‘Shit.’ I gawped, overwhelmed.
Tobe said nothing, still tense and wary. But he seemed unimpressed by the monstrous camp, as if he had seen it all before.
‘Wow.’ Ruby once again drew the word out. Her face lost its guarded edge as she drank in the seething mess of humanity at its worst and most desperate.
I looked away as a mob of Creeps strode towards us. A short, balding, book-ish type wearing a full parade jacket led them. Sweat beaded on his brow. He squinted behind thick-lensed glasses.
‘Captain, you’re late,’ he said with a nasal whine.
‘Commander O’Neil, I’m so very sorry,’ she said with undisguised sarcasm.
Despite the fact that she was taller than him, the commander tried hard to stare her down. The loathing in his eyes was as clear as the scowl on his face. The captain towered over him, unsmiling and underwhelmed.
‘Fucking toff,’ she muttered, loud enough for the commander to hear.
He chose to ignore her insult. ‘Right then, captain,’ he said, emphasising the ‘captain’, futilely trying to puff out his chest. ‘What do we have here?’
The captain passed him our transfer papers. He didn’t look over them. He didn’t even look at us.
‘Is that all?’
‘One of our boys has been injured. Doc Ish treated him as best he could, but we’ll need to leave him with you—we got word on the way here that they need us back in town.’
The commander crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Need I remind you that I have the authority in this camp? That means I make the decisions, especially in regard to who gets medical attention first.’
‘Good luck convincing anyone that these bastards should be seen to before one of our own.’
A few of the Creeps accompanying the commander smiled sourly.
‘So be it. Captain, if some of your troops could lend a hand unloading the salvage…’
The captain nodded at the nuggetty Creep who had been guarding us, and he walked away without a word.
‘…while I have my men escort the prisoners to be processed. Then I believe we can call it a day.’
‘About time,’ she muttered.
He bristled but didn’t do anything to right the slight.
‘Have fun,’ she yelled over her shoulder as she walked away.
The commander frowned before giving up on her. He looked us over, smiling an oily smile.
‘As you are no doubt aware, I am Commander O’Neil, senior officer of this camp. If you’ll follow me…’
He spun on his heel, started a brisk walk toward the cyclone fence, a pair of Creeps accompanying him. The remaining Creeps shuffled around behind us, gesturing at us to get a wriggle on. Almost running on autopilot, I shambled after the commander.
Tobe and Ruby followed. None of us spoke.
Up close, I saw that the fence was dotted with gates. The commander stopped at one and unlocked it. He and his escort strode through; we continued after them, the remaining Creeps forcing us forward. I stepped through the gate, stopping in front of a second cyclone fence that ran parallel to the first. The commander and his escort hurried through a gate in this second fence, locking it behind them. The remaining Creeps stayed on the far side of the first fence.
They locked their gate, too. Tobe, Ruby and I turned as one, unexpectedly trapped.
‘Bullshit,’ I said.
‘No bullshit,’ the commander answered.
Tobe looked bored, his arms folded over his chest. Ruby eyed the wire corridor that hemmed us in.
‘Bastards,’ she said in a voice so quiet that it almost disappeared on the wind.
‘I love a captive audience,’ the commander said. ‘Now, before the three of you set foot in the camp, there are a few things we must attend to. First, you’ll need to offload your belongings. Please don’t try and slip anything past us—you’ll also be frisked once you’re through.’
He followed the fence for a few metres, stopping at a hole that had been cut into it. It was about a foot square, running up off the ground, its edges burred. A shallow metal tray sat on the ground on the commander’s side of the hole. He pulled out a strange high-tech pistol and pointed it at us.
‘We’ll start with your packs. We can’t have you smuggling in anything untoward, can we?’
Tobe didn’t move. The commander pushed the tray through the hole in the fence. He cocked his gun, his hands shaking slightly. Tobe hauled the packs over, looking the commander in the eye. Blank indifference filled the commander’s face.
‘Now, please.’
He waved his gun in a way that suggested he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. Tobe dumped my pack in the tray. The commander bent down, hauled the tray back, quickly rummaged through the pack, then shoved it aside. He once again pushed the tray through the hole. Tobe nonchalantly lowered his pack into it.
The commander broke Tobe’s stare and dragged the tray back, wrenching the pack open.
‘Well, you are a beauty,’ he said, his eyes lighting up.
EIGHTEEN
The commander slowly drew my sister’s wedding dress from Tobe’s pack. Gently, so as not to snag or tear it, he pulled it free and held it high, appraising it with a practised eye. He spun it around, smiling a greedy smile.
Tobe took a step forward.
One of the Creeps behind us cocked a gun. Ruby and I watched, transfixed, as Tobe took another step forward.
‘Be careful, boy.’
Tobe finally stopped. The commander folded the dress over his arm, passed it to one of the Creeps flanking him.
‘It’s been a long time since anything this beautiful has graced us—thank you for the gift. It’ll fetch a pretty penny, next time I’m up north.’
Tobe threw himself at the fence, reached through a gap in the wire and caught the commander by one of the absurd epaulettes on his shoulder. He did this without making a sound. It happened almost too fast to see.
‘Shoot!’ the commander screamed.
I heard the Creeps behind us shuffle around. The two that had accompanied the commander drew their guns, but there was no clear line of sight.
‘Shoot!’
The epaulette tore; the commander fell back. Tobe kept reaching, thrashing, clutching. He still hadn’t made a sound.
‘It seems that you need a lesson,’ the commander said.
He got back to his feet, keeping well out of Tobe’s reach. He pulled his gun from its holster. Ruby and I took an involuntary step forward. The Creeps escorting the commander raised their guns, forcing us back, forcing us once again to just watch helplessly.
‘It seems that you have a problem with authority,’ the commander said, taking aim.
Tobe didn’t answer. Smiling cheerfully, the commander pulled the trigger.
‘Tobe!’ Ruby screamed.
Instead of the crash of a gunshot and a red bloom of blood, I heard a sharp whistle as a metal dart trailing a long drooping wire embedded itself in Tobe’s chest.
‘Bang!’ the commander said with a laugh.
The dart sparked. Tobe started to spasm. He bit his lip; blood dribbled down his chin. Limbs jerking uncontrollably, he fell on his back, banged his head and seemed to knock himself out. He kept convulsing.
‘Stop!’ Ruby yelled, running to him.
The dart was still alive with electric fire. Acting on instinct, I dropped my stick and scooped Ruby up, pulling her back.
‘It’s not safe…’
She fought against me. As wounded as I was, there was still no way I would let her get the better of me.
‘Stop!’ she yelled again, her voice thick and blubbery.
Tobe kept convulsing. His eyes rolled back in his head; he started to drool. I wanted to throw myself in the way, to take Tobe’s place—seeing my best mate in such a state was killing me. But the commander was a rock and the world was a hard place and I was stuck between them.