Chapters (96)

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96

‘Hah!’ Kamahl finally looked round at the horde of grown-ups. ‘Does that look like a way out to you?’

‘Why isn’t he back?’ Brandon swung the club uselessly at thin air. ‘All they had to do was get the stuff and come back. An hour maybe. Two hours tops. How long have they been gone? I mean, what if it’s just us? What if we’re the only ones left?’

‘Shut up. Shut up, Brandon. Don’t say that. Let’s just go and find him.’

Brandon looked towards the back of the reception area, in the direction that the others had gone. ‘In the dark?’ he said. ‘Down under the building? Not sure of the way? You want to do that or do you want to wait?’

‘I don’t know.’ Kamahl’s brief spark of optimism had died out. ‘I don’t know, Brandon. I wish we’d never come. I wish we’d stayed in Morrisons. We knew where we were.’

‘Yeah, we knew where we were. Up the bloody creek.’

‘And this?’ said Kamahl. ‘What’s this? Disneyland? What’s that out there? The Disney parade? Snow White and the seven hundred zombies …?’

Brandon laughed at that, hysterical, couldn’t stop himself. He laughed until he was crying. Looked at Kamahl, who was crying too. They sat down together on the bench and Kamahl put his arm round him and they held on to each other, waiting for the grown-ups to smash their way in, as the light slowly faded from their world.

Chapter 65

I can’t write much. It is getting too dark. I can hardly see the paper in this journal. Sorry if my writing is not very clear and neat. I don’t know where they are. I don’t know why they’re not back. I don’t know why they have just left us here. Please come back. We really need you now. Please come back.

Chapter 66

Maxie was standing by the main entrance at the Natural History Museum looking out as Boggle and another local kid called Cameron got ready to close the great heavy doors for the night. With Robbie still out of action, and Jackson off on the expedition, Boggle was temporarily in charge of security.

‘You’ll need to move so we can shut these,’ he said.

‘Wait a minute longer,’ said Maxie, scanning the darkness.

‘They should be closed already,’ said Cameron.

‘I know,’ said Maxie. ‘I’ll take responsibility.’ Boggle and Cameron waited there, anxious and unsure, keen to be secure. Brooke appeared, stood next to Maxie. She had a fresh bandage on her forehead, but still looked like death. She was worst around the eyes, puffy and bruised. Maxie wondered what she might have looked like before.

‘Still no sign?’ said Brooke.

‘No,’ said Maxie. ‘Where are they?’