Outbreak (7 page)

I checked out my cell again. This time, instead of wondering
if
I could get out, I wondered
how
I could get out. There had to be a way.

My gaze fell on the hunched figure sitting on the other side of the bars, right where I wanted to be.

‘Soph,' I said. ‘We have to get out of here. And if I don't get out of here,' I added before she could say anything, ‘if you don't
help
me get out of here — then Michael's in trouble and I'm pretty sure your parents are in trouble too.'

‘What do you mean?' she looked across at me, and in the dim light I could see her eyes were red from crying.

‘They're going after a Lurker, Soph. You heard them say they've never caught one before. They don't have a clue what they're up against.'

‘You don't know that.'

I took a deep breath, and tried to put the thought that had slowly been edging to the front of my brain into words. ‘If Michael was kidnapped at school, it means the Lurker is probably someone we know. Someone we see every single day.'

Sophie looked at me blankly.

‘It makes sense, doesn't it? I was lured into the tunnels
under
the school. I was attacked by someone who
worked
there. And the only zombie we've ever met turned out to be a
teacher
. Seabrook High is the centre of it all. Where else would the Lurker be?'

She nodded slowly. She couldn't argue with that sort of logic.

‘And since we know everyone at school, it has to be someone we know. We haven't figured it out yet, so what chance have your parents got?'

‘This is their job, apparently,' Sophie said. ‘They're professionals,' she added, but her voice wavered uncertainly.

‘Your parents don't know the school like we do. They'll be battling against a creature with infrared vision, super-speed and super-strength and they won't even know which way to run!'

Sophie was silent.

‘Soph, this isn't just about Michael anymore. It's about your mum and dad too. And it's about us. If your parents get
turned into zombies, this cage will be the only safe place in Seabrook.'

Sophie was listening to me now but I could still see the doubt in her eyes.

‘We've seen all the movies and played all the games. We know better than anyone that the undead can't be beaten. I mean, neither of us has made it through the sixth level of
Zombie Attack 3
! We know that the only one who has a chance against a zombie is another zombie.'

‘My parents will be all right.' She sounded like she was trying to convince herself now. ‘They're professionals,' she repeated.

I nodded as though I agreed with her. ‘They do seem to realise that a zombie's at its most dangerous when it's first transformed. It happened to me, remember? You were there with me at the time, but
even though I wanted to bite someone, I didn't attack you.' I took another deep breath. I was pulling out the big guns now. ‘I could never hurt you, Sophie.'

Sophie glanced down at the floor. ‘I know you're right,' she said quietly. ‘I know you're not dangerous.'

‘But something else out there is! I need your help to find my brother and your parents before it's too late!'

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she gave a quick nod. ‘OK. Let's get you out of that cage.'

Getting out of the cage
sounded
easy. Sure, we didn't have the key, but I was a zombie and Sophie was already on the right side of the bars, so I guessed it wouldn't take long. First we tried the lock. Sophie fiddled with the catch on her side of the door. She jerked the handle up and down a few times. ‘Nope,' she said finally.

‘What about the bars?' I examined the thick metal tubes that surrounded me. I grabbed one and pulled, hoping it would bend. It didn't budge.

I wandered over to the other side of the cage and rattled the bars there. They didn't budge either.

Sophie was kneeling down examining the keyhole. ‘If only it wasn't an old-fashioned lock,' she moaned. ‘If this was some sort of high-tech security system, I might be able to hack into the database and open it that way.'

‘But it isn't,' I said flatly.

I gazed up at the ceiling. Each bar was attached to a single rod that ran around the top of the walls. It was bolted to a sheet-metal ceiling that extended over the whole room. By the look of it, it had been attached to the floor of the bus above.

I gave up on the roof and crouched down to examine the floor. Along each of the edges, the cage was bolted into concrete. Not even a horde of zombies working together would be able to escape from this cell!

Sophie slumped down on the other side of the bars.

‘The door's the only way out,' I said. ‘Isn't there anything we can use to pick the lock? Like a paperclip or something?'

