conveyor belt. As she grabbed on, Hayley realised she was still holding the remote control she had picked up. She threw it at the zombies with all her might. One of them caught it with surprising skill, and the others immediately turned on him and started pushing himaround. A mumbling, moaning argument ensued, and Gaz and Hayley watched in relief as the conveyor belt carried them upwards.
‘They just wanted their remote control,’ Hayley said, in a sympathetic voice. ‘Look, the poor things. All they wanted to do was watch telly.’
‘I hate it when somebody else has the remote,’ Gaz nodded.
The conveyor belt trundled up and through the hatch, and they found themselves suddenly shrouded in darkness.
5
The Disgustinger
T he conveyor belt picked up speed as it carried them through a dark, square tunnel. Up ahead, they could see Damo pulling his hood free of the steel pegs. Gaz and Hayley hung on to the edges of the belt as they crawled forward to catch up with him. No sooner had they reached him, when the belt tilted and turned and they shrieked as they were thrown off, tumbling onto a second conveyor and clinging onto it for dear life as it clattered through another room, speeding them high above rows of bronze-coloured vats.
There were signs over the huge tanks, but Gaz was not sure he believed what he was reading. They whipped past below him; ‘Jellied Slugs’ said one; ‘Used Earwax’ said another. The belt dipped like a roller-coaster and he ducked under a thirdsaid ‘Armpit Hair’. All of the vats were full of the most disgusting things he’d ever heard of. There must have been tons of the stuff.
Suddenly, a row of robotic claws came dangling down from the ceiling, snapping at them, trying to drag the kids into the tanks.
‘Aaagh!’ Damo shouted. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I think they’re trying to sort us!’ Gaz yelled backas he dodged the grip of a steel claw. ‘All that rubbish must get carried along here and dumped in those tanks!’
Damo went a yellowy-green colour and flattened himself against the belt to avoid a grasping robot hand. Hayley yelped as a claw managed to grab a tuft of her hair, and dropped it into one of the tanks.
‘Hang on!’ Gaz called to them. ‘I think we’re going to–’
The conveyor came to an abrupt end, and they fell screaming off the belt, down a chute and into a steel tank. Scrambling through a mass of white pellets to the edge of the metal box, Gaz saw that the whole thing was full of reject pills. He could tell they were rejects, because nobody can swallow something that’s shaped like a star, or has hairs sticking out of it.
The other two crawled up beside him, trembling and breathless. One after another, they let out loud burps. Gaz felt gas rising in his throat, and then he too gave a deep belch. They all looked at each otherwith puzzled expressions.
‘What’s the story here?’ Damo wheezed, fixing his cap tighter onto his head. ‘What was all that stuff for? This place is a nuthouse! And now we’re completely lost. I WANNA GO HOME!’
‘Shush!’ Hayley said in an ominous voice, while rubbing her temples. ‘I sense a great evil in this factory. This place has a very sickly aura.’
‘That’ll be the jellied slugs and the earwax,’ Gaz snorted. ‘Hey, maybe they feed that stuff to the zombies.’
Hayley screwed up her face.
‘Nobody’s that dead, Gaz.’
The three children climbed over the side of the container and dropped down to the floor. The room they were in was dark, but there was the light outline of a door only a few feet away.
‘We’re wasting time here anyway,’ Gaz turned towards the door. ‘Joey could be hurt or … or worse. Come on, we haven’t got all day.’
Damo threw a glance at Hayley, who rolled her eyes. Gaz could be a right pain when he tried to actthe boss. Through the door was a flight of stairs, and at the top of the steps was the kind of corridor you’d find in a rich person’s house, with
‘They just wanted their remote control,’ Hayley said, in a sympathetic voice. ‘Look, the poor things. All they wanted to do was watch telly.’
‘I hate it when somebody else has the remote,’ Gaz nodded.
The conveyor belt trundled up and through the hatch, and they found themselves suddenly shrouded in darkness.
5
The Disgustinger
T he conveyor belt picked up speed as it carried them through a dark, square tunnel. Up ahead, they could see Damo pulling his hood free of the steel pegs. Gaz and Hayley hung on to the edges of the belt as they crawled forward to catch up with him. No sooner had they reached him, when the belt tilted and turned and they shrieked as they were thrown off, tumbling onto a second conveyor and clinging onto it for dear life as it clattered through another room, speeding them high above rows of bronze-coloured vats.
There were signs over the huge tanks, but Gaz was not sure he believed what he was reading. They whipped past below him; ‘Jellied Slugs’ said one; ‘Used Earwax’ said another. The belt dipped like a roller-coaster and he ducked under a thirdsaid ‘Armpit Hair’. All of the vats were full of the most disgusting things he’d ever heard of. There must have been tons of the stuff.
Suddenly, a row of robotic claws came dangling down from the ceiling, snapping at them, trying to drag the kids into the tanks.
‘Aaagh!’ Damo shouted. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I think they’re trying to sort us!’ Gaz yelled backas he dodged the grip of a steel claw. ‘All that rubbish must get carried along here and dumped in those tanks!’
Damo went a yellowy-green colour and flattened himself against the belt to avoid a grasping robot hand. Hayley yelped as a claw managed to grab a tuft of her hair, and dropped it into one of the tanks.
‘Hang on!’ Gaz called to them. ‘I think we’re going to–’
The conveyor came to an abrupt end, and they fell screaming off the belt, down a chute and into a steel tank. Scrambling through a mass of white pellets to the edge of the metal box, Gaz saw that the whole thing was full of reject pills. He could tell they were rejects, because nobody can swallow something that’s shaped like a star, or has hairs sticking out of it.
The other two crawled up beside him, trembling and breathless. One after another, they let out loud burps. Gaz felt gas rising in his throat, and then he too gave a deep belch. They all looked at each otherwith puzzled expressions.
‘What’s the story here?’ Damo wheezed, fixing his cap tighter onto his head. ‘What was all that stuff for? This place is a nuthouse! And now we’re completely lost. I WANNA GO HOME!’
‘Shush!’ Hayley said in an ominous voice, while rubbing her temples. ‘I sense a great evil in this factory. This place has a very sickly aura.’
‘That’ll be the jellied slugs and the earwax,’ Gaz snorted. ‘Hey, maybe they feed that stuff to the zombies.’
Hayley screwed up her face.
‘Nobody’s that dead, Gaz.’
The three children climbed over the side of the container and dropped down to the floor. The room they were in was dark, but there was the light outline of a door only a few feet away.
‘We’re wasting time here anyway,’ Gaz turned towards the door. ‘Joey could be hurt or … or worse. Come on, we haven’t got all day.’
Damo threw a glance at Hayley, who rolled her eyes. Gaz could be a right pain when he tried to actthe boss. Through the door was a flight of stairs, and at the top of the steps was the kind of corridor you’d find in a rich person’s house, with
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