Z. Apocalypse (12 page)

‘I will
lead
! That’s what I said.
Lead you to the ones who did it.’ Zoe looked over at Keera in wonder. ‘She wants to be free, Adam, and you promised if she led us to Geneflow she
would
be free. That’s why we’re here, I know it. This is just a pit stop on the way to that base!’

A low chittering came from the corner, like confirmation. Keera had finished her meal and was watching them with those cold, black eyes.

Adam couldn’t
meet that stare. ‘She was supposed to tell us stuff that could lead the army to Geneflow,’ he muttered. ‘Not take the two of us. What are we supposed to do by ourselves? A couple of kids against a base full of maniacs and killer dinosaurs.’

But Zoe held up a hand to shush him, staring at Keera. The pterosaur was swinging her massive head from side to side. An agitated chittering noise built in
her throat and echoed around the high walls of the warehouse.

Adam eyed her worriedly. ‘What do you reckon’s up with her?’

The Z. dactyl scuttled towards them, claws clacking on the cold concrete floor of the warehouse
like some nightmare monster. Then she turned towards the exit and emitted the low chittering sound again.

‘Something’s out there,’ said Zoe.

Adam got up from the makeshift bed.
He was a little wobbly after doing so little for so long. Then he helped Zoe to stand, trying not to stare at the baggy material her artificial leg should’ve filled, and held on to her as they made their way over to join Keera at the broken doors. The day outside was dazzling, and Adam had to shield his eyes against the blinding glare of sunlight reflected on the vast, snowy landscape.

His face
soon turned to ice in the chilled wind. The warehouse overlooked a small village – little more than a few dozen low-rise buildings dwarfed by the imposing, snow-capped mountains. There were no signs of life – but then, Adam supposed, it was seven o’clock in the morning in the Arctic. Unless it was actually seven o’clock back in Maryland, and something else altogether here. Did the sun set at all
this far north at this time of year?

Suddenly Keera gave a groaning gasp. She keeled over, dipping her head so she could strike the flesh above her right eye with a taloned claw, her wings rustling as if she too were shivering.

Adam frowned. ‘Uh . . . is she OK?’

‘Duh.’ Zoe was peering at the giant pterosaur in
concern. ‘I . . . I think there’s something wrong with her head.’

Suddenly, Keera
released an ear-splitting screech. Adam and Zoe covered their ears as a large, shimmering shadow fell over them, blotting out the sunlight overhead. Adam turned instinctively . . .

And the world seemed to slow.

There was something like a dark green dragon circling high above them – its tail a scaly coil, gnarled wings scything the air, its giant, brutish head dominated by jaws that could crunch
through a truck in a single bite.

The creature swooped down towards them.

Chapter 13: Far–north Reunion

NO, IT CAN’T
be
 . . . Awe, excitement, disbelief – they tugged Adam’s insides in all different directions.

Keera’s wings knifed into flight as she propelled herself up onto the roof of the warehouse. ‘Adam, we’ve got to
move
!’ yelled Zoe. ‘It’s a Z. rex.’

‘The
first
Z. rex,’ Adam corrected her. ‘It’s Zed!’ He waved his arms above his head as the beast loomed larger
in the sky, more lithe than the brutes at the hangar, less grotesque. ‘He’s found me! Zed’s found me!’

The giant figure dropped the last hundred metres and landed heavily, skidding through the icy wastes like a scaly tank out of control. Finally he came to a halt and lay there, flanks rising and falling, foam flecking his huge lips, his dark eyes barely open. He looked completely exhausted.

A mournful, keening note escaped Keera’s jaws like an omen of bad things to come.

‘Wait here,’ Adam told Zoe, breaking into a run to get to the fallen figure.

‘Like I can do anything else!’ Zoe shot back as she overbalanced and fell into the snow. ‘You’re crazy! If you die, Adam, I swear, I . . .’ Her threat was drowned out by a rooftop screech from Keera as Adam fought to clear a path through
the thick-packed snow, struggling to reach the beast he’d never imagined seeing again. ‘Zed.’ He rubbed snow against the animal’s sticky lips, ignoring the size and strength of those ivory teeth. ‘Zed, what’s happened?’ He paused, suddenly afraid. ‘It . . . it is you, isn’t it?’

‘
Ad . . .am
.’ The sandpaper growl lit a torch inside Adam; it was just as he remembered. But something was wrong. As
he stared past Adam only coldness shone there.

Then Adam realized Zed’s baleful gaze was locked on Keera, who had dropped down from the warehouse roof. Keera threatened the newcomer with a guttural snarl, her eyes glinting with danger.

