David sat down at his desk. Oh, that would be a great joke, wouldn’t it? If those bastards had double-screwed him. He was trying to help – why couldn’t anyone see that? He was trying to unite all the kids in London under his rule so that they could be one single force. But as long as any of them held out, like Justin and his nerds at the museum, that was never going to happen, was it? He’d hoped to show them how vulnerable they were, how much they needed him, by getting Paul to set up an attack. And if the bloody Holloway kids had rescued them, then …

‘I heard those names,’ said Paul, who was dripping on to the carpet.

‘Brilliant,’ said David. ‘Just brilliant. This night gets better and better. We should celebrate with a cup of cold sick. So what do you want now then? A medal? World’s biggest screw-up?’

‘I had to leave the museum,’ said Paul. ‘There were too many of them. They were too strong for me. They were going to kill me.’

They had the right idea, thought David. This guy was a total waste of space.

‘Yeah?’ he said. ‘And what exactly do you want me to do about it? Quite frankly you look unwell. I’m not sure I want you here stinking the place up.’

‘I can help you,’ said Paul.

‘You? I very much doubt it.’

‘You have sickos upstairs.’

‘That’s no secret.’

‘I can help you with them. I know sickos. I used to look after them at the museum. Ones we kept in a cage. I can look after yours.’

‘I already have people to do that. People who aren’t crawling with germs.’

‘I can help,’ said Paul. He was pleading now, pathetic really.

‘So you keep saying. But tell me in one short sentence exactly how you can help me.’

‘I can talk to them.’

Chapter 93

93

Lately everything had started to change. Brooke wondered if things were falling apart. It had all begun with the arrival of DogNut. Before that, for the last year, they’d been getting sorted, making the museum a safe place to live, finding food, growing food, learning what they could about their new world. It had felt like things had slowly been getting better. Tiny steps, sure, but going in the right direction at least.

And then DogNut had showed up out of nowhere and it had all started to come undone. First she’d tried to go back with him across London, and that had turned into a disaster. DogNut killed. Her oldest friend Courtney killed. Robbie wounded. Brooke herself wounded, cut across the face by a crazy mother. And then Paul had flipped out and let the sickos out of the lower level. And then Einstein going off to get supplies. Half the kids getting massacred …