04.05.2275
Emma
It was an unusually solemn meeting that night at the Den. Everyone seemed to be realising the full scale of what they were doing now, and the reality of their situation was hitting them all at once. Whatever happened after this, their lives would change forever and, even more significantly, they could alter the entire course of history. Whether that was for better or worse would all depend on their actions over the course of the next few days.
Emma sat on a table by the door, rubbing the heart-shaped stone on her necklace and trying to feel anchored to reality whilst staring absent-mindedly at the wall. She hadn’t been able to break out of her state of numb stupefaction since she’d got inside.
Aaron walked in and sat down next to her with a heavy sigh, and Emma studied his face. He looked just as dazed and vaguely miserable as the rest of them. It was horribly disconcerting.
Vivienne finished the equipment check and let out a heavy breath that sounded so final and decisive that Emma raised her gaze to look at her expectantly. Vivienne gazed back with tired eyes. She looked exhausted, and they hadn’t even started the journey yet. She must have had a hard time saying goodbye to her Mum, Emma realised. She knew the two of them were very close, and she’d gotten to know Vivienne’s Mum quite well herself over the years. There wouldn’t have been an argument about why Vivienne had to leave, but it can’t have been easy for either of them to let her go. Emma conjured a small smile for her, and her face softened slightly.
Eventually, James was the one to break through the melancholic fog.
“I’ve looked at a map,” he began, his voice sounding oddly distorted in the muffled quiet of the room. “Of Dystopia, I mean. Not the one to The Author. Well, I looked at that one too actually, so I could plot the route, but that’s not the point, and, um, yeah. I’ve plotted the route.” He unzipped a pocket at the top of his Aaron-sized backpack and tugged the aforementioned map out of it, spreading it out on a table and gesturing for everyone to gather around it. Once everyone could see, he began his explanation.
“The way I’ve plotted sets off in a North-Easterly direction, following the train route that ultimately leads out of the country to Icenca’s capital, Alenia. Obviously we don’t need to go that far, so we’ll stop at Ioptein.” He pointed to it on the map. “The train stops there for a whole day because of the current Script-less terror the country’s swimming in, so we won’t be able to get off until 10pm tomorrow. After that, we’re relying on the compass to keep us going North-East through the forest until we reach the meadow. Then we walk along the edge of another forest until we reach the right part of the coast.”
He stepped back and let out a large sigh, hands folded across his chest. Emma didn’t have a clue how he’d learned how to use a map and a compass by himself, overnight, but then she realised almost instantly that Vivienne must have been planning the route with him. She glanced over at her girlfriend and watched the way the dull glow of the fairy lights made her hair look golden and fiery. It was nice to imagine her and James working together, and getting along. It made her feel hopeful.
Aaron’s hand waved from the other side of the table.
“Yes?”
“Well, I was just wondering, how do we know which part of the coast to head for? The map in The Origins is only of The Author’s island, not of the whole country.”
Vivienne nodded. “Before James got to plotting the route, I was able to match the small section of coast detailed on The Origins’ map to a section in line with the border between Dystopia and Icenca,” she said, pointing to it with a finger. “It’s pretty far North of Parchment, but it shouldn’t take us more than about half a week to get there.”
“Blimey,” Aaron muttered. “That’s like, what, twenty… twenty four miles? Probably longer, considering none of us have experience in hiking at all, and haven’t been out of Parchment since we were seven.”
Not quite none of us, Emma thought. Vivienne had been on a small number of adventures with her mother outside of the city under the cover of darkness. To Emma’s knowledge, she was the only one who knew. Not because the trips were a secret or because they weren’t allowed, but because they were the sort of thing that only came up in the midst of a long conversation about the mundane, held for the enjoyment of another person’s company, and Emma was the only one Vivienne talked to like that.
Aaron folded his arms over his chest and shook his head, chewing the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. “That’s a lot of walking,” he said, examining the map.
“Yup.”
“Well, if any of you don’t feel you’re up to it…” James shrugged.
Aaron looked up, his eyes widening a fraction at the implication. “No, no, I’m fine, I’m just… contemplating,” he said, decisively.
“Uh-huh.” Emma raised an eyebrow.
A vaguely hurt look made its way onto Aaron’s face. “What?”
“Doesn’t matter,” James dismissed. “If we want to catch tonight’s train then we need to be at the platform in… approximately fifteen minutes.”
Emma stared at him. “James!” she exclaimed, horrified.
He blinked. “Yeah?”
“It takes at least twelve of those fifteen to get to the station, nevermind buying our tickets, which I’m sure you haven’t done yet—” a look at his guilty face confirmed her suspicions, “—and then there’s—oh, for Saints’ sake, we haven’t got time for this!” She heaved her bag onto her back and rushed to the door, throwing it open with a loud bang and a wooden groan as it collided with the wall.
