Desolation Boulevard (50 page)

“
I want your friends to
fight together.”

“
That’s not fair! It might
not be their turn! That’s a terrible offer!”

“
That’s it though Montana.
You can see them tomorrow morning, but they fight in two night’s
time as a double act. Take it or leave it.”

She studied the cruel face of The Doctor, as
she considered her options. Eventually both Matt and Dylan’s
numbers would be chosen and they would face the feeders in a battle
that they couldn’t win anyway, so maybe they could find some
advantage in being paired together as a team.

“
Okay then, but I get to
see the boys in the morning.”

“
Very good, that’s settled
then,” he said as his face wrinkled into an awkward smile. “Now
come and sit down next to me so we can talk.”

Montana sat down next to the madman, and for
the next half an hour pretended to be interested in his disjointed
monologue about the new world order and how he was going to build
an empire to serve his will - or something. At one point a guard
brought meals to them, which Montana forced herself to eat, but by
the time The Doctor had finished two thirds of his bottle of
scotch, he was snoring loudly on the couch in a drunken stupor.
Montana went to the door and opened it a crack, but when she saw
the guard sitting opposite with a shotgun resting on his lap, she
just smiled and closed the door again. She wandered around the room
as The Doctor slept, trying to find some clue to get herself out of
this nightmare, but she found nothing to suggest a way to either
sneak out, or to overcome the might of the marauders. She
considered using the comatose Doctor as some kind of hostage, or
even killing him, but she rejected that idea almost immediately,
knowing that she would never be able to get past the guards. Then,
just as she was beginning to think that her situation was hopeless,
and that she and the boys would perish in this hellhole, she saw
something that gave her an idea. It was a dangerous and unlikely
plan, but given her options, Montana knew that she would have to
give it a try. She went over to a desk that was piled with assorted
junk and found a pen and piece of scrap paper, on which she wrote a
long message. Then, after she folded up the note and tucked it away
in her bra, she crawled onto the bed and tried to sleep, as the
sounds of The Doctor’s snoring continued from the couch.

-

The next morning when Montana woke, she
realised that The Doctor had taken his leave sometime during the
night, but not before covering her with a blanket. The thought of
it creeped her out quite a bit, but at least he hadn’t tried
anything while she slept. It did make her wonder, though, if the
burns he received in the car accident as a child had affected more
than just his face. She climbed out of bed and went to the door. A
different guard was stationed across the hall this morning, and
when he issued a gruff, “Come with me,” Montana followed without
argument.

He led her by the arm to the same bathroom
she’d used the afternoon before, before taking her down the stairs
to a large hall, which was being used as a communal dining room. A
clock high on the wall said it was 7:16 and Montana guessed that
most of the marauders liked to sleep late, because there were only
around a dozen people in the room eating breakfast. The guard
walked her to a door on the far side of the room that led to the
sunny space they’d spied from the back of the school a couple of
days ago. They stopped just outside the door, and Montana could see
that The Doctor was sitting at a table loaded with all kinds of
food, sharing breakfast with two of his inner circle, while they
talked very seriously about something or other. When The Doctor
looked up and saw Montana, he gave the guard a signal, and Montana
was brought over to his table as the two marauders made their
exit.

“
Good morning my dear. I
hope you slept well. Sit down and have something to
eat.”

“
Thanks,” she said, taking
up the position opposite.

“
Now, do you know what day
it is today?”

Montana tried to think, but she realised
that she had absolutely no idea what day of the week it was. Since
the event, calendars seemed to have lost their importance. Matt
kept one at the farm, which he used to check the days off, but as
far as Montana was concerned, living in the new world was just a
case of just getting through one day at a time. It wasn’t as if
they had anything in particular to look forward to.

“
No,” she answered. “What
day is it?”

“
Today is Sunday, and on
Sunday we rest.”

“
Isn’t every day rest day?”
asked Montana.

