Human screams.
The lords and ladies of the Board have fallen silent. They’re staring at the open doorway on their side of the glass divide, heads cocked, jaws slack. They don’t look like the masters and mistresses of the universe any more.
The zombies keep slapping at the ducting, unaware of the change of play. I ignore them and stare at the doorway along with the living.
A guard spills into the narrow corridor, falls over, then clambers to his feet. His face is contorted with terror. ‘We’re under attack!’ he shouts.
‘Who the hell dares attack us?’ Justin barks, recovering his power of speech. ‘Is it the army?’
The guard shakes his head. ‘Zombies, I think. But we’re not sure. They came from the river. They’ve swarmed the deck. I don’t think we can hold for long.’
Justin curses foully, then draws a gun and shoots the startled guard through the middle of his forehead.
‘Why did you do that?’ The Prince shrieks.
‘I don’t spare messengers when they bring bad news,’ Justin growls, then hops over the dead guard and into the corridor beyond.
The Prince stares at the corpse. There’s another extended blast of gunfire overhead. He flinches, then hurries after Justin. Vicky, Lord Luca and Dan-Dan scramble after the first pair of deserters. Lady Jemima just sinks to the floor and covers her head with her hands. She starts moaning, ‘No, no, no. This wasn’t part of the plan. It can’t happen like this. I won’t let it. This is our world.’
Dan-Dan pauses in the doorway as the others flee. He looks back at me. I’m stunned to see him smirking. ‘Isn’t this exciting?’ he coos.
‘Run, run as fast you can, fat boy,’ I snarl. ‘But it won’t make any difference. You’re history.’
Dan-Dan snorts. ‘I think not, little girl. I have more lives than a cat. See you later, alligator.’
‘It’ll be sooner than you’d like, crocodile.’
Dan-Dan winks. ‘I’ll be looking forward to the day.’
He skips out, laughing, leaving me to fend off the zombies and wait for whoever or whatever is coming.
My gut instinct is that Mr Dowling and his mutants are orchestrating the attack. They set me free from prison once before when all seemed lost, and came to my rescue in Leicester Square when it looked like my goose was cooked. They’re making a habit of saving my sorry neck from the chop. Long may it continue! I just hope they don’t decide to kill me this time. Mr Dowling has shown mercy previously for some unknowable reason, but there’s no telling which way the demented clown will blow when the wind changes direction.
I hang tight to the ducting and wait for the mutants or their master to find me. I’m hoping creepy Owl Man isn’t with them. Then the door opens and a familiar figure bursts into the room and I realise my gut was just about as wrong as wrong can be.
‘Rage!’ I yell, for once with delight instead of contempt.
Rage squints at me. ‘What are you doing up there?’
‘This is what I do for kicks,’ I growl. ‘Now quit gawping and help me, will you?’
‘Wait a minute,’ Rage says and steps outside. ‘She’s here,’ he hollers, then returns and lays into the zombies.
As Rage shoves the zombies away from me and starts cracking their heads open, Dr Oystein comes running into the room. ‘B!’ he cries, hurrying to where I’m hanging. He offers me his hand and helps me down.
‘Nice to see you, doc,’ I mutter.
‘You too,’ he says politely, then embraces me with a surprisingly strong bear hug. ‘I thought we had lost you forever.’
‘You don’t get rid of me that easily,’ I chuckle, and hug him in return, burying my face in his chest, wishing I could cry so that I could blink back tears.
The twins race into the room as Dr Oystein releases me. They’re dripping wet but they look ecstatic.
‘We’ve taken control of the deck,’ Cian cheers.
‘Some of the guards are still fighting, but we have them trapped,’ Awnya says.
‘Master Zhang has started a sweep of the lower decks,’ Cian adds. ‘He says you should be cautious until he is certain the ship is ours.’
‘There are children on the deck below this,’ I tell the twins. ‘Make sure nobody hurts them. They were being held captive.’
‘We know all about the children,’ Dr Oystein calms me. ‘We will take good care of them and escort them back to County Hall when we have concluded our business here.’
