SIX

Dr Oystein and I throw ourselves to opposite sides of the corridor. It’s what I was taught to do by Master Zhang in a situation like this. It means the gunman has to swivel and set his sights on just one person.

Burke focuses on Dr Oystein. He keeps firing as he strides forward, screaming ‘Demon!’ over and over, as if it’s the only word he knows.

‘Stop!’ I roar, racing towards him, waving my arms, trying to draw him away from Dr Oystein. The doc is dodging the bullets as best he can, moving with surprising speed for a guy his age.

Burke ignores me and keeps on firing. His eyes are wild. Spit flies from his lips every time he roars. Even in the heat of the moment I feel a stab of envy. You can’t produce proper spit when you’re a zombie. My mouth has been a dry, stale hole ever since I came back to life.

I close on Burke and he swings his arm round. He starts to fire, but pauses when he sees that it’s me. A desperate expression shoots across his face. He adjusts his aim slightly and shoots at the floor ahead of me, trying to scare me off.

But I don’t scare easily. I keep on coming. Burke’s features harden and he whirls away, closer to the wall, searching for a clear shot at Dr Oystein. He fires again. There’s a cry of pain as one of the bullets strikes home. I don’t look back to check on the doc. There isn’t time.

‘Stop!’ I yell again as I come within striking distance of the man who was once my favourite teacher.

‘Demon!’ Burke retorts, steadying his arm, taking careful aim.

I want to calm him down and talk this through, but there’s no time. If I don’t stop him, he’s going to kill Dr Oystein. In a panic, I swing at his gun hand and swat the weapon away. Burke cries out with pain and stumbles after his lost weapon. Then he comes to a halt and stares at the fingers which a second before had been holding the gun.

I pulled my punch as much as I could. I knew the dangers of direct contact and tried to avoid it, so that I could subdue Burke and try to find out what’s wrong with him. But you can’t always strike accurately in a fight, not when your opponent has a gun and is about to kill one of your team.

I knocked the gun from Burke’s hand. But a couple of the bones sticking out of my fingers scratched his palm.

Burke stares at the wounds, his eyes bulging. They’re minor scrapes. A kitten could have done more damage. But Burke hasn’t been scratched by a cat. He’s been scratched by a zombie. And the infectious nick of a monster like me is death to a human like him.

‘I’m sorry!’ I scream, thrusting my hands behind my back, as if I can undo what I’ve done. ‘I didn’t mean to. I only wanted to knock away the gun. Why didn’t you stop firing when I told you?’

Burke stares at me, his cheeks puffing in and out. There are tears in his eyes. He clutches the injured hand to his chest and falls to his knees. Shakes his head and moans pitifully.

Master Zhang races into the corridor, followed by some Angels. His eyes dart from Burke to me to Dr Oystein, taking in everything in an instant. ‘Are you in control of the situation?’ he barks.

I can’t answer.

‘Becky Smith!’ he snaps. ‘Are you in control?’

‘Yes,’ I say hoarsely, my training kicking in as I take a firmer stance, ready to stop Burke if he makes another grab for the gun.

‘Oystein,’ Zhang shouts, racing past me. ‘Are you injured?’

‘Only winged,’ Dr Oystein says. ‘One of the bullets struck my shoulder. I will be all right.’

I don’t look back. I stay focused on Burke. He’s crying openly now. He holds out his injured hand to me and whispers something.

‘What was that?’ I moan, expecting him to say ‘Demon!’ again. But this time it’s different.

‘Dowling,’ Burke croaks through his tears, and I go cold inside as I start to piece together what has happened.

I sit beside the damned Billy Burke, the man who saved me in the underground complex, who has helped take care of me since I came to County Hall, who was always a good friend and trusted teacher, the man I would have chosen for a father if I could. I wrap my arms round him and pull him close, like a mother nursing her baby.

‘It’s OK,’ I tell him as he starts to quiver uncontrollably. ‘I’m with you. I’ll look out for you. It won’t be long now. The pain will pass.’

‘Dowling,’ Burke says again, sobbing into the fabric of my T-shirt.

‘I know,’ I shush him. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll track him down. I’ll make that bastard pay.’

Burke starts shaking his head and tries to say something else. But before he can, his body rattles. His head flies back and his eyelids snap open and shut, time and time again. There’s a creaking noise as the bones in his fingers and toes start to push out, tearing through the flesh. His lips peel back as his teeth lengthen and thicken into fangs.

Master Zhang returns and stands over the pair of us. He looks furious but sad at the same time. I don’t know if he was friends with Burke – I’m not sure that Zhang has any real friends – but he respected the ex-teacher.

I clutch Burke tight and whisper in his ear, trying to make this as comfortable for him as I can, even though I know his brain has already shut down, that he can’t understand anything I’m saying.

‘B,’ Zhang says quietly. I glance up at him. He extends his right hand, the fingers hooked, and raises a questioning eyebrow, asking if I want him to put the transforming human out of his misery.

I start to nod, then recall something and shake my head, angry at myself for almost forgetting such a crucial factor. ‘No! He got Dr Oystein to vaccinate him. He wanted the chance of revitalising if he was ever infected.’

‘There is little hope of that,’ Zhang says icily. ‘Adults almost never revitalise. And after what he did today, I am not sure he deserves such consideration.’

I think about defending Burke, but I know that won’t wash with my stern mentor. So I take a sly approach instead. ‘As unlikely as it is, if he recovers consciousness, we can find out why he did this, punish whoever put him up to it.’

Zhang purses his lips, thinks about that, then nods curtly. ‘I will prepare a room and we will keep him captive. Guard him until it is ready—I do not want him to target Ciara or Reilly.’

As Zhang turns to check on Dr Oystein, Burke falls impossibly still. Impossible if you’re a human, that is. Perfectly possible if you’re a zombie.

Burke tries to rise but I pull him down. He doesn’t resist. While Master Zhang and the other Angels tend to Dr Oystein, I gently rock the undead teacher and go on speaking to him, mourning his loss while at the same time begging his forgiveness for having been the one who killed him.