The sound came closer. Rustling and scraping.
“Stay down!” Pete hissed to Krish and Nancy.
They all dropped to a crouch and pressed against the side of the car. They hardly dared to breathe as the thing in the dark came closer. It moved into the headlights, blocking the beams, casting strange shadows in the drizzle. Then it finally came into view.
A long pale face with dark eyes and pointed ears.
“Oh my god,” Krish said, letting out a long breath. “It’s just a sheep.”
“Poor thing.” Nancy could see that it was hobbling, and its wool was matted with twigs and leaves. “We have to help—”
BAM!
Something heavy slammed against the far side of the car. At the same time, there was a flurry of rustling and weird whispering. Muscular creepers appeared from the darkness with terrifying speed. Each one was covered in spiked leaves that opened and closed like hands. The creepers thumped against the car and smashed into the ground as they reached out, searching.
Pete, Nancy and Krish stared, openmouthed, as the creepers found the sheep. The leaves grabbed at the animal, their spikes raking into the wool. More and more creepers attacked from the shadows, coiling around the sheep like snakes.
Then the sheep toppled onto its side and the creepers dragged it out of sight.
The speed and strength of the creepers was shocking.
Pete was the first to move. He had to see what could do such a thing. Nancy and Krish followed close behind, reaching the front of the car to look across the blinding beams of the headlights into the darkness beyond.
In the shadows stood the horrifying shape of a giant plant with the sheep caught in its creepers. The whispering continued as the main stem bent over and the flower reached towards the sheep. A moment later, the whispering stopped, replaced by a horrifying sucking sound.
While the plant was busy feeding, a second shape appeared from the darkness behind it. Another plant. But this one was moving. Staggering towards them. Whispering.
And when the plant came into the beams of the headlights, they had their first proper look at Variant 42.
The plant was at least two metres tall. A mass of twisting creepers growing from the base of a thick, muscular stem. The creepers were covered with spiked leaves that seemed to be tasting the air, searching for prey. At the top of the stem, black petals spread wide like leathery batwings. Wispy tendrils hung from below, swaying as the plant moved.
And that was the most awful thing – the plant moved. Its long, thick roots clawed the ground, dragging the plant forward in ugly lurching movements. It ignored the plant that had caught the sheep and headed straight for Pete, Nancy and Krish. They stood rooted to the spot, staring and terrified.
“Move!”
The voice seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Run!”
A woman appeared from the darkness behind the plant. Car headlights shone on her white coat as she stumbled towards them, shouting.
“You have to get away—”
Before the woman could finish her sentence, a creeper whipped out from the main body of the plant and knocked her off her feet. The woman tried to get up, but more creepers clamped on with spiky leaves. Within seconds, they had a firm hold of her.
Pete, Nancy and Krish watched in horror, wondering what to do as the plant quickly dragged the woman close. When she was lying at the foot of the huge plant, the stalk bent forward, and the dark purple flower reached towards her. The red buds inside it opened and closed like small whispering mouths. Each one shone with amber fluid.
“Oh god,” Krish whispered. “It’s going to eat her!”