The Swiss Family RobinZOM (10 page)

Fritz was still on his
knees. Ernest pulled on his arm, but he wouldn
’t get up.

“
She was a good bird,”
Ernest said. “She gave her life to save yours. Don’t throw it away
now.”

Fritz
was silent for a moment, and then got to his feet. The
family made their way through the thick jungle foliage. They
stopped every hundred yards beating their weapons on the trees and
shouting at the top of their voices, stopping when they heard
groans and snapping twigs. The incline increased and they began the
ascent. The jungle died away, leaving open space on all sides. The
sky was dark, not a star in sight. There was only the briefest of
flashes of light when the moon looked out from behind its cloudy
veil. A flash of lightning revealed the climb before them, and a
few seconds later, a deep rumble of thunder followed that echoed
the family’s morose mood. Halfway up Sharpie they turned to look
back and found the Lurchers emerging from the jungle.

“
These things never give
up, do they?” Ernest said.

“
They don’t know how to
give up,” Bill said.

“
Do we?” Liz
said.

Bodies aching and panting
for air, the family scaled the
final
ascent to the top of the mountain. Shaking, and weak with fatigue,
Ernest put his hand on a boulder. It leaned forward, and a small
crack marched across its surface. Ernest held his breath, and then
breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t fall. There was a grinding
noise, and the boulder teetered forward and rolled down the hill,
reverberating like a herd of horses. It crashed down the
mountainside and flattened a train of Lurchers.

“
What was all that
noise?” Liz said, reappearing from the summit.

Fritz and Ernest shared a
look, eyes wide
. A smile appeared on
their faces.

“
It’s Ernest,” Fritz
said. “He had an accident and it might be the best idea he’s ever
had!”

“
Even inadvertently I’m a
genius!” Ernest said.

“
Yes,” Fritz said, “but
saying you’re a genius isn’t genius.”

Fritz moved up to another
boulder, blown and shaped into a large round ball
by the wind.

“
He put his hand on a
boulder like this,” he said.

T
he boulder leaned forward and toppled down the
mountainside, squashing more Lurchers in its path. Bill clapped
Ernest on the shoulder.

“
And look!” he said.
“They’re all coming out to investigate the noise! We still might
win this thing!”

Twenty-
Five

He heard a voice shouting
somewhere in the distance
… Far in the
distance… It was fuzzy and unclear. When he opened his eyes he
found his vision just as muddy.

“…
ack! Are you all right?
Shall I…? Jack? Shall I come down?”

Jack recognised the
voice, and it snapped him out of his
daze.

“
No,” Jack said in a
groggy voice. “Stay there, Francis. I’ll be all right.”

Jack was upside down,
hanging by one foot. Nip
sat on the
ground before him, looking at him with concern. Jack reached for
the knife in his back pocket. But as he reached in, it slipped past
his hand and hit the ground. Jack turned and peered out the corner
of his eye, but couldn’t see his knife. Jack turned to
Nip.

“
Nip,” he said. “Knife.
Get my knife.”

Nip cocked his head to one
side.

“
Knife,” Jack said. “Get
it. Go on.”

Nip blinked, unmoving.

“
Why didn’t I teach you
the word for knife?” Jack said. “Idiot!”

Jack tilted his weight
forward, then back, forward, and back
again, building up momentum. As he swung back, he saw his
knife. He reached for it, but missed. As he swung in again for
another try, his fingertips grazed it, and then on the third
attempt, he grabbed it.

“
Yes!” he
said.

S
omething tightened around his wrist. His arm was drawn up
alongside his foot.

“
This is great,” Jack
said. “Really great.”

He still had the knife in
one hand. He tried to cut the vine with it, but the angle was too
awkward. He tried to bring his free hand up to take the knife, but
could only reach up to his forearm. Jack froze.
There was a groan, long and drawn out like a dying man’s
last breath. It came from the foliage behind him. Eyes wide with
fear, Jack looked at Nip.

“
I know you’re in pain,
Nip,” Jack said, voice low, “but please, help me.”

T
he little capuchin monkey must have picked up on something,
as he got up onto his tiny feet and limped over to Jack’s
outstretched hand. He climbed, careful not to use his injured
foot.

“
The vine!” Jack said.
“Bite it! Bite!”

The foliage
shook
, and the low groan became louder.
Nip’s hand gripped the folds of Jack’s trousers as he pulled
himself up Jack’s leg.

“
Yes!” Jack said.
“Bite!”

Nip
hesitated. He pointed at the vine.

“
Yes!” Jack said. Bite
it!”

Nip
bit Jack on the ankle.

“
Ow!” Jack
said.

The groan stopped, and
Jack could sense the creature turning to identify where the
exclamation had come from.

“
Please, Nip,” Jack said.
“Please, understand. Bite the vine. The vine.”

Nip
lowered his mouth to the vine and turned to Jack with a
questioning look. Jack nodded. Nip bit at it. Jack turned to see
the foliage rustle and a torn grey arm begin to emerge.

“
Hurry Nip!” Jack said.
“Hurry!”

The vine
snapped
. Jack took the knife from his
trapped hand and severed the second vine.

“
Come on, Nip!” he
said.

The
figure stepped out from the foliage, revealing a face with
a ruined nose, and teeth visible through both cheeks. Behind her
were half a dozen other Lurchers. Jack hugged Nip close to his
chest and hot stepped it across the courtyard, careful where he
placed his feet. There was the whip sound of the snares pulling
tight around one ankle… Two… Three… Four… Jack got to the winch. He
saw another Lurcher step into a trap. The final Lurcher barrelled
down on him. Francis pushed the water canister over the edge and
onto the ground. Jack flew up to Falcon’s Nest, out of the
Lurcher’s reach. Francis took Nip off Jack and set him down on a
cushion. Jack hugged Francis.

