*What, foaming at the mouth and battering her face against the window?" I said. *No. That"s new."
There was a loud, hollow-sounding thonk from the bedroom window. *I"m not sure letting her out is such a good idea," Ameena said.
I shook my head. *What is g-going on?"
*You"re freezing, that"s what." I saw Ameena take me by the arm, but my skin was too numb to feel her touch. *Let"s get home and get changed."
*But N-Nan..." I stammered. I realised that every time I opened my mouth, my lungs ached.
*We"ll find her when you"re warm," Ameena said. She guided me ahead of her, still holding on to my arm. We both took a final look up in the direction of the window, before making our way back around the front of the house.
It was there that we saw her.
*Hey," Ameena whispered, *isn"t that...?"
*The policewoman? I... I think so."
She was standing along the road. We would never have seen her had she not been beneath the streetlight. Her neck was craned back so her face pointed to the sky. Her back was to us, but her arms hung limply by her sides so we could see the wash of blood over her hands.
*What"s she up to?" I asked.
*Don"t ask me. I thought she was dead," Ameena muttered. She took a step closer and raised her voice. *Hey! I thought you were dead."
The policewoman whipped around at the sound. Lit from behind, it was impossible to see her face, so we walked towards her, stooping low to shield our eyes from the snow.
We were halfway there when she moved. Her arms raised and her legs began to pump furiously, powering her through the snow in our direction. She opened her mouth and a sound a" part scream, part roar, part... something else a" emerged, shattering the near-silence.
*What"s shea"?" I began to ask, but she was on me before I could finish. She launched herself from three metres away, clearing the gap in one big bound. Her knees. .h.i.t my chest, right below my chin. Fingers clawed at my face and pulled at my hair. I didn"t feel myself falling until the snow came up to meet me.
*Get her off ! Get her off !" I howled, my hands flailing as I fought to fend off the frenzied attack.
GRAAAAAAH! The sound started as a growl at the back of her throat and quickly became a scream of animal rage. Her eyes, black as midnight, glared down at me as she thrashed and twisted and clawed.
CHOMP! Her teeth snapped shut just centimetres from my face. CHOMP! Again they clamped closed, close enough that I could feel the warmth of her breath. I dug my forearm in against her throat, trying to hold her back, but she was strong. Stronger than a dead woman had any right to be.
*What are you waiting for? Get her off !" I cried again.
*One sec," Ameena replied.
*One sec? Are you mental? She"s trying to a" aaah, get off ! She"s trying to eat me!"
*Stop being such a cry-baby, she"s not trying toa""
CHOMP!.
*OK, she"s trying to eat you."
*I know! Do something about it!"
CLANG.
My extreme close-up of the policewoman"s face vanished as a metal bucket was wedged violently down over her head.
*There," Ameena said. *She can"t eat you now."
With a shove, she sent the policewoman sprawling sideways on to the snow. I leapt up and we watched the woman for a moment, thrashing around, struggling to get back to her feet.
*You"d think she"d take the bucket off," I said.
*I dunno, I shoved it on there pretty d.a.m.n hard."
*But she hasn"t even tried pulling it off," I pointed out. *You"d think she"d at least give it a go."
*I"m guessing she"s not thinking straight," Ameena replied. *What with the growling and the black eyes and the biting and all that."
*And the being dead," I added quietly.
*Yeah. That can"t help either."
The policewoman didn"t look frightening any more. Maybe it was the way she was slipping and sliding on her knees in the snow. Maybe it was the window-cleaner"s bucket she had stuck on her head. Whatever, she looked more pathetic now than scary. I almost felt sorry for her.
*She"s just like Mrs Angelo," I said. *That"s what she was like at the bedroom window." I looked over my shoulder to where Mrs Angelo"s house stood, but all I could see was falling snow. *Something"s happening again, isn"t it?"
Ameena nodded. *Probably a safe bet."
With a m.u.f.fled scream of frustration, the policewoman tried once again to stand. Once again, she failed. Her legs moved in different directions and she fell backwards on to the snow. She kicked and punched the ground, like a toddler having a tantrum.
*What"s wrong with her?"
*Dunno, but she definitely looks pale." Ameena turned to me, grinning. *Pale. Get it? Pail. Because... the bucket. Pale."
*Genius," I sighed.
*Ah, you"re just jealous you don"t have my... Oh."
Ameena"s face fell. Down in the snow, the policewoman was sitting up. The bucket was not coming with her.
*It fell off," I spluttered, stumbling backwards. The policewoman"s black eyes were darting between us, sizing us up. *We need to run."
Ameena raised her fists, bouncing cautiously on the b.a.l.l.s of her feet. *I can take her," she said.
Squealing like an injured animal, the policewoman sprung forward on to all fours. Her face contorted and her lips pulled back until we could see every one of her teeth.
Ameena stopped bouncing. *On second thoughts, let"s go with your plan."
She took off past me, running with her knees high to avoid tripping through the snow. I ran too, trying to follow in her footprints while keeping an eye on the policewoman.
