The Dead

One of Jordan’s boys had told him that this part of the museum was supposed to be haunted by a real ghost, the Grey Lady. He wasn’t scared by the idea. He could imagine her, watching over him, watching over the precious books, the guardian of all the other ghosts they contained.

He was aware of a presence. Someone was there. He’d caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked along one of the book stacks. There was a woman there, dressed in grey. Crouched over, watching him. For some reason he still didn’t feel scared.

‘Hello,’ he said, but the woman didn’t respond.

He held up his lamp to get a better look. The woman’s skin was as grey as her old-fashioned clothes, but she didn’t look diseased, instead she looked beautiful, as if lit by an i

He walked towards her, and as the light from his lamp fell on her she disappeared. One moment she was there and then she seemed to dissolve into the books.

Chris had always seen ghosts. His mother had taken him to see a doctor who’d tried to explain that they weren’t real.

What did doctors know?

Chris sat down on the floor.

He realized he was crying.

37

DogNut wouldn’t shut up. Jack reckoned it was because he was nervous. Leaving the park had felt like stepping out of safety into danger. The road they were on, Ke

‘Why’s there never any zomboids around?’ he was saying. ‘Where do they all go in the daylight? Where’s all the dead bodies?’

‘Maybe they’ve all been eaten,’ said Jack. His helmet already felt heavy on his head and the sword banged against his leg as he walked. ‘They’ve got to eat something.’

‘True that,’ said DogNut. ‘Except they prefer fresh meat. The living. Us. But, I mean, think about it, there was bare people in London before. Where’d they all go? It’s too spooky.’

‘You want to go back?’ Jack asked.

‘No way, soldier. I can’t bust no moves stuck in that museum all day. Nice bundle will be a good way to get some exercise.’ He waved his arms about and took a few practice swipes with the samurai sword he carried.

‘Watch what you’re doing with that thing,’ said Jack.

‘It’s safe, man. Jordan makes us all do weapons practice. Drilling. But I’m telling you, blood, there’s only so many war games you can play in a day. Don’t try telling Jordan Hordern that, though. He’s nuts about anything to do with war and the military. I reckon he thinks he’s a real general.’

‘He seems pretty cold,’ said Jack.

‘That’s not the half of it, brother. He’s bonkers, I reckon. He never talks about his old life. Never talks about nothing normal. Just stares at you and yacks on about war and fighting. I reckon he’s some kind of an ick.’

‘A what?’

‘You know, like he’s autistic, or dyslexic, schizophrenic, alcoholic, something like that. Before all this he was just some sort of war-obsessed loony, now it’s his cold freaky brain that’s kept us all alive, which is why we do whatever he tells us to do. All hail the general!’

Bam was walking with Ed. He kept glancing up at the sky. Overhead it was still a clear pale blue, but ahead of them, to the south, it looked u

He pointed it out to Ed.

‘Do you reckon it’s storm clouds?’

‘Du

Bam squinted. ‘My eyesight’s not brilliant, to tell you the truth, mate. I should have had an eye test ages ago, but I was too scared.’

‘Scared?’ Ed shook his head, smiling. ‘You’re Bam the man. You’re not scared of anything.’

‘No word of a lie,’ said Bam. ‘I was a nervous wreck. I thought if I needed glasses I might not be able to play rugger any more. Wouldn’t be able to see the ball.’ He did a mime of someone fumbling to catch a ball, cross-eyed, hands going in all directions.

Ed laughed. ‘They make special sports contact lenses, don’t they?’ he said. Then checked himself. ‘Or at least they used to.’

‘I know, I know, but it’s not the same. Rugger’s a pretty brutal sport. I’d have been worrying all the time.’

‘Well, it’s too late to get your eyes tested now.’ Ed chuckled. ‘Let’s hope you don’t go blind.’

‘Can you imagine?’ said Bam. ‘Being blind and trying to cope with all this.’

‘Du

‘No,’ said Bam. ‘I don’t even want to think about it. That would be just too frightening. Urgh!’

Ed laughed, but his eyes were firmly fixed on the black sky ahead. ‘I can definitely see what looks like a glow along the bottom,’ he said. ‘Can you not see it at all?’

Bam turned and bellowed at the girls. ‘Oi! What do you reckon that cloud is, ladies? Can you see a red glow in it at all?’

Aleisha nodded.

‘Red or, like, orange,’ she said. ‘Flickering.’

Bam sighed. ‘It’s probably a fire then.’

‘You think?’

‘Yup.’

‘That’s a shed-load of smoke if it is,’ DogNut called from the front.

‘Well, there’s no one to put it out, is there?’ said Bam. ‘Look at all these houses, packed right next to each other. There’s so much stuff in them that’ll burn really easily once a fire takes hold. This whole place could go up.’

‘Looks a long way off,’ said Ed. ‘I don’t think we need to start panicking just yet.’

‘Well, you let us know, won’t you, Ed,’ said Jack, with a slight mocking tone. ‘When we do need to start panicking.’

‘Guys?’ Brooke sounded nervous. ‘I think that maybe now’s the time to start panicking.’

She was pointing down the road. There was a group of sickos ahead, crouching over something that was lying on the ground.

‘What do you reckon?’ said DogNut. ‘Fight them or go round?’

‘Come off it,’ said Ed. ‘We go round them, obviously. There’s no point fighting if we don’t have to. I mean, it’s not like we can’t go another way, is it?’

‘I say we fight them,’ said DogNut. ‘They don’t look much.’

‘What’s the point?’

‘Show them who’s boss. Show them we own these streets, blood.’

‘No,’ said Bam. ‘Ed’s right. Let’s go round. We should never fight if we don’t have to.’

‘Yeah, let’s take the chicken run,’ said Jack.

‘What do you mean?’ Ed asked, trying not to get angry.

‘The Yellow Brick Road. The way the cowardly lion would go.’

‘I’m not saying we go round them because I’m scared,’ said Ed. ‘It’s just stupid to get into a fight for no reason.’

‘I never said you were scared. I never said anything about you. Why do you assume I’m talking about you all the time? Don’t be so touchy.’ Jack looked round at the others. ‘Did I say that Ed was scared?’

They shook their heads and shrugged.

‘I’m not arguing with you, am I?’ Jack said to Ed. ‘I’m agreeing with you. Let’s go round them. OK?’

38

Matt and Archie had found their ba