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I find another set of stairs and surge to the top The others aren’t far behind We pause and listen closely There are no footsteps Theus

I double over and , but of course I can’t, since s don’t work properly

"Who the hell was that guy in the clown outfit?" Cathy moans

"And those freaks in the hoodies," Peder exclaims "Were they zombies? Humans? What?"

"I don’t think they’re either," I tell him "They’re mutants They were there when- the clown - but I’ve no idea what he is, or why they’re here, or why the zombies obey them, or" I shake et out of here We can wonder about it later"

"But what if they come after us?" Cathy whiet a ain

Time seems to sloe search for another set of stairs We can’t find any, and the longer we go on, the h shape The bits of brain we sucked from Dr Cerveris’s head didn’t do ularly now and I know the others are feeling them too by the way they wince and twitch every fewharder to focus

"I think we’ve co way," Gokhan round, it don’t mean the exit has to be at the top, eh? Maybe it’s at the botto"

Peder frowns "But if we head down and don’t find it, what then?"

"We co past the clown and his rowls "I don’t fancy that"

"Maybe we don’t have to," Cathy says "Therethe first set that we’ve found on every floor Let’s go down a level and - "

"Wait," Mark"Did any of you have attic stairs at home, the sort that rest inside the attic when you’re not using them?"

"What sort of a question is that?" Cathy sneers

"My parents put in a set a few years ago," Mark says stiffly, ignoring her "If you have steps like that, you use a thin pole to open the door, which is part of the stairs In our home, the hole you stuck the tip of the pole into looked just like that one up there"

I squint and spot the s about "So there’s an attic So what?"

"Why would they have an attic in an underground building?" Mark asks softly

I stare harder at the hole "You think it’s sos "Ifor an air-conditioning unit But wouldn’t they have signs up if that was the case, like they have elsewhere?"

"I haven’t noticed any signs," Peder grunts

"Then you haven’t been paying asfor a pole We search too and a minute later we find one in a nearby room, tucked away in a corner

I try to unlock the attic door but uide in the narrow tip Peder and Tiberius try too, but both fail, their hands shaking as badly aspatience, and slots it in at the first attempt His hands are re like the rest of us Maybe the doctors slipped hi on him

A set of steps drops smoothly as the door opens I feel a stab of excitement But before I can head up, Cathy pushes me aside and I stumble and fall over "Ladies first," she chuckles

I scowl as she trots up, Peder, Gokhan and Tiberius just behind her Mark helps me to my feet "Are you okay?" he asks

"Sure But I’ when this is - "