assault course.
‘Miss Speaks is waiting,’ Zara shouted, pointing dramatically towards the wooded area beyond the lake. ‘All of you start running to the training compound before I really lose my temper.’
3. MOVES
‘Move it,’ Greg shouted, grabbing George by his collar.
‘I can’t,’ George gasped. ‘Got a stitch.’
They’d run down the long second-floor corridor and on to the back stairs, which were off limits to pupils unless there was a fire drill. Zhang was overweight and kept falling further behind, while the two Year Tens closed relentlessly.
Greg gave George another pull, tugging him off the landing. ‘Through the sixth-form block and we’ll be in the canteen,’ Greg explained. ‘They won’t be able to touch us in there: it’s full of teachers.’
The sense of hope gave George some energy and he leaned over the banister and started moving down as quickly as he could.
‘You’re so unfit,’ Greg moaned. ‘You should take up jogging or something.’
Zhang had caught up by the time they’d reached the bottom of the staircase, but Thomas Moran and his mate Johno were now just a single flight of stairs behind them.
Greg turned left towards the sixth-form annexe, but he was horrified to find the doors locked. Through the safety glass he saw the soft chairs and furniture all piled up and white sheets spread over the carpet tiles. A sign on the door spelled their doom:
The sixth-form block is getting a lick of paint!
Reopens September 2007
Have a great summer!!!!
‘Dammit,’ Greg shouted.
‘We’re puppy food,’ George gasped.
Out of options, Zhang led the trio back towards the staircase. Thomas Moran had reached the bottom, but Zhang used his bulk to plough through and start running down the short corridor that led to the sports hall.
The floor was covered with dried-out mud trailed in from the playing fields and the air smelled like BO. The corridor ended at a T-junction, with double doors leading into the gymnasium directly ahead, a pink corridor leading left to the girls’ changing room and a blue one going towards the boys’.
The gym was always locked at lunchtime and Zhang shoulder-charging the doors made no difference to that. The smell grew even worse as they reached the boys’ changing rooms. The air was steamy and rogue pieces of kit scattered the puddled floor. There was a communal shower at one end and a putrid-smelling toilet block at the other.
Greg and George ran in and headed towards the showers. They’d been in here a hundred times before but they glanced around, hoping against hope that there was a fire door or some other exit they’d never noticed before.
‘Dead end, boys,’ Thomas Moran whooped, smashing his huge fist into his palm as Zhang slammed the door of a toilet cubicle and bolted himself in.
‘Be reasonable,’ George begged, holding out his hands as he backed up to the showers with Greg. ‘It was meant for my sister. If you let me off I’ll pay you twenty pounds, first day of next term. I swear on my life.’
At the opposite end of the room, Johno’s size-ten Nike blasted the cubicle door, not only breaking the lock, but ripping off the hinges on the opposite side too. Zhang howled with pain as the door crashed down on his head.
‘Heeeeeere’s Johno!’ Johno grinned, throwing the door out of the cubicle before laying into Zhang with hard punches. ‘Guess where I’m gonna stick your head!’
As Zhang screamed for mercy, Greg pushed George back towards the showers and faced off Thomas Moran. Greg was tough looking, but one of the youngest in his year and only just about to turn thirteen. Thomas was bigger in every direction and his cropped hair and the sweat streaking down his muscular torso made him look fearsome.
‘You’re a cool guy,’ Thomas sneered. ‘Why you hanging out with a fat freak and a skinny freak anyway?’
‘I don’t want any trouble,’ Greg said diplomatically. ‘But I’m warning you, my dad’s a kickboxing instructor. I know how to handle myself.’
Thomas laughed so hard that he showered Greg with spit. ‘Bring it on, titch. Show us your moves!’
In the background Zhang screamed out as Johno dunked his face into the toilet bowl and pulled the flush.
Thomas turned back and saw Zhang on his knees, with Johno’s whole weight pressing down on his back.
‘Nice one, Johno,’ Thomas jeered. ‘I reckon these two could do with a hair wash as well.’
Greg twisted back around his left shoulder and pulled his hand up tight above his wrist. As Thomas turned back Greg thrust upwards, smashing the palm