Titanic 2020: Cannibal City

25 The Plan

They were found clinging to a rock two miles downriver, frozen, unable to move, on the verge of passing out and slipping back in, two almost-drowned rats. They could not feel their arms or legs. They were hauled out by their comrades, with Mohican yelling commands, and then rushed away in an ambulance. In the back, drifting between lucidity and coma, Rain Man whispered, 'You saved my life. Why did you do that?'

'Because I'm stupid,' Jimmy whispered back.

He blacked out.

For a long time he wasn't sure where he was. Or if he was alive or dead. He kept thinking he was awake and he was talking coherently to Claire, but then she vanished, or grew trotters. And then he realised he was asleep — but if you realise you're asleep, are you really asleep? — that puzzled him, while he slept. When he did wake, he ached. He felt as if a dwarf with a very small sledge-hammer had whacked every single bone in his body. He didn't want to ever move again, but then the nurse brought in a tray of bacon and eggs and toast and he immediately sat up and ate everything.

Rain Man was asleep in the bed opposite. There was an IV tube inserted in his arm. The girl with the constant stare was awake — but constantly staring at some far-off imaginary planet.

The nurse beamed down at him. 'Our hero,' she said. She nodded beyond him and he turned to find that some kind of a medal had been pinned to the wall. 'The President himself came by last night and presented it to you. He was going to wait until this morning, but thought it was better to do it immediately in case you died.'

Jimmy swallowed. 'Was that likely?'

'Likely? It was probable — but you didn't.'

'What about him?' Jimmy nodded towards Rain Man.

'You both surprised us. You're made of strong stuff.'

Jimmy glowed, just a little bit. And then he remembered: that's how they operate. They praise you, they promote you, it's how they win your loyalty.

Escape — you have to escape.

But he was going nowhere just yet. When the nurse left he tried to stand — his legs were like jelly. He sat on the edge of the bed instead, slowly flexing his muscles, forcing the blood to flow back. He graduated to standing upright, then shuffling along. It was exhausting, but he knew he had to do it. He had to escape. But how? The river had been his best opportunity and he'd blown that by . . . doing something good. He would try and avoid being good in future. He'd had a lifetime of practice.

As the morning wore on Jimmy found himself being drawn again to the girl. There were crumbs on her top sheet and an empty plate on her locker, so she was now clearly capable of movement, but she appeared as lost as ever. Jimmy sat in a chair beside her bed and just looked at her.

Eventually he said: 'I talked to you a while back about escaping. Just wondering if you'd had any further thoughts, or if you've managed to dig that tunnel while I've been out saving lives. I have a medal, you know? I'm pretty great. But I need help. I have to get out of here. I have to get back to Titanic. You'd love it there. Biggest cruise ship ever built. Everything on board, a real luxury liner. And we have chickens and pigs. Well, we had some pigs . . .'

He told her about Babe. He couldn't help but laugh when he started in on the anxious wait for Babe's execution and how he'd returned to the newsroom with a bag of sausages. 'They weren't really made out of Babe, you know? But if you'd seen her face . . .' He sighed. The laughter was gone. 'I just need to get back there. It's the only home I have. The newspaper is . . . everything. Can you understand that?' He looked for some response. Nothing. He sighed again. 'Oh, what's the bloody point?'

Jimmy stood to go, but as he reached the end of her bed, the girl said very quietly: 'Take me with you.'

Jimmy stopped, stunned, as her eyes flitted towards him, just for a second, before returning to the ceiling.

Jimmy stepped right back up to her. 'You can . . . ?'

She nodded slowly.

'The whole time you could . . . ?'

She nodded again.

'So you've listened to all my crap and never said a . . . ?' She nodded once more. 'But why?'

She smiled. 'Do you think I want to become a soldier either?'

It was a show of bravado. She had been very seriously ill and badly traumatised when she'd been found wandering in the forest six weeks previously. And she clearly wasn't completely right yet. When Jimmy pulled his chair closer to the bed and asked her how she'd come to be lost in the forest she just shrugged.

'Well, where were you before that?'

She shrugged again.

'Can't remember, or don't want to talk about it?'

'Both. Either.'

Jimmy had interviewed enough people for the Times — kids and adults alike — to know that many of them had been through such horrific experiences that they literally couldn't talk about them, without seriously jeopardising both their mental and physical wellbeing. They built protective walls around those memories, sometimes so tall and strong that even they could no longer access them.

'So, anyway, you were sick when you came here, but then you got better — but you never let on because . . . ?'

'. . . because it's all about fighting and conquering and . . . stuff. I like the sound of the Titanic!

'You have a name?'

'Ronni. Two ns, one i.'

'Ronni. What's that short for?'

'It's not short for anything.'

Jimmy nodded. 'Ronni,' he said. 'Ronni. OK, Ronni. Do you really want to escape with me?'

'Yes. Definitely.'

