The journey took a little over an hour, and they were both glad to get off the bus. They weren't used to travelling so far.
They followed the directions Rosemary had given them, watching out for the shop names, and when they passed the Beckham Bistro, they left the pavement and headed down the narrow, rubbish-strewn alley between buildings. At the end of the alley they crossed an area of undeveloped ground. Glass crunched underfoot, and a wild dog barked at them and stalked slowly away. There were lots of wild dogs now—as well as cats, parrots, and snakes—their owners killed in London, and though there were frequent culls, numbers seemed to be increasing. Before Doomsday Jack could remember his father being fascinated with cryptozoology, the study of exotic animals living wild in Britain: wolves, bears, black panthers, cougars, and alligators, all were rumoured to be thriving. He wondered what his dad would make of this.
They crossed the area of rough ground, passed between two blocks of flats that had seen better days, then exited onto the towpath beside a canal.
As they passed beneath a metal road bridge spanning the canal, something changed. It took Jack a moment to spot exactly what it was: everything had grown silent. No more buzzing flies, no rustles in the overgrowth alongside the towpath, no barking from beyond the hedges and walls. It was spooky as hell, and he didn't like it one bit.
“Jack—” Emily began, her voice shadowed with worry.
Someone jumped down from the bridge's underside and pressed something against his back. “Do what I say, or I blow your kidneys all over your shoes.”
Jack glanced at Emily, and her face broke into a smile.
“I really wish I'd had my camera ready for that one,” she said.
“One of these days, Sparky…” Jack said, turning around.
“Yeah?” Sparky was still pointing his finger-and-thumb gun. “You and which army?”
“I thought we were meeting under a viaduct?”
“Just along there,” the boy nodded. “Couple hundred yards. I decided to wander back here, make sure we weren't followed, or nothin’.”
“Everyone get here okay?”
“Fine.” Sparky grinned, rubbing his cheek. “Jenna gave me a right slap on the bus when I tried getting frisky, though.”
Jack examined his friend's red, slightly swollen cheek. He nodded. “Good.”
“Let's go!” Emily said. She ran along the towpath, scaring several ducks into the water.
“You've got to help me look after her, Sparky,” he said quietly.
“You know I will.” Sparky slapped the back of Jack's head, hard, and laughed. “But you know something? I think she'll be looking after us.” Behind the laughter he was deadly serious, and Jack reminded himself yet again how blessed he was with friends.
They descended from the towpath down a steep slope, and when they entered the damp shadow of the viaduct Jack felt a chill that had nothing to do with temperature. Rosemary, Jenna, and Lucy-Anne were waiting for them there. Lucy-Anne gave him a nervous smile, but he could see that she was excited, too.
“We're about to leave the world you know,” Rosemary said, and Jack's chill seemed to settle into his bones.
The brick arch of the viaduct leaked in several places, raining water down around them and turning the ground into a quagmire. Jack had often wondered what would happen if such a canal bridge were to collapse. Would the whole waterway drain away down here? Would everything in its path be washed away? The red brick was swathed in moss, and from the ruts in the ground it appeared that the leaks had been dripping for a long time.
“It's less than ten miles to the Exclusion Zone from here,” Jenna said. “We're walking the rest of the way?”
“Not used to exercise?” Rosemary asked, smiling.
“I love walking,” Jenna said. “It's just that…won't we be seen?”