Days Like This Page 15

  ‘First things first,’ Rosemary said, leading Lily back out into the cavern. ‘Let’s get you changed and then we’ll see if we can find Peter to talk about the plan for tomorrow.’

  ‘Rosemary, I’m definitely going,’ Lily said. Rosemary merely nodded.

  Following Rosemary, Lily wondered how she was ever going to find her own way around the network of passageways and whether she’d ever fit in here.

  People passing them smiled at Rosemary, some of them stopping to exchange a few words. A few people nodded at Lily, most simply stared then looked away.

  ‘Don’t worry. You’ll meet them all eventually,’ Rosemary said. ‘We’ll just take it slowly.’ She looked at Lily meaningfully.

  Lily knew she was going to have to get used to having people all around her; she wanted to get used to it. She’d dreamed about it often enough in her silent house with her silent parents.

  Rosemary led her down a passageway to a small room filled with shelves of neatly folded clothes. Shoes in various sizes, designs and conditions lined the walls.

  ‘We’ve salvaged all of this from abandoned houses inside and outside the Wall. We’re never short of clothing, but it’s always sad going through the houses and taking things, thinking what might have become of people,’ Rosemary explained.

  ‘It’s good that you’re putting the clothes to use, though,’ Lily said, picking out jeans, shorts and a couple of T-shirts, plus some socks and sneakers. She also helped herself to a hoodie, a hat and some underwear. She kind of liked that these clothes were second-hand.

  ‘You’re quick,’ Rosemary said. ‘Change out of those clothes. Once you’ve washed them, there’s a place outside where we can leave them to dry. it’s secluded, but we don’t want to take unnecessary risks that might give away our location so there’s always someone rostered on to keep a lookout. If there’s a problem, they hide the clothes.’

  ‘I thought I’d find you here,’ said a boy’s voice from behind them. ‘If you’re talking about the drying place, I can show you where it is.’

  Lily’s heart jumped a little. Luca stood in the doorway. His hair was still wet and he was buttoning his shirt.

  ‘Oh, hello, Luca,’ Rosemary said. Lily thought she detected a hint of coldness in Rosemary’s tone.

  ‘You’ve met?’ Rosemary said to Lily, surprised.

  ‘Yup, in the water area,’ Luca said.

  ‘Mm.’

  Again, that hint of coolness.

  ‘What’s wrong, Rosemary?’ Lily was sick of not understanding things.

  Rosemary sighed. ‘Lily’s been through a lot, Luca. She’s not used to … well … I’ve seen what’s happened before with some of the new girls. I’m asking you to be sensitive to Lily’s needs.’

  Lily should have kept her mouth shut. She was blushing so hard she could almost scald someone.

  Luca kissed Rosemary quickly on the cheek. ‘Don’t worry so much, Rosie,’ he said.

  But Rosemary wasn’t to be charmed. She took a step back from Luca. ‘If I worry it’s because I’m concerned and because I think I have good reason to be.’

  Luca just shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

  ‘I’m going to get changed and wash these clothes,’ Lily said, embarrassed. She turned too quickly, spilling clothes off the top of her pile. Flushing, she grabbed them off the floor.

  ‘Luca will show you what you need to see,’ Rosemary said softly.

  ‘I’ll wait for you by the washing pool,’ Luca said.

  Lily changed quickly. The new clothes fitted well and the sneakers didn’t rub her feet as she hurried to the water area.

  After washing her clothes, she and Luca made their way towards the cave entrance.

  As they re-entered the main cavern, a stream of people swept them up. Overcome, Lily clutched her wet clothes against her chest. It was like being caught in a tangle of undergrowth.

  The cavern swelled with voices. ‘It’s raining,’ people called out.

  Luca took Lily’s arm and his fingers felt hot against her skin. The wave of people carried them outside. There was a strong smell of herbs as they brushed through the hedge curling around the opening. People had spread along the gully, faces turned up, laughing.

  Lily was struck by the fact that even with the water supply from underground, people still appreciated rain. She remembered looking forward to the water moon, listening to the patter of drops on the roof and watching the fluid streamers of water through her little gap in the bathroom window. She had tried to fool herself that it was as good as natural rain. Now she was actually experiencing the real thing.