*She"s coming," I yelled, as she began to give chase. She bounded along on all fours at first, then straightened up into a sprint. The snow barely slowed her down. She ploughed through it, gnashing and grabbing and howling at our backs.
*Move!" Ameena barked. *Run faster."
*I"m trying," I protested. *It"s the snow, ita""
My foot snagged on a kerb and I landed face-first in a cushion of cold. I heard the policewoman screech in triumph.
*Kyle!"
Ameena"s voice was far away. Too far.
That familiar electrical charge crackled across my scalp as I rolled on to my back. The policewoman was six metres away. Five. Four. Her teeth chomped the air. Her fingers curled into claws. She closed the remaining gap in three big bounds, too swiftly for me to do anything about it.
She was one step away from me whena"
KA-RUNCH!.
The car came from nowhere, slamming into her and sending her pinwheeling. She spun several times, before landing in an awkward and motionless heap on the ground.
With a squeal of brakes the car slid to a stop in the snow. Both front doors flew open. I couldn"t see who got out of the driver"s seat, but I recognised the pa.s.senger right away.
He was the boy who had made my school life h.e.l.l for years. The boy who, just a few short weeks ago, had plunged a knife into my stomach. The boy who had created Caddie and Raggy Maggie, the psychotic imaginary girl and her equally deranged doll.
*Billy?" I gasped.
He looked down at me. If he was surprised, he didn"t show it. *It"s you," he said, matter-of-fact.
*Bullseye! I got her. Ooyah, check out the state of that," cackled the boy on the other side of the car. He stepped around to the front and leaned one hand on the bonnet. In the other hand he gripped a short metal pole. Even though he was now standing in full view, I had no idea who he was.
*My cousin," Billy said, as if reading my mind. *Guggs."
*Guggs?" Ameena snorted, jogging back to join us. *Christ, that"s unfortunate."
*It"s not my real name," Guggs scowled. He had a fluffy, almost-but-not-quite moustache on his top lip and a neck that looked thicker than his head. Billy was big, but his cousin was bigger. *Duh."
Ameena took my hand and pulled me up with one yank. *So, what, you chose it yourself ? Seriously? You called yourself Guggs?"
Guggs brought the arm holding the metal bar down to his side. He held it by his hip, sticking out, ready to swing. *Got a problem with that?"
*You killed her," I said, cutting the argument short. The policewoman was still an unmoving heap, her arms and legs twisted at unnatural angles, her face half-buried in the snow. *You killed her!" I said again, panicking now. *You"ve gone and killed her. You idiots!"
*What did you call me?" Guggs snarled.
*Calm down, freak," Billy warned me. *We haven"t killed anyone."
*Look at her!" I hissed. *Her head"s back to front! You think she"s supposed to bend that way?"
*No, buta""
*What did you call me?" Guggs asked again, more slowly this time.
*Shut up," I told him. A few weeks ago he would"ve terrified me, but now he was just Billy"s brain-dead cousin with the stupid name. *Just... shut up."
*You tell him, kiddo," Ameena smirked.
*Right, you"re getting it," he snarled. He took a step towards me, but Billy quickly put himself between us.
*She"s not dead," he said.
A flicker of surprise crossed Guggs" face, quickly replaced by a wicked grin. *Oh, yeah, that"s right. Forgot," he said, slapping the iron bar against the palm of his hand. *That"s why I"ve got this."
*Of course she"s dead," I said. The policewoman"s body was a mangled mess, like a one-woman game of Twister. She had to be dead. Then again, I"d thought she"d been dead earlier too.
*Just watch," Billy said, his voice hushed. The snow had eased off now. Just a few flakes drifted down from the sky. All four of us fell silent as we watched the policewoman"s body, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
*I think she"s actually more dead than she was a minute ago," Ameena said. *If that"s possible."
*Sssh! Shut up," Billy hissed. He nodded towards the body. *Just watch and... There. Did you see that?"
*See what?" I asked. *I didn"t see anything."
*She moved."
Ameena snorted. *She didn"t."
Guggs changed his grip on the bar, holding it in both hands now, like a baseball batter about to hit a home run. *Get ready," he said quietly.
*Get ready for what?" I asked, but neither of them answered. The way Billy and Guggs were staring at the body, it was like they really, truly believed thata"
*She moved." It was Ameena who spoke. *Her arm. There. See?"
And she was right. The policewoman"s arm was moving, bending at the elbow, getting into the push-up position. Her other arm was moving too. As it raised up, her hand bent fully back, revealing a broken stump of bone at her wrist.
*Told you," Billy said, puffing out his chest.
*Who"s the idiot now?" Guggs grunted. He took a sudden step towards the policewoman and raised the metal rod.
*Stop!" I cried. *What are you doing?"
Guggs paused, mid-swing. *Tell him, Bill."
*Destroying the brain," Billy explained.
I blinked. *"Destroying the brain"? What are you on about?"
*It"s what you do, innit?" said Billy, shrugging. *With zombies."