Humpty's Bones (13 page)

Thirteen

Peeping through gaps on the shelves, Pitt and Jenny tried to see what had arrived in this gloomy cavern. There was no doubting the beast’s size. Even from his hiding place on the floor, Adam looked, too. But all three felt strangely dizzy. Their limbs didn’t work properly. They felt sleepy. And all three had the same sharp pain boring through their skulls. This is how they stayed for the next thirty seconds. Then, as if the beast, had satisfied itself that there was nothing of interest in this area, it padded away.

When they felt that it was safe to emerge they crept from their hiding places. All three agreed amongst themselves how ill they’d felt. All of them noticed how the light had dimmed when the creature had entered this section of tunnel. But when they all tried to describe what they had seen of the beast no single one could agree on a description.

Adam declared, ‘I could see paws. Four of them. Like a lion’s.’

Jenny disagreed. ‘A lion? It was nothing like a lion. When I looked down at it from above I could see tentacles. Masses of tentacles. They were bright green.’

Pitt shook his head. ‘From where I was I could see bare skin, maybe its belly... there’s no fur, and certainly no tentacles. There were mottled patches on its body. I saw that kind of pattern once on something in a reptile house at the zoo.’

‘I had the best view,’ Jenny declared. ‘From right up there. It’s like a giant octopus.’

‘No way an octopus,’ Pitt insisted. ‘It’s a gargantuan lizard.’

‘You’re both wrong,’ Adam told them. ‘It’s a mammal. I saw furry paws. Probably a specially bred attack lion.’

‘Attack lion,’ Pitt snorted. ‘You’ll have had your eyes shut anyway.’

‘Are you calling me a coward?’

It was a dangerous thing to do. But for the moment they forgot about the real possibility the creature might come back. Instead, they bickered over what they did or didn’t see.

Fourteen

At the same time as the trio argued I was still in the truck. Five minutes ago, the monster had left my section of tunnel. Immediately the pain in my head went, too. But for those five minutes I was held in that trance. By some telepathic force I’d seen what was happening to Jenny, Pitt and Adam. What’s more, I knew what they had felt and thought. Somehow the creature had been responsible for that effect. Fortunately, as the minutes passed, and that thing moved further from me, I felt better. The light grew brighter. The dizziness vanished. I could move my arms normally again. The moment my legs worked as they should I climbed out of the cab, ready to search for my three friends.

When I turned a corner I started to find some answers. The next tunnel was different. Instead of bare concrete walls they were covered with white tiles. Kind of clinical. Here there weren’t any trucks under plastic sheets. Instead, four red cylinders in a row. Each as big as a car. They lay on their sides on V shaped racks. Odd... very odd.

These were troubling to look at. They resembled the thing you might see towed behind a farm tractor, but they were covered in warnings.
CAUTION: LIQUID NITROGEN INLET. BEWARE: SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURE.
Worst of all:
DO NOT TOUCH: DANGEROUS CONTENT
. I shuddered. Were these nuclear weapons? I walked along the line of cylinders. Stencilled on each one, in fierce, spiky letters was:
VOGGRON.
And after that mystifying word, either an A or B or C or a D. So the first cylinder was labelled
VOGGRON A.

When I reached
VOGGRON C
I groaned, ‘Oh, no.’

The third cylinder had been bashed hard. Dents covered it. Only the dents bulged outward not inward. One end of the cylinder had been torn away. The metal cap, which was six feet in diameter, lay on the tiled floor. The cylinder itself was clean inside. Completely empty.

VOGGRON. Now I knew what had smashed open the bunker door. What’s more, I knew EXACTLY what had chased us. As I stood there, a darkness fell over me. It spilled across the floor, growing bigger as some shape - one that cast a long, dark shadow - crept up behind me.

Even though I wanted to move I couldn’t. Like one of those dreams when you need to run but can’t move so much as a finger. Then came its touch on my shoulder.

‘Hey, Naz, what you found here?’

‘Jenny?’
I spun round. ‘Adam? Pitt? I thought it had got you.’

‘We thought it was
you
who’d been nabbed.’

Grimly, I said, ‘If we don’t get out of here fast we’re all done for.’ I nodded at the cylinder. ‘By what was in there. The Voggron.’

