Tainted Read online

CHAPTER NINE

  I’m running late and I can only blame myself.

  After I left the apple tree I was distracted. My thoughts were so tangled, obsessing over the mystery that is Ryan, I nearly ran into several farmers. It was only through sheer luck I managed to avoid them. I ended up having to hide in a pumpkin patch while they stood there having a good old chat. They’d just arrived for the day and were attempting to delay starting work, so it felt like they talked there forever.

  I spent the entirety of my time hiding fuming at myself. If I had been concentrating I would have heard them a mile away and chosen a different path.

  Eventually they moved on and I continued my race to get to school on time. The hallways were crazy busy. It was that time of day when it seemed like everyone in the ARC had somewhere to be. The Atrium alone took me five minutes to get through.

  When I finally make it to the school lobby, I’m puffing like I’ve just played a full game of basketball. Luckily, the large bright room still has students milling around in it, so I’ve made it in time.

  ‘Elle!’ I hear my name called. ‘Over here!’

  Sebastian waves at me from the far side of the room. I frown and approach him very cautiously. He seems to be acting like last night didn’t happen and this has me feeling very tense.

  He’s standing out the front of the English classroom chatting animatedly to some girl who I only vaguely recognise. I think she’s in his year, but I’ve never spoken to her. Well, whoever she is, she seems to be engrossed in whatever he is telling her.

  As I approach I hear him say, ‘Well I guess I’ll catch you later Chelsea.’ Her shoulders slouch with disappointment as she is effectively dismissed. Sebastian turns to me, remorse evident on his face.

  ‘Elle…’ he begins, apologetically.

  ‘What do you want Sebastian?’ I dig my hands into my pockets and rock on the backs of my shoes.

  ‘I’m sorry. I was out of line last night.’ I watch him quietly, allowing him space to explain. ‘I was just in a bad place and I seriously overreacted.’

  Trying to kick a hole in the wall seems to go way beyond overreacting.

  He scratches his head, concern furrowing his brow. ‘Listen, I just wanted you to know that I realise I shouldn’t have taken my own issues out on you.’

  ‘No you shouldn’t have. I still don’t even know what you were upset about.’ He shifts uneasily as I stare at him, waiting for him to explain.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ he mutters uncomfortably.

  ‘Well I think I deserve to know, given the way you acted towards me. Did I do something wrong?’

  He doesn’t respond.

  ‘Were you angry because I questioned you about finding that room?’ I ask quietly, admitting what I fear is the problem.

  ‘No, of course not. Honestly Elle, I was being stupid. It’s nothing.’

  I cross my arms, waiting for an explanation, not believing he would ever act the way he did over nothing.

  He ignores my crossed arms and obvious disbelief, and gives me his most charming smile. ‘So, friends?’ he asks.

  ‘Are you really not going to explain what this is all about?’

  He slowly shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry about last night, really I am. Please will you forgive me?’

  I sigh and unfold my arms. He’s turning all of his charm on me this morning and it’s hard enough to resist at the best of times. I feel my will to be angry with him dissolve. ‘Well are you planning on arguing with me again anytime soon?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Then I guess we can be friends. But I’m still upset you’d lash out at me the way you did. And, well, just no more freak-outs! Okay?’ I’m way too easy on this guy.

  He laughs in response. ‘I think I can agree to that.’

  We stand in uncomfortable silence for a minute.

  ‘So who was that girl you were talking to before?’ I ask, trying to act like things are back to normal.

  ‘Who Chelsea? She’s just a girl in my year,’ he responds.

  ‘She’s cute, and she seems interested. Are you going to take her on a date?’

  He looks down at his feet and shuffles them. ‘She’s just a friend. Besides, I’m waiting for the one,’ he says in an attempt to joke, but I swear his cheeks are turning pink.

  ‘Oh, by the way, I have something for you,’ I say, as the bell for class rings overhead.

  ‘What, even though I’m a psycho?’

  ‘Yes, even though you’re a psycho.’

  He looks up intrigued. Are his eyes a brighter shade of blue today? As I look into them, the tingling I’d felt the other night awakens, and I can feel it slowly building in my stomach. I glare down at it accusingly. If you don’t stop that, I will punch you, I warn it.

