Attack of the Giant Robot Chickens (12 page)

We quickly made a plan back in the church, sitting round the same table. The atmosphere hummed with hope. We had a chance. It was still a pretty distant one, but it was a chance.

“I wonder how the Brotherhood got all those eggs?” Rayna asked, unable to keep a smile from her face. “I find it hard to believe they were from the chickens.”

“They gave us the small ones and taught us how to use them,” Lizzie replied, her eyes dancing. “There’s a button you press on them and then you throw. But Egbert wanted more. We could only find one of the big ones, though.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter where they got them as long as we can use them,” Rayna continued, ignoring Lizzie completely. “With that big one we can blow up the aerial and get rid of the signal for good.”

I frowned, slightly worried. “Do you even know how to activate the big grenade?”

Rayna shook her head. “No, but I bet all I’ve got to do is throw one of the smaller ones at it. If the small one blows up then the bigger one will blow up as well. And it’ll take the aerial with it.”

Then her smile faded. “But we’ve still got the problem of the chickens. If the signal really is as important to them as we think it is they’ll still be guarding it, even if they think that the threat is gone. We’ll need some sort of distraction to get them away
from there. We can’t just overwhelm them with force of numbers any more.”

“We could attack them,” cried Lizzie, almost overcome with excitement. I shushed her quickly.

“Quiet, Lizzie. There could be some chickens around. We don’t want to get caught.”

That shut her up. It was obvious that now she truly believed that the chickens were dangerous.

“But we could,” she hissed at me. “We could attack them with the eggs.”

I smiled at her. “I don’t think so. These things managed to fight off the army and tanks. I don’t think a few exploding eggs would be able to stop them.”

“We need a diversion,” Rayna said again. I looked up at her.

“Any idea what would be a good distraction?” I was thinking it over in my head and I felt that cold feeling slither down my neck. I sure could think of something. But it wasn’t a good idea.

Rayna was shaking her head. “I guess if we made enough noise somewhere then they’d be forced to come and investigate. But this time it’s going to be different. This time we’re going to properly think it through. We’re not just going to run in.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Much as I hate to say this, I think we should act now. I’ve got an idea that might work and would certainly get you your distraction. But it only works tonight.”

She looked at me curiously. “What is it?” she asked.

I told her.

“You’re crazy,” she told me matter-of-factly. “That’s insane. It’ll never work. You’ll be found and caught.”

I smiled at her, as if I were afraid of nothing. I was getting good at lying. “That’s kind of the point. If I do
it right then I should have every chicken in Aberdeen flocking to me. It’ll give you enough time to do what you need to.”

“No, no, there are only two of us now. If we lose even one then we’re done for. We can’t split up.”

“It’s got to happen,” I told her, my voice more calm than I was. “I’ll take Lizzie and we’ll go do it. You take the big egg and go do your thing. Get ready to destroy that signal. We’ll meet up after and have a party to celebrate.”

She shook her head, lowering it and letting her fringe fall in front of her face. For a second I thought I saw a tear shining between the strands of her hair but when she looked up it was nowhere to be seen. “You’re an idiot,” she told me seriously. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I nodded, though I was anything but sure. “We’ve got a lot to do tonight. So let’s get moving.”

She shook her head. “You’re a moron, Jesse. But a brave one.”

I shrugged. “I guess I was just born stupid.”

“Do you understand what we’re doing?” I asked Lizzie as we walked together down the road. She nodded, though her eyes were wide. I made sure that she was walking a good distance away from the shopping trolley I was pushing. I’d been careful to cushion the eggs in clothes to stop them knocking against one another, but every time it went over a pothole or a crack in the pavement my heart would jump up into my throat. We were walking down King Street again and the moon was alternately shining through the cloud or covering us in darkness. I couldn’t help but think about creeping towards Beechgrove a few nights ago and how scared I had been. I wasn’t scared now. There was no point. The worst that could happen was that the chickens got
me. I just had to make sure that I didn’t walk into a car or something and blow Lizzie and me to smithereens.

“I think so,” Lizzie replied. “We go and use all these eggs. Then Rayna blows up something so the chickens all stop working?”

“Yeah, basically. We have to draw the chickens away from the signal so that Rayna can use the big egg to stop them receiving commands. That means that we have to get all the chickens to come to us. Then we win, I guess. And we can meet up with her again.”

We were just drawing level to the hardware shop I’d seen before. I told Lizzie to watch the trolley and went inside to pick up a few things. I took them out then piled them beside the trolley, staring at them and wondering how I was ever going to get them in. Eventually I took all the eggs out carefully, then put the tools in. I put several layers of clothes on top of them to make sure that they were properly padded and finally put the eggs in on top. Then I put some more clothes around them.

