Page 27

“There were all these adverts on giant screens around the area of the Quarterlands where I lived, deliberately targeting us,” Scarface explained.

“The government also sent in IS recruiters all the time, offering to match us with good houders. They told us we’d get a lump sum payment put into a special government account that would gather interest and be waiting for us when we finished working out our contracts.

They said that it’d be enough for us to start a new life.

They showed me the figures, and it was more money than I could dream of.

” His eyes gleamed hopefully. “Plus I’d get fed, housed, clothed, and medical insurance during the term of my contract.

I figured I could give up ten years of my life, and at the end maybe have enough to rent a little flat somewhere that wasn’t the Quarterlands – a place to myself that wasn’t covered in damp and mould, and that I didn’t have to share with a dozen other people. ”

“Is that what the Quarterlands are like?” Alex asked, trying to imagine such a place.

“Worse,” Scarface said flatly. “As a kid it was all I knew, so it didn’t seem so bad.

There were lots of other kids, and we used to run around in a pack like a bunch of rats, having fun and causing trouble.

But it’s a hard life; there’s no sanitation beyond throwing your shit and piss out of the window, and the damp gets into your whole body – your skin, your bones, and your lungs.

You never really feel dry. Diseases go through the Quarters like wildfire, and people die all the time.

As kids, we used to jump over the bodies of people who’d passed away in the hallways and staircases overnight…

we didn’t think anything of it. The grown-ups used to do a sweep every morning and clear out the corpses, so they didn’t stink us all out. ”

“Where did you bury them?”

Scarface laughed. “In the water – where else?”

“You just threw the bodies away?” For some reason that shocked Alex more than anything else Scarface had told him.

“Yeah – it’s called the Quarterlands Splash. Weigh the bodies down with whatever you’ve got – usually rocks or bits of debris – and throw them out of the windows to sink in the water.”

“I had no idea,” Alex murmured, feeling ashamed of that fact.

“Solange is a Quarterlands girl,” Scarface said proudly. “I knew that as soon as I met her. She’s one of us; we can always spot one another.”

Solange looked up from where she was sitting on a beanbag, reading, and shot him an affectionate smile.

“Did you two know each other from Quarterlands days?” Alex queried.

They exchanged glances, and then both burst out laughing.

“You do know that the Quarterlands are basically any old tall building in a lost zone with the top sticking outta the water that can house those with nowhere better to go, right?” Scarface grinned.

“We don’t all know each other – Solange lived miles away from me, in a completely different Quarter. I never met her until she came here.”

“Of course… I did know that. I suppose I just assumed you all… socialised or something,” Alex muttered, going red.

“No, darling. It’s not like that.” Solange came and sat beside him and began smoothing his hair gently with her fingers, the way his mother used to when he was a child. He loved it when she did that; it was so relaxing.

“I can see why becoming an indie was a good way out for you,” Alex mused.

“And I can see why it’s shit for you,” Scarface retorted. “You grew up in a nice, dry house, with plenty to eat. You had chances and choices. You can’t ever have imagined you’d end up like this.” He waved his hand at Alex’s little huddle of pillows and blankets.

“I was shunted around a load of different boarding schools, but yeah, it was dry and there was food. I suppose I took it all for granted without even realising it.”

“Well, at least I had my family with me and wasn’t sent away anywhere,” Scarface said. “And they took good care of me.”

“My dad was busy with his company, and my mum was always off being glamorous. Later on, she became my brother’s coach and spent all her time ferrying him around to training and practice sessions.

I used to get into trouble just so I’d be suspended or expelled, and then sent home, so I could see them.

” That was the first time he’d admitted that, and he was surprised it was to these two people.

“There are different kinds of deprivation,” Solange said.

“I used to hate you and your kind. I thought you were living the high life, and had everything you wanted while I had nothing. My life wasn’t great growing up, and neither was Ted’s, but I realise that yours wasn’t the paradise I’d always thought it was, either. ”

“Ted?” Alex raised an eyebrow. “Who the hell is Ted?”

“Me!” Scarface rolled his eyes.

“Sorry.” Alex grinned at him. “I’m just so used to thinking of you as ‘Scarface’. ”

“I don’t reckon you thought of me as a person at all, at first anyway.

