idiot. ‘Yeah, desks are notorious for their bullet-stopping ability.’
‘Well sis, if you’ve got any better ideas my ears are wide open.’
‘Shut it,’ Rat gasped. ‘Something’s up there.’
A torch lit up their faces as a shout came from the top of the staircase. ‘Turn around, put your hands on your heads.’
James recognised the voice and smiled with relief. ‘Ernie, thank god it’s you.’
He felt confident until he heard the safety catch of an automatic rifle being removed.
‘Hands on heads,’ Ernie repeated stiffly. ‘I don’t know what’s going on with you three, but Miss Regan’s had a dozen people out searching for you. Now, come up them steps nice and sloooow. No sudden moves.’
*
Everyone they passed in the dimly lit tunnels wore body armour and most had a gun slung over their shoulder. The Survivors’ Manual said there was no such thing as an angel who wasn’t prepared to defend the Ark by any means necessary.
The combo of ragged Survivor clothes, middle-aged spread and automatic weapons had a comic air, like a bunch of accountants dressing up to re-enact some famous battle. But James didn’t find it funny: these were Joel Regan’s most fanatical followers and they’d already shown what they were capable of.
The Spider’s bunker was three levels beneath the church. Her garb was pure theatre: camouflage baseball cap, flak jacket, a small machine gun hung off her spindly shoulders and two grenades hooked over the waistband of her cut-off jeans.
The three kids lined up stiffly in front of her desk. Some of The Spider’s cronies sat behind them on stacking chairs, including Georgie, who now sported a backwards baseball cap and an assault rifle.
‘The three of you were seen clambering out of the residence,’ The Spider said. ‘What were you doing up there?’
‘Susie ordered us up there to help her pack,’ James explained.
‘But you clambered out and didn’t return to school,’ The Spider said severely. ‘Sneaks clamber, honest souls use the front door.’
James didn’t know how to answer and Rat took up the slack.
‘I ripped one of Susie’s skirts pulling it off its hanger,’ he lied. ‘She started going insane. Screaming and shouting about how much money it cost and threatening to have us paddled. She threw a make-up case at Lauren’s head and we just legged it. We didn’t want to disobey her, honestly. But we were scared. We’d seen what had happened to the butler and we really thought she was going to hurt us.’
‘I see,’ The Spider said, leaning across the desk and locking her fingers together. ‘And then you were seen in the truck. I can only assume you were trying to escape.’
‘We were scared Susie was after us,’ Rat explained. ‘James said he knew how to drive the truck. He said he’d be able to take us as far as the nearest town and phone his dad for help.’
James couldn’t help admiring Rat’s intelligence. The excuses were ten times better than anything he could have come up with.
The Spider hummed as she tried to find the flaw in Rat’s story. ‘But you must have realised that Susie and Brian had left when the jet took off. Why did you stay in hiding?’
‘I thought she might have left orders for Georgie to punish us when we got back to the school.’
‘Well …’ The Spider said, breaking into an uneasy smile. ‘That seems to explain the great mystery. You’ll be happy to learn that I don’t think we’ll be seeing Susie Regan inside the Ark again.’
Georgie cleared her throat, making it clear that she wanted to speak.
The Spider nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘I don’t mean to speak out of turn, Eleanor, but you’d do well not to believe every word that comes out of Rathbone’s mouth. He’s a notorious liar. I’ve had to paddle him more times than the rest of the Blues combined.’
The Spider’s face stiffened and she reared up in her seat. ‘Georgie, I don’t much care for your tone. I know Rathbone can be a handful, but you ought to remember that he is of the blood. He is and shall always be Joel Regan’s son and my own half brother.’
Georgie’s bulbous frame seemed to wilt under The Spider’s glare. ‘Of course,’ she said weakly. ‘I understand.’
‘Take the three of them back to the school,’ The Spider ordered. ‘And make sure you don’t lose them again.’
As soon as they were a hundred metres clear of The Spider’s office and heading down a tunnel towards the school, Rat couldn’t resist giving his arch enemy a cheeky grin.
‘Eyes forward,