Ameena shrugged. *No idea."
*Well, I"m glad you"re OK," I said. *I"m not sure I could have handled it if you"d... changed."
*Doubt I"d have enjoyed it much either," she said. *Still, at least you"d have Goldilocks. She didn"t stop talking about you the whole way back. She"s into you in a big way."
*Really?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.
*Big way," Ameena nodded.
I thought about this for a second, but couldn"t quite get it to make sense in my head. *Why would she like me?"
Ameena opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again. She smiled, but it wasn"t her usual c.o.c.ky grin. *Beats me," she said.
Pieces of gla.s.s crunched beneath her boots as she stood up. She held a hand out to me. I took it without hesitation. *Come on," she said, hauling me to my feet, *we"d better get upstairs before those two start wetting their pants."
*What about the window?" I asked. *Should we barricade it again?"
Ameena glanced at the hole. *Too tricky. It"ll be easier to block the stairs."
*Right. And then what?"
She looked upwards for a moment, deep in thought. *We"ll think of something," was all she came up with. *Let"s go."
*So, what do we do?"
Billy was sitting on the floor in the empty box room, his back propped against a damp-stained wall. I sat on the windowsill, my body angled so I could easily see outside. The lights were still burning inside my house. The streak of red that had been outside the back door was now gone, completely covered by the snow.
As soon as we"d entered the room, Rosie had run over and thrown her arms around me. Her skin felt warm against mine. She smelled amazing. There was nothing I could do to stop myself returning the hug.
When we finally let go, Ameena was looking the other way, facing the bedroom door. It was several minutes before she looked in my direction again.
*h.e.l.lo? Anyone?" Billy said. *What do we do?"
*I don"t know, Billy," I sighed. *I don"t know what to do."
Billy stood up.
*Right, fine then," he said with a scowl. *If you"re not going to take charge, then I am."
*Sit down, Billy," said Ameena sternly.
Billy sat down.
*Well, we can"t just sit around here waiting to die," he mumbled. *We"ve got to do something."
*You"re right. We do," I nodded. *We"re going to stick to the original plan. You and Rosie are going to get out of the village." I turned to Ameena, knowing full well she wasn"t going to like what I was about to say. *And I want you to go with them."
Ameena snorted. *Yeah, like that"s going to happen. I"m staying with you."
*No," I told her, pulling her aside. *You aren"t. You"re a good friend," I said. *You"re... you"re the best friend I"ve ever had, Ameena. And I want you to keep being my friend for a long time."
*Shut up," she said. Was she blushing?
*And for that, you have to be alive."
*Yeah, well so do you," she retorted, *and there"s no way you"re going to avoid being killed by yourself."
*A few weeks ago, maybe," I agreed, *but I"ve been to the Darkest Corners and I made it back. I survived a" I even saved someone else a" and I did it on my own."
Her eyebrows knotted. *So, what you saying? You don"t need me any more? Is that it?"
*No, just the opposite," I said. *It"s because I do need you that I want you to go. I can"t let anything happen to you. Not you too."
I searched her face, trying to gauge her reaction. I needn"t have bothered. *Tough," she said firmly. *I"m staying."
*Ameena, listen to me," I pleaded, but a whisper from Rosie stopped me short. She was standing by the window, keeping look-out.
*Uh, everyone?" she said. *You might want to come and see this."
We gathered around the window, all four of us, and looked down at the garden below. I realised, in that moment, that arguing with Ameena was pointless. She wasn"t getting out of the village. And nor was anyone else.
*This is your fault," Billy spat, shooting me an evil look. *If you hadn"t wasted time talking to your girlfriend we could"ve been out of here. We could"ve been safe."
*Are... are you his girlfriend?" Rosie asked. Ameena blanked her and turned to Billy instead. Outside, half-hidden by the dusk, an army of screechers swarmed towards the house.
*Shut up, Billy," she warned. *This is no one"s fault."
*What are you even doing here, anyway?" Billy demanded. *You"ve been bit. You"re one of them!"
*Does she look like one of them?" I snapped. *Really?"
*Not yet, but it"s only a matter of time!"
*No, it isn"t, Billy," I said. *Look, she"s fine. There"s nothing wrong with her. Now shut up so I can figure out what we do next."
*What we do next?" he spluttered. He gestured down to the garden. More screechers were climbing or leaping over the fence, headed in our direction. *What we do next is die, Kyle. Can"t you see that?" He looked me up and down. *Unless you"re going to do your... whatever it is you do."
I shook my head. *I can"t," I said.
*You might have to," Ameena said softly. *If there"s no other way."
*But... I can"t," I said. *Something terrible might happen."
*Something terrible will definitely happen if you don"t," she pointed out. *Involving their teeth and our innards!"
There was a crash from downstairs, then a screech from directly below us. *They"re in the house," Rosie whimpered. *They"re already in the house. What do we do?"
*It"s OK," Ameena said. *We closed the door to the stairs and jammed it with a chair. They can"t get up. We"ve got time."
Rosie"s bottom lip trembled, but she held herself together. *Time for what?"
Ameena rubbed her temples, as if trying to ease a headache. *I Spy?" she suggested. Despite the danger we were in, I almost smiled at that.
*Time to try to figure out exactly what"s happening," I said. *If we can do that, maybe we can find a way to stop it."
*We know what"s happening," Billy grunted. *There"s a big monster and lots of zombies. What"s to figure out?"
*But where did they come from?" I asked. *Not from biting each other, or Ameena would be one already. So where?"
*I don"t know! Maybe... maybe she"s immune somehow?"
My eyes met Ameena"s. *That"s a possibility," I admitted. *You sure you feel OK?"
