Free Thief! by Malorie Blackman Page A

strangest dream I’ve ever had in my life, she thought to herself as she ran.
    A couple of minutes passed before Lydia had to stop to unbutton her jacket. She was sweltering. She caught up with Fran and they carried on racing flat out without exchanging a word.
    As they approached the town, Lydia was stunned by what she saw. That afternoon on the bus, she had passed shops and houses and neat gardens. They had all disappeared. In their place were several single-storey buildings surrounded by wire fences and barbed wire. The street was covered in mountains of rubbish and mounds of debris and rubble. There was an eerie silence all around and the very air smelt stale and unpleasant. Lydia took a number of short breaths so that she wouldn’t have to breathe in too much of the foul smell surrounding her.
    The ear-splitting siren sounded again, even louder than before. Except now the shriek was continuous.
    ‘Jump down!’ Fran shouted.
    ‘What?’ Lydia couldn’t hear a word above the noise of the klaxon.
    ‘Jump down!’ Fran pointed to the embankment sloping away from the road. At Lydia’s puzzled look, Fran grabbed her arm and pulled her off the road. They rolled down the embankment together. Lydia winced as her knee hit something sharp and hard. Fran placed her finger over her lips, then beckoned to Lydia to follow her. They crouched low and ran but the embankment soon petered away.
    Then the siren stopped . . .
    ‘We’ve got to get out of here. Curfew’s started.’ Fran ducked low and ran behind the nearest pile of junk and rubbish.
    ‘What’s that place?’ Lydia pointed to the bungalows.
    ‘The Night Guards’ camp, of course,’ Fran whispered. ‘Surely you’ve seen one before?’
    ‘Where did all this come from? I don’t . . .’
    ‘Shush! Keep your voice down,’ Fran hissed. ‘Follow me.’
    Fran began to crawl along the filthy ground, edging towards the next mound of rubbish. With a frown of distaste, Lydia straightened up and started walking behind Fran.
    ‘What’re you doing?’ Lydia asked.
    ‘GET DOWN!’
    Too late!
    Without warning, a white laser blast like a rigid flash of lightning cut across Lydia, only just missing her. Lydia heard a low, distant boom as something was fired at her. A second later her upper arm felt as if a fiery poker had been thrust into it. She shrieked with agony, clutching her left arm. The pain was intense, red-hot. A wet, sticky warmth ran down her arm and over the back of her hand down to her fingers. Lydia fell to her knees, the pain was so extreme. Her arm felt like it was on fire. She stared down at the wide, blood-drenched tear in her left jacket sleeve and her jumper and shirt beneath. She was too stunned to even blink. Her whole body trembled with a coldness, more profound than any she’d ever experienced before.
    Fran struggled to pull Lydia to her feet.
    ‘ Come on . Hurry.’
    Lydia stared at Fran with unseeing eyes.
    ‘ Please ,’ Fran begged, yanking at Lydia’s right arm.
    Lydia struggled to get to her feet. If only it wasn’t so cold . . . When did it get so cold?
    ‘This way. Quick!’
    Fran raced for the nearest half-demolished building, dragging Lydia along behind her. They zigzagged as they ran with laser bursts lighting up the twilight and low booms sounding around them. One laser blast missed Fran’s head by mere millimetres.
    Lydia wasn’t cold any more. She was burning up. Her face was bathed in perspiration and she felt so sick. A sudden whirring noise behind them grew louder and louder. Terrified, Lydia looked over her shoulder as she ran. Bewildered seconds passed before Lydia realized exactly what was making the noise. It was a car – a car flying several metres above the ground and speeding towards them. A giant beam like a huge searchlight shone from the car’s underside and danced along the ground after them. And Lydia could hear footsteps pounding behind her, getting closer and closer, but she couldn’t see anyone.