'OK then. All we need now is a plan. And an opportunity. And some luck.' They heard footsteps outside. Ronni's head fell back on her pillow and her eyes glazed over. 'Start thinking,' whispered Jimmy, and stood just as the nurse re-entered, carrying a large pile of fresh linen. She looked surprised to see him up.

'Jimmy, should you—'

'I'm confused,' he said quickly, nodding down at Ronni's bed. 'She never moves a muscle, yet her plate's always empty. I think we have mice. Big ones.'

The nurse smiled indulgently. 'Jimmy, she eats. But only in the dark, in the middle of the night. She's getting better, but it's going to be a long, slow process.'

Jimmy shook his head. 'If you ask me, she's faking.'

He turned for his bed.

'Jimmy!' scolded the nurse.

One thing he was pretty sure of, he needed to stay in the First Aid hut for as long as possible. If he returned to the troop there would be less opportunity to plan or execute the escape. So in the midst of more verbal sparring with the nurse he faked a dizzy spell and collapsed down on to his bed. She rushed across, pulled the covers up over him, took his temperature and tutted. In fact he was feeling rather hot, but he played it up. Later in the afternoon, several of his comrade troopers visited, but he pretended to be asleep. They cooed over his medal and talked about his heroics and remarked on how ill he looked.

'He's definitely not going to be fit for tomorrow,' said Torres.

One of the girls said, '1 can't imagine going into battle without him.'

Through all of this Rain Man continued to sleep.

After five minutes the nurse shooed them away. Then she went off for dinner, allowing Jimmy to climb back out of bed. Ronni stood with him by the window while they tried to puzzle out a way to escape. She was slightly more practically minded than he was.

'We'll need food, clothes and medicine,' she said. 'We'll need a tent and pots and—'

'We're not going camping,' said Jimmy. 'We just need to get out. There's a whole world full of stuff out there that nobody needs any more — we can pick it up as we go.'

'And what if we wander around lost in the woods, what if we're wet and hungry and—'

'We won't be. Or if we are, we'll figure out what to do. But none of it matters anyway, because there's no way out.'

Jimmy stared through the glass at the wire fence thirty metres away. It wasn't quite dark yet, but the search beams were already crisscrossing the plain beyond. Trucks filled with supplies rumbled back and forth; soldiers sat in little groups, taking their guns apart and putting them back together, checking and rechecking. Some alredy had camouflage painted on their faces.

What did they say earlier? 'He's definitely not going to be fit for tomorrow.' 'I can't imagine going into battle without him.'

They were preparing for war.

Jimmy drummed his fingers on the window.

We haven't even trained with guns yet. What kind of a crazy war is that? If we're fighting another army, we're going to get slaughtered!

Not 'we'!

They. They'll get slaughtered.

It has nothing to do with me.

I have to get out of here! There must be a way.

And it has to be tonight.

'There must be a way! There must be a bloody—'

'There is a way.'

It wasn't Ronni.

It was Rain Man, sitting up in bed.

Jimmy gave him a hard look. 'I thought you were sleeping.'

'How can I with you two plotting your escape?'

'You weren't supposed to hear that. And there's no plotting going on. And if you squeal on us I swear to God I'll—'

'You'll what? Kill me?' Rain Man laughed. 'You've just saved me. Anyway, I figure I owe you.'

'Whaddya mean?'

'Don't get me wrong, Frankie . . .'

'Frankie?' said Ronni.

'It's a long story,' said Jimmy.

'Short for Frankenstein,' said Rain Man.

'Are you some kind of monster?' asked Ronni.

'No!' He glared at Rain Man. 'What are you talking about?'

'Well, Frankie, I still think you're an arrogant, disloyal, disruptive son of a . . . but I still owe you. And I think I know how you can escape. Both of you, if that's what you want.'

Jimmy stared at him.

'That's what we want,' said Ronni. She nudged Jimmy. He nodded begrudgingly.

'What's the big idea?' he asked.

Rain Man pushed his covers back. He took a deep breath and stood. He immediately sat down again. Ronni went across and offered him her arm. He took it and she helped him up then supported him as he crossed to the window. He leaned on the sill and nodded out. 'Through the fence . . .'

'Through the fence?' Jimmy exploded. 'Do you not think—'

'Will you give me a chance?' Rain Man snapped. Jimmy glared at him again. They would never be friends. 'OK. So all of the lights are powered from a central generator. If I find a way to disable it then it's going to be pitch black out there. You'll have at least five minutes before they get the backup working.'

Jimmy blinked at him. 'You would do that?'

Rain Man nodded. 'If it makes us even, sure. Anyway, chances are they'll get the lights back on and you'll be shot before you make the woods, but if you think you can do it, why not?'

'And what if you get caught?' Ronni asked.

'I'll act all delirious and they'll think I did it by accident. Or something. It doesn't matter, I owe him.'

Jimmy shook his head slowly. 'Maybe you'll just switch the generator off for a minute, long enough for us to get out there, and then you'll switch it back on again and we'll be sitting ducks. Maybe that's your plan. How do we know we can trust you?'

'You don't,' said Rain Man.