FOUR
Some of the Angels are playing football in Jubilee Gardens when I get back. The small park is nestled between County Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, where they used to host shows, concerts and highbrow events.
I spot Shane passing the ball to Jakob, so I stop to cheer them on. I was never a huge footie fan, but I can tolerate it.
I join Ashtat on the sidelines. We didn’t gel when we first met, but we get on fine now. She’s wearing her usual blue robe, but has replaced her white headscarf with a red one.
‘I fancied a change.’ She smiles shyly. ‘Do you think the colour suits me?’
‘Yeah, it’s nice.’
She beams. ‘The boys said they liked it, but they know nothing about fashion. I was waiting for a girl to give me her opinion.’
I scratch the back of my head. I’m not a girly girl. I grew up a tomboy and preferred hanging out with guys. I always shaved my hair tight, wore trousers and T-shirts, no earrings or jewellery. I fought like a boy, cursed like a boy, acted like a boy. It feels strange being asked for advice about something like this. The girls who I was friendly with in school never sounded me out about clothes, hair or make-up.
‘Good tackle, Shane,’ I roar, focusing my attention on the football. ‘What’s the score?’
‘A couple of goals apiece,’ Ashtat says. ‘At least I think so. The game started before I got here.’
We watch the match unfold. There are nine players on either side. They found proper football nets somewhere and set them up. Shane, Carl, Jakob and Rage are on one team. Rage must have replaced someone just before I got back. He plays dirty, going in high with his tackles, elbowing players off the ball. No surprise there.
The ghostly white Jakob gets the ball and speeds down the wing. He looks so frail compared with the others, a result of the cancer which was eating away at him when he was alive. But zombies are tough, even the weakest of us, and Jakob can more than hold his own.
The game flows swiftly, faster than it ever did in the Premier League. Fully fed zombies are stronger and quicker than they were in life. We don’t need oxygen, so we don’t run out of breath or tire rapidly. Any of these players could shoot from one end of the pitch and expect to rattle the back of the net in the goal at the far end if their shot was on target.
Jakob passes to Carl, who fires off a close-range, blistering shot. The keeper throws himself low and left and scoops the ball away just before it crosses the line. Carl cries out with disbelief and kicks the ground angrily, sending a clod of earth flying through the air. Ashtat and I laugh at him, then roar encouragement.
The other team breaks. The players swarm up the pitch and score. One of the guys on our side groans and limps off, but only his pride has really been injured.
‘Fancy a game, B?’ Carl calls.
‘I’m useless,’ I shout back.
‘So are we,’ he laughs. ‘Come on, we need a woman’s subtle touch.’
‘Do you fancy it?’ I ask Ashtat.
She shakes her head. ‘I am not dressed for football.’
‘What are you scared of?’ Rage yells.
I glower at Rage then roll up my sleeves. ‘Right. Time to show you mugs what the beautiful game’s all about.’
To a chorus of cheers from my room-mates I take to the pitch.
I wasn’t lying when I said that I was useless. Well, not completely. I can do the basics—pass, shoot, tackle and run with the ball. I just can’t do any of them very well. Fortunately for me, most of the other Angels are pretty crap too, so I don’t feel completely out of place.
My guys watch out for me. When I’m bundled over by one of the larger members of the opposition, Shane and Carl sandwich him soon after, slamming into him at the same time from either side, to teach him a lesson. It’s sweet of them, but they didn’t need to. I can exact my own revenge, as I prove the next time I cross paths with the big guy—I slyly punch him below the belt when no one’s looking, then claim total innocence when he screeches and protests.
‘I saw what you did,’ Jakob says quietly as I move away from the argument.
‘He deserved it,’ I snort.
‘I’m not saying he didn’t. But hitting a guy between the legs isn’t as effective as it used to be. Elbow one of his ears next time. That will really hurt him.’
I laugh and we knock knuckles.
A couple of minutes later I almost score a goal when I mishit a pass from Rage. Their keeper pulls off another spectacular save, otherwise it would have been a dead cert. Ashtat cheers loudly from the sideline and tells me she’s sure I’ll score next time.
‘Nice one, shrimp,’ Rage says, slapping my back as he jogs past. ‘Keep it up.’
I grin like an idiot, feeling way better than I should playing such a stupid game, especially when there’s nothing at stake. But it feels good to be kicking a ball around, part of a team, playing with friends. It’s been a long time since I felt like this, that I truly belonged.
The game trundles along aimlessly. Nobody’s worried about how long we’ve been playing or the score or when we’re going to stop. We’re just having fun, stuck in a deliciously vague, carefree moment, the kind you wish could last forever but never does.
The twins shatter the mood. Cian and Awnya are the youngest Angels, great at foraging—they can find just about anything you want. They come racing out of County Hall, eager as a pair of hounds after a hare. Awnya starts waving her hands over her head to stop the game even before they reach the pitch. ‘Carl!’ she cries. ‘Shane! B!’
‘Rage!’ Cian adds. ‘Jakob! Ashtat!’
‘What is it?’ Shane grunts, picking up the ball and bouncing it hard on the spot, letting the twins know that they can expect him to bounce it off their heads if they haven’t halted the game for an excellent reason.
‘Dr Oystein wants you,’ Awnya exclaims.
‘You’re going on a mission,’ Cian says. Then his face drops. ‘I wish we could come with you.’
As the others punch the air with excitement, I catch Rage’s eye. He shrugs. ‘Sod’s law,’ he chuckles. ‘If I hadn’t thought about leaving, we would never have been given a mission. As soon as I think about upping sticks, destiny hits us with a wallop. It’s always the way, isn’t it?’
Shane kicks the ball high into the air and leaves the other players to chase it. Ashtat joins the rest of us on the pitch. We glance around at each other and share a buzzing yet nervously charged moment. Then we head on back to County Hall with the twins to find out what fate holds in store.