Young Bond: The Dead - Young Bond: The Dead Part 33
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Young Bond: The Dead Part 33

'I'm serious, Courtney. We ain't alone.'

'And I'm serious too.' Courtney gave an evil grin and then the others smelt it. They jumped up from the bench and backed away, holding their noses and cursing Courtney.

Frederique ran past, her long hair flying. Eyes and mouth wide. She was chasing Zohra, who was screaming happily. Frederique screamed too, copying the younger girl, forcing out a long, thin, impossibly high note that seemed to fill the whole atrium. It was the only way she could shut out the other sounds the kids were making. The loud breathing, hearts beating, blood flowing through veins, food being digested, the thoughts yammering inside their heads. So many voices. Drone, drone, drone, gibbering on about nothing.

It wasn't just her hearing that was better; all her senses had been boosted. She could smell so much more, feel so much more, see so much more. Things were so bright it hurt her eyes, blinding her. The light burrowed into her head. She could feel it as it came in through her eye then down the optic nerve straight into her brain. Like someone was shining a torch into her mind, lighting it up.

Everything was very clear now. Clear and sharp and glowing and bright. She understood so many things she hadn't known before. The light had unlocked all this hidden stuff, sent her brain spinning. The others couldn't know that, the children. The stupid little children.

Because that's all they were. Children.

Stupid-stupid-stupid ...

What did they know? Her brain was supercharged, like a sports car; they wouldn't understand that. They were wandering in the dark, like cave people. Their brains were solid and heavy and slow; hers was spinning so fast in her head it was getting hot.

She bit her knuckle, tasted blood. Like touching battery terminals with your tongue. A flash of electricity, metal, food, red, water, life.

She was changing. That was it. Evolving into a higher being. Like a caterpillar becoming a chrysalis becoming a butterfly. Her brain was turning to liquid and it would reform as something spectacular.

Yes.

She was becoming a super-being.

Not like these stupid-stupid-stupid ... what was the word?

Enfants.

She laughed. Why had she been scared before? There was nothing to be afraid of. She was changing into something ... magnificent.

Froggie and Wiki ran away from Frederique and hid behind a tank.

Froggie was fighting to catch his breath.

'She's scary,' he gasped. 'I hope she doesn't catch me.'

'You're fast,' said Wiki. 'You can outrun her.'

'It feels really weird to be going crazy in a museum. You're never usually allowed to run around.'

'It's actually quite funny you should say that, about going crazy here,' said Wiki. 'You know what this place used to be? This building?'

'No,' said Froggie. 'What?'

'Bedlam.'

'What's that?'

'Its proper name was the Bethlem Royal Hospital. For mad people.'

'A loony bin?' said Froggie, his big eyes wide.

'Yes. It was nicknamed Bedlam. It's where the word comes from.'

'What word?' said Froggie.

'Never mind.'

'Is there anything you don't know?' Froggie asked.

'There are lots of things I don't know,' said Wiki seriously.

'What's the weirdest thing you know?'

'I know how to say "the toenails of my grandfather's elder brother are stiff" in Indonesian.'

'Yeah? Go on then.'

'OK Kuku-kuku kaki kakak kakekku kaku kaku.'

'You made that up.'

'No I didn't. It's true. "Kuku-kuku kaki kakak kakekku kaku kaku" means "the toenails of my grandfather's elder brother are stiff" in Indonesian. Now look out! She's coming!'

Frederique could smell them. Hiding behind the tank. Oh, they were ripe. Fresh and ripe. Not like the muck she'd been forced to eat at lunch. That had been poisoned, she was sure of it now; the other children had tried to poison her they'd never liked her. She was different in some way. And they knew it. She wasn't one of them.

She was French.

They'd been hiding the good food. Keeping it for themselves. But she knew how to get at it. It was inside them.

The smell of them was making her salivate. Her mouth was full of liquid. It spilt over her lips. God, but she was hungry.

There they were, the two boys, two little piggies. She breathed in their stench, could already taste them. The smaller one, Froggie. He would be so tender. The soft flesh. The blood. Young and fresh and alive, electric, pulsing, pure, and full of red, red life ...

She was gripped by a spasm that sent her whole body rigid. It felt like all her bones must break, snap under the strain. Electricity was running through her, power, fire, metal, red, food ...

Zohra was watching Frederique move in on Froggie and Wiki.

'Get away!' she shouted, glad it wasn't her over there. Frederique was too good at this game. She was making it too real. Froggie and Wiki were bumping into each other and yelling as they tried to dodge the tall girl's grasping hands.

'Run, Froggie!' Zohra was laughing so much she thought she might be sick. The boys looked like something out of a speeded-up comedy film.

Then Frederique howled and grabbed hold of Froggie's arm.

