Page 60

FIFTY-NINE

The light-headedness began to subside as Gina opened the door to the capsule. She placed Eric’s phone back in her pocket, no longer needing to see what was right in front of her. Without wasting a single second, she ran to the back of the kitchen area and opened the other door. On the floor, lay Ruth and the girl.

Knees to the floor, she checked the frail-looking girl. ‘There’s a pulse. Not much, but it’s there. She’s breathing faintly. Jacob, check Ruth.’

Gina grabbed the girl and dragged her off Ruth and lay her in the recovery position, leaving enough room for Jacob to administer first aid too. ‘Get the paramedics in here,’ she called. Three paramedics ran in with oxygen tanks and took over. Gina stepped out into the kitchen area and paced the tiny space. Jacob joined her.

Seconds felt like hours as they waited to see how Ruth and Luna were. Gina stared at all the pictures on the wall above the sink. There was the drawing of Luna with the scarf that they’d found, along with many others. A little note was written underneath a drawing of Luna and Albie.

Happy birthday, Daddy.

She turned around and saw the racks of food and supplies. Then she spotted the red baseball cap with the word Florida printed on the front. The edges were frayed and shabby after years of use. A pile of birthday cards sat next to it and the top one had a picture of a teddy bear on it, with the word daughter written at the top.

Jacob pointed to another drawing that had been hung on the wall near the door. It was of an underground bunker leading up some ladders, and above the ladders were dead trees and dead animals strewn across the barren earth above.

Gina heard Ruth coughing from the end room. Two paramedics helped the confused woman through, nudging Gina and Jacob against the rack. A hoist dropped through the hatch and they began strapping her in before Ruth was gently pulled through. O’Connor peered down. ‘I’ll go with her in the ambulance to the hospital.’

‘Thanks.’ Gina watched as they helped Luna. As the oxygen circulated, she began to breathe greedily before prising her eyes open. A wash of fear filled the girl’s eyes as she stared directly at Gina, and then at the paramedic who was helping her. She let out a hoarse cry and began to hit him and tear the oxygen away. Gasping, she stumbled to the back of the capsule and onto the bed where she sat in the corner, gripping her knees.

‘What’s your name? I’m Bennie,’ the paramedic said, gently.

She reached out and hit his face.

‘I’m trying to help you; I need to get you to a hospital. You’ve been deprived of oxygen. I know all this is confusing.’ He smiled. ‘I have a daughter your age.’

The girl grabbed one of the chess pieces and threw it at his eye. He withdrew. ‘It’s okay, I’ll wait here.’ He stood by outside the small WC that seemed to be dotted with bloodied rags.

Gina then knew that Albie Hathaway was meant to get back to the bunker with his daughter’s sanitary products.

Gina stepped forward. ‘May I have a minute or two?’

He nodded and stepped into the kitchen area with Jacob.

The girl stumbled off the bed as soon as Gina entered and closed the door. ‘We’re all going to die. We can’t leave. It’s safe here,’ she said, her voice crackly.

‘May I sit?’ Gina pointed to the bed.

The girl slowly nodded.

Gina smiled and sat at the other end of the bed, not wanting to panic the girl any more than she already was. ‘Is your name Luna?’

Again, the girl nodded.

‘Are all these drawings yours?’

‘Yes.’

‘You are really talented. Do you play chess?’

‘I played it with my daddy.’

Gina swallowed. Whatever she thought of Albie Hathaway, this life and that man were all Luna knew. She knew there would be years of therapy ahead for Luna. She wondered if Luna would ever be able to live a normal life. ‘Do you have a mum?’

Luna’s top lip came over her bottom lip before she spoke. ‘I killed my mummy when she had me, but she loved me. Daddy said she loved me and she wanted me so much, but it’s my fault she died. He said she’d died many times, but she’d never had a child in her past lives, so I was her miracle.’

Gina felt a lump forming in her throat. She pictured a captive girl giving birth in this hellhole with no medical help. Luna didn’t kill her, Albie Hathaway killed her. ‘It’s not your fault, lovely. I promise you that.’ Gina paused. ‘Do you know what is outside and up those ladders?’

Nodding, Luna put her legs out in front of her. ‘Nothing. Daddy goes out to get things so we can eat and live. He said it’s not safe out there; that everyone is dead except lucky people like us, people who have a bunker or a special home with special air, but Daddy hasn’t come back so I think he died.’ She scrunched her thin brows. ‘Do you have a bunker?’

‘No, I live in a house. I have a cat and a granddaughter who is a few years younger than you.’

‘I… I’ve never seen a real cat.’ She sighed. ‘How can you live up there?’

‘Because it is beautiful. There are trees, fields, shops, schools, beaches and lots of other lovely things.’

