THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! SURRENDER NOW OR YOU SHALL BE DELETED!

‘That’s what I like about the larries,’ remarked Ollie. ‘Always make you a tempting offer.’ His voice dropped, so they had to strain to hear him. ‘Into the tunnels! Move!’

They turned and scrambled helter-skelter through the mouths of the closest pipes—any pipe, it didn’t matter—as shots rained down all around.

Running forward, Albert saw Theo stumble in front of him and fall. Without thinking, he picked her up. Not surprisingly, she seemed less than grateful for the assistance. ‘Whatcha doin’? Let me down! Lemme go!’

He ignored her and kept running, following June and Ollie through the mouth of the nearest pipe. He could barely see with her clutched against his chest, so he focused on keeping Ollie’s broad back in sight. Behind them, he heard another shot, and then a scream, cut short halfway—then another and another. He kept going.

Bursting through the entrance of the pipe, he ran directly into Ollie, who had stopped just inside the mouth of the pipe to direct everyone into a single file, which was a good idea considering that, although roomy, the pipe certainly hadn’t been constructed with a view to its use as a thoroughfare.

‘In line! Go! Quickly now, boy!’

Albert scurried on, June right in front of him. The inside of a pipe seemed to be coated with something, because it glowed, bathing everything in a pale, sickly fluorescent green light, which was far less helpful than it sounded. The pipe was not only old but also in poor shape, with enough sharp edges and twists and bumps where the surface had twisted to make traversing it at the best of times a tricky proposition, let alone at a time like this, running for his life with his arms full of Theo, who was struggling violently, doing her best to free herself. To make matters worse, the tunnel sloped downwards into the earth and took all kinds of twists and turns, with myriad passages branching off in different directions. He had no idea where they were going, or in which direction. Through the tangle of hair and limbs in front of his face he could see June ahead of him, turning around every so often without ever slowing her pace, checking to make sure he was still following her, so he concentrated on keeping her in sight. The sound was deafening, pounding feet on metal, ricocheting off the walls and swirling all around them. And behind them, he could hear another sound—a dull rumble that reverberated through the pipe, vibrating under his feet.

Theo was still squirming in his clasp. ‘Lemme go! Jus’ leggo!’