Revenge of the Giant Robot Chickens by Alex McCall Read Free Book Online Page B

real bed was worth it.
    It hadn’t been hard to track down the chickens’ headquarters. I just followed a few Catchers as they flew overhead, making sure I stayed out of sight. I’d probably learned everything I could from scoping the place out under cover of darkness; there wasn’t much activity around the barn at night. But it helped to work out the general layout of the place. Maybe I’d go back in daylight, just once, and see what it looked like when everyone was awake, how well guarded the place seemed. Then it’d be time to head back to Aberdeen and make some plans. I already had a couple itching away at the back of my head but it all depended on finding the spy. I’d agreed to call Rayna tomorrow evening, once she’d completed her first spy-catching mission. Then we’d—
    There was a noise, off to my left. A soft thud. I’d almost missed it but part of my mind was hyper alert and yelled at me to get down. I froze, peering through the leaves ahead of me.
    There it was, a Catcher, the growing light of dawn glinting off its bronze exterior. It walked carefully, picking its way, barely making a sound. Its head swivelled left and right, scanning the road ahead.
    I hadn’t seen any patrols up until now. I wondered if it was again the work of this mysterious spy, putting the chickens on high alert. It was only an idle thought, a small whispering at the back of my mind, as I stared intently at the Catcher. It didn’t seem to be in a hurry, moving slowly and carefully, making sure it missed nothing. It was between me and the farmhouse. If I tried to get past it, it would see me.
    This wasn’t good. I couldn’t just wait it out. Dawn would be here soon and the chicken would easily be able to spot me. I could try and fight it but I didn’t even have a shock-stick. I did have some of the Brotherhood’s egg grenades, but it was more difficult to take out a chicken with one of those than you’d think. And even if I did somehow manage to take it down, I would alert every other Catcher in the area to my whereabouts.
    Part of me was fleetingly tempted to just let the Catcher take me. The barn looked kind of nice in a basic way, and maybe my brother was inside.
    Wait . I felt a grin creep across my face, like the light gradually flooding across the land. I had a plan.
    I quickly slipped off my backpack and set it on the ground beside me. Then I started pulling stuff from my pockets, anything I didn’t want the chickens to get, stuffing them inside the backpack. The bag was supposed to be waterproof. The notebooks and stuff would be fine. As I worked I thought quickly over my plan, made at the last moment and probably doomed to failure. Rayna would hate it; I knew that. But it was a risk I was willing to take. After all, I thought as I stuffed the walkie-talkie into my backpack, if everything went wrong I wouldn’t be around for her to get mad at.
    I crammed the bag under a bush and looked at the Catcher. It must have heard the leaves rustling because it straightened up, looking more alert than a moment ago. I crawled to the left and my hand found a large stone. The Catcher’s head swivelled abruptly and itglared right at me. It knew where I was.
    Time to get started.
    I stood up and hurled the rock with all my might. It whooshed through the air and hit the chicken on the beak with a faint clang.
    “Hey, Beaky!” I called out. “Want to hear a joke?”

CHAPTER 10
RAYNA: ABERDEEN
    I’d been planning in my head since speaking to Jesse. By the time Noah turned up at the communications room, Glen was on board. Noah was a harder sell. It had taken the better part of an hour, with Glen backing me up, before he’d agreed.
    “You don’t really need my permission anyway,” he grumbled. “I don’t have any control over Glen and I certainly don’t have any control over you.”
    “True,” I said, smiling at him, “but it wouldn’t feel right doing this without your OK.” I turned and walked towards the