“I really am sorry about what I did before,” Lizzie said beside me when we started walking again. I looked at her and smiled. So that was why she’d been so quiet.

“I’m sure you are, but words aren’t what makes people know you’re sorry.”

“Then what is?”

“You show them.” I handed her the file and crowbar that I’d taken from inside and put the bolt cutters in my jacket. “Are you OK with those?”

She weighed them in her hands. They were obviously heavy but she held them with determination and nodded. “Yes, Jesse.”

“Good. Then let’s get walking.”

As we set off again she asked, “Why do you need all those shovels and things anyway?”

“You’ll see.”

We walked for another hour, creeping steadily towards our goal. The walls of Pittodrie were soon visible before us, half hidden by a grassy embankment. It was a very red building, made of red brick and painted red metal, the same colour as the football team strip. My dad had taken me here a couple of times to see the team play. They’d usually lose and Dad would drive me home, complaining about how the Dons could be great again if only we got a decent manager. There was no football here now and hadn’t been for a while – but here I was. I just hoped that this time it wouldn’t be the usual crushing defeat.

We turned off the road into the parking area and rattled round the side. The moon had gone behind a cloud again and I had to steer the trolley carefully, but I guessed darkness was best. Hopefully, that meant that I couldn’t be seen either. Unless the chickens had infrared eyesight or something.

I quickly forced myself to stop thinking about that. This was risky enough as it was.

A door in the side of the stadium was unlocked, but this only increased my feelings that everything was about to go badly wrong. I eased the trolley over the threshold and winced as it bumped slightly. Then we headed carefully down the corridor, through the team changing room and into the tunnel that led to the pitch. Ahead was the massive bulk of our goal.

“And this,” I whispered to Lizzie, “is how you show you are sorry. Here we go.”

I left Lizzie guarding the trolley and sneaked forward, the grass sinking beneath my feet. I’d been expecting it to be long and neglected, but someone seemed to have been taking care of it. It was the uniform length that the football clubs always demanded. The members of the Brotherhood who guarded this place must have been looking after it.

Right in front of me was the goal I was creeping towards. It was pretty tall, about as big as a house, and there were several of them scattered all over the football field. Giant wooden structures with mesh over the front of them, the insides lit by hanging bulbs; the cages where the chickens kept their captives. They even had the giant cylinders that dispensed water. They looked like the sort of things that battery hens were kept in. I guess that chickens have a sense of humour too.

The sound of chanting drew me to the nearest one – that was where the Brotherhood of the Egg had been put. There were more of them than had been at the market. I guess the chickens had been forced to grab the ones that had been on guard duty outside the stadium as well. They were still wearing their odd clothes. They were sitting in circles chanting weird things that I couldn’t quite hear and looking rundown. I wasn’t sure how I felt seeing them there. On the one hand they were responsible for everyone else getting caught. On the other hand they also hadn’t really meant any harm. They’d just been brainwashed or something. I guess
they deserved their redemption as much as Lizzie did. After all, it wasn’t only six year olds who got a second chance. So I pulled out the bolt cutters and began chopping away at the wire in the front of their cage.

I’d been doing it for about a minute before someone noticed. I was aware of more whispering spreading throughout the cage and then a crowd suddenly gathered around me. I looked up to see them all staring. It was pretty creepy. One of the boys shuffled forward. He was about my age and quite a bit taller, though I couldn’t properly see him in the moonlight.

“Is that you, Stranger?”

I nodded and continued cutting. “Yup. Thought you guys might like to be rescued.”

“Stranger…” They all said in unison. I felt uncomfortable and began to work more quickly.

“Stop! You cannot do this!” I looked up to see Egbert standing over me. He’d been sitting in a corner of the cage, being ignored by everyone else. He was looking pretty bedraggled and his rooster’s comb was sagging. I guess being betrayed by the chickens hadn’t been easy on him.

“Can’t do what?” I asked him. He glared at me.

“We are here because our masters wanted us to be. We can’t do anything that disobeys them like this. They are just testing us.”

“Well, you go on believing that and you stay there. I’m not forcing anyone to come. I’m just opening the way if they choose to.”

I finished cutting and a big hole opened up, large enough for a kid to squeeze through. I got to my feet and looked at the one who had talked to me first. “You coming? Or are you staying here?”

He bowed his head. “I am coming, Stranger.”

