Attack of the Giant Robot Chickens (7 page)

We set out right after that, clambering over the same wall as the night before as soon as the Catcher on patrol had rounded the corner. The dark still felt as spooky as it had the night before, but something was different. I think it was Rayna. She was striding along, barely looking from left to right, confidence radiating off her. Nothing was going to get in her way.

Rayna led us up a street called Clifton Road and into a house about halfway up. It seemed that she had another base hidden away here. I wondered exactly how many she had scattered all over the place.

I certainly couldn’t fault her on her choice. The flat was up on the second floor. And even though it was late, I could see enough of the garden to see that it bordered all the other gardens belonging to the houses on the block. In other words, if anyone came for us we’d have a good getaway route. The flat was high enough up that we’d be able to see any trouble from a mile away. We’d already had tea so there was nothing left to do but go to sleep. We both slept in separate rooms that night, on beds. And unlike the night before I could actually appreciate them, feeling safe and snug.

I woke in the morning with a ray of sunshine gently tickling my eyelids. I groaned and rolled over. I felt a lot better than I had yesterday. My arms and legs didn’t hurt as much from being tied up. I guess a day of walking had stretched out my muscles nicely. I got to
my feet and headed out to find Rayna.

She was on the top floor of the two that the house had, staring out of a bedroom window at a view. It was pretty glorious, showing the sparkling blue sea and stretching to the horizon. The University Library building rose out of the city as if it had been purposely built to block out part of the sea. From here it looked even less natural, alien from its surroundings.

“I can see why you hate that building so much,” I said by way of greeting. Rayna stayed where she was, looking out unblinkingly like a cat.

“Mmm,” was all she said.

I squinted at the library. “If it’s over there then we could have just spent the night there. Did we have to stay here?”

“Oh we had to, all right. It was the safest thing to do.”

I noticed that she wasn’t looking at the sea, but was focused on one thing in particular. I followed the direction of her gaze and realised she was looking at a squat building just across the road from us. As I watched, I thought I saw movement in one of the windows.

“Is that where we’re going to find our army?” I asked. She nodded, still staring at it.

“I hope so. But this isn’t the sort of place where you want to get caught unawares. If we’re going there then we need to be careful. They don’t take kindly to people being smart with them. And you can’t try and threaten them like you did with Glen. In fact, it’s probably better that you don’t speak at all.”

“But they like you?”

Finally she dragged herself away from the window. “Like is too strong a word. They put up with me
from time to time because they know I’ve got useful connections. They’re tough and they don’t take any nonsense.”

“So they’re exactly what we want?”

“Yup.” She stretched and headed for the stairs. “If we survive the experience.”

From a distance, even if it was only from a street away, the building hadn’t looked that big. From the ground looking up at it was a completely different story. It seemed to tower above me, threatening to do me harm.

A battered sign read ‘Kittybrewster Primary School’. It looked more like a prison. There was a fence and a wall all around it. The building itself sat in the middle of a concrete playground. The original building, Victorian like the rest of the area, had probably been a square, but an extension had been added on the side, huddling close to the older building like a small child seeking protection. There were large windows on the top two floors. You got the feeling that if this had been a prison then no one would have escaped. Nothing could cross the playground without being seen. Which I suppose made it an excellent stronghold. Though it also meant that we’d probably be spotted as soon as we made a move.

If we hadn’t been spotted already.

We were barely in the gate before the door opened before us. I couldn’t see anyone there. I gulped, but Rayna didn’t even hesitate, just marched forward into the black opening. I followed. It felt like I was walking into the waiting maw of some great beast.

I found myself in what looked like a small waiting area. There were chairs scattered around and most of
them were occupied with kids, all looking quite tough, who just sat and watched us as we went past. Rayna didn’t seem to see them. She just walked straight ahead and into a second door. I went after her, though I could feel the watching eyes on my back.

