This is for you, brave reader!

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 A New Mystery

  2 Melting Sheep

  3 The Spencer Institute

  4 The Clones

  5 No Entry

  6 The Vault

  7 Feeding Time

  8 A Look Inside

  9 A Chilling Thought

  10 Variant 42

  11 Storm Carrie

  12 The End of the World

  13 Feeding Frenzy

  14 Freak Accident

  15 Zombies

  16 Surrounded

  17 Soldiers

  18 Cover-up

  Also by Dan Smith

  Copyright

  CHAPTER 1

  A New Mystery

  “This is rubbish,” Nancy said. She was at the kitchen table, eating Corn Flakes and reading the local newspaper, the Crooked Oak Chronicle.

  “Is it, darling?” Nancy’s mum replied as she stared into her coffee mug.

  “Yes,” Nancy complained. “The headline is ‘Goat Rescued from Roundabout’. That’s not news.” She closed yesterday’s newspaper, leaving it face down on the table. “We need some proper news. Something exciting.”

  “There’s a storm coming,” her mum said. “Is that exciting enough for you?” She nodded to the TV beside the microwave. It was showing the end of the weather report.

  “Storm Carrie is expected to hit north-east England on Thursday night,” the weather presenter said. “The Met Office has issued a red weather warning. That means dangerous weather is likely and you should take action to keep yourself and others safe.”

  “I suppose we’ll lose a few roof tiles,” Nancy’s mum sighed.

  But Nancy wasn’t listening to her mum. She was staring at the article on the back page of the newspaper.

  This was it.

  This was news to get excited about.

  Nancy picked up her phone and took a photo of the article. She dumped her cereal bowl in the sink and grabbed her school bag.

  “Hey!” Nancy’s mum said. “Do you think we have washing-up fairies in this house?”

  “Yes,” Nancy replied with a smile that made her nose wrinkle. “And they don’t want me to be late for school.” She gave her mum a quick hug and hurried out of the kitchen.

  “Your dad could have given you a lift,” Nancy’s mum called after her. She hated Nancy riding her bike to school, especially on dark winter mornings like today. And Nancy’s dad was the headmaster at Crooked Oak Academy, so Nancy could get a lift with him any time.

  “Ugh, no thanks!” Nancy mumbled. She hurried out into the cold morning and slammed the front door behind her.

  Nancy tied her auburn hair into a ponytail, unlocked her bike and jumped on. As she raced along Elm Street, all she could think about was the article on the back page of the newspaper. A new mystery.

  And Nancy couldn’t wait to show her friends.

  CHAPTER 2

  Melting Sheep

  Pete Brundle and Krish Shyamalan were waiting for Nancy by the school bike racks. They were wearing winter coats and jiggling about to keep warm.

  Nancy was the smartest kid in Year Eight, but Krish wasn’t far behind. Between them, they seemed to know just about everything. Pete, on the other hand, was … Pete. There was no one else like him. He was the bravest and most reckless person Nancy and Krish knew.

  Together, the three of them were the best friends anyone could hope for.

  “Have you guys seen this?” Nancy said, showing them the photo of the newspaper article on her phone. “It might be something for the Mystery Shed.”

  The Mystery Shed was a website that had stories about weird and creepy things happening around the world. Pete, Nancy and Krish were obsessed with it and were always looking for stories they could post there. Whenever they posted something, they signed it with the name “Area 51”.

  Krish leaned over Nancy’s phone and pushed his glasses up his nose. Pete called this his “serious mode”.

  “Melting Sheep Mystery,” Krish read aloud from the article:

  Melting Sheep Mystery

  On 15 January, Mr Robert Williams, the owner of Back Hill Farm, discovered two of his sheep were missing. Mr Williams said, “I checked all the fences and looked in all the brambles. But all I could find was something strange in the top field, close to the land around Hilltop House. Two large puddles of weird gunk.”