Adam saw the wrecked cylinder. ‘It broke out of that tank, didn’t it? It escaped from the bunker, now it’s back.’

I frowned. ‘But why would it come back?’

Pitt rubbed his jaw. ‘Maybe the Voggron doesn’t like being outdoors. Or it needs to return to its lair.’

‘But what is it?’ Jenny examined the cylinders.

I shrugged. ‘Earlier, I hid in a truck when it came along the tunnel. I didn’t see it exactly... ’

‘I did,’ Jenny said. It’s got masses of tentacles. Like a giant octopus.’

‘Don’t listen to her,’ Pitt grunted. ‘I saw it. It’s a big lizard.’

‘You didn’t see all of it.’ Jenny got angry. ‘I was fifteen feet up on a shelf. I saw tentacles, round suckers, green skin, the works.’

‘No, no.’ Adam seemed to pity them. ‘I was closest. I saw paws. With fur. The Voggron’s more like a lion.’

Jenny turned to me. ‘Naz, tell them what you saw.’

‘It’s weird. I saw... ’ Yes! I had seen through their eyes. A kind of telepathy had been at work. I wanted to tell them all about it. How I’d known their thoughts.
But what if they think I’m crazy?
Suddenly, telling them everything didn’t seem a good idea. At least not at that moment. Instead, I gave a baffled shrug. ‘The truck was covered in plastic. All I did see was a figure... just blurred through the sheet.’ But I now knew what those squirming shapes were on its back. Tentacles. Just the thought of them made my own back itch.

‘So... ’ Jenny slapped her forehead in exasperation. ‘We all saw it, but we all saw something different.’

‘A lizard,’ Pitt insisted.

Adam shook his head. ‘Big cat. Lion, maybe.’

I held up one hand. ‘But we can all agree that it came out of there.’ I tapped the empty cylinder with my knuckles. It made a gong sound that echoed away into the distance. A ghostly shimmer on the cold air.

‘And there’s another thing.’ Jenny was deadly serious. ‘Although we can’t agree on what we saw, we can agree on how we felt.’

Adam pointed to his forehead. ‘A headache. The worst I’ve had.’

We all nodded.

‘Like an ice cream headache, only multiplied a hundred times.’ Jenny rubbed the back of her neck as if it still ached. ‘And all the strength went out of me.’

I shuddered. ‘I don’t know if it was my eyes, or the power supply, but it went dark.’

Pitt became uneasy, too. ‘And when it came close, and the headache started, and you felt like crud, wasn’t that the moment that you didn’t care whether it found you or not?’

I agreed. ‘The Voggron did that to us. It can mess with our minds.’ Again, I nearly told them that, just for a few moment, I’d been able to see through their eyes. But I decided to wait until one of them mentioned it. I didn’t want them to think I’d gone nuts. So, I just added vaguely, ‘Brain control. It’s a psychic transmitter.’

‘That’s impossible,’ Jenny said. But from her expression you could tell she knew it was the truth. The Voggron had telepathic powers. Even so, she didn’t know the half of its unnatural talents.

‘Think about it,’ said Pitt. ‘Wouldn’t that be the perfect weapon? One that makes the enemy too sick and too weak to fight. Not only that, it can reach into your head and stop you even wanting to save your own life.’

And it can make you see through other people’s eyes.
Why didn’t these three experience the same thing?
I wondered.
Why me... have I got something in common with the Voggron?

‘A secret weapon,’ Adam sounded panicky. ‘A Frankenstein soldier.’

‘But it didn’t know we were there,’ Jenny protested, ‘so how could it reprogram our brains?’

I stared at the cylinder. ‘It does it all the time, but only over a short range. And it’s only temporary. Otherwise it would affect those on its own side.’

Pitt whistled. ‘So the Voggron is a weapon. Just like the guns stored down here.’

‘Whatever it looks like,’ Jenny added, ‘it was kept frozen. When they needed it to fight the enemy it would be thawed out.’

‘Only it’s defrosted too soon. Maybe a circuit blew.’ Pitt whistled again. ‘That means there’s three more in these.’ He tapped an intact cylinder with his knuckles. Instantly a loud bang filled the vault. A sound like thunder. His eyes went wide. ‘Something just hit the cylinder wall from inside.’

