Free The Hunted by Charlie Higson

here. There’s a load of kids live there, but they don’t like anyone else coming close. Don’t like strangers.’
    ‘Where are you from then?’ Ella asked.
    ‘Bracknell. It’s quite far from here. On the other side of the grown-ups. We were stuck. Windsor kids one way, who’d probably have beaten on us, grown-ups the other. It felt like we had no options. No choice. It’s kismet.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Fate. Do you believe in fate?’
    ‘I don’t really know what that is.’
    ‘It’s like there’s a big book somewhere with your whole life written in it. Everything that’s going to happen to you.’
    ‘I’ve never really thought about it like that,’ said Ella.
    ‘I have,’ said Isaac. ‘I have this feeling. That if they’regoing to get you then that’s what’ll happen – they’ll get you.’
    ‘Is that fate then?’
    ‘I think it’s my fate. That it’s written down. They’ll get me in the end. If I dodge it today, they’ll get me tomorrow.’
    ‘It’s better not to think about things too much,’ said Ella.
    ‘Maybe you’re right.’
    ‘What’s the matter with the moon?’ Ella asked, looking up at where it was appearing out of the darkening sky. It was turning red.
    ‘Dunno,’ said Isaac. ‘It’s not a good sign, though, is it?’ He gave a bitter little laugh.
    ‘What would make it red?’ Ella said.
    ‘Maybe smoke from a fire or something,’ said Isaac. ‘Or maybe dust or, I don’t know, particles in the atmosphere, you know, like, refracting the light.’
    ‘I think it’s pretty,’ said Ella. ‘So let’s not worry about it, yeah?’
    ‘Good plan. No worries. It’s just … They’re out there somewhere. I know they are.’
    Ella got Scarface’s binoculars out and scanned the fields. It was getting too dark to see much. She passed them to Isaac.
    ‘What else you got on you?’ he asked. ‘Anything useful like radar, or an RPG launcher?’
    ‘Nothing really.’
    Isaac adjusted the focus as he scanned the horizon.
    ‘So were you out looking for food and stuff today then?’ Ella asked, remembering the scav parties back in Holloway.
    ‘Yeah. There’s still quite a lot of stuff if you know where to look. Got a bit lost, though. Went further than we meant to, strayed into Windsor territory.’
    ‘Are the Windsor children really that bad?’
    ‘They’re all bastards. Them and Slough and Maidenhead. We only have any dealings with them at the races, at Ascot. Then we all get together and …’ His voice dropped. ‘Oh shit.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘They’re coming …’



12
     
    Ella found the other kids sitting on the logs, not really talking to each other. She was glad to see that Sonya and Louisa were there. She explained what she’d seen from the look-out and saw them get all hunched up and scared-looking, though they were trying hard not to show it. Ella had seen enough kids like this before to recognize the signs. Daniel swore. Harry laughed. Ella had no idea what at. Maybe nothing. Louisa looked towards the gate and shook her head.
    There was no sign of Scarface. He was still keeping to himself. Ella hurried off and tracked him down to the barn where he was sitting in his favourite garden chair, poking the fire with a bundle of sticks that he’d tied together.
    ‘They’re nearly here,’ she said. ‘We saw them from the tree with the binoculars. We’ve still got time to run. We could try to get to Windsor. We’ll be faster than them, I think.’
    Scarface shook his head. He was probably as scared of the kids in Windsor as the grown-ups. Maybe more so. And everything he had was here, on the farm.
    ‘Sonya and Louisa, the girls, they’ve been trying to get in the buildings.’
    Scarface made the grunting noise in his throat and laid his sticks down near the edge of the fire. Ella could see that he’d made another couple of bundles.
    ‘Are we going to die?’ she asked him.
    She didn’t know why she bothered asking. She knew what he would do. Just shrug.