‘I vote we go back tonight, whatever,’ said Kate.

‘Say we do find some other kids?’ asked Alfie. ‘Then what happens?’

‘Then we see what’s what.’ Jester shook his head. ‘Jesus, I can’t see into the future. We might think it’s worth pressing on and looking for some more kids. Or we might just go back to the palace with whoever we can persuade to join us.’

‘Great plan, Jester,’ said Alfie sarcastically.

‘I vote Shadowman’s in charge,’ said Kate.

‘Will you shut up, Kate?’ Jester snapped. ‘We’re not taking votes.’

Kate mumbled something inaudible.

‘You’re not helping,’ said Jester. ‘Look, this is really only a scouting party, all right? To try and find what’s out there. There might be no one else, or there might be loads of kids. We might even find some who’ve got a better set-up than David, and decide we’re not going back at all.’

‘Sod that,’ said Tom. ‘All my stuff’s at the palace. All my mates.’

‘Yeah. Joke, Tom. OK? You really think there’s going to be a better set-up than we’ve got? I don’t think so.’

‘So where exactly do you want to look next?’ asked Shadowman.

Jester stopped walking and pulled a map out of his pocket.

‘We’ll head up as far as Camden, I reckon,’ he said, studying the map. ‘Check it out. It’s the sort of place kids might end up. Then I’ll decide where we go after that.’

‘If you ask me,’ said Tom, ‘this is one big waste of time. We’re not going to find anything. Nothing’s going to happen.’

The words were barely out of his mouth when a stranger lurched out of a side-road no more than three metres away. He was a middle-aged father with a broken arm, the bone sticking out through the skin, his face a mess of yellow boils. It was hard to tell who was the more surprised, the father or the kids.

They all froze.

Jester and the rest of them gripped their weapons tight.

The father tilted his head to one side, staring at them with wide, lidless eyes.

‘I vote we kill him,’ said Tom.

‘I vote we run,’ said Shadowman.

‘There’s only one of him,’ said Kate.

‘Yeah?’ said Shadowman. ‘Try looking the other way.’

Tom turned round. Coming up the street from the direction of Euston Road were about twenty strangers. Moving fast.

‘Holy shit,’ said Tom.

Kate grabbed him and pulled him along the road. The others were already running. Shadowman took the lead. Streaking ahead on his long legs. He was more used to life on the streets. More used to running. So that he’d started to move the instant he saw the mass of strangers. No thinking about it, no panic, just off and sprinting.

Glancing back, though, he realized that he’d have to let the rest of them catch up. They were no different to the strangers – in a group they were strong; if they got split up, they were easy meat.

‘Come on,’ he yelled. ‘Leg it!’

He slowed just enough for the others to draw level. All except Alfie, who was smaller and not so fast.

‘Wait for me,’ he shouted.

‘You have to go faster!’ Jester screamed back at him, as the gap widened between them.

‘I can’t. I’m going as fast as I can.’

‘Wait for him,’ said Shadowman. ‘We don’t leave anyone behind.’

‘Hurry up, Alfie!’ Jester sounded cross. Not angry at the strangers, but at Alfie. Would he have just run off and left him if Shadowman hadn’t said something? Shadowman wondered about Jester sometimes. Wondered if he ever really cared about anyone other than himself.

There wasn’t time to think about any of this, because the road ahead was blocked as well now. Another smaller but no less dangerous group of strangers was approaching from the north. The kids veered off to the east, smashing their way past two lone strangers, a mother and a father. Shadowman had borrowed a club from the palace for extra firepower, and he used it without hesitation to crush the skull of the mother, who crumpled on to the bonnet of a car, spraying it with a foul cocktail of bodily fluids. It was Alfie who took out the father, jabbing his spear into his guts. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to yank it out again, and had to carry on without it, leaving the father staggering about in the centre of the road trying to pull it free. At last he succeeded, but it was like pulling out a plug. The father hissed as a steaming grey mass of intestines flopped out of the wound. He collapsed to his knees and three of the pursuing strangers stopped to make the most of this free meal.

Nothing else barred their way and the kids were able to run on, bobbing and weaving through the side-streets until they were absolutely sure they’d left all the strangers behind. At last they risked stopping, and leant against a wall, panting and wheezing and clutching their sides.

‘Bloody hell,’ Tom gasped. ‘What was that? Why weren’t they all indoors? Why weren’t they sleeping? Don’t they know they’re only supposed to come out at night?’

‘Maybe nobody told them,’ said Shadowman.

‘Seriously, guys,’ said Kate, who was shaking and white-faced. ‘I really do vote we go back now. This is serious. I never expected there was gonna be armies of them.’

‘They weren’t an army,’ said Shadowman. ‘They don’t make armies. They don’t have the brains. And none of us got hurt.’

‘Yes, but bloody hell, Shadowman. Bloody hell. That was scary. I haven’t seen that many strangers in one place since this all began.’

‘Come on,’ Tom pleaded. ‘Can’t we just go home? There needs to be more of us. This is stupid.’

‘We’re not going home,’ said Jester.

‘Why? Why not?’ Kate shouted. ‘Why the hell not?’

‘Look.’

There were more strangers coming from the south, and once again the kids were running.

41

Justin unlocked a heavy door and took DogNut outside into the car park they’d seen from the library. DogNut had been aware of a chugging noise, like a motor running, and was intrigued to see what it was. The air was filled with petrol fumes and DogNut saw a petrol-fuelled generator standing next to the lorry.

He was surprised to see Paul fiddling with the generator. Justin seemed surprised as well.

‘Are you all right, Paul?’ he asked. ‘You really don’t need to come back to work just yet.’

‘I’m all right,’ said Paul, straightening up. ‘It helps to be doing something.’

His eyes were red from crying, though his pale cheeks were dry. He looked very jittery, as if he might burst into tears again at any moment.

‘We can find something easier for you –’

‘This is my job,’ said Paul angrily, cutting Justin off.

‘I know,’ said Justin.

‘Don’t you think I can do it?’

‘I didn’t say that. In fact, forget I said anything. Can you open the lorry for us?’

Paul said nothing, but sullenly fished a keyring from his trouser pocket. It was heavy with keys of all shapes and sizes. He selected one and slotted it into a padlock on the back of the lorry. He snapped the padlock open and slid the door up.

DogNut covered his mouth and gagged. The smell that came out of the lorry was disgusting. Sour and rotten.

‘Jesus, who’s died?’ he said.

‘About four-fifths of the population of the world,’ said Justin.

‘Very funny.’

There was a metre or so of clear space inside the lorry before it was blocked by hanging black drapes.

‘Climb aboard,’ said Justin, and the three of them clambered up. It was hot inside and the smell was worse, but Justin and Paul seemed not to notice it. DogNut was fighting not to puke up everywhere.

‘How are they today?’ Justin asked Paul.

‘Quiet,’ was all Paul said, and he yawned and rubbed his neck through his roll-neck jumper. He looked very tired.

Justin grabbed a torch that was hanging from a hook and switched it on as Paul rolled the door back down.

‘We need to keep the light out,’ he said.

Once the door was closed, Paul stepped over to the drapes and pulled them aside like a magician revealing a trick.