Adam gulped. ‘It’s wanting to break out, too. Guys, we gotta find the exit.’

Pitt backed away from the cylinder as a rumbling came from it. ‘We could try going back to the lounge.’

In a very quiet voice, Jenny whispered, ‘Too late. It’s already here.’

Fifteen

There are times you think your eyes are cheating you. It must be imagination, you tell yourself. Or I’m not seeing properly, or it’s a dream. Only when I backed away I clunked into the wall. It hurt enough to prove this was no dream. Picture this: An animal that’s bigger than an adult lion. The creature prowls into the tunnel. It has a massive head with two fiery orange eyes, big jaws and a mane. Apart from the mane, and tufts of hair on its paws, it has no fur. The skin is yellow with blood-red patches. Pitt was right, it does resemble the skin of a lizard. It walks on all fours. From its back swarm green tentacles. At least fifty of them, like the tentacles of an octopus. These don’t sag but writhe in the air. They move with a quick, muscular strength. Each one is perhaps ten feet long. They reach out to touch objects: the light fittings, the cable ducts, the plumbing pipes. It must be using a refined sense of touch to map its environment. That and its eyes and other senses must create a perfect understanding of where it is. And it’s not just how monstrous the Voggron looks, it’s that nasty trick it can do - to hurt you without even touching. The headache started in my head. My shoulders sagged as the strength seeped from my body. All of a sudden I found it hard to stand on my own two feet.

Despite his fear, Pitt was in awe. ‘Folks. Meet the Voggron.’

Adam gaped. ‘Earlier we all saw
parts
of it. Me, paws. Jenny, tentacles... ’

Jenny shouted, ‘RUN!’

The lion-like creature, with octopus tentacles writhing from its back, leapt forward. Its jaws opened wide to reveal huge teeth, sharp as steak knives. Slashing behind it, a long bullwhip of a tail. It lashed this flailing appendage in our direction. In absolute horror I saw that the tail ended in claws. Huge curving claws. The tail slammed into the wall above my head. Its wicked claws raked the tiles. As I ducked I saw the gouge marks. If that whip-tail had hit me in the face? Think of the savage cuts!

We all ran in different directions. It followed me at first. Its paws thumped the floor, then, when I ducked under a low doorway to a storeroom, it changed direction to race after Adam. At the same time one tentacle on its back snapped out to curl round Jenny’s waist. With an uncanny dexterity it gripped the back of her jacket. As it did that, it let fly with the whip-tail again. It struck a steel girder next to Pitt. Sparks flew.

Jenny was in deep trouble. It didn’t loosen its grip on her fabric. Quickly, it dragged the girl toward its huge mouth filled with champing teeth. Then it happened again. I found myself looking through Jenny’s eyes into the monster’s hate-filled face. The orange eyes blazed. Closer... and closer. The mouth opened. In total shock I yelled. A yell so loud that the Voggron glanced back for the source of the noise. Jenny took her chance; she slipped out of the jacket, leaving it swinging in the tentacle’s grasp, then she hid behind a row of water pipes.

Deciding to attack Adam from above, the beast chose to leap onto one of the cylinders but misjudged its landing. It slipped off the curving metal to fall into the narrow gap at the other side. Frantically, it struggled to free itself. Even so, it bellowed in fury. I could see tentacles whipping the air before they latched onto the cylinder. Once it had a grip it could begin to heave itself out. For a second I watched those thick, rubbery limbs in fascination. Suckers gripped the cylinder. I felt its effect on my mind grow stronger - the headache, the weakness. Lights grew dim. Jenny pushed me.

‘Come on! Now’s our chance to get back to the exit.’

Boy, how we ran! Summoning what was left of our strength, we belted along the tunnel lined with vehicles. Once we’d got some distance between us and the Voggron the ill-effects inflicted by its wicked telepathic power faded. The light grew brighter. Strength returned to our legs.

‘It’s coming!’ I yelled.

Adam gasped, ‘We’ll never make it.’

‘Adam, run!’

‘We’re going to die down here.’

‘Keep moving. Get up those steps.’