  Mr Williams described the “gunk” as a thick, slimy liquid containing pieces of bone and wool. Unfortunately, the “gunk” had soaked into the ground before the Crooked Oak Chronicle was able to photograph it.

  “It’s like the sheep just melted right there in the field,” said Mr Williams. “I’m sure it’s something to do with that new research place up at Hilltop House.”

  Hilltop House was built in 1823 and was recently purchased by the Spencer Institute for use as a research farm. The Spencer Institute is highly respected and known worldwide for research into organic bio-fuels and sustainable food crops.

  “I’ll be keeping my sheep out of the top field from now on,” said Mr Williams. “I’ll not let them anywhere near Hilltop House. There’s something unnatural going on up there.”

  Krish stopped reading and looked up at Nancy. There was a spark of interest in his dark brown eyes.

  “Do you think he’s making it up?” Nancy said.

  “The farmer?” Pete asked. “Maybe. But if he’s not, ‘melting sheep’ could be a Mystery Shed story. We have to check it out.”

  Without a word, Nancy walked away from the bike racks and around the main school building. Pete and Krish followed her past the temporary classroom at the far side of the playground. They stopped at the edge of the school playing field, where a pair of magpies was chattering loudly. At the far end of the field was a tall hedge with fields stretching up the hill behind it. Right at the top of the hill stood the dark shape of Hilltop House.

  “Creepy,” Krish said. His breath steamed in the cold.

  “Yeah,” Pete agreed. “I wonder what kind of research they do there.”

  Nancy put her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. “The article said bio-fuel and sustainable crops,” she reminded them.

  “Yeah, but what about the gunk?” Pete reminded her. “Could be ectoplasm, like in Ghostbusters.”

  “There’s no such thing as ectoplasm, you doofus,” Krish said. “Or ghosts. Anyway, the farmer probably made it up because he wants to make the research farm look bad.”

  “Don’t pretend you’re not interested in the gunk,” Pete said, nudging Krish in the ribs. “We should go and talk to the farmer – find out about this ectoplasm stuff.”

  “We don’t have to talk to the farmer,” Nancy told him. “Look who wrote the article.” She took out her phone again and zoomed in at the bottom of the photo.

  “Julia Wan?” Pete asked. “So?”

  “So …” Nancy said, rolling her eyes at him. “That’s Miss Wan. Our English teacher.”

  CHAPTER 3

  The Spencer Institute

  “Honestly, that farmer Robert Williams is a bit weird,” Miss Wan told Nancy, Pete and Krish at break-time.

  Miss Wan was a small woman with black hair. Her intelligent eyes were hidden behind purple tinted glasses. She was sitting at her desk with a mug of tea and a pile of marking. Behind her on the wall was a display of poems the Year Eights had written last term.

  “You didn’t get any photos of the ectoplasm?” Pete asked.

  “It was gone by the time I got there,” Miss Wan replied. “If there even was any. All I saw was this.” She took out her phone and showed them a photo of some bones and bits of wool lying in frosty grass.

  “Do you think the farmer made it up?” Nancy asked as she perched between Pete and Krish on the edge of a classroom table.

  Miss Wan sipped her tea. “Robert Williams tried to buy Hilltop House a few years ago but couldn’t afford it,” she said. “Perhaps he’s just jealous of the Spencer Institute and is trying to make them look bad. But I did see those bones, so …” She took a deep breath. “It’s definitely a mystery.”

  Pete leaned forward and grinned at Nancy and Krish. They loved a good mystery.

  “So why did the Spencer Institute want to build their research facility at Hilltop?” Krish wondered.

  Miss Wan took another sip of tea. “Why not?” she said. “There’s plenty of land. And Hilltop was for sale.”

  “And it’s in the middle of nowhere,” Pete said. “Which means they can do dodgy research without anyone finding out.”

  Miss Wan took a deep breath. “I went up to Hilltop,” she said. “They were very friendly and took me on a tour. You know, they’re making some amazing discoveries.”

  “What kind of discoveries?” Krish asked.