She glanced behind her at the others, who were still standing around the table and looking confused. She gestured frantically outside the door. “Come on, there’s no time to waste, we need to go, now!”
They hurried out of the door and Emma locked it shut behind them, jogging to the front of the group to join James and then speed-walking past him when she decided he was going too slowly.
They hurried through Parchment’s lamp lit streets, drawing a few curious glances as they went, but not nearly as many as Emma expected. Everyone they encountered was more interested in their own purposes than anyone else’s. The glimmering light of the stars poked pinholes in the sky above them, watching them wind between the tall limestone buildings in private judgement.
There was a strong sense of purpose running through the city, alongside the fear and uncertainty. Everyone seemed to have a motive, whether that was to flee to the countryside, visit a family member, or simply to do the weekly food shop before all the groceries and toilet paper was gone, and this meant there was an intense focus in the movement of the crowds. The rivers of hover cars moved steadily and quickly and the magnetic rails of the maglev trains hummed as they shot between the buildings, and Emma could see from the flashing faces peering through the windows that more or less all carriages were full. The city was alive, and it was keenly aware of the fact.
Twelve minutes of awkward speed-walking later, they reached the station. James led them all to the screen in the platform wall and selected their tickets, his fingers flying deftly across it.
“Come on, hurry up, we’re going to miss it!” Emma hissed nervously in his ear, switching her weight from foot to foot in agitation.
“I know!” James snapped. He swiped the credit chip in his watch across the scanner, waiting for it to accept the payment. Emma’s hand tapped impatiently against her thigh.
At last, the screen flashed green. James snatched up the tickets from the dispenser and handed them out, and Emma took hers and tucked it into the zippable pocket in her jacket.
“How come I’m the only one with a child’s ticket?” Aaron complained, eyebrows furrowed.
“Because, Aaron, you only get an adult’s ticket once you turn sixteen,” Vivienne explained with a smirk.
“Awww, poor ickle Aaron,” Emma teased, pinching his cheeks. “Still an ickle baby.” Aaron pushed her away, muttering grumpily. There was always time to tease people, even at the end of the world.
“Come on,” James reminded them, frowning across the station. “We’ve got to get to platform three, the train leaves in two minutes. Let’s get moving!”
They ran up and over the bridge over the rails like a huddle of penguins, waddle-running as fast as they could under the ungainly weight of their backpacks. The train doors began to close as soon as they reached the platform and Emma started to sprint, knowing there wasn’t much chance she could make it but finding it entirely unacceptable to admit it.
She reached the train first and jumped through the door just as it closed.
“Come on, hurry!” she shouted, waving frantically and repeatedly pressing the open button in an effort to delay the train’s departure. James was closest and he quickly leapt on the train and took a seat, staring out the window as the others ran after them. Emma’s heart pounded. They’re not going to make it, they’re not going to make it, oh shit they’re not going to—
“Emma! James!”
Emma whipped her head around sharply. No way. It couldn’t be… but there she was, running after the train just as desperately as Aaron and Vivienne, her handbag flying out behind her.
“Mum? What are you doing!”
“I’m…I’m coming with you!” her Mum yelled, running as fast as she could after the group. Emma’s heart clenched.
“Emma, you can’t let her on,” Vivienne said firmly, grabbing her wrist. Emma looked at her fiercely, still pressing the open button by the door.
“I can’t leave her,” she hissed. “She’s my Mum.”
Vivienne watched her helplessly, her voice soft as she muttered, “Emma, she’s only got a handbag. We didn’t bring enough food for five people, and we can’t afford to stop and buy more. Even if we could find enough supplies for the extra person, she… She’d try to stop us.”
Emma shook her head desperately, watching her Mum’s silk scarf untie itself from her neck and blow away behind her as she sprinted after the accelerating train. Emma swallowed. “We could talk to her, make her see that we’re doing the right thing. She doesn’t love the Scripts as much as my Dad, it wouldn’t be so hard, and—”
“Emma. Emma. Look at me.”
Emma tore her eyes away, angrily wiping a tear off her cheek. Vivienne’s eyes were full of sympathy, but the message in them was clear.
Emma screwed her eyes shut and held her breath down in the back of her throat. “She’s going to hate me for this,” she whispered. She let go of the button, hearing a quiet hiss as the doors closed. When she opened her eyes, she stared out of the window at her Mum, whose usually immaculate hair was wild and messy from running, and her heart tore. She’d never seen her look so wounded.
She felt Vivienne pull her into her chest and sagged into the hug, burying her face into her shoulder and sobbing. She hated herself for this. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair.
“She’ll be okay,” Vivienne whispered, holding her tightly. Emma felt her fingers wind through her hair. “It’s all going to be okay.”
Emma kept crying, pressing her face into the growing damp patch on the soft fabric of Vivienne’s hoodie, and really wished she could believe her.