Revenge of the Giant Robot Chickens Read Online Free PDF Page A

masters for the rest of my days.
    The last thought as that gaping maw engulfed me was that I might see Jesse again.
    Then there was a sharp twanging sound and the chicken’s neck exploded.
    Part of it just disappeared, like paper in a flame. The chicken whipped itself back up, almost losing its head in the process. I could see the exposed chute that kids would slide down when they got pecked up.
    The chicken scrabbled to get out of there but now its size worked against it, and it gradually disintegrated as it writhed about. When it finally hauled itself out of the room it was riddled with holes, showing the exposed insides. It jumped up with a relieved squawk but a red laser followed it out of the hole, hitting it right in the rear jets. There was a thump up above as it finally keeled over, defeated.
    With a groan I got to my feet, pulling Percy up with me.
    Standing in the door, laser in hand and a smug, self-satisfied look on his face, was Blake.
    “Just like a duck hunt,” he said, blowing some smoke from the barrel of his weapon.
    “Thanks,” I said grudgingly. “You took your time though.”
    If anything his grin got wider. “I had to wait for it to charge,” he told me. “Otherwise I’d have been happy to shoot it sooner.”
    Now wasn’t the time to gloat. “We need to get everyone out of here,” I told him. His grin faded somewhat and he nodded.
    He leaned out the door and yelled a few things, probably summoning people from further in the building. I sat Percy down in a chair and made sure everyone under the table was safe. They were. Not happy but safe. Jeremy and Hazel didn’t come back in but some of Deborah’s medics did.
    “Great job,” Noah said to me. “We all owe you one, Rayna.”
    “We’ve got to discuss what just happened,” barked Cody, getting straight back to business.
    I looked up from where I was sitting in a chair, having Deborah look over me. Cody was standing next to Percy while a doctor assessed him. They said he’d be fine after a rest, but I got the feeling Cody was really worried for his bodyguard and second in command.
    “We know what just happened. We almost got eaten by a chicken,” said Blake. Cody shot him one single, piercing glare and the adventurer quietened down.
    “Yes, I got that. I was there. But how did it get in here to attack the council in the first place?”
    We were silent for a while, considering his point.
    “Not just attack the council, it tried to get you first,” I said.
    Cody looked at me, still in control, and raised one eyebrow. “What do you mean?” he asked.
    “It attacked the person sitting at the head of the table. Everyone else sits in random places at everymeeting but you always sit at the head. You’re well known for it.” By well known I meant that probably everyone had complained about it at one point or another. Cody knew but he didn’t comment.
    “That could just be coincidence,” he said, still calm, still in control. “But it definitely took on the council. Which proves one thing: we’ve got to do something about our defences.”
    He was right. We all knew he was right. The chicken wouldn’t just randomly attack an underground room in a central hotel. It must have known we’d be there. We had been targeted.
    Everyone else seemed too stunned by the sudden attack to contribute anything to the discussion. Cody looked at them in disgust and motioned Blake and me off to one side.
    “You two haven’t worked together before, right?” he said in a low voice.
    “That’s right,” Blake confirmed. I merely nodded.
    “Then here’s how it goes. Blake, you work out ways to beef up our defences. I don’t want anything like this happening again. This hotel is our home right now and I won’t stand for a chicken getting this close to it. Rayna, talk to everyone you can. I want to know who slipped up and let the Catcher get this close. Got it?”
    I rocked back on my feet, surprised at the vehemence in his voice. Cody was angry,