Desolation: The City Electric Book Two

By Michael Cairns

Everything has changed...

...and yet, some thing’s are just the same. Because Dancy is still searching for answers. It’s only the questions that are different.
Three months ago, the Cleansing wiped out most of the population, the survivors packed into camps for reconditioning. But hidden in the ruins of London, Dancy, Annabel and Never Man have been training. Dancy can jump over buildings, bench press a truck and has skin like armour.
Now the rebuilding has begun, and Never Man has more surprises to spring on Dancy.
Before that, though, Dancy has work to do. Because the Loas have captured Annabel and taken her to one of the camps. Dancy wants to rescue her. Never Man wants her to stay in London, to fight the ‘good’ fight.
But Dancy Visionthief won’t leave anyone behind, least of all her only friend in the new world.
There’s a chance all of this is just Dancy’s way of avoiding the real issue, though. Because Mina is still the empty shell the Laos made her, and it seems like nothing Dancy does is going to bring her back...

“Great characters, an excellent story and a clever and novel approach to the superhero genre.”
Amazon Reviewer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Cairns
• Release date: May 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781909699564

Michael Cairns

Michael Cairns was born at a young age and could write even before he could play the drums, but that was long ago, in the glory days - when he actually had hair. He loves chocolate, pineapple, playing gigs and outwitting his young daughter (the scores are about level but she's getting smarter every day). Michael is currently working hard on writing, getting enough sleep and keeping his hair. The first is going well, the other two...not so much. His current novels include: > Young adult, science fiction adventure series, 'A Game of War' 1. Childhood dreams 2. The end of innocence 3. Playing God 4. Breathing in space 5. Escape 6. Gateway to earth > Urban fantasy super-hero series, 'The Planets' 1. The spirit room 2. The story of Erie 3. The long way home >Paranormal horror post apocalyptic zombie series, 'Thirteen Roses' 1. Before (Books 2-6 due for release in spring)

Book preview

It’s begun.

I’m sitting on Centre Point, watching the scrapers come down. I shouldn’t be here, the droid flyers can see me. They check for heat signatures and chemical residues, all sorts of things, before demolishing anything. They can’t risk blowing up a building that’s filled with gas in case the blast gets them as well.

I live in hope.

But they’re taking their time. I snort, check over my shoulder. South London is gone. I say they’re taking their time, but they only started a week ago and there’s nothing left south of the river.

The churners have come in. I call them churners. According to Never Man, they’re B72s, but to me, they’re churners. Massive snakes covered in tank treads, except at the front, where huge spinning blades churn through the rubble and mud, they spit shards out the back, all that remains of London. The shards are no bigger than my fingernails, so the city looks like it’s covered in ash.

I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t ready for the size of everything, either. There’s a craft hovering above the scraper that’s bigger than the building. The churners are wider than a motorway and the spinners at the front, as high as a house.

The scraper before me is finally declared safe so the hatch at the bottom of the ship opens. What emerges reminds me of one of those claws you’d find in the glass cases at fairgrounds. Only it isn’t trying to catch a prize. It’s lowered over the top of the scraper then four vast claws, each larger than a person, clamp down.

I’ve seen this dozens of times in the last few days, but I’ll never get bored of it. Blue electricity runs down the arm from the ship and gathers in the claws. It builds and builds until all the hair on my body is standing to attention, before it stops coming through the arm and sits a second in the claws.

Then it empties.

The scraper seems to glow blue. I’m sure it can’t, it doesn’t make sense, but it looks like it does. Just for a moment. Then the entire building shatters. It doesn’t explode outward, but it goes from being whole to being pieces, just like that. Then, like a house of cards, it collapses.

I peer over the edge to watch it hit the ground. There are still cars in the street, corpses too, and in seconds they’re buried in concrete and glass and metal. It’s like when you pour sand onto the floor and it ends up as a giant pyramid. There are piles of building from here to the river, earthworks thrown up by giant mutant ants.

