by Ben Oliver
Despite the Delay replenishing my damaged muscles, I still stumble and limp along, trying to keep up. My feet tangle and I hit the grated metal floor. I can taste blood in my mouth. I feel hands under my arms and Kina helps me to my feet.
‘Come on,’ she says, and we’re running again.
I hear gunshots from ahead and look up to see Pander taking out four guards with ease.
Down the first staircase and along the next level. Happy’s words still blaring out of the speakers. More shots, Igby kills a guard, then Malachai drops to one knee to take out three more.
Level two. I can feel the energy and power coming back into my broken body.
Level one. Seven more guards killed and not one casualty among us.
We’re going to make it.
The ground level is a vast open space and I can see the gigantic metal doors ahead.
Pander gets there first and begins typing into the keypad. The door slides open.
Blinding sunlight bursts through and I see a Volta Category 8 hovering just above the ground.
‘I can’t believe we’re actually going to get out of here,’ I say, and Kina smiles at me.
‘Believe it, Luka. Everything is as it should be.’
She takes off towards the car, and I start to follow.
And then I stop.
It was all so easy.
How did they get into the Block without being spotted? How did they open the doors without fingerprint scanners? How did we escape without a single casualty?
I watch as Kina climbs into the car.
Believe it, Luka.
But I don’t believe it. I know that this isn’t real.
Slowly, I make my way to the car. I look around at the faces of my friends.
Kina takes my hand. I can feel it in mine: the warmth, the roughness of her fingertips. All so genuine that it might as well be real.
Malachai, Igby, Pander and Kina look at me with eagerness in their eyes.
‘Where are we meeting the others, Luka?’ Malachai asks, pointing to the GPS system. ‘Quickly.’
I look to where Malachai is pointing, and then at each of my friends in turn. ‘I want you to know that I love you,’ I say.
Smiles form on their faces.
I lean forward to the GPS and select where I would like the car’s autopilot feature to take us.
And then we lift off into the air, moving effortlessly to the centre of the city.
Everything is as it should be.
BEN OLIVER BEGAN WRITING CREATIVELY AT AGE SEVEN, and was promptly placed into the lowest reading and writing group at school. Frustrated by his lack of immediate success, he chose to step down from the world of writing.
Three years later, Ben came out of retirement to write a ‘What I Did During My Summer Holiday’ assignment, where he claimed he saved the world from the apocalypse. Encouraged by an enthusiastic teacher, he returned, triumphantly, to writing. A mere twenty-two years later, Ben is now a high school English teacher and a published author.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I always knew I wanted to be a writer. What I didn’t know was – to get a book published – you need a large number of people to believe in you.
The first person is, of course, yourself, and then the people you trust enough to allow them to read your work. After that, you send your manuscript out to the big scary world of the professional booky people.
I want to thank all of those people here.
Sarah, my wife – I wouldn’t have finished this book without you. Thank you for being my first proofreader, and for being my favourite person.
Mum and Dad – for putting up with my insane years. For reading to me and teaching me to be creative.
Hollie, my sister – for being the most encouraging person in the world, and for showing me what good music is, what good movies are and what good books are.
Chloe Seager, my agent – for being the first of the ‘professional booky people’, and for making The Loop infinitely better than when it first came to you.
Kesia Lupo, my editor – for being the second of the booky people, and for being a plot-wizard who fixed so many issues with the story.
James Carroll – 85% Jedi.
Barry Cunningham – you have a life-sized polar bear wearing a fez in your house. How could you not be the coolest person on earth?
Joy Sharp: super librarian – for your excellent suggestions early on.
Laura Myers – for getting me over the finish line.
Elinor Bagenal – also a Jedi.
The entire Chicken House team – you’ve all pushed me and this story to be the best it can be. I can never thank you enough.
TRY ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM CHICKEN HOUSE
THE MAZE RUNNER by JAMES DASHNER
When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas can remember is his first name. But he’s not alone. He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade, an encampment at the centre of a bizarre maze.
Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there, or what’s happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything to find out . . .
A dark and gripping tale of survival set in a world where teenagers fight for their lives on a daily basis.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-909489-40-0, £7.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-908435-48-4, £7.99
ALSO AVAILABLE:
THE SCORCH TRIALS
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-909489-41-7, £7.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-908435-49-1, £7.99
THE DEATH CURE
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-909489-42-4, £7.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-908435-35-4, £7.99
THE KILL ORDER
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-909489-43-1, £7.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-908435-69-9, £7.99
THE FEVER CODE
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-911077-03-9, £7.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-910655-66-5, £7.99
TRY ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM CHICKEN HOUSE
THE FANDOM by ANNA DAY
Violet loves The Gallows Dance – like every fan, she dreams of being a part of her favourite story.
But the dream becomes a nightmare at Comic-Con, when Violet and her friends are catapulted into The Gallows Dance for real. Trapped in a violent, dangerous dystopia, Violet and her friends throw the original plot off course by accidentally killing its hero, Rose.
There’s only one way to survive in this world of thorns: Violet must fill Rose’s shoes, put the plot back on track, and get out fast.
Compulsive, intricate and genre–busting: I am most definitely a fan.
KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-910655-67-2, £7.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-911077-43-5, £7.99
Published by Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd
PO Box 579 Gosford NSW 2250
ABN 11 000 614 577
www.scholastic.com.au
Part of the Scholastic Group
Sydney • Auckland • New York • Toronto • London • Mexico City
• New Delhi • Hong Kong • Buenos Aires • Puerto Rico
First edition published by Chicken House, 2020.
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd, 2020
E-PUB/MOBI eISBN: 978-1-76097-632-3
Text © Ben Oliver 2020
Cover design by Maeve Norton and Steve Wells
Interior design by Helen Crawford-White
Ben Oliver asserts his moral rights as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.
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