CHERUB: The General by Robert Muchamore Page A

Unbelievable.’
    The gallery was exposed, but luckily the flooring was still being laid. Lauren crawled along behind a giant roll of carpet with Rat directly behind her. She had to go up on her knees to open the door at the end of the gallery. The hinge had a squeak, but nobody down below seemed to notice and the pair passed into a bare office.
    The narrow room had large square windows along one side and an emergency door leading on to metal fire-escape stairs at one end. The engineers were in the early stages of installing the wiring and reels of cable littered the floor.
    ‘Mind you don’t trip,’ Rat said, hopping over the cables.
    When Lauren reached the fire exit, she stared out of the large window alongside it and cursed their luck. ‘Cops everywhere.’
    ‘It’s not our night tonight,’ Rat sighed.
    They were in a bare room with no hiding places and it could only be a matter of minutes until the police teams sweeping through the building caught up with them. Rat ran to the opposite end of the room, looking out of the windows as he went.
    ‘I see the Fiat,’ he said. ‘I can’t see anyone down this end. Do you reckon we could jump down?’
    Rat grabbed the handle on the side of the plastic window frame and pushed it open. Cold air blasted Lauren’s face as she peered down into the darkness.
    ‘I’ve dropped from twice that height in training,’ she nodded. ‘Bit of a squeeze-through though.’
    Rat quickly closed the window and grabbed another handle on the side of the frame. This made the entire square of glass swivel on a central pivot designed to allow the outside of the glass to be cleaned from indoors.
    ‘Even your big butt should fit through there now,’ Rat said.
    ‘Smartarse,’ Lauren replied, as she swung her leg up on to the window ledge. Rat quickly flicked on his torch to make sure she wasn’t going to land on anything apart from an empty parking bay. It was a four-metre drop and Lauren couldn’t help groaning as she landed heavily on her ankle.
    Rat came down a few seconds later and quickly found his feet. ‘You OK?’ he asked edgily.
    ‘Twisted,’ Lauren said as Rat helped her up.
    Fortunately the little Fiat Punto belonging to one of the guards was parked in front of a hedge less than ten metres away.
    ‘I’ve got you,’ Rat said, taking the car keys from inside his jacket before grabbing Lauren under the arm and making a dash towards the car. As they got close Rat pressed the plipper to unlock the doors. The car emitted a double blip and all four indicator lights blinked in the darkness.
    ‘Visual,’ a policeman shouted. ‘The Fiat!’
    Lauren moaned in pain, clambering in the back door as Rat fumbled with the ignition key up front. He fought to get the little car into reverse gear as three RAF police officers charged towards them. The swiftest officer grabbed the door handle as Rat lifted the clutch. The door flew open, but the car shot backwards, tearing the officer’s fingers away before the flapping door knocked him down.
    Every car has a slightly different feel that takes time to get used to. Rat stalled the engine as he juddered off in the wrong gear.
    ‘Shite!’ he yelled, as he jangled the key to restart the engine.
    ‘I thought you knew how to drive,’ Lauren shouted frantically.
    ‘Your sarcasm really helps my concentration,’ Rat shouted back as he found the right gear and made a successful second attempt at driving away.
    The front bumper shattered as the car hit the kerb at speed and reared up into the mud. Rat straightened up the steering wheel, floored the accelerator and aimed straight for the fence.

13. COPS
     
    James lay face down on the floor of a speeding police van, plasticuffs tearing into his wrists and four officers sitting on the wooden benches alongside him. The female officer he’d knocked against the wall kept a boot on the back of his head, pressing his face against the floor and forcing him to breathe the smells of urine, dog and