Acid Rain by R.D Rhodes (ebook reader txt) 📕

It was such a long night. But finally the sky started to brighten and the birds started to sing and the moon faded away. We sat in there a bit longer, till we heard the rumble of the motorway in the distance and the increasing sound of traffic on the smaller road nearby. We agreed it was better not to hang about together, for the time being at least, and that it was best to go out individually. I let Harry go first. I waited in the bushes, then made my way out too and paced around the park. I circled the pond a few times. It was nice and quiet at that time. A few dog walkers past but I kept my head down and powered on and didn’t talk to them.

When the blood had pumped through my veins enough and my feet and hands didn’t feel like ice blocks anymore, I glanced about and crouched back through the bushes.

When Harry returned, it was with a Discount World bag and a cheap plastic watch on his wrist.

“What’s in there?” I asked.

He pulled the items out one by one; a self-dye kit, a pair of scissors, a bottle of water, two cooking pots, and a pair of jeans. I picked up the hair dye and looked at the ingredients, “That’s our savior.” Harry said.

I stood up and tried the jeans on while he poured water from the bottle into the pot. The jeans were a perfect fit, but I kept my jammy bottoms on underneath anyway, I needed all the layers I could get. I picked up my dye-kit. “You like dark-haired girls, do you?” He was busy stirring his own dye mix and didn’t reply. “What did you get?”

Harry held up the packet.

“Oh, very nice. Brown would suit you.”

“You don’t think it’s too close to the original color? I could have got blonde, but I thought it would be too conspicuous.”

“No, it’s fine. After all this, all we’ll have to do is not talk.”

“We could be a band of travelling mutes.” Harry said.

I measured out my own dye-to-water solution and mixed it up with my hand. I kept stirring till it churned into frothy black goo, then I scooped some out and generously applied it to my roots. While I waited on it setting, I took the scissors and started cutting Harry’s hair, chopping off the large dark curls till he was basically left with a crew cut. I applied the brown dye over what remained.

While we waited, we read the local and tabloid newspapers Harry had bought, read almost every article twice, but there was no news on us. There was more likely to be something about me, but there was nothing. Nothing on Nina escaping or dying either. No mention of the hospital at all, in fact.

“It’s strange.” I said.

“They maybe want to keep it under wraps. Or maybe it came out in the papers yesterday. It’s good for us, anyway.”

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We heard the joyful screams of a few infants in the park, and their mothers shouting after them. The sky turned overcast with white cloud but the warmth of the sun beat through it.

We waited out the morning and until the noises had stopped. I went first. I crawled through the trail, checked outside, and walked out into the empty park. I exited the gate alone, heading along the cycle track towards the town centre.

I felt nervous as hell. The thought of getting caught and going back to that hospital was too much, and as I left the park behind me-bushes on my right and affluent homes lining the other side of the road- I looked through their windows and focused on what was inside to distract myself.

I tried to convince myself that there was hope. That in ten years it might be nice having all those fancy oak tables and desks in rooms in my own house, I might grow to like it all. I could maybe learn to ignore the fact that the forest had been destroyed for them to be taken. I could tell myself I deserved it. If I could just keep a nine to five that would keep my mind busy, I could learn to appreciate coming home to a little house of my own. In this world, you had to be at least a little materialistic to keep sane.

Through a hall window a man and his son were standing at the bottom of the stairs, the man buttoning up his wee boy’s jacket. I felt a stab in my heart. Oh God, I missed my youth. How could I possibly feel such happiness again? I imagined that boy would be about to go out with his little mates to play football or rounders. And along with his pals they wouldn’t care about impressing girls, or how they looked, or what they had to do when they got home, or what responsibilities they had. All that mattered would be the present, and having fun and playing games. Maybe they would all go out to some den somewhere. Or dig trenches or underground tunnels. Or go on an epic adventure and be travellers and heroes for the day.

Or maybe not. Maybe that parent was just taking him to the shop to buy a couple of steak bakes before coming back home to play Grand Theft Auto or go on Facebook. But what did I know? I kept walking. I had my hood up hiding my now black hair and I watched the cars and their drivers as they drove up and down the road. Then I spotted a police car coming my way. I almost froze. I stared at the pavement and kept walking as it passed me by.

I turned the corner and headed up another street and soon was approaching the shops. After that I reached the station. I