Page 310 of Alchemised
She was in command. She had a stupid slip of paper declaring it.
“We’ll evacuate,” she said, not caring whether the nullium was supposed to be contained down-island. It would be worse if the Undying got hold of all their casualties. “We won’t go into Headquarters, but if we get close enough, they might not pursue. If the Council minds, they can blame me.”
A flurry of activity followed as bodies were prepared for transfer. Helena went and commandeered all the lorries, using the crumpled slip of paper that named her as head of the nullium ward as proof of legitimacy.
They crammed as many bodies as possible into the lorries. Dead at the bottom, injured on top. A medic or nurse departed with each lorry.
The wait for their return felt interminable as they readied group after group.
They could hear the fighting. Fire glowed through the smog. Whistles kept sounding on all sides, like a signal of wolves closing in, except it wasn’t night; the world was red.
Helena’s muscles were burning from lifting, over and over. The bodies never seemed to stop. She and one other medic were left, even though there were still wounded and more bodies that they had to get out.
“I’ll stay,” he said. “Take this one.”
Helena shook her head. “I’m lead. I go last.”
He stepped back, thumping the lorry.
“I’ll wait with you, then,” he said.
She could only see his eyes, and they were crusted all around until they were black with dust.
He reminded her of Luc.
“No,” she said quickly, looking away. “Go, that’s an order.”
She watched him swing up into the cab next to the driver as the lorry pulled away, driving carefully through the debris. She could just barely make out the Alchemy Tower in the distance. The flame at the top like a small sun.
The lorry stopped.
Helena squinted through the dust, trying to make out why. There was another lorry approaching, swerving back and forth so that the departing lorry couldn’t pass it.
Suddenly the approaching lorry sped up, and Helena could see through the dust enough to make out the bloated grey face of the driver.
The Resistance lorry’s wheels screamed as it went into a rapid reverse, but rubble scattered across the road prevented evasion. The approaching lorry crashed into it head-on.
There was a bright flash.
CHAPTER 59
Junius 1787
HELENA LAY SQUINTING, STRUGGLING TO SEE, BUT everything was dim, blurring. When she tried to breathe, pain radiated through her, so sudden it jolted her back into consciousness. She clutched her chest, trying to draw breath, but she couldn’t.
What had happened? She couldn’t remember. She fought to breathe, and a low whistling sound came from somewhere. Then it all rushed back. The lorries, they crashed and—
There must have been another bomb.
She struggled, trying to pull herself up.
She tried to spot the explosion, but the landscape was wrong. Where was the road? There was just fire and a crater.
Agony bloomed through her. Her vision turned red.
A whistling sound like a boiling kettle kept coming from somewhere. She tried to find it and realised it was coming from her throat.
She moved cautiously. If she’d damaged her spine—
