Revenge of the Giant Robot Chickens

by Alex McCall

  “Now, while they’re distracted,” I said. “We have to escape now.”

  Then abruptly the back of the Catcher opened up and a platform folded out, two huge lasers mounted on it. Hazel manned one, Jesse the other.

  I could see the huge grin on Jesse’s face as he triggered his laser, sending a bright red scar across the line of Commandos in front of him. Hazel did the same, and the enemy had to retreat before them. There might be more of them but we had more firepower.

  “Blake!” Jesse yelled across to us. Blake blinked once then seemed to snap out of it.

  “How can we help?” he yelled back, hurrying over.

  “Go get the prisoners. We’ll keep them off your back.”

  Blake looked towards the barn, a grin of his own answering Jesse’s. “Yes, sir,” he said, saluting and then running off towards the fight.

  “Could you go with him, Rayna, and take the rest of our team?” Jesse asked. “There’s a set of stairs just inside the door. At the top is the control room. There’s a green lever. The buttons beside it target threats and their defence system should automatically target us. Pull the lever down and it’ll shoot everything targeted. Push it up and it’ll shoot everything else.”

  There was no time to argue. I guess I just had to trust them. I frowned at them both. “Alright. But after all this is over we need to have a talk.”

  Jesse laughed, more a wild bark than anything. “Count on it.”

  Then he and Hazel dived back inside their Catcher, closing all openings as it leapt into the air, bounding towards the enemy, causing alarm and chaos. The perfect diversion.

  I sprinted towards the still-open barn door alongside Blake and his chicken hunters. Once inside the cavernous building, I took a quick look around and saw a flight of stairs, just like Jesse had described. As I lunged towards them, a swarm of Commandos burst out from another opening, followed by yet another Catcher.

  With a battle cry Blake ran to engage them. “Go on up, Rayna. We’ll deal with these guys.”

  I nodded and ran up the stairs while war cries and metallic thumps rang out below.

  At the top of the stairs I heaved the door open and cannoned into a room that looked like an old-fashioned hayloft, full of computers with a huge television on one wall. In front of the screen was a large bank of buttons and levers. I saw the one with the green lever, just like Jesse had described it. Striding across the room I reached out for it.

  “Stop!”

  I paused, looking up. A chicken had appeared on the screen, one I instantly recognised from the televisions in the communications room: small red comb hidden behind a weird, oversized hat. King Cluck, the boss chicken.

  “You don’t want to do that, Rayna.” His voice issued from hidden speakers all over the room, disorientating me. I ignored it, more creeped out by the fact he knew my name.

  “Yeah right,” I said, grabbing the lever, preparing to push it up.

  “If you touch that lever you’ll never see your family again.”

  That wouldn’t have been enough to stop me; who believes a chicken? But their pictures suddenly flashed up on the screen: Dad, a large man with a wild beard; Mum, just as muscular, long hair tied back in a utilitarian ponytail. I stared at them, my hand frozen to the lever. Then I shook myself out of my daze.

  “I’ll just go cut them out of whichever cage you’ve got them locked in downstairs.”

  Their picture flashed away, replaced by the cockerel, his evil beady eyes glaring at me. “But they’re not downstairs. They’re not anywhere close. They’re in our high-security compound in Edinburgh. And the only way you’ll see them again is if you do what I say.”

  “You’re lying. Why are they special?”

  “Oh, they aren’t special, Rayna. You are. You see I knew you’d be coming in the next few days. And I knew it was you that I had to deal with. Fighters like Blake, planners like Cody: they are only so useful. But you, you have commitment. You’re the one who keeps getting back up, who keeps fighting. The rest I can deal with. It was so nice of you to bring so many of the best defenders in Aberdeen here, where I can so easily capture them. Your band falls here, quickly followed by Aberdeen. But if you escape I know I’ll be fighting another resistance somewhere. Your fighting spirit won’t stop, won’t quit. So that’s why I have to destroy it here and now.”

  Something thumped into the side of the building, sending dust drifting in lazy spirals from the rafters. I could hear desperate shouts, the firing of lasers getting quieter. Things weren’t going well outside.

  “I won’t just give up here. I can’t,” I answered.

  “Oh, but you can. You don’t even have to do anything. Just step back, sit in the corner. Five minutes and we’ll have rounded up the traitors in that Catcher and anyone else stupid enough to be still hanging around. Then I’ll personally see to it that you and your sister are taken straight to your parents. You’ll be together again. You want that, right?”

  I thought about it for a moment. “I do want to see my parents. More than anything.” The chicken seemed to smile. I looked up at it, my eyes burning, hot and furious. “So that’s why I’m going to go down there and bust up every barn you have until I find them. Starting with this one.”

  King Cluck jerked backwards in surprise and opened his beak. I didn’t give him a chance to say anything else.

  I flipped the lever.

  A low moan filled the air, thrumming through us. I could feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and heard a clattering as hidden shutters slid open all over the barn. The pitch of the whine increased, vibrating my teeth until it vanished.

  There was a moment of silence and then, with a mighty roar, every weapon fired at once. I heard the tinkle of lasers hitting metal and I looked out the window to see the remaining Catchers and army of Commandos falling like dominoes. Others looked around in confusion then took to the sky, flying away as fast as they could.

  Then came a sudden deafening silence.

  And soon from below and all around a low roar swelled, building until the enormous barn shook.

  Cheers. The prisoners were cheering.

  We’d won.

  CHAPTER 25

  JESSE: HENHOUSE HUSTLED!

