The Darkest Corners by Barry Hutchison Page A

‘We go save Billy, then we go find my dad.’
    Ameena nodded and we both fell silent again. There was an envelope sitting in a hollow above the glove box. I picked it up and read the name on the front. Then I read it again, just to be sure.
    â€˜This is for me,’ I said.
    Ameena glanced down at the square envelope. ‘Open it then.’
    The flap wasn’t stuck down. I pulled out a handwritten note. ‘“Enjoy the car,”’ I read. ‘“One final parting gift. Joseph.”’
    I stuck the note back in the envelope. Even from beyond the grave, Joseph, the mystery man, was still somehow helping me out.
    â€˜He must’ve left it for us. That’s why the keys were in it,’ I realised.
    â€˜That was nice of him.’
    I looked long and hard at her. ‘Do you know who he was?’
    â€˜Not a clue,’ she shrugged. ‘I know he was starting to get on your dad’s nerves a bit, the way he kept interfering, but he didn’t have a clue who the guy was. No one did.’
    â€˜He was the policeman back at Christmas, remember?’
    â€˜Yeah, course I remember.’
    â€˜I thought he was an idiot, going on about me pulling his cracker with him, but even then he was helping us. First the message in the cracker itself, then the car parked out back. I bet he planned all of that.’
    Ameena drew in a sharp breath and I turned to follow her gaze.
    â€˜Whoa.’
    The village had been bad, but the town was worse. Fire was spreading through houses and shops. It spread through gardens. It licked across the ground. Even inside the car, we could feel the heat of it on our faces.
    Off to my right I could see my school. All the windows were lit up with orange and yellow. I’d dreamed of seeing it burn to the ground since first setting foot in the place, but the sight of it left me hollow. Every last part of my old life was gone.
    Ameena slowed the car, but didn’t quite stop. Twisted, malformed shapes filled these streets too. They danced around the flames, delighting in the sheer spectacle of it all.
    The hospital was on the edge of town, raised up on the hillside. We could only see part of the building, but from here it didn’t look like it was burning. Yet.
    The 4x4 dipped to one side as Ameena steered it off the road. ‘Direct route,’ she explained as the car began to climb the slippery slope.
    It was an uncomfortable trip. The hill was grassy and uneven, and the car bounced and rolled its way up towards the low, squat hospital building. We were a hundred or more metres away, but could see the whole place was in darkness.
    A thought suddenly occurred to me. ‘There’ll still be people inside. Won’t there? Normal people, I mean.’
    Ameena’s hands tightened on the wheel. ‘Maybe. But if Doc’s there…’ She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t have to.
    I’d seen up close what Doc Mortis could do to people. Even those who were equipped to fight back had felt the sting of his surgical tools. I didn’t dare imagine how a hospital full of the sick and injured would fare against him.
    â€˜It’s a big risk,’ Ameena said as the hill began to level off and we approached the rear of the hospital. ‘We don’t know what’s going to be in here.’
    â€˜Billy, hopefully,’ I said. ‘We rescue him, then we can move on to phase two of the plan. Finding my dad.’
    She nodded slowly and brought the car to a stop beside the hospital’s low boundary wall. ‘And what then?’
    â€˜Then? Then I’ll kill him.’
    Ameena’s eyes narrowed and her lips went thin.
    â€˜You got a problem with that?’
    She shook her head. ‘No. No problem. If that’s what you want.’
    â€˜That’s what I want,’ I said. ‘Now kill the lights and let’s check the boot.’
    â€˜For what?’
    â€˜For weapons,’ I