epilogue

(thia)

Sometimes, on very rare occasions, I could be glad that I was so little. It occurred to me, while flattened against the wall with Jay at my side, not a soul paying attention to us in all the ensuing chaos, that this might just be one of those moments. When Jay outstretched his arm, it came almost to my head. I reached out and grabbed it, not just for something to hold onto for support but also for something to keep me hooked in the situation, like an anchor. But even when he threw the knife and went to retrieve it, leaving me there alone, I still wasn't as worried as I perhaps should've been. Rowan and the other children were still behind me, I knew but I don't think that was quite what was giving me courage. If anything, I wanted to find a safe way of getting them out of there.

When I looked around, away from the fight, I spied the open door.

"Door's open." I muttered softly but no one seemed to hear. "Door's open!" I said again, pointing it out. Rowan looked and saw and understood. She led the children out through it and I started coming up behind them. Just before I could go through however, the thin man appeared out of nowhere right in front of me. He grabbed me by the throat and held me up against the wall. I could feel the metal of his gloves digging into my flesh. I closed my eyes and tried to pull it away with my own tiny fingers. They were nowhere near strong enough. He was squeezing the life out of me. Blindly, I started kicking. My legs were the only things I could still use.

When I raised my knee, hard and fast, I felt it collide with something metal …

the next thing I knew I was lying on my back looking up at my dad with Jay right by his side. My legs ached, my knee felt bruised and my throat was sore but I was alive, and back with the people I cared about. That was all that mattered. The knife Jay had used still lay a little behind him. He looked dazed but I saw him pick it up. I tried to walk but my legs felt far too weak to stand on let alone walk on, so my dad carried me all the way back to the base. I may have slept a little on the way. I was so exhausted but glad to be back home.

(jay)

A few hours later, we were back at the base. Somewhere along the way, I'd picked up the knife again and held it in my right hand, or maybe I'd never dropped it after all. I couldn't recall.

It was then that we got the news that even despite all this, the True-beeins had still managed to get their hands on our technology.

"But I don't think those two were True-beeins." Thia chimed in.

Everyone stared at her. "What makes you say that?"

She shook her head. "it's just…the way they went about using it…kidnapping and petty theft…it just doesn't seem like their style, ya know."

"Well even if they weren't, the true-beeins still managed to get hold of it."

"So, if it wasn't from them…"

I bit my lip thinking about the scaley guy with the disk but saying nothing. I'd made a deal not to mention him, so I wasn't going to.

Before I could return to the apartment though, Cat took me to one side. I'd had a feeling this talk would come sooner or later. I listened as best I could, but I wasn't really paying attention.

"I know you were angry about Thia but acting in the way that you did…"

"I wasn't angry because she'd gone missing. I was angry because no one was telling me about it."

"And what would you have done if we had told you?"

"I…" I hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. But I wouldn't have been so worried so maybe I wouldn't have run off."

She smiled but still looked concerned. "You're a brave boy. No one disputes that. But you are still a boy, a child…"

"I'm not a child."

"You are a child."

"I am not."

"You're a ten-year-old boy who still goes to elementary school. That makes you a child."

I shook my head. "No, it doesn't." I said, quietly. "Children haven't known fear like I have. Have never known grief or true hunger." I looked down at the knife. "I child wouldn't know how to fight."

She stared down at me for a while. "You don't really know how to fight properly."

"Not yet but I know more than most." I looked up at her. Hopefully she'd get the message.

"Perhaps you're right." James piped up from behind her. "Perhaps it's time."

He walked forwards, towards me.

"Time for what?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Time for you to learn."

I grinned. "You mean - do you really mean it? You'll teach me how to fight."

He chuckled. "You can start small, don't rush into it. Start with a knife perhaps."

I laughed. "yes!"

Just before sunset that same evening, I went up to the highest balcony, the dog's nose. No one hardly ever came up here.

It was different from the other two. Though there were rails on either side, there weren't any at the front. No fences or barriers or anything, just a slope, sloping inwards. Sometimes people would dare each other to crawl up to the end and peer over the edge.

We weren't really allowed to go any higher than this but I was in a good mood and there was no one to stop me, so climbed on the rail and up towards the eyes. There didn't seem to be any part of the base that didn't have its own name. The paws, the nose, the eyes, the ears. The thought made me smile. The eyes were just windows really and the ears two sort of pyramid shaped attics. I climbed up to them and for a moment sat there with my legs dangling over the eyes before standing, holding on to one of the ears for support. The city was in front of me, the forest behind. It wasn't quite dark enough for the lights in the city to come on just yet, so I turned and looked towards the forest. The trees and hills rose beyond the river but at this height I could see over even the tallest ones till they faded off into the distance, where the sun was only just visible. When it sank, all the lights in the city came one at once, coming alive with light.

I raised my hand and whooped.