CHERUB: Brigands M.C. - Robert Muchamore Page 0,91
to pull us back from the brink.’
A green LED lit up on Lauren’s controller, indicating that her tank was ready to fire again. She came to a halt and took aim at the sliver of Dante’s T34 protruding from the plum trunk.
‘You’ll never hit that,’ Joe warned, as Lauren fired anyway and missed. ‘Idiot!’
Anna scowled at Dante. ‘Don’t screw it up,’ Dante warned, as he passed the controller over. ‘The firing light just came on.’
After missing, Lauren’s tank was vulnerable to attack, but instead of retreating she charged on towards the plum tree. It was a calculated risk, based upon the fact that Anna was going to miss.
‘Ooops,’ Anna said, as her tank shot backwards.
‘That one’s the turret,’ Dante groaned, as he pointed at the controller.
‘Keep your wig on,’ Anna shouted back, as Lauren’s tank closed to within four metres.
‘Shoot now,’ Dante yelled.
Anna got the turret pointing towards Lauren’s Panzer and pressed the fire button.
‘Too soon,’ Dante said furiously. ‘The turret was still moving.’
The synthesised voices from two control units disagreed. ‘Side hit. Tank A, damage level thirty-five per cent.’
‘What!’ Joe yelled indignantly. ‘That was head on. How could it possibly hit the side?’
‘Must have just glanced it,’ Dante giggled, as he slapped Anna on the back. ‘Nice one.’
Lauren’s gun was almost ready to fire, but Anna charged forward recklessly. Lauren threw her Panzer into reverse, but instead of the electric motor churning inside, she got a whimper.
The two tanks crashed face on. The left track of Anna’s T34 reared up on to the Panzer. The front track hit the turret hard, before the vehicle tipped sideways and rolled off. As the T34 landed upside down on its turret, Lauren frantically jiggled her controller.
‘It’s dead,’ she said, as she demonstrated the fact to Joe.
‘Flat battery,’ Joe explained.
‘Is there a spare?’ Lauren asked, and Joe shook his head.
‘Victory!’ Dante said, grinning at Anna.
Lauren tutted. ‘How can it be a victory if your tank is upside down?’
‘And you’re eighty-five per cent damaged,’ Joe added. ‘We kicked your arse.’
‘It’s a war of attrition,’ Dante grinned. ‘We conserved energy and ammunition.’
‘The only reason your battery lasted longer is that you couldn’t use the controller,’ Joe said.
‘Well they’re your dad’s tanks,’ Anna replied. ‘You’ve driven them before.’
Lauren peeled her sweaty top away from her back and grabbed her trainers out of the grass. ‘I’m going inside,’ she said. ‘I’m gasping for a drink.’
Joe carried the dead Panzer, while Dante flipped the T34 back on to its tracks and drove it through the open doors of the conservatory. Lauren followed it and found Joe’s brother Martin in a leather armchair reading The Times.
‘Why is all that booze piled up in the hallway?’ Martin asked, when Joe came in. ‘Planning a little soirŽe, are we?’
‘You’ll be at the crêperie,’ Joe smiled. ‘So you and your bum-boy friends aren’t invited.’
Lauren had grown to like Joe, but she hated it when he trumpeted his dad’s homophobic views and she flicked his ear. ‘Don’t be such a shit,’ she said.
‘It’s OK, Lauren,’ Martin said airily. ‘Bigotry is a sign of a small mind, and they don’t come much smaller than Joe’s.’
Dante grinned. ‘If you think his mind’s small, you should see his dick in the changing rooms.’
‘Trust you to be looking, you bender,’ Joe snapped back.
Martin stood up and eyed Joe seriously. ‘If this house gets trashed, Dad’ll kill you.’
‘No he won’t,’ Joe grinned. ‘I’m his golden boy. If he hears that I threw a wild party he’ll slap me on the back and tell me I’m a chip off the old block.’
Martin sighed. ‘The depressing thing is you’re probably right about Dad, but if the house gets messed up Mum will smack you into next week.’
‘I can handle Mum,’ Joe smirked. ‘Her bark is worse than her bite. And besides, it’s all people I know from school. If someone pukes or something I’ll get Lauren to put on her Marigolds and scrub up.’
Dante laughed. ‘Yeah, girls love cleaning. It’s genetic.’
Lauren gave Joe the finger. ‘With the sexism and the homophobia I can see one little boy getting smacked into next week before his mommy comes home,’ she grinned.
*
James lay on a narrow bed in the back of a small Volkswagen camper van. His skin glistened with sweat, he was out of breath and his clothes were strewn over the tiny kitchen cabinets running along the opposite wall. The Spanish girl snuggled naked beside him.
James was grinning from ear to ear. ‘That was bloody incredible!’