Perfect Beat

By Bob Stone

“The Liver Birds were dead and the city had died with them...”

Can it really be that evil has won and the world has fallen?

Raj Chowdhury must lead a group of survivors on one last quest to confront their adversary, the hideously changed Saunders, who is now at the peak of his powers. They must brave the dreaded Screamers and treachery in their own ranks.

As the journey which began with Missing Beat reaches its nail-biting climax, who will survive? And where, exactly, are Joey Cale and Emma Winrush?

Perfect Beat is the final book in the heart-stopping trilogy that includes Missing Beat and Beat Surrender.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
• Release date: Apr 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781786453457

Bob Stone

Liverpool born Bob Stone is an author and bookshop owner. He has been writing for as long as he could hold a pen and some would say his handwriting has never improved. He is the author of two self-published children's books, A Bushy Tale and A Bushy Tale: The Brush Off. Missing Beat, the first in a trilogy for Young Adults, is his first full-length novel.Bob still lives in Liverpool with his wife and cat and sees no reason to change any of that.

Book preview

Part One

2025

Chapter One

The young man waited until the coast was clear and came out of hiding. He was pretty sure some of the others had managed to get away, but judging by the screams, one or two hadn’t. Gary and the guy with the big ears, whose name he could never remember, had been lagging behind, so they might have been caught. He hoped it wasn’t Gary; he liked Gary. He wasn’t too bothered about the guy with the big ears though.

As soon as the young man emerged, it became obvious the Screamers had got more than one person. There was far too much blood decorating the walls of the old supermarket for it to be just one, but whether it was two or three, it was impossible to say. It was typical, really. It should have been a simple foraging expedition—find what you could, bag it, get out—but now half the squad had run off and the other half were dead. Only the young man was left, and there was a limit on how much he could carry on his own. It looked like some people were going to have to go hungry again.

They had been so close to being done. They had found a supermarket that still had some stock left and filled their bags with all the tins and packets they could find. They had worked well as a team, no-one carrying anyone else, which was unusual. Often on these expeditions, you got at least one person who wanted to haul less than everyone else, but this squad was a good one, and everyone was prepared to do their part. Even the big-eared guy, who was often the first to complain, did his bit.

They had just left the supermarket when the noise started. It was a multiple, maybe two or three, and they came in fast from the east. Three of the squad dropped their bags and ran the minute they heard it, but the others hesitated too long, trying to figure out which direction was safest. The young man had made himself scarce as he always did. It wasn’t out of cowardice: given the choice, he would have stayed and fought or died with his squad. But sometimes these things just happened and there wasn’t a thing you could do about it.

Once the Screamers had feasted, they moved on as quickly as they had arrived. All that was left behind was silence and blood and a load of bags with packets of dried food and tins of fruit and veg spilling out of them. The young man gathered up what he could, redistributed it between as many bags as he could feasibly carry and started out of the supermarket to make his way home.

Home. It was a laughable term, really. He and some others were currently holed up in an old primary school and had been for several months now. They slept on cushions they had stripped off the staffroom chairs and ate whatever they could get from their share of the foraged supplies, cooking on gas-fuelled camping stoves they’d found in a hardware shop.

This was not what he had imagined when word went round that after two years of subjugation, the fightback was finally beginning. He had thought there might be a bit more actual fighting back and a bit less running away, hiding and scrabbling around for food. He liked to think those in charge had some kind of a plan, but at the moment, it was a bit hard to see what that might be.

Outside the supermarket, he found a trolley that still had four more or less functioning wheels and loaded the bags into it. Providing he could find a route back that avoided any roads clogged up with rubble, the trolley would make shifting the food a whole lot easier. He wondered briefly about going back for more but decided it would be safer to find cover before the Screamers returned. In any case, there were now two or three fewer mouths to feed—fewer still if the ones who had run away didn’t come back or got themselves caught somewhere.

As he pushed the trolley, avoiding the cracks in the tarmac in case they buckled the wheels, he thought maybe the time had come to move on from the school. Between them, they had picked the nearby supermarkets clean and were having to roam further and further on each foraging expedition. The further you went, the more risks you took, and their numbers were diminishing rapidly. If the fight was about to be taken to the Adversary, as rumour had it, they would need all the people they could muster. But then, if they were about to fight back, presumably they would be abandoning the school anyway.

He encountered no further trouble on his way back to the school. Once, he thought he saw the tail of one of the rats—which seemed to grow in size and confidence daily—slither away into a pile of rubble, so he gave that area a wide berth. The rats wouldn’t necessarily attack, unless they were told to, but you took no chances with wildlife these days. You never knew which animals were occupied and which were scavengers. Only two days earlier, Jenny Lee had found herself cornered by a load of occupied cats and they hadn’t left much to identify her.

