pained.
“Don't panic,” Rook said.
“Oh my God,” Lucy-Anne said, appealing to a deity she had forgotten since her childhood. “Oh my God, what is that, what is that?”
“A man turning into a dog,” Rook said.
Lucy-Anne laughed out loud at his stark answer. But he was right.
The man shouted again, a heavy, deep bark that could not have issued from a human's throat. He fell to all fours again and scampered away, kicking through the long grass, skitting back and forth, and a rudimentary tail swished the air behind him. Soon he was lost to the darkness, and moonlight could touch him no more.
Lucy-Anne was glad. She wished the moon and stars would shut themselves away for the rest of the night.
Amongst the trees, the darkness was even deeper. Rook moved quickly, and every now and then one of his birds would flit down out of the darkness and land on his shoulder. They were scouting the way forward, but Lucy-Anne knew that they might not see everything. There could be anything hiding in the dark.
A man turning into a dog! she thought. She had never seen or imagined anything like it, and it was a whole new aspect to what had happened to London. She'd heard of and met people whomDoomsday had changed, giving them talents or abilities that had been pure science fiction until two years ago. But the changes had all been on the inside. Here, things were different.
“Rook, what is this?” she whispered. He kept walking. “Rook?”
He paused and turned around. “We need to move quickly,” he said. And that was all. Any explanation would have to wait until later, because he set off again at a fast pace. Sometimes, Lucy-Anne had to run to keep up.
They passed through the wooded area, and just as they emerged close to a lake several shadows rose from the ground before them. Rook skidded to a halt, startled, and Lucy-Anne bumped into him. She maintained the contact.
Rooks flapped and cawed somewhere out of sight.
The shapes were people, naked, caked in mud, hair set in extravagant designs. Their limbs seemed too short, too thin. When they moved, Lucy-Anne saw why.
They had reared up from their stomachs, and the first woman slumped down to the ground and curled away through the undergrowth. She shifted from side to side as she went, withered, sore-covered arms dragging along on either side and legs fused along their insides to form a long, thin tail.
As Lucy-Anne gasped, the woman hissed. The two other snake people eased back down onto their stomachs and followed the woman, and soon they were lost from view.
“They were…” Lucy-Anne said.
“Lucky we surprised them,” Rook said. “Let's hurry before they come back.”
“Are they poisonous? Constrictors? Do they…how much like real snakes are they?”
“You want to stay and find out?” He ran and she followed him, skirting around the lake's edge but not getting too close. Thingswere splashing in there. From the dark came wretched cries. It must hurt them , she thought. Such a huge change, so quickly. It must hurt ! Though scared of them, she also felt pity.
Rook ran over a small footbridge that passed over a stream leading into the lake, and without pause headed across a wide area of long-grassed lawn spotted with occasional clumps of trees and wooden seating shelters. Moonlight silvered the land, setting fire to treetops. To their left and right shadows ran to keep pace with them, but Lucy-Anne could only assume that Rook knew about them. A rook landed on her left shoulder, its surprising lightness startling her, and a thought came unbidden: They're graceful and beautiful. She understood some of Rook's attachment to these creatures then, and for the first time she felt a pang of jealousy at his incredible abilities. Perhaps because he was closer to them than he ever could be to her.
They approached another small wooded area. She wondered why Rook was leading them into the trees instead of around them, and then she saw the shadowy humps across the
“Don't panic,” Rook said.
“Oh my God,” Lucy-Anne said, appealing to a deity she had forgotten since her childhood. “Oh my God, what is that, what is that?”
“A man turning into a dog,” Rook said.
Lucy-Anne laughed out loud at his stark answer. But he was right.
The man shouted again, a heavy, deep bark that could not have issued from a human's throat. He fell to all fours again and scampered away, kicking through the long grass, skitting back and forth, and a rudimentary tail swished the air behind him. Soon he was lost to the darkness, and moonlight could touch him no more.
Lucy-Anne was glad. She wished the moon and stars would shut themselves away for the rest of the night.
Amongst the trees, the darkness was even deeper. Rook moved quickly, and every now and then one of his birds would flit down out of the darkness and land on his shoulder. They were scouting the way forward, but Lucy-Anne knew that they might not see everything. There could be anything hiding in the dark.
A man turning into a dog! she thought. She had never seen or imagined anything like it, and it was a whole new aspect to what had happened to London. She'd heard of and met people whomDoomsday had changed, giving them talents or abilities that had been pure science fiction until two years ago. But the changes had all been on the inside. Here, things were different.
“Rook, what is this?” she whispered. He kept walking. “Rook?”
He paused and turned around. “We need to move quickly,” he said. And that was all. Any explanation would have to wait until later, because he set off again at a fast pace. Sometimes, Lucy-Anne had to run to keep up.
They passed through the wooded area, and just as they emerged close to a lake several shadows rose from the ground before them. Rook skidded to a halt, startled, and Lucy-Anne bumped into him. She maintained the contact.
Rooks flapped and cawed somewhere out of sight.
The shapes were people, naked, caked in mud, hair set in extravagant designs. Their limbs seemed too short, too thin. When they moved, Lucy-Anne saw why.
They had reared up from their stomachs, and the first woman slumped down to the ground and curled away through the undergrowth. She shifted from side to side as she went, withered, sore-covered arms dragging along on either side and legs fused along their insides to form a long, thin tail.
As Lucy-Anne gasped, the woman hissed. The two other snake people eased back down onto their stomachs and followed the woman, and soon they were lost from view.
“They were…” Lucy-Anne said.
“Lucky we surprised them,” Rook said. “Let's hurry before they come back.”
“Are they poisonous? Constrictors? Do they…how much like real snakes are they?”
“You want to stay and find out?” He ran and she followed him, skirting around the lake's edge but not getting too close. Thingswere splashing in there. From the dark came wretched cries. It must hurt them , she thought. Such a huge change, so quickly. It must hurt ! Though scared of them, she also felt pity.
Rook ran over a small footbridge that passed over a stream leading into the lake, and without pause headed across a wide area of long-grassed lawn spotted with occasional clumps of trees and wooden seating shelters. Moonlight silvered the land, setting fire to treetops. To their left and right shadows ran to keep pace with them, but Lucy-Anne could only assume that Rook knew about them. A rook landed on her left shoulder, its surprising lightness startling her, and a thought came unbidden: They're graceful and beautiful. She understood some of Rook's attachment to these creatures then, and for the first time she felt a pang of jealousy at his incredible abilities. Perhaps because he was closer to them than he ever could be to her.
They approached another small wooded area. She wondered why Rook was leading them into the trees instead of around them, and then she saw the shadowy humps across the
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