The End

  Making a cure.

  Was that even possible? And, if it was, how were they ever going to use it? How were they going to get close enough to the grown-ups to inject them? It made no sense. How much blood would Sam need to give? There were so many of them. He’d be drained dry.

  ‘Eyes right!’

  Paddy had spent ages setting up a fighting arena in a sunken terraced area surrounded by steps you could sit on. He had some stuffed dummies and a sort of assault course thing. Ben and Bernie, the emo engineers, had helped him, but Paddy had made most of it himself. He’d been fired up ever since rumours had got out that there was a grown-up army camped out up in Kilburn. All the talk now was about the London kids needing to build their own army. Paddy wanted to make the Youngbloods into a proper fighting unit, although Blue and Maxie had already made it very clear to Sam that if there was any fighting he would be nowhere near it. He was going to be safely guarded behind the lines.

  There was no harm in learning how to fight, though. In the short time he’d been at the Tower of London he’d done some regular combat practice and had learnt a bit. Not that he could remember much of it now. The training at the Tower had been well organized, and run by kids who really knew what they were doing. This was different.

  The Youngbloods were hopeless.

  The next half-hour was mad – kids running and climbing and shouting, swiping at the dummies and each other with the wooden poles wrapped in rubber tubing that Paddy had given them to use as weapons.

  Bill sat on the steps and played with his lump of Blu-tack, moulding it into all sorts of complicated shapes, his fingers working away too fast to follow, and then just as quickly he’d squash his little models and shape them into something else. Wiki and Jibber-jabber stood off to one side, talking about something in a very serious way. Froggie broke off to play with Bright Eyes. Sam did his best to join in, but the fighting wasn’t really organized and he was small and not very strong and he kept getting whacked. Once on his fingers, which made him cry. He decided he was better at hiding than he was at fighting.

  The Kid really went for it, charging about and yelling and swinging his weapon like he was in some kind of pole display team. Yo-Yo turned out to be pretty good. Twice she let The Kid exhaust himself, waving his pole like a maniac, and then just thumped him with her own pole. And each time The Kid went into a fancy dying routine.

  ‘Aaargh, I am killed! My lifeblood ebbs away. You slay me, daddio. Bury my heart at wounded knee …’

  After they’d been at it for some time, and Sam was thinking of giving up, he heard laughter and looked over to see Jackson and Achilleus watching them.

  ‘You’re gonna really scare them grown-ups, Paddy,’ said Achilleus. ‘They’ll be filling their nappies in fright.’

  Achilleus was holding a pile of gear. Armour and weapons and clothing. Sam knew that he and some other kids had been over to the Victoria and Albert Museum to pick up equipment. Sam spotted an enclosed iron helmet, big and ugly and mean-looking.

  ‘It’s only our first day,’ said Paddy. ‘You wait and see, Akkie. We’re gonna be the best-trained unit here.’

  ‘I’m sure you will, caddie.’ Achilleus walked over and plonked the helmet on Paddy’s head. It was way too big and way too heavy. Sam saw Paddy sort of sag down. It was like someone had put a giant bucket on his shoulders.

  ‘I can’t see anything,’ he said, his voice muffled.

  ‘You look great,’ said Achilleus. ‘A proper warrior.’ He whacked the helmet with his spear and it made a dull clonk.

  Paddy said, ‘Ow,’ and took the helmet off. He studied it, grinning.

  ‘Cool bucket helm,’ he said.

  ‘Actually it’s called a sallet,’ said Wiki, who knew everything. ‘Fifteenth century.’

  They were joined by Ollie and some of his missile team, Lettis tagging along behind, looking sad and far away. She reminded Sam a little of his sister, Ella. Paddy had tried to get her to join his Youngbloods, but she’d refused, and when he’d tried to push it Ollie had told him to get lost.

  Ollie’s guys were carrying stuff as well – bulging bags and bundles of sticks.

  ‘Arrows,’ said Ollie, dropping his bundle to the ground. ‘You lot can do something useful and help us make them. We need as many as possible. I’ll show you how to do it.’

