Z. Apocalypse (7 page)

The soldiers kept careful aim. Pass-card Man tossed a grin to his mate. ‘Fancy crispy duck for dinner tonight?’

‘Not with your bullet up its crispy butt,’ drawled his friend, to some laughter.

Suddenly
something
broke cover, darting from the reeds and heather, making straight for the soldiers.
It was moving so fast, but the world seemed to slow around Adam. The creature was small and feathered,
the size of a collie but running on its hind legs. Its arms were long, its hands a mass of claws, its face sharp and toothy like a baby crocodile’s. Vicious barbed hooks curled up from its ankles.

What the—? Oh my God, it’s some kind of raptor
 . . .

‘Kids, get out of here!’ yelled Pass-card
Man, his shout drowned out by the hollow stammer of assault rifles as he and his friends opened fire.

On automatic, Adam started away like a sprinter – before realizing Zoe couldn’t run; she was trapped in her chair, hardly designed for speed. He stopped and turned back, saw her trundling towards him looking absolutely terrified. She couldn’t see what he could see – the raptor, small but sinewy
and strong, shrugging off the spray of bullets. It hurled itself into the soldiers, slashing and tearing out at their legs, bringing them down. Jaws frothing, it bit at their wrists, swiped the guns from their hands with its coiling tail.

‘Come on, Zoe,’ Adam urged her. ‘Come on!’

Face and body bloodied, the raptor turned its black bright eyes onto Adam and Zoe.

Then, with a gurgling hiss,
it bolted towards them.

Chapter 8: The Second Target

ADAM STUMBLED BACKWARDS
, terrified and defenceless, convinced he would be ripped to pieces within seconds. The raptor’s pace slowed for a moment, its wild eyes darting between him and Zoe as if weighing up which was the easier prey.

Then with a sudden jerk of its body it darted straight at the girl.

Adam watched in horror as its blood-soaked jaws clamped down on
Zoe’s ankle, pulling at it in a frenzied attempt to wrestle her from the wheelchair. Zoe’s piercing screams jolted Adam into action and he looked frantically around for anything that might drive off the creature.

But it was too late.

Adam screamed as loud as Zoe did as the raptor tore her leg away, shaking it wildly in its jaws. But as he stared at the severed limb in horror, Adam suddenly realized
– no blood. The leg was artificial.

His sense of relief was fleeting; the creature was rapidly losing interest in the prosthetic limb and he
knew it would resume its attack any second.
Got to do something
. He caught sight of the fallen soldiers by the lake, moaning and writhing in pain from their injuries.
It’s OK, Zoe
, he wanted to yell bravely,
I’ll draw it off!
But fear had robbed him of words.
He grabbed pebbles from the muddy ground at his feet, chucked them at the raptor, then turned and pelted towards the soldiers. He sensed a sudden movement in the grass behind him as the raptor gave chase.

‘Adam, no!’ Zoe sounded close to tears. ‘It’ll kill you!’

I know. God, I know
. Adam snatched up Pass-card Man’s fallen rifle and whirled round to face his attacker, wielding the weapon like
a club.

The raptor was already scuttling towards him, claws outstretched. Adam leaped back, swung the rifle butt at the beast’s head with all his strength. Metal struck bone with a satisfying crack; the creature seemed momentarily stunned, a dark red trickle oozing from its jaws. He swung at it again, but this time it was too quick, dodging backwards, hissing and snarling.

Adam managed a third
attempt before the raptor’s claws tore into the back of his hand. He cried out in pain as the rifle dropped from his bloodied fingers. ‘No!’ he shouted helplessly, as the creature readied itself to pounce.

But then more bullets pounded into its body,
rounds spraying upwards into its face. One eye burst open and sharp teeth shattered. Turning in disgust, Adam saw four more soldiers racing towards
them. With an angry screech the raptor turned and bounded away at incredible speed, vanishing into the undergrowth.

Adam was still staring after it, terrified that it would double back, when the men reached him. ‘We heard shots fired, came running,’ one began. ‘What
was
that thing?’

‘Raptor. It . . . it hurt the guards,’ Adam stammered.

‘It hurt
you
,’ the soldier noted.

Adam saw that his whole
hand was covered in blood. He clutched at the dark, sticky mess and his guts turned with nausea. ‘What about Zoe? It got her leg . . .’

