At All Costs

‘Ade did it,’ Mak says. ‘Legend.’

‘What did Ade do exactly?’ Chets hisses. He’s still struggling to free himself from the wall, wriggling and pulling, his face bright red.

‘Bit of a design flaw to your stinger,’ I say. ‘You’ll probably want to evolve that differently next time.’

‘We’re not done, yet,’ Chets says. ‘A threat to the queen is just that – a threat. The swarm will be there in minutes, and the threat will be neutralised, at all…’

‘Costs. Yeah, we know. And, on that note,’ I say. ‘Shall we, guys?’

‘Bye, Chets.’ Kat waves at him. ‘I hope you’re less terrifying when I see you next.’ She walks into the Tail.

‘Take care, man,’ says Mak. ‘Maybe eat some brownies and chill for a bit.’ He follows Kat through the doorway. 273

‘Er, nice to meet you,’ Karim says. ‘Well not really, but anyway.’ He jogs after Mak.

‘Whatever you have planned, you’ll fail,’ Chets says, narrowing his chocolate eyes at me. ‘The hive cannot lose.’

I take one last look at him, and the truth is that I really don’t know how this is gonna go. But I do know that we have a chance, and sometimes that’s all you need. ‘We’ll see. Bye, Chets.’

I run into the Tail and out of Chets’ view. The last things I hear are him screeching and Trent shouting, ‘Where’s everyone going? Is it safe to come out?’

We leave the annex through the concealed exit at the back of the storage room, so that Chets can’t see us, and bolt through the woods and into the fields, following the same route that Ade took earlier.

Straggler’s Fields are wide and empty of people, lit by the moon and smelling of frost. After being enclosed in the annex, with every intake of breath filling my nose with the sickly scent of the sporelings, the fields are like medicine. The headache that had been thumping behind my eyes clears, and the clean air sweeps away the sick 274 feeling that had been churning in my stomach. I enjoy the feel of the wind cutting blades against my face, and I forget to be tired as the muscles in my legs thrum with energy. We don’t talk as we run – there’s no need as we all know the plan. I wonder what the others are thinking, whether they’re scared or excited, or maybe focussing on the random stuff that usually seems so important. We disturb a group of wild rabbits nibbling at the grass and send them bobbing into their burrow. I see bats flitting over the river, looking for insects, and hear a fox barking from the far bank. It’s kind of reassuring that some things are going on like the apocalypse isn’t happening. It’s just the birds, or rather the fact that there aren’t any, that makes things feel different. I wonder how they knew to fly away and where they’ve gone.