Wilde Card Read online

  Wilde Card

  TJ Williams

  Contents

  Title Page

  Part One:

  1 - Blue Eyed Devils

  2 - The Baby Culture

  3 - Catch 22

  4 - A Surprise Attack

  5 - All The Bravado

  6 - The Whispers

  7 - Veneer Of Serenity

  Part Two:

  8 - The Struggle

  9 - The Void

  10 - More Important Than Money

  12 - Symbol Of Unity

  13 - An English Rose On Steroids

  14 - Hazards Of The Job

  15 - A Friendly Call

  16 - Bewildered And Bleeding

  17 - A Soul of Steel

  18 - The Early Bird Catches The Murderous Worm

  19 - Angles and Muscle

  20 - The Heart of the Fire

  21 - Human Cargo

  22 - All Warfare Is Based On Deception

  23 - Semantics

  24 - A Rebellion Cause

  25 - Little Firecracker

  26 - Powerful

  Part Three:

  27 - Soft as Baby Fuzz

  28 - The Only One With A Death Wish

  29 - The Darkness

  30 - Duty and Happiness

  31 - Wildfire

  32 - The Corruption

  Epilogue

  Part One:

  The Grey City

  1 - Blue Eyed Devils

  “That girl is always up to no good."

  Amused by her best friend’s grumbling, - an old man in youthful skin - Tia left him muttering about blue eyed devils. She stepped outside the entrance of the campus and paused to shiver in the biting winds. Pulling her jacket tighter across her body, she regretted that she hadn't dressed warmer. As she began to walk home, the ruins of London stretched before her. The ‘Grey City’ was the only home she’d ever known. The skyline shadowed as if hounded by nightmares, the sunlight barely able to slide through cracks in the fog and heavy clouds. Winter was just getting started - soon there would be ice on the pavements and frost in the windows. What little light they did get now would soon be reduced to almost nothing.

  Buildings in various states of dilapidation lined her walk home. In many places there was no longer a building - only the sad remains of a foundation. Chaotic piles where the bricks seemed to cling on for dear life. Dust and dirt and destruction. London wasn’t the city of opportunity anymore - hadn’t been for two decades. It was now just an arena of survival.

  People milled around Tia, their heads down against the wind, faces closed off to each other. Nobody wanted to be noticed around here. She couldn't recall it ever being any different. She had been taught to do the same; to stay far from people she didn’t know and never let her guard down. It was a dangerous place, even in the daylight. The police were a skeleton of what they had been all those years ago. She’d had to beg her parents to let her walk to school on her own, fifteen years old and desperate for some independence. She remembered pretending that she couldn’t see her father following her from a distance. She knew how important it was to pay attention.

  Earlier, for example, she’d been given her first lesson of the day. She’d walked right into the door on her way to the science block, just absolutely away with the fairies. The thick wooden panel had hit her square in the face, driving her backwards and dangerously close to the edge. Only the hand on her arm stopped her from toppling down two flights of stairs, although it disappeared as soon as Tia was stable. Through streaming eyes Tia had recognised the blurry face of Natalia Archer.

  There had been an awkward silence as Natalia watched her.

  “Aren’t you going to at least apologise? Ask me if I’m okay? Whether my nose is now permanently lodged into my prefrontal cortex?” She had mumbled from beneath her fingers. Even in pain - in fact, especially in pain, her sarcasm was strong. It was pushy like that.

  Natalia had blinked at her and then cracked the most disheartening smile she had ever witnessed. It was clear that she couldn't have cared less, not that that had come as a surprise. Natalia’s dark hair had fallen over one eye as she gave Tia a disparaging once-over. Tia scowled in response.

  “I think we both know the answer to those questions,”

  Tia simply rolled her eyes. Mocking her further, Natalia had opened the door with a sweeping gesture and didn't seem to acknowledge her attempt at indifference as she swept past. Tia was nothing if not the bigger woman, even if she did want to clock her over the head with her own hefty books. Those dark, blue eyes and sultry mouth did nothing to curtail Natalia’s nastiness.

  Now on her way home, the streets were muted, a silence that Tia was familiar with. There were barely any cars on the roads and the ones that did pass never lingered. She was glad for the hush for once. Her head was killing her. Looking up at the jigsaw of deserted structures against the horizon, Tia saw - as she always had - that her city was functional, quiet and guarded. Everything was grey. Sometimes she yearned for a world she had never seen, for a city that was colourful and bursting with life. She wondered if, in a different world, she would still be best friends with Natalia Archer.

  She couldn't even begin to count her many run-ins with Natalia over the years since they’d walked away from each other. Amidst the hundreds of people on campus, they rarely bumped into each other. Whenever they did, it was never pleasant. Natalia was a scholarship kid, something that seemed to eat at her so that she hated everyone who wasn’t. Natalia never had anything nice to say, which was a shame because according to all the silly people who were in love with her she had such a nice mouth. Tia would probably never find out why she hated her so much.