  He looks at me as if to say, ‘I’m waiting,’ so I quickly rush on.

  ‘But not until lunch. And not here,’ I lower my voice to a murmur, ‘Let’s meet in the archives.’ I know no one will see what I’ve brought for him there.

  ‘The archives,’ he repeats. ‘Okay. Till then!’ He winks and walks through the door to his English class.

  I turn back around to the foyer, which is now slowly emptying of students, and head across to the history classroom. I’m incredulous; how has he managed to wiggle his way back onto my good side with such ease? That boy should give lessons! Then again, I’ve never been able to stay angry with him.

  I spot Gemma towards the back of the room and I head to the seat next to hers.

  ‘You’ll never guess what happened to me last night!’ she exclaims, as I approach.

  ‘Let me guess … Cam?’ I say with a laugh, as I pull my chair out and take a seat. It’s hardly a guessing game.

  ‘Yep,’ she says proudly. ‘He took me on a date.’ She says it as though she hardly believes it herself. They’ve been flirting for long enough though, she shouldn’t be so surprised.

  ‘Where did you guys go?’

  ‘Well he’s been doing his community service hours at the cinema and I guess he’s become quite friendly with the manager there. He talked him into letting us have the cinema to ourselves to watch a movie.’

  ‘That’s amazing!’

  ‘I know. It was very unexpected. He only asked me once everyone left basketball.’

  ‘How was your mum about it?’ I ask delicately. Her mum can be an absolute nightmare.

  ‘Pissed, as you can imagine. I wasn’t home until late.’

  ‘How late?’ I ask.

  She blushes in reply. ‘Late…’

  ‘Gemma!’ I gently thump her arm.

  ‘What? We just kissed a bit…’

  ‘A bit? I can see the hickey from here!’

  ‘What!’ The colour drains from her face and she grabs the side of her neck.

  I burst out laughing. She’s too easy to fool.

  ‘So not funny Elle,’ she says, thumping my arm in return.

  Ms. Matthews enters the room, and the chatty hubbub of the class quietens. I lean back in my chair, still smiling, and get ready to switch my mind off. I find spacing out is harder than usual today though, and my interest is piqued when Ms. Matthews opens the case she carries to reveal a virtual projector.

  You can almost feel the contagious buzz of excitement spread through the classroom when she announces that today we are focusing on the world just before the day of impact.

  She turns the projector on and the entire room is engulfed in images. We are immersed in simulations of tall majestic buildings and large burgeoning cities. Forests that are green, lush and alive buzz with activity. Tall ancient oaks stand strong, untouched for an age and a surreal atmosphere is created under a canopy of trees, as subdued light flickers through the leaves.

  Students sit forward in their seats when a simulation of a beach surrounds us. It is bathed in the orange and purple glow of the sun setting along the endless horizon. Even Ms. Matthews’ bored face lights up as she gazes a
t the sun. She at least can remember the feel of its warmth across her skin and I can’t decide whether that’s better or worse.

  As the image flicks to a towering mountain, cloaked in an eerie mist, I shudder. My whole body begins shaking and feels as though it’s been fully submerged in the ice that clings to the rocky peak. My own memories of a different mountain arise and my thoughts are helplessly captured by them. My eyes no longer see the virtual simulations and instead I am surrounded by the one day I never want to think about.

  There is screaming, so much screaming, as people fight their way past each other, desperate to find their way to the front of the mob. The adults all tower over me and from this far away it’s impossible to see the huge dark gate carved into the side of the mountain. I know exactly where it is though. Everyone is desperate to be one the few refugees to make their way across its threshold, so they all rush frantically towards it.

  Most people seem terrified, clinging to their loved ones as they attempt to protect them. But it is nothing compared to the complete fear I feel welling up inside me. My parents are gone, I have no idea where, and I am alone in a world submerged in crying and shoving and panicked screams.

  The sound is all too familiar and even now, years later, I can still remember the screams with remarkable clarity. This is one of the few, flickering memories I have from before impact. It has haunted me over the years, almost as much as the half-formed impressions of warmth and love I have from before that.

