Zak saw the red star above Tom’s head disappear, along with the information that hovered in his own peripheral vision. The stuffed heads of the Spongeymen deflated and turned into human heads, while their uniforms drained of colour. Zak glanced up at the CCTV. In place of coloured toys were dark figures in long coats. Soldiers coming to kill. The light changed, sucking out every splash of bright colour, and recasting sinister shadows.
He looked down, and in his hands the gleaming plastic rifle morphed into a metallic machine gun, even taking on a worn and battered look. The moment he had wished for had arrived.
‘Aaahhh!’ he yelled.
An icy blast had rushed through the back of his suit. The chill pulsed through him as if he’d been punched by it. He saw that his suit was in tatters around his lower back, where the wolf had clawed at him. It was soaked in blood.
He choked and coughed hard, blood spluttering from his mouth. He put a hand to his throat and realised that the wolf had also sunk its teeth in. His throat felt like it was burning, yet as he breathed in, the air was ice cold. Unfortunately, neither sensation quelled the other.
With no health bar in his field of vision, Zak realised that the pain told him his condition.
‘You’re in a bad way,’ said Tom. ‘Do you want to pull yourself together, or are you going to die before we even start.’
‘Yeah,’ choked Zak, trying to recover from the shock. He fumbled with the now blood stained piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he made for a metal desk at the back of the room to take cover. Despite the severity of the injuries he was suffering he still became aware that his left foot was completely numb, and his right elbow felt like it had splintered.
Tom tucked in behind a metal cabinet, and smiled broadly at Zak.
‘Cool isn’t it,’ he said.
‘Cool! It’s freezing. And I’m used to cold!’
‘Okay Zak. Prepare for Armageddon.’