  Aberdeen was a glorious mess. Once we’d set the captives free, all the Catchers and Commandos had swarmed the city, hoping to take it before we could get back. Cody had already gathered practically all the kids left in Aberdeen into the tenement block before sending the signal. When the chickens arrived, they found a building bristling with lasers, each one manned enthusiastically. Bits of the fallen war machines were scattered everywhere.

  Once news of our victory got round, the surviving chickens scattered: chicken by name, chicken by nature.

  Aberdeen was free.

  And on our first day of freedom, we’d mostly been clearing up. I’d grabbed a Catcher head and lugged it along to the Brotherhood’s warehouse.

  “So the adults all got into cars and drove us here,” I told Clucky. “It wasn’t easy getting them all working and we had to abandon them in impassable roads but it got us back faster than you’d think.”

  “Flying is still faster,” Clucky told me, flashing his wings. I swore he was smiling. “Piloting a Catcher is so much fun. I wish I’d been on Catcher duty from the start.” Clucky had piloted our Catcher during Operation Henhouse Hustle and flown Hazel back to Aberdeen as soon as we’d taken down the barn.

  “You were really good at it,” I said. “What are the rest of the chickens doing?”

  He tilted his head to the side, connecting to the chickens’ control signal. “They’re pretty confused at the moment. Most of the remaining Aberdeen army are fluttering around Scotland, with no idea what’s going on. King Cluck is furious that we managed to give away details of the C-800 model to the Allies. They’re back to square one on technical development.”

  “How long do you think it will take them to regroup?”

  “A while.” His eyes glowed whe
n he looked at me. “Not forever, but a while.”

  “Jesse.”

  I turned and looked at the entrance to the warehouse. Rayna stood there, with Hazel beside her. I heaved a sigh of relief. “Hi guys,” I called out.

  “Why are you hiding in here?” Rayna walked towards me.

  “I’m not hiding. I’m just filling Clucky in on everything that happened.”

  “You’re definitely hiding,” Clucky said beside me. “This is the third time you’ve told this story. I’m about to fall off my perch.”

  I glared at him. Traitor.

  “Come on Jesse, out with it. There’s a party going on right now. Why aren’t you there?”

  “I’m happy for you guys, really I am…” It turned out Rayna’s parents were in the barn with the others. King Cluck had been bluffing about keeping them in a top-security prison, desperate to save his own crispy skin. I didn’t think I’d ever witness Rayna crying, but let’s just say their reunion was an emotional scene.

  “I haven’t found Ethan,” I admitted with a heavy sigh. “I searched the crowds for him – and my parents – but they weren’t there.”

  Rayna rolled her eyes. “So you just gave up? You stomped your way across half of Aberdeenshire to find your brother but a crowd defeats you? Honestly.”

  And then another figure appeared beside her and Hazel.

  “Sorry I’m late,” my brother said, a huge grin on his face. “I was checking out your defences. They’re awesome. I couldn’t have done better myself and I need to get my hands on one of those lasers. Come on, Mum and Dad are waiting for us.”

  It was him, hair a lot longer and shaggier than when I’d last seen him, but the same boots, same jacket. Same sense of energy and good humour. He was looking a bit thinner than before and maybe a bit battered but it was my same brother.

  I looked up at him. “Oh no. It’s worse than I feared.”

  Ethan stopped in his tracks, the grin fading. “What? Aren’t you pleased to see me?”

  “Well, yes, but…” I shrugged. “You’ve got taller.”

  He regarded me gravely. “I don’t think I have. I think you’ve actually got shorter. Which is amazing really. Maybe I should get you that dolls’ house to live in.”

  “Tall jerk.”

  “Short moron.”

  “Lanky idiot.”

  “Tiny occasional table.”

  “Oh that does it.” I charged towards him, and then we were wrapped in a big bear hug.

  “Pine tree,” I muttered into his jacket.

  “Toadstool,” he replied into my hair.

  I could almost feel Rayna rolling her eyes again. “Alright, now that’s sorted, let’s finally get some food.”

  “Good plan.” Ethan snatched something off a nearby workbench and strode away, a Catcher head under one arm. Hazel rushed after him, grabbing it and returning it to its proper place. I laughed and Rayna laughed with me. After weeks of slogging through fields and keeping secrets it felt amazing.

  “So how’s the party?” I asked Rayna.

  “Pretty good. Kyle is organising all the food we can spare into big vats so there’s plenty to eat, and Jeremy is back to help him. Sally got her crew to pick some fruit and veg to add to the cause. Sam and his sister have been reunited and they’re helping out too.”

  The grown-ups were amazed at how well we’d been running things without them. For today, they seemed happy to sit back and watch us rallying around them.

  “Any word on Glen or Noah?” I asked hopefully.

  “Glen’s over there with his family, and Noah’s got his dads with him. They’re a riot.”

  “How’s Cody? What did he do when he found out about Percy?”

  Rayna hesitated. “He’s… unusually quiet. His parents are keeping a close watch on him in any case. They seem really proud of him.”

  We were quiet ourselves for a moment.

  “Come on,” Rayna said at last. “Let’s eat.”

  I walked out into the sunlight, blinking. For the first time in months Aberdeen wasn’t eerily quiet. Now there was a low buzz hanging in the air. I could hear laughing, chattering, even singing. The adults were back and we were safe – for now.

  But we’d better not count our chickens before they hatch…

  Copyright

  Kelpies is an imprint of Floris Books

  First published in 2015 by Floris Books

  © 2015 Alex McCall

  This eBook published in 2015

  Alex McCall has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the prior permission of Floris Books, 15 Harrison Gardens, Edinburgh

  www.florisbooks.co.uk

  British Library CIP data available

  ISBN 978-178250-224-1

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