  Wiki and Jibber-jabber hurried over. This was more their thing. Soon half the kids were sitting in a circle as Ollie gave them an arrow-making workshop.

  Paddy tried to give the sallet back to Achilleus.

  ‘You can keep it for now,’ said Achilleus, walking away. ‘I got to go to some boring meeting. Bring it me back later when you’re done.’

  A meeting. They were all getting ready for a big fight. Sam was trying not to think about it. But there was a feeling in the air. People were on edge. Waiting.

  Sam went over and sat next to Lettis, who was with Ollie on the top step. He smiled at her.

  ‘Shall we make some together?’ he said. Lettis turned to him, but said nothing.

  Sam felt a whack across his arm and turned angrily to see that it was The Kid.

  ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Stop your daydream believer, private. Get your head down from the clouds and concentrate on the matter in hand. This is a battle without humour or humanity. The last battle. The apocalypse disco. We’re going down with all hands.’

  Sam laughed and belted The Kid with his pole and soon they were chasing each other around, laughing and yelling, and Sam had forgotten all his worries.

  16

  ‘So that’s why we got you all together.’ Jester looked around at the assembled kids. ‘Why we’re all here. So I could tell you about what Shadowman showed me …’

  Maxie felt out of place here. She’d never realized quite how posh the Houses of Parliament were inside. She’d seen the place on the television, bits of boring debates on the news, MPs shouting at each other about stuff she didn’t really understand. You never really looked at the building when it was on TV, but it was like a palace inside. One of the local kids had told her that’s what the place was actually called – the Palace of Westminster.

  They were in the big chamber where the lords used to meet – the clue was in the name, the House of Lords. There were red benches, a huge golden throne down one end, wood panelling and carved stone everywhere, stained-glass windows, giant paintings and fancy hanging lights. It was like a cross between a cathedral and a throne room.

  And a girl called Nicola was sitting on the throne. When Maxie arrived, Nicola had told her that she was the prime minister, which Maxie had thought was a joke. Apparently it wasn’t, even though Maxie didn’t remember voting for her. Nicola had long red hair and was one of those confident, clever girls who made Maxie feel a bit stupid and useless. She was glad she had Blue with her. Blue didn’t take any bullshit and wasn’t impressed by the set-up.

  Nicola stood up again. She’d been running the meeting, using phoney adult language.

  ‘Thank you, Jester,’ she said. ‘There’s a lot to debate. But, before we do, I’d like to say a few words …’

  Blue leant over and whispered to Maxie. ‘You could take this lot out in a second if you wanted, babe,’ he said. ‘This is all just play-acting.’

  Maxie couldn’t take any of it seriously either – the OTT decoration, the titles everyone gave themselves, the idea that anyone could claim to be prime minister … What she did take seriously was what they were actually talking about.

  An army of grown-ups.

  She didn’t know whether to be scared or excited. The idea was pretty intense. The picture Jester had painted of the army – how many they were, how organized they were – had been way too vivid. But the idea that the kids might actually be able to beat them had given her a tiny shiver of hope.

  Jester had managed to get most of the local London kids to turn up. Or at least a representative from each camp. David was here with some others from the palace. Maxie recognized Pod, who was in charge of pa
lace security; Franny, who looked after the gardens; and Rose, who ran the sick-bay. They sat apart with some of David’s red-blazered boys, his personal guard. Maxie, Blue, Whitney, Jackson and Achilleus had come from the museum, escorting Justin and Einstein. Maxie had tried to persuade Ollie to join them, but he’d explained that little Lettis wasn’t strong enough yet to leave the museum grounds and he couldn’t leave her behind by herself. Will and Finn, two of Ed’s friends from the Tower, had also come along. They were representing the Tower kids, since Ed himself had gone west to look for Ella and nobody had been in a hurry to go all the way out east to the Tower through the badlands to let anyone there know what was happening.

  There was a strong contingent from the Houses of Parliament. They didn’t look much like fighters, but they did look smart and sensible. From what Maxie had picked up they paid Ryan and his guys to do all their dirty work for them. The hunters were here, sitting quietly in a group under the windows. They were clearly more civilized than they looked.

