Cat blinked with confusion as Kinslow positioned her in the center of the ring. It seemed much bigger than it had earlier. Everything had been cleared away and it was just the two of them, Mr. Dowling and all of the mutants and babies looking on from outside with fascination.
“You wanted to know why we chose you,” Kinslow said softly. “Why, out of all the survivors in London, we selected you for special treatment. This is where you find out.”
Zombies advanced into the ring, several of them, no handlers in sight. Catching the scent of Cat’s brain, they set their sights on her and began to close in for the kill. Then Kinslow pressed a whistle between his lips and blew commandingly. The zombies drew to a halt and held their ground, eyeing Cat hungrily.
“We were at your school on Z Day,” Kinslow said, stepping away from Cat to slowly circle the zombies. “We’d been keeping tabs on one of your students.”
“Who?” Cat frowned, trying to think which of her useless pupils might be of interest to creatures such as these. “Why?”
“We saw you sacrifice some of the children to the zombies in order to escape,” Kinslow went on, sidestepping her question. “We admired your ruthless streak. We kept an eye on you after that, to see how you’d develop. We thought you might make a valuable addition to the team.”
“Your team?” Cat’s nose wrinkled with disgust. “Never.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you’d join us if the offer was put before you,” Kinslow snickered. “Even given what we did to your sister and her family, I still think you’d do anything necessary to spare your own neck. And we might yet make that offer. Mr. Dowling is weighing it up even as we speak.”
Cat’s gaze flickered to the seated clown. He was looking all around the place and scratching an armpit. It was impossible to tell what he might be thinking.
“What would I have to do?” Cat asked warily.
“Tame the savage beasts,” Kinslow giggled, then blew his whistle again. At his command the zombies shuffled out of the ring and returned with steps and hoops that they set in place, reacting to Kinslow’s orders. Claudia reappeared, adjusted some of the props, then set one of the hoops alight, before taking a little bow.
When the girl retreated, Kinslow blew his whistle shrilly and the zombies all climbed the steps, one per set, to balance on a single leg at the top. The mutants and babies applauded.
Kinslow blew again and a couple of the zombies did handstands. More applause. He then had the zombies descend to trot around the hoops and jump through one at a time, building up to the fiery hoop, which he kept until last.
A few of the zombies singed their heads or arms coming through the hoop of flames, but none suffered any serious injuries, and soon they were all standing in a line in front of Kinslow again, awaiting his next command.
“See?” Kinslow smiled. “It’s easy, isn’t it?” He produced another whistle and tossed it to Cat. His face went flat and he said in a low voice, “Your turn.”