“Thanks guys,” said Noah, his voice choked, and Zeke’s heart swelled with pride. He would follow this man anywhere. “So, has anyone ever driven a boat?”
thirty-six
Noah
Vanswerepacked,planswere made, and injuries patched up as best they could. But before they left the farm, there was one more thing to do.
“We can’t just leave them here likethis,” Meredith said, referring to the large amount of bodies littering the barn. Not just the bodies of the Eighth East soldiers, however. In the carnage that had ensued, many of the mutilated humans, hung like meat by the types, were bitten. The remaining five members of Squad K put them all out of their misery. It was all they could do.
What Noah really wanted to do now was get the hell out of there as quickly as possible, but he agreed it didn’t feel respectful to his former comrades, even if some of them were cold-blooded murderers. “We don’t have time to dig a mass burial pit,” he said, exasperated, rubbing his tired eyes.
Aoife stared up at the barn that loomed towards them in the dark. “Let’s burn them. Cremate them.”
“In this snowstorm?” Habib scoffed. “As if.”
“I could do it,” Zeke said quietly. He was still in the cage, with the van back doors wide open so he could talk to them. “I could make an incendiary bomb.”
All eyes turned to Zeke.
“That would be great, Zeke.” Lowenna smiled warmly at him. “Krish will give you a hand with whatever you need.”
“I’ll have to leave the van, but I’ll stay well back from everyone. Habib can train his rifle on me at all times.”
Noah said quickly, “That won’t be necessary,” and glared at Habib, daring him to disagree.
When Noah unlocked the cage, Zeke climbed out tentatively like a wounded bird before dashing around, searching for whatever he was looking for. Vitt and Meredith gathered as much dry wood as they could from the other outbuildings, while Noah and the others had the pleasure of dragging the dead bodies out of the barn and onto the increasingly large pile. Noah tried not to look at their glassy eyes, blood stained skin or vacant expressions, but it was almost impossible. He was thankful when Lowenna insisted on sorting Luo’s body, a small kindness that went a long way.
By the time they’d finished, Zeke had acquired a large metal drum and was using their explosives kit to make an ignition system. He’d instructed Krish to siphon whatever fuel or oil he could from the tractors around the farm. Watching him laser-focussed on his task—eyes narrowed, teeth biting his bottom lip—warmed Noah’s frigid body.
Once everything was in place, and Habib poked a series of vents into the metal container with some sort of farm tool he’d found, the group stood well back, waiting for Zeke to remotely detonate his bomb. Noah slipped his arm through Zeke’s and glanced at Meredith. There was no universe where he deserved her acceptance of their relationship. Hell, he wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to him again. But a small smile danced on her lips as she nodded at them, once.Thank you,he mouthed.
When Zeke successfully released the small explosion, everyone clapped him before they turned to watch the intense flames that rapidly engulfed the deceased, tears streaming down faces like rivers.
Noah squeezed Zeke to him, brushing a dusting of snow from his shoulder. “Well done, firestarter,” he whispered into his ear.
“Does this mean I’m not completely useless any more?”
“This is just a fraction of what’s been burning in you all along,” he said, kissing Zeke’s forehead.
The further they drove from the farm, the more doubts crept into Noah’s mind.
Apart from Habib behind the wheel, and himself, everybody was asleep. Exhaustion swept over them like a tidal wave as soon as they’d said teary goodbyes to Lowenna, Krish and the rest of Squad K that survived Tobias’s culling. He’d never see them again. Every inch of his soul told him that. As they drove off in the opposite direction, Noah’s worries about his ridiculous plan tempted him to change his mind and follow them to Birmingham. But days after Rotterdam fell, so had Amsterdam. The cycle had to break.
Noah was done. Done with the fighting, the deaths, the endless cycle of grief.
But what if he was leading them all to their doom? What if he was leading them to an empty boatyard? Or one overrun with types? They were in no state to fight a cluster, let alone a horde.
Zeke, nestled into the crook of his shoulder, stirred. The faint glow of the moon through the relentless blizzard illuminated his hair, and Noah ran his fingers through the golden threads. There had been some wariness about letting him sit next to him, but not much. They could all see Noah needed him.
Even with the snow chains equipped onto the tires, it was a slow, treacherous drive. Despite the roads being relatively clear of obstacles from their outbound journey, the ice transformed each country lane and highway into a ski slope. Habib made pained grunting noises from the front each time he lost control and skidded.
A few types took an interest in the van, but not as many as there should have been. Were they all already amassed at the city wall?
Savannah, lying across two seats, pushed herself up, bleary-eyed. Wolf, lying on the floor near her feet, sat up too, like he was waiting for her to wake up.
“What time is it?” she whispered. “Are we almost there?”
“Almost midnight. Thirty minutes. How’s the stomach?”
