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

away slowly. I keep checking the time on my watch. I want to push forward to find out what’s happening, but I’m a novice here. I don’t have the right to take
control.
    Ingrid waits a full five minutes, then swears mutely, just mouthing the word. She looks at me and the twins. Makes a gulping motion and licks her lips. Nods at us to backtrack and follows us
down to the third floor.
    ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but it can’t be anything good,’ she says quietly. ‘Wait here for me, but no more than a couple of minutes. If I don’t
come back or shout to let you know that it’s safe, return to County Hall and send others after us.
Do not
follow me up there, no matter what, OK?’
    ‘I’m scared,’ Awnya whimpers.
    Cian hugs her, but he looks even more worried than his sister.
    Ingrid casts a questioning glance at me.
    ‘I’ll take care of them,’ I tell her.
    She nods, then pads up the stairs.
    Time seems to slow down even more. I fix my gaze on my watch, willing the hands to move faster, wanting Ingrid and her crew to appear and give us the all-clear. But when that doesn’t
happen, and the time limit passes, I look up at the twins.
    ‘We’re leaving?’ Cian asks.
    I shake my head. ‘I can’t. I’ve got to help them if I can. You guys go. Don’t wait for me. Go now.’
    ‘No,’ Awnya says, horrified. ‘Come with us, B. You can’t go up there by yourself.’
    ‘I have to. Don’t argue. Get the hell out of here and tell the others what has happened.’
    ‘But . . .’ She looks like she wants to cry, but being undead, she can’t.
    I start up as the twins start down. They go slowly, hesitantly, unable to believe that I’m following Ingrid and her team. I can barely believe it either. I must be mad. I hardly know them.
I don’t owe them anything. I should beat it with the twins.
    But I don’t. Maybe it’s because I want to be a dumb hero. Or maybe it’s because I don’t think anything can be as scary as Mr Dowling and his mutants. Or maybe it’s
the memory of Tyler Bayor, and what I did to him, that drives me on. Whatever the reason, I climb the steps, readying myself for battle, wondering what can have taken the Angels so swiftly and
silently. I didn’t even hear one of them squeak.
    As I get to the top step and turn into the corridor, there’s a sudden, piercing scream. It’s Ingrid. I can’t see her, but I hear her racing footsteps as she roars at me,
‘Run, B, run!’
    ‘Bloody hell!’ I yell, and I’m off, tearing down the stairs like a rabbit, running for my life, panting as if I had lungs that worked.
    I catch up with the twins. They’re making sobbing sounds.
    ‘What –’ Awnya starts to ask.
    ‘No questions,’ I shout. ‘Just run!’
    We hit the ground floor in a frightened huddle and spill out on to the street. Our legs get tangled up and all three of us sprawl across the road. I curse loudly and push myself to my feet. I
grab Awnya and pull her up. I’m reaching for Cian, to help him, when I hear . . .
    . . . laughter overhead.

    I pause, a familiar sickening feeling flooding my guts, and look up.
    Ingrid and the boys are spread across the fourth-floor landing, and they’re all laughing their heads off.
    ‘Suckers!’ Ivor bellows.
    ‘Run, fools, run,’ another of the boys cackles.
    ‘Those sons of bitches,’ I snarl.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Cian asks, bewildered. ‘Was it a joke?’
    ‘Yeah,’ I snap. ‘And we fell for it.’
    ‘Oh, thank God,’ Awnya sighs. ‘I thought they’d been killed.’
    ‘Arseholes!’ I roar at the five Angels on the landing, and give them the finger.
    ‘You’ve got to be alert when you’re out on a mission, B,’ Ingrid cries. ‘Wait. What’s that behind us? No! Help us, B. Save us. There’s a monster coming
to . . .’ She screams again, high-pitched and false.
    ‘Yeah, laugh it up,’ I shout. ‘You won’t be laughing when I stick my foot so far up your arse that . . .’
    I shake my head,