The Terminus Read Free Page B

planning to hand them over to the
spy.”
    The thing in
Arthry’s hand… a knife!
    “No!” insisted
Gary, shaking his head and backing away, his eyes trained on the knife. “Why
kill me?”
    “ Why should I take chances… with everything at stake and no sensible
explanation from yourself? Anyway, the gee-rats need feeding.”
    Gary, his back
against the wall, had no escape option. His only hope would be to remove the
time-specs, but what chance was there of avoiding death in the present-day
Underground tunnel? Get stabbed or be hit by a train? Beetie made the decision
for him:
    “DON’T!
LEAVE HIM ALONE! YOU’RE WRONG! RUN, GARY!”
she screamed, darting forward between Gary
and Arthry just as the big guy lunged with his knife. “RU… AAARGH!”
    Beetie swayed,
her beautiful eyes showing pain then fear until replaced by an awful, hollow
emptiness.
    Gary turned
and fled. Beetie’s agonised cry cut him to the quick but he could do nothing
for her. He ran on, making maximum use of his limited soccer skills as he
dodged those in the corridor who tried to block his way. The door to the tunnel
opened automatically. He took off into the blackness in the direction of the
disused station, his anger turning against himself for not having saved the
girl’s life. With a heart-beat fall of running footsteps hot on his heels his
only protection would be the darkness. He threw himself to the ground, rolling
sideways till up against the wall where he remained perfectly still, holding
his breath whilst three pursuers ran past. One held a small torch, its light
dancing. Gary recognised the flickering face of Blinker. Another carried a
spear. After they’d passed, Gary stood and blindly patted his way along the
wall, soon reaching an alcove where he could hide. The sickening stench
pervading the tunnel half-choked him as the voices of Blinker and his mates
echoed in the darkness ahead:
    “We’ve gotta kill him. Arthry mustn’t find out. Beetie suspected, as you thought,
the silly little bitch, but we won’t have to worry about her any
longer.”
    “Are you sure he went this way?”
    “Where else
would he have gone, rat brain!”
    “Could’ve
doubled back. Might be thinking of trying to save Beetie.”
    “Revolting,
the way she couldn’t take her eyes off him! Ready for a return to the Hatchery,
my sister is. Was! Wait… that noise! Did you bring the gee-rat poison?”
    “Thought you did.”
    “Damn you!
Back to the Retreat! NOW !”
    “What about…?”
    “We’ll check
the gee-rats’ shit for the time-specs later...”
    As they ran
back past him, Gary also heard it: a scraping of large objects moving swiftly
towards them, accompanied by a deep-throated chatter. The darkness exploded
with frantic screams and thuds. Gary sprang to his feet and ran on ahead.
    To run into
blackness, unable to see more than a few feet ahead, was terrifying, but this
seemed as nothing compared with the horror being played out in the tunnel
behind him.
    Thankfully,
the dimly-illuminated station soon emerged from the gloom. Gary ran along the
platform, up the escalator stairs and out onto the street teeming with
surfacers.
    Were these
zombies part of some plan devised by the mysterious Agenda? To carry out his plan, and prevent Beetie from dying, he had to remain alive. Calmly, he
retraced his steps towards the spot where Blinker had pulled him from the path
of the shuttle-bus. In precisely the same spot, was a little man wearing a
long, grey coat. His ridiculously large head bore a skull-like face with goofy
teeth and oversized eyes as ugly as Beetie’s were beautiful, and he appeared to
be seeking something or someone. The man for whom Gary had been mistaken? The
one sent to kill God?
    The awfulness
of causing Beetie’s death hit the boy; the guilt of allowing the girl to get
slaughtered in that Godforsaken underground hole was as unbearable as the
thought of never seeing those eyes again. His plan had to work!
    Gary slowly
approached