Why does Never Man call this rebuilding? Maybe he’s an optimist. I chuckle at my own joke and tuck back into the snug between the pipes. So much has happened since I used to huddle here, rain or shine, to catch a glimpse of the mysterious man who saved my life.

Though in some ways, nothing’s changed. He saved my life again and, despite knowing he was created by the Loas, and despite knowing he’s 500 years old, and despite knowing he’s spent much of that time killing people just like me, he’s still mysterious.

He says he’s told me his dreams. He says he’s made clear his plans. But there’s something else behind them. No one’s a complete altruist, however much they’d like to think they are. He wants to free the world, to give it the chance to be what it naturally should, but that chance is long gone. So what does he really want?

The Loas are at work again, creating a new reality. They’ve already got the people to populate it. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners in camps all over Britain, all with new personalities and new histories. Apparently, most of that work will be done now. The people we saw in the Heathrow camp will no longer be the empty vessels they were. They’ll be programmed and ready to roll.

Just as soon as they’ve got somewhere to live.

I bite my knuckle and swallow as Mina’s face appears in my mind. I’ve thought about little else the last two weeks. I don’t want to. Living with her’s bad enough, but thinking about her when we’re not together is even worse.

She hasn’t changed. She remembers stuff, now. She knows who I am on sight. She’s doing a good job of caring for Marie as well. But she’s not Mina any more than I am.

I grab at the thought of Marie and let her lead me away from the dead end of my girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Whatever she is.

Marie’s still asleep. Nearly two weeks since we attacked the camp and she’s not woken up. Her insides are healed and her stomach looks like she was bitten by a shark 25 years ago, but she’s not woken up. Never Man is confident it’ll be any day now. I’m not so sure, but I’m keeping it to myself.

Just like I’m keeping my plans to myself. Never Man isn’t the only one who can keep secrets. If he knew what I was planning, he’d refuse to help. In fact, he’d stop me doing it at all. He’d probably be right.

But it’s only been two weeks and there’s a chance, a faint chance, that Annabel will still be herself. I wasn’t able to save Mina, but maybe I can save Annabel. One way or the other.

I bite my knuckles again, then duck as another of the vast demolition ships glides right over my head. I’ve never seen craft this big. To be fair, I’ve barely seen any craft at all, not real space-going ships, but those I have were pokey things, cockpits stuck on top of stadium-sized fuel tanks. Whatever these things are using for fuel, it’s not something us commoners know about.

Elder’s seen ships, apparently. I keep coming back to him. He slept for three days then got up and walked around on a leg that had been completely shattered. Despite it happening to me, I still found it creepy. Maybe it was just Elder I found creepy.

He used to bomb people. Those the government dragged away to the camps but didn’t make the grade for the new world were taken to factories in remote parts of northern England, where they disappeared for a second time. They’re the ones who made the colossal craft settling into place above another of the scrapers. Elder would hijack the coaches that took them there, blow them up. Mercy killings.

I scowl, turn away. My enjoyment at the demolition takes a dip. It’s hard to enjoy anything when I’m thinking about Elder. Even his face is unpleasant, despite the smile, somewhere between severe and stupid. Except he’s far from stupid.

Never Man and I had a conversation about belief a couple weeks back, just as we were leaving the camp. We talked about how powerful it can be, but also how dangerous. Elder believes. I’m not sure what in, but it’s the sort of belief that leads someone to blow up buses with home made bombs.

But he could help. He would be a great help. I’ve not spoken to him as much as I should in the last fortnight, but I have discovered his skills. He shares Annabel and I’s speed and jumping, but some of our super strength seems to have been exchanged for insane mental acuity. He can make stuff happen by thinking about it.

Not everything, fortunately. I’ve caught him looking at me in a way that makes me think if he could tear my clothes off with his mind, he would. Luckily for both of us, his powers lean more towards making people do stuff they were already considering. Never Man’s made him swear off doing anything to us, but not before he had me making him a cup of tea.

Had it been anything more personal, I’d have refused to work with him. I still can’t decide how angry I should have been. Mina would have kicked the crap out of him, but she’s not here.

