We keep our pace steady as we walk, resisting the urge to break into a run or to hide from all the randoms looking at us like we’re meat on a stick. The strange thing is that, what with it being freezing cold and just before Christmas, you’d 57 think people would be either tucked up at home, or out shopping. But it’s like there’s been an alert to tell everyone in town to stop what they’re doing and watch us.

‘Do you remember this time yesterday when the world hadn’t turned into a scene from a really bad dream?’ I say. ‘Seems like ages ago.’

‘What do you think the creature is?’ Kat says. ‘The one that escaped from the labs.’

‘I’ve been thinking about that.’ I shove my hands deeper in my pockets, wishing I had some gloves. ‘I reckon it’s one of three things. Either there is no escaped test subject, and it was just an excuse to keep us all shut inside at night…’

‘But why would they want us to be shut in at night?’ Karim asks.

‘So someone can be up to something around Straybridge without anyone seeing,’ I say. ‘Or…’

‘The sleep thing.’ Kat blows out a breath, the vapour swirling like a ghost in the air.

‘Well, that’s sinister,’ Karim says. ‘What’s option three?’

‘That the escaped test subject is something so terrifying they can’t tell anyone what it is.’

‘So even worse, then. Cool, cool, cool.’ 58

We turn on to Falling Lane and I see the university campus looming above the trees. It’s a massive place – buildings of different shapes and sizes spread over a huge area, with the River Brink running through it. The central high street type area is paved and ramped, so I’ve been skateboarding here a few times during the holidays when all the students have gone back home. It’s pretty dead now, though I see a few twitching blinds as people look out at us.

‘Mum will be at the Cake,’ Karim says, pointing at a building over the other side of the river. It’s enormous and white, and circular and layered, which is why people call it the Cake. In the past few months, masts have been added to the top of the building. They reach up into the sky, probably ten metres or so, and are covered in shoebox-sized futuristic glass cylinders that light up at night. So, the Cake became a birthday cake when XGen moved in. Right now, it’s surrounded by a police barrier, at least five security guards and a butt-loads of uniformed police officers.

‘That’s a lot of security,’ Kat says. ‘How are we going to get in?’

‘We’ll think of something. Let’s check it out.’ 59