The Dead

‘Swear at it,’ said DogNut.

‘Do what?’

‘Swear at it. It’s what my dad used to do when his car wouldn’t start. Sometimes worked.’

‘OK,’ said Justin. ‘Bastard!’

‘That word won’t work,’ DogNut sneered. ‘Try something stronger.’

‘Knob-end!’

‘No, like this …’

As Justin turned the key, DogNut let out a filthy obscenity and the next moment the engine jumped into life. They both roared. Then, as Brooke and Ed cleared the windscreen the two boys in the cab finally saw the sickos lumbering towards them, blocking the narrow alleyway, reaching towards them with scabby fingers.

‘Bloody hell. We need to get motoring,’ said DogNut. ‘Put her in gear and let’s get out of here.’

Justin sucked a lungful of air in through his nose, plunged the clutch pedal down with one foot, wrestled the gear lever into place and pressed down with his other foot on the accelerator. It was much harder than the simulation on his computer, but it was basically the same idea.

He forced the accelerator down further – and further – and further. It was nothing like a car. The engine was a monster and was pulling a monster load. There was no subtlety or delicacy involved. You had to work the pedals with heavy boots.

He could feel the whole rig shuddering, but it still didn’t want to move. He was begi

The lead sickos had got to the cab and were battering on the windscreen with dirty hands, leaving smears of pus and blood and filth.

‘Get a move on, nerd-boy,’ said DogNut nervously, then saw to his horror that one of the sickos had got hold of a lump of concrete and was getting ready to lob it at them. He was a younger guy, a teenager, and showed little sign of the sickness. He looked pretty much like any of the older boys from DogNut’s estate. Like a junkie after a heavy night.

There was a flash and a bang and the sicko was thrown back against the wall.

‘That must be Bam,’ said Justin. ‘We’d be rubbish without him.’

‘Can we please get out of here,’ DogNut shouted.

Two mothers had climbed up on to the front of the cab. One of them was the blonde without a face.

‘Jesus, that’s rank,’ said DogNut. ‘I can see right down her throat.’

Someone on top of the cab knocked the mother off and then took a swipe at the other sicko, catching her in the side of the head but failing to dislodge her.

The lorry shuddered, jerked forward and then stopped, throwing the mother clear.

The engine cut out.

‘Do you want me to drive?’ said DogNut.

‘No,’ said Justin. ‘I’m getting the hang of it. Don’t hassle me. I’m all right.’

‘Drive, dork, drive!’

Justin flushed red. He felt a cold rush of adrenalin wash through him on a rising tide of anger. In his mind he swore at DogNut, using the same words DogNut had used to swear at the lorry, and then told himself it was all OK.

Don’t panic.

Engine on. Down with the clutch. Gear into position. Accelerator. Be brave. Do it.

The lorry just needed to be treated more brutally than a car. It was hard to give it too many revs.

Clutch up. Right up.

Now she was straining to move off.

Stamp on those pedals with all your weight.

And now they were moving. Inching forward, nudging the rest of the sickos out of the way. They could hear shouts of triumph from the roof.

‘You’re doing it, man,’ said DogNut. ‘Oh my days, you’re doing it, you knob-end, you’re doing it!’

Slowly and steadily the lorry ploughed on. Justin didn’t dare try shifting up a gear so they stayed in first, crawling along, over-revving, fumes from the exhaust filling the alley.

The sickos limped and stumbled ahead of them, trying to get out of the way. A couple fell over, but the high clearance of the lorry meant that it passed right over them.

As they broke out into the winter sunlight at the end of the alley they saw someone standing directly in front of them. Justin was about to run them down when he realized it was Frédérique. He slowed and she drifted out of their way in a daze.

Up on the roof Jack spotted her. He called out her name and climbed down the side of the cab, using the open window as a footrest. He hung on the step for a moment then jumped clear and ran over to Frédérique.

‘What happened? Are you all right? I didn’t even realize you hadn’t come back with the others. You must be a better fighter than I thought.’

‘I’m all right,’ Frédérique mumbled, and indeed she looked untouched. Jack took her by the wrist.

‘Keep moving!’ he shouted to DogNut through the window. ‘Don’t stop. I’ll see you out on the road.’

He ran ahead of the lorry, pulling Frédérique along behind him.

*

Justin was sweating and trying not to panic. Going in a straight line was relatively easy, but turning was a different matter. The steering wheel was huge and you had to force it round and round to make the wheels rotate even a little way. And then there was the immense length of the lorry to deal with, plus the fact that it was jointed and turned in two parts.

Trying to ease past the garages they smashed into the corner of a wall and demolished it. They scraped along and Justin thought of the scene in Titanic when the ship hits the iceberg.

DogNut was laughing hysterically and swearing at him.

‘If you would just shut up, I could handle this,’ Justin complained.

‘No way you could, man,’ said DogNut. ‘You are totally out of control.’

‘I can’t concentrate with you yelling at me.’

‘Nah, you need someone to light a fire under you, to get you rocking and rolling,’ DogNut laughed. ‘Now go for it, dweeb!’

‘Shut up!’

They trundled out into the road and crushed a car before Justin managed to get the wheel turned far enough, and then he had to spin it all the way back in the other direction to straighten up. He didn’t do it in time, and before he could stop they’d crossed the road and trashed another car.

‘This is insane!’ DogNut shouted, but the engine stalled and the lorry at last came to a halt.

Jack ran over and told Justin to wait until everyone was safely off the roof and then went round to open the back. Ed and Bam and the girls scrambled down and followed him, wide-eyed and excited, as if they’d all just been on the most thrilling theme-park ride in the world. Finding Frédérique unhurt had been the topper. Ed reckoned the sickos must have left her alone to come after the richer pickings in the alley.

Jack whistled as he saw how much food was inside the lorry and there was an elated party mood as the others piled in to check it out. They were all talking at once, over each other, not listening, laughing, almost crying with joy.

There was just room for them to squeeze on and once they were all safely on board Jack shouted to Justin to get going and then climbed up the tailgate to join his friends inside. The whole lorry shook as the engine started up again.

The lorry slowly picked up speed until it was crawling along at a steady pace. Jack looked out at the road as it unspooled behind them. Then he made a quick decision and pulled Ed to one side.

‘I’m going,’ he said.

Ed was still buzzing. He didn’t really take in what Jack had said.

‘OK, cool,’ he said, and hugged his friend.

‘Did you hear what I said?’

Ed shook his head. ‘Not really, no,’ he said, and laughed. ‘Was it important?’

‘I’m going home.’

‘Back to the museum?’

‘No, to Clapham, to my old house. Like I always said I would.’

‘What?’ Ed stopped laughing instantly, as if someone had chucked a bucket of iced water over him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We’re halfway there,’ said Jack. ‘I could be home in less than an hour.’