Class Four: Those Who Survive Read Online Free PDF Page B

heavier. I had to prod him to tell him that we had arrived, and he jolted like he’d been stung. He always preferred touching me rather than the other way round.
    I opened the car door for him and I helped carry him towards the shop. I tried the handle and was relieved when I found it wasn’t locked. I pushed the door open and we walked into the gloom.

 
    Home Comforts – Part Three
    The shop was in a frightful state; there were bits and pieces strewn all over the place. I rested Donald on a stool which was behind the counter, just by the entrance. Donald said, well, panted , that I should close the door. He didn’t look very well at all; I wondered if I should’ve just left him at the cottage and gone on my own. He wouldn’t have liked that though.
    No.
    I closed the door and said that I’d have a look around, but I don’t think he even heard me. Thought there wouldn’t be much left. Luckily for us, though, as Middle Hazeltree is so out of the way, most people hadn’t had a chance to strip it bare. I was filling up a basket rather nicely. Looked like there had been a struggle of some kind, like a rocket had gone off.
    The back of the shop opened up to a flight of stairs and a door. Looking through the window with that criss-cross wire glass, I saw it led to a storage space out back. I could see big boxes of Cheese and Onion crisps on some shelves. I know I shouldn’t have, but I was curious what was upstairs. I stuck to the edge of the stairs; learnt that from…well, anyway, managed to get to the top without making a peep.
    Up there was a little two bed flat. I had a check in each room, but there was no-one there. It looked like whoever lived there had left in a hurry, as there were clothes on the floor of one of the bedrooms, and the picture frames were empty.
    I looked out of the window, and thought how wonderfully quiet it all was. There were no cars, no alarms, not even a bird in the sky. I closed my eyes, just for a moment. And then…then…and then I heard a loud thud and a whimper; it sounded almost pathetic.
    I dropped the basket on the floor. It sounded so loud. I stood at the top of the stairs and called down to Donald, but I didn’t hear anything except a mewling, just like the puppy made when he was lying on the policeman’s coat.
    You know, after they broke the car window.
    Hmm. Poor thing.
    Anyway, I made my way downstairs, stuck to the edge of the stairs again, needed to be really careful. The mewling was getting louder. There were these smaller thuds as things bounced onto a hard floor. Crashes of glass. I got to the bottom and peered into the shop, to see if Donald was okay. I couldn’t see his silhouette by the counter.
    I was getting scared now. I heard the sound again and it was coming from behind me, in the store room. I was sure the door had been closed, but there it was, wide open.
    Silly me, must’ve opened it earlier and not even remembered.
    I took off my shoes and tiptoed really quietly into the room. A light was flickering on and off, like it was a candle. And that’s when I saw him.
    He must’ve been trying to reach the box of Bell’s Whiskey from the top shelf. The silly so and so didn’t pull it right and as he tried to get the box down he pulled too hard and a crate of Newcastle Brown Ale had landed on his head.
    Oohh, it was terrible; there was blood everywhere. He was sort of kneeling against the shelving unit. The crate had bounced off his head and landed on the back of his legs, pinning him to the ground. I could see his bandage was bulging from his ankle, and this thick black goo was coming out.
    I did chuckle, as to one side lay the box of whiskey. Looks like that had been the final straw as it was all smashed on the ground, and he was looking at me, like he was drunk.
    You know, like the night we met.
    He had this big cut on the top of his head and one of his hands was trying to feel where it was. Ha, you should’ve seen it. He was patting his head and it kept