  An emaciated dog stalked past Tia, lips pulled back from its teeth, shocking her back to the present with a growl. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat and began to barrel home. She kept her head low and her eyes open for pickpockets. The absence of crowds was no kind of deterrent for the homeless, especially the children. They were fast, and - if by some miracle you managed to catch them - you were more likely to get mobbed. The thought of being ambushed brought Tia to the twenty one questions her best friend, Kal, had asked earlier.

  A frown had pulled his thick eyebrows down as he took hold of her chin to inspect her nose. He was gentle but she’d walked full force into that door and a headache had taken up residence behind her eyes.

  “What have you done?” he’d repeated.

  “I literally just bumped into someone,” Tia had shrugged. “And a door.”

  “Simultaneously?”

  “Simultaneously.”

  Kal had looked as bewildered as she felt, his eyebrows so low over his brown eyes that they were practically eyelashes. He’d pointed in the region of her face. "Tell me what really happened?”

  “Natalia happened,” she’d shrugged.

  His amused eyes became irritated. "Did she hit you?" Tia had laid her hand on his forearm, finding that she could only curl her fingers around half of it.

  "Chill out, Kal. I walked into the door and she was on the other side of it. No biggie."

  "I know she didn't say sorry to you though."

  Tia had snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Oh please, that would require having a soul."

  Tia was relieved that he had let it slide. He really didn’t like Natalia. As they headed their separate ways, Kal had said something which she couldn't help but agree with.

  “That girl is always up to no good.”

  Tia shook the memory off. That was enough of letting Natalia invade her mind. She was halfway home and picked up her speed. She passed banks, supermarkets, newsagents, restaurants - all boarded up clumsily. Mostly, the homeless only had to lift the boards up in order to crawl underneath them. Tia often wondered what
it felt like to be that person, having to sleep in the stomach of an abandoned building, surrounded by other lost souls. Who were they before? Did they have families who missed them? What had happened to their lives? She could spend hours imagining backstories.

  She shivered and buried her chin into her chest. It was then that she noticed a sound behind her. It was light and probably would have been undetectable if she wasn’t so on edge. A scuffling noise. Subconsciously, her shoulders were hunched. She hurried her step and listened to hear if the thing behind her also sped up. It did. She let her eyes dart around, trying to find something - anything - that she could use to protect herself if it came to it. She had turned down a road where most of the buildings had been razed to the ground and undergrowth had taken over. She was certain that she had seen a pile of bricks this morning somewhere along the walk. If not, there was nothing that she could do but run.

  The sound behind her kept up and she nearly cried with relief when she saw the pile of bricks looming. The road was a long one but she was almost at the pile and she planned to grab one and hold it over her head like a weapon. She did just that, flinging her body towards it and then spinning on her heel. Her stalker was nothing but a small child, dirty and shivering in ragged clothing, staring up at her with wide and watery eyes. Tia wasn’t stupid enough to drop the brick but she did lower it, swallowing hard. Her heart was trying to beat out of her chest but she wasn’t going to bash a kid’s head in.

  “Hi.”

  The girl didn’t say anything. She had in fact stepped back at the sight of the brick and raised her stick thin hands as if to ward off an attack.

  “What’s your name?”

  She still didn’t say anything but Tia noticed that her teeth were chattering so hard that maybe she couldn’t talk. She couldn’t have been more than 10 years old, her hair matted to her head and her lips blue with cold. What really caught Tia’s attention though was the clarity in her bulging, green eyes. Tia knew she shouldn’t let her guard down but the young girl looked like she was on the verge of passing out. Forgetting that she had been followed and trying not to think about the reason why, Tia knelt down to her level.

  “Can I call you Green? Your eyes are beautiful.”

  The girl blinked. She reached shaking fingers to Tia’s face and Tia tried not to grab her hand because her fingernails were caked in dirt. Instead, she ignored her instincts and shrugged off her bag, stepping through the strap so she could take off her coat. The wind instantly found its way through gaps in her clothing and she bit back a yelp. Green narrowed her eyes in suspicion as Tia held the coat out.

  “Please, can I put this on you?”

  Tia must have held it out for a whole minute, watching as her fingers began to lose colour and Green inched closer. Finally, the girl reached forward and tugged the coat from Tia’s grip. She darted back immediately, shrugging it on quickly as if she was scared Tia was playing with her. She couldn’t seem to prevent the painful sob that escaped her body as it began to warm up. She shoved her hands into the pockets and looked away, hiding her watering eyes. Tia’s heart shook. She reached into her bag and pulled out the remainder of her lunch, half a sandwich and a bottle of water. She had planned to eat it when she got home but she would survive. She wasn’t too sure, however, that Green would.

  “Take this too, please.”

  Green didn’t hesitate to snatch the food from her this time. But she didn’t stick around, the fear apparently just too overwhelming. She ran off, disappearing within seconds, but not before Tia saw the tears leaving tracks on her dirt-caked cheeks. She watched Green go, shivering in the cold, until there was nothing but grey in the distance.

  2 - The Baby Culture

  Sometimes, Tia found herself thinking about how weird it was that people had given birth during the Third World War. Her mother, Jessie, being one of those strange people meant that she had something of an answer. The first time Tia asked, Jessie had simply laughed. "Well sometimes there was nothing better to do. We were cooped up in shelters. We got bored and it was a way of passing time."

