Zombiefied! (10 page)

The bird gave a squawk and spread his giant wings. With a couple of huge beats, he had launched himself into the air and was flying straight toward me.

For the first time, I saw his eyes. They were bright red. I think he was screeching, but I couldn't hear him. I couldn't hear anything!

He swooped at me. I ducked. His wings brushed against my hair, and he was soaring back up and around the roof of the chamber.

‘ATTACK! ATTACK!' screamed Mr Crumpet.

‘Let's get out of here!' I shouted.

Sophie didn't need to be told twice. We bolted toward the door.

But Corvus was already flying back toward us. I ducked again, but this time the raven was ready for it. He swooped lower and landed on my shoulder. His talons sunk into my skin.

‘AAAAGGGHHHH!' I screamed and crashed to the ground. I tried to tear him off me, but the bird was really strong, like
he had some sort of superpower. It was then I realised: Corvus was a zombie too!

‘Get off him!' Sophie was screaming. She tried to push the bird away, but even with both of us trying, we couldn't budge him.

Suddenly, Corvus started pecking at my neck. Pain shot through my body. Blood ran down my shoulder.

‘CORVUS!' Mr Crumpet's voice echoed through the chamber. ‘ENOUGH!'

The bird tightened his grip on my shoulder, then launched himself upward.

‘Aaaggghhh . . .' I rolled over and tried to sit up.

‘Are you OK?' Sophie's worried face swam before me.

‘He's better than OK,' said Mr Crumpet. His voice seemed to come from far away. ‘He's more than human now. He's the first of our great army.'

Something weird was happening to me. It was like I had poked my fingers into a power socket and waves of electricity were rippling through me. I couldn't move.

‘Don't be alarmed!' said Mr Crumpet, walking closer. Corvus was on his shoulder again. ‘The virus has been transferred to you from the bird's saliva. It's travelling through your bloodstream as we speak. Soon, your body will be ten times stronger than before. You will be able to run faster than any other human being. And, best of all, you will feel nothing for your own kind. No empathy, no guilt. Only hunger!'

Agonising pain rippled up and down my body. I couldn't get enough air.

‘You will be consumed by your own hunger for human flesh! Nothing else will satisfy you!'

‘You're crazy!' screamed Sophie, but I could see her looking at me with fear in her eyes.

I tried to speak. I tried to tell Sophie to run. But all that came out was: ‘Nnnggghhh!' Something was happening to me. I was changing. Adrenaline was surging through my body. I felt like my muscles were about to burst through my skin.

‘The virus only does half the job,' said Mr Crumpet matter-of-factly. ‘You may
not have noticed, but I've marked the cages. Some of the beasts have been infected, but haven't made their first kill. They are only half-zombies. They still have the powers of a zombie — strength, speed, infrared vision — but they haven't got the mindless killing instinct of a full zombie. That only happens when a zombie breaks that final taboo and kills one of its own kind. Only then do they become full zombies.' He swung his pale gaze onto Sophie. ‘That's why you are so important, my dear. That's why you'll be making the ultimate sacrifice.'

Sophie screamed. She turned to run, but Corvus was flying through the air toward her. Without warning, he landed on her back. Sophie toppled forward. I heard something hit the ground with a sickening thud.

And then she lay still.

The room spun around me and everything went black.

When I woke, the weird feeling was gone. I sat up and looked around. Where was I?
Who
was I? Stone walls surrounded me. A man with a bird on his shoulder stood at a distance. For some reason I felt like I should know who he was. But I couldn't remember anything.

Power rippled through my body. I felt incredibly strong.

The man stared at me.

‘Eat!' he hissed, pointing at something on the ground nearby.

I suddenly realised how hungry I was. I was starving! I had to eat right now!
And the only thing I wanted was meat.

I crawled toward the thing on the floor. I could smell it was meat. I could smell everything. The scent of fear hung thickly in the air. A waft of excitement drifted in a stream from the strange man with the bird. I could smell hunger too; the hunger of dogs and the hunger of rats.

But mostly, I could smell my own hunger. It was so strong! I could almost taste the meat in my mouth. I could feel the juices running down my chin. I had to have it now!

‘Eat!' urged the man again.

I drew closer. The meat was so warm and fresh! I could smell it was still alive, but I didn't care. Eating it would take care of that problem!

I leant forward to take a bite, but suddenly it moved. I jumped back. The
meat groaned and rolled over. I could see its face now. Its skin was pale and blood was seeping out from under it. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore.

‘EAT! EAT!' screamed the man.

I gazed at the meat. ‘Sophie,' I said. Where had that word come from? I wiped the blood off its face.

I didn't want to eat this meat. In fact, this wasn't meat at all. This was my friend!

‘EAT HER! YOU MUST CONSUME HER FLESH!' The man had gone red in the face and was dancing from one foot to the other.

‘No!' I said. ‘She's my friend!'

‘No?' asked the man. ‘You don't say no to me! You are a minion in the Master's army now. A slave! Nothing more! Now eat!'

‘No,' I said again. I could smell the man's anger now.

‘She cannot leave the chamber alive,' said the man. ‘So if you don't kill her, something else will.'

He strode over to a metal bar attached to the back wall, grasped it with both hands and pulled down. There was the sound of metal grinding and then another sound: the scratching of claws against stone.

And then a pack of zombie bulldogs burst through the door.

Their smell was like a river of blood and hunger and fury. But, somehow, I knew
they wouldn't hurt me. They could sense I was one of them now. They were only interested in Sophie.

‘No!' I rushed forward and knelt over her. How could I stop them? There were too many for me to kill!

‘Get back! Let them have her!' said the man.

I stared at him. Suddenly, it all came rushing back. Mr Crumpet! He had trapped us down here, deep underground. He had made his bird attack me and infect me with the zombie virus. And, after this was over, he would go back upstairs and pretend that nothing was wrong, that he had no idea where we were. And meanwhile, Sophie would be dead and I would be locked down here in a cage. Forever.

I looked back down at Sophie. Her Fuzzil had come unstuck from her shoulder
and was sitting in a little puddle of blood beside her head.

I grabbed the blood-soaked Fuzzil.

I stood up and bowled it along the ground. It rolled across the chamber, leaving behind a faint trail of blood. Without the extra strength in my arms, it probably wouldn't have made it. But it did. Just. It hit the back of Mr Crumpet's shoe, then bounced up and stuck to the leg of his trousers — exactly where I'd been aiming.

I turned back to the dogs. They had almost reached us. I could see their bared teeth and their mad red eyes. Quickly, I slid my arms under Sophie. As I lifted her above my head, the dogs fell upon us.

The bulldogs swarmed around me,
snarling at me, but not attacking. In fact, some of them cowered away from me, as though they sensed I was more powerful than they were.

They smelt the ground where Sophie had been lying only a second ago. Instantly, they found the small puddle of blood. There was a flash of teeth and a yelp and it was gone. Then they sniffed around until one of them picked up the faint trail of blood.

After that, it all happened very fast.

As one, the pack of hounds followed the trail. By the time Mr Crumpet realised, it was too late. The dogs leapt on him and he vanished beneath the pile of wriggling, growling fur.