them.
‘That’s not real, Rev, that’s so not real,’ Billie calls out to me as she runs, blood still pouring from her face. Her fear is the only thing keeping her on her feet
right now.
I look back at Johnson. ‘We can’t leave the Ape.’
‘Get the Moth out of here.’
‘You’re staying?’ I ask him.
‘Take the Moth, Rev.’
I turn back to the fight and see the Ape smash Lucas with a bone-crushing blow that sends him tumbling backwards. ‘I so got this!’ He wades forward, swinging and heaving, bashing
Lucas again and again. But it’s futile as Lucas keeps snapping his rubbery bones back into place.
‘Rev, you’ve got to go.’ Johnson still has his hand on my arm. I can see GG racing for all he’s worth, while herding Billie and Carrie along.
‘Would someone please get me out of here!’ screeches the Moth as politely as he can, even though he’s in a total panic.
The Ape sends Lucas crashing back into a tailor’s shop window and the glass shatters down around him. Lucas instinctively covers his face and neck as shards plummet onto him. Some actually
embed in his skin, which makes me think he’s not totally invulnerable, but then he quickly shakes them out with a lizard-like wriggle.
‘Go,’ the Ape urges as he waits for Lucas to right himself once more. ‘I’ll catch up.’
It’s not what I want to hear but together Johnson and I take hold of the Moth’s wheelchair and start pushing him as fast as we can. I glance back and watch Lucas spring out of the
shop front and arc clear over the Ape’s head. The Ape swivels and whacks Lucas over and over, battering him with all of his might, unleashing even more hell upon him.
‘Don’t look back,’ Johnson tells me as we push the Moth as fast as we can. I realise he’s telling me that he doesn’t believe the Ape will beat Lucas, or whatever
that Lucas-thing is. ‘There’s nothing we can do.’
Which makes me turn back and immediately regret it.
The Ape swings his makeshift weapon and looks stunned as it breaks in half on Lucas’s back.
I come to an abrupt halt.
‘He’s doing it for us, Rev,’ Johnson says, trying to urge me forward. ‘Buying us time, don’t let that go to waste.’
‘But—’
‘Rev, that is not Lucas, and whatever it is, it’s going to come for all of us.’
And as if to underline Johnson’s words I watch Lucas leap onto the Ape and take him down.
‘The train station! There’s a train there!’ GG has raced back to offer at least some hope. ‘C’mon, Rev, run. Move, move, move!’
All I really know is that a little bit of my heart has just died for the Ape and I barely feel the road under my pounding feet. I can taste iron in my mouth and my lungs ache horribly but I
don’t care. All I can think about is the Ape being leaped on by Lucas and it makes me want to weep.
‘Pump those pins.’ GG is now half pushing me while Johnson pushes the Moth. We don’t stop running until we reach the station at the edge of the town. It’s half a mile
from the town square and I can’t fathom how we got here without the Lucas-thing hunting us down.
The others are waiting beside a four-carriage train on platform one and I don’t really get why GG is so excited. But he babbles at ten to the dozen, breathlessly explaining.
‘My dad’s a train driver. He used to sneak me on sometimes, late at night. Totally illegal, but if you’d seen how excited I was.’
‘You can drive a train?’ Carrie is almost impressed. ‘
You?
’
GG is in his element. ‘I wasn’t there just to look good. Though obviously I did.’
‘Can you drive this one?’ Johnson yells at him and GG grins.
‘Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.’
GG darts towards the driver’s cab at the front of the train. The station is a small suburban two-platform affair that doesn’t afford much in the way of a hiding
place and Johnson scans the small car park outside, expecting to see Lucas any second. Billie is breathing
‘That’s not real, Rev, that’s so not real,’ Billie calls out to me as she runs, blood still pouring from her face. Her fear is the only thing keeping her on her feet
right now.
I look back at Johnson. ‘We can’t leave the Ape.’
‘Get the Moth out of here.’
‘You’re staying?’ I ask him.
‘Take the Moth, Rev.’
I turn back to the fight and see the Ape smash Lucas with a bone-crushing blow that sends him tumbling backwards. ‘I so got this!’ He wades forward, swinging and heaving, bashing
Lucas again and again. But it’s futile as Lucas keeps snapping his rubbery bones back into place.
‘Rev, you’ve got to go.’ Johnson still has his hand on my arm. I can see GG racing for all he’s worth, while herding Billie and Carrie along.
‘Would someone please get me out of here!’ screeches the Moth as politely as he can, even though he’s in a total panic.
The Ape sends Lucas crashing back into a tailor’s shop window and the glass shatters down around him. Lucas instinctively covers his face and neck as shards plummet onto him. Some actually
embed in his skin, which makes me think he’s not totally invulnerable, but then he quickly shakes them out with a lizard-like wriggle.
‘Go,’ the Ape urges as he waits for Lucas to right himself once more. ‘I’ll catch up.’
It’s not what I want to hear but together Johnson and I take hold of the Moth’s wheelchair and start pushing him as fast as we can. I glance back and watch Lucas spring out of the
shop front and arc clear over the Ape’s head. The Ape swivels and whacks Lucas over and over, battering him with all of his might, unleashing even more hell upon him.
‘Don’t look back,’ Johnson tells me as we push the Moth as fast as we can. I realise he’s telling me that he doesn’t believe the Ape will beat Lucas, or whatever
that Lucas-thing is. ‘There’s nothing we can do.’
Which makes me turn back and immediately regret it.
The Ape swings his makeshift weapon and looks stunned as it breaks in half on Lucas’s back.
I come to an abrupt halt.
‘He’s doing it for us, Rev,’ Johnson says, trying to urge me forward. ‘Buying us time, don’t let that go to waste.’
‘But—’
‘Rev, that is not Lucas, and whatever it is, it’s going to come for all of us.’
And as if to underline Johnson’s words I watch Lucas leap onto the Ape and take him down.
‘The train station! There’s a train there!’ GG has raced back to offer at least some hope. ‘C’mon, Rev, run. Move, move, move!’
All I really know is that a little bit of my heart has just died for the Ape and I barely feel the road under my pounding feet. I can taste iron in my mouth and my lungs ache horribly but I
don’t care. All I can think about is the Ape being leaped on by Lucas and it makes me want to weep.
‘Pump those pins.’ GG is now half pushing me while Johnson pushes the Moth. We don’t stop running until we reach the station at the edge of the town. It’s half a mile
from the town square and I can’t fathom how we got here without the Lucas-thing hunting us down.
The others are waiting beside a four-carriage train on platform one and I don’t really get why GG is so excited. But he babbles at ten to the dozen, breathlessly explaining.
‘My dad’s a train driver. He used to sneak me on sometimes, late at night. Totally illegal, but if you’d seen how excited I was.’
‘You can drive a train?’ Carrie is almost impressed. ‘
You?
’
GG is in his element. ‘I wasn’t there just to look good. Though obviously I did.’
‘Can you drive this one?’ Johnson yells at him and GG grins.
‘Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.’
GG darts towards the driver’s cab at the front of the train. The station is a small suburban two-platform affair that doesn’t afford much in the way of a hiding
place and Johnson scans the small car park outside, expecting to see Lucas any second. Billie is breathing
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