that in front of Lucy would have been too much. Holly disconnected and he pocketed the phone.

‘They’re in,’ Lucy said.

‘Yeah. Okay, listen. We have to get through the breach.’

‘With Jayne,’ Lucy said. ‘She’s our hope.’

Vic grabbed his pistol; reloaded now, and with three spare magazines.

‘But won’t they follow us through?’

‘Holly’s doing something to the breach, I guess to prevent that. And we’ll be ready over there when it opens again. Defend it until we’re ready to come back through with a cure.’

‘And what’ll be left?’

Vic couldn’t answer that, so he didn’t try.

‘Ready, princess?’ he asked.

‘I’m scared,’ Olivia said.

‘You follow close to me, keep your eyes on my back, turn when I turn. Remember how you’d follow my steps in the snow?’ His beautiful daughter nodded. ‘Pretend we’re doing that now.’

He pulled on his boots and stood by the door. Last time I ran from here, I turned right.

Vic opened the door, paused at the corridor junction, checked both ways, and headed left.