The Beast (11 page)

I looked at the object in my hand. Then I looked at Ameena, who was standing on the other side of the till.

‘Nice stapler,’ she said.

I let my hand fall back to my side. ‘Where the hell did you go?’ I demanded.

‘Here,’ she said, ‘obviously. And don’t worry, I’ve checked it over, there’s no one else here.’ She pointed to the laden trolley. ‘I was getting supplies. Food and stuff.’

I scowled. ‘What for?’

‘Well, you know. So we don’t starve.’

‘Yes, but...’ I shook my head. ‘You could have told me. I thought you were behind me.’

‘I did tell you,’ she protested. ‘I shouted after you, but you were screaming too loud to hear me.’

‘I wasn’t screaming!’ I said.

‘You
so
were,’ she smirked. ‘Like a thirteen-year-old girl at a pop concert.’

I felt myself blush. ‘Yeah, well... I
am
a thirteen-year-old.’

‘But you’re not at a pop concert,’ she pointed out. ‘Or a girl.’ Her eyes went past me and her face fell. ‘Did you leave the door open?’

I turned and looked. The door stood halfway open. I’d left it like that when the bell had rung, deciding that getting to cover was more important than closing it behind me.

‘Must’ve done,’ I said. ‘Is it a problem?’

‘Probably not,’ she shrugged. ‘But come on, let’s load up and get out of here.’

I looked at her trolley. ‘I thought you already were loaded up?’

‘I was,’ she said. ‘But now you’re here, we can take twice as much.’

‘Right,’ I said. I started towards the door. ‘I’ll go get the other trolley.’

‘No, wait,’ Ameena said. She smiled and looked pleased with herself. ‘I’ve got a better idea.’

his is never going to work.’
Ameena turned to me and tutted. ‘Yes, it will. It’s genius.’

I lifted another few boxes from the shopping cart and took them outside. ‘I don’t see why we can’t just leave everything in the trolley.’

‘Because we can’t push the trolley through the snow,’ she said, stepping aside to let me back into the shop. As I picked up another bundle of supplies, she dumped her armful down on top of the plastic sledge she’d found in the store room. ‘This one’s nearly full,’ she said. ‘I’ll go and get another one. You keep watch.’

I sat the boxes down on the counter and looked out through the shop window. There had been no more snow, but the sky was thick with dark cloud. A mist seemed to be creeping its way through the village too, making it difficult to see more than a dozen metres or so in any direction. It would make our journey back to the police station difficult. And it’d make finding Nan even more so.

‘Right, here we are,’ Ameena said, barging through the swing doors. ‘I got you a nice pink one. I thought you’d appreciate...’

She stopped walking and stopped talking at the same time. She stood midway along the third aisle, the sledge in her arms, not moving.

‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘I heard something,’ she said quietly. ‘I heard something moving.’

‘It was probably just me,’ I ventured, trying to convince myself as much as her.

Ameena shook her head. She was staring down at the gap beneath the shelving unit that ran along the wall. Little metal legs held the unit up at metre-wide intervals, but otherwise there was nothing but dark, empty space below the bottom shelf.

‘It was from over here somewhere,’ she whispered. She held the sledge out. ‘Here, come and hold this.’

Reluctantly, I moved to join her, keeping my distance from the shelves she was looking at. The sledge felt light and flimsy as I took it from her. It wasn’t until it slipped in my hand that I realised my palms were slick with sweat.

‘Is it one of
them
?’ I asked, my voice hushed.

‘Dunno,’ Ameena replied. ‘But it’s something.’

‘I thought you said you checked the place over when you got here?’ I said.

‘I did,’ she nodded. ‘But then someone left the front door open.’ She shot me an accusing glare, then slowly knelt down, first on to one knee, and then the other.

‘What are you doing?’ I hissed.

‘Taking a look.’

‘Why?’

‘Why not?’

I began to list off all the reasons why not, but she was already crouching down, crawling closer to the dark gap until her hands were beneath the shelves and her head was close behind.

‘Crumbs, it’s dark,’ she muttered. ‘But I don’t think there’s anything here.’ She slid forward, until her head and shoulders were lost in the gloom. ‘Nah, it looks OK.’

