21

The week passed peacefully. Amber was rather secretive about her progress, but seemed to be permanently delighted whenever Ghost saw her, so that was good. He used the time to get familiar with the feel of the theatre. It was strange how different places had their own distinctive feeling. If you could take away the bricks and mortar, there was still something left. Genus loci, they used to call it, the spirit of the place. Gradually he got to know his way around. The Harlequins kept themselves to themselves and he was happy to leave it like that for the time being.

On reflection he’d decided not to run just yet, though mentally he now had one eye on the door. Wherever he went, sooner or later he’d get embroiled in larger matters. It was just the way of the world at the moment. At least he trusted the Guardians he knew. And maybe if he could just survive long enough, the world would change again to a place where he could be left in peace. Maybe. In the meantime he needed resources to help him survive.

As he sat watching the sun set in the park, Amber came bounding up to him clutching something proudly.

“Look what I got!” she held out a whip for his inspection.

This was nothing like the practice version they’d made. This was a weapon made by someone who knew what they were doing. These days too many people went for fancy designs; jewels, dragons, gold leaf and the such-like. Sure they looked pretty, but they tended to cause all sorts of problems just when you really didn’t want them too. Pieces snapped off, or got caught, or just plain slipped out of your grasp. By contrast this whip didn’t stand out. It wasn’t pure black, more a mottled black and dark brown, almost like a snake. No sharp edges to cause problems and the wrapping on the handle looked like it was easy to grip. Ghost suspected it was perfectly balanced too.

“Cool,” he replied.

“Want to see what I can do with it?” her eyes gleamed.

Ghost knew it wasn’t a question. Well at least there was a fair amount of room around them. He nodded.

Although he didn’t really know much about whips, even he could tell that Amber had improved a lot. No doubt the weapon she had was helping, but still her movements were much more fluid and tightly controlled. The whip seemed to be going pretty much where she wanted it to, rather than her previous style of it getting there eventually after having exhausted all other possible avenues.


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20

There was something about the smell of freshly dug earth that Ghost found comforting. He’d never been able to figure out why exactly. One of the mysteries of the human mind. There was no lighting in the tunnel, but daylight illuminated the beginning of it. They followed it for a few hundred feet and it turned sharply. Now he could see the end of the tunnel lit up by artificial light, presumably from the theatre itself. The tunnel itself was still dark for another hundred yards, but he’d gotten the feel of the floor by now and continued walking confidently with Silver.

They emerged in what looked like one of the changing rooms for actors. Although Ghost had been to the theatre before, he’d never been backstage. Silver gestured around with her arm like an estate agent showing off a new property. It wasn’t the tidiest of rooms. Old jars of make-up lay around and there was dust on the mirrors, not to mention a certain amount of fresh earth that had been tracked into the carpet.

Silver lead him out to the corridor and towards the stage. It was a strange feeling being back here. One of those places you weren’t supposed to be for most people, and yet conversely for the people who worked there, a perfectly natural (albeit usually somewhat stressful) place to be.

Ghost took in the surroundings. Faded notes were still pinned to the walls. “You mentioned custodians?” he prompted.

“Ah, yes. The Harlequins.” She led him up a flight of stairs to the back of the stage. There were wires hanging down seemingly randomly, various props left from productions of the past loosely piled up together. She nodded to the stage itself. A troupe of men and women were silently practicing acrobatics. Not “dodging incoming weaponry” or “swinging out of zombie infested buildings” acrobatics. What they were doing was very much an art form. They wore brightly coloured clothes and their faces were hidden behind ornate masks. They as one, no matter what position they were in, they turned and tumbled once towards him, each ending in a graceful bow, before returning to what they had been doing.

Silver lead him down the side of the stage and through the auditorium. Some of the Harlequins were merrily using the seats as part of their practice, nimbly leaping and balancing on them.

“Harlequins?” Ghost asked. “Think of them as modern day ninja, but focused on information rather than violence. With the right invitations they can perform almost anywhere. They’re masters of disguise and as they’re careful not to let anyone see anything recognizable, or even be sure how many of them there are, with the right clothes it’s easy for them to slip unnoticed into the audience. Perfect if you want to get information in or out of a place. It’s pretty easy for them to include codes into their performances too. They’re the epitome of hiding in plain sight.” She smiled proudly.

