I glare at the hunter, still wanting to hate him, but finding myself thawing. If he’s telling the truth, I understand. In his position I’d have done the same.
‘So why the change of heart?’ I scowl. ‘Why play the hero now after serving the scumbags for so long?’
‘The children,’ Barnes says softly. ‘I didn’t know about them until they let me in here to watch you fight. A zombie’s one thing, even a conscious one like you. But a live child . . . As I said, my son means more to me than anything. But there are lines no man should ever allow himself to cross. I couldn’t turn a blind eye to what Dan-Dan was doing to the children. As far as we’ve fallen, I don’t ever want to fall that far.’
‘We will do all that we can to safeguard your son’s future,’ Dr Oystein says. ‘Zhang will scour every inch of this ship in search of the Board members. Two have already been dealt with. If the others are still alive, we will find them. They will not be able to harm your boy once we have dealt with them.’
‘Be careful what you promise, doc,’ I mutter. ‘I killed Lord Luca but the others got away. They had escape hatches in the hull which they were able to blow open. There were speedboats moored to the cruiser. Justin, Vicky and Dan-Dan all made it to freedom.’
Barnes’s face whitens. He starts to tremble, then stops himself. ‘I have to go,’ he tells Dr Oystein.
‘You can stay with us if you wish,’ Dr Oystein says. ‘We can hunt for them together.’
Barnes shakes his head. ‘I don’t know where they’ll go. But I know where my son is. I’ll try to get to the island and rescue him before it occurs to them to order his execution. They might not even be aware of my treachery. They weren’t on deck when we boarded. I might have time to play with.’
‘I wish you luck,’ the doctor says.
‘Thanks.’ Barnes grimaces. ‘I’m going to need it.’ The hunter faces me and tries to think of something to say. In the end he simply shrugs. ‘Like I said to you once before, it won’t mean anything, I’m sure, but I’m sorry.’
‘Me too,’ I mumble. ‘By the way,’ I stop him before he leaves, ‘where’s Coley?’
Barnes manages a weak grin. ‘He never would have gone for this. He didn’t care about the children. I knocked him out and tied him up before I went to County Hall. I’ll swing by and free him before setting off for the island. It’s the end of our partnership, but I owe him that much.’
‘Was he the one you were talking about the last time you came to see me?’ I ask. ‘When you said it was hard having to sacrifice someone you care about?’
‘No,’ Barnes smiles, warmly this time. ‘I was talking about you.’
As I stare at him, he flips me a quick salute, then hurries out of the arena and heads off to try and save the one person in the world he truly loves, the boy whose life he risked in order to do what was right.
Barnes did something heroic and noble today. But if his son is killed as a result, he’ll feel like the most miserable man alive. Everyone knows this isn’t a world of black and white, but it’s not a world of grey either. It’s a world of hellish, soul-tormenting red, and Barnes is adrift on that choppy, bloodstained sea the same as the rest of us. I hope the ex-soldier finds his son and enjoys a bit of peace before his number is called.
But I wouldn’t bet on it.
‘We should get you back home as soon as possible,’ Dr Oystein says. ‘You need to spend a few weeks in a Groove Tube.’
‘I’ve been in there a lot recently,’ I sigh. ‘One mauling after another. I must be the most unfortunate girl in the world.’
‘Some might think otherwise,’ the doc murmurs. ‘If you had not been captured and forced to fight, and if you had not determined the conditions under which you would compete, how many children would Daniel Wood have killed? Some might say you are a hero.’
I snort. ‘A zombie can’t be a hero. We’re monsters.’
Dr Oystein smiles. ‘Then all I can say is that I wish there were more monsters like you in the world.’
We beam at each other. Then I shake my head before things get too mawkish. ‘So how did it go down? Barnes came to you, told you what was happening and led you here?’
‘In a nutshell, yes. He spotted the twins while they were gathering supplies. He approached them, explained the situation and asked for their help. They escorted him back to County Hall.’
‘That’s why Dr Oystein let us come on this mission,’ Cian says proudly. He looks like the cat that not only got the cream but a mouse-flavoured stick to stir it with. ‘If not for us, Barnes might never have found his way to County Hall, certainly not in time to save you.’
‘We begged the doctor and Master Zhang to let us tag along and they agreed in the end,’ Awnya says.
‘I wouldn’t say that we begged,’ Cian grumbles.
‘Why are you guys soaked to the skin?’ I ask.
‘We were part of the river team,’ Awnya says.
‘Most of us were,’ Carl adds.
Now that I look closely, I see that all of the Angels in the room are wet, except for Dr Oystein and Rage.
‘We could not attack from land,’ Ashtat explains. ‘The guards on deck had the surrounding area covered. They would have torn us to pieces with their rifles before we could close the gap.’
‘The doc and I came back with Barnes,’ Rage says. ‘He tied us up, loose knots that we could wriggle out of. Pretended to the guards that he’d captured us.’
‘We came at a time when he knew the Board would be watching you fight,’ Dr Oystein says. ‘We hoped to swoop on them when they were together, for the sake of Barnes’s son.’
‘While the guards were ogling the doctor and Rage,’ Carl says, ‘the rest of us scaled the far side of the cruiser. We’d swum here earlier in the day and were waiting just beneath the surface of the water.’
‘We plugged our ears and noses and kept our mouths shut,’ Cian says. ‘Bobbed about there for more than an hour. It was cool!’
‘I spotted a couple of speedboats while we were climbing,’ Jakob says softly. ‘I thought that was how the humans got to and from the ship. If I’d guessed they were for getaways, I would have torn holes in their hulls and sunk them.’
‘How many of you came?’ I ask.
‘Most of the Angels,’ Ashtat says.
‘Every single Angel volunteered,’ Shane says.
‘I wasn’t going to,’ Rage sniffs, ‘but I didn’t want to be the odd one out. Would have looked bad.’
‘You’re all heart,’ I grunt.
‘We left some behind to take care of the place,’ Carl says. ‘Otherwise we’re all here.’
‘For you,’ Dr Oystein whispers.
I shrug. ‘What do you want me to do? Go round and thank everyone in person?’
‘It wouldn’t be a bad start,’ Rage growls.
‘Well, don’t worry,’ I laugh. ‘I was planning to do just that. I might even hug a few of you beautiful buggers while I’m at it.’
‘You see, B?’ Dr Oystein says with a justified smile. ‘You cannot be a true loner when you have so many people who love you.’
‘Love?’ I ask, arching an eyebrow at Rage.
Dr Oystein purses his lips. ‘Well, maybe that is not quite the right word.’
‘You don’t have to hammer it home,’ I tell him. ‘I was wrong. I acted like an idiot. I’m sorry. I won’t cut myself off from the rest of you again. I understand how lucky I am to have you guys on my side and I won’t look to go it alone any more. Now, high-fives!’
And, like some overexcited kid after winning a cup final, I go around high-fiving everyone in the room, Dr Oystein, the twins, Carl, Jakob, Ashtat, Shane, even a cynically grinning Rage. And I don’t feel the least bit embarrassed, because I’m not in the company of room-mates, colleagues or allies.
I’m with friends.
To be continued . . .
Darren Shan, Zom-B Gladiator
(Series: Zom-B #
6)
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