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

‘I know better than to come between a boy and histoys.’
    Carl starts to retort, then remembers that there’s a young child present. He catches himself, grins sheepishly at Emma, then off we head in search of some toys that will hopefully bring a smile to the solemn boy’s face.

‘You didn’t need to tag along,’ Carl says as we exit the Square and head towards Regent Street.
    ‘You shouldn’t go off solo,’ I grunt. ‘Anything could happen to you.’
    ‘Would you be bothered?’ Carl asks.
    I shrug. ‘I don’t want to have to explain your lossto Master Zhang.’
    Carl smiles. ‘ You went off by yourself after you fell from the London Eye.’
    I haven’t told them that Rage pushed me. They think I fell. I didn’t even tell Dr Oystein. I’m not a tattletale. What happened on the Eye was between Rage and me.
    ‘I’m a special case,’ I mutter.
    Carl looks at me sideways and smirks. ‘I think you fancy me.’
    ‘In your dreams.’
    ‘That’swhy you’ve come. You can’t bear to be parted from me.’
    I fake a yawn. ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ Then I tell him, ‘Actually it’s because of the book.’
    He frowns. ‘What are you talking about?’
    ‘The book with the Van Gogh letters. It’s great. You gave it to me, so I wanted to repay you.’
    ‘It’s no big deal,’ he says. ‘You could have given me a book in return.’
    ‘I couldn’t be arsed lookingfor one.’
    He grins. ‘Or you could have just said thanks.’
    ‘Nothing says thank you better than saving a person’s life,’ I drawl.
    Carl shakes his head. ‘You’re a strange one, Smith.’
    ‘Am I?’
    ‘Yes. I can’t figure you out. I try being nice to you, and you clearly appreciate that or you wouldn’t feel compelled to repay me. But instead of just accepting me as a friend, you haveto turn it into something weird.’
    ‘Nothing weird about it,’ I grunt. ‘I liked the book. This is my way of doing something nice for you in return.’
    ‘You could simply be my friend,’ Carl says.
    ‘I’d rather save your neck.’
    ‘Even though you don’t like me?’ he presses.
    ‘I never said I didn’t like you.’
    ‘Then you do like me?’
    ‘I never said that either.’
    Carl stops andsquints. ‘Are you playing mind games with me?’
    ‘No.’ I roll my eyes. ‘You’re just a guy I work with, same as the others. I’m happy to keep things pleasant, but I don’t want to do more than that. Friends aren’t my thing.’
    ‘Must be lonely up there in that tower,’ Carl says.
    ‘Suits me fine,’ I retort. ‘Now, are we sorting out those toys or what?’
    Carl looks at me a beat longer,then shrugs and starts off again. He doesn’t say anything else. I don’t either. I didn’t want to piss him off, but he kept asking until there was nothing else for it but to hit him with the truth.
    After a short, uneventful journey, we stop outside Hamleys. Any time I passed by before, it was swarming with kids and tourists. Now it’s no different to any other large building in this city,silent, no signs of life, just the occasional flickering shadow as zombies shift around inside.
    ‘It’s sad,’ Carl says. ‘It feels more like a graveyard than a toyshop now.’
    ‘Do you want to try somewhere else?’ I ask.
    ‘No. The other places will be the same. I’ll go look inside, see what I can rustle up. I might be a while—I always seem to turn into a big kid in here. Do you want to comewith me, or do you want to browse by yourself?’
    ‘Actually I think I’ll stay out here and keep watch,’ I say, not wanting to go in and be confronted with all those toys, along with the realisation that no children will ever come to play with them again. ‘I’ll give you a shout if I spot anything.’
    ‘Like what?’ he laughs. ‘Elephants?’
    ‘Just get on with your job, toy boy ,’ I growland move away from the door, out of his line of sight.
    As Carl goes on the hunt for the perfect present, I shuffle along, away from the windows