‘Don’t worry. We’ll check it out.’ Two of the soldiers pelted away.

Adam’s legs could no longer support him, and he sank to his knees on the grass, his hand stinging viciously. He couldn’t believe how quickly the attack had come, how close to death he’d been.
What was that raptor doing here?
he thought.
Where did it come from?

‘Easy, kid.’ One of the soldiers put a hand on Adam’s shoulder. ‘We’re going to get you to an ambulance, OK? You’ll be all right.’

Adam nodded, still staring into the undergrowth. He knew he’d survived today by chance, dumb luck.

They can get at us any time. And anywhere
.

Adam stirred slowly, crawling back into consciousness
from black, dreamless sleep. As he opened his eyes, his heart began to pump;
Where am I?
Then he remembered being taken to a private room in the nearest hospital, escorted by a crowd of men in uniform. The doctor had given him something to calm him down. Since it was now night through the window, he must have gone out like a light.

The door opened suddenly and a young soldier peered in, gun at
the ready. ‘Heard you move. Everything OK?’

‘Fine.’ Adam almost held his hands up – then saw that the one on the left was heavily bandaged, and winced. ‘Uh, how long have I been sleeping?’

The soldier smiled. ‘Most of the day, you lazy tyke. You’ve got a visitor here been waiting to see you.’

‘Before you get too excited, it’s only me.’ Zoe steered her wheelchair into the room, a blanket over
her lap. As the soldier stepped back outside and closed the door, she watched Adam from the foot of the bed. ‘How you doing? How’s that hand?’

‘Not so bad.’ Adam flexed it, winced, and sat up in bed. ‘How are
you
doing?’

‘I’m fine. The soldiers that thing attacked will be OK too, once the stitches come out.’

‘Did they catch it?’

‘No. It vanished.’

‘Great. It could be anywhere.’ Adam shuddered.
‘When I saw it had your leg . . .’

Zoe looked away. ‘Aren’t I lucky, getting one amputated when I was twelve ’cause of all that pain I was in, huh?’

‘I had no idea you . . .’ Adam trailed off awkwardly. ‘Well, I guess we owe a lot to that missing leg. It bought us time. Probably saved our lives . . .’

‘Destiny! I knew I developed this incredibly rare medical condition for a reason.’

‘All right,
fine, I give up. Sorry.’ Adam slumped back crossly against his hard pillow. ‘I’m just trying to say thank you.’

Zoe bit her lip. ‘I know. I try to joke about the Proteus to stop people feeling uncomfortable around me. I guess sometimes I try too hard.’ She looked at him. ‘I also find it hard to thank people, you know? Like to think I can take care of myself. But . . . Thank you for leading that
thing away from me. Are you OK?’

‘Right now I’m not sure what I am,’ Adam admitted. ‘Have you been here for the last ten hours too?’

‘Just for observation – and to be fitted for a new
prosthetic. Who knows when that’s going to come.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, since you’re being guarded by half an army, Mum decided that here was the safest place for me while she works on with your dad. Oldman won’t
let either of them leave the lab to visit us, says it’s not safe.’ She paused. ‘You know, they think that raptor thing was gathering information. Or that maybe it attacked us because it knew we were going to try to talk with Keera – and someone didn’t want that.’

‘Makes sense, I guess.’ He looked out anxiously at the night past the curtains. ‘But like Oldman says, we don’t know
what
Geneflow’s
up to. How long will we be kept here, do you think?’

‘That’s what I came to tell you. Me and Mum are being moved into Fort Meade next to you and your dad. Oldman said he’d send a car to get us when our parents are done for the day – should be here in half an hour.’

‘Makes sense I suppose,’ said Adam. ‘They can guard us all together.’

Zoe nodded sullenly. ‘Well . . . I’ll see you later, when
they bring the car for us.’ Adam made to get up to open the door for her, but she shook her head. With only a little difficulty, she wheeled herself parallel to the door, opened it while pushing herself backwards out of its way, then glided quickly outside before it could swing shut on her.

Adam sank back against the pillow and sighed. Almost at once, he heard agitated voices from further along
the corridor: ‘
Oh my God, have you seen . . .?
’

‘
I heard it on the news
.’

‘
CNN, quickly
 . . .
Turn it on. I don’t believe it
 . . .’