My head thunks back against the pipes and I take a deep breath.

Mina isn’t here. Neither is Annabel. I can’t do anything about Mina, but I can about Annabel. Elder might be able to help and he’d be willing to keep it secret from Never Man long enough for us to do it. So I’ll ask for his help.

A year from now, I’m going to be leading him. Right. Because that’s ever going to happen.

I peer between the pipes to watch the huge claw come down and fix to the top of the scraper. The blue light begins to flicker and flash and I wonder idly what would happen if you sent a charge in the opposite direction, back into the space ship. We’re supposed to be thinking about those sorts of things now, that’s why we’re here.

We’re the wrecking crew. These craft think that’s their job, but they’re wrong. They’re here to build a new world, but we’re here to tear it down.

The craft reaches Centre Point about half an hour later. I’m tempted to stay and see what happens when they scan me, but there’s every chance they’ll respond by blasting seven shades of hell out of me, and I could do without becoming Sleeping Beauty any time soon.

Mina would have liked that. She’d have liked to wake me with true love’s kiss.

I leap from Centre Point to a scraper to the north and dig my fingers in. I’m clinging to the concrete when the arms come down and the tower on which I spent so much time becomes rubble. It doesn’t hurt as much as I expect. Maybe it’s the presence of Mina’s body walking and talking in my house that does it. There are worse things than destroying buildings.

That spins me right back around to the start. Destroying people is so much worse, and that’s exactly what the Loas do. They destroy every person on the planet and then remake them. According to Never Man, the reconstruction takes place from stored files of intelligences, every thought, memory, skill, a person had. The useful stuff, basically, without the memory of the hateful green rain killing their families and loved ones.

People aren’t artificially created from nothing, they couldn’t be.

Instead, they plug the zombies into some machine or other and download a new personality into their empty brain. So Mina would have ended up as somebody. Not somebody who was in love with me, but somebody, someone real. Instead she’s nothing. She barely bothers to clean her teeth in the morning and, without me around to remind her to eat, she’d probably waste away and not complain in the least.

But for once, that isn’t what’s eating me. The concrete’s beginning to dig into my fingers and that’s bothering me a little, but my big concern is that, in the next few months, the world will be filled with people who aren’t real. Or at least, not themselves.

I can’t even pretend I know what repercussions that could have, or how I’ll deal with it. I only know it bothers me. It’s like the entire world isn’t real. I’m not real. Except I am, because I was born after the Cleansing. But my great great great grandparents weren’t. They were created in camps, or even worse, cloned. They could have been grown in a laboratory, given a personality and sent out into the world with all the memories they needed.

I can’t decide which is worse, wearing other people’s bodies or being cloned. I don’t suppose it matters now, since they died choking on their own blood as their bodies were torn apart by the Cleansing.

Time to go. I creep round the side of the building until I’m out from under the massive demolition ship, then leap.

My first jump carries me nearly half a kilometre. As I glide towards the ground, I twist, change direction. It still isn’t flying, not like when I first escaped from the camp, but it’s pretty damn close. My new path takes me to another scraper. I catch the wall only a few metres from the ground and my arms protest as I slam to a stop.

Is Never Man falling apart because he spent every night doing this? My body is running like a well oiled machine, but I can feel the impact of stopping myself at nearly terminal velocity. He did this over and over, year after year, decade after decade. It’s no surprise he spends most of his time sitting in the arm chair in our lounge.

Another few jumps gets me home. We’re still three days outside the destruction zone, but we’re already prepped for moving. Rucksacks litter the hallway and I pick my way around them as I head inside.

I stop when I reach the lounge. My plans for Annabel slip away as I see what’s waiting for me.

Never Man is in his usual seat. Elder sits at his side, muttering something to him. Mina is across the room, standing casually in the door to my study. She’s always casual. It’s not her studied calmness of before, she just doesn’t have any other way of being. Nothing bothers her, or ruffles her, so she’s just… nothing. Casual. Unbothered.