  Lily let the water wash over her. It slanted across the sky, driven by the stormy wind. The heat that had struck her when they’d first left the cool of the cave had dissolved as if nature had added cold water to a steaming pot.

  Logs and rocks had been laid across the natural waterway that ran along the gully. Cut vegetation had been arranged across the ground that rose up the steep inclines. The storm water swelled and spread out, diverting into small holding areas. The water was gently rising, rather than flooding.

  ‘The logs and rocks slow down the storm water and stop the flash floods from washing away the soil,’ Luca said, leaning close to Lily and speaking loudly to make himself heard over the noise of the rain.

  His breath on her neck made Lily shiver.

  ‘We’re slowly building up the topsoil,’ Luca continued, ‘so that one day we’ll be able to grow food and run stock. Hopefully by that time we’ll be able to live here openly, without threat from the Committee and their yes-men.’

  Lily nodded dubiously. It was hard to imagine a time like that would ever come.

  Then, as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped. The clouds thinned out and steam began to rise from the earth. People trickled back to the cavern to escape the rising heat, but Luca led Lily against the flow.

  The drying place was tucked beneath the lip of the gully. It was a small, perfectly formed natural sandstone amphitheatre that faced west, bearing the full brunt of the sun. Scrubby bushes lined the periphery.

  A girl was busy laying out washing over the bushes. She wore a hat and long sleeves, despite the heat.

  Better than getting burnt, Lily thought.

  ‘Hi, Luca,’ the girl said cheerfully. ‘There wasn’t much laundry, so I managed to get it all in before the rain came.’

  Lily looked towards a small cave at the base of the amphitheatre. it’s opening was narrow, but it was deep and wide enough for someone to crawl in. Some pushed-aside rocks showed Lily that the shallow space was easily hidden.

  ‘Throw your stuff over one of the rocks or bushes,’ the girl said, smiling at Lily. ‘I’m Hatty and you must be Lily. I can see Luca’s taking care of you.’ She grinned and Luca gave her a playful shove.

  ‘If you want to take a break, Lily and I are happy to keep watch,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, I’m sure you are,’ Hatty said with a smile. ‘My shift is almost over anyway. Um, have fun.’ With another grin, Hatty disappeared.

  Lily looked at Luca. As well as being cute, he seemed strong and capable.

  ‘Are you joining the rescue group that’s going back over the Wall tomorrow?’ Lily asked him, beginning to drape her wet clothes over the bushes.

  Luca shrugged. ‘I’m not sure yet. I haven’t decided.’

  ‘Well, I am,’ Lily said quickly. ‘I need to find my brother and sister. I reckon the more people who go the better.’

  ‘There aren’t that many people who want to go. A lot of people here think we shouldn’t be making trouble,’ Luca said.

  Lily looked at him sharply. ‘Is that what you think, too?’ She hoped he wasn’t the kind of person who would turn his back on people like Daniel and Alice.

  ‘No, it’s not,’ Luca said brusquely. ‘You have to go back. You have no choice. If you didn’t, you’d never forgive yourself.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘When
they got me out, I was so relieved that I didn’t want to go back. I listened to the people who said I should forget about the past. But it didn’t feel right so eventually I did return to look for my sister, but it was too late,’ he said.

  ‘Did you find her?’ Lily asked.

  He shrugged, frowning. Clearly, he didn’t want to say any more.

  They’d spread out all the washing again and now they sat in the shade of a sandstone outcrop. Sweat trickled down the inside of Lily’s shirt. The temperature fluctuations were extreme: the cool of the cavern, the swell of hot air near the entrance, the blast of incredible heat as you stepped outside, the sudden, dramatic cooling that came with the rain and then the way the air thickened when the rain stopped.

  Luca was sitting so close to Lily that his arm pressed against hers. She could feel the individual hairs on his arm, the heat coming off him. Lily could barely breathe. She’d never been so aware of a persons body.

  Luca half turned towards her, pushing aside a damp strand of her hair. It took courage to look at him. His eyes were hazel with green specks, mottled and striking.

  He kissed her directly on the mouth, his heat draining down into her. Lily thought of Rosemary’s attitude towards Luca and she hesitated, but only briefly. She tipped her head back, eager for more, and didn’t resist his hands on her body. She’d never felt anything so good.