I was the last one to the stairwell that led up to the lounge. Quickly, I glanced back along that long corridor. In the distance I saw a yellow object. At first, just a little yellow blob. But it got bigger and bigger the closer it got. And that monster moved FAST. It soon became clear it was the creature from the cylinder store. The mane, the yellow body with red patches, the tentacles, the whip-tail with claws.
Here it comes... the Voggron... legs pounding, jaws open wide. If those tentacles should grip your head? Slimy, wet suckers. And just imagine its teeth sinking into your throat.
Taking a deep breath, I followed the other three as they clattered up the steps.

I shouted, ‘I figure we’ve got fifteen seconds before that thing reaches us.’

With a cry Adam collapsed. ‘I can’t run any further. I’ve got a stitch.’

All three of us grabbed him by the arms, then heaved him to his feet.

‘Keep moving,’ Jenny urged. ‘We’ll lock the lounge door. It won’t be able to follow us.’

When we reached the living quarters door I groaned with disappointment. ‘The lock’s broken. It must have done it when it escaped.’

‘What now?’

I shouted, ‘It’s coming up the stairs! We won’t reach the exit in time.’ Heavy paws thumped. ‘Scatter... hide... anywhere.’

‘It’s no good,’ Adam groaned. ‘It’ll find us.’

Yet fear drove us to find hiding places. We ran by sofas, looking for rooms to lock ourselves in. Only they had flimsy doors that the monster could shred in seconds.

Adam curled under the kitchen table. ‘We’re going to be eaten alive!’

I raced by the big TV screen - if only that six foot wide square of glass was a doorway to the outside world! An onscreen message read,
GAME PAUSED
.

Then - BANG! The door shattered. The Voggron flicked aside what panels remained as if they were shreds of paper. Then it prowled into the lounge with all the menace of a hungry lion. Its tentacles curled in the air. Then a strange thing happened. The tentacles darted out to open cupboard doors, so it could check inside. Maybe it thought we’d hidden in them? And it was all so fast. Flick, flick - glance, glance. Those strange words it had used before came in a soft growl,
‘Neefer-ratt-saaar
.
’
The whip-tail came up as if to stroke the ceiling. Despite, the tail moving only slowly its formidable tail claws scratched deep groves into the plasterwork. It took pleasure in the action. An orange lip curled back in a weird smile. Sharp fangs glinted.

Remember, its hatred for humans? That shredded poster? And didn’t I sense its raging hunger? That it longed to sink its teeth into a fresh, living body.

So what are we? Snacks on legs?

Jenny hid behind a sofa. I ducked into a space between the kitchen sink and a dishwasher. Adam stayed under his table. Pitt stood with his back to the wall beside the giant TV screen.

All useless hiding places. The Voggron moved with fluid grace across the room.

As it approached, the headaches started. My legs turned wobbly. Pitt’s eyes became dull as if he’d fall asleep. And the blood-thirsty Voggron came ever closer... and closer.

Despite the pain in my head, and the way the monster could affect my eyes so it seemed to be growing suddenly darker, I forced myself to watch it. And I could tell it was vicious. Even the faint hum of the refrigerator enraged it. With one of its front paws it struck out. Easily, it ripped away the fridge door. Then it swept all those chocolate bars out over the carpet. The ketchup bottle cracked open. Sauce splashed out onto the carpet like blood had been spilt.

Soon real blood will be splattering the floor.

The Voggron saw Pitt standing by the TV. Those ravenous orange eyes fixed on his face. He froze, not daring to move. It took a step nearer. Sniffed the air. Then it took another step toward him. When he flinched it opened its jaws. Fangs glistened. Tentacles danced in the air. A snarl began in its throat. The weird mind effect kicked in. I caught glimpses of what Pitt was seeing. I saw through his eyes. I felt his fear. And all the time the monster’s face grew larger and larger the closer it got.

Jenny jumped up. ‘Naz! The remote controls on the table. Grab it!’

I stared at her like she’d gone mad.

‘You’re the closest,’ she hissed. ‘Quick, before it attacks Pitt.’

For some reason I grabbed the remote control but I didn’t know what good it would do. I could hardly thump the monster with it, could I? It wouldn’t even bruise its yellow lizard skin. Also, I was so dizzy by this time. The headache blurred my vision. Once again it happened. For a split second I saw through Jenny’s eyes. I saw ME standing there with the remote control hanging limply in my hand. My eyes were dull... as blank as dead TV screens... as if my mind had been disconnected from my body.
Naz is in shutdown. He’s gone zombie...

