The Enemy

There was an almost comical moment when the two dogs realized that they had an audience. They both did a double take and looked at the boys in surprise. The rest of the pack came into view at almost the same time, howling and barking. They skidded to a halt and a couple of them knocked into the Staff, who turned and snapped at them.

The little mongrel saw its moment and scurried off. The Staff stood there, sniffing the air. The other dogs were a mismatched mob, with missing fur and diseased eyes caked with pus. Some were limping, some wounded. One sat down in the road and vigorously scratched its ear, until another dog bit it and it scampered away.

The Staff strutted forward, growling, then it started to bark at the boys and the rest of the pack joined in. Instantly the street was filled with their racket.

‘Will they attack, do you think?’ asked Freak.

‘Depends how hungry they are,’ said Arran.

‘They look pretty hungry to me,’ said Deke and he gripped his sledgehammer tighter.

‘Try and scare them off,’ said Arran and the boys now made a racket of their own, yelling and screaming and waving their arms. The dogs backed off but the bolder ones were soon inching closer.

The big Staff shook his head and nosed ahead, his claws scratching on the tarmac.

‘Take him out,’ said Arran. ‘He’s the boss. Maybe the others will get the message.’

Ollie loosed his shot. The steel ball hit the dog squarely in the forehead, his legs crumpled and he went down without a sound. The other dogs sniffed him and one or two set up howling. Then a big Alsatian ran from the back of the pack, leading three other hounds with him. Achilleus went down on one knee and as the dog pounced he stuck him through the chest with his spear, the followers veered off to the side and Ollie hit one more with a steel ball, breaking its leg. It yelped and turned tail, dragging its leg behind.

With a great war-cry the boys charged and the rest of the dogs scattered.

Ollie quickly searched the area for his ammunition. He found his second ball lying in the gutter. The first one was stuck in the Staff’s head in a neat crease of broken bone.

The five of them knelt by the dead body.

‘Can we risk eating it?’ said Freak. ‘What’s that parasite Maeve’s always going on about? That worm thing you can catch from eating dog? Tricky something.’

‘Trichinosis,’ said Arran. ‘He’ll be all right if he’s well cooked.’

‘Yeah,’ said Deke. ‘We’ll deep-fry him in batter with some chips and a nice glass of wine. Delicious.’

Freak giggled. ‘I know a Jamie Oliver recipe for fried dog.’

‘We can’t waste any food,’ said Arran. ‘Some of the kids are getting really thin. Leave the Alsatian, though. He’s too big to carry and his carcass might keep the pack busy.’

Achilleus took out his knife and gutted the dead animal, leaving the purple-grey entrails in the road to further distract the other dogs.

He then tied the dog’s legs together with some nylon cord and slung it over Arran’s shoulder.

‘Should we go back?’ said Freak.

‘We need to find as much food as we can,’ said Arran. ‘It’s always a risk leaving camp, and it gets riskier every time. The dog’s not enough for twenty of us.’

Every day a scavenging party left the camp to look for supplies. They searched among the empty houses and flats for any abandoned cans, packets and bottles. Each time they had to start their search further from Waitrose. All the buildings close by had long since been picked clean. Most days they found nothing, but a lucky discovery could last them a long time.

They knew it couldn’t last, though. They had already been through every accessible building within a mile of Waitrose, except around Crouch End, which had been destroyed in a fire, and up around the Arsenal football stadium, where there was a large nest of grown-ups.

Sooner or later they would have to move camp.

But where would they go?

Arran pushed his hair out of his eyes. His guts hurt. He didn’t really feel hungry any more, just sick and tired. He’d grown to hate these streets. The smell of them, the filth everywhere, the grass and weeds pushing out of every crack, the constant fear chewing away at him. He had been happy at first when they made him leader, but then it slowly dawned on him that he was responsible for everyone else. If anything went wrong he had to take the blame. That was why someone like Achilleus, who could easily beat him in a fight, was happy not to be in charge. He could show off and suck up the praise, but when a tough decision had to be made he would sit back, hold up his hands and let Arran sweat it out.

It was a warm and su

They were hungrier than ever.

The kids trudged up the Holloway Road. It was full of memories for Arran – eating at McDonald’s, shopping with his mum, going to the cinema…

He tried to shut the memories out. They only made him feel worse.

When they came to Archway they moved more cautiously. There was a tube station here, a perfect hiding-place for grown-ups.

‘Which way?’ said Deke.

‘Highgate Road,’ said Arran. ‘We’ll work our way towards the Whittington.’

‘Ain’t going in no hospital,’ said Achilleus.

‘What’s the problem?’

‘There won’t be nothing in there,’ said Achilleus.

‘Maybe drugs?’ said Ollie. ‘Paracetamol and antibiotics and that.’

‘Doubt it,’ said Deke. ‘When everything kicked off it would have been the first place to be looted.’

‘We’ll take a look anyway,’ said Arran. ‘Just in case. But let’s try the houses round here first.’

‘Ain’t going in no hospital,’ Achilleus repeated.

‘What about the swimming pool then?’ said Freak.

‘What about it?’ said Achilleus.

‘Worth a look, eh?’

‘Why?’ said Achilleus. ‘You fancy a swim?’

‘Nah,’ said Freak, ‘but there was always a vending machine in there.’

‘Never worked,’ said Achilleus. ‘Always stole your money.’

‘Worth a look,’ said Freak. ‘Think about it… Mars bars, crisps, chewing gum…’

‘Won’t be nothing in there,’ said Achilleus. ‘Not after all this time.’

‘Listen,’ Freak insisted. ‘Far as we know, us and the Morrisons crew are the only kids around. And they never come up here. All I’m saying is we should look. OK? If we’re looking in the Whittington we should look in the pool as well. We search everywhere, in’t that right, Arran?’

‘Suppose so,’ said Arran.

‘Waste of time,’ said Ollie. ‘When have we ever found a vending machine with anything in it?’

‘You agree with me, don’t you, Deke?’ said Freak.

‘He agrees with everything you say,’ Achilleus scoffed.

‘Try me,’ said Deke.

‘The world is flat,’ said Freak.

‘Yes it is,’ said Deke.

‘Penguins can fly,’ said Freak.

‘Yes they can,’ said Deke.

‘I am the greatest kid that ever walked the earth,’ said Freak.

‘Yes you are,’ said Deke.

‘Ha, ha, very fu

‘Akkie is a twat,’ said Freak.

‘Yes he is,’ said Deke.

‘I think you’ve made your point,’ said Arran, trying not to smile. ‘We’ll take a look.’

Ollie sighed. This was a waste of time. What they needed was proper food, not sweets. But Arran had spoken, and he was their leader.

Ollie shoved a hand into his jacket and rolled the heavy steel shot between his fingers. The cold hardness comforted him.

He didn’t like the idea of exploring the swimming pool. He was always scared on these hunts, and going into the unknown like this just made his heart race faster.