Kyle called over to Ed.
‘You want me to kick the door in?’
‘No, Kyle. I don’t.’
Ed strode up to the door. He was going to try himself. As if his knocking would be any different to Lewis’s. Just before he grabbed hold of the knocker, however, the door opened a crack.
And there was Trey. His face broke into the biggest, happiest smile Ed had ever seen and as the crack in the doorway widened it revealed Trio, also grinning like an idiot. They came running out and started hugging everyone, even Ella.
‘Don’t say it!’ shrieked Trio. ‘Don’t say it! I don’t believe it. Are you the famous Ella?’
Ella nodded, a little overwhelmed.
‘Too much,’ said Trio and they turned to Malik.
‘Is he with you?’ Trey asked. ‘Or should I be scared right now?’
‘Malik’s with me,’ said Ed. ‘He’s an old friend.’
Malik managed to somehow form his damaged face into something like a smile.
‘Any friend of Ed’s is a friend of ours,’ said Trio, and they hugged him too.
‘Welcome to the club, dude,’ said Trey. ‘Always good to have another Twisted Kid around.’
‘That’s enough huggy-kissy crap,’ said Brooke. ‘This is turning into the end of a bad American sitcom.’
‘You’ve got no heart, Brooke,’ said Trio.
‘I’ve got a heart all right,’ said Brooke. ‘But I’ve also got a Yuckometer. What took you so long to answer the door?’
‘We were in the back is all,’ said Trey. ‘The oldsters are having lunch. We weren’t listening out for anyone. We don’t exactly get many visitors. Maybe the odd parcel from Amazon, but that’s about it.’
‘We are just so relieved to see you,’ said Trio. ‘I was, like, we’re never going to see them again. A whole, like, army of the fallen went past.’
‘Tell us about it,’ said Kyle. ‘We nearly got trampled into mincemeat.’
Ed smiled. ‘Today is a good day,’ he said. ‘And we’re gonna make sure tomorrow is even better. I feel it in the air. The tide has turned. We’re gonna roll the sickos out of here. We’re gonna win, Trinity. We are going to win.’
Dr Norman appeared in the doorway, wobbling on his sticks, beaming and jovial. He shook everyone’s hand as they went in, pleased to see them all safe and sound.
As they walked towards the day room, Trey had a quiet word with Ed.
‘What did I tell you?’ he said. ‘Rule of three.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Three scarred faces. It’s significant. You and Brooke and your friend Malik. It was always going to be.’
70
The light was washing in through the long windows down the side of the day room, falling on the old people who were enjoying the warmth and the brightness, outlining their faces with silver. Some were sleeping, some were talking, some were reading, some just sat there lost in thought. It was a scene of peacefulness and calm.
Ed spotted Amelia’s sister, Dot, sitting all alone, staring out of the window and talking quietly to herself, her fingers picking distractedly at the arms of her chair.
A thought struck him. There was someone missing.
‘Where’s Amelia?’ he asked. ‘I don’t see her.’
‘Ah …’ Dr Norman sat down at an empty table, seemingly too tired to stand any longer. Ed and the others joined him. The doctor’s skin looked pale and transparent with the sun on it, his skull showing clearly, laced with blue veins, his hair so fine, his eyes like clouded glass.
‘She caught a cold. It went down into her lungs. Got pneumonia. I did what I could. I tried antibiotics. It wasn’t enough. It’s never enough. I’m sorry. She liked you all very much. She asked about you just before …’
Ed sighed and rested his head in his hands. All good things came with bad things.
‘Her sister?’ he asked. ‘Dot?’
‘She’s fading fast. We all are.’
Trio put a hand on Ed.
‘We learnt so much before she died. She taught us everything she knew. And Dr Norman as well.’ She smiled at him and he blushed like a teenager. ‘He pretends not to remember. But he’s still got it.’
‘We passed our knowledge on to a new generation,’ said the doctor. ‘We’re the last of the old world. We’ll all be gone soon. This place will be empty, apart from ghosts. All most of us want now is to be able to sit in the sun one more time. It’s a ghastly world out there, beyond these walls. It seems that every generation leaves behind a mess for the next one to clean up.’
‘We’d better go,’ said Ed.
‘Won’t you at least stay for some lunch?’
‘Sorry.’ Ed shook his head. ‘We’ve got to get back to London.’
‘We’ll need some time,’ said Trey. ‘We’ve got to get our stuff together, and there’s some useful equipment that Amelia said we could take. I mean, there’s a few last things I want to … I need to … there’s a spider on the wall …’
‘What?’ Ed looked at Trey. His eyes were twitching, darting about.
‘Blue, Bluetooth, Blu tack … Blu-Tack Bill can count them all … My helicopter … my hovercraft … there are three … bright eyes … they’ve taken bright eyes … I won’t fight …’
‘Are you OK?’ said Brooke, although it was clear that Trey wasn’t. And Trio had closed her eyes now, her head lolling.
Trey’s eyes began to slowly roll back in his head and then he flopped forward. The doctor gently helped him down so that Trinity was lying on the table top.
‘It’s been happening more and more lately,’ he said. ‘Mister Three’s been getting worked up all the time. He’s very agitated. I do wish we could understand more of what he says, though.’
Sure enough Mister Three was uncurling from where he nestled on Trinity’s back. His bulgy eyes opened and he shuddered, shook himself, like a dog having a bad dream.
And then suddenly he was screaming.
‘You’ve got to go! Before it’s too late!’ He was waving his tiny arms frantically, looking around the faces of the kids with a deranged expression. ‘You’ve got to go fast and you’ve got to help the others in London the others they’re in terrible danger you have to help get there as soon as you can they’re being massacred killed … Sam! Sam! They’re after Sam! Help him help the boy they’ve killed the boy you have to help us! They’ve killed the boy …’
His voice got louder and more demented, growing to a shrill, piercing shriek.
‘Go now! Go now! Go now!’
THE BEGINNING
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PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0
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First published 2014
Text copyright © Charlie Higson, 2014
Cover images © Trevillion.com; iStockphoto.com
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Typeset by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
ISBN: 978-0-141-96795-0
Table of Contents
St George
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
The Hunter
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
19 Days Earlier
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
The Races
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Closing
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
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The Hunted Page 34