It was the last train that evening before the power went off for the night, and it had very few passengers, and none who wanted to sit near each other or make eye contact.
Barb kept her head down but watched the woman’s shadow as it moved down the carriage to the end. She took a seat near the door but with her back to Marinda. This was so much easier at night. She concentrated on staring out of the window into the darkness while really focusing on the reflection of her target.
The soft edges of the reflection made her look so like the girl she was searching for that it sent goosebumps up Barb’s back and made her feel sick with anxiety.
She thought of the children back at the Bank and wondered if Will and Helen had managed to get them settled for the night. No point worrying, she told herself. If this all goes wrong, they will have to manage on their own from now on.
The swaying train made it hard to stay awake, and a couple of times, Barb caught herself tipping into sleep, only to jerk up awake again in a panic that she’d lost her target.
But Marinda was still there.
The next stop was the last one. Either this woman had arrived, or she, too, had gone to sleep. Barb decided to risk getting off first to look less like the stalker she really was.
Marinda knew that she was being followed by that tatty-looking girl on the train who was making such a poor job of being subtle.
She imagined she had a weapon of some sort on her, probably a knife or maybe an old gun. Yes, she looked like the type that would know someone who could get a gun. Luckily, it was dark, and she probably couldn’t use it.
She saw her get up to leave first at the last stop and tried to hide a smile, wondering how this wraith would try to remain hidden. The disquieting thought occurred that maybe she wouldn’t bother following her and would just kill her quickly once out of the station. If only she knew who she was and what she wanted. An irritating idea scratched at her mind just out of reach. She looked so familiar, but why? Marinda flicked through the files in her mind, checking each point and trying to find the missing memory. Working backwards, it didn’t take too long to find her.
The Girin Child Bank.
It was the girl who had taken charge after Matron had done a runner. She looked younger out here, without the children around her. Marinda struggled to remember details about her. She had seemed so unimportant and irrelevant before that she had barely bothered to listen to them at the time.
The thief who had taken the blank had come from the Girin Child Bank. He had been about her age.
It clicked into place. This girl’s boyfriend, Snip or Snap or something equally ridiculous, had brought the virus into the Child Bank. They must have had contact with Mary and the thief.
The girl had looked pale when they’d met. It hadn’t been tiredness or illness, as she’d assumed, but shock at seeing Marinda. She had seen an older version of Mary arrive and been upset.
Marinda smiled to herself. She was following her because she wanted to find Mary and thought she would lead her there. Mary was the intended victim. It was good to know that she had a backup. Now she had to get everyone in place and light the match.
She chuckled and shook a matchbox in her pocket. She loved these old things, rare now but so pretty and useful. She would enjoy using these last ones on this adventure.
Barb pulled back into the shadows as she left the station, and let Marinda walk past and along the road before starting to follow her again. She stumbled and caught hold of the gun as it bumped against her leg inside a pocket of her oversized coat. She wondered if she would really be able to use it when the moment came. She tripped again, stopped for a giddy moment to calm herself. She could taste bile in her mouth but realised it could be hunger as much as fear that was affecting her. She bit the inside of her cheek to focus.
She’d lost sight of the older woman, but the road only went in one direction between the hedgerows. The darkness enclosed her, and it was impossible to see more than an arm’s length ahead.
Barb struggled to keep quiet and not fall, swearing at herself for not having brought a torch. Suddenly a flash of memory swept over her as she remembered the moment, as a child, when all the lights had gone out forever. She had been alone in the street and was already scared. Street lights and house lights had disappeared in an instant. The city had run out of energy, been switched off. It had felt as if everything had stopped. As if they had fallen off the planet and were floating in space.
She fell to her knees, numb to the cuts and grazes. The world had ended.
Eventually, she rallied, as she had all those years ago. Back then she had staggered into the nearest building and a different life. In time, some lights had returned; humanity had faltered but teetered on. However, now she decided it would be better to curl up in the hedgerow and wait for daylight. At this rate, she might easily walk into that woman and not know until it was too late. The ground was damp and prickly – she’d slept on worse.
Marinda had found the barn further along the road. She was fairly confident that her shadow-assassin had fallen back and stopped for the night, but she took a moment to pull together some scattered straw behind a long-abandoned vehicle. Once she was confident that she was well hidden, she settled down to doze through the night.
The corner of the matchbox pressed into her hip, and she leaned into it rather than shifting. She wondered about setting fire to the barn now – that would get things moving – but regretfully rejected the idea. Better to wait until dawn and be fully prepared. She still held the element of surprise.