The Road to Winter by Mark Smith

Author:Mark Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2016-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

The first hour or so isn’t too bad. We’re still on the road. I can feel the even surface under my feet and we move at a good pace. No one is saying much, but every now and again Harry asks how I’m going. Tusker and Jack have either dropped back behind us or they’re out in front, maybe scouting for danger. I can’t hear their footsteps.

Harry starts talking low, like he doesn’t want the others to hear. ‘How do you know this girl, this Kas?’ he asks.

If he is anything like my dad, he’ll be able to tell when I’m lying, so I need to stick pretty close to the truth without giving too much away.

‘Her brother turned up on the coast a few days ago,’ I say. ‘He was being chased by Wilders.’

‘Her brother?’

‘Yeah. Tom. He’d done something to them back in Longley and they tracked him to the coast.’

‘I thought there was no one down there—on the coast, I mean.’

‘There’s not. It was quarantined early on.’

‘You got family?’

‘Had. All dead,’ I say. ‘Dad went first, then Mum. Got no brothers or sisters.’

‘And you’ve survived how long?’

‘I dunno. Maybe two years.’

‘That’s pretty right. We’ve been trying to keep track of time, but the seasons aren’t what they used to be. Long summers. Wild winters.’

We’ve fallen into an easy conversation, but I know he’s still trying to suss me out.

‘The coast’s changed too,’ I say. ‘The king tides come right up and flood the rivers and swamps.’

Harry goes quiet. Maybe he suspects I’m not telling him everything.

‘This fella, Tom,’ he says after a while, ‘where is he now?’

‘Down on the coast. He didn’t want to travel north again.’

‘So why are you so keen to find his sister?’

I’m painting myself into a corner. I have to think fast.

‘He saved my life,’ I say. ‘Saved me from Ramage.’

‘So now you have to find his sister? Is she on the run from Ramage too?’

‘I guess so.’

‘Strange that Ramage would worry about a boy and not go after the girl.’

I can tell he’s getting more and more suspicious. But just as I’m trying to work out what to say next, I hear a sharp whistle and Harry pulls me off the side of the road into the bush. He’s got his hand in my back and he’s pushing me down onto the ground.

‘Stay quiet,’ he says, urgent.

I hear heavy, shuffling footsteps and the squeaking of wheels. Low voices. Harry breathing, close to my ear. We stay down as the voices gradually drop away.

‘Drifters,’ he says. ‘There’s still a few of them on the roads. Just men and boys. There were only five in that group. Looked half starved and edgy. There’s nothing we can do for them.’

There’s shuffling in the bush behind us and I hear two heavy bodies drop to the ground. I recognise Tusker’s voice.

‘We’ll never get there pulling this kid blind,’ he snarls.

‘Nearly time to leave the road anyway,’ Harry says. ‘We’ll wait here till dark, then move on.’

Harry takes off the blindfold and undoes the rope around my wrists.

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