War Dog Read Free

and fall. He looked like he was asleep. But it was the kind of sleep you never wake up from.
    We buried Charlie where he lay. It seemed like the right thing to do. I couldn’t help, of course. But I watched as my friends dug the hole and lowered him into the earth. It felt as if Sam was with us in spirit. Saying goodbye to his friend. Or, maybe, saying hello again. Welcoming him to wherever it is we go when we die. At least, that’s what I like to think.
    Anyway, I’ve kept you too long. Your folks will be wondering where you are. You’d better go, but thanks for listening, you know. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You get used to a false leg after a while. And whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for me. Because remember: thanks to a brave dog and his handler, I escaped with my life.
    That makes me one of the lucky ones.

 
     
     
    If you enjoyed reading War Dog , you might also like Breathe And You Die by Andrew Fusek Peters.
     
    Matt wakes up in a room he doesn’t recognise.
    The room is full of smoke.
    The smoke is toxic. If he breathes it in, he’ll die.
     
    Matt and his friend Leah are caught up
    in a madman’s plan for revenge on their school.
    But before Matt can save his friends,
    he must save himself…
     
    Buy online at
    www.franklinwatts.co.uk .
    978 1 4451 2313 4 paperback
    978 1 4451 2316 5 eBook
     
    Turn over to read an extract from
    Breathe And You Die .

    7 p.m.
    Matt woke up coughing. The smell in his nose was rank, a mix of rotten eggs and dead meat. Where was he? And why did his head hurt? He slowly opened his eyes. Weird. He was lying on bare floorboards in a room he’d never seen in his life. He still wore his school clothes, now scuffed and torn. If this was a dream, it was convincing. Thick smoke hovered a few inches above his head. More of it poured in from a vent high in the ceiling. Here, down by the floor, the air was almost clear.
    It didn’t take a science degree to know the smoke was poison. If he sat up, and breathed it in, he’d be dead. Matt tried to think. Last thing he remembered, he was leaving school late after his karate lesson. His Kata had been good and the Sensei, his teacher, was pleased with Matt’s progress. What else? There’d been a van with tinted windows, slowing down alongside him. Then … nothing. He coughed again, he could feel the gas exploring his lungs, trying to shut him down for good.
    It didn’t make sense. He was an ordinary year 9 boy, who went to a boring school. A brown belt in Shotokan Karate, even with a second stripe, was hardly a threat. Every second he lay there thinking, the smoke above his head grew thicker. He had to get out. Apart from the bump on his head, he appeared to be in one piece. Matt crawled as close to the floor as possible towards the door. The room narrowed into a corridor. When he finally got to the end and reached up with his arm, the door was firmly locked and the letter box was nailed down. Who would do this to him? It was mad! He slid backwards. Maybe he’d have better luck with the window.
    He grabbed a deep lungful of clean air and stood up, using both arms to try and slide the window open. The smoke made his eyes smart. Why wouldn’t it budge? He looked again. Window lock. Damn! Think Matty. Think! Of course – the dirty plastic chair by the window. It had metal legs. He knelt down to take another breath and grabbed the chair, swinging with all his might against the glass.

 
    This ebook edition published in 2013
     
    Franklin Watts
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
     
    Franklin Watts Australia
Level 17/207 Kent Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
     
    The author has asserted his right in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
     
    All rights reserved
     
    A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
     
    Slava Gerj/Shutterstock: front cover c.
Anna Kucherova/Shutterstock: front cover b.
lolloj/Shutterstock: front cover top.
     
    (ebook) ISBN: 978 1 4451 2346 2
    (pb)