*Fine," she said promptly. *No change."
THUD! The screechers. .h.i.t the door hard. Even up here, we felt the floor shake. A quick glance outside told me they were still coming. The garden was filled with them now, and the night was filled with their cries. They raced across the snow-covered lawn and flung themselves against the house"s walls. Although some had clearly found their way inside, most of them weren"t smart enough to have discovered a way in.
*OK, so what do we do now?" I asked. Something thumped against the floor beneath our feet. *The screechers. How do we stop them?"
Billy jumped in first. *Destroy the brain."
*We"re not destroying anyone"s brain," I reminded him. *They"re people, Billy."
*They were people, you mean."
*So, what about Lily?" I barked. *Huh? You going to bash her head in too? You going to destroy her brain?"
Ameena stepped between us. *Taking out their legs seems to work," she suggested. *Sends them to the floor, but doesn"t kill them."
It sounded like an out of control party was going on downstairs now. Dozens of sets of feet trampled through the rooms below. Screeches and screams and high-pitched howls rose up through the box-room floor. Any minute now I half-expected to hear someone start singing karaoke.
*They"re going to get in, aren"t they?" Rosie said. Her voice was flat, almost emotionless, as if she had already accepted her fate.
I nodded. There was no point lying. Not any more. *Yes. They are."
There was silence in the room then, aside from the sounds of the screechers outside and below. I gawped with surprise as Rosie kissed me lightly on the cheek. *Thanks for trying," she said, and as she did her eyes became misty with tears. *You saved me once already today. But maybe it"s just my day to die."
A tingle crept down my spine and out to the tips of my fingers. I felt my muscles tighten and my hands ball into fists. *No," I said. *No one else is dying because of me."
I crossed to the window. Back when we"d fought Mr Mumbles, Ameena and I had climbed up on to the roof of this very house. I doubted the screechers could follow us up there. Door handles, after all, seemed to be enough to outwit them, never mind drainpipes. We"d still be trapped up there on the roof, but we"d at least be relatively safe.
*OK," I began. *I"ve got an idea. We"re going toa""
KA-RAAASH!.
The window exploded inwards, spraying gla.s.s in my face. A snarling shape slammed into my chest and I hit the floor just as Rosie began screaming. Black eyes and chomping teeth filled my field of vision. Something sharp slashed across my belly, making me hiss with pain.
I scrabbled backwards, kicking out. The monster squatted on all fours in the middle of the room, spitting and seething as it sized us up.
The monster with the dark eyes, sandpaper skin and impossibly large jaws.
The monster with the sharp, elongated bones jutting from every one of its muscular limbs.
The monster a" I realised to my horror a" in the police uniform.
lade-like bones stabbed through the back of the uniform, each one several centimetres long. Other bones grew from the monster"s cheeks. They curved upwards until they met its forehead, like protective shields for the creature"s eyes.
I thought those words: Monster. Creature. But I knew she was neither of those things. It was the policewoman. The policewoman I had watched die in my arms. She was barely recognisable now. If it hadn"t been for the uniform, I"d never have realised it was her.
*What is it? What is it?" Billy squirmed. He was flat against the wall, but was still trying to back further away. Rosie had lost the plot. I couldn"t blame her. She was screaming and pulling at her own hair, unable to tear her eyes away from the terrifying vision before her.
Drawn by her screams, the policewoman spun around. Her jaw dropped open wide enough to swallow Rosie"s entire head in a single bite. A shrill, demonic screech filled the room and the monster pounced.
Lightning flashed through me. Consequences or not, I couldn"t just stand by and watch Rosie die!
Luckily, I didn"t have to. Ameena"s boot crunched into the creature, mid-leap. It was knocked sideways and slammed, head-first, into the wall. Ameena grabbed Rosie"s arm and threw her towards the door.
*Move, Billy," she cried. He came running past me just as I stumbled to my feet. The policewoman twisted, tensed her legs and leapt after us. Ameena pulled me through the doorway, then closed the door with a loud slam.
We heard the wood splinter, saw it bulge outward. A serrated spike, like a smaller version of the one that had killed Joseph, stabbed through the door, missing me by a centimetre.
As I watched the bony blade withdraw, I suddenly understood what was going on. *They"re changing," I realised. *The screechers. They"re all changing."
*Changing into what?" Billy yelped.
*She... she looked like the Beast," I realised, picturing the creature"s dark eyes and snapping jaws.
Billy scowled. *Eh?"
*The screechers aren"t turning into zombies, they"re turning into Beasts!"
*They"re baby Beasts," Ameena nodded. *Makes sense. In an oh-my-G.o.d-somebody-please-kill-me-now kind of way."
Another spike ripped through the door, tearing a fist-sized hole in the wood. Rosie opened her mouth to scream again, but Ameena slapped her across the face before she could even start.
*Scream later," she ordered. *Run now."
*Run?" Billy cried. At the bottom of the stairs, the other door gave a loud, worrying crack. *Run where?"
Ameena gave me a meaningful look. *Kyle? We need a way out."
I hesitated. *I can"t," I fretted. *My dad admitted everything. He told me what would happen if I kept using my powers. He told me millions of people would die."
*Or maybe that"s just what he wants you to believe. Maybe he really just wants you dead! Did you think of that?"
The policewoman gave another screech as her head broke through the door. Her jaws gnashed and gnawed at us as she tried to squeeze her body through the gap.
*Oh, too tempting," Ameena said. She raised her leg and drove the sole of her boot against the policewoman"s deformed face, shoving it back through the hole. *Now," she said, turning back to me. *Get us out of here, or I"ll kill you myself."