Free Die Now or Live Forever by Anne Rooney Page B

Way at home – there’s too much light from all the buildings.’
    Finn started to kick dirt onto the fire, swatting at a mosquito on his arm as he did so.
    ‘Don’t put it out,’ pleaded Juliette. ‘I’d rather have the mosquitoes than the tent-peg killer.’
    ‘How many stars are there, Alistair?’ Finn grinned cruelly as he said it.
    ‘Shut up, Finn. Leave him alone.’ Ruby was cross: it wasn’t fair. But it was too late – Alistairwas already trying to count the stars in the Milky Way.
    She put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Close your eyes. Count how many times I tap your arm instead.’ He knew the trick. It was hard to close his eyes, but he did it and Ruby tapped away – 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29. 29. It was always a prime number. He waited to see if she would go on to 31, but she didn’t.
    ‘29!’
    ‘Time for bed,’ she said, squeezing his hand, and he dipped into the tent.
    ‘Why did you bring that freak?’ Finn asked. ‘Does he have OCD or something?’
    ‘Yeah, something like that,’ she said. ‘He’s not afreak. What does it matter if he needs to count things? It doesn’t harm you.’
    ‘He’s a baby.’ Finn put his thumb in his mouth.
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Omar. ‘Better someone who counts things than someone –’
    ‘Stop it!’ snapped Ruby. ‘This is bad enough already without fighting. We didn’t choose to be together, but we are. Let’s focus on being safe and then getting out of here. Alistair’s no trouble. And I’m looking after him, not you, so you can both shut up.’
    ‘There are too many mozzies here,’ said Omar. A slapping sound came from inside the tent. ‘You got them in there, too, Alistair?’ he called.
    Alistair opened the flap.
    ‘Yes. Look, I killed this one.’
    ‘Good lad. Kill them all.’
    ‘But look at it.’ Alistair held out his hand with a squashed mosquito smeared across the palm. A smudge of red showed it had already bitten one of them.
    ‘Nice. Well done. You can wipe it off now,’ Omar said.
    ‘No,’ Alistair persisted. ‘Look at it. It’s not a normal mosquito. It’s a different type.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter, Alistair,’ Ruby said. ‘Let’s all see how many we can kill in our tents and then go to sleep.’
    Alistair smiled. ‘I’m going to keep it. I’m going to put it in my notebook.’
    ‘Lovely,’ muttered Finn. ‘A collection of squashed mosquitoes. And you say he’s not a freak?’ He kicked dirt over the last of the fire and they huddled into their tents.
    * * * * *
    Outside, the forest crackled with night noises. Wolves howled in the distance. Closer to, a bag dropped onto dry leaves with a thud. No one heard it.

Three
    Ruby was the first to wake.
    ‘Ugh, mosquitoes! I’m covered in bites.’ She squinted in the sunlight. ‘Why’s it so bright today? It hurts my eyes.’
    ‘There are always mosquitoes near water – you should know that,’ Finn called from inside the tent. ‘Man up, girl!’
    Soon they were all outside, scratching at theirbites and shading their eyes. Ruby slapped her arm and scratched hard, drawing blood. Apart from Alistair, who was arranging sticks at exact right-angles, they turned to stare at her.
    ‘What? Stop staring, you’re creeping me out.’ She lifted her arm to her mouth and sucked the blood away.
    Finn parted his lips.
    ‘Shall I do that for you?’
    ‘Are you coming onto me or something? That’s just freaky. Leave me alone.’
    ‘Breakfast anyone?’ she asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
    ‘Do we have any meat?’
    As soon as Alistair asked, Ruby realised she wanted meat, too. But they didn’t have any.
    ‘Maybe we could catch something?’ he suggested.
    She was about to say this was stupid, but why shouldn’t they catch something? After all, this was supposed to be an outdoor challenge trip. Why not catch rabbits or something for breakfast?
    ‘Hey, math-boy,’ yelled Finn. ‘There are ants over here – why don’t you come and count