Chapters (88)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dear Reader …
- Also by Robert Muchamore
- PART ONE
- Walter J Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- PART THREE
- Walter J. Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- PART FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- EPILOGUE
- Discover more books and sign up to the Robert Muchamore mailing list at muchamore.com
- Have you read KILLER T?
- 1 SLASHED RUBBER
- 2 NOT HARRY POTTER
A couple of burly year-thirteens held the train doors as everyone piled aboard. Georgia was one of the last to make it, leaving a couple of stragglers for the stopping service four minutes behind.
Cheers broke as they moved off. Trains at this time of day were usually empty, but Georgia found herself with standing-room only. When she looked around, she saw the uniforms of kids who’d escaped schools further up the line. There was also a big group of local council workers with banners printed by their union, and folks Georgia recognised from the demo at the town hall.
She tried to hide among Rolf and his strapping mates, but once Georgia got spotted, kids from the other schools wanted selfies with her. She also took her own pic of the crowded train carriage and put it on her Twitter and Instagram with the message:
On my way.
This is gonna be BIG!
#nocutsnobudget #kidsrighttoprotest
Maya and a couple of girlfriends watched Georgia’s phone in awe as her tweet popped with dozens of likes and comments.
‘BBC News just retweeted you,’ a girl said.
‘Three hundred likes in two minutes, superstar!’
Georgia saw Wendy was trying to call her, but the train went through a tunnel before she could answer. By the time they came back into daylight, they were slowing for the next stop. There was a group of fifty young teenagers in printed yellow T-shirts at the end of the platform. They had SOS Save our Schools banners and adult supervision. There were clumps of random kids and people who looked like they were heading to the protest all along the platform.
When the doors behind Georgia opened, a bunch of lively old women jostled aboard.
‘Oooh, look at all these handsome young men!’ the first lady said as she eyed one of Rolf’s mates.
‘What a nice bum!’
‘Stop sexually harassing the young men,’ another granny added, before they all shrieked with laughter.
Rolf’s crew looked mortified as Georgia and Maya laughed.
‘They want to close down our keep-fit club and ballroom dancing,’ one woman explained to Georgia as the train moved off. ‘There’d be more of us, but a lot of us have health issues.’
More protestors crammed in at the next stop. It was the last before the train went fast through to London Euston. People had to stand in the disabled toilet and smaller kids joked around, letting year-twelves and thirteens lay them in the overhead racks.
Georgia was worried about not having a ticket when they arrived at Euston, especially when she saw transit cops at the barriers. But everyone pushed and shoved. Georgia leapt through the gate behind one of the pensioners and the ticket inspectors opened a side gate when the crush looked dangerous.