Eugene Lambert - Into the No-Zone

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Electric Monkey,

an imprint of Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text copyright © 2017 Eugene Lambert

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

First e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978 1 4052 7736 5

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1696 3

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties.

Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

For Jana

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Electric Monkey, an imprint of Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Text copyright © 2017 Eugene Lambert The moral rights of the author have been asserted First e-book edition 2017 ISBN 978 1 4052 7736 5 Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1696 3 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Dedication For Jana

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

PROLOGUE

PART ONE: DIVIDE AND CONQUER

1: SO MUCH FOR BEING A HERO

2: TARN WAS HERE

3: RUMOURS

4: ARGUMENTS

5: THE FIREFIGHT

6: STRINGS AND STINGS ATTACHED

7: THE COUNCIL DECIDES

8: A CLOSE CALL

9: NEGOTIATIONS AND INTERROGATIONS

PART TWO: NO-ZONE

10: WAITING FOR MURDO

11: AN UNCERTAIN WELCOME

12: DEAL’S A DEAL

13: BLAST FROM THE PAST

14: DECISION AND SACRIFICE

15: TEMPTATIONS, FRIGHTS AND NEWS

16: SO CLOSE, BUT SO FAR

17: AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE

18: ROCKPOLISHER DOWN

19: BITERS AND REAPERS

20: AMBUSH

21: EYES THAT SEE NOTHING

22: NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE

23: MYSTERIOUS LIGHTS

24: IN THE REAPER CAMP

25: LOOK WHO’S HERE

26: SKY TELLS HER STORY

27: THE JUDGING

28: BLADE SPEAKS, FIRE LIES

29: THE PLACE OF THE OFFER

PART THREE: SHOWDOWN

30: RESURRECTION

31: REUNION

32: RUINS

33: WRATH’S FINAL SECRET

34: BECOMING REAPERS

35: THE WORM TURNS

36: BACK TO THE NEVER AGAIN

37: TRACKERS AND RATS

38: REVENGE SERVED COLD

39: BREAKING IN, BREAKING OUT

Back series promotional page

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

If it’s been a while since you read The Sign of One (volume one in this trilogy), here’s a brief reminder of some of the main characters, terms and locations.

It’s her turn outside. After all the hours spent hiding in the dark and staying quiet, the cold drizzle that greets her is almost welcome. It’ll be her first time at the lambing. Well . . . sort of.

Old Hicks takes them up the hill to the pens, her and a lad called Marat. Marat’s sixteen, more than twice as old as she is, and won’t waste time talking to a little girl. Fine by her, because talking is dangerous.

Talking can get you found out.

Tucked away in the gloom under the camo-netting, sheltered from the ever-shrieking wind, the girl finally gets to see the woollies close up. She’s a bit disappointed. They’re manky-looking and skinny, scraps of filthy wool still hanging off where they’ve been rough-sheared. Hicks flicks the beam of his shiner about and the girl sees sheep nursing a single newborn lamb each. But one ewe lies apart from the others, and seems restless. It gets up, bleats, paws at the straw-covered earth, then lies down again.

‘That un’s ready,’ Hicks says, squinting at her.

The girl hesitates, unsure. ‘Ready?’

‘To drop. Don’t just stand there gawping. Go see to it.’

Ready to drop. Oh yeah. She swallows and nods. Her sister’s done the telling from her turn outside yesterday. Now it’s up to her to do the remembering and play it so Hicks never guesses that today’s little girl is not the same as yesterday’s little girl.