  Miss Wan paused for a moment before saying, “Well, they’re bio-engineering plants that—”

  “‘Bio-engineering’?” Pete said. “What does that mean?”

  “Basically, it means messing about with something’s genes,” Krish told him. “Like taking DNA from one plant and putting it into another to make it grow better.”

  “Yep, that’s pretty much it,” Miss Wan agreed. “So, at Hilltop they’re bio-engineering plants that can absorb huge amounts of greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide. And they’re working on a plant that can be turned into a clean bio-fuel to run cars. But there’s something else. You see, when I visited Hilltop, there was part of the facility they didn’t show me: a huge building, right behind the old house. They called it ‘the Vault’.”

  “‘The Vault’?” said Pete. He sat up straight, unable to hide his excitement. “And they didn’t let you inside?”

  “No,” Miss Wan replied. “They said it’s for ‘secret’ research.” She put her mug down on the desk, turning it around so they could all see the design. “But I’d love to see inside that building,” Miss Wan went on. “I wonder what secrets it holds?”

  Pete, Nancy and Krish all stared at the design on Miss Wan’s mug. It showed a picture of a UFO hovering over some trees. Underneath were the words “I WANT TO BELIEVE”.

  CHAPTER 4

  The Clones

  That evening, Nancy sat in her bedroom at number 28 Elm Street. Outside, the wind blustered in the cold, dark evening. Nancy tried to focus on her Maths homework, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Hilltop House and the Spencer Institute.

  Not far away, Pete was playing video games on his clunky old laptop in the living room of 112 Campbell Street. He was shooting zombies but thinking about what Miss Wan had told them about the Vault. He was also thinking about the design on Miss Wan’s mug.

  On the other side of Crooked Oak, just past the village, Krish was at home on Dunwick Farm. He was sitting in a beanbag in the outhouse he called “Area 51” – the place he and Pete and Nancy used as their clubhouse. On the wall behind Krish was a poster that showed a UFO hovering over some trees, with the words “I WANT TO BELIEVE” written below it. It was the exact same design as Miss Wan’s mug.

  Krish had finished his homework and was browsing the internet for information about research farms and bio-engineering. His dog, Gizmo, was snoozing in a basket in the corner of the room. Gizmo looked up from time to time when the wind rattled at the door.

  *

  At form time the next morning, most kids were talking about Storm Carrie. It was going to hit on Thursday. But Pete, Nancy and Krish were talking about the Spencer Institute and bio-engineering.

  “Did you know they can put animal DNA into plants?” Krish said. “A company once put DNA from fish into tomato plants so they could survive frost.”

  “Fishy tomatoes?” Pete said with a grimace. “That’s nasty.”

  “Well, it doesn’t mean the tomatoes would taste—”

  Nancy nudged Krish to be quiet.

  “Ow!” Krish complained, but then he saw that Nancy was trying to listen to Tracey Levin and her friends, Sophie and Asha. They were at the table by the window, looking at something on Sophie’s phone.

  “Ewww! Gross!” Tracey exclaimed.

  “I swear,” Sophie said. “It was a big puddle of gunk. Even Eddy wouldn’t go near it, and he’d normally eat anything!”

  Pete didn’t much like Tracey and her friends. He called them the “Clones” because they had the same hairstyle, the same nail varnish, the same shoes. Sophie wasn’t too bad, but Tracey and Asha acted like they were better than everyone else.

  Nancy went over to speak to Sophie. Pete and Krish followed.

  “Do you mind if I ask what you’re talking about?” Nancy asked.

  “Yes, we do, actually,” Tracey Levin said with a sneer. She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder and stood up to show she was taller than Nancy. She looked Nancy up and down, pulling a face.

  Nancy was short and skinny, but she wasn’t short of courage. Tracey didn’t scare her one bit.

  “I was actually talking to Sophie,” Nancy said before turning to Sophie and saying, “You mentioned something about gunk?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Sophie said, showing Nancy the photo.