I tear my gaze away to the two people in the centre of the room. If they had hats, they’d be clasping them in nervous hands, fiddling as they shifted from foot to foot. They are shifting from foot to foot, and I take immediate pity on them.

Never Man is staring at them the way he does, making it clear he disapproves of something they’ve done, without actually saying so.

‘Hi, guys, I’m Visionthief. Welcome to my home.’ I stride into the room, hand stuck out before me. The most interesting thing about their reaction is the surprise. Like they expected someone other than a shapely brunette with a nice smile and great taste in clothes. I don’t know what I’ll do when the clothes Mina chose for me wear out.

Being able to describe myself as shapely is amazing, as sad as that is. Five months of constant working out has removed the fat from my hips and replaced it with nothing at all. Everywhere else it’s become muscle, though not like Elder has. He’s a cerebral guy, but his arms look like someone’s drawn the muscles on with marker pen. They stick out, ugly and over formed. On me, they’re still buried beneath a layer of flesh and skin.

I’ve never been one for looking in the mirror, but these days, I like what I see when I do. Mostly.

Once I’ve gotten over enjoying being a surprise, I take a proper look at them. They’re young, and they’re scared. Not a surprise, with Never Man glaring at them. Why’s he being such a grumpy sod, anyway? If they’re here, they’re powered. And that means they’re part of the team.

Unless they’re government. Unless they have creepy three letter names and believe in stealing people’s minds. Maybe that’s why he’s giving them the riot act. Maybe I’ve just barged in and ruined it all. Oh well.

The girl on the left is twenty, maybe, and petite. She’s wearing skinny jeans and I could wrap my fingers around her thighs. Her face, though, is good to look at, sharp, pale blue eyes and a mouth that turns up at the edges. She doesn’t look nice, but she looks smart. And pretty. The naturally black hair that curls on her shoulders doesn’t hurt.

The man beside her is a more normal build and wearing preppy stuff, a redneck shirt and jeans with turn ups. His hair is red and juts up from his head, giving him a perpetually surprised look. But his eyes, despite the fear, are as pretty as the girl’s, brown and rich. His chin sticks out, literally, but not in a belligerent way. In fact, I’d guess he’s spent much of his life apologising for it.

The girl recovers first and steps forwards to shake my hand. ‘Hi. I’m Raven. This is Urlest.’

‘Pleasure. This is Elder. Over there’s Mina and this charming gentleman is Never Man, though I’m guessing you’ve met.’

They glance at him then turn their eyes back to me, smiling sheepishly.

‘They didn’t respond to my call.’

I jump as my teacher speaks in his gruff, meeting-strangers voice. I turn to him, hands on my hips and trying a smile. ‘They didn’t return your call? Well, I have heard the satellites aren’t working so well now half of London’s rubble.’

‘It wasn’t that sort of call. And I made it three months ago.’

Ahh. That explains the grumpy face. I turned back to them. ‘Did he give you vials?’

They nod.

‘And then asked you to help out?’

Another nod.

‘And you ignored him?’

Once more for luck. I groan, shake my head. ‘That wasn’t all that polite to someone who saved your life, now, was it?’

‘I don’t care about politeness.’ Never man leaps out of his chair and I sidle sideways to avoid being knocked over as he charges them, finger wagging. ‘What I care about is their change. They went through it alone and who knows what’s happened. Assuming the government hasn’t already got their claws into you.’

Both of them start talking at once and I have a brief moment to reflect on how careful he is with his words. He didn’t say Loas, he said government. Every second, he’s deciding how much to tell people, how much to share. It must be exhausting.

I step up beside him and eyeball them both, before clapping my hands together. ‘One at a time. Urlest, you first.’ Let’s try the quieter one and see if he gives anything away.

‘We haven’t seen the government at all. We’ve been hiding.’

‘Where?’

‘I…’ he presses his lips together and shakes his head. ‘I can’t tell you.’

‘You can’t tell us? Really? Because last time I checked, Never Man saved you from dying in the Cleansing. So maybe you wanna rethink the whole not sharing thing.’