  The only settlement not represented was Just John’s squatter camp. Maxie was glad they hadn’t showed up. They were a grubby, hyper, disruptive bunch, and they had reason to hate Maxie and her friends. Achilleus had beaten Just John in single combat. Smashed him to bits. It would be a long time before John would forgive him for that. John’s squatters were apparently still in a sort of truce with David – which was what the fight had been about – but the thought that John and his chaotic gang would be able to sit still and help make plans was ridiculous.

  Sitting alone, out of the way, was the boy called Shadowman. He was in the darkest, quietest corner and had a hood half covering his face. Maxie sensed that he didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to be seen. She was intrigued by him. Most of Jester’s information about the grown-ups’ army had come from him. He seemed happy, though, to allow Jester to do his talking for him.

  Nicola was still bigging herself up, saying how important it was that they’d come to the Houses of Parliament today, that it was democracy in action, how they would have a fair and open vote on what to do.

  ‘As far as I knew,’ Blue muttered under his breath, ‘we came here because it’s neutral territory. Safe. Ain’t no chance that Nicola and her wimps are gonna suddenly pull some crazy stunt, assassinate all the other leaders and take over.’

  There had been a lot of discussion about this. About where to meet. David had of course wanted everyone to come to the palace. Nobody else had thought that was a good idea. Justin, on the other hand, hadn’t wanted anyone to come to the museum. He didn’t like the idea of outsiders being there, didn’t want the risk of things going wrong. So that left this place. The soft option. The safe option.

  Parliament.

  ‘So I assume we all want the same thing,’ Nicola was saying.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Blue quietly. ‘World peace and free Wi-Fi.’

  ‘Stop it,’ Maxie whispered, trying not to giggle. ‘This is serious.’

  And this was serious. The fact that everyone had come here today was proof of that.

  ‘So we need to work out a plan of what to do if the oppoes attack,’ said Nicola.

  ‘Objection, Your Honour.’ Achilleus was slouched in his seat and had his hand up.

  ‘You don’t have to call me Your Honour,’ said Nicola patiently. ‘But can you please not interrupt until I’ve finished speaking?’

  ‘Nah,’ said Achilleus. ‘That don’t work for me. I’ll say what I want when I want to, Your Honour, all right?’

  ‘All right, yes, go on then.’

  ‘First thing we gotta do is work out what to call the enemy. It’s confusing the crap out of me. I only just worked out what you meant by oppoes. Didn’t have a clue before. It’s grown-ups, yeah? That’s what you call them? Oppoes.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Nicola. ‘Oppoes, short for the opposition.’

  ‘Yeah, OK, I don’t need the Wikipedia entry. And it’s a stupid name anyway. Thing is, you call them oppoes, David’s mob call them strangers, Ryan and his crew just call them bastards – which I personally like, at the museum they call them sickos, and us lot from Holloway just call them plain and simple grown-ups. Can we decide what we call them, and all stick to it, yeah? Gonna make it a whole lot easier when the battle commands start flying. So I’m not, like, “Attack the oppoes? Which one’s an oppo again?”’

  ‘Can’t we stick to the important stuff?’ asked Justin, who didn’t like Achilleus one bit.

  ‘This is important,’ said Nicola and Achilleus raised an eyebrow in appreciation. ‘I think it’s a good idea. It’s the first step towards us all working together and it shows unity and will avoid confusion in the future.’

  Now Finn stuck his hand up.

  ‘We call them sickos at the Tower too. Can we just go with that?’

  ‘I prefer bastards,’ said Achilleus, and he laughed.

  ‘We’ll take a vote,’ said Nicola. And so they did.

  One vote per unit. Maxie and Blue overruled Achilleus and chose sickos, which, with the Tower boys’ and Justin’s vote, made three, and that swung it. Not surprisingly, all the others voted for their name and not surprisingly David moaned and grumbled when the vote went against him, but sickos it was.

  With that out of the way, Nicola carried on.

  ‘OK,’ she said. ‘Next we need to decide exactly what we do when the sickos arrive.’