Again, I was reminded of a prison. It was one huge space inside, rising up, with walkways on each level. And they were filled with people. There must have been close on a hundred of them, all staring down at us, not making a sound.

On our level there were only a handful of guys. Rayna walked straight up to one and stopped in front of him.

“Percy,” she said to him.

It was a close competition, but he had to be the biggest, nastiest guy in there. In a normal world I’m pretty sure that he’d have been in prison by now.

“Ambassador,” he said in a voice like a bloodhound’s growl. I could almost imagine his mouth being full of fangs. I stopped a little way behind Rayna and tried to look like I was watching her back. “What brings you here?”

“You do,” she said without flinching. “I want you and your guys.”

“Ooooh,” he said mocking her. The call was taken up by everyone around him until the air faintly hummed with jeers and tension. “And what do you want us for?”

“A job.”

“And what would that be?”

“To take down the chickens.”

I have no idea how Rayna could ever have thought that I was braver than her. She just stood there, staring down this great thug. I would have cut and run about half a minute ago, right when he had started talking.
Actually, I wouldn’t have gone in here in the first place.

Percy just laughed at her. “And what if I said no?”

“Don’t be stupid,” she said to him evenly. “You know that isn’t your decision to make. Get your boss and I’ll talk to him.”

This guy wasn’t even in charge? I actually shivered slightly to think of what Percy’s boss would be like.

Percy was scratching his head. “Well I don’t know. He’s asleep about now and it wouldn’t be right to wake him up for some weak little girl…”

His voice trailed off suggestively and Rayna’s eyes narrowed. I felt that she knew exactly what he wanted. “So that’s what it’s going to take, is it?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he replied.

Rayna glanced around quickly as if looking for some other way out of her situation, then shrugged and backed away.

“Jesse, hand me that chair there,” She called back over her shoulder, never breaking eye contact with Percy.

I looked around and found a plastic chair lying just beside me, just the right size for someone like me to sit on. I picked it up and carried it over to her, placing it into her outstretched hand. “What are you doing?” I whispered to her.

“What must be done. Now back off.”

I did, quickly. Across from her I could see someone doing the same for Percy. I realised what was going on a second before he gave a cry and sprang at her, swinging wildly.

I had never seen gladiator combat with chairs before, but within a second I realised that it wasn’t as stupid as it sounded. There was a fair amount of strategy to it that wouldn’t have occurred to me. For
one thing, the point didn’t seem to be to hit the other person. Both were trying to knock the other’s chair away.

Rayna had caught Percy’s first charge with the legs of her chair and they were locked in place, legs entangled with legs, like stags with their horns caught. Then with a shrug of her shoulders she twisted to the side and he went rolling off, landing hard on the floor.

He didn’t let go of his chair, though. He kept a tight grasp of it. He scrambled back to his feet and walked forward again, more carefully this time, calculating. This time it was Rayna who darted in, thrusting her chair forward. He caught it with his and lifted them both up and away, but she had been ready for it and moved forward, twisting as she did so. He had to let go of the chair with one hand or else lose it completely – and that was when she struck.

She moved in a tight circle, putting her chair firmly down on the ground then hopping up on it and jumping at him. Percy was already off balance and he fell backwards, hitting the floor with a solid thud. It must have stunned him, because he didn’t react fast enough to stop Rayna grabbing her own chair and bringing it down on top of him.

There was a hush as everyone stared down at what had just happened. Percy lay on the ground, the four legs of the chair surrounding him like a cage, trapping his clothes to the ground. And on top of the chair sat Rayna, panting slightly. She stuck out her tongue at him and said, “I win.”

I began clapping. I felt that someone should or else they might start throwing things. There was a tense moment or two then others joined in and finally they
were all at it, cheering for the hero and booing the fallen warrior.

It drove Percy mad. With a great heave, he managed to rock the chair enough to get free and surged to his feet. Rayna fell backwards, a shocked look on her face. She tried to get up, but before she could Percy was upon her. He lifted her chair and was about to bring it down when a sharp, clear voice rang out.