Raven shoves Urlest aside and shakes her head with considerably more power. ‘We promised those who sheltered us we would keep them a secret.’

‘Someone sheltered you?’ Never Man takes over. ‘Who? There is no one else, so it must have been government.’ He does his moving-without-moving thing to pick Raven up by the collar. In response, she drives the heel of her hand into his nose.

He drops her and reels backwards, covering his face. She’s dislodged his mask so I step in front of him. ‘If you were with someone who was looking after you, why have you come here at all?’

She glances at Urlest, the corners of her eyes growing lines as she tries not to show her doubt, before turning back to me. ‘What’s going on?’

‘What?’

‘What’s happening? Are they going to destroy the entire city? Where do we go?’

She’s good. If she’s lying, she’s really good. Not that I’m any judge of things like that. Never Man comes back to join me, mask and scowl both firmly in place. ‘Who sheltered you?’

‘I’ve already told you, I can—’

This time, he doesn’t go for the softly softly approach. Raven flies across the room and bounces off the wall onto the floor. Urlest barely moves before Never Man puts him on his back and drives his knee into his throat. ‘You will have discovered you are strong, stronger than you ever dreamed. But you still need to breathe. Now tell me, who sheltered you?’

Raven scrambles to her feet and flies back across the lounge. Mina’s already crouching on the carpet, hand over her head, as I move to intercept. I catch Raven by the wrists, absorb the two kicks she drives into my stomach, and yank her head down towards my knee.

She flinches, which gives me the time to release her hands and wrap my arm around her throat. I bend so my lips are only a few centimetres from her ear. ‘You need your neck as well. You might heal once I break it, but you’ll be sleeping, so don’t expect to wake up.’

She stops struggling pretty quick. A little flash in my gut makes me flush when I realise it’s pride. Pride that I can be like him, as deadly and powerful. I hate myself in that moment, but if I’m ever going to do what he thinks I can, maybe it’s what I need.

Urlest speaks first. ‘They call themselves The Room.’

I burst out laughing. He’s talking rubbish, he has to be. There’s no way Daniel would be that cheesy. Or that obvious. Is that what he was trying to get me to do? He wanted me to do something big so he could invite me into the room. He was trying to save my life.

How sweet.

‘They’re hackers,’ I tell Never Man. He glances at me, mask raised in the way I’ve come to recognise means his eyebrows are up and he’s surprised. I enjoy every moment of it, try to sound as casual as possible. ‘Yeah, the biggest hackers and boosters in Britain. One of them is called Daniel Trace. I worked with him for a while.’

‘You worked with him?’ He sounds disgusted. He’s already forgotten about Urlest as he stands, leaving the poor kid on the floor, clutching his bruised neck. I release Raven and step back, far enough to avoid being kicked if she’s still in the mood.

‘Yeah. When boosting first became legal we did a bunch of office stuff together. Then we both went private at the same time. He was working with a group when the Cleansing came. He tried to get me to join them.’

‘But you didn’t.’

‘I had other things on my mind, you know?’ I grin to show him he was the other thing, but he’s already turned to Raven and Urlest.

‘How did they survive the Cleansing?’

Raven rubs her neck and glares at me, so Urlest speaks. ‘They have a chamber that’s completely sealed. It’s got all these air con filters and stuff and enough food for a year. They didn’t even know we were in their place until a month ago.’

‘What?’ I butt in.

‘Yeah, we were digging around in the complex where Ray used to work and found this amazing place. It’s like this ultimate pad with all the mod cons and comfy sofas and more food than you can imagine.’

‘So you thought you’d lucked in on someone’s bachelor pad.’

‘Yeah, until one morning this door that had been locked hissed and opened and these five guys came stumbling out—’

Raven hisses and cuts the air with a flat hand. He shuts up, but not before grinning at me. Five of them. Five normal humans who survived the Cleansing by being really good at using tech, and really paranoid.

Never Man is watching me, but he’s stepped back. This isn’t my call, not completely, but I know as much as him, for once, maybe more, so I get to decide what happens next. I already like Urlest and I think Raven could