‘How did you find me?’ I ask. ‘How did you board the ship? Where –’
A scream stops me short. I look up. An Angel has entered the viewing area on the other side of the glass. It’s Ingrid, the Angel I went on my very first ever mission with. Lady Jemima is backing away from her, eyes wide, shaking her head wildly.
‘Who’s this?’ Ingrid asks me.
‘A bitch who needs putting down,’ I growl.
‘Glad to be of service,’ Ingrid grunts and closes in on the whimpering Lady Jemima. The human shuts her eyes and starts to pray, but why would God heed the prayers of a she-devil? Moments later it’s all over as far as Lady J is concerned.
I push myself away from Dr Oystein. ‘There were five others. They dressed differently to the guards. Have you seen them?’
‘I saw one on the deck,’ Dr Oystein replies. ‘He was dressed like a prince. He tried to make the gangway. He did not get very far.’
‘I spotted a few heading down the stairs,’ Rage says, pausing to address me over the heads of the zombies. ‘One was dressed like a sailor.’
‘Dan-Dan,’ I growl and start for the door.
‘B,’ Dr Oystein calls me back. ‘There are plenty of us onboard. We can handle this. You look drained and battered. You should rest.’
‘I’ll rest when those bastards are dead.’ I grimace and flash the doc an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. But I need to do this. I want to make them pay for what they did to me.’
‘I understand,’ the doctor says, returning my smile. ‘Good luck, B.’
‘If you wait a minute, I can come with you,’ Rage says, knocking another of the zombies to the floor.
‘You’re fine,’ I tell him. ‘This is something I’d rather do by myself.’
‘Always the loner,’ Rage laughs, bashing the heads of two more zombies together.
I want to respond to that but there isn’t time. I’m worried that Dan-Dan and the rest of them might slip the net. Waving briefly to the doc and Rage, I slide out of the arena, a free girl for the first time since I came to this stinking cruiser, and head off in search of my captors. The tables have turned and I plan to put them through a whole heap of hurt before I break their rotten necks and rid this world of their unholy, stinking presence.
I hurry to the nearest set of stairs and practically throw myself down to the deck beneath. I pause and sniff the air. I can smell the children but no one from the Board. Of course my nose isn’t infallible. If they raced fore or aft, I wouldn’t be able to sniff them out from here. But I’m guessing they delved further into the bowels of the ship.
I carry on down to the next level. Gunfire starts afresh as I’m looking around. Screams. Master Zhang and his Angels must have found more guards. If the members of the Board are with them, they’re finished. I just have to hope that they pressed on. If not, I’ll find their corpses later and vomit over them to demonstrate my disgust.
Down another flight of stairs. The engine room is on this floor. I can’t smell anything, but as I’m standing at the base of the stairs, weighing up my options, I hear a clanging noise. I move ahead cautiously, not getting my hopes up. There are all sorts of people on the old cruiser, crew members, guards, zombies, Angels. There’s no guarantee that one of the louses of the Board made the noise.
More gunfire overhead helps mask the sound of my footsteps. I come to the engine room and let myself in. The place is filled with banks of dials and switches. I’ve no idea what any of them do and I don’t care. All that matters to
me is the smell in the air, familiar and sweet the closer I draw.
I hear them before I see them. Lord Luca is muttering angrily. ‘I told you we should have stuck with Justin and Vicky. It was madness branching off on our own.’
‘They’re the mad ones,’ Dan-Dan replies merrily, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. ‘It was crazy, pushing on. We don’t know how fast the zombies can move. I wouldn’t want to get into a race with them. Better to get out of here as swiftly as we can.’
‘But how?’ Lord Luca shouts. ‘I don’t know which button we’re supposed to press. I wasn’t paying attention when they showed us. There were so many escape routes and options, I can’t remember them all.’
‘You never did have the keenest attention span,’ Dan-Dan laughs.
‘I don’t see you doing any better, genius,’ Lord Luca snaps.
I round a bank of dials and come in view of the pair. Lord Luca is standing before a wall of switches, desperately flicking every one that he can. Dan-Dan is standing behind him, giggling.
‘Having fun, boys?’ I murmur.