Zed struggled up, and before Adam could try and stop him he had pounced towards the pterosaur. Landing with surprising agility he lashed out with his tail, swiping
at Keera’s throat. Keera dipped her head to block the blow, but the force of the strike sent her reeling backwards, howling with pain.

‘Adam, help me!’ Zoe screamed, as Keera stumbled perilously close to her prostrate body.

‘Stop it, Zed!’ Adam yelled as he half-ran, half-skidded through the churned up snow. While Zed
and Keera backed off and sized each other up he grabbed Zoe under the arms
and hauled her away into the warehouse, slipping and panting hard as he did so. ‘Zed, Keera’s a friend . . .’

But Zed wasn’t listening. He was attacking again, biting at Keera’s sinewy body. The pterosaur screeched.

Ignoring the danger, Adam left Zoe and ran over to where Keera lay helpless, her vast, leathery wings flailing about. ‘Zed!’ Adam bellowed to make himself heard above the cacophony
of roars and snarls. ‘It’s Keera, she’s on our side.
Just stop!
’

Incredibly, his words had an effect. Zed halted the attack, twisting his massive head in Adam’s direction. ‘Friend . . .’ The word left his mouth in a blast of bad-tasting air – Adam felt the force of it, even several metres away.

‘Yes, Keera’s our friend, Zed. You mustn’t attack her!’

‘Ad . . . am. Danger,’ came the faltering
reply.

He thought he was saving me
. Adam glanced at Keera who had gathered her wings together as if hugging herself; she seemed shaken but unharmed.

‘OMG, he speaks . . .’ Zoe had sat up in the doorway, staring in fearful wonder. ‘He really
can
talk. And he’s so big! Jeez, those teeth . . . He could kill us in a second.’

‘But he won’t.’ Adam looked up at the panting
giant. ‘Zed, where’ve you
been? Since you left, last summer . . .’

‘Hunt. Hide.’ Zed snorted. ‘Live.’

‘You can’t have been hanging around here?’

‘Long . . . time . . . follow . . . ing . . . you.’ Zed inclined his great head. ‘Watching.’

Adam wasn’t sure he’d heard right. ‘You’ve been watching
me
?’

‘My kind . . . take. Take people.’

‘You mean the kidnaps. You heard about them?’

‘Not take . . . Ad . . . am.’ Zed
nodded. ‘Watching . . . out.’

‘No way! He came to you?’ Zoe was shaking her head, incredulous. ‘But Adam, you flew out to Washington from Edinburgh, and you were only there two nights before Keera carried us off here . . .’

Zed glared at her and she fell silent. ‘Rode . . . not her . . . plane,’ he grunted. ‘Hard. Hard to . . . follow.’

‘And as soon as you got here, I took off again,’ Adam
murmured.

‘Not save you.’ Zed looked away. ‘Slow.’

‘You got here, didn’t you?’ Adam stared at Zed’s terrifying teeth, at the deadly claws and sheer brute power his frame embodied. And still a part of him wanted to reach out and hug Zed, to thank him and pet him like a loyal dog who’d returned to protect his master.
But Zed’s no soppy pet who’ll roll over for a bit of affection
, he reminded himself.
You saw him with Keera, he’s aggressive, dangerous
 . . .

But never with me
. Adam walked up to Zed and gently pressed his palm against the dinosaur’s side. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘Just . . . thanks. I’m so glad you’re here.’ For the first time in so long, despite the weirdness of the situation, he actually felt safe.

Zed snorted softly but said nothing.

Then suddenly Keera started scrabbling
around on the ice, swaying from side to side, the same agitated movements he’d seen back in the warehouse.

‘Did Zed hurt her?’ Adam wondered.

‘I don’t see anything.’ Zoe shrugged helplessly. ‘But something isn’t right with her.’

‘She and Zed must both be exhausted after coming so far.’ Adam shivered with the cold. ‘I wonder how much further we have to go.’

‘To the Geneflow base?’ Zoe looked
dubious. ‘We’ll have to work it out. They’ll have a dinosaur army there.’

‘Not if it’s away smashing down other world landmarks,’ Adam pointed out. ‘We can at least try and check it out. Anyway, you don’t know Zed. He’s programmed for loads of stuff – cracking passcodes, setting explosives. He’s like the James Bond of dinosaurs.’

‘And he looks ready to drop.’ Zoe managed to pull herself up,
leaning in the splintered doorway. ‘I know you want to go charging off to try and
do something, Adam. I do too. But this is bigtime serious.’

