Stella the Zombie Killer

Stella the Zombie Killer Part Four: You go left

'Keep your head down,' Stella whispered at Hook. 'They haven't seen us.'

Hook grunted his reply. They both knew that if the angels had already spotted them then they would already be fighting. Or running. 'How many?' he whispered.

Stella glanced away from the window to Hook. Her nose caught his smell; not rotten exactly, just off. Hook didn't look after his flesh as well as he might. She held up three fingers and waved her hand in the air.

Hook nodded, his face grim: three angels hovering, searching. Although neither he nor Stella had been built for fighting, they had taken care of lone angels when the need arose. Three was another story. He shuffled his bulk to get his head lower behind the comfortable furniture of the lobby. He raised his eyebrows to question Stella.

She shrugged and turned back to the window; the angels were sweeping the area just outside the hotel's entrance. Earl's Court. Stella had been to parties in this area before the crash. Guest of honour. She smirked at the thought now, and then shook her head at Hook who questioned the gesture.

The three suddenly descended and landed just ten metres from the window. They spread themselves apart and then let their wings unfurl. Within seconds the intensity of the golden glow was almost too much.

They're charging,' Stella whispered.

'No way,' Hook replied.

'Way!' she said sarcastically.

'They never charge when people are around.'

'They never land when people are around.' she said. Hook nodded in agreement. 'They're either desperate or their scanners are down,' Stella continued, staring through squinted eyes at the blazing golden light. She squinted for the sake of her biological eye; the bionic eyeball had already compensated for the glare.

She turned to Hook and shrugged. She had no idea how the angels were even still functioning. Dead heads in metal bodies. Who was controlling what? 'Something's not right,' she said.

'Not right with them. I say we take them.' Hook was leaning forward against the sofa, his face eager.

'Easy, tiger,' she said, laying a hand on his arm. 'There are three of them.'

'Three of them charging. Three of them offline.'

'Do they shut down fully?'

Hook nodded.

Stella smelled his breath and grimaced.

He smiled at her and cocked his head to one side. He was a good looking man. 'We just walk up to them and knock their blocks off. Easy.'

Stella glanced back outside, the golden shine full on the lobby's expansive windows. 'I don't know. Seems too easy. Even if we take out the dead heads doesn't mean the suits won't kick off. There's no way they would let their defences down.'

'They're fried. They don't know where they are. Dead heads must have controlled the suits and now they're acting on impulse. They needed recharging so they're recharging. Dead heads don't think. Dead head angels don't think.' Hook looked at her, his face suddenly serious. 'And we could really use those suits.'

Stella remembered her broken night vision. 'Okay,' she nodded. 'We take them. But the second it goes wrong I'm out of there. Understood?'