Free Taken Over by Z. Fraillon

way.
    The queen froze, and fell to the floor with a loud thump.
    Jasper let himself breathe again. He was drenched in what he seriously hoped was sweat.
    â€˜Wha–?’ Felix mumbled, turning towards Jasper.
    â€˜What happened?’ Saffy asked, rubbing her eyes. ‘Where did she go? She was so beautiful ...’
    He pointed to the queen.
    â€˜Eeew,’ Saffy replied. Even Boris shuddered.
    â€˜Um, sorry, mate,’ Felix added.
    â€˜Yeah, good one though,’ Saffy grinned.
    â€˜No worries, I’ll just leave the eggs to you lot,’ Jasper replied.
    â€˜Oh yeah, the eggs.’ Felix looked up at the nest. ‘Any ideas?’
    But Saffy was already busy tearing down the room’s tatty old curtains and pulling it into a makeshift sack for the eggs.
    Boris looked into the nest. ‘None have been cracked yet. That’s good, right?’
    â€˜Definitely good,’ Felix answered.
    Boris carefully handed the eggs down from the nest. ‘They’re freezing cold!’ he said, surprised.
    â€˜Yeah, they’re monster eggs,’ said Felix. ‘That’s what they’re like.’
    Together they counted out twenty-three eggs into the sack.
    Felix tied a knot tightly around the sack. ‘We did it! We actually did it!’ he said, clapping his hands.
    Jasper slumped to the floor. He felt as if he could sleep for a year. He closed his eyes and sighed happily. We did it.
    Boris hauled Jasper to his feet. ‘No time to rest! We still have five more drones to freeze, and all the students to save, remember? They’re either covered in hives or paralysed by fear. Come on, let’s get some more dog drool from the Species Studies classroom and freeze the rest of them.’ Boris thumped Jasper fondly on the back, as Jasper groaned.

17
    Jasper sat in the food hall, picking at a piece of stale bread. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so exhausted. By the time they’d finished freezing the last of the monsters, he could have dropped on the spot. Every muscle in his body ached, and his head throbbed as though someone had whacked him with a cricket bat.
    Felix scraped mould off his cheese and Saffy was staring vaguely into space. Only Boris still seemed to have some energy left. He was jigging excitedly up and down in his seat.
    The food hall was eerily quiet. Most of the students were recovering in the school hospital, and the teachers were busy airing out the assembly hall and removing the frozen Skrinkerscreech from the hallways.
    The only people in the food hall were the Whispered kids, who’d spent the last hour gathered around Felix, Jasper, Saffy and Boris, wanting all the details.
    â€˜I can’t believe I missed out on the action,’ said Mac. ‘I wish I’d been there. But listen, Jasper. You’d better watch out for Señor Hermes. You really got him riled by running off like that.’
    Jasper buried his head in his hands. Obviously the fact he’d saved the school from monsters hadn’t impressed Hermes.
    Jasper wasn’t sure what he’d say to Señor Hermes. It wouldn’t be long before the teachers had finished getting rid of the monsters and seeing to all the other students – and then they would come to the food hall.
    â€˜Heads up!’ Mac called from the doorway.
    Jasper froze. Señor Hermes was storming down the corridor towards the food hall.
    â€˜McPhee!’ Hermes called out. ‘Is McPhee in there?’
    Saffy looked at Jasper. ‘I would run if I – ’
    â€˜DOMINGUEZ!’ yelled Master Poon, suddenly towering over them in his full camouflage. ‘I’m going to give you five seconds to hand back my cancel cards, and then I’ll get angry,’ Master Poon warned.
    Saffy reached into the pocket of her hoodie. ‘Here!’ she said, handing a pack of cards to Master Poon. Jasper’s jaw dropped.
    â€˜You mean, you didn’t earn them? You