CHERUB: The Sleepwalker - Robert Muchamore Page 0,36
to do?’ he shouted bitterly.
The red shirts had made it back to the trees and the one who still had her gun took a shot. Dana ducked down and fired back, but James noticed a pair of quads coming towards them. Lauren’s fake radio announcement had only fooled the white shirts for a few minutes, and now they were all heading back to the lake.
‘Run,’ James shouted, as Dana fixed on Ryan’s night-vision goggles. ‘Where’s the other pair?’
‘McEwen’s goggles smashed,’ Dana explained. They started running along the edge of the lake. It was pretty open, but there were a few bushes to shield them.
‘We could try swimming across,’ James said. He realised it wasn’t his greatest ever idea, but he forgave himself when he recognised a pungent waft of exhaust fumes. ‘My buggy,’ he shouted.
But only Dana could see the cart charging downhill towards them, with two quads close behind.
‘I think it’s Lauren,’ she shouted.
James couldn’t believe it, but saw for himself when the headlights from one of the quads caught his sister’s face. Dana sprinted uphill with James behind, stopping only to take a couple of shots at the chasing quads.
‘Care for a ride, old bean?’ Lauren asked, skidding to a halt.
‘I bloody love you,’ James smiled. He grabbed the front passenger seat while Dana squatted down in the rear storage compartment and grabbed on to the poles holding up the roof.
The quads were almost on top of them and the little cart struggled to get any grip on the shaggy grass as Lauren tried steering back uphill.
‘Gimme a gun,’ James shouted.
Dana passed her rifle back, but she was out of ammo and it took another couple of desperate seconds for James to fit one of the spare clips from the red shirt’s backpack. Dana had to duck as he fired backwards at the chasing quads. Their riders were alone and it was impossible for them to shoot and drive at speed, but they continued to get closer and while you weren’t supposed to ram other vehicles on training exercises, everyone knew that rules get bent whenever a surge of adrenalin kicks in.
‘Right in the face,’ James howled, as a pellet smacked the rider of the closest quad in the goggles. She held on to the handlebars, but the quad wobbled and she couldn’t keep up the chase with the powdered remains of a simunition cartridge blocking her view.
The second quad had always been less of a threat, and as soon as they reached the concrete path, Lauren hit the accelerator and the buggy roared clear. The quad rider realised it was hopeless and gave up.
It was a violent ride, especially for Dana who was getting thrown all over the place in the back.
‘Don’t rev it so hard,’ James shouted over the engine noise. ‘There’s no safety cut-out. You could blow the head gasket and you don’t want to be on board when that happens.’
Lauren eased off, but she surprised James by taking a left off the path back to the main building.
‘What are you doing?’ James screamed. ‘It’s the Japanese garden. It’s a dead end.’
As Lauren slowed down, a volley of shots pelted the cart’s roof from a sniper position on the porch at the front of the dojo.
‘What’s going on?’ Dana yelled.
‘I just heard on the radio,’ Lauren replied, before yelling into the dark: ‘Do you want a ride? I can’t wait all night.’
Seconds later two crouching figures emerged from the side of the dojo. They seemed to be unarmed and bullets came from at least two firing positions as they ran. James recognised Gabrielle first as she clambered in the back and squeezed up to Dana. The other girl was James’ ex, Kerry Chang, but she hesitated because there was nowhere to sit.
‘Get on his lap,’ Lauren ordered.
Kerry was quite small, but her head was still pressed against the roof of the buggy. James locked his arms around her waist as her sweaty back pressed against his face. It had been ages since he’d been so close to his first proper girlfriend, and her smell brought back memories.
‘All safe?’ Lauren said, as she turned the cart and sped away.
The five bodies made the cart heavy and Lauren almost tipped it as they went around a corner. Now she was back where she’d been ten minutes earlier, on the main path through campus heading towards the tennis courts.
They were picking up speed, but when she squeezed the brakes nothing happened.