I grinned at him. “Good. You’re in charge of everyone who wants to leave. You make sure they do what I tell you.” I gave him instructions, then stood aside, letting him out. He quickly scampered away and I slapped him on the back, then went to some of the other cages. I glanced back briefly over my shoulder after I’d taken a few steps. They were all gone. Only Egbert was left standing in the cage. Boy, did he look mad.

After a bit of sneaking around I managed to find the cage where Noah and Cody were being kept, along with everyone else who had held out at that table. They must have been given several doses of the tranquiliser because they were all still unconscious. I just hoped I could wake the leaders. Everything hinged on them being able to control everyone else.

I slowly crept towards the cage and began cutting the mesh again.

“Hey, Noah. Cody!” I hissed. “Wake up.”

No one stirred. Once I had cut a hole big enough for my hand I reached in and grabbed Sam’s leg. I shook it and he began to wake up. But not quickly enough. Looking nervously around, I took a bottle of water from my backpack and unscrewed the top. Then with a quick jerk I sent all the water straight into his face.

Sam woke with a yell and I quickly shushed him, looking around again. Eventually the chickens would realise what we were doing, but the longer it was before that happened the better. He glared blearily up at me then seemed to realise what was happening. I could vaguely see his jaw drop open, then he wiped the water out of his eyes and he began waking everyone else up. They roused with small groans and faint yelps, but soon they were all staring at me.

“Jesse, what are you doing?” Noah asked me once
he’d pushed his way to the front, Cody not far behind him.

“I’m saving you,” I told him. “I think I can get you out of here.”

He looked at me for a moment then shook his head. “I don’t think you can. They’ve got things on our legs.” He held out his to demonstrate and I saw a ring of metal with a blinking red light shining through his socks. “They’ve got to be tracking us or something.”

“According to Rayna, they only activate once you leave the stadium,” I told him. “She heard it from someone who had tried to do this before. As soon as you leave the field they set off the alarms and the chickens come for you. But don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

“Of course you do,” said Cody. “Your last plan was rubbish and is the reason we’re here in the first place. Why should we trust you with this one?”

“Feel free not to trust me. Use one of the many other ways to escape,” I replied. He scowled for a moment then nodded, acknowledging my point. “But there’s a difference between this one and the last. That was Rayna’s plan. And this is mine.”

“So what is it?” he asked. I told him and got to enjoy the shock that floated across his face.

“You’re insane,” he told me, but I saw Percy at his shoulder, grinning. At least one person liked the plan.

“Yeah, people say that,” I told him. “I just see it as a way to keep life interesting. Now are you in or not?”

After a second he nodded and everyone else joined in. I cut the last link and the mesh fell away. Everyone flooded out and I pointed them in the direction of the trolley. “Get your weapons over there. There’s some more bolt cutters as well. I’ll need some guys helping me.”

They went at it with a will as I started on the next cage. There were about ten in all and I was only halfway done when someone joined me to help. I looked around and saw others at other cages. Everyone would be free in about ten minutes. Good, right on schedule.

While I was just finishing the last cage I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Lizzie standing there. “What is it?” I asked.

“Egbert’s gone. I watched him creep out of the cage and through one of the doors over there.” She pointed at the edge of the stadium and I could just make out an open door. Then I realised that it was getting a lot darker than it had been and I looked up to see that the clouds over the moon had thickened. It looked like we were in for rain soon. I had no idea if that was good or bad.

“All right. Go find Noah and tell him that the chickens are coming.”

She nodded and ran off and I sighed as I turned back to the cage, cutting the last few people free. I’d hoped that Egbert would have changed after the chickens turned on him, that he wouldn’t still regard them as his masters. But I guess I’d been wrong. He hadn’t changed. And he’d just gone to betray everyone to the chickens again.

If I hadn’t been expecting it I might have felt a bit upset.

Noah was pushing his way through the crowd, heading towards one of the cages. Cody was already standing on top of it and Percy gave Noah a boost to help him up. The two leaders stood together and addressed the freed kids.

“We don’t have much time, so listen closely. We’ve got out but the chickens know it and they’re coming.”

A scared murmur spread through the crowd at his
words and people towards the back began trickling away, turning and walking towards the doors. But at Noah’s next words they all turned round and came back.

“You might have noticed that you have things attached to your legs. Apparently they’re tracking devices. As soon as you step outside the pitch, they turn themselves on and the chickens will be able to find you.”

Cody took over talking. “But we have a plan. Jesse here showed up with some files for us to use. We can cut those trackers right off you. The problem is that there aren’t enough to go around. So we need to hold out here for a bit. We’ve got weapons and we should be able to hold off the chickens.”