Ghost paused to let this sink in. Another very generous gift.

“Of course you probably don’t have any real use for them at the moment,” she paused to watch his reaction, but might as well have tried to decipher the feelings of a cloud “but in the long term…”

Ghost kept his face calm and nodded, but inside he was considering running far, far, away. He was getting well out of his depth here. He knew Silver had long term plans – she had to, being a Guardian. But that meant she was playing in a game with some very serious people. The image of giants crushing ants underfoot entered his mind again.

“And of course lots of space for Amber to practice in,” she finished with a grin.

Ghost smiled. “And more excuses for us to visit and drink your tea.”

“Well that wouldn’t hurt either,” she nudged his shoulder with the side of her face. “C’mon I’ll show you the rest of this place.”

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19

Ghost groaned. Ever since Amber had seen that blasted film she had been fascinated with whips. Granted they had the potential to be useful in a world where bullets were in short supply and buildings were often falling apart. The problem was they were a lot harder to use than they looked. And much harder than it looked on film. They’d finally compromised on a sort of safe version that she practiced with in what had once been a spare room and currently looked like ghouls had taken up residence. His main concern was simply that she didn’t take out her own eye by accident.

“Kayta,” Silver said with a triumphant smile.

The look of dismay on Ghost’s face was promptly explained for one of disbelief. Kayta was pretty much an Urban Legend. As such he didn’t know how much was true and how much was the result of people “improving” the stories with each telling. Still, even allowing for that her skills with a whip were impressive. If she would spend even an hour with Amber there might be hope.

“A week.” Silver grinned. It was rare to see Ghost’s mind spin and she savoured the moment.

“A week?!” Getting Kayta here at all would have required some major favours to be called in. An hour’s lesson with her was like gold dust. Probably even more valuable he reflected, as unlike some weapon masters she didn’t normally teach. But a week? Suddenly he was very glad the cd was in Silver’s possession and not his responsibility any more.

“I have something for you too,” Silver continued to smile.

“More?” Ghost took a large drink of his tea.

“You know the old theatre between the Library and here?”

Ghost nodded. He’d been there a few times when he was younger.

“It’s yours.”

For the second time Ghost’s mind span. “Mine?”

“I know you, always having multiple places to run to when you need them. There’s a tunnel from here to there so you can move back and forward undetected. There’s also plenty of space there for Amber to practice, assuming you tell her about it of course. Everyone thinks it’s empty and what with the Librarians, wandering zombies and me, no-one’s interested in taking it. It does however come with custodians so you don’t need to worry about defending it.”

Ghost managed to salvage enough of his wits not to look in the direction of the cd and gently took a deep breath. Things were changing. He knew from experience that it was dangerous being around when giants fought. Often they didn’t notice the ants scampering around underfoot, and crushed them without a second thought.

“Thank-you,” he said with a smile of his own.

Silver put her arm around his and led him towards the tunnel.

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18

There was the sharp sound of gunfire behind them from the Library. But nothing struck them. Silver appeared in front of them and looked relieved.

“Nothing to worry about,” she smiled “just the Librarians cleaning up the mess of zombies you just made. Come and have some tea, it’ll calm your nerves.”

Tea sounded like a good idea to Ghost. He really hated the after-effects on adrenaline and how long it took for the effect to wear off leaving him to feel his normal calm self again. Amber was slightly flushed from the running and the aldrenaline made it impossible for her to sit still.

The tea helped though. Ghost wasn’t entirely sure what was in it, but he trusted Silver.and it made him feel much better. It would probably calm Amber down too, he mused, if she would actually get around to drinking it instead of pacing all over the place.

“So, did you get it?” Silver asked gently.

Amber patted her left pocket. There was a look of quiet panic in her eyes as she found it was empty. As she started to frantically search her pockets, Ghost stood up in one fluid motion and without so much as spilling his tea and calmly reached towards her. “Calm down” he said softly. The air around her coat blurred slightly as he reached into one of the pockets and snapped back into focus as he pulled out the cd. He smiled.

Amber breathed a sigh of relief and went back to pacing.

He handed to over to Silver. She opened it and carefully removed the cd. Then she paused.

“It’s very important it’s not been scratched at any point” she said softly.

Ghost nodded. The cd blurred for a moment and then looked normal again. Silver turned it over and examined the back of it with a smile. Carefully she put it back in its case.