  It was a bit grainy. Sophie had clearly taken it when it was still dark outside. It showed a weird puddle of slimy gunk about the same length and width as a classroom table.

  “It’s like in the newspaper article,” Krish whispered to Nancy. He reached over and zoomed in on the photo while Sophie was still holding the phone. In the close-up, they could see what looked like four curved bones.

  “Are those … ribs?” Krish wondered.

  “That’s what my dad thought,” Sophie said. “There’s a skull too.” She moved the picture to show them a yellowy skull lying on the grass, covered in gunk.

  “Where did you take this?” Nancy asked.

  “In one of the fields up near Hilltop,” Sophie said. “Sunday morning, when me and my dad took Eddy for a walk.” She paused, then added, “Eddy’s our dog.”

  “Obviously,” Krish muttered.

  “Hey, you live in those new houses, right?” Pete asked. “Near Hilltop.”

  “Yeah,” Sophie replied. “I can see Hilltop House from my bedroom. It’s creepy. Sometimes lorries go up there in the night and—”

  “Are we finished?” Tracey asked. “Can you freaks leave us alone now?”

  “Yeah,” Asha added. “This is a private conversation.” She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side. Her dark hair fell across her shoulder like a waterfall.

  Nancy glared at Tracey and Asha, then smiled at Sophie. “Thank you,” Nancy said.

  “Um …” Sophie said. She glanced at Tracey and Asha, then continued, “There’s something else. There were loads of lights at Hilltop the other night. Around the creepy house and in the fields. I saw them from my bedroom.”

  “What kind of lights?” Pete asked.

  “Cars,” Sophie said. “And torches. Really bright ones. Like someone was looking for something.”

  “When was it exactly?” Krish asked.

  “Saturday night,” Sophie replied. “About ten o’clock.”

  Pete, Nancy and Krish looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thing. That was the night the sheep disappeared.

  CHAPTER 5

  No Entry

  After school, Pete, Nancy and Krish jumped on their bikes and cycled up North Road towards Hilltop.

  The sky was darkening. The freezing air pinched at their faces and a cold mist hung over the fields each side of the road. The lights of Crooked Oak twinkled behind them like lonely stars.

  “Sophie saw lights on Saturday night,” Pete said as he rode between Nancy and Krish. “The same night the sheep disappeared.”

  “Exactly,” Krish said. “And she found the gunk the next morning. There must be a connection, right?”

  “Yeah,” Nancy agreed. “And the farmer wasn’t making it up. Sophie’s photo proves that.”

  North Road was steep, snaking upwards in the dark. At the top of the hill, they stopped by a turning on the left. A road full of potholes cut between the fields, heading towards Hilltop House. Long grass and tall hedges lined each side of it. There was a white barrier across the road, stopping vehicles from getting past.

  Attached to the barrier was a sign that read “No Entry”. Beside it another sign read “Private Property: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted”.

  At the far end of the road, Hilltop House stood like a haunted mansion on the hill. There was no hint of life inside. Not a single light in any of its windows. Beside the house, the shapes of greenhouses and polytunnels lurked in the dusk. Behind the house stood an enormous single-storey building. Windows ran around the top of this building, just below the roof, and each one shone brightly in the evening.

  “That must be the Vault,” Pete said. “The place Miss Wan told us about.”

  “Well, that’s as far as we go then,” Krish panted. He was exhausted from keeping up with Nancy and Pete. “It’s out of bounds.” Krish pointed at the sign. “Anyway, it’s getting late. We should probably go home.”

  “Out of bounds?” Pete said. “When did that ever stop us?” He ducked and wheeled his bike under the barrier. “Oops. I seem to be accidentally trespassing.”

  Krish sighed.

  Nancy grinned.

  “Let’s go and have a look!” Pete said as he climbed back on his bike and set off along the road.

  Nancy followed without hesitating.

  Krish stood by the barrier. He glanced back at the comforting lights of the village of Crooked Oak, then turned to his best friends. They were already disappearing into the misty darkness of the road.

 

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