Furnace 5 - Execution (37 page)

I looked at Zee and Lucy, asleep on the sofa, then past them, through the window, where the last of the sunlight rested over the world. We were safe. We were free.
I could feel my story rushing up from my stomach, a tide that would not stop until every last word had been spoken, a tide that would bring me home.

‘Yeah, I know where to begin,’ I said.

I turned back to the general, waited for him to switch on the recorder. Then I took a deep breath. I was going to need it.

‘I can tell you the exact moment that my life went to hell.’

That’s the best thing about endings: they have to be beginnings, too. Perhaps you can guess what happened after my story finished. Perhaps you don’t want to know. For those of you who are interested, check out:
www.escapefromfurnace.com/epilogue
.

Alexander Gordon Smith, 30, is the author of
Furnace: Lockdown
,
Furnace: Solitary
,
Furnace: Death Sentence
and
Furnace: Fugitives
, as well as
The Inventors
, which was shortlisted for the Wow Factor competition, and
The Inventors and the City of Stolen Souls
. He has also written a number of non-fiction books, as well as hundreds of articles for various magazines. He is the founder of Egg Box Publishing, an independent press that promotes talented new writers and poets, and is the co-owner of Fear Driven Films. He lives in Norwich.

Find out more at:

www.alexandergordonsmith.com

by the same author

THE
INVENTORS

THE
INVENTORS
AND
THE
CITY
OF
STOLEN
SOULS

FURNACE:
LOCKDOWN

FURNACE:
SOLITARY

FURNACE:
DEATH
SENTENCE

FURNACE:
FUGITIVES

First published in 2011

by Faber and Faber Ltd

Bloomsbury House

74–77 Great Russell Street

London WC1B 3DA

This ebook edition first published in 2011

All rights reserved

© Alexander Gordon Smith, 2011

The right of Alexander Gordon Smith to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

ISBN 978–0–571–25988–5