“Stop.”

Percy froze and looked around guiltily, focusing on a point a little past my left ear. If he was acting like that then the owner of the voice could only be his boss. And that person was standing right behind me.

I turned around slowly, trying to not gulp. And there stood the guy in charge of this murderous bunch.

Frankly, I expected someone taller.

He was bigger than me, but only just. I only had to stand on tiptoes and I would be able to look him in the eye. He wasn’t muscly like Percy, either. He was slender and held himself well. For a moment I wasn’t sure I was looking at the right person.

But every eye in the place was on him and he had their complete attention. He paced past me and I moved out of his way, not wanting to catch his anger. There was an aura about him of someone who was perfectly in control of himself and his surroundings.

He walked over to Percy, who was trying to be as still as possible. The chair was wobbling where he held it over his head, his arms obviously getting tired.

“The Ambassador won, Percy.” His voice was like ice; cold, sharp and precise. I couldn’t see his expression, but Percy could. He looked scared.

“You cheated.”

“Yes, sir.” Percy’s voice came out small. I was
surprised that he could speak in anything less than a roar. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Yes.”

Then, in a quick movement, the leader of over one hundred violent kids grabbed Percy and threw him to the ground.

It happened almost too fast to be seen. Percy slammed into the floor and the chair clattered down next to him. He lay still and for a second I was worried that he’d been hurt, but then he raised his head slightly and I realised that he just didn’t want his leader to take any more notice of him.

Rayna had looked shocked for an instant, but then carefully smoothed her features into a mask, giving nothing away.

“Cody,” she said, in greeting.

“Ambassador,” he replied, bowing his head slightly. “And I see that you’ve brought a friend. Shall we talk in my office?”

His office turned out to be on the first floor and I was pretty sure it had belonged to the headmaster back when this had been a school. It was neat and tidy, everything put in place almost obsessively. Cody sat behind a desk without paper, though a useless computer still sat there. We sat on the other side, in chairs that were slightly lower down. I’m pretty sure he’d done that on purpose.

“Well, well, well,” he said, looking at us. “I didn’t expect you to get a partner, Ambassador. You look ready to be married.”

“We’re just working together,” she quickly replied, though I noticed that she’d blushed slightly. Cody nodded in agreement.

“Yes, quite. By the way, I should apologise for Percy’s behaviour back there. Though you put on an excellent show. I was watching from up here.” He tilted his head to one side. “So, why are you here?”

Rayna leaned forward, making sure to keep eye contact. “I need your guys, this little army you’ve built up.”

“Oh? And what for? Has some group been causing trouble?”

Rayna shook her head, very deliberately. “No. I need you to help me take down the chickens.”

He was very interested in that, though he tried to hide it. But I was watching him closely and saw his eyes widen a fraction. “Then you’re being stupid. There’s nothing we can do to hurt them. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Come on, Cody. You know who I am and what I’ve been trying to do. Do you think that I’d come here and ask if I wasn’t positive?” In quick, clean sentences she explained what we had learned.

Cody was leaning back in his chair. “Say that I do believe you. I’ve got a good set-up here. Why should I change that? What do I get out of it?”

Rayna was quiet for a moment and so I answered for her.

“We can get you food and clothes,” I told him. After all, that was why I was here. To offer the resources of my group.

He turned his gaze to me and smiled thinly. “I don’t need any, thanks. I’ve got enough.”

I frowned. “You must have more than a hundred guys out there. How can you have enough?”

“Simple,” he replied. “Because I’m not stupid.”

“In the first few days after the chicken attack Cody took control of this group,” Rayna said at my side. “It
was smaller then, but he knew that he’d need a lot of things for them to survive. So he marched them right down the road and to the Sainsbury’s there. He left a force there to protect it against anyone else and brought the rest of his group back here with everything they could carry. Occasionally they have to make another supply run but it’s going to be there for a fair while. He’s got a pretty good grip on rationing.”