The Doctor laughed. “Of course not. We might
look like a bunch of disorganised misfits to you, but we are
building an army here. Each day more people arrive, and once I’ve
assessed them as being suitable for our group, they need to be
initiated and trained and shown the truth and purity of our
mission.”

“
Your mission? What is
that? I thought you were just satisfied being the leader here. What
mission could you possible have, apart from just staying alive,
that is?”

“
Montana, there is so much
more to this new society than just the feeders, you know. All
around the country, and probably all around the world, new
alliances are being forged and new enemies are being made. The rise
of feeders was seen by most as a global catastrophe; but there are
many of us who saw it differently. For us, it was like a rebirth,
much in the same way that most of the world’s population was reborn
as feeders. We see the feeders as our allies; they have given us an
opportunity to become masters of the daylight hours. In time we
will become the dominant force, and will create the world in our
image, living by our own doctrine and philosophies.”

As The Doctor outlined his psychotic scheme,
Montana’s mind raced with fear and anxiety. She knew The Doctor was
insane from his drunken ramblings from last night, but she had no
idea of the extent of his grand vision. She needed to keep him
talking, because she figured that the more he confided in her, the
more trusted she would become, which might make her plans to escape
easier to execute.

“
Why didn’t you assume my
friends and I would want to join your group? Wouldn’t we be a great
asset for your team?”

“
Nice try Montana, but no
you wouldn’t, actually. I don’t know if you are aware, but there
seems to be a whole new range of skills that people have now, one
of which is the ability to sense innate good or evil in
others.”

“
I hadn’t noticed,” she
replied casually. “What do you mean?”

“
I think you might have
noticed, but we’ll let that slide. There are people now who are
getting strong feelings about things like who they should trust, or
where they should be. Lots of people are heading west, for example.
You must have noticed.”

Montana had noticed, but she wasn’t going to
tell The Doctor as much. She thought about her own strong sense
that Gabby was special, as soon as she saw her cowering on the
floor of Matt’s truck, when they escaped from Carswell the first
time. She thought of Kate’s instinct about Gabby being unique, and
she thought about how Bonnie knew that Gabby was still alive, even
when it seemed like an impossibility. Then she considered Gabby and
her unusual abilities, to not only deter evil, but also the way she
sensed the outcome of some events before they happened. All of
these thoughts went through Montana’s mind in a split second, but
she didn’t utter a single word about them, as she waited for The
Doctor to continue.

“
Anyway, I think most
people possess these new psychic skills, at varying levels, but
some are more powerful than others - we actually have a few of
these people here with us. For some reason the ones with the
strongest abilities are usually women. We call them “psychs”. Not
very original I guess, but it seems to describe what they do. When
we bring survivors to our compound the psychs tell me what end of
the spectrum the new arrivals belong to - like choosing teams I
suppose. Anyway, our kind, the marauders, stay with us and join our
mission, while the others, decent people like you and your male
friends, are used as labour, or as combatants in our entertainment
evenings, like last night. There is one other thing, though, that
my psychs have been picking up on. There is person - a girl -
somewhere not far from here, who seems to be a figurehead, a
talisman, if you like, for your side. Do you know anything about
that?”

Montana tried to hide the shock she was
feeling as Doctor waited for her answer, because she knew that he
had to be talking about Gabby.

“
No. I don’t know what you
mean. I’ve only seen people trying to survive the feeders. I don’t
know anything about this other stuff.”

“
Well never mind. Wherever
this girl is, we’ll find her. We don’t know why she’s important,
but she needs to be eliminated. She is becoming very powerful. In
just a few days we’ll be sending a small army to the west. The
psychs will lead us straight to her, and she will be executed. Now,
I’ve talked enough. Eat some breakfast.”

Montana was horrified by this new turn of
events. Everything was escalating rapidly, and now Gabby’s life was
being directly threatened. Also, this megalomaniac doctor was
building an army of the wicked, and from all accounts he wasn’t the
only one. She wished that his story had been the deluded ranting of
a madman, but deep inside she knew that it was true. She tried to
think of something to say to him that might keep the conversation
going, but her mind was in overload.

