The footsteps approaching the compound sounded completely different from the footsteps of the departing personnel earlier that morning. Those had been heavy, purposeful, solemn. These were light, relaxed, and accompanied with jubilant chatter and bursts of laughter.
Griff leaned against the gate, woozy from the alcohol. Moses reached out to steady him, but Griff held him off with a stern look. He wasn’t drunk. He just had a headache. The whole business was extremely aggravating. He took one or two deep breaths, preparing to confront Joshua Worthington, the kid who knew. Griff remembered meeting him some months earlier, a cheeky-faced kid with logo-emblazoned clothing and a mop of ginger hair that should have been cut off long ago. His father, Kane, was on the brink of being welcomed into the inner circle. The threat of what might happen to his kid if either of them blabbed might be just enough to keep him there.
He forced a smile as the group came towards the gate. The smile faded as the group parted and two ragged figures appeared: a handsome Māori boy and a hollow-cheeked girl with long strands of blonde hair poking out of her black helmet. Her green eyes were vacant as she took in the people, the horses, the mud.
Neither of them looked anything like Joshua Worthington.
Acid flooded the pit of Griff’s stomach. One of the searchers came forward, smiling.
‘Look who we found! Safe and well, sir.’
‘Great work!’ boomed Griff, his voice a little too hearty. ‘We’ll get them inside, get them checked out.’ He beckoned to the man who had spoken. ‘Tony, is it? Come with me. And the rest of you, good job! Bonuses all round and a little relaxation time, I think … yes …’ he finished vaguely, slinging his arms around the two teens and ushering them away from the group.
‘They were wandering just out of the Zone, have been for days, haven’t you?’ continued Tony, hovering around the trio.
The girl gave no sign she’d heard, and the boy stared straight through him as if he wasn’t there.
Tony beckoned Griff out of their earshot. ‘They haven’t said much, sir. I think the electromagnetic waves might have affected them in some way. I don’t know if they can remember anything. They haven’t even told us their names.’
‘We’ll get the medical team on them straightaway. The doctors are saying that with all the exposure to the radiation, these kids …’ Griff shook his head.
Tony gasped. ‘But they look so healthy!’
‘On the outside, maybe. Who knows what damage has been done to their internal organs? It’s happened before, you know. No way of telling how long these kids have got. Tell your team they must keep quiet. If word gets out to the families they’re alive, and then they’re not, well …’
Tony nodded quickly, just as Griff knew he would. Seddon paid for his house, his car, his kids’ schools, his holidays, his clothes, his everything. One bad word from Seddon and Tony wouldn’t be able to find another job anywhere, ever. If the company went down, Tony wouldn’t be far behind. And unlike Seddon, Tony would never get back up.
Tony hurried back to his group and muttered a few words. They quickly moved off, one woman thumbing away a tear.
Griff bestowed a fatherly smile on the teens, which they didn’t return, and ushered them through the gate and into the Restricted Area.
