Zom-B Gladiator by Darren Shan Page B

of play. I ignore them and stare at the doorway alongwith the living.
    A guard spills into the narrow corridor, falls over, then clambers to his feet. His face is contorted with terror. ‘We’re under attack!’ he shouts.
    ‘Who the hell dares attack us?’ Justin barks, recovering his power of speech. ‘Is it the army?’
    The guard shakes his head. ‘Zombies, I think. But we’re not sure. They came from the river. They’ve swarmed the deck. I don’tthink we can hold for long.’
    Justin curses foully, then draws a gun and shoots the startled guard through the middle of his forehead.
    ‘Why did you do that?’ The Prince shrieks.
    ‘I don’t spare messengers when they bring bad news,’ Justin growls, then hops over the dead guard and into the corridor beyond.
    The Prince stares at the corpse. There’s another extended blast of gunfireoverhead. He flinches, then hurries after Justin. Vicky, Lord Luca and Dan-Dan scramble after the first pair of deserters. Lady Jemima just sinks to the floor and covers her head with her hands. She starts moaning, ‘No, no, no. This wasn’t part of the plan. It can’t happen like this. I won’t let it. This is our world.’
    Dan-Dan pauses in the doorway as the others flee. He looks back atme. I’m stunned to see him smirking. ‘Isn’t this exciting?’ he coos.
    ‘Run, run as fast you can, fat boy,’ I snarl. ‘But it won’t make any difference. You’re history.’
    Dan-Dan snorts. ‘I think not, little girl. I have more lives than a cat. See you later, alligator.’
    ‘It’ll be sooner than you’d like, crocodile.’
    Dan-Dan winks. ‘I’ll be looking forward to the day.’
    He skips out,laughing, leaving me to fend off the zombies and wait for whoever or whatever is coming.

My gut instinct is that Mr Dowling and his mutants are orchestrating the attack. They set me free from prison once before when all seemed lost, and came to my rescue in Leicester Square when it looked like my goose was cooked. They’re making a habit of savingmy sorry neck from the chop. Long may it continue! I just hope they don’t decide to kill me this time. Mr Dowling has shown mercy previously for some unknowable reason, but there’s no telling which way the demented clown will blow when the wind changes direction.
    I hang tight to the ducting and wait for the mutants or their master to find me. I’m hoping creepy Owl Man isn’t with them. Thenthe door opens and a familiar figure bursts into the room and I realise my gut was just about as wrong as wrong can be.
    ‘ Rage! ’ I yell, for once with delight instead of contempt.
    Rage squints at me. ‘What are you doing up there?’
    ‘This is what I do for kicks,’ I growl. ‘Now quit gawping and help me, will you?’
    ‘Wait a minute,’ Rage says and steps outside. ‘She’s here,’ he hollers,then returns and lays into the zombies.
    As Rage shoves the zombies away from me and starts cracking their heads open, Dr Oystein comes running into the room. ‘B!’ he cries, hurrying to where I’m hanging. He offers me his hand and helps me down.
    ‘Nice to see you, doc,’ I mutter.
    ‘You too,’ he says politely, then embraces me with a surprisingly strong bear hug. ‘I thought we had lostyou forever.’

    ‘You don’t get rid of me that easily,’ I chuckle, and hug him in return, burying my face in his chest, wishing I could cry so that I could blink back tears.
    The twins race into the room as Dr Oystein releases me. They’re dripping wet but they look ecstatic.
    ‘We’ve taken control of the deck,’ Cian cheers.
    ‘Some of the guards are still fighting, but we have them trapped,’ Awnya says.
    ‘Master Zhang has started a sweep of the lower decks,’ Cian adds. ‘He says you should be cautious until he is certain the ship is ours.’
    ‘There are children on the deck below this,’ I tell the twins. ‘Make sure nobody hurts them. They were being held captive.’
    ‘We know all about the children,’ Dr