“
How do I fit in?” she
blurted finally, unsure of where the question had even come
from.

“
Montana, there is an old
saying - “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” I’m
afraid you’re the enemy. It won’t be long before almost everyone on
earth has chosen their sides in this upcoming battle, and both
teams will want to win. The victors will rule the world, ushering
in a new dawn of unity and strength! I want to be on the winning
team. It’s as simple as that. I always keep one of the enemy by my
side to remind me not to be complacent. Also, as I said last night,
there’s an energy within you that I find rather invigorating. So,
until I become bored with you, you will stay by my side and I will
try to learn as much from you as I can. Now, I think it’s time I
took you to see your friends for the last time, as promised,
because tomorrow they fight the feeders.”

Chapter 76

Sally was sound asleep when Bonnie woke her.
“Hurry up! I have to show you something.”

“
What’s up? Are the others
back?” asked Sally frantically, still half-asleep.

“
No, but there’s something
you need to see. Come on.”

Sally wrapped a blanket around her to ward
off the morning chill and followed Bonnie out into the lounge
room.

“
What is it? What’s
wrong?”

Bonnie moved to the front window and pulled
the curtains open.

“
My god!” Sally gasped,
“Where did they all come from?”

“
I don’t know, but I’ve
counted about thirty. That’s way more than last night. If they
keeping arriving at this rate, we’ll have hundreds of them out
there within a week or two.”

Sally studied the group of people outside
the fence. They sat around in groups or pairs, occasionally looking
up towards the house, as they chatted. Two more fires had been lit
since last night, and people huddled around them, holding their
hands toward the flames to keep warm. Bonnie pointed out to Sally
that there was no dominant type amongst the crowd - the age of the
people ranged from toddlers up to older folk, and there was an even
mix of gender.

“
Why do they keep coming?”
asked Sally. “What do they want from us?”

“
I’m not sure,” answered
Bonnie. “Let’s get Gabby up and ask her.”

“
I’ll get breakfast ready
while you wake her,” offered Sally, padding off to the
kitchen.

Bonnie went into the bedroom and sat down on
the bed next to her daughter. It really was true, she thought -
children did look like angels while they were asleep. The love she
felt for Gabby right now was overwhelming, but a dark shadow hung
over their future together. Bonnie sensed that the little girl that
she had given birth to six years ago was becoming a part of a much
larger family. She didn’t want to admit it, but Gabby’s
inexplicable powers were not their secret any more. She stroked her
daughter’s forehead and gently called her name.

“
Morning mummy,” Gabby said
dreamily, as she opened her eyes.

“
Good morning sweetheart,”
Bonnie said, bending down to hug her. “How did you
sleep?”

“
Okay. Is it time to get
up?” she asked, as she scratched her crazy mop of bed
hair.

“
Yes honey, it’s breakfast
time; Sally’s getting it ready. Put your dressing gown and slippers
on.”

They walked to the kitchen together, where
Sally was stirring a pot of oats, and sat down at the table.

“
Good morning Sally,” said
Gabby. “Can we have sultanas in our porridge please?”

“
Consider it done,” Sally
replied, opening the cupboard.

Bonnie looked at the cherubic face of her
only child across the table, dressed in her pink gown, her hair
wild like an exotic bird’s nest, and took a deep breath. She knew
that by asking Gabby about the crowd outside, she would be opening
a Pandora’s box that would probably never be closed. Up until now,
Gabby had only offered snippets of information about the
post-civilisation world as issues arose, and nobody in the house
pressed the girl any further, because they were desperate for her
to have a childhood that was as normal as possible. Now, though,
with a crowd building outside, and Matt, Dylan and Montana missing,
it was important that they try to develop some kind of
understanding about what was happening, even if it was upsetting to
talk about. Sally placed a bowl of steaming porridge down on the
table, then sat and waited anxiously for Bonnie to begin the
discussion.