‘Zed will watch out for us. And Keera fought off three Z. rexes before.’

‘So it’s all right for them to fight for us? Maybe die for us?’

‘No. They won’t. I mean . . .’ Adam realized he was trying his hardest to convince himself that they stood a chance,
as well as Zoe. If he thought about things too hard he might wimp out, and what would any of them do then? ‘Look, we can’t just do nothing, can we? Z. animals heal quickly, Zed and Keera will be back to full strength soon.’

Zoe nodded curtly. ‘So in the meantime, while they rest, how about we try preparing for the next stage of the trip? For a start, if I could find something to use as a crutch
I’d be less of a liability to you.’

‘You’re right.’ Adam realized how that sounded. ‘Not about being a liability, I mean the bit about preparing, you’re right—’

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’ Zoe smiled at him. ‘So for starters, I’ll go through the food and work out how we can ration it, while you find me a big stick. Deal?’

Adam half-smiled and nodded. ‘Deal.’

Sticks were not exactly plentiful in
the snowy wilderness, but Adam did find some large planks of wood
in the warehouse, stacked under a tarpaulin. He carried one to a far corner where Zed lay huddled, crunching sullenly on Keera’s leftovers. The Z. dactyl herself had refused to come inside; Adam hoped nobody sighted her out there. Oldman’s troops would surely be hunting Keera; she knew enough to blow Geneflow’s security sky-high.

He looked out through the doorway.
No chance of spotting Keera
, he realized uneasily.
Because she’s not there
. He dropped the plank and peered outside. There was no sign of her.

‘Keera’s gone,’ he called to Zoe, who was sat on the other side of the derelict space going through the food and drink.

‘She’ll be back,’ Zoe told him.

‘How do you know? If we lose her now, we’ll never find Dad or—’

‘She’ll be
back
.’

Fine. What do I know about it?
Sullenly, Adam came back in and dragged the plank over to Zed. ‘Uh . . . can you help me cut this down a bit? Zoe needs a crutch to help her walk.’

Zed eyed him idly, and went on chewing.

‘A crutch, yeah?’ Adam tried again. ‘Zoe’s a friend, we need to help her.’

A low grumble sounded in Zed’s scaly throat.

‘If it helps, I’ve got something for
him,’ Zoe called.

Adam jogged over and saw she had already grouped the food and drink into separate piles. Adam was still hungry, but he supposed rationing made sense.

Zoe patted a pile she’d made of all the raw and frozen meat Keera had grabbed on her shoplifting spree – burgers, chops, joints. ‘For Zed.’

‘Gone in one gulp,’ Adam observed.

‘It’s meant as an offering. A gift to show I accept
he’s the alpha male in our pack.’ She shrugged. ‘It might encourage him to look out for me. Some modern animals do a similar thing in the wild.’

‘It might, yeah. How come you’re so smart?’

Zoe smiled sweetly. ‘I didn’t waste my life playing videogames.’

‘When I’ve finished this crutch for you, watch I don’t kick it away.’ Adam carried the meat back to Zed and dropped the lot in front of him.
‘Here you go . . . Zoe wants you to have this.’

With a snuffling snort, Zed pushed his head forwards and wolfed down the lot, packaging and all. He licked his lips, then settled back down again.

Adam pushed the plank forwards with his foot. Zed reached out with a clawed finger and sliced the top of the plank clean away.

‘Seemed to do the trick, Zoe,’ called Adam. ‘Uh . . . you got anything
to draw with over there?’

‘No.’

‘I was afraid of that.’ Grimacing, he used a shard of bone and some bear blood to scrawl the rough outline of a crutch onto the plank, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.

Zed grunted understanding, and with slow, steady movements began to carve. Wiping his fingers on his thermal coat, Adam stared with queasy fascination. It still freaked him to see an
animal so alien imitate human actions.

‘Ad . . . lar . . .’ Zed breathed. ‘Gone?’

‘Dad’s been taken, yeah.’ Adam played the voicemail yet again.

‘Mur . . . mansk.’ The giant paused. ‘Seven-two-zero kilometres . . . from here.’

Is that all?
Adam sighed.
Guess it’s better than thousands
. ‘We think Keera can take us to the base.’

Zed snorted, pushed the makeshift crutch aside, and slumped forwards
as if in a sulk.

‘I guess you’ve finished, huh?’ Adam carefully picked up the hunk of wood; it fit under his arm, and he and Zoe were similar heights. It was heavy, but hopefully it would do.