Noah watched as Zeke lifted the detonation device—a palm-sized electronic rectangle—out of his pocket and pressed various buttons on the interface. Noah knew the moment Zeke had finished, as Zeke reached out for Noah’s hand, gripping him so hard it was as if Zeke was trying to break it.
Splat’s bombs always were reliable, and his swan song was no exception.
The thunderous boom created a powerful blast that shook the ground, the trees, and Noah’s soul. He turned to look at the blazing inferno that now consumed the warehouse. Further quieter pops and bangs erupted from the building. Noah wanted to close his eyes, to take a moment, but he still had a flock to lead.
Noah turned to Zeke to say, “Well done.” Even though Splat’s fate had been out of Zeke’s control, it couldn’t have been easy executing Splat’s plan under so much pressure. “You did great.”
Zeke leaned heavily into Noah, legs wobbling. “I can’t… I can’t believe…” he managed to get out, before Frankie scooped him away from Noah, into her arms.
“We’re on our way over to you.”
Vitt’s voice through his feed sounded so normal, so calm, Noah wanted to scream. The smell of smoke and burnt plastic assaulted his nose. Thick, dark grey smoke billowed over to them, obscuring his vision. Avoiding inhaling it became impossible, even through the filter on their helmets. It stung his eyes, causing them to stream while his lungs filled with ash. He attempted to scan the tree line for the wire setup that possibly caused the tsunami of types to materialise from every direction, but he couldn’t find it.
Once they’d cleared enough space from the warehouse, they waited for the other three to find them. When they arrived—Habib walking groggily but unsupported—he thought for a brief second he was going to have to explain Splat’s absence, but one look into their harrowed eyes told him it wasn’t necessary. Wolf whined pitifully as he pressed himself against Noah, looking up at him with large, brown eyes.I know, boy. Me too.
In the distance, he heard the roar of motors speeding towards them. The cavalry had finally arrived. He almost laughed. He almost sank to his knees, ready to rip off his own helmet and give up right then, right there.
Instead, he walked in the direction of the car park, ready to brief whoever Command sent to save them.
twenty-two
Zeke
Thehoursthatfollowedwere the most difficult of Zeke’s life.
As soon as they returned to the compound, Murphy’s Command minions ushered them into the HQ building. Meredith returned separately to them in an isolation van—Splat’s proximity to her in his last moments had triggered this protocol—resulting in Savannah and Vitt kicking up an almighty fuss when they weren’t allowed to accompany her to an isolation booth.
What felt like hours and hours of questioning began, with official-looking administrators asking a barrage of questions, documenting everything Zeke said. He spaced out several times, distracted by the looping memories of Splat jumping to his death, him pressing that final button on the detonator, and Noah’s desolate expression on the journey home. The ache in Noah’s stare had mirrored the ache in Zeke’s heart.
The interviewers were particularly interested in the wire at first, but stopped that line of questioning when it was obvious he didn’t have a clue about it. The line of inquirythen moved on to asking questions about Noah’s decisions. By the end, he’d been a stuttering, quivering mess. What incriminating things had he accidentally revealed?
When they finally released him, he expected to see the rest of his squad waiting for him outside, but he found no one. His aching body, combined with sympathetic looks from passers-by, made the journey to Beech block difficult. Opening the door to their room, his stomach gave an unpleasant lurch when he saw it was empty.
“I’m over here.”
He turned to find Luo slumped against the wall. He’d pulled Splat’s drawer onto his lap and was staring down at it, face completely aghast. He looked every bit the empty husk Zeke felt himself.
Long before he joined the military, he often wondered how they coped with losing the people they loved.
Now he knew.
They didn’t.
“If you take that drawer, you know Splat’s ghost is going to haunt you for the rest of your life, right?” Zeke said.
Luo’s mouth twitched with the tiniest hint of a smile.
“Where is everyone?” Zeke asked, even though there was only one person he wanted to see.
“Hab and Aoife have gone to Fusion. Vitt and Savannah are camped outside Meredith’s isolation booth. Frankie’s run off somewhere. I think she needs some time alone.”
“Noah?” He couldn’t keep the desperation from clouding his voice.
Luo shrugged and returned to staring at Splat’s drawer.
He left Luo to race down the corridor to Noah’s room. He raised his hand to knock, then paused. What if he also wanted to be left alone? But the memory of Noah’s blank expression and haunted eyes as they escorted him off to a separate interview room earlier swayed him. He wasn’t sure he trusted Noah to be alone right now. He knocked twice. Hard. When there was no reply, he twisted the handle to find it locked. He continued banging, swallowing as images of what Noah could be doing alone in the room overwhelmed him.
Behind him, a door creaked.