Froggie shrieked.

'She's caught me!'

Frederique bared her teeth, brought Froggie's arm up to her mouth and bit down hard.

52.

'Jack, Jack ... I'm sorry, Jack.'

'You moron. You could have killed me.'

'But you're not dead. Thank God. How bad is it?'

'What do you think? You shot me, you moron.'

'I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you. I thought ...'

'Well, it was me ...'

'Jack, what have I done?'

'You know what you've done. You've shot me.'

'You're not dead, though. I didn't kill you.'

'It only got me down the side. I'm bleeding a bit. It's not too bad, I think. Doesn't hurt too much. It's lucky you're such a rotten shot.'

'I'm so sorry, Jack.'

'It's all right, Bam. It's not your fault. I know you didn't mean it, but I wish to God you hadn't done it.'

'I couldn't see. I thought you were a sicko.'

'Yeah, I know. I thought you were one too. There was a light, I saw a light, I think it must have been something reflecting off your gun barrel.'

'Jesus, Jack, I really thought I'd killed you.'

'Yeah, well, you didn't. Better luck next time.'

'Jack ...'

'I'm still here, Bam. Just shut up about it. We've got to get out of here somehow.'

'Help!' Bam's voice boomed out in the darkness. 'Hello! Help ... Ed! Are you there? Help us, Ed! Where are you? Ed ...' Bam stopped shouting and the silence and the blackness felt deeper.

'Can you see anything?' Jack asked. 'Any light anywhere?'

'No, Jack, but I can feel you ... You're soaked. It's bad, Jack, it's bad.'

'I feel all right, Bam. It doesn't hurt too much. I can stand up, I think.'

'Come on then. I'll help you.'

'Ow ... don't hold me there, that hurts like bugger. Ow. OK. I'm OK. I'm OK. I'm up.'

'Which way do we go? I can't see anything.'

'Oh, Jesus, Bam, I don't think I can do this, put me down, put me down ...'

Bam realized that Jack had been fronting it out before. The injury was bad and he was in a lot more pain than he'd been letting on. Tears came into Bam's eyes. He wiped them away and stared into black nothingness. And then a strange thing happened: a patch of the black started to break up and fall apart, to be replaced by a bright square, that hung like a TV screen in the darkness.

He struggled to make sense of what he was seeing.

Light. A waft of smoke and dust. Then a silhouetted head and shoulders. A voice.

'Bam?'

'Ed? Is that you, Ed?'

A torch shone in and Bam shielded his eyes.

'I heard you shouting.' It was definitely Ed's voice. 'I've been looking everywhere. Come this way. I'll pass you a torch. Is Jack hurt?'

'Just a bit,' said Jack sarcastically.

'In the explosion?'

'No,' said Bam, coming over to the small opening and taking the torch off Ed. 'I shot him. I thought he was a sicko.'

Ed swore. 'We've got to get you out of there fast,' he said. 'See if you can pull down any more of this wall of rubble.'

With Bam working from one side and Ed from the other they set to, moving lumps of concrete until they'd made a big enough hole for Bam to be able to get out. Then Ed shone his torch in to guide Bam back to Jack. Bam saw that they'd fallen into some sort of underground sports hall. Part of the roof was caved in and there was a mound of dead bodies at the far end.

He went back over to Jack and swore again when he saw the state of him. His whole left-hand side was covered in bright red blood crusted with dirt. His shirt and jacket were ragged. He groaned as Bam hauled him to his feet and manhandled him to the opening. Ed helped them both out into the corridor on the other side. There was smoke everywhere, and the sound of flames. The structure of the building had been badly damaged. Big cracks zigzagged up the walls, and chips of concrete and little rivulets of dust were falling everywhere.

Ed and Bam got under Jack's shoulders and the three of them blundered their way to a staircase that led up to ground level. Jack cursing. Bam fretting. Ed just glad they were all alive.

'I didn't fall through,' he explained as they made it out of the stand through some shattered glass doors. It was a relief to get out of the building, although the air outside wasn't much cleaner. 'The explosion threw me off the pitch into the stands,' Ed went on. 'I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I came round I figured you two must have got buried underground somewhere. I managed to get outside and find this torch in an ambulance. It's crazy, the whole place is on fire, but at least it's got rid of the sickos.'

'It's lucky you heard us shouting,' said Bam.

'Yeah, well, when I got back here I thought it was hopeless,' said Ed. 'I went down to the lower level and half the place was collapsed. Then I heard a shot. I couldn't believe it. When you started shouting I finally worked out where you were.'

They were skirting the stands, making their way to the main gates where they'd first come in. There was a creak and a rumble from the building.

'It's collapsing,' said Ed. 'We need to get well away from here, then we'll see how bad you are, Jack.'