*Chances are pretty slim, though," Billy said. Ameena and I both shot him a look. *Um, I mean, yeah," he added. *They"re probably fine."
*No, they"re not," Rosie said. She released her grip on my neck, but took hold of my hand instead. I saw Ameena"s gaze go to our interlocked fingers. It didn"t move for a long time. *They"re dead. I know they"re dead. And with that thing out there, we"ll be next."
*Uh, Kyle, a word?" Ameena said. She took a step towards me and pushed me towards the door Guggs had gone through. The shove broke Rosie"s grasp on my hand. As we walked through the door, I heard Billy rush to take my place.
*I"ll hold your hand if you want," he offered.
Rosie sniffed and wiped her eyes. *Thanks," she said. *But I"m fine."
That was the last I heard before Ameena pulled the door closed behind us. We were standing in the corridor that led to the back door of the station. Just a few weeks ago, Mr Mumbles had chased us along it. It felt like a lifetime ago.
*What"s up?" I asked.
*Nothing," she replied curtly.
*Oh. Right. Why"d you want to talk to me then?"
She shrugged. *I didn"t."
*Um... yes, you did."
*I don"t like her," she said, matter-of-factly.
*Rosie?" I asked. *Why not?"
*Because... she keeps crying all the time."
I nodded. *Yeah. But then, she did just watch her family get killed."
*She didn"t watch them, don"t exaggerate," Ameena replied, rolling her eyes. *She barely saw a thing."
*No, buta""
*And what"s with all the hugging and the hand-holding? Why"s she so touchy feely?" Ameena demanded. *There"s no need for it. She doesn"t even know you. There"s no need for it."
A realisation suddenly hit me. *Wait," I said. *You"re... you"re jealous."
*Of Goldilocks?" she snorted. *Please. Don"t flatter yourself. I just don"t trust her, that"s all."
*Because she cries all the time."
*Yeah. Exactly. Because she cries all the time."
I nodded. *OK. We"ll keep an eye on her." I turned to the door. *We"d better go back through."
*Wait." Ameena"s grip was like steel on my arm. *I need to show you something."
I turned back to her. Her eyes were wide and worried. *What is it?" I asked. She didn"t say anything, so I asked her again. *What is it?"
*Earlier on. I... uh... I lied," she told me, her voice a hushed whisper. *When you asked if I saw any screechers."
*Oh. Right," I said. *So... you did see some?"
*One," she replied. *I saw one."
*Oh," I said again. *Right."
*He, um, jumped out at me from behind a car."
My mouth suddenly felt dry. *You got away, though."
*Yeah, I got away. I got away," Ameena said. There was a crack in her voice I"d never heard before. *Just. But not before he gave me this."
She slowly and carefully pushed her sleeve up. My chest went tight, like all the air had been sucked from the room. There, just above Ameena"s wrist, was a semi-circular tear in her flesh.
*He bit me," she said. *The screecher... he bit me."
y whole body felt numb when we walked back through to the reception area. Ameena had rolled her sleeve back down before I could even speak, then pushed past me, mouthing a low, *Don"t tell anyone," just before she opened the door.
*Aye aye," Billy said, waggling his eyebrows. *What you two been up to?"
*Shut up, Billy," we both said at the same time.
*I was only joking," he muttered.
A red mist of rage descended over my eyes. I changed direction, mid-step, and stormed over to the front desk where Billy stood. A few weeks ago I wouldn"t have dreamed of even looking at Billy without permission. He"d seemed like a giant. A monster.
But I"d met real monsters since then. And Billy didn"t even come close.
*Don"t joke!" I snarled, pushing him against the desk. *All right? None of this is funny, Billy. No one"s laughing."
*I know!" he said.
*No, you don"t! You"re acting like this is some sort of game. Racing around in that car, all that "destroy the brain" stuff. It"s not a zombie movie, Billy, it"s real!" The anger was swelling my chest now. Billy looked smaller than ever.
*Rosie"s parents are... missing," I said, narrowly avoiding saying the word "dead". *My nan is missing. She"s out there somewhere, and I don"t know where, and you stand there anda""
*They took my sister."
The rest of my rant caught in my throat. I looked at Billy, but he didn"t look back.
*What?"
*Lily," he said quietly. *They took Lily."
*What?" I said again. *Who did?"
*The zombies. Screechers. Whatever you call them." Billy looked at his fingernails, still avoiding my gaze. I could feel Ameena beside me. She"d had more to do with saving Lily from Caddie than I had.
*When?" she asked.
*During the night," he said. *My mum and dad went out into town. Down the pub. I was babysitting. Again. They were meeting my uncle, so Guggs came round to the house. Lily hates Guggs, though."
