The Stuff of Nightmares Read Online Free PDF

of REM sleep.
    ‘Perry …?’ I whispered, squatting down. ‘Perry, can you hear me?’
    Perry’s eyes flicked open. ‘Kyle …’ he whispered when he saw me. ‘Are we going to die?’
    ‘No, we’re not,’ I said fiercely. ‘The emergency services will be hacking through the top of this train any minute and they’ll rescue all of us. You wait and see.’
    At that very moment, as if to back up my words, I heard the very welcome sound of a helicopter approaching.
    ‘See.’ I grinned at Perry. ‘I told you we’d be rescued. I told you …’
    But his eyes were closed again and his skin was now the sallow colour of cheap, uncoloured candles. I looked from him to Joe, then Steve. I didn’t like the look of Steve at all. I took a half-step towards him, ready to shake him awake. I didn’t want to be the only one trying to take all this in. I didn’t want to be alone. But my hand slowed, then stilled as I reached out towards Steve. I couldn’t shake him. I might do more harm than good by trying to wake him up.
    Through the window above me I saw an orange and white helicopter overhead, its blades chopping raucously through the air. I’d been right about that at least. Help had arrived at last. I waved my hands above my head, hoping to attract the attention of whoever was in the helicopter. I had to let them know that someone down here was still standing. I needed to know that someone, somewhere, could see me; that I wasn’t the only one going through this. Maybe if I climbed up …
    ‘
Kyle, wait …
’
    The whispered words came again, so softly spoken I couldn’t even be sure if they came from a woman or a man. Was this someone’s idea of a sick joke? Playing silly beggars and messing with my head? I spun round.
Who
was calling me? It was freaking me out.
    Ignore it, Kyle. Get to the helicopter
, I told myself.
    I looked up, but as I watched, the helicopter blades slowed down, their rotation less frantic. Yet the chopper didn’t move, didn’t descend, didn’t even look like it was in any kind of trouble. As the blades slowed, so the very air around me grew thick and still. The slowing down was almost hypnotic. I was having trouble catching my breath.
    ‘
Kyle …
’ The whisper floated towards me, so faint I could barely hear it. ‘
Kyle, wait for me
.’
    My head jerked round like a puppet’s but I was still the only one standing in the carriage. That voice … that voice was burrowing inside me. I forced myself to concentrate on the helicopter, only now its blades weren’t moving at all. It sat in the air above the train like some kind of natural satellite. Silence devoured me, chewed me up and spat me out, but only for a moment. The longest moment of my life …
    Then all hell was let loose. Chopper blades and jet planes ripped through the air, machine-gun fire like rapid handclaps surrounded me, as did blast after roaring, deafening blast. I put my hands over my ears to try and drown out the noise but that just made it worse, like the sounds were in my head and my hands gave them no escape.
    ‘
We have to get out of here
,’ Steve’s voice bellowed from out of nowhere, making me jump. Eyes wide, I looked down at Steve, expecting to see him on his feet, or at least sitting up with his eyes open. But half a glance was enough to see that he was still out for the count.
    ‘Steve …’ I whispered, just in case it was my eyes, not my ears, playing tricks. But they weren’t.
    ‘
Incoming!
’ yelled another voice I didn’t recognize. Strange how one word could convey so many emotions – so much anger and hatred and, most of all, fear.
    ‘Ohmigod!’ I heard Steve’s horrified whisper. An impossible whisper and yet I heard it as clearly as I heard my own thoughts. ‘
It’s coming straight for us. Evasive—
’
    A high-pitched, deafening whistle came ever closer. So high-pitched it must surely make my ears bleed. A colossal boom had me diving to the floor. Had the train been hit by something