Run by Gabby Tye Page B

He looks a bit uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. He started… eating himself.”
    Horrified gasps fill the room.
    â€œThey’re attracted to smell. He ate the part where I touched him,” Jae continues. “He totally ignored the real food.”
    â€œSo they crave only human flesh?” Dyanne deduces. “Great, just great!”
    â€œWhat about those in the pool?” Emma asks.
    â€œWe have to destroy them,” Kyl says. “Tomorrow.”
    Brion closes the sliding door leading to the balcony and draws the curtains. That way, no one can see or hear the Eaters. We all know that come morning, we will have to kill them and none of us can feel good about that. We file silently into the bedrooms and huddle up on the giant beds, grateful we are not alone.

CHAPTER 40
    In the morning, Brion and Eryn stay behind with the kids while Kyl, Jae, Dyanne, Shulin and I go downstairs to destroy the Eaters. We have told Dyanne and Shulin about how they can smell younger children, and we all agree that the kids should be kept as far away from the Eaters as possible.
    We figure fire will be the best way to do it. Jae has two boxes of matches while Kyl has found lots of old boxes that will serve well as kindling. We edge towards the pool cautiously. It is so quiet.
    â€œAre they sleeping?” I whisper to Jae.
    â€œI hope so,” Jae says.
    He places his hand on my back. It is the only thing anchoring me to reality. When we reach the pit, we freeze in shock. The Eaters are gone.
    Well, not totally gone. There are only two Eaters left. And they are eating each other. All that’s left in the pit are bones.
    I try desperately to suck in the breaths I need.
    â€œZee? Calm down. Shh. It’ll be okay.” Jae rubs my back and leads me away.
    I look up at the balcony and see the horrified look on the kids’ faces. They shouldn’t be seeing this! Kyl waves at them to go inside, but they don’t move. They are looking at something else in the distance. They look even more horrified than before.
    â€œOh no, not more of them,” I say to Jae.
    We run to the balcony on the second level to have a better view.
    It is a small group of teenagers and children. They are all on skateboards, fleeing from a horde of Eaters. I see a boy with white hair jump over a trash bin and whip his skateboard from under his feet, hitting an Eater in the face before landing and skating away.
    I see an Asian-looking boy do a tricky manoeuvre over a curb. He whips his legs around and kicks three Eaters down. Another boy jumps into the air and kicks an Eater away, clutching his board with his right hand before landing and zooming off. A red-haired girl leaps into the air and lands on one of the Eaters. Even the younger kids jump onto cars with their boards and skate out of danger.
    There is something familiar about the way the white-haired boy moves, though I don’t know why. Once, he looks like he is going to crash right into a car. Instead, he leaps from his skateboard, flies over the roof of the car, and lands back on his skateboard which has travelled to the other side. It is very, very cool.
    We all watch in amazement as they get closer and closer to our condo. The kids stop right outside the compound of the condo and look up. We duck down behind the balcony wall and hope that those on the eighth floor do the same.
    â€œWhy are we hiding?” I point out.
    Dyanne glares at me. “More people means more mouths. Do you see them carrying food?”
    â€œBut they look normal! We have to meet them! Strength in numbers! Don’t you think we would survive better as a bigger group?” I point out.
    â€œLook at how much trouble just one of you has brought us. We were happy until you came,” Dyanne says. “You have brought us nothing but bad luck.”
    â€œHey!” Jae steps in. “She’s also helped us. You can’t blame what happened with the Eaters on her! Without