‘Sorry. He wasn’t the only one.’

Maxie knew it was true. She slumped to the ground.

‘And when exactly were you going to tell me?’ she said.

‘What you saying? I just did tell you.’

‘You didn’t think to tell me last night?’

‘Hey, cool it, girl,’ said Blue. ‘I was gonna tell you when the time was right.’

‘And when was that going to be?’

Blue looked exasperated. He rolled his eyes, then turned to Maxie with a sadder, more gentle look.

‘You was tired last night, Maxie,’ he said. ‘I could see you was cut up over Arran and Joel. You was on your last legs. I thought it might break you if I told you about Josh right then. We lost some people as well. OK? I liked Joel. He was a sweet kid. And there were two others from my crew. Both little ones.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Maxie.

‘Ain’t no problem.’

Ollie came over with a scrap of paper. He had dark rings around his eyes and his red hair was all over the place. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

‘I’ve taken the list,’ he said to Maxie, ‘and counted heads. You heard about Josh?’

‘Yes,’ said Maxie. ‘Who else?’

‘Katey and Louise and Curly Sam.’

‘But I saw him rescued.’

‘They came back for him. Josh tried to help, but…’

Maxie swore.

‘They’re not necessarily dead,’ said Ollie. ‘We left in a hurry. We didn’t have time to check bodies.’

‘Then we should go back. We should look for them. We can’t leave them all alone out there.’

‘No,’ said Jester, standing up. ‘We’re not going back. We’re lucky to have got this far.’

‘And who gave you a say in this?’ Maxie jumped up and shoved Jester.

‘He’s right,’ said Blue, pulling Maxie away. ‘We’ve discussed it. We go back we could be attacked again, lose more kids.’

‘So we just leave them? Is that what you’re saying?’

‘Yeah,’ said Blue. ‘It is. We got to assume they’re dead.’

‘And what if they’re not? Put yourself in their position – wandering around out there. Lost and alone.’

‘Put yourself in the position of the other kids here,’ said Jester. ‘The ones we know for sure are still alive. The ones sitting all around us. You think they want to go back?’

‘You can take a vote on it if you want,’ said Blue. ‘But I guarantee most kids will want to push on.’

‘How can you be so cold?’

‘Cos I want to survive, Maxie. Don’t you?’

‘At what cost?’

‘Whatever it takes.’

Maxie looked to Ollie for support.

‘Blue’s right,’ he said. ‘It’d be crazy to go back. It’s not that we don’t care, but there’s fifty-three of us in the group, now. Those fifty-three are more important than one or two kids we left behind. Who are probably dead anyway.’

Maxie didn’t know what to say, and was worried about bursting into tears in front of the boys, so she turned her back on the three of them and stalked off to a quiet corner. Ollie exchanged a look with Blue and Jester and walked over to join her.

‘Maxie…’

‘Go away. I want to be alone.’

‘I know you do, but I want you to listen to me.’

‘There’s nothing you can say.’

‘Isn’t there?’

Maxie spun round.

‘Go away.’

‘How do you think this looks?’ said Ollie calmly.

‘I don’t care how it looks.’

‘Well, you should care. You’re in charge now, Maxie. Now that Arran’s gone. You’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to take charge. Our kids are looking to you for leadership. They want you to tell them what to do. They need you.’

‘What do I tell them, Ollie? What’s the right thing to do?’

Ollie sat down.

‘They all think the same as you,’ he said. ‘They think the right thing to do, the good thing, would be to go back and check. See if we can find any of the others.’

‘Then why did you –’

Ollie cut her off.

‘That’s what they think would be the right thing to do,’ he said. ‘But deep down, secretly, they would all much rather get out of here and put the park behind them. They’d rather not take any more risks. And as the leader you can make that harsh decision for them. You can order them not to go back. Then they won’t feel so bad about it all.’

‘You mean I need to show them I’m tough?’

‘Of course. Yeah. There are two types of leader in this world, Maxie. Wartime leaders and peacetime leaders. And they’re totally different. They both need different skills. A wartime leader needs to show no weakness. A wartime leader’s got to show that one or two individuals don’t really matter. What matters is the survival of the group. What matters is winning, by whatever means, yeah? It doesn’t matter how we do this, how we get to the palace, how we win this, just so long as we do. That’s all that matters.’

‘What if I don’t want to be in charge?’

‘Who’d be better at it than you?’

‘You, maybe, Ollie. You’re smart enough. The kids listen to you. Arran listened to you.’

‘Yeah,’ said Ollie. ‘They listen to me, but they don’t look up to me. I ain’t a star. They look up to you.’

‘Do they? What do they think of me? Really?’ said Maxie.

‘Make them think what you want them to think,’ said Ollie. ‘You got what it takes. You’re the best person for the job.’

‘But I don’t know if I am.’

‘Listen,’ said Ollie, leaning closer and lowering his voice. ‘Blue and Jester are getting a bit too close for my liking. They could cut you out. And if they cut you out they cut all us Waitrose kids out. We’ll be second-class citizens. We need to fight our corner. And I know you can do it, Maxie. Arran had faith in you. So I have faith in you.’

‘All right.’

28

‘Listen up, everyone. We had a bad time of it last night, but it’s not going to happen again. Right? We’re going to push on. We’re going to get to the palace this morning. From here on in it’ll be safe. OK?’

‘But we’re not all here.’

‘Yes, we are. Some kids didn’t make it last night. They’re dead. There’s no point in going back to look for them.’

‘But Katey was my friend.’

‘And Arran was my friend. He’s dead. We burned him. I’m in charge now. And I’m telling you. Not asking. We move on. Anyone thinks different, they’re welcome to go back and search for bodies. But you’ll be doing it alone. There are fifty-three of us left, and we’re going to the palace. Now let’s move out!’

They left the semicircle and marched down Portland Place. Maxie at the front with Blue and Jester.

A few minutes later they arrived at Oxford Circus, the heart of the West End; once the busiest part of all London, now deserted and derelict. How quickly everything had fallen apart. How quiet it was now.

They stopped here, in the middle of the junction where Oxford Street met Regent Street, and looked down the long, empty roads.

‘I used to come shopping here on a Saturday,’ said Blue.

‘Me too,’ said Jester.

‘Topshop,’ said Maxie.

‘The Apple Store,’ said Jester. ‘HMV.’

‘Nike Town,’ said Blue.

Many of the shop-fronts had been smashed in, but some still kept their windows, and in one or two of the windows there were still a few odd items.

‘It’s not all gone,’ said Whitney, grinning. ‘Think of it, yeah, if we scavenge round here, the things we’ll find. And look – there’s no grown-ups.’

‘I told you,’ said Jester. ‘It’s peaceful here. There are still some Strangers lurking about the place, but it’s nothing like it is out your way.’

Whitney began to laugh. ‘We should go shopping,’ she said.

Now Maxie laughed.

‘I’m serious, yeah,’ said Whitney. ‘Look at these rags we’re wearing.’

Maxie looked at Whitney. She looked immaculate as ever in her gleaming white tracksuit. Somehow she always managed to keep it clean.