ZOM-B Baby by Darren Shan Read Free Book Online

since I returned to consciousness. Well, OK, it’s not an actual adrenalin rush, since I doubt my body produces that any more. But it damn sure feels like it.
    The rim of the wheel is thicker than I expected. A cable runs along the inside, good for gripping, but on the outside it’s pure steel which isn’t so accommodating.
    At first it’s easy. I scuttle along, no problem withmy toughened flesh and bones. I laugh with delight, not bothered by the sunlight or what might happen to me if I fall, the gloom of the last week forgotten, focusing on nothing except my ascent.
    Then it starts to get tricky. The higher I climb, the more gravity drags at me. From the ground the incline didn’t look too steep, but when you’re up here and following it, you get a fresh perspective. From about the quarter mark it’s like climbing at ninety degrees. I start to slip and sway in the breeze, which seems much stronger than it did a few minutes ago.
    I struggle on, teeth gritted, refusing to look at the ground. Cuts open on both hands as the steel and cable slice into them when I slip. Thankfully my blood doesn’t flow as swiftly as it once did – it just seeps out slowly – or I’d have to stop. As it is, I can push on, pausing every so often to wipe the congealed blood from my palms.
    I’m almost halfway up the wheel when I lose my grip completely. I fall with a cry that’s cut short when I slam into one of the support poles which connects with the central bar. I cling on desperately as my legs swing freely beneath me. I hear Rage whooping with glee — he must have paused at the perfect time to catch my big slip. I’d love to shoot him the finger but I don’t dare loosen my grip.

    If I was human, I’d be done for. The wind would have been knocked from my sails, my muscles would be aching from the climb. Not being a Hollywood movie star, I doubt I’d be able to pull myself to safety. It would be the long drop for me.
    But being dead has its advantages. I don’t breathe, and my body isn’t as confined by the laws of physics as it used to be. After dangling for a while, I haul myself up until I’m hanging across the bar. I wipe my hands dry, steady myself, grip the rim and start climbing again.
    I’m just past the halfway mark when Rage shouts to me. ‘Oi! Smith!’ His voice is tinny, coming from so far away, but the wind carries it and my supersharp ears pick it up.
    I take a firm hold and look across to where he’shanging opposite me. My eyes are less effective than my ears, so he’s only a vague blob in the distance. ‘What?’ I roar.
    ‘What are we gonna do now?’ he yells. ‘It would be easier if we shifted to the outside of the rim. If we stick to the inside, we’ll be hanging upside down the rest of the way.’
    I’d been thinking about that myself. I was going to suggest we move to the other side, so we could crawl on top of the rim instead of dangle from its underside. But now that he’s getting cold feet, I don’t want to ease up. He was the dope who suggested this crazy challenge. I want to make him go through with it, even though that means me suffering as well.
    ‘If you want to back down, let me know,’ I roar cheerfully. ‘I won’t tell anyone you chickened out. Well, except for everyone we know.’
    ‘Screw you!’ he bellows. ‘I’m game if you are.’
    ‘Then what are you waiting for?’ I laugh and start climbing again.
    It soon becomes clear that we really
are
mad to attempt this. As hard as it was before, it’s ten timesmore difficult now. I’m hanging from the rim like a squirrel, but squirrels have tails, padded paws and the benefit of countless generations of instinct to draw upon. Humans were never meant to climb like this, not even undead buggers like me.
    The hardest parts are where the bars to the inner circle connect. The rim bulges out in those spots and I have to ease around the protuberances. That was easy on the lower sections, but not when I’m hanging upside down and