I smiled, relieved. ‘Well, that’s—’

‘
Wait
.’

I waited, expecting her to say more. But she didn’t. ‘What is it?’ I asked, suddenly nervous again.

‘There’s... I think there’s something...’

A strangled cry of shock from Ameena sent me stumbling into the shelves behind me. Tins and packets rained down on the hard floor as, at my feet, Ameena’s legs began to thrash around.

‘Help!’ she yelped. ‘Kyle, help me! Pull me out!’

I babbled something incoherent and grabbed her by the ankles. She was still kicking and squirming as I dragged her free of the gap, but her screams had stopped.

I let go of her legs as she rolled on to her back. Suddenly annoyed, I stood up and folded my arms across my chest.

‘I hate you sometimes,’ I told her.

She could barely speak for laughing. ‘I don’t know why I keep doing that,’ she giggled. Tears were running down her face and her whole body was shaking with laughter. ‘It’s just, you keep falling for it! Every time.’

‘I’m glad you think it’s funny,’ I scowled, watching her get back to her feet. ‘One of these days I’m going to have a heart attack.’

That just set her off again. Her face creased and she doubled over, holding her sides. I stood there, arms folded, not saying another word until she finally straightened up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

‘Oh,’ she breathed. ‘That was brilliant.’

‘I’m glad you think so,’ I said. ‘I thought you were in trouble.’

She stopped herself laughing, but couldn’t keep the smile away from her face. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Bad joke.’

‘Yes, it was,’ I nodded. ‘Did you actually hear anything, or was the whole thing just one big wind-up?’

‘No, I did hear something,’ she shrugged. ‘That bit was real, but it was probably just a—’

The hands that shot out from beneath the shelves, they were real too. I saw them for a fraction of a second, and then they were around Ameena’s ankles. She didn’t cry out, just looked sort of puzzled as her bottom half was dragged backwards, sending the rest of her falling forwards on to the floor.

Her hands slapped the scuffed vinyl, trying to get a grip, but the hold on her legs tightened and she was dragged further into the darkness beneath the shelves.

‘Get off !’ she growled, trying to kick at her attacker. But the shelving unit was too low, making it impossible for her to move her legs enough to stick the boot in. ‘Let go of me!’

I caught her by the wrists. Her eyes met mine and I pulled. Whatever was holding on to her was strong. I planted my feet and leaned backwards, using my weight and all my strength to drag her free of the shelves.

Finally, I managed to get her all the way out. But she didn’t come out alone.

The screecher who had attacked Guggs at the crash scene had a hand around each of her ankles. His jaw dropped open and he lunged for her legs. She tried to kick, but her legs were pinned beneath him. His mouth looked wide enough to swallow the rest of his head. His black eyes glistened as his teeth began to clamp shut.

THUNK!

I rammed the end of the sledge between his jaws and his teeth bit into the pink plastic. Roaring with the effort, I shoved the sledge hard. His head bent backwards until I was sure his neck would snap. I pushed again and this time his grip slipped from Ameena’s ankles. She scrambled free just as the man’s teeth tore through the thick plastic.

Dropping the broken sledge, I backed away. Ameena was beside me, breathing heavily. She didn’t look nearly as amused as she had done a minute ago.

‘Man,’ she muttered, ‘I hate zombies.’

‘I call them... screechers,’ I told her. We were out of the aisle now, moving backwards towards the door. The man on the floor was crawling after us, dragging his injured leg behind him.

‘Why?’

As if just waiting for his cue, the man threw back his head and let out an ear-splitting screech.

Ameena looked at me. ‘Forget I asked. I think we should run. D’you think we should run?’

I nodded. ‘I think we should run.’

And with that agreement reached, we ran.

A thick fog was closing in around us as we dashed through the snow in the vague direction of the police station. We were taking another route back to meet up with Billy and Guggs – one that didn’t put us too near the crashed cars, or the alleyways where I’d shaken off the other screechers.

‘I still say we should’ve taken the sledge,’ Ameena said, for the third time since we’d left the shop.

‘It would’ve just slowed us down,’ I said.