Their heads snap round. Lord Luca yelps and throws switches faster than before. Dan-Dan tips his hat at me and says, ‘I didn’t expect you to catch up with me this quickly.’
‘I don’t believe in wasting time,’ I grin, taking a step towards them, savouring the moment, wanting to make it last.
‘We can pay you!’ Lord Luca shrieks. ‘We’ll give you anything you want!’
‘There’s only one thing she wants,’ Dan-Dan chuckles, then grabs his brother by the arm and spins him towards me.
‘No!’ Lord Luca cries as he crashes to the floor in front of me. ‘What are you doing? Help me, fool!’
‘You’re the fool,’ Dan-Dan gurgles, rubbing his hairy belly, picking a crumb from it and placing it delicately on his outstretched tongue. ‘I never did like you, Luca. You were weak and scatterbrained like Mother. Father always said he only kept you around in case he ever needed an organ transplant. Poor Papa was always worried about his kidneys and heart.’
Lord Luca gawps with disbelief at his grotesque brother, then gulps and stares up at me. His look of fear fades, to be replaced by one of calm resignation. ‘Is there any point begging for mercy?’ he asks.
‘No,’ I tell him, then grab the sides of his head and lower my mouth. I lick his forehead and rub my nose across it. He whimpers, fear creeping back across his expression again. Then I bite into his skull and gnaw through the bone into the brain beneath. I’d like to make it last longer, but I’m anxious to move on to Dan-Dan.
When Lord Luca stops moaning and struggling, I let his body drop and face Dan-Dan, wiping bits of his brother’s brain from my lips. To my surprise, the child-killer is crying.
‘It’s silly, isn’t it?’ Dan-Dan weeps. ‘I cried when Mother died too, even though I threw her to the zombies, just as I’ve thrown Luca to you. I’m too soft for this cruel world.’
‘You won’t have to worry about it for much longer,’ I chuckle grimly.
He squints at me. ‘You really are a beautifully fearsome creature. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to go to work on you. There’s so much more to you than any of my darlings. The sweet torments I could have put you through . . .’
‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ I hiss.
‘No need to apologise,’ he smiles. ‘You were simply doing what you had to. I don’t hold it against you. I’m not one to bear a grudge.’
‘Well, the bad news is, I am.’ I flex my fingers and advance. ‘I’m gonna hurt you, Dan-Dan. It won’t be quick like it was for Luca. You promised me a universe of pain. Well, you’re gonna reap what you planned to sow. For what you did to me and the children, I’m going to make it long and slow and painful.’
Dan-Dan shakes his head. ‘I don’t think so. You might want to torture me but you haven’t the stomach for it. Few people have. I’m gifted. Emotions never got between me and my desires. I’ve always had the power to do whatever I wished.
‘I’m going to miss you, Becky,’ he says. ‘What I wouldn’t give to pinch your clammy cheek and kiss you goodnight as I put you to sleep forever. That time will come, I’m sure, but the days will be long and lonely without you until then.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I tell him. ‘You’ll have plenty of company in Hell while you’re waiting for me.’
‘Oh, I’m not going to Hell just yet,’ Dan-Dan says brightly. ‘My brother was feather-headed. I was toying with him before you arrived. I wanted him to sweat. I always loved to wind up Luca. But I have a very good memory and I pay attention to the smallest of details. So, without further ado . . .’
Dan-Dan reaches up and presses a switch. The wall behind him explodes. I cry out – with my sensitive hearing it’s as if someone has struck a large bell with a hammer by the side of my head – and turn away instinctively. When the worst of the pain passes and I look again, Dan-Dan has leapt through a gaping hole in the side of the cruiser.
‘Son of a bitch!’ I roar, darting after him. I get to the hole, almost jump, but pull up short, not willing to throw myself into the great unknown. Instead, once I have control of myself again, I study the river beneath me.
Dan-Dan has landed in the water and is swimming towards a speedboat moored nearby. I think about jumping after him, but he has too great a lead on me. Reaching the boat, he climbs into it, starts the engine, waves nonchalantly at me, then powers away along the Thames, heading west.
‘James bloody Bond,’ I snarl. Then I laugh with grudging admiration. I hate that child-killing monster, but I have to admit he knows how to make a cool getaway.
