Read Online Resurgence by Kerry Wilkinson - Free Book Online Page A

through which we passed, and in front I can see the water trickling into the distance. The walls are charred and blackened and there are piles of
ash scattered around the spot where we landed. Hart must be struggling to adjust because he stretches out to take Jela’s hand before she pushes him in the direction of Pietra, who is rubbing
her back. Opie is flat on the floor, allowing the water to run along his back.
    As I crouch by him, I realise his eyes are closed. I brush a strand of hair away from his face, stroking his cheek, whispering his name. Slowly he opens his eyes but he doesn’t move and
continues to stare up at the chute.
    I am surprised at the gentleness of my own voice. ‘Everyone saw how brave he was.’
    Opie blinks, letting me know he has heard. Behind us Hart says something about finding out where we are and I hear him, Jela and Pietra edging away. I suspect they realise we need a few moments
alone.
    Somewhere beyond, there is a steady dripping. It could be a few minutes that pass, it could be seconds, but I listen to the gentle plops, waiting for Opie to break the silence.
    When he does, it’s not what I expect: ‘Do you know the words to the national anthem?’
    ‘Of course. We were taught it at school.’
    Opie pushes himself up so he is resting on his elbows. ‘I knew it before then. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know it. I assume my dad taught it to me when I was a kid.
Whenever the screens would come on and the anthem would start, he’d yell after me and my brothers, telling us to stand up. He took everything like that really seriously. One time he smacked
Imp in the back of the head because he wasn’t standing straight enough.’
    I’m not surprised by either of these things.
    ‘I know what he did for me.’
    Opie sits up fully, wriggling himself out of the water. ‘Where is it going to end?’
    It is as much of a sigh as it is a sentence.
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Do you have a plan?’
    I pull his head towards me, cradling him across my chest. ‘Perhaps. We should go south to see Vez and Knave again.’
    ‘What about Xyalis?’
    I ask what he means. Although Opie wasn’t with us when we sheltered under the church with the rebel group, I have told him everything that happened. Perhaps because of that, he sees things
differently.
    His reply is something I hadn’t thought of: ‘Xyalis was the person helping to keep the rebel groups running. He was their leader. Now he’s dead.’
    He’s right. I have no idea if Knave and Vez know and, if they do, how they will react. Xyalis’ death is one more that’s down to me. One for which I don’t feel sorry.
    ‘We’ll have to deal with that at the time,’ I reply, unsure what else to do.
    Opie pulls himself away from me and starts to clean his hands in the water. ‘Me and my dad fought about you a lot.’
    ‘You’ve never told me that before.’
    ‘My mum has always loved you. I think because she’s got all boys, she thinks of you like a daughter. But my dad said you were too good for me. Everyone knew you were the clever one.
He’d say that people like me shouldn’t be mixing with someone who could be an Elite.’
    ‘I was never going to be an Elite.’
    He shrugs and shuffles back so he is sitting next to me. ‘You could’ve been, but the point was that you’re cleverer than I am.’
    I start to say that people are skilled in different ways but he talks over me, having heard it before. ‘You don’t understand. He didn’t like us mixing with anyone who he
didn’t think was at the same level as us. He thought I should be fit, athletic and good with my hands and that you were someone who should be sitting at home all day reading.’
    I laugh. ‘What’s wrong with that?’
    ‘Nothing, but you weren’t like that anyway. He didn’t accept that you were as good as me in the woods. Better. When we brought back animals to eat, he thought that was me
providing for both of us and that you were leeching.