  ‘Luca!’ Sal stood at the edge of the clearing, her face furious. ‘I’ve been looking for you. What are you doing with her?’

  Luca pulled away, taking his hands off Lily’s body. Lily couldn’t help the tears of disappointment that came to her eyes.

  ‘What are you blubbing about?’ Sal said, her height somehow giving her more authority.

  ‘Mind your own business,’ Lily spat at her.

  Luca jumped up, leaving Lily sitting there, hot and dishevelled. ‘Gotta get back,’ he said. ‘It’s almost time for the next shift anyway.’

  He didn’t hold out his hand to help Lily up, just grabbed all the dried clothes except Lily’s and walked off. With a triumphant smirk, Sal followed. Lily glared after them, furious tears spilling down her cheeks.

  How could he be so into her one minute and just walk away the next? Was this what Rosemary had been talking about? Lily scrubbed angrily at her eyes, furious at herself for being such a sucker. She was annoyed too that she’d let her guard down in front of Sal.

  Even in the shade, the sun burned. Lily’s muscles were suddenly seizing up, as if all the effort of the past few days had pooled inside them. She squinted against the glare. Her tears were gone. She was determined they’d stay gone, especially in front of anyone else, but they’d left her feeling desolate.

  The cool of the cavern as she entered was welcome. Lily kept her head down, reluctant to talk to anyone.

  She found Rosemary still sewing. There was a neat pile of completed things beside her.

  ‘Did Luca show you what you wanted to see?’ Rosemary asked.

  ‘Yes.’ Lily tossed down her pile of clothes.

  Rosemary paused, her hands resting in her lap, and frowned slightly. Lily turned away and flopped down on the other bed. There was an awkward silence before Rosemary spoke. ‘So you just experienced your first proper rain outside the walls, huh?’ she said.

  ‘Yes.’

  Rosemary picked up her sewing and continued in silence.

  ‘Why is Luca touchy about his sister?’ Lily asked eventually.

  Rosemary looked up sharply. ‘He talked about her?’

  ‘Yes. He told me I should go back for my sister and brother, and that I shouldn’t let anyone talk me out of it,’ Lily said.

  ‘I’m not sure if I should say anything,’ Rosemary said. ‘Luca should probably tell you himself.’

  ‘Maybe, but he wouldn’t speak about her. He seemed … upset.’

  Rosemary carefully threaded the needle through the cloth and put down the garment she was mending. ‘I probably shouldn’t, but I’m going to tell you because it might help you understand his unpredictability.’ Rosemary gave Lily a knowing look. ‘I think he’s… a bit like he is because of it.’

  ‘Like what?’ Now they were getting somewhere. Lily clasped her hands to suppress her impatience.

  ‘Is everything all right, Lily? Something happened with him, didn’t it? I knew it,’ Rosemary said.

  ‘Tell me about Luca’s sister,’ Lily said, ignoring Rosemary’s questions.

  Rosemary sighed. ‘When Luca eventually did go back over the Wall to find his sister, and it wasn’t that long after he’d arrived here about two years ago, he went straight to his parents’ old house, with no problems. They forced the door to get inside.’ Rosemary shook her head and began to smooth her skirt. Lily waited.

  ‘There was something horrible …’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Luca ran upstairs. The door to his sister’s bedroom was open so he saw her as soon as he got to the top step. She was hanging … Oh, Lily, she was dead. She’d been dead for quite a while.

  ‘There was no one else in the house so Luca never knew whether she’d hanged herself and his parents had just left her there, or if they’d abandoned her and she’d done it because she was all alone. He’ll never know what happened, but he blames himself. And he blames the people here who talked him out of going back earlier.’

  ‘That’s awful. Poor Luca,’ Lily said.

  ‘Yes. Who knows why the parents left her. Maybe she was unsuitable for both draining and breeding – it sometimes happens, though not often. Or the parents might have been in trouble with the Committee and didn’t abandon her willingly. We’ll never know. He’ll never know.’

  Rosemary’s voice trembled. ‘I hate talking about it. You have to remember that Luca’s parents weren’t in their right minds. They shouldn’t be blamed, not completely.’

  Suddenly the little scene with Luca and Sal didn’t seem so important.

