Runaway Skies by Simon Doyle

Author:Simon Doyle [Simon Doyle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nightsgale Books
Published: 2023-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

17

Kai

It made sense now, Caleb’s need to volunteer at the transplant centre. Kai should have made the connection before, but as he followed Caleb down the corridor and they waited by the bank of elevators, he didn’t know how to find the words he needed.

Caleb pushed the call button, and they stood in silence. The lift arrived and a young woman got out carrying a bouquet of flowers, and when they stepped in, Caleb pressed the top floor button, and the only sound was the whir of the motor.

Crossing the narrow corridor between closed ward rooms, Kai said, “Where are we going?”

Caleb didn’t answer him.

They looked ridiculous in their elf costumes and pointed hats, but Kai trusted him as he followed behind.

Caleb led him to a stairwell at the far end of the ward and before opening the door to go up, he looked around to make sure no one was watching. They took the six steps to a metal fire door, and Caleb opened it without fear of any alarms going off.

They stepped outside.

The sun was setting and the sky was dark, but the rooftop was sheltered from the Christmas winds by a generator block at their backs.

Kai stood at the wall and looked across the Dublin skyline. He could see the Monument of Light in the distance, the tall spire that rose almost four hundred feet into the night and, beyond that, the purple sky was turning black.

“Wow.”

Caleb stood beside him, closer than he needed to, and said, “Who knew Dublin could be so pretty, right?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“The first time I came up here was a week after my transplant. One of the volunteers brought me up when I was feeling sorry for myself. And I looked at the city below and realised I was such a small cog in a very big machine.”

“What happened?” Kai asked.

“Not here. Come.”

He followed Caleb around the rooftop. Across from them, the small lights that circled the helipad blinked in a relentless pulse. Behind the brick generator building, Kai watched as Caleb opened a service door. He pulled out a blanket and spread it on the rooftop between the wall of the generator and a huge fibreglass water tank. The rain had passed.

Caleb said, “There are enough provisions up here to stave off the apocalypse. We’ve got blankets, bottles of water, ancient paperback novels, Playboy magazines from the early 2000s, and even an old kettle. Not that there’s anywhere to plug it in. Either the nurses don’t have a clue, or they know about this place and don’t stop it, but kids have been coming up here since forever.”

A brisk wind tore over the rooftop and toyed with the blanket until Caleb knelt on it to hold it down.

He lay on his back. “Here. Come down beside me. Jayne and I have this thing we do.”

Kai shivered. The elf costume was a thin material and he wished he’d brought his coat. “What are we doing up here?”

“You wanted the truth.”

“Yes.”

“So, lie down beside me.

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