*I knew I liked that kid," Ameena said.
*She asked me if I"d stay in her room with her when she went to sleep," Billy said. His eyes glistened and it took him a moment to carry on. *I said "no"."
He walked away from us then, past Rosie, who was standing in the middle of the room, looking out of place, and over to the tatty couch that sat in the corner of the reception. He flopped down on to it, as if his legs could no longer hold him up.
*Guggs and me, we played Xbox, and he drank a few beers. I don"t know what time I fell asleep, but it was Lily"s screaming that woke me up. I jumped up and ran to her room, but they were in the hall and I couldn"t... I couldn"t..."
Billy finally broke. We could barely hear his next words through the sound of his sobs. *I left her. Guggs told me to leave her and I just left her. I left her there with them... things."
*Oh, G.o.d," Ameena whispered. *You didn"t."
Billy could only nod. He was hugging his legs now, rocking back and forth, weeping silently.
*You let them take her," I said. *You let them."
*N-no," Billy cried. *There were too many of them. They were in the hall. They were in her room! What could I have done?"
I didn"t even try to hide the contempt in my voice. *You could have tried."
For a while, no one spoke, each lost in our own thoughts. It was Rosie who eventually said something.
*What are we going to do?"
Ameena slapped her hand down on the reception desk, making everyone jump. *We need to take stock," she said, jumping up and sitting cross-legged on the desktop. *Try to figure out what"s going on. What do we know so far?"
I blew out my cheeks. *Not a lot."
*That doesn"t help. What do we know?" She counted off on her fingers. *We know there"s at least one monster roaming around out there. We know something"s happened to the people in the village to turn them into... whatever it is they"ve been turned into."
*We know there"s snow," Rosie said, trying to get into the spirit of things.
Ameena rolled her eyes. *Yes, thank you. Very helpful."
Rosie smiled, missing the sarcasm completely.
*We know they don"t die," Ameena continued. *The cop, she should"ve been dead at least twice, but she wasn"t."
*They"re strong too," I added, remembering the dents in the car boot, and the way the man in the shop had bitten clean through the sledge. *Freakishly strong."
*Right. What about practicalities?" Ameena asked. The rest of us looked at her, blankly. *Phone lines? Food? Weapons?" she explained. *Where are we at?"
*Not great," Billy replied. *There"s a packet of biscuits and some teabags through the back. Phone"s still dead, and the only weapon I could find was this." He held up the baton, then lowered it again.
*Right," Ameena sighed. *What kind of biscuits?"
*KitKats."
She nodded. *Not bad. Not bad. Pity we"re screwed on everything else." She hopped down from the desk. *So, what else do we know? How did all those people become... the way they are?"
*They got bit," Billy said.
Ameena rounded on him. *Did they? How do you know that?"
He shrugged. *That"s how it works, innit? In films."
*Yes, but we"re not in a film, are we?"
*No, but... the policewoman," I said. Ameena turned to look at me, and I could tell she"d already thought the same thing. *At my house. She"d been... hurt. And she changed."
*Like in the films," Billy nodded. *Like I said."
*Shut up, Billy," I told him as Ameena turned away and touched the sleeve that covered her bite mark.
*What else do we know?" she asked, moving the conversation on.
*We know my dad"s involved somehow," I said.
Ameena spun back to face me. *He is?"
*What?" Billy frowned. *I thought you didn"t have a dad?"
Ameena shook her head. *He"s not Jesus, Billy, of course he"s got a dad." She stepped in closer to me. *What did he say?"
I shrugged. *The usual."
*Well, where is he?" Billy asked, standing up. *Can he help us?"
*No," I told him. *He really can"t."
*That thing," Rosie said. We all turned to look at her. *What did you call it? The Beast?"
*What about it?" I asked.
*Could it have done something to change everyone?" She brushed her hair back over her ears and seemed to wilt beneath everyone"s gaze. *I mean, I haven"t seen the people you"re talking about, but it seems like a big coincidence if they"re not connected."
Ameena used her fingers to perform a drum roll on the reception desk. *And the award for most obvious statement ever goes to... you! Of course they"re connected. We just don"t know how yet."
*Well, however they"re connected, we can"t stay here," Billy said. *It"s Monster Central out there. How long are we going to last sitting around here?"
*The streets are filled with those things. The routes out of town are blocked. What do you suggest?" Ameena asked, but Billy had no answer to give her.
*I think I remember the route we came in," Rosie offered. *If we can get a car, I should be able to get us back on to the main road. There"s no snow there."
Ameena thought about this for a minute. Eventually she turned to me. *What do you think?"