New Guard (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,22

scrambled over if the Rottweiler hadn’t got a paw on his tracksuit bottoms, dragging him down on to the manicured lawn as a woman stuck her head out of the front door fifteen metres away.

‘Help me!’ Oli screamed, getting sprayed with saliva as the dog jumped on his chest, ripping off barks.

He had no way of knowing that this was one of the CHERUB campus guard dogs, trained to bark and contain rather than maul. As the dog’s writhing weight smeared Oli into the damp grass, he caught a glance of the paint-strewn man struggling to his feet, only to get kicked – fake-kicked – dramatically down by a boy who’d sprinted in from across the road.

Oli realised it was Daniel as the woman by the door ran inside to call the cops. After vaulting the gate, Daniel closed up behind the barking dog and snatched its leash. It took all his strength to haul it back, just long enough for Oli to roll free. As the dog turned to pounce on Daniel, the fourteen-year-old stumbled back and hooked the end of the leash over a fence post.

‘Move your butt,’ Daniel ordered, hitching Oli up by his trackies and throwing him over the hedge, before grabbing the laptop out of the churned-up lawn and making the dive himself.

Oli was confused by the chain of events, but his pursuer appeared to be unconscious and Leon had doubled back and was waiting on the pavement as they exited through another front gate.

‘How slow are you?’ Leon jibed, as Daniel gave Oli a shove in the back.

Muddy, shocked and with strings of dog spit in his face, Oli felt Daniel grab his neck and shove him forward. ‘The cops are gonna be here, start running.’

Oli got dragged by the twins, feeling warm around his crotch and realising that some pee had leaked out when he thought the dog was about to bite.

13. FENCE

The reality had been Oli snivelling and peeing his pants, but he’d rewritten the story before the mud dried on his clothes. The three boys were in a tatty chicken shop, with Cokes and a jumbo chips on the plastic table in between.

‘I almost made it, man,’ Oli smiled. ‘That massive pit bull grabbed me, but I was all ready to kick up with both feet. Cane that thing in the head, but the dog got lucky when Daniel pulled it off.’

Daniel shook his head. ‘You’d have been doggie chow if I didn’t come save your ass.’

‘That kick in the face was awesome,’ Oli said. ‘I didn’t realise you know martial arts. I used to do Muay Thai, could have got my black belt, but I got moved to a new foster placement before the grading.’

Oli demonstrated his skills with a little jab.

Leon laughed. ‘You make a fist like that you’ll break your thumb first time you hit someone.’

‘I know,’ Oli said defensively, as he dipped chips in brown sauce and filled his mouth.

‘So if we walk back into Nurtrust with a wheelie case filled with booty, chances are we’ll get busted in three seconds flat,’ Leon said.

‘School will still be open for homework club,’ Daniel said. ‘There’s nothing in my locker yet.’

‘Case won’t fit in.’

Daniel shrugged. ‘Everything else will, though.’

Oli was chomping to say something, but had to swallow his chips first. ‘I told you, man. I know this guy, Trey. I’ve nicked stuff before and he’ll pay us in cash. He’s a serious dude, like Islamic State terrorism.’

The twins both laughed.

‘What’s your problem?’ Oli growled.

Leon smirked. ‘No offence, man, but you’re a little colourful.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Well, you’re almost a Muay Thai black belt, but you don’t know how to make a proper fist,’ Daniel said. ‘You’re the top goal scorer for your school team, but you run slow and get out of breath after two hundred metres. You owned a PS4 but you didn’t know where the L2 button was.’

Oli started going bright red.

‘It’s OK, dude,’ Leon said. ‘We like you. But you don’t need to make crazy shit up to impress us.’

Oli didn’t know what to say, but broke into a huge involuntary smile as Leon gave him a shoulder thump, hard enough to rock him off his plastic seat into the chicken shop’s front window.

‘I never had much in my life,’ Oli said. ‘I guess I trash-talk sometimes. But Trey is for real.’

Leon smiled. ‘You’re sure we won’t get blown up by a USAF drone strike if we visit his flat?’

‘Screw you,’ Oli said, giving