Tunnels 06 - Terminal

sculpture than a human being. ‘Yes …’ she growled, ‘… you!’
    But as she finished speaking, a flood of lacteous saliva slopped over her black lip.
    Not taking his eyes from her, the boy inclined his head and made a coarse noise as if he was vomiting, then swaggered away. He knew he was still in earshot as he added, ‘Gross old minger.’
    Hermione quickly put her hand to her mouth, not to wipe it, but to make sure the fleshy tube twitching like a snake inside her cheeks wasn’t about to show itself. She turned to one of the Limiters behind her. ‘I don’t know what it is with children these days – they show no respect,’ she said. ‘Make a note that I want to teach that little brat a lesson myself, will you? I’ve got a grub with his name on it.’
    The Styx soldier gave a small nod to show that he understood.
    As she caught the jaunty tune coming from the mall’s speakers, she cocked her head to one side. ‘Is that that The Girl From Ipanema ?’ she asked. It was so upbeat and at odds with the fluorescent-lit scene of despair around her that she was unable to stifle a laugh as she began to head towards a retail unit at the far end of the shopping centre, outside which another pair of Limiters were waiting. As soon as they saw her, they pulled up the shutter so that she could enter. She strode through the front of the empty shop and straight into the storeroom at the rear.
    On some packing crates, Rebecca Two was sitting very close to Captain Franz. The instant that the girl realised someone had come into the room, she quickly pulled away from him.
    Hermione stood inside the doorway, shaking her head disapprovingly.
    As Captain Franz got to his feet, there was a distant look in his eyes that spoke of many sessions with the Dark Light. He’d been provided with a Styx Limiter’s long black leather coat and, with his strikingly blond hair, Hermione would have been the first to admit that he was extremely handsome. But the problem was that he happened to be human.
    ‘We’re moving out. Come along,’ Hermione said. She marched through to a door at the back of the storage room and hammered on it. It opened immediately and, with Rebecca Two, her captain and the two Limiters following behind, she stormed outside into the darkness.
    The only sound was the tapping of Hermione’s heels on the pavement as she led them at some speed through a succession of streets. They hadn’t yet reached their destination when she beckoned Rebecca Two to come alongside her.
    ‘Did I just catch you canoodling with that New Germanian? You weren’t holding his hand, were you?’ she demanded.
    ‘Er … yes, I was,’ Rebecca Two admitted sheepishly.
    Hermione was shaking her head again as she walked briskly down the darkened road. ‘You’re not even fourteen yet. Do you think th—’
    Rebecca Two tried to interrupt, but Hermione wasn’t having it. ‘No, you listen to me,’ she said. ‘I know you’re going to tell me you’re a Styx so your age in human years is irrelevant. And looking at you now,’ she cast her eyes over Rebecca Two beside her, ‘you’re very much a young woman. But at the end of the day, he’s not one of us – he’s a human. And to cap it all, his poor little human brain has been conditioned so many times that he’s been zombified.’
    ‘I know all that,’ Rebecca Two said.
    Hermione waited for the girl to continue, and when she didn’t she went on, ‘I’m only watching out for you. We’re in the same boat, you know. Even if it hasn’t been confirmed yet, we both know that we’ve lost our sisters, our twins. We both know it in our bones. We can feel that emptiness inside us as if something’s missing, that pain of separation.’
    They came to the Victorian church, and a Limiter rushed ahead to push open the large oak door for them. Inside, luminescent orbs had been set up around the walls, and there were many more Limiters. One of them had a man lying curled up on the ground by his feet.
    ‘Who’s that?’ Hermione asked.
    ‘The vicar. He was hiding in the vestry when we arrived,’ the Limiter replied. ‘He’s been trying to keep people out of his church.’
    ‘How very Christian of him,’ Hermione said, peering quizzically at the man. ‘So he’s unconscious?’
    ‘No, he’s not.’ The Limiter kicked the man. He gave a small cry and curled up even tighter, then broke into a torrent of mumbled prayers.
    ‘Ah, excellent. I feel the urge.’ Hermione shucked off