“So do you two have any more plans for today?” she asked brightly.

“Well I think Amber’s planning on wearing her own little path into your ground,” Ghost teased “but otherwise, no.”

A few seconds later he saw Amber‘s distracted look replaced with a more pointed look in his direction as she realized what he’d said.

“Well in that case I have something a little more productive for you to do, if you want?” she smiled mischievously at Amber.

Amber tilted her head to one side questioning, a sending her hair tumbling down over her shoulder. Silver nodded up towards the where the children’s playground had once been and tried to look innocent. With a shrug, Amber headed off towards it knowing she was perfectly safe there. Ghost went to follow, but Silver shook her head.

“Just her. For you I have to apologize, kinda.”

Ghost knew that look. “What have you done?” he asked quietly dreading the answer.

“Well I hear she’s been rather interested in whips as of late…”

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17

“So much for plans,” Ghost reflected.

He handed his shotgun to Amber and started rummaging through his rucksack. She started to reload. The rucksack shifted slightly out of focus as Ghost looked for a reality where he’d decided that that no-one with any sense ever went anywhere without a forty foot length of rope. He found it and pulled the rope out. Fortunately he’d already tied off one end into a lasso – after all it was pretty likely if he needed rope that he’d need to tie it to something.

“Time for running away,” he declared.

Still howling, the zombies started to slowly surge towards them en masse.

Ghost turned towards the back of the shop and started running towards it. Amber handed him his shotgun as they ran. Looking closely at the rusting beams that made up the windows, he levelled it at a particularly worn area and fired twice, gouging a section out of it.

“Take out the window,” he said and looped the end of the rope over the remaining metal section.

Trying not to think about the baying horde behind her, Amber fired her two shots into the glass. Spiderwebs formed through it but it didn't break. They both reloaded. It was a difficult balance to strike. Adrenaline made fine motor control actions like loading a shotgun remarkably difficult. Go too fast and it was impossible. On the other hand they didn't have a great deal of time either.

The zombies reached the end of their aisle. Amber fired again at the window, whilst Ghost discharged his shots into the knees of the closest zombies. They fell forward, but continued clawing and crawling towards them. Fortunately the zombies behind them promptly tripped over them and for a moment there was a large pile of bodies and limbs chaotically thrashing around. Amber swore. The glass still hadn't given way. Ghost handed her the rope.

“You worry too much,” he smiled and tipped up a CD rack placing it at an angle over them, the top leaning against the stubborn window as they crouched down. They heard the crunching sounds of the zombies continued forwards over the two on the floor. Amber could smell the stench as the ones at the front began to attack the rack. However the rest continued to surge forwards pressing them into the rack. There was an ominous sound as the window finally shattered under their combined weight. As the rack collapsed on top of them, Ghost wrapped his free arm around her waist and leapt out of the window.

They arced briefly through the air and stopped momentarily a few feet above the ground. The sudden stop jerked the rope out of Amber's hands and they fell to the pavement.

“Move!” Still holding onto her, Ghost half-helped, half-dragged her to her feet and started running. Behind them the rack fell out of the remains of the window smashing to pieces on the ground, followed by an avalanche of zombies. The first ones were almost instantly killed by the fall, but gradually their corpses started to form a cushion for the ones that followed.

“And now the running Silver mentioned.” He checked she was on her feet and then they were running. They tore down what had once been the High Street, slowing as much as they dared as they passed the Library and then dashed into what they hoped was the safety of the Park.


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16

Ghost held his hands one on top of the other. The area above them blurred in a roughly sword-like shape and he cut through the zombie with it. For a moment, it doubled over. Ghost used it as an impromptu step from which to leap over the rack to Amber. They both noticed that the zombies were inexorably beginning to gather around the still twitching body.

“There can't be a good sign,” Amber muttered.
“It is however, clearing out the rest of the shop quite well,” Ghost mused. “may as well take advantage of it while it lasts.”

They headed over to the Alternative section, which was indeed much smaller and contained only a lone akinny zombie in a disturbingly short skirt staring fixedly at something in its hands.

“Okay the ‘A’s are over here so we want to be…” her voice trailed off “you've got to be kidding me.”

Ghost followed her line of sight to the zombie. “There?” he asked.

“Where else?” she replied.