He expected the gates of the school to be guarded when he arrived, but there seemed to be nobody around. He wasn’t sure who was supposed to be on duty—he thought it might be Roddy Mac—but whoever it was should not have left their post. If word got back to the higher-ups, there would be trouble. Just in case there was something amiss, he slid his rifle down from his shoulder and laid it across the top of the trolley. It wouldn’t do him much good; he only had a few rounds left and he wasn’t that good a shot, but sometimes you needed something.

He pushed open the gate and cautiously went into the deserted yard. It was hard to imagine it had once been full of children. The climbing frame was in bits, and the hopscotch grid carefully painted onto the concrete was riddled with cracks. The children were long gone, evacuated to the countryside when the Adversary’s attacks began and not heard of since. Maybe they were safe and happy. Maybe they were dead. One thing was certain: school was out here forever.

If the young man was surprised to find the gate unguarded, he was even more surprised when he banged on the door and it swung open. Leaving the gate without a guard was serious, but leaving the bolts off the door was practically a capital offence. He left the trolley outside, picked up his rifle and went inside. The reception area was as empty as everywhere else.

Now deeply concerned, he took the safety off the rifle and crept towards the main corridor. His heart began to pound as he heard footsteps running towards him, but then he saw a familiar head of blonde hair and lowered his gun. The girl who had been running full pelt down the corridor skidded to a halt and nearly collided with the wall.

Hey, Rubes, the young man said, trying to hide how scared he had been. No running in school.

Very funny, Evan, his sister replied. Where have you been? Where’s everyone else? Come on! Raj wants to see everyone in the hall. It’s about to happen.

Chapter Two

Evan brought the trolley of supplies into the reception area and followed Ruby down the corridor to the school hall. A group had already assembled, but it struck him that every time they had one of these gatherings, the numbers attending were getting fewer and fewer. This needed sorting soon, or there would come a time when there was nobody left.

He waved a greeting to a couple of the people he knew best: Barry the Geek was glued to one of the only smart phones left working but still waved back, and of course, Chris was there, slouched against a wall with his leather coat pooled around him. He gave Evan a sly wink, which made him blush but smile. Ruby knew about him and Chris, but he wasn’t sure anyone else did. At the end of the hall, the committee—Raj, Anna Mallory and Liza Hunt—huddled with their heads close together, talking so intently they didn’t notice Evan had come in. Raj’s faithful dog, Misha, was curled up at her master’s feet, her greying muzzle between her paws, making herself as small as a dog that size could.

Ruby sat on the floor at the back of the hall, and Evan sat down next to her.

Is it definitely going off? he asked.

Looks like it. The Trinity said they wanted everyone here—attendance mandatory, they said. It’s important, whatever it is. What happened to the others?

Screamers. Karen, Romesh and Jay all legged it. I think Gary and that other guy… He pointed to his ears.

Paul?

Paul. That’s it. I’m pretty sure they got caught.

That’s a shame. I liked Gary.

There was a buzz of conversation at the front of the hall as Raj stood up, leaning on the table with his right hand, the stump of his left arm concealed under his jacket. It was obvious to Evan how much Raj had aged in the years they had known each other. His once jet-black hair was streaked with silver, and the lines on his forehead made him look older than he was. But then, Evan thought as he looked around the room, everyone looked older now. The constant fear of being torn to bits by something you couldn’t see did that to you.

Okay, everyone, Raj called. Settle down. He stopped and grinned. God, I even sound like a headmaster now. I’ll be starting with the school song next. Laughter ran around the hall, and Evan noticed people starting to relax. Raj was good at that. No matter how bad the situation was, he always seemed to put people at ease.

Right, seriously. Thank you all for coming.

Haven’t got anywhere else to go! someone shouted and got another laugh.

"Thanks for that, Deggsy. But the reason I’ve gathered everyone here is because that actually isn’t true. There is somewhere else to go, and everyone who wants can come along. The fact of the matter is, we think we’ve found it. I say we, but it was really Barry. Come on, Baz, I think you need to stand up and take a bow, mate."

There was the sound of shuffling and whispering, and the assembled throng turned en masse to look at Barry the Geek. But the centre of all this attention, unmistakable with his long hair and unconvincing beard, did not stand up. He didn’t even look up from his phone, just fired off a one-fingered salute and carried on with whatever it was he was doing.

He’s too modest, Raj said. But Baz has managed to get some information out of the few computers we’ve got that haven’t kicked the bucket yet, and we now think we know the location of the Adversary’s centre of operations. We don’t know if he’s actually there, but it seems likely. Tomorrow, we’re leaving. That bastard has had it all his own way for too long now. It’s about time he learned what we’re made of.

Raj looked at his audience expectantly. Evan suspected he was waiting for applause, but instead, there was a feeling of unease in the room.

Where? Roddy Mac called out. Where is he?

Can’t tell you that, Rod, Raj replied. The fewer people who know the exact location the better. We don’t want a repeat of Graham Shaw.