Snarling, the Voggron moved closer to Pitt. The boy stared death in the eye.

Jenny hissed, ‘Naz. Hit
Resume Play.
’

‘Why?’ Her demand baffled me. Everything seemed hazy. Far away.

‘Remember, it’s a war game. The Voggron’s meant to fight enemy soldiers. You might be able to distract it long enough to - ’

The yellow monster took another step toward Pitt. Now only ten feet separated them. It tensed itself, ready to attack. The remote control felt as heavy as concrete in my hand. If it slipped from my fingers I’d be too far gone to pick it up again. My head throbbed... everything just so woozy... dream-like.

‘Naz!’ Jenny shouted. ‘You’ve got to press the button.’

I stared. My head hurt. All the strength had gone from my fingers.

Jenny pleaded, ‘Naz, you’re Pitt’s only chance. HE’S GOING TO DIE!’

Pitt, die? No! How I managed I don’t know.
Bosh!
I hit
Resume Play.
Instantly a silver android appeared on screen. It raced forward as if about to run from the TV. Bigger and bigger. In a second the android nearly filled the screen. It had long silver legs and steel body armour. The Voggron reacted instantly. It turned its attention from Pitt to the menacing android. But did it realise it was only a computer game? Did it really fear the silver warrior could hurt it?

‘Run, Pitt, run!’

The Voggron roared. Its claws ripped furrows in the carpet. The whip-tail lashed. Ceiling lamps shattered. Before it could lose interest in the TV I hit the
Fire
button. Purple flame shot from the android’s blaster.

The next second the Voggron attacked the screen. Glass exploded. Claws ripped at cables. High voltage in the electronics zapped it hard. Tentacles yanked out circuit boards. Flashes. Smoke. Sparks. Then it bit the mother-board.
Bang!
The TV exploded. The Voggron’s snarl became a scream. All of a sudden it dropped down to the floor. There it lay. Not a sound came from it. Tentacles flopped down limp. Instantly, we felt okay again. The headache and exhaustion vanished.

Adam was amazed. ‘You’ve killed it.’

Cautiously, I took a closer look at the dead monster. ‘It will have been made in a laboratory. It was never even properly alive.’

Jenny headed for the exit. ‘Time to leave, guys.’

Soon we were out in the fresh air. The hot sun shone like it was the birth of a new world. Its brilliance dazzled us. We headed across the grass toward the hole in the fence. The quicker we were away from the bunker the better.

At that moment a motorbike roared up. The rider stopped the machine next to us and then grinned at Pitt. He especially took notice of the cut on his mouth.

‘How’s the lip, Pitt?’

‘Brian, we don’t want any trouble.’ Pitt shook his head, exhausted. ‘We’ve had more than enough already today.’

‘Oooh, the lip still looks sore. Did Momma put some creamy-weamy on it for you?’

Pitt leapt at Brian. For a moment Brian was astonished that this boy, who was a lot smaller than him, had decided to attack. Pitt dragged him off the motorbike as an object seemed to drop from the sky.

‘It’s the Voggron,’ Jenny shouted. ‘The electric shock only stunned it!’

Brian scrambled away in terror. Pitt ran, too. We fled into the bushes. The Voggron directed its fury at the motorbike. The noisy motor angered it. The monster ripped away the seat with its claws, then it bit big black chunks out of the tyres. Meanwhile, its green tentacles tore the brakes and handlebars into little pieces.

For a moment the engine raced out of control. The noise was so loud it made the creature even more furious. It reared up on its hind legs then smashed down with both front paws onto the bike. The crushed remains blew out a jet of oily smoke then the motor stopped dead.

Brian’s voice was croaky with fear. ‘What is that thing?’

‘The Voggron,’ Adam told him.

‘Where did it come from?’

Pitt looked grim. ‘Never mind where it came from, the problem is what it’s going to do to us now?’

Brian sagged to his knees. Either through fear or the telepathic effect from the monster.

Jenny called out, ‘It’s up to us, guys. No-one else can save us. We’ve got find a way to fight that thing.’