Zom-B Angels by Darren Shan Read Free Book Online Page A

while. The experience will be good for you. But don’t get in our way, do what we tell you and run like hell if we get
into trouble.’
    ‘How will we know?’ Awnya asks nervously.
    ‘Oh, trouble’s easy to spot,’ Ingrid says with an icy smile. ‘It’ll be when people start dying.’

ELEVEN
    The Angels check the apartments above the shops, searching for survivors who might be holed up, or the corpses of people who died recently, whose brains might still be edible.
They don’t talk much, operating in silence most of the time, sweeping the rooms swiftly and efficiently.
    One of the guys opens all of the doors. He has a set of skeleton keys and can deal with just about any lock that he encounters.
    ‘That’s Ivor Bolton,’ Awnya whispers.
    ‘Was he a thief when he was alive?’ I ask.
    ‘No. Master Zhang taught him.’
    ‘Who’s that?’
    ‘Our mentor,’ Awnya says. ‘He trains every Angel. You’ll meet him soon.’
    ‘Do you all learn how to open locks?’ I ask
    ‘Only those who show a natural talent for it,’ Cian says.
    I stare at Ivor enviously. I hope I show that sort of promise. I’d love to be able to crack open locks and gain entrance to anywhere I wanted.
    We explore more rooms, Ingrid and her team taking it slowly, carefully, searching for hiding places in wardrobes and under beds, tapping the walls for secret panels.
    ‘Do you ever find people?’ I ask as we exit a building and move on.
    ‘Living people?’ Ingrid shrugs. ‘Rarely, around here. Most of the survivors in this area moved on or died ages ago. We dig up the occasional fresh corpse, but mainly
we’re checking that the buildings are clear, that potential enemies aren’t setting up base close to County Hall.’
    ‘What do you do if you find someone alive?’ I ask.
    She shrugs again. ‘It depends on whether they want to come with us or not. Many don’t trust us and leg it. If they stop and listen, we tell them about County Hall and offer to take
them to it, and from there to somewhere safe.’
    ‘That’s one of the main things the Angels do,’ Awnya chips in. ‘We lead survivors out of London to secure camps in the countryside.’
    ‘It’s not as easy as it sounds,’ Cian says.
    ‘I bet not,’ I grunt, thinking of all the difficulties I faced simply getting from the East End to here. ‘Have you been on any of those missions yet?’ I ask Ingrid.
    ‘No,’ she sighs. ‘It’s all been local scouting missions for us so far.’
    ‘Long may they continue,’ one of the boys mutters.
    Cian scowls. ‘You don’t want to tackle the harder challenges?’
    ‘We’re not suicidal,’ the boy snorts.
    ‘Do you feel the same way?’ I ask Ingrid.
    She looks uncertain. ‘Part of me wants to be a hero. But some of the Angels who go on the more dangerous missions don’t make it back.’
    We enter another building, a block of flats set behind a row of shops. We start up the stairs, the plan being to work our way down from the top. We’re coming to the top of the fourth
flight when Ingrid stops abruptly and presses herself against the wall.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask, as she makes some gestures to the boys in her team.
    ‘I think I heard something,’ she whispers.
    ‘What?’
    ‘I’m not sure. But we were here just a week ago. The place was deserted then.’ She points to Ivor and another of the boys and sends them forward to check.
    We wait in silence for the pair to return. I feel out of my depth. I want a weapon, something to defend myself with. Although, looking round at the others, I see that they don’t have any
weapons either. I want to ask them why they came out without knives or guns, but I don’t want to be the one to break the silence.
    There’s no sign of Ivor and his partner. Ingrid gives it a few minutes, then signals to the other two boys to go and look for them.
    ‘This is bad,’ Cian groans quietly.
    Ingrid fries him with a heated look and presses a finger to her lips.
    The seconds tick