The Moon Stealers and The Children of the Light Read Online Free PDF Page A

one corner of the map and cast an orange glow onto
the faces of the people around the table. Steven’s was slim, featureless and
framed by dark hair. His eyes betrayed the tiredness that he felt inside. He
had begun to loose track of time, it seemed like ages ago when he had left London to research the landing site of a meteor that they
now knew had contained an alien bacteria. What no-one had expected was how
rapid the growth of the bacteria would be in developing into a creature that had
terrorised the human population ever since.
    ‘Which is the shortest crossing?’ asked Tracker. It
had been several days since Tracker had shaved and his chin was covered with a
thick layer of yellow stubble. Steven often wondered why, whenever he had grown
stubble, it just made him look tired and pale. But, Tracker wore the rugged
look well. He was handsome with unruly hair that curled in random flicks from
beneath his baseball cap, and a wide grin that creased the skin of his cheeks
creating attractive dimples.
    ‘Commercial crossings go from Southsea, Southampton
and Lymington,’ continued Steven. ‘Lymington looks the shortest.’
    The well folded map they had found in an abandoned
Tourist Information office in Basingstoke was designed for walkers. It showed the south coast
of England together with the Isle of Wight , a small island separated from the mainland by a small
stretch of water called the Solent .
    ‘Won’t they have guards watching the docks where
ferries would normally enter the Isle
of Wight ?’ asked Georgia, a dark
haired woman that stood between the two men. Her right arm was strapped to the
side of her chest, a reminder of a previous encounter with one of the alien
creatures. Georgia had skin that was smooth and exotic in colour, a
genetic clue to her Spanish origins.
    They had left the safety of Fort Halstead to rescue other survivors that had been taken to the Isle of Wight . Coldred, their ruthless leader, was deceiving them
and selectively supplying antibiotics to people he considered useful to the
community as well as to his own needs. Steven , Georgia and Tracker already had first hand experience of
Coldred’s desire to surround himself with the right people. He had already
tried to kill them once, which resulted in Georgia ’s injury. From what they had found out, Steven knew
Coldred had already been aware of the deadly nature of the creatures before
they had attacked. He had also developed a vaccine. With his knowledge of the
creatures, Coldred planned to control his destiny, destroying those that got in
his way, whilst nurturing those that would help him and acquire as much wealth
as he could get his hands on. Steven even wondered if Coldred already had a
plan to remove the creatures from the planet once he had acquired enough gold
and control, enabling him to be the overall leader of all survivors.
    ‘I’m sure Coldred would have some form of defence on
the Island , but he may have also posted guards on this side of
the Solent ,’ replied Steven. ‘If they want to gather other
survivors for their community they may be filtering people on both sides of the
water.’
    Outside a loud bang sounded.
    The three humans inside the abandoned house
automatically fell silent. The bang echoed in the still night air, gradually receding
into the distance. It reminded them that they were not alone wherever they
went. They exchanged glances with each other. Tracker reached for his shotgun,
while they listened to the sounds from outside. All survivors now lived beneath
the threat and shadow of the creatures, but the three humans around the map
knew that they had an advantage. Before they had left the growing community at Fort Halstead , they had stocked up on supplies of antibiotics that
would provide them with some protection against the creatures. The creatures no
longer attacked them. Somehow they knew that to eat them was bad for their own
health, which meant they could move around during the night without