  The others stare longingly at the simulation, but my hands clench as I wait for it to be turned off. The bell finally chimes for lunch and we all quietly pack our tablets back into our bags. In silent contemplation we head for the door and everyone spills out into the busy foyer. The crowd is a far cry from my memories of the day of impact. It’s more like the ocean simulation I watched earlier, one strong but calm surge towards the dining hall. I tell Gemma I’ll catch her later and then slip between the other students to make my way into the library.

  As I enter the archive room I gently close the door behind me. Sebastian sits on the floor, behind one of the library stacks, his back propped up against the wall. He closes the book on his lap as I walk over.

  ‘A bit of light reading?’ I ask. The book in his hands is huge.

  He wiggles it up in the air. ‘You just wish you had the patience to get through a whole book,’ he retorts.

  I screw my nose up at him. As I do, I glance at the cover of the book, ‘Post Apocalypse: The Lysart Asteroid’s Effect on the Surface,’ the title says.

  ‘You’re reading through all that surface literature again?’ I thought he’d given up on all the conspiracy theories that used to circulate.

  ‘I was just flicking while I waited,’ he says, somewhat embarrassed.

  A picture of the barren surface covers the front of the book. It makes me sad to think all those beautiful places I’d just seen in class have been lost.

  ‘Sebastian, you can’t keep looking through these books hoping to find a mistake in them. We all know there’s nothing up there anymore.’

  ‘What about the stars Elle? Like you said, there has to be a reason they’re covering it up.’

  ‘It was probably a freak occurrence and they don’t want people to get false hope. Look at the way you’ve reacted. You’re straight back to believing there’s something up there.’

  He shakes his head passionately. ‘That’s not true. I’ve always thought there was more up there than the wastes we see on our screens. The Earth is huge, and I don’t believe that one asteroid alone could take everything out.’

  I groan, frustrated. ‘You know it didn’t. It was the impact winter that did most of the damage.’

  He sits there thinking for a moment. ‘Well there has to be something up there,’ he replies quietly. ‘How else will I be able to find Mum and April?’ There is absolute loss and agony in his voice as he says this, and it takes everything in me not to say the easy, reassuring answer: that of course there’s life up there; that his mum and April are living happily on the surface.

  ‘Sebastian, you know I want them to be alive more than anything, but you’ve seen the live feeds. Even if for a brief moment the clouds opened and the stars were seen, it doesn’t mean it’s any different up there. If it were, why would they lie to us? Why wouldn’t we be back living above ground? It just doesn’t make sense!’

  ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ he responds, his shoulders slouching in defeat. ‘I guess it’s just that I still miss them, and there’s a part of me that has to believe there’s something more than this.’ He waves his arms around the room.

  ‘I know, me too.’ I walk over to the wall and slide down next to him. ‘You know, just because there’s nothing up there, doesn’t mean they’re not somewhere safe.’

  There’s no way of knowing where they are, so we can only ever speculate. I watch his face, as he stares thoughtfully at the far end of the archive room. He then turns to me, his face now only inches away, his blue eyes looking deeply into mine.

  ‘We’re older now. Safe or not, I don’t think I could just stay here and allow you to be taken away from me. If they took you from me I would come for you,’ he whispers intensely.

  I stare back at him, shocked. It’s such a controversial thing to think, let alone say aloud. People are quarantined for a reason. If he came after me, he’d surely become tainted too.

  As I look into his eyes I can see his determination and resolve. He won’t have another person taken away from him. His face begins to drop when I don’t respond and he goes to look away. I lightly take a hold of his chin and pull it back so he looks me in the eye.

  ‘I don’t think I could just let you go either. I’d come for you too,’ I whisper back.

  He beams in response, but his eyes are fierce, as though he’d take on every person in the ARC to keep me safe.

  ‘Promise?’ he says.

  ‘Promise.’

  He laughs to lighten the mood and then focuses down on the book in his hands. ‘I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something,’ he says, refusing to look at me.

  ‘You have?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Well—what is it?’ I ask when he doesn’t continue.

  A frown crosses his face. ‘It’s about us,’ he starts uneasily.