Shaking her head fast, Luna sat back in the corner of the bed against the back of the bunker and pulled her legs close to her chest again. ‘No, you’re lying. There’s nothing up there. Those things only exist in books. My daddy told me and he loves me. Mummy and he built this place together, for me.’

Gina’s heart was breaking. ‘Did Mummy have another name? A name that Daddy called her?’

‘Felicity, or Lissy. I have a picture of her when I was in her tummy.’ She reached under her pillow and pulled out a frayed photo of Felicity, Marie’s cousin. She, too, was wearing the same blue dress that Luna was wearing now, her stomach slightly protruded as she stood in front of the bed.

Heart banging, Gina shuffled back a little until her back was against the wall of the capsule and Luna seemed okay with her closer proximity. ‘I know of Felicity. She has a cousin called Marie. You have an aunt up there.’

‘Does she live in a bunker?’

‘No, she lives in an apartment.’

Scrunching her brow, Luna continued. ‘She must have a special apartment.’

‘Do you speak to anyone else, or have any friends?’

‘I have a grandad, but Daddy won’t let him come here. I talk to the children about the outside and what used to be there. The ones who live in another capsule. They are my cousins but Grandad tells them off for talking to me if he catches them.’

Gina imagined that Luna was talking about Eric’s grandchildren. ‘Do you know their names?’

‘Scottie and Janey, and there’s going to be a new baby soon.’ She frowned. ‘But the world is dying. Why is there going to be a new baby?’

Gina pictured Eric’s pregnant daughter. ‘Luna, do you trust me?’

Luna looked up, a clump of hair leading all the way to her chapped lips. She nodded.

Gina wanted to hug the sick-looking girl, feed her up and nourish her. ‘Will you come outside with me so I can show you what’s up there? I promise nothing bad will happen. I live up there and look at me. I’m fine and you will be fine, too.’

She began to tremble. ‘I’m scared. Where’s the lady who was with me?’

‘She’s been taken to the hospital.’

‘I don’t want to leave.’

‘There’s no need to be scared, I promise.’ Gina stood and held her hand out.

The girl shuffled off the bed and reached out for Gina’s hand. Gina took a deep breath and opened the door. ‘The man there, he works at the hospital. He’s a paramedic.’

She hid behind Gina. Gina nodded for Bennie to leave. ‘Could you turn all the lights off, please?’ she asked as he left. As soon as he’d gone, Gina looked at the girl again. ‘Right. We are going to have to climb a ladder in the dark.’ Gina turned her torch on as the lights went out, and she’d have to do her very best to avoid flashing any light on Eric or Gary’s bodies, despite the fact they would have been covered up by now. The sickness inside her began to swell.

‘The metal steps?’

Gina nodded. ‘I need you to do something for me. Can you just look at me while we go up the steps, and promise to keep looking at me? I won’t leave you alone. I’ll be with you all the way.’

‘I’ve never been up the steps.’

‘We’ll take it slowly.’

Luna swallowed and nodded again. ‘It smells really bad.’

‘I know it does, but we’ll be out of here soon. I’m going to carry you to the steps, okay?’ Gina helped Luna up, her weak legs wobbling with each step. All Gina wanted to do was sob for the pain and suffering that Luna had gone through, but Luna was none the wiser, thinking that the world above had come to an end and there was nothing for her there.

She held the torch out behind Luna’s back, and as she passed Gary’s covered-up body, she flashed the torch up. ‘I’m going to help you into this hoist, okay. Just pop your legs in here.’ She stood with her back to the body and placed Luna down.

‘I don’t want you to leave me.’ Luna began to sob.

‘I’m not leaving you. I’m climbing these metal steps behind you.’

Still sobbing, Luna did as she was asked and stepped into the hoist. As she was pulled up, Gina stayed close, keeping the light on her face so that Luna could always see her. Jacob went to help her out of the hoist, which made her scream.

As soon as Gina reached the top, Luna gripped her around the waist. Eric’s body was also covered up and panic rose in Gina’s chest.

It was all so surreal. Gina knew the nightmares of this case would never leave her for as long as she lived.

Stroking Luna’s head, Gina whispered, ‘It’s okay, lovely. Nearly there.’ She lifted Luna up and raced out of the room and into the storage area that they first entered. Placing Luna down, Gina flashed the torch onto her own face. ‘Do you want to hold my hand before we go out of the door?’

Tears glistened down Luna’s face. ‘I can’t.’

Gina pressed her lips together and wiped a stray tear away. ‘You can. We can do it together.’

Both of them walked with trembling legs. Luna, because she was terrified of what existed on the surface. Gina, because of what the poor girl had been through.

Luna squinted for a few seconds as she stepped out into the caged area and looked up at the stars and the moon.

‘I can breathe.’ She gasped several times. Turning around, she pointed. ‘There are trees. There are lots of trees.’ Luna trembled and collapsed in a crying heap on the ground as realisation hit her.

Everything she’d learned in her whole life had been a lie.