Whispering broke out again at the mention of the name. That someone who had seemed to be so loyal could have let the Adversary into his head and cost so many lives was still raw. Liza had ended up having to shoot Graham and since then, secrecy had become paramount. It often seemed like the Trinity was no longer willing to share information about anything with anyone, not even people like Evan and Ruby, who had been there since the days when Joey and Emma were around. Those were days nobody ever spoke about because Raj, who was usually quite even-tempered, would fly into a rage at the mention of Joey’s name. There were some betrayals you simply never got over.

All I can say, Raj went on, is that anyone who wants to come is welcome, but there is a way to go, and I can’t guarantee anyone’s safety.

We’ll be bloody slaughtered! someone called out.

We’re getting bloody slaughtered here, someone else shouted; Evan didn’t even need to look to see it was Chris. He would know that voice anywhere. I’m with Raj. I’d rather die trying to do something than die hiding.

Ooh! Ruby whispered in Evan’s ear. You’ve got a good one there. I’d hang on to him.

Shut up, Evan whispered back, gently punching his sister in the arm, but when he looked over at Chris, who was standing and looking around defiantly, Evan’s heart swelled with pride. He felt emboldened enough to cross the hall to Chris, stand next to him and put his arm around his partner’s shoulders.

What time do we leave, Raj? he asked.

Good man, Evan. First light. Get a decent night’s sleep if you can. Thank you. That’s all.

Raj gave a nod to Anna and Liza, and the Trinity withdrew through the door at the back of the hall. The noise of conversation grew louder as the assembly broke up, with people drifting away in twos and threes. Some looked angry, others fearful; nobody looked hopeful.

Well, if we’re about to go off and be slaughtered, Chris said, maybe we ought to make the most of the time we’ve got left.

Raj said to get a decent night’s sleep.

After. We can do that after.

Chapter Three

Raj sometimes found it ironic that the room he used was once the headteacher’s office. He had never thought of himself as a leader, yet here he was, sitting in a mock-leather chair, surrounded by the monitors—set up by Barry the Geek—having just asked a roomful of good people to follow him, maybe to victory, maybe to death. The worst thing was some of those people would follow him without questioning it, simply because it was him asking.

He would probably never be comfortable with that feeling, but in the dark days, and there had been plenty of those over the last few years, these survivors needed a leader. In the absence of anyone else stepping forward, the role had fallen to Raj. Were it not for the support of Liza and Anna, the responsibility would have overwhelmed him, but they had been by his side since the day Joey Cale betrayed them and unleashed the horror on the world. For that, Raj would always be grateful.

Misha lay half in and half out of her basket in the corner, gazing up at Raj, empathy in her soft brown eyes. The monitors, which sometimes flickered with phantom images from long-dead TV stations, were all blank now and would stay that way. They had, on occasion, served a purpose, but as of first thing tomorrow, their service was done.

When they left, they would take only what was absolutely necessary. They had plenty of miles to cover and needed to travel light. Raj had no idea whatsoever how they were going to accomplish it, and it was that thought, among others, which meant he was unlikely to follow his own advice and sleep well.

There was a knock at the door, and Liza Hunt came in without being asked. She always did that, and Raj wondered why she bothered knocking at all.

I think that went all right, he said. Hard to tell. I wasn’t expecting cheers, but they were very quiet.

They’re scared, Raj. They’ve been living in fear for so long, they daren’t hope anymore.

Are we doing the right thing?

Liza sat down opposite Raj. What else can we do? As soon as Barry worked it out, all choice went out the window.

That’s assuming Barry’s right. I don’t really understand half of what he says.

That’s because it’s geek-speak and you’re not a geek. Thank God.

I still think we need a better plan. Or any kind of a plan.

You’ve done all you can. For all his comedy, Derek has done a good job with forging the bullets. I still don’t know how he did it.

At the mention of Derek’s work, Raj placed a hand on the cardboard box which sat on the desk in front of him.

As long as it works. I’ve got to finish the job, Liza. I’m just not sure I’m happy taking anyone else with me.

Liza got up from her chair and went around the desk to hug him. He hugged her back as best he could. A one-handed hug was never quite the same.

There’s no other way, Raj. Food’s running out. We’re going to have to move on sooner or later. We can’t stay here forever. We never could. I think we knew that.

So it’s die here or die somewhere else. Great choice.

Or maybe there’s a third choice. Maybe we could actually get him and not die at all. What about that?

Sounds perfect. But what are the odds?

Not wonderful, admittedly. But marginally better than staying here and waiting for it.

That’s why I keep you around, Raj said and managed to find a smile from somewhere. You’re such a comfort. Now go and try and get some kip.

What about you?

In a bit. I’ve got a few things left to sort out. I’ll crash out soon, I promise.

Liza gave him another hug and a quick kiss on the cheek and left him to it.

Raj waited until the door was shut and then opened the box on the desk. He fumbled a little but managed to extract one of the bullets and held it up to the light. The casting wasn’t perfect, but the conditions hadn’t been exactly ideal. The main thing was they