Staring at the grubby floor, Josh didn’t reply.
“Okay?”
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Josh finally nodded. “Okay, Archie.” Speaking more quietly, he added, “Sorry.”
Walking over to the window, Josh glanced out at the moonlit street. “It’s strange to see Oxford Street without any lights, don’t you think?”
Frowning as he continued to look around, Archie didn’t reply. Instead, he walked over to the middle of the shop.
Following his brother, Josh asked, “Do you think Mum and Dad will be there?”
“Where?”
“Nana’s. Do you think Mum and Dad will be at Nana’s?”
Looking at his brother for a second, his frown softening, Archie shrugged. “Who knows?”
“What will we do if they’re not?”
“We’ll think of something else. Everything’s changing, and we have to learn to adapt if we’re going to stay alive.”
Josh’s reply caught in his throat when he heard footsteps downstairs—a lot of footsteps.
Archie’s eyes were wide as he looked at the broken escalator. He’d heard them too.
When Josh heard the sound of men’s voices, he started to shake. There were other voices, but they sounded younger, a similar age to Josh.
The heavy footsteps clattered on the metal stairs, and Josh jumped when Archie hooked his arm around him. They both stared. Waiting. There was nowhere to run.
When the first of the gang reached the top, Josh saw that he was no older than about seventeen. When the rest of the gang appeared, filthy and dressed like savages, Josh guessed that he was the leader because of his age. He was clearly the oldest in the group of about twenty boys.
When he saw them, the older boy stopped dead and put his arm out to prevent the others from passing him. “Who the fuck are you?”
“We’re—”
“It doesn’t matter who we are,” Archie said, pushing Josh behind him.
Looking at his gang, the leader laughed and turned back to the pair. “Of course it fucking matters. You’re in my shop, you mugs.”
With a pounding heart, Josh watched his brother clench his fists again. If it came to it, Archie would smash the shit out of this boy. Archie was one of the strongest people he knew, but could he take on all of them?
“This ain’t your shop. You don’t own it.”
The boy shook his head and laughed again. “First night out on the streets, is it? What happened? Your parents were taken away from you? Raped? Killed?”
Looking up at his brother, Josh teared up. “What are they talking about, Archie?”
Putting his hand on Josh’s shoulder, Archie looked back at the boy. “No. None of that happened.”
“Then why are you out on the streets on your own? Where are your parents?”
“They went out. For food…” Josh’s stomach lurched when he heard the resignation in his brother’s voice, “three days ago.”
Grabbing a boy next to him, who was no older than seven, the gang leader shoved him forwards. “This is Reece. What happened to your parents, Reece?”
Dropping his eyes to the floor, Reece replied, “They went out for food.”
“Tell them how long you waited for them to come back.”
“Ten days.”
Sighing, the leader pointed at Reece. “We found this poor cunt starved half to death. He was picking through bins for food.” Turning to his gang, he added, “Raise your hands if your parents went out and didn’t come back.”
The air left Josh’s lungs as half the group raised their hands. Sad and hollow stares levelled at him.
“Keep your hands up if you think your parents are still alive.”
All of the hands went down.
Wearing a sneer, the leader laughed. “Your parents are dead, boy. Or worse! The sooner you face it, the sooner you can focus on learning how to survive in this new world. It’s shit out there, and you need to get streetwise pretty fucking quick. I don’t mind you staying here just for tonight—we have fuck all worth stealing—but I want you gone tomorrow. Understand?”
Archie nodded.
“Oh, and be careful of the Tooth Fairy.”
“The Tooth Fairy?” The words had left Josh’s mouth before he’d thought about it, and Archie shot him a dark glare.
The boy laughed and shook his head. Brushing his shaggy hair away from his eyes, he looked from one of the brothers to the other. “Oh dear, you have a lot to learn.” Twisting so he could address his gang, the moonlight lighting up just half of his face, the boy said, “The Tooth Fairy’s mental, ain’t he, boys?”
A lot of the gang nodded and grunted noises of agreement.
“He walks this street at night, and he gets you when you’re sleeping. He slips into your nightmares and makes sure you never wake up.” Lowering his voice, making Josh lean forwards to hear better, the boy continued, “If you listen hard enough, you can hear the jingle jangle of his pockets.” Pushing his finger to his lips, he added, “Shhh. Listen.”
The faintest sound of jangling came from outside, and the grin on the leader’s face fell to the floor. “Oh fuck.” He turned to his gang and whispered, “He’s here.”
The gang went into a near silent frenzy, all of them scattering across the shop floor with the light pattering of shoes against tiles. They all positioned themselves to watch from the windows. All of them hidden in the shadows.
Shaking his head, Archie laughed. “They’re just trying to scare you, Josh.” Despite his confidence, he still walked quietly to the last available window.
Josh followed, the grit on the floor crunching beneath his feet. If they were trying to scare him, they were doing a pretty good job.
In the doorway of an abandoned shop was a tramp covered in rags and blankets. He was huddled in the corner for warmth, and he was surrounded by empty beer cans.
Pulling his brother in tight, Archie leaned in so close that Josh could smell his stale breath as he whispered, “See? There’s only a tramp out there. It must have been his beer cans rattling in the wind.”
The jangling continued, but everything surrounding the tramp was still. The sound wasn’t one of aluminium on concrete; it sounded more like broken crockery in a bag.
When Josh looked up the street and saw a man walking down the pavement, he grabbed his brother’s arm. The slim figure had something hanging from his hand, and it looked like a hammer. He was heading straight for the tramp. “What’s he going to do, Arch?”
Archie put his finger to his lips.
When the walking man got closer, it was easier to see him clearly. He was wearing a trench coat that looked damp, and Josh imagined it stinking of mould. Poking out of the bottom of his trench coat were dark trousers and shoes. It was impossible to see his face for shadow, and just when it looked like the moon would reveal it, it fell into shadow again. The only thing Josh saw was his stubbly neck.
The man stopped next to the tramp, and the jangling stopped too.
Moving closer to his brother, Josh could feel that he was shaking too.
When the man lifted his weapon, the moonlight confirmed it was a hammer. In a blink, he brought it down. Crunch! The tramp didn’t have time to scream.
Hunched over the tramp, the Tooth Fairy threw several more wet thuds into the pile of clothes in the doorway before standing back and panting.
To get a better view, Josh stood up and moved closer to the window.
The Tooth Fairy then pulled something from his trench coat pocket.
Pushing the tramp’s damp rags aside revealed a dark, glistening mass of hair. The Tooth Fairy leant in, and shoving the thing he’d pulled from his pocket into the man’s face, he twisted. After two tugs and a wet pop, the Tooth Fairy stepped away.
Putting the pliers back in his pocket, he held the tooth up to the moon. It seemed like he was watching it for an age before he shifted his gaze. His glare landed on Josh.