‘I didn’t imagine it. It was alive. It was long and flat, pale skin, dark eyes. It looked at me. I’m sure of it. Its eyes were on me. Very dark. Black, like a snake.’

‘You saw a snake?’ Einstein sounded dubious.

‘Not necessarily a snake, but that’s what it reminded me of, a snake.’

‘What would a snake be doing down here?’ Achilleus scoffed. ‘You’re seeing things, girl.’

‘It was there.’ Jackson tried to move some of the sheets of metal so that she could get to the hole. They were heavy. It would take ages to shift enough of them.

She swore. Maybe Achilleus was right. Maybe she had imagined it. Snakes couldn’t survive in places like this. They needed sun and heat. And those eyes. Not really a snake’s eyes. Too intelligent.

She shook her head to clear it, grabbed a water bottle from her pack and glugged half of it down. She remembered being in bed, when she was little, seeing things in the darkness, making monsters out of dressing gowns and toys, curtains.

‘OK,’ Blue shouted. ‘It’s pretty clear there’s nothing down here. We got to stop getting all jumpy over every little thing. We need to get on quick, find the gear and get gone.’

‘I think you’d better look at this.’

Everyone turned to Ollie. He’d been to the end of the corridor to check out what lay ahead.

‘What is it?’ said Blue.

‘Come see.’

There was another set of doors, with words scrawled on them, painted with what looked like blood. Dark red, sloppy and dripping.

The kids read the words, their torch beams crawling over them. Not knowing what to think.

Wev’e got what your after. If you really want it you have to porve it. So come and gettit if you think you can. We are waiting 4 you.

Chapter 41

41

Why were they taking so long down there? How far could it be to the warehouse? Why weren’t they back yet?

The truth was Mick had no idea how long they’d been gone. He didn’t have a watch. Hardly anyone wore a watch these days, because there was no way of setting them to the real time. Pick any three clocks at random and you could bet they’d all be showing different times. Or, most likely, stopped. In fact Mick had never worn a watch. Not even in the old days. His uncle had given him one for his birthday once, but he’d never even tried it on. What was the point when you had a phone? But now, without any electricity, the phones didn’t work any more, and the clocks all showed different times, or sat frozen at the point when the juice had dried up.