His guts grinding with fear, Adam reached for the remote on the bedside table. As the set on the wall flickered on he started scrolling through the unfamiliar channels, until—

The screen showed flames flaring orange and red against the black of night. The walls
of some great, ornate building suddenly exploded inwards amid the terrified screams of onlookers. Horrified, Adam sat up straight, trying to make sense of the footage blurring in and out of focus to a soundtrack of screams and gunfire. Then he saw the rolling headline along the bottom of the screen in a blood-red stripe:
London, England – The Houses of Parliament destroyed in terror strike. Hundreds believed dead. Similar methodology to White House attack, experts claim
.

‘No way . . .’ Fear clutched at Adam’s throat as a blur in the air passed over the huge, imposing clock tower of Big Ben. Suddenly, the building cracked in two, the upper section teetering forwards as if in slow motion. A wave of panicked screams distorted over the speakers. Mid-descent, the footage blurred out of focus
as the camera’s owner turned and fled for his life.

Adam switched off before the final impact, afraid of what he might see. Starting to shake, he huddled back down under the covers.
Just like the White House. It’s stood for so long, with history in every stone. And now – it’s just gone
 . . .

Nothing lasts for ever
, Adam thought gloomily,
even when you’re brought up to believe it will
.

He wished
he could see Keera now; get the fear, the ordeal that lay ahead, all over and done with.

‘I’d give anything to feel safe again,’ Adam murmured.

Chapter 9: Late-night Reunion

ADAM AND ZOE
stayed silent on the way to Fort Meade, lost in their thoughts. They were being driven together in an armoured car in the middle of a convoy of military vehicles. The noise of the engine was mind numbing, the ride enough to turn bones to jelly. Each cradled a gas mask on their lap – ‘to be deployed in case of an incident’.

Images of Westminster in flames
still haunted Adam’s mind. The death count had risen to over seventy. He wondered what fresh horrors would follow.

It was after eleven when the armoured car reached the base, and yet the grounds were still a floodlit hive of activity. Helicopters with searchlights swept the surrounding treetops on patrol. Rocket launchers and field guns were being positioned on the lawns, their operators hidden
behind gas masks. Tanks guarded the driveways.

Zoe looked out through the thick, huffed-up window. ‘Looks like they’re ready for visitors.’

‘Will they ever be ready enough?’ Adam muttered.

The armoured car pulled up outside the on-site apartments. Barbed wire fencing stretched right around the property now, and a well-manned checkpoint marked the entrance. Rocket launchers had been sited outside
the building, pointing up at the night. The lights of a jet plane traced a circle high above.

‘Adam!’ came a familiar yell from the apartment block. ‘Adam, are you all right?’

‘Dad!’ A soldier pulled hard on the heavy-duty door and Adam ran into his father’s waiting arms. As Mr Adlar started fussing gently over his bandaged hand, for a few moments the world felt better.

‘Zoe? Sweetheart!’ Eve
Halsall pushed past them to where her daughter was being helped into her wheelchair by two soldiers, and flung her arms around her. ‘Thank God you two are all right.’

‘Yes, indeed.’ Dr Marrs, wrapped up as ever in overcoat, hat and scarf, came shuffling out onto the porch. ‘It sounds as though the pair of you had a very close call.’

‘Dr Marrs!’ Adam was surprised. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘In the wake of that meeting you attended, I’ve been appointed special adviser on the Geneflow threat for the United Nations.’ Marrs patted him
on the back and smiled. ‘I’ve been catching up with your parents to see what progress they’ve made with our scaly house guest.’

‘And then we saw what had happened in London,’ said Mr Adlar. ‘The devastation . . .’

‘I couldn’t believe it,’ said Zoe, steering
her chair to join them. ‘So many people killed . . .’

‘A deplorable act,’ Marrs declared. ‘Let us hope the work with Keera will lead us closer to its perpetrators. In the meantime . . .’ With a sad smile, he shook Zoe warmly by the hand. ‘Delighted to see you again, my dear. So pleased that you and your mother are on board for this project.’

Eve’s arms were tightly folded across her stained
lab coat. ‘If I’d had one inkling of the danger Zoe would find herself in today I’d never have accepted.’

‘I appreciate today has not been easy,’ Marrs said gently. ‘But this whole base is operating on the highest security alert. And if you come inside, I’ve a further safeguard.’