  ‘To be honest, Lily, Luca’s been a little … well, a little unstable ever since. He finds it hard to make connections or at least to keep them. Please take care. I think he’s got a good heart, but there’s something, a streak of recklessness, for want of a better word,’ Rosemary said. ‘If he can’t forgive himself, he can’t forgive anyone else and sometimes it seems like he’s just looking for someone to take it out on.’

  ‘What’s with him and Sal?’ Lily asked.

  Rosemary looked away. ‘They have a history of sorts.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ But Rosemary shook her head. ‘I’ve said enough already.’

  Lily wanted to push the point, but was interrupted by the sound of a commotion coming from the main cavern. Rosemary sprang up. ‘Come on,’ she said, and ran from the room.

  Lily, heart pounding, tried to keep up. Were there intruders? People were streaming into the main cavern.

  Someone was pinning a girl’s arms behind her back. The girl was screaming and lashing out with her feet, wrenching her shoulders around to try to break free.

  ‘Give it back. You can’t. You have no right. I’ll die. Oh, please, please,’ the girl pleaded.

  Rosemary forced her way through the crowd. She was surprisingly strong and nimble. ‘Quiet now,’ she said to the girl.

  The girl stopped struggling and focussed on Rosemary.

  ‘Please,’ the girl said, her eyes wild and intense. ‘Make them understand. They can’t take it away from me. I’ll die.’ Her expression was so desperate that Lily had the urge to help her.

  ‘Who is she?’ Rosemary asked the man who was holding the girl’s arms.

  ‘Her name’s Chrissie. Merrick brought her in yesterday. She’s a spy.’ He spat out the word.

  ‘I’m not, I’m not,’ the girl screamed, struggling again. She turned around and tried to bite the man, who just pinned her arms more tightly.

  ‘Bitch,’ he muttered. ‘What’s that then?’ He jerked his chin towards a woman standing beside him who held up a small divided bottle containing a gold-coloured liquid and some bl
ack tablets. There was a collective intake of breath from the crowd and a perceptible shrinking away from the girl.

  ‘Were you carrying that?’ Rosemary’s voice was calm, but she was obviously angry. Lily recognised the tablets and the liquid was a paler version of the yellowish fluid they drained out of people at the facility.

  Chrissie dropped her head, saying nothing. She was beautiful, but there was also something unnatural about her. Lily saw faint lines on her forehead and beside her mouth. And the back of her hands looked just a little mottled. But she had glossy, auburn hair, bright eyes and dewy skin. Her figure was girlish – trim with no hint of sagging skin or excess weight.

  ‘If you were escaping, why are you still carrying that?’ Rosemary stepped closer to the girl. Was she also examining her more carefully? Again, Chrissie refused to speak, the tendons straining in her neck.

  ‘What’s going on?’ It was Merrick, with Sal close behind him, shouldering through the crowd.

  ‘What’s she done?’ he said. ‘We brought her in yesterday.’ He sounded indignant.

  ‘She had these on her. She’s a spy,’ the woman holding the bottle said.

  ‘Oh, shit,’ Merrick said.

  Lily pulled at Rosemary’s shirt. ‘Is that serum?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, it’s the substance derived from what they would have been draining out of your pituitary, Lily. No one here would dream of taking it. What are you doing here?’ Rosemary asked the girl again.

  ‘They put me over the Wall!’ the girl wailed, looking scared and resentful.

  ‘You’re not making any sense,’ Rosemary said. ‘Why would you have brought serum with you, and those drugs? You won’t need them here.’ Rosemary held out her hand to take them. ‘Unless you were planning to go back?’

  Chrissie didn’t answer. Her eyes were fixed on the serum bottle.

  ‘Get rid of it,’ Rosemary told the woman holding the serum.

  ‘No! You know what’ll happen if I don’t have the serum,’ Chrissie said, sagging to her knees. The man let her fall, though he kept a firm grip on her arm.

  ‘We found her outside the Wall,’ Merrick said, angrily. ‘We brought her in. She told us her parents had put her out because she was genetically unsuitable for draining or breeding. She said they’d taken pity on her at the last minute and taken off the bracelet before abandoning her. But that sounds like a pile of steaming bullshit if she’s carrying that stuff.’ He gestured in disgust.