Ollie looked at the grown-ups. They were on the young side. None of them looked much older than thirty. But the disease hadn’t been kind to them. Most of them were missing body parts. One or two had lost so much of their flesh and skin that they looked like living skeletons. Others were fat and bloated, swollen, lumpy and mushy-looking.

‘We need to kill them all,’ said Blue matter-of-factly.

‘All right, all right.’ Einstein was going weirdly hyper, like he couldn’t wait to lay into the grown-ups. Ollie hoped he wouldn’t try to get to the front of the attack. He sidled over to Blue and spoke quietly to him.

‘We got to keep the noobs out of the fight,’ he said.

‘Yeah.’ Blue nodded and sucked his teeth. Then he made a decision.

‘Einstein, you and Emily and Jackson stay back here with Ollie’s team. Keep watch for any other grown-ups who might come up on us from behind.’

‘We can fight,’ said Einstein.

‘Jackson, maybe, but you other two we need unharmed, or else this whole mission has been one big waste of time. And don’t go getting in the way of Ollie.’

‘I’m telling you, we can fight,’ said Einstein.

‘No, you can’t,’ said Blue in a way that told Einstein it was the end of the conversation.

Achilleus pulled his best spear out of the golf-bag and gave Paddy a little shove, sending him stumbling into Einstein.

‘Look after this one as well,’ he said to Ollie, and Paddy knew better than to argue.

‘I don’t want to have to carry me own weapons back,’ Achilleus added, weighing the spear in his hand.

‘Ollie, you know the beef,’ said Blue. ‘Keep spamming them pus-bags and once you’ve softened them up watch our backs.’

‘Sure.’ Ollie wasn’t too happy about babysitting Einstein. His whole idea had been to be responsible only for his small missile unit, but he could see the sense in Blue’s plan.

The kids quickly formed up into a battle line: Achilleus on the right with Blue; Mick on the left; Ollie in the centre; Einstein, Jackson, Emily and Paddy safely behind them.

When Ollie’s team was ready they let fly. Two slingshots and two javelins flew through the air and whacked into the backs of the grown-ups clustered by the gates, and, as four of them went down, the others turned to see what was happening. Ollie had time to fire off another shot, but then had to pull his squad back as the grown-ups advanced surprisingly quickly, teeth bared, claw-like fingers groping the air. They were desperate for food, sent crazy by the sunlight, unafraid of any danger.

Ollie dropped in behind the advancing fighters and checked that Einstein and the others were holding their position.

‘I should be up front,’ said Jackson.

‘You’ll get your chance,’ said Ollie. ‘Don’t worry.’