Back when Tyler first brought you here, you thought you were better than the rest of us, even though you wore an ID tag and were chipped under the skin, same as us,” Ted pointed out.

“You had to find some way of making it seem like we were less than you, so you gave us those names.”

Alex opened his mouth to deny that, and then closed it again. “Maybe you’re right,” he admitted. “I apologise. I was a shit; I’m surprised you were so nice to me.”

“I felt sorry for you.” Ted shrugged. “I’ve seen Tyler’s boys come and go over the years, and what he makes you do is far worse than anything I’ve ever had to do as a security guard.”

“How did you get the scar?” Alex asked. “Does being part of Tyler’s security team get dangerous at times?”

“Nah.” Ted grinned. “It’s pretty dull most of the time.”

“That’s disappointing. I was imagining one of Tyler’s previous ‘boys’ going after you with a knife in some wild escape attempt.”

Ted laughed mirthlessly. “Nobody escapes from Tyler,” he said. He glanced at Solange, who gazed pensively back at him.

“That’s because you’re so good at your job,” she told him.

“It’s because there’s nowhere to bloody well go if you do get out,” Ted retorted. “Tyler would tear the country apart rather than let anyone he owned get away.”

“So nobody’s tried?”

“Nobody would be that stupid.”

Alex pondered if that was merely a myth that Tyler wanted them to believe. He’d certainly found no means of escaping, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

“I got the scar in a knife fight in the Quarterlands, years ago,” Ted went on.

“It’s not even an interesting story, just a regular fight.

I used to scrap all the time back then, and apart from that one occasion I was pretty good at it.

” He gestured to his scar. “That’s why I chose security when the government sent in their IS recruiters. ”

Alex was fascinated by this glimpse into another world, but he was also growing tired after their long conversation. Solange’s gentle combing of his hair was soporific, and soon his eyelids drooped, and he was fast asleep.

He woke up a couple of hours later to find Solange snuggled up on Ted’s lap in the armchair, his arms cradling her gently as if she were the most precious thing in the world. They were talking quietly.

Solange glanced at him and smiled. “Hey, sleeping beauty. Want to see a picture of yourself?” She held up Ted’s nanopad and showed Alex a picture of himself lying fast asleep on the sofa. He was still pale, and his eyelashes looked particularly thick and long, resting on his ashen skin.

“You looked so cute that I couldn’t resist,” Solange exclaimed.

Alex flicked through the nanopad to find some selfies of Solange and Ted together, her arms around his neck as they both smiled at the camera.

“I like this one.” He showed them a photo of Solange wearing the big white tee-shirt she slept in when she wasn’t entertaining guests.

She wasn’t wearing a scrap of makeup, and she looked wistfully beautiful as she gazed out of the window at the grey waters below.

“Hey! I don’t remember this.” She took back the nanopad and thumped Ted’s arm. “When did you take this pic?”

“A couple of days ago,” he admitted. “Sorry, Solange, but you just looked so pretty. You were so in your own head you didn’t even notice me taking it.”

Her expression softened, and she pressed a little kiss to his forehead. “You’re forgiven, Teddy.”

“Tyler allows you to have your own nanopad?” Alex asked.

“It’s not mine – it’s the suite security nano,” Ted replied. “Whoever is on duty has to carry it at all times in case we get new instructions. All the calls are logged,” he added. “In case you were thinking of contacting someone in the outside world and arranging a break-out.”

Alex gave a wry grunt. “I don’t know anyone in the outside world who’d take my call except possibly my brother, and there’s no way he’d know how to arrange my escape. Besides, like you said, it’s impossible to evade George Tyler.”

At that moment, they heard Fatso in the corridor, signalling the change of shift. Solange pressed a kiss to Ted’s cheek, then slid off his lap. He gave her a loving smile and left the room to do the handover .

“So, I already know Ted’s got it bad,” Alex commented. “But now it looks like you’ve got the hots for him, too.”

She laughed, looking happier than he’d ever seen her. “I thought it was time I stopped falling for unobtainable men and went for a guy who’s actually into me, instead.”

“He’s your guard.”

“He’s an IS, just like me,” she replied staunchly. “And he sold himself to Tyler, just like me. We’re not so different. I like him. He’s good to me; he makes me feel special.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Your last boyfriend was a bastard who didn’t deserve you.” Alex gave her a self-deprecating wink.