“
What’s happening?”
Francis said. “I heard gunshots.”

“
That was just Dad,” Jack
said. “How are things here?”

“
Fine. These are the
first Lurchers I’ve seen all night.”

“
Good,” Jack said.
“Hopefully they’ll be the last.”

Twenty-
Six

But even as he spoke,
more Lurchers came through the foliage and spilled across the
courtyard. Snares trapped feet, but slipped off those with missing
appendages. The courtyard was alive with
hanging writhing bodies. Few of the traps had not been set
off. The Lurchers scratched at the bark of the tree, and then
lowered their faces to it. They bit at it, the sharp fibres
stabbing their mouth and noses, splinters protruding from their
faces like they’d received piercings.

“
They can’t get up here,”
Francis said.

“
No,” Jack said, “but
they can take us down there. They’re biting through the bark. They
won’t stop until they bite all the way through.”

“
But they don’t eat
trees!”

“
They’re not eating it.
They’re cutting through it. They’re going to take this tree down,
and us with it.”

“
What’re we going to
do?”

“
There’s nothing we can
do,” Jack said. “But I suppose we can slow them down.”

He picked up a
ceramic bowl, took careful aim, and dropped it
over the side. It crushed a Lurcher’s skull. Francis grabbed an end
table, and together they dumped it over the side. Another two
Lurchers fell. Jack ransacked the living room, dropping vases and
photo frames. Francis did the same with the kitchen, tossing out
saucepans, knives and baking trays. They ransacked the whole house,
but the Lurchers kept coming and chomping at the tree trunk. The
whole treehouse lurched to one side. Jack and Francis exchanged a
look.

“
Let’s get out of here,”
Jack said.

He picked up a backpack
and put Nip in
to it. Jack went to the
cable and monkey-barred his way across it. On the other side, he
took off the backpack and put Nip down. He turned back to Francis,
who was looking at the ground. The Lurchers were still munching
away at the tree.

“
Your turn,” Jack
said.

“
Are you sure about
this?” Francis said. “Mum said not to leave the house.”

“
I’m pretty sure this
situation overrides that order. And when she comes later, you can
blame me and say it’s all my fault.”

“
Okay,” Francis said.
“Here I come.”

Francis held onto the
cable with his hands and wrapped his feet around the end.
He fed his hands along the cable and dragged his
legs behind.

“
That’s it,” Jack said.
“You’re doing good. Keep coming.”

The treehouse
juddered
. The vibrations travelled along
the cable. Francis squealed and hugged the cable tight. A handful
of Lurchers turned to look up at Francis crawling along the cable.
Lightning struck, and Francis screamed again.

“
Jack,” he said. “I’m
scared. I want to go back.”

The treehouse leaned
over, pulling the cable tighter. Jack gripped it in both
hands
, fearful it would be pulled out at
his end.

“
You can’t go back,” Jack
said. “Keep crawling this way.”

“
I can’t,” Francis
said.

“
Think how proud Mum and
Dad will be when I tell them you did this.”

“
Mum and Dad aren’t
coming back.”

“
Of course they’re coming
back,” Jack said.

The gun in his pocket felt
heavy. Jack swallowed.

“
And I’ll make you a nice
badge like the one you made me if you come over here,” he
said.

“
You will?”

“
I promise,” Jack said.
“Now come on, you can do this. Just take it one step at a
time.”

Francis loosened his grip a
little.

“
Yes,” he said. “Okay. I
can do it.”

Francis passed one hand over
the other.

“
Good,” Jack said. “Good.
Keep coming. That’s it.”

There was a loud crack
and
Falcon’s Nest screamed like it was in
pain. The cable tightened, and then the strut attached to their
parent’s treehouse snapped. Francis swung toward the boys’ tree and
smacked into it. One of his hands lost its grip. The other
maintained it, but now he was only a metre off the ground. The
Lurchers turned to face him, their white eyes gleaming in a shaft
of moonlight. Francis’s eyes went wide. The Lurchers ambled toward
him.

“
No!” Francis said. “No!
No!”

“
Climb!” Jack said.
“Climb!”

Francis did, his feet
scrambling across the tree
’s bark,
finding no purchase. Jack seized the wire and pulled. Francis rose
two feet. The Lurchers reached up with hungry hands, but felt only
the soles of Francis’s shoes. A Lurcher managed to pull one off.
Francis squealed. Jack’s arms shook with Francis’s
weight.

“
You have to come up!”
Jack said through gritted teeth. “I can’t hold on!”

“
Okay,” Francis
said.

He pulled himself up. The
cable slipped through J
ack’s sweaty
hands. Francis fell a foot and jolted to a stop. He
screamed.

“
Hurry!” Jack
said.

Francis pulled himself up
the cable, one hand after the other. He got to the top, hands on
the doorframe, and
then pulled himself
up. Inside the treehouse, he collapsed on the floor. Jack let go of
the cable. It jittered side to side, the Lurchers’ bodies rubbing
against it. He could feel the Lurchers’ teeth grinding as they
began to munch on the tree trunk down below.

“
Now!” Bill
said.

The Robinsons
pushed with all their collective weight down
onto the thick branch jammed under the boulder. The boulder leaned
forward, looked about ready to stop, and then its own weight
carried it forward. It picked up speed and crashed down the
mountainside, crushing a large pack of Lurchers. The boulder
smashed into half a dozen other large rocks, like a giant game of
marbles.

“
They’re still coming,”
Ernest said.