“What if we can’t?” some kid in the front row yelled out. Cody fixed him with his merciless smile.

“Then please, by all means, leave. We won’t keep anyone here who doesn’t want to be. I’m sure you could keep running for at least an hour before the chickens eventually found you.”

Noah frowned at Cody. “Of course we might keep them busy enough to let you get away but we can’t promise anything. So do whatever you feel safest with.”

The kid nodded, looking scared but staying where he was. A couple did disappear, but most stayed. Cody nodded to himself, pleased.

“Right then. Please see the guys in the weird white robes. They’ll give you your weapons. It’s mostly shovels, but we should be able to beat those small chickens.”

“Commandos,” I whispered at him. He stared at me a second then shrugged.

“They should be able to beat the Commandos. We’ll start removing the trackers right away.”

Fifteen minutes later there was still no sign of the
chickens. I shifted on my feet uneasily, the crowbar held in my hands. I wanted to run. I really, really wanted to grab Lizzie and get out of there. I mean, I didn’t have a tracker. Neither did she. But Cody was keeping a close watch on me and I didn’t think I’d be able to make it. And this could be our last chance to stop the chickens. I was needed here and though I wanted to run there was no way I was going to.

When I’d thought up the plan I hadn’t thought about the long wait, each second expecting the sound of the clawed feet on the road outside. If they could just get on with it then it would be better. Anything would be better than the waiting.

And then I got my wish.

There was a scream from over by the stands and kids started running away. I squinted through the darkness and saw a tide of the smaller chickens flowing along the seats from a box higher up. There were more of them than I was expecting.

Then Cody stepped forward with Percy beside him, both holding shovels. He began barking out orders and more kids lined up with him. I walked forward as well and we stood together, watching the smaller chickens get closer and closer.

Then with a yell Percy ran forward, swinging his shovel. He caught a Commando in mid-leap and it was flung backwards into the others. Other kids followed him and soon the air was filled with flying chickens. It was almost like Pittodrie had turned into a baseball field and we were hitting nothing but home runs.

Some of the kids weren’t fast enough and got pecked; collapsing unconscious before we could do anything. We were slowly pushed back, losing a couple of kids every few moments. But we were just the ones who
had acted first. More and more people came running to help. The line held, then slowly we began pushing the chickens back. The ones we hit got back up again and came charging back towards us, but more warily. We had made them fear us, even if we couldn’t do much more then sling them around.

I kept my eye on the sky, waiting for the moment that I knew would come.

Then it happened. A low droning sound filled the sky and one of the giant chickens sailed over the walls of the stadium and landed in front of one of the goal posts.

Things froze for a moment and another landed next to the first. Then another, until there were three Catchers towering over everything surrounding them. Then the smaller chickens rushed us again.

“Aim them towards the big ones,” Cody yelled and adjusted his grip on his weapon, sending the next chicken that leapt at him clanging off one of the giant ones. Others followed his lead and several chickens ricocheted off and through the goal posts. There were definitely more goals scored with chickens than Aberdeen usually scored with footballs.

The giant chickens paced forward and the army scattered, kids running in every direction. It was instant chaos. Kids and Commandos were running everywhere. The kids were still swinging their weapons, but more and more of them were falling.

I had to do something.

I ran right at the lead chicken and swung my crowbar, hitting it in the side with a bell-like chime. It stopped walking and looked down at me, tilting its head to one side. I could almost see the confused look on its face, like it couldn’t believe anything could be that stupid. I hit it again, then turned and ran off. “Come
on!” I yelled at it. “What’s the matter? You chicken?”

It obviously decided that I was stupid enough to get taken out because it began stepping after me. I ran a short distance in front of it, then stopped and turned, the goal post outlined behind me. I could feel people’s eyes upon me, so I shouted out loud and clear.

“You just made a mistake, feather-face. Because this is the penalty box…”

It reached me and pecked down, screeching as it did so. I held the egg that I’d taken from my pocket and threw it into the chicken’s mouth. Then I dodged and rolled to the side.

“… and it doesn’t reward fowl play.”

The chicken just stood there for a moment, as if it didn’t realise what had just happened. Then there was the sound of a hollow boom from inside it and a wisp of smoke curled up from its beak. Its feathers rattled against its side and several flew off. It gave a last squawk and keeled over, hitting the ground with a bang. A hatch at the top sprang open and a chicken, a real chicken, the only one I’d seen apart from the Leader on TV, jumped out. It flapped its wings and disappeared into the night. I stared after it in shock, then I became aware of cheering all around me. The chickens had backed off for a moment to regroup and I looked to see that our army had reformed. I grinned at them.