‘You've been watching too many movies,' said Sophie.

‘What about up in the bus? Maybe they've got a spare key to this door hidden up there somewhere.'

‘Yes!' Sophie almost shouted. ‘Why didn't I think of that? Dad's always losing his house keys so Mum usually has a few
spare ones lying around. Maybe it's the same with this key. I'll go check!'

I watched through the bars as she climbed up the ladder and disappeared through the trapdoor.

In a second or two, I heard her thumping around above my head. ‘It's kinda dark!' Her voice echoed down through the trapdoor. ‘The windows are covered and I can't find the light switch.'

‘There's nothing I can do about it from down here,' I muttered, wishing she'd get on with it.

Drawers rattled as they were opened and then banged shut. Papers rustled. It sounded like a herd of elephants was thundering around above me.

‘Found it!' she suddenly yelled, which made me leap off the floor.

‘OK! OK! Bring it down,' I shouted back.

Her legs appeared through the trapdoor. ‘Ech as ing a drawer!' ‘What?'

She jumped off the last rung and took something out of her mouth. ‘It was in a drawer!' She held out a key. It was attached to a keyring with a little rubber cracker dangling from it.

‘We don't have time for a snack,' I joked. It was lame, I know.

Sophie didn't even bust out a smile. Instead, she said, ‘Let's hope this works.'

I watched, holding my breath, as she poked the end of the key into the lock and turned it.

Well, she
tried
to turn it.

Then she tried to turn it the other way.

Then she wriggled it back and forth, gritting her teeth. For a second, she pulled it out of the lock then put it back in again and started turning it back and forth, back and forth, back and—

‘Let me try,' I snapped, snaking my arm through the bars. It was awkward from inside the cell. I gripped the round end of the key and tried to turn it. I tried to turn it the other way. Then back again.

Finally, I held it as hard as I could and twisted, hoping to force it open. ‘It's turning!' I grunted.

There was a screech of metal and suddenly my arm shot downwards. A small silver disc bounced
off the floor with a
ting!
I'd broken off the end of the key.

‘Great,' said Sophie, bending over and squinting into the lock. ‘The other half is still inside. Now we'll never get it open!'

Man! Sometimes having super-strength isn't such a good thing!

‘I'll see if I can get it out.' I felt around the latch. Luckily, there was still a bit of metal sticking out. It was easy to grab. ‘Watch out. It's sharp.' I dropped the key into her hand.

‘It's not the right key,' said Sophie, holding the metal shaft up to the light to examine it. ‘This is the key for the bus. I remember now. That cracker was bouncing around under the steering wheel when we were driving to Seabrook.'

I tried not to roll my eyes.
Now
she remembered!

Sophie slumped against the bars of the cell, but almost immediately sprang back up again. ‘I've got it!' she shouted, right in my ear.

I leapt off the floor again. ‘What?!' I didn't know if I was annoyed at her for giving me a fright or happy she'd had an idea.

Instead of answering, she lifted the key in one hand and raised the other, pointing upwards.

My gaze followed her pointed finger. It took a couple of seconds for me to figure out what she meant.

My mouth dropped open. ‘You can't do that! It's way too dangerous!'

‘Do you even know how to drive?' I yelled as Sophie rushed toward the ladder.

‘More or less! I've been watching Mum from the back seat for years. How hard could it be?'

‘Harder than you think!' I shouted at her disappearing legs.

I paced up and down the cage, stopping every now and then to listen. After a rush of footsteps through the bus to the driver's seat, there was silence.

Suddenly, there was more noise from above and Sophie's head poked down through the trapdoor. ‘I'm not sure how this is going to work. But I think you
should crouch down and cover your head with your arms!' She vanished again before I could ask exactly what she was planning.

I didn't have to wait long to find out.

A whirring sound rattled the roof above me. It cut out with a sudden click then started again. And again. On the third try, the bus engine finally roared into life.

