Doctor Who_ Beyond the Sun - Matthew Jones [46]
‘We’re leaving,’ Bernice informed him.
‘I guessed. The Sunless?’
She gestured for him to keep his voice down. ‘Leon says that about thirty of them came through the village this morning. There are more of them in the fields. They’ve taken equipment to the reservoir. From what it sounds like I think it must be underwater gear.’ She nodded towards the front of the building. ‘Keep an eye on the door, would you? We’ll be leaving out of the back way and then going cross country, but I don’t want to be surprised by the Sunless.’
‘So what do I do if I see one?’
‘Whistle.’
‘I can’t whistle, but if you hear someone scream you’ll know who it’ll be.’ He was about to leave when he turned back to Bernice. ‘How come you’re so calm about all of this?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You just seem to be taking all this in your stride. Falling out of the sky and being hunted and everything. Like you’re used to it or something. You’re not, like, in the Dellah Auxiliaries in your spare time or something are you?’
‘No.’ She winked at him. ‘Just practice, that’s all.’
Emile stepped out on to the veranda of the dormitory and collided with someone coming in. Their heads connected sharply, and Emile stumbled backward, falling over into the doorway.
He yelped as a sharp pain filled his head. He must have hit his head harder than he thought because when he looked up all he could see was a skull framed by fire. And then he realized this was the head of the person he had collided with, leaning over him and blocking out the early-morning sun. The face came closer for a moment. Its skin was dry and looked dusty, tiny wrinkles etched around its eyes and mouth. Emile felt his heart trip a beat as he realized that he was looking up into the face of one of the Sunless.
He froze, his mouth open, unable even to take a breath. The face moved closer. He could feel its breath against his face. Its eyes were the same dark metal colour of Scott’s. But the Sunless’s were dark and sightless. Like a shark’s. It smelt bad. The pungent smell of neglected animals.
He pursed his lips and tried to whistle, but only managed to let out a noise that sounded like a tiny puncture in a tyre. It looked him up and down slowly, taking in his uniform. He noticed that the top of its shorn head was terribly blistered and sunburnt, as if its skin had no resistance to the bright orange Ursulan sunlight. It snorted loudly, as if it were dismissing him and then it stepped over him, stalked across the veranda, down the other side, and was gone across the dusty street.
He heard a clear note and wondered for a tiny moment where it was coming from, before he realized that it was escaping from his own mouth. He stopped whistling and clambered on to his hands and knees, feeling too nauseous to stand. Only then did he realize that the creature was not on its own. There were Sunless all over the street. There must have been at least two hundred of them. Emile turned and half staggered, half fell back inside the dormitory.
‘Emile, I thought I asked you to – ’ Bernice started and then caught sight of the expression on his face and said, ‘Company?’
They left through the washrooms at the back of the dormitory and made a detour through the trees to cover their tracks before setting off in the direction of Anarray. Emile didn’t see any more Sunless, but he didn’t stop looking over his shoulder.
He and Tameka took turns carrying Errol with Bernice and Scott. Leon always walked ahead, making sure their path was clear and safe. The stretcher was heavy and, as they walked in the morning sun, Emile felt the back of his neck begin to warm uncomfortably. He was sweating in the rough uniform, which chafed the inside of his thighs. Flies circled his head, buzzing noisily and preventing him drifting off into his thoughts and pleasant fantasies of being back in his room on the relay station.
They trudged through fields of a rape-coloured crop which Scott said formed the staple diet of people in the area. Thin but sturdy fruit trees were planted along the side of the fields, drooping with