As I watch Dan-Dan disappear into the sunset (well, it’s not long after midday, but he’s earned a bit of poetic licence), another chunk of the hull blows outwards and Justin Bazini and Vicky Wedge throw themselves into the river and make for a speedboat of their own. Now that I look closely, I realise there are several more tied to the ship. The lords and ladies of the Board had obviously planned for an invasion like this. I bet they never told the guards about the secret escape hatches. They wouldn’t have considered their underlings worth saving.
Turning my back on the hole, I send a silent promise after Dan-Dan and the others. We’ll meet again, my wretched darlings, and you won’t get away from me so easily next time.
Then, still wincing from the noise of the explosion, I retrace my steps and head back up the stairs to see what’s going on and discover how the Angels found me.
I pass Master Zhang as I’m climbing the stairs. He’s moving in the opposite direction, down into the hold. He pauses to study me and I bow to him politely.
‘You have been in the wars,’ he notes.
‘They made me fight several times every day,’ I tell him.
He grunts. ‘The fact that you survived this long proves that you were concentrating during your lessons.’ Then he pushes on. I allow myself a wry chuckle. Master Zhang isn’t a man to go wild with compliments.
I make my weary way to the arena. It’s all quiet on the upper deck now. I want to run up there, get out of this prison as soon as I can. But Dr Oystein is waiting for me in the old dining hall. Answers first, release later.
When I get to the arena, I see that the doctor isn’t the only one waiting for me. All of the Angels from my room are present, Ashtat, Carl, Shane, Jakob. Rage and the twins have hung around. Plus there’s one more addition, but this guy isn’t so welcome.
‘Barnes!’ I bellow, charging towards him, fingers tightening, meaning to do all the things to him that I can’t do to the departed Dan-Dan.
Carl and Shane slide together to block my path.
‘Easy,’ Carl says.
‘He’s on our side,’ Shane says.
‘Never,’ I bark. ‘He only looks out for himself.’
I try to push through. Carl and Shane shove me back. I get ready to fight.
‘It’s true, B,’ Dr Oystein says softly. ‘He came to us at County Hall, told us what was happening here, led us to you.’
I stop struggling. If I could, I’d blink like an owl. Carl and Shane move apart. Barnes is standing directly ahead of me. He’s taken the bullet from behind his ear and is tapping his front teeth with it. He raises an eyebrow when he spots my fingers clenching and unclenching.
‘It’s a real pisser when you don’t know whether to thank a guy or spit in his eye, isn’t it?’ he smirks.
‘I can’t really spit these days,’ I growl, ‘but I’ll never thank you either. What for—capturing me, enslaving me, bringing me here for Dan-Dan and the others to toy with?’
Barnes shrugs. ‘As I told you before, our choices are sometimes limited. I have a son, Stuart, who means everything to me. He survived the attacks and was staying in a compound in the countryside. He was relatively safe there, but the compounds are no guarantee of long-term security. Several have fallen and others will too. When you’re landlocked, you’re always open to attack.
‘I carried on hunting after my first run-in with you,’ he continues. ‘I made sure the zombies I killed weren’t conscious, but otherwise it was business as normal. The members of the Board heard about me. They invited me to come visit. I was curious, so I paid them a call. They wanted to employ me to find new gladiators for them. But they weren’t interested in ordinary zombies. They’d heard rumours that I’d met one who could talk.’
‘How did they hear about that?’ I sneer.
‘I never discussed it with anyone,’ Barnes said, ‘but Coley and the others who were with us that day did. The stories intrigued the Board. They offered me a king’s ransom to deliver you to them.’
‘And you jumped at the chance.’
Barnes sniffs. ‘I never cared about money. I couldn’t be bought that way. But every man has his price. Mine was the safety of my son.’ He sighs and sticks the bullet back behind his ear. ‘They offered Stuart a place on one of the islands which are free of zombies. I tried getting him on to one of those before, but it’s virtually impossible to gain access. Justin and his cronies operate several islands. If I agreed to work for them, they promised to ship out Stuart. I didn’t even have to think about it.’