  The world that Tia’s parents had come to love ended in 2015. Tia had been born in a nuclear bunker. Most of the students at uni, in fact, had been. She had grown up without the majority of her parents’ comforts for nineteen years but with plenty of stories. Even so, it still fascinated Tia to hear them talk about the war. Sometimes when Jessie was braiding her hair, Tia could feel her drift away into her own world. When she was gone like this, she was always reliving one of her memories; usually the ones she didn’t like to talk about.

  She had checked out now, in fact, her small hands slowing down in the thick of Tia’s hair. Sitting on the multicoloured, threadbare carpet, legs crossed, Tia held still. She didn’t like to interrupt Jessie’s foray into the past. She probably would have fallen asleep against her mum if her dad hadn’t come home at that very minute. The front door slammed and Jessie jolted, losing her grip on the braid. It unravelled and Tia’s dark curls bounced back up. Andy froze, looking guilty.

  “Sorry, did I scare you?” He grimaced, backpack swinging in hand.

  “No honey, I was just daydreaming. How was work?” Jessie recaptured Tia’s hair and accepted a kiss from Andy. He crouched in front of Tia and tilted his head like a bird.

  “Boring. A complete snooze fest. How’s my favourite girl?”

  Tia had inherited her brown skin and coily, dark hair from her father. He kept it short, tucked behind unnaturally small ears to reveal deep set brown eyes, a prominent jaw and thick lips. He was - as one of her friend’s had remarked - a ‘babe’. Jessie had been growing her hair all her life and the straight, auburn locks swayed around her hips when she walked. Her eyes were so light they were almost golden with flecks of amber and coffee interwoven around the pupil. Tia had inherited her cupid’s bow and dancer’s figure. Sadly, she’d also been dealt Andy’s height, giving her a long and clumsy gait to match his.

  Tia smiled at her dad, noticing how tired he was. “Boring. It was a complete snooze fest.”

  Andy guffawed and kissed her on the forehead. “That’s my daughter. Dinner ready, babe or do you want me to cook?”

  “It’s in the oven. I was surprisingly energetic after my morning shift. I even stopped by the market after work and lined up for half an hour just to get some milk.” Jessie gave her family a triumphant look. “You’re welcome.”

  Andy clutched his heart dramatically. “My angel. What would we do without you?”

  Jessie giggled, still blushing after all these years. “I have no idea. But I’ll take you up on your offer to cook tomorrow. I’m working a double at the hospital as a favour to one of the other nurses.”

  He swooped down and kissed her hard, cringing Tia out, what with Jessie leaning in with a hand still entangled in her hair. Tia extricated herself in good time. She supposed she was going to have to finish her braids by herself. She headed for her room, not wanting to stick around to see their display of affection. She trailed her hand as she walked along the passage, letting her fingers find the badly papered dents in the wall. Rough then smooth then rough again, almost like muscle memory. She’d had years to learn the walls and the hiding places within them. She knew the house like the back of her hand: every badly designed inch of it.

  After the war, there hadn’t been homes so much as shells. Where there had been farms, there were now graves. Where there had been cars, there were now husks. The schools were mostly in ruins. The banks were bankrupt. No one knew what to do. They buried lost ones, salvaged food, healed the sick, told stories, kept hope. And then one day, they woke up in the new world and realised: this is it.

  Tia’s bungalow was one of the rebuilds. Hastily done, it was a roof over their head, if not perfect.There were places in the house where you could feel the thinly veiled holes in the walls or where whole rooms were in fact missing. Before the war, their house had been a two storey but had been reduced to one. At night the pipes creaked and the window in the kitchen didn't c
lose fully so sometimes they woke up to a wet floor...but it was home. Jessie always said that their house was like a palace compared to the squalor they'd had to endure in the beginning. When Tia had asked Kal if he could remember his home as a toddler, he'd simply laughed and said: “Count yourself lucky that you don't remember.”

  She turned on the small TV in her room and sat at the desk, pulling out her books. She liked the background noise. Plus, she didn’t really want to hear her parents in the living room. The TV, though just a flat, black box, was a source of contention for Tia. A luxury that her father allowed her for being ‘such a good kid’ - it was also one of the many reasons why Natalia disliked her so much. The little money that was funnelled into the airwaves meant that they only showed reruns and the news. It bewildered her that Natalia could make such a big deal out of something so useless.

  “Our children are the future-”

  Tia’s head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes at the advertisement. It was a new one.

  “Without them, we have nothing.”

  The elderly woman who appeared on the screen had explosive, frosty hair and a smile like a slash. The camera panned out to show her bending down to hand a little boy the toy car he’d dropped. Her background was more than a little false, as she was surrounded by straining trees and a blue sky. The boy thanked her profusely and she gave him a rather forced motherly smile. The scene cut to her sitting in a rocking chair in front of an empty crib, then to an empty room. It was a funeral. She was lying in a coffin that no one was attending except a priest. The ad froze there and a voice suddenly asked: “What would you prefer? A future or loneliness?”

  Despite the fact that certain departments of the government claimed not to have funds, they sure did manage to spit out new propaganda on a regular basis.