‘Hope you know what you're doing, Sophie,' I muttered, crouching in the corner of my cell with my arms clutching my head.

The motor revved and groaned like an angry dragon being woken from a long sleep. The wheels skidded, digging deeper into the ground as they tried to get traction. All around me, the cage was shaking.

The bus gave a roar and suddenly there was the sound of ripping metal. Daylight poured in as the ceiling of the bunker was torn apart. The roof of my cell opened like a can of sardines. Dirt rained down on me.

For a couple of seconds, I stayed where I was, waiting for the shower of soil to stop. Then I shook myself like a dog and peered up. The metal ceiling had been completely torn off. Only a few steel strips hung like ribbons from the tops of the cage walls. Above me was the sky. The sun was already sinking. It was later than I thought.

With the roof gone, getting out was as simple as climbing up the bars, and in a few seconds I was standing in the Knights' front yard. A loud horn blared. The bus was idling on the driveway.

The horn blared again.

‘OK! OK!' I mumbled, wondering why Sophie was so impatient. I jogged along the side of the bus to the front door. It opened with a hiss.

‘Quick!' yelled Sophie. She was clutching the huge steering wheel. ‘Get in!'

‘What? I'm out!' I said. Didn't she know we could get out of here now?

‘I know! Just
get in
!'

Shaking my head, I jumped up the steep steps. Before I'd even hit the top, Sophie floored it.

I stumbled back, but luckily she'd already shut the door. ‘Whoa! Where are you going? Slow down!'

‘I can't!' she wailed. ‘Look!'

She dipped her head toward a solitary figure running along the street. At first glance, I thought it was a jogger. But after a second or two I recognised him.

‘Drive!' I yelled at Sophie. ‘Just drive!'

We bumped down the kerb, the bus swaying wildly from side to side.

‘What's he doing here?!' Sophie screamed as she swung the wheel around.

‘I don't know!'

Sophie's street was a dead-end so we had no choice. The nose of the bus turned sharply and suddenly we were roaring up the street,
toward
Mr Slender. His familiar thatch of thick hair stuck out over his scowling face as he stopped, open-mouthed, to watch us rocket past in a bright yellow blur, throwing up a whirlwind of dust in our wake.

‘Is he part of all this?' Sophie asked, struggling to hold the wheel steady. ‘Maybe he's the Lurker!'

It made perfect sense. Ever since I'd become a zombie, he'd been watching me closely.

I spun around so I could see him through the rear window. He was coming after us. As I watched, he sped up until he was sprinting. He was definitely chasing us!

‘Faster!' I yelled.

Sophie spun the wheel and we skidded around a corner. We'd lost sight of Slender, but Sophie wasn't taking any chances. As she sped up, the engine grew louder and louder.

‘I think you need to change gears!' I shouted, clutching the pole next to the driver's seat.

‘I'm not going to risk it!' Sophie yelled back. ‘I can hardly control this thing as it is. Driving is
much harder
than it looks!'

No kidding, I thought, but I wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud. I clung on as we flew around another corner. A rubbish bin left on the kerb went flying when the front bumper of the bus clipped it.

I tried to stay calm. ‘Where are we going?' This wasn't the way to school.

‘We have to get help! We need to tell someone what's going on. And it has to be someone who won't think you're evil or dangerous.'

‘I'm a
zombie
,' I said. ‘Nobody will believe that.'

‘
Half
zombie. And there's one person who will.'

By the time she turned the bus into our street, I'd guessed who she meant. She hit the brakes and the bus juddered to a halt outside our house. The engine stopped. Suddenly, everything was silent.

‘Maybe she's out,' I said quietly.

‘Yeah,' said Sophie, but I could hear the doubt in her voice.

I guessed it was well past the time we'd normally get home from school, and usually Mum would be there waiting for us. But today, her car wasn't in its regular spot.

Sophie pushed the lever and the bus door opened. Feeling nervous, I climbed down the steps and walked toward our house.

If Mum wasn't home, where was she? Had she gone missing too?