  ‘Okay…’ I laugh uncomfortably. Where the hell is he going with this?

  ‘Do you remember a few weeks ago when that massive group of us met in the rec room late at night?’

  ‘The night we played spin the bottle?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘What about it?’ I ask. My heart is thumping so loudly I begin to worry he can hear it. I think I know what he wants to talk about and I have a sudden wish to just disappear.

  ‘I wanted to ask you why you refused to kiss me when it landed on us?’

  I freeze, feeling completely unsure how to respond. I don’t even know why I refused to at the time. I acted like a complete idiot that night and the last thing I want to do is relive it.

  ‘I guess because you’re my best friend,’ I say. ‘I can’t kiss you and risk losing that.’

  ‘It was just a stupid kiss,’ he mutters.

  I shrug and refuse to talk about it any further. The whole thing was embarrassing then and it’s just as embarrassing for me now.

  He watches me cautiously. ‘Don’t you want to why I’m—’

  ‘Oh, I nearly forgot. Your surprise.’ I cut him off. I pull my bag onto my lap and start to forage through it.

  ‘Elle, I think I should tell—‘

  ‘Do you want your surprise or not?’ I ask him.

  He sighs and nods. I don’t know why he’d want to dwell on that night anyway.

  ‘Now close your eyes. Put out your hands. And ta da!’ He opens his eyes and his face lights up.

  ‘Strawberries!’ he exclaims. ‘But how did you—’ He stops mid-sentence, a scowl crossing his face. ‘You went to the Plantation again.’ His words
are an accusation rather than a question.

  ‘It’s not like you haven’t done it before.’

  ‘I know, but I thought we’d both agreed to stop. It’s dangerous.’ Pretty rich coming from a guy who had me break into the Council Chambers, not even 24 hours earlier.

  ‘It was fine.’ I try to reassure him, but he looks so worried.

  He goes quiet for several minutes and I wait silently for his anger to subside. When he does speak again, disappointment is rife in his voice. ‘You went with him again. Didn’t you?’ he says.

  I have no idea what he’s talking about so I wait for him to explain.

  ‘Ryan. You met him in the Plantation again.’

  ‘Yes. And?’ I reply, confused. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal.

  ‘He’s old! You shouldn’t hang out with him.’

  ‘He’s not that old,’ I counter. He’s totally too old to hang out with, but there’s no way I’m letting Sebastian know I agree with him. I stand and swing my bag onto my shoulder. ‘You know what, I should probably go get some lunch. You coming?’

  Sebastian glances down at the book closed on the floor next to him. ‘Nah, I have a few things I want to check up on in the library. I’ll see you later.’

  Sebastian’s behaviour is worrying me, yet I leave him to his ‘things’ in the library. I am still mulling over why he’s acting so strange when I reach the school dining hall. I’m so worried about Sebastian, it takes me a minute to realise everyone is quiet. Not quite silent but they are all muttering in hushed voices to each other. Something is definitely up.

  I grab a tray and line up to get some food. I peer around as I wait, attempting to figure out what’s going on. Kate stands in line in front of me chatting dramatically to a couple of her friends. I take a step closer and try to overhear what she’s saying. I manage to catch the end of a sentence.

  ‘…had been mixing with the wrong people. So I guess who knows?’ she says. Kate’s good at commanding her audience. She lets that settle over the girls before she continues. ‘And to think I saw her out in the foyer just before talking to Sebastian.’

  ‘What did she look like?’ one of the enthralled girls asks.

  ‘Oh, well, you could definitely tell the girl was sick. She was sweating all over and, to be honest, I thought she was about to faint. I guess she was really nervous about her testing?’ The girls both nod in agreement. ‘But to think,’ she pauses for dramatic effect, ‘she was tainted!’ The two girls gasp.

  ‘Sorry,’ I interrupt. ‘Kate, who are you talking about? What’s happened?’

  ‘Oh Elle.’ She turns to me and recoils like there’s a bad smell under her nose. ‘Have you been sitting under a rock all lunch?’

  I ignore her jab at me. ‘What’s happened?’ I repeat.

  ‘Chelsea Turner,’ she says, with a cruel snigger. ‘She’s been taken.’