  ‘It’s obvious, isn’t it?’ said Ryan. ‘We fight them. We hit them hard. What we need is a battle plan.’

  ‘What we need is an army,’ said David, standing up and raising his voice. ‘A properly organized army with a strong leader. Someone who knows how to take charge and give orders.’

  ‘And who might that be?’ said Achilleus. ‘No, let me guess … it’s you, isn’t it!’

  ‘Yes,’ said David. ‘And what’s wrong with that? Who would you rather took control? Nicola? Justin? Ryan maybe?’

  ‘Prefer Ryan to you, to be honest.’

  ‘No way,’ said Ryan. ‘I ain’t no general. I can look after my lot, but I don’t want to take on running the whole show.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said David. ‘So it should be me.’

  Maxie didn’t know what to think, seeing David again. They’d walked out on him after turning down his offer to stay at the palace. He’d been relying on them to improve his fighting force. They’d had other plans.

  So far he’d been aggressively ignoring them. Refusing even to look at her and Blue. He had that awful snooty look about him that made you want to slap him round the face. Blue had already hissed nearly every insult he could think of to Maxie. Now he added a couple more.

  David couldn’t ignore Achilleus now, however. Achilleus was on his case.

  ‘Might as well be Justin in charge as you,’ he said.

  ‘Justin?’ David scoffed. ‘You’re joking. What does Justin know about military tactics and leading troops into battle?’

  ‘Is my point exactly,’ said Achilleus. ‘You two is pretty similar, to be frank. Neither of you is my idea of a general. If I was going to vote out of anyone here I’d vote for Blue. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got experience out on the streets. He’s a hard man, not a talker.’

  ‘David is the most natural leader here,’ said Jester. ‘He’s used to giving orders, and he already has a well-disciplined fighting unit in the personal guard.’

  ‘He’s also a dick,’ said Achilleus to a scattering of laughter. Maxie saw that even Nicola was trying to hide a smile. ‘You need a general everybody’s gonna respect and listen to or your great army is just gonna fall apart and do their own thing.’

  ‘Can I say something?’ This time it was Will who had put his hand up.

  ‘Go on,’ said Nicola.

  ‘If you want a general we have a general. No disrespect to Blue, but the guy that runs the Tower, Jordan Hordern, knows more about battles and military tactics and giving orders and organizing an army than anyone else in London.’

  ‘Yes, well, he’s at the Tower, tho
ugh, isn’t he?’ said David as if he was talking to an idiot.

  ‘Doesn’t have to be,’ said Will patiently. He wasn’t going to get flustered by David. What Maxie had seen of Will she liked. He was smart and a good listener. ‘Surely we need all the kids we can get?’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Nicola.

  ‘And maybe …’ Will went on. ‘It would mean you lot here wouldn’t argue among yourselves so much. Jordan’s someone from outside. Someone neutral. Me and Finn, we could maybe go to the Tower and fetch him, bring back a really strong fighting force. Well armed, well disciplined. A proper army.’

  ‘That sounds like a great idea,’ said Nicola.

  ‘Not to me it doesn’t,’ said David. ‘This is what you’ve been planning at the Tower from the start, isn’t it?’

  ‘What d’you mean?’ said Will. ‘I’m not with you.’

  ‘That’s always been your idea,’ said David. ‘I knew it. First that boy DogNut came to spy on us, and now you’re here, all innocent – “Oh, we can bring Jordan, he’ll help you.” We’re not stupid. We know you’ve been trying to take over here from the start.’

  Will was laughing. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Come off it. If Jordan had wanted to take over here he could have marched in any time he wanted. He doesn’t have to be invited. He could just walk right over the lot of you.’

  ‘No,’ said David, going slightly red in the face. ‘We don’t need any outsiders here …’

  ‘We do,’ said Blue. He didn’t put his hand up. Didn’t need to. People listened to him. ‘Will’s right. We need as many kids who know how to fight as possible. I mean, how many soldiers we got between us? A hundred and fifty? Sixty maybe? I don’t mind some other kid coming and taking charge if he’s better than me. Makes sense.’ He looked round at Will. ‘How many can he bring?’