Read Boy X for Free Online Page B

dead people, and we came through the corridor in the dark and something weird is happening to me, I can hear and smell things that . . .’ He was babbling but couldn’t stop himself. It was such a relief to find his mum alive.
    Beside him, Isabel was talking to her dad in Spanish,telling him more or less the same thing, but both Ash’s mum and Isabel’s dad were shaking their heads and pointing to their ears.
    Then Ash’s mum made a fist and banged hard on the glass. She held up a hand, telling him to stay put, and reached to the desk behind her. Picking up a tablet computer, she typed something before showing it to her son.
    Soundproof. Room sealed.
    Ash grabbed Isabel’s shoulder to stop her from talking. ‘It’s soundproof,’ he told her. ‘They can’t hear us.’
    Isabel stopped and glared at him like she was going to hit him – like it was his fault or something – so Ash pointed at his mum. ‘Look.’
    Isabel turned to see the message and stood there, staring at it, not knowing what to do. ‘Why is it sealed? What is wrong?’
    â€˜I don’t know.’ Some of the relief at having found Mum began to slide away.
    Find tablet in other lab.
    Ash nodded and Isabel hurried with him to the lab where the monkeys were locked in their cells. The animals stared at him with their piercing green eyes, but Ash ignored them as he searched the room. He finally spotted a tablet computer lying on a pristine white surface next to a glass oven.
    â€˜Here,’ he said to Isabel as he grabbed it and rushed back.
    As soon as he was ready, Mum typed: I couldn’t wake you. Had to give IV drip. Are you hurt?
    Ash read the words, then looked down at his small frame, dressed only in pyjamas and covered in blood. He remembered pulling the needle from his hand and Isabel telling him he had been there for two days. He wanted to ask so many things, but first he had to let his mum know he was OK.
    Not my blood.
    â€˜Why is the room sealed?’ Isabel leant over his shoulder, pointing at the screen. ‘Ask why the—’
    â€˜I am.’ His fingers fumbled, missing some of the letters: Why s room sealed? Com out.
    Mum put a hand to her mouth, then composed herself: Get help.
    From where? Who? How?
    Have you seen anyone else?
    â€˜Why doesn’t she answer the question?’ Isabel grabbed the top of the tablet computer and pulled it closer.
    â€˜Please.’ Ash tugged it back and typed: Pierce. Cain. Thorn. He remembered the names as if they were burnt into his brain. No one else I recognized. Big man. Hulk. 3 others.
    Where are P, C & T now?
    I don’t know.
    Think. This is very important. Are they near?
    Ash looked at Isabel and bit his lip. He thought about the horrible journey from the lobby to the lab. Thorn still here. Others gone.
    In the helicopter?
    Crashed, he typed in reply. 2 men in helicopter. Don’tknow if alive or dead. 1 person dead in corridor. 2 guards dead by other lab. No power. No phones. Shutters down. How can we get help? Ash was trying to stay calm and give Mum as much information as he could. Mum stared at his words until he took the tablet away and stabbed again at the virtual keyboard on the screen: Please cpome out now!
    Mum pursed her lips and continued to stare. She took a deep breath and finally looked down at her own tablet: Where did Cain and Pierce go?
    I don’t know.
    â€˜ ¡Madre de Dios! ’ Isabel threw her hands in the air. ‘ ¿Por qué no vienen a cabo? Why won’t they come out? Give it to me. Let me ask Papa.’ She reached towards the tablet computer.
    â€˜Wait.’ Ash turned his body to stop her from taking it, then typed: What’s going on? Why is room sealed? Why don’t you come out?
    When he held it up, Mum stood there, with her tablet in one hand, but she didn’t type anything. She just stared at him again, eyes glistening, so Ash went closer to