The Darkest Corners. Barry Hutchison
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Название: The Darkest Corners

Автор: Barry Hutchison

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Детская проза

Серия:

isbn: 9780007493425

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ on id="ued235af0-5f00-5827-9de9-65d57f0b00b4">

      

      For my son, Kyle, the inspiration for this series.

      This is it. Kyle versus Dad. You against me.

      May the best man win…

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Chapter Five - Just Not Cricket

       Chapter Six - Ready at Last

       Chapter Seven - Mr Lazy Bones Wakes Up

       Chapter Eight - The Truth is Out There

       Chapter Nine - Taking Blame

       Chapter Ten - Saying Goodbye

       Chapter Eleven - Four by Four

       Chapter Twelve - The Wrong Door

       Chapter Thirteen - Danger Doc

       Chapter Fourteen - A Cold and Lonely Death

       Chapter Fifteen - Hello There, Mr Squirrel

       Chapter Sixteen - The Long Walk

       Chapter Seventeen - Ring of Death

       Chapter Eighteen - Betrayed

       Chapter Nineteen - The End of the Beginning

       Thirty-Four Days Earlier...

       Epilogue

       Acknowledgements

       Also available in the Invisible Fiends series

       Credits

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

      What had I expected to see? I wasn’t sure. An empty street. One or two late-night wanderers, maybe.

      But not this. Never this.

      There were hundreds of them. Thousands. They scuttled and scurried through the darkness, swarming over the village like an infection; relentless and unstoppable.

      I leaned closer to the window and looked down at the front of the hospital. One of the larger creatures was tearing through the fence, its claws slicing through the wrought-iron bars as if they were cardboard. My breath fogged the glass and the monster vanished behind a cloud of condensation. By the time the pane cleared the thing would be inside the hospital. It would be up the stairs in moments. Everyone in here was as good as dead.

      The distant thunder of gunfire ricocheted from somewhere near the village centre. A scream followed – short and sharp, then suddenly silenced. There were no more gunshots after that, just the triumphant roar of something sickening and grotesque.

      I heard Ameena take a step closer behind me. I didn’t need to look at her reflection in the window to know how terrified she was. The crack in her voice said it all.

      ‘It’s the same everywhere,’ she whispered.

      I nodded, slowly. ‘The town as well?’

      She hesitated long enough for me to realise what she meant. I turned away from the devastation outside. ‘Wait… You really mean everywhere, don’t you?’

      Her only reply was a single nod of her head.

      ‘Liar!’ I snapped. It couldn’t be true. This couldn’t be happening.

      She stooped and picked up the TV remote from the day-room coffee table. It shook in her hand as she held it out to me.

      ‘See for yourself.’

      Hesitantly, I took the remote. ‘What channel?’

      She glanced at the ceiling, steadying her voice. ‘Any of them.’

      The old television set gave a faint clunk as I switched it on. In a few seconds, an all-too-familiar scene appeared.

      Hundreds of the creatures. СКАЧАТЬ