The zombie showed no signs of moving away.

“You cover me, and I'll reach over and try and find it.” Amber said handing him the two shotguns. Ghost levelled them at the zombie, being careful to keep an eye on the rest of the shop. Carefully Amber reached over the dividing rack, shuffling herself forward on stomach until she could reach.

“It's not here either,” Amber said as she finished searching through the CDs for the second time. As she slowly she started to pull herself back she saw what was in its hands. “Oh great, it's got it.”

By this time almost only a few zombies hadn't joined the crowd. For a moment, Ghost found himself wondering what you called a group of zombies? A hoarde, maybe. Strange the things the mind focuses on.

“I don't think this is going to go well,” he said softly.

“Plans?” she asked hopefully.

“On three, grab the CD and keep your head down. One, two,” the zombie turned to stare at him. Amber grabbed the CD and ducked. The zombie’s reverie disintegrated into anger as synapses blazed a broken symphony through its mind and it became to howl its outrage. “Three,” both shotguns fired point-blank into its face. Its arms continued to reach out for a moment. Amber rolled to her left wriggling herself off the rack. It fell forward crashing into the cds sending them spilling everywhere.

Amber got to her feet and Ghost calmly handed her back her shotgun as she slipped the CD into one of the inner pockets of her jacket.

“So far so…” she was interrupted by another howl which was swiftly taken up by the entire hoard of zombies. Outside the shop she could hear it spreading through the Mall like wildfire.



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15

The music shop was more or less intact. Fortunately the wall of the shop that formed the end of the Mall had kept to the stained glass motif and even with the dirt and muck that had built up over the years, sunlight still managed to light up the store quite well. Zombies wandered seemingly aimlessly between the rows of CDs. This time though, it was easier to slip past them, moving through the empty rows and occasionally backtracking when they randomly changed direction.

“Does it come under ‘E’ or ‘S’ ?” Amber asked softly. “Probably ‘S’,” Ghost replied. After checking that there was a clear area around him for the moment he glanced through some of the CDs and nodded. “They’re organised by surname. This is the ‘H’ section.” As an afterthought he added “I hope she’s under popular music. I really don't want to have to search through all the categories looking for her.”

Amber nodded. “This is ‘F’ so I think we need to be over there.”

They both started to weave their way over to the right section. Amber reached it first. Ghost raised his shotgun to give her cover and carefully judged the timing and movements of the nearby zombies.

“Ok, now,” he said.

She quickly started searching through the CDs. “Great, it's not where it should be,” she muttered and silently cursed whoever hadn’t taken the time to put it back in exactly the right place. She moved to the beginning of the section and started flipping through the CDs.

As she neared the end, she heard Ghost curse. As she turned, she saw both a tall, lanky zombie approaching her and Ghost vaulting over one rack. He leapt up onto the rack that separated them and jumped off it bringing the butt of his shotgun down on its head with a sickening crunch. It fell backwards to the carpetted floor twitching and convulsing, black, sticky ichor spreading in a pool around it. He pointed his shotgun at it but didn't fire.

Amber looked carefully around, but so far their actions continued to go unnoticed. Quickly she rifled through the remaining CDs.
“It’s not here,” she said and headed back to the beginning of the section and started checking again.

“Oh great,” Ghost replied. “Summers Day. What do you think, jazz, blues, alternative?”

“All of the above?” She'd reached the end of the section again. “Which one’s nearest?”

Ghost tried to remember the layout but it has been a long time since he’d been here last. “I think Alternative was just over there. At least it's a much smaller section.”

A redheaded zombie that was probably female wandered over to them, and despite having two shotguns directed at its head, was apparently fascinated with the pool of black ichor. Slowly they backed away from it, as another zombie, this one dressed in a heavily stained business suit started to walk down the other end of the aisle blocking them in. Amber looked questioningly at Ghost and waited patiently for him to sort through different realities.

He handed her his shotgun and then cupped his hands together for her to step into, boosting her up and over the rack in a graceful leap. Then he froze in place. The zombie walked calmly up to him, staring through him into the distance. It tried to keep walking, gently bumping into him repeatedly, its fetid breath in his face. Ten seconds passed by, twenty, thirty; Amber looked around anxiously. Forty seconds.

“Ghost,” there was a warning note in her voice “more are coming towards you.”


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