Chapter 12

I surprised myself, on the way back.

While running through the tunnels to get Cameron, to get a medical kit for the New Queen, I ran into a pair of goblins.

Before they could do anything, almost before they noticed me, I raised the pistol Bea gave me and fired two bullets into each of them. I didn't hesitate, I didn't tremble in my aim, I even compensated for the kick-back as the rounds left the gun. I was proud of myself, and thankful for my training. I looked around, and it didn't look like there were any other goblins nearby who could have heard it, so I didn't stop, just kept heading towards where I'd last seen the girls.

I've never killed anything before, at least not directly.

By the time I got back, the battle wasn't quite over, but Cameron was already packing up. She knew that Whip and Vernita could handle the last few, smaller waves; we have limited ammo, and there's no sense using a gun when a knife will do. I don't know whether they were tactically retreating, waiting for another opportunity to strike, or whether the Queen had simply exhausted her troops in the area, but either way, by the time they were ready for a second round of attacks, we hoped to be long gone.

Cameron looked worried as I approached.

"Drew?? Where's the Queen?"

"With Bea," I panted. "Injured. Come."

I started to run, but before I even got two steps, Cameron hoisted me up on her shoulder and ran in the direction I pointed. It could have been patronising, but I knew not to take it that way. It was just efficiency. She was making sure I wasn't the weak link. She was doing what needed to be done.

When we got to the entrance of the tunnel, I clambered down with as much dignity as I could muster, but before I could even point to the entrance, we saw movement.

The two goblins I encountered, I should elaborate, weren't gunning for me. I wasn't hitting a moving target - they were facing away from me, unmoving, waiting for the right moment to enter the battle. In a broad sense it was self-defence; had they seen me, I'm sure I wouldn't have stood a chance, but I didn't win a fight or anything like that. I just got behind them, and fired two bullets into each of their heads.

I'm no action hero.

When I saw the movement, that glimpse of white that means a goblin is looking straight at you, the image of those two goblins swam into my mind. I didn't see their faces, but I feel like I could have picked the back of their bald heads out of a line-up. They were goblins, less than human, no more than the horrible beasts that mother used to make me wash the corpses of ... but they had been once, hadn't they? Every goblin I cut up, every goblin I watched the girls kill, each of them had been a person, once upon a time. Each one of them had been a little girl.

I tried not to think of them that way. They're goblins, animals, worse than non-human. They are the enemy, and they are the reason we're here.

I highlight that I'm not an action hero because as soon as she saw movement, almost before (like she sensed it coming) Cameron had drawn her own pistols, one in each hand, and fired at the fleeing goblin. There's your hero.