‘There was Battenberg cake on that sledge, Kyle.
Battenberg cake
.’

‘Well, I’d rather
not
have Battenberg cake and still be alive, wouldn’t you?’

It took Ameena a few seconds to answer. ‘Can I get back to you on that one?’

A scream came at us through the fog and we both slid to a stop. The sound had been a proper scream, not a screech or a roar or a howl. It had been human –
normal
human – and it had come from somewhere nearby.

‘Hear that?’ I asked.

‘Have to be deaf not to,’ Ameena nodded. ‘Any idea where it came from?’

We heard the scream again, but this time there were words along with it. ‘Help me! Someone help me, please!’

‘This way,’ I urged, continuing along the road we’d been running along. This time, I made sure I could hear Ameena’s footsteps behind me. I wasn’t going to lose her again.

‘Help! Someone... please,
help
!’

‘Someone’s in trouble,’ I said, racing in the direction of the screams.

‘Seriously? You think?’ she asked, the sarcasm obvious in her voice. ‘What gave that away?’

The voice screamed again, more panicked than ever. ‘No, no, please, no!’

KA-RUNCH!

Something large came rolling at us through the fog. Ameena and I threw ourselves in different directions. A dark blue car flipped through the gap between us. It bounced once more on the snowy ground, rolled again, then came to a stop on its roof.

A movement in the back of the car caught my eye. A girl hung there, upside down, struggling with the strap of her seatbelt. Her long blonde hair dangled down, brushing against the inside roof of the car.

She saw me watching her and her eyes opened wide. The windows of the car had all been smashed. Even from this far away, I could hear her gasp with surprise.

‘Help me,’ she sobbed. ‘Get me out. Before it comes back. Help me,
please
.’

Ameena and I scrambled through the snow on our hands and knees until we reached the car. ‘Before what comes back?’ Ameena asked. ‘What did this?’

‘Questions later,’ I hissed. ‘Let’s get her out.’

I tried the doors, but their metal frames were buckled and they refused to open. ‘It’ll have to be the window,’ I said.

‘Hurry, please,’ the girl wept. ‘
Hurry!
’

‘One second,’ I promised. Lying down on my back, I reached inside the car and stretched my arm up until I found the seatbelt release button. The buckle was clipped in tight. I pressed the button in a few times, but the belt refused to release.

If you go down to the woods today, you’d better not go alone...

The car’s radio hissed into life without warning, making me jump. ‘Not again!
Shut up
,’ I growled, but the crackly voice of the man on the radio didn’t listen.

It’s lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home...

‘Get me out, please,’ begged the girl.

‘I’m doing my best,’ I said through gritted teeth. I jabbed my thumb on to the button again. Still the seatbelt held. ‘God,’ I growled. ‘I
hate
that song!’

‘What song? What are you talking about?’

‘You might want to hurry up,’ Ameena said from outside the car. ‘I can hear something moving out here.’

For every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain because...

‘
That
song,’ I hissed. ‘Can’t you... can’t you hear it?’

‘No! What are you—’

CLICK!

‘Got it!’ I cried, just before the girl came thudding, head first, down on top of me. I wriggled free from inside the car, missing out on any more of
The Teddy Bears’ Picnic
.

Clambering back to my feet, I reached in through the broken window and helped the girl climb out. The skin of her hand felt soft as I pulled her free of the wreckage. The skin of her face felt even softer when she threw her arms around me and pressed her cheek to mine.

‘Thank you,’ she sobbed. ‘Thank you, you saved me.’

‘Um, no one’s saved anyone yet.’ Ameena’s voice was an urgent whisper. The girl and I both followed her gaze until we saw, through the fog, a large, hulking shape. The mist made it difficult to make out any details, although that was probably a blessing.

From what I could tell, our earlier estimate had been right – the thing was about the size of a large rhinoceros. It moved on all fours, its broad head held low to the ground as it stalked slowly in our direction. Its tree-trunk legs sunk into the snow with every step, making it snuffle and snort with frustration.

From the top of my head to the base of my neck began tingling with electricity as my powers sensed they were about to be put to use. I did my best to ignore the sensation. I’d told my dad I wasn’t going to use them again, and I had meant every word.