Germ's Journey

W. Glover J.

Description

This is the moment you've been waiting for ever since you laid your eyes on that letter at your front door. The honour! You've been selected above thousands of other applicants to get this position. A chance to experience more out of life; a chance to make a difference for everyone; a chance to be part of the team combatting antibiotic resistance. Today will be your first day as a trainee agent in the Anti-Bio Squad.The human body is under attack from evil germ villains and, using their henchmen, they are trying to plague everyone with their illnesses; varying from the common cold to more serious bacterial infections. They must be stopped. It's up to the Anti-Bio Squad to save the day and you're going to help them.When a boy comes down with some mysterious symptoms, it's up to you to find the clues, catch the right criminal, fend off the bacteria, and prevent them from becoming resistant to all of your weapons (antibiotics). Along the way you will be helped by friends: Agent Max, his dynamic dog, team-mate Georgie, and The D.O.C. However, it's you who decides what path this investigation follows. Do you have what it takes to succeed in the Fight Against Resistance and become a member of the Anti-Bio Squad?

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781800466982
• Langue: English

Extrait

Copyright © 2021 Joseph Glover, Katie Laird and Sarah Younie

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.


Matador
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Twitter: @matadorbooks


ISBN 9781800466982

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.


Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd



This book is dedicated to all the children around the world
and the teachers that educate them.

– The Germ’s Journey Team

And to Iris, thank you for always believing in me.
I hope I forever make you proud of the stories I tell.
I do it for you.

– Joe


Acknowledgements
This book wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for a number of people working so hard to make it happen and offering their unwavering support.
In particular, for inspiring the pathfinder format of the book, we would like to thank Rachel King for her insightful contribution.
We also would like to take the time to thank Ahmed Aboo for the invaluable knowledge that he has provided to the project.
The book would not be the same without the beautiful illustrations created by Sarah Robinson. Her amazing craft has brilliantly brought to life the world and characters that have been imagined for this book, and for that we are incredibly indebted to her.


Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 7a
Chapter 5a
Chapter 9b
Chapter 8
Chapter 7b
Chapter 6
Chapter 5b
Chapter 9a


Chapter 1
Your hand begins to shake, crumpling the ticket even more than it already has. You haven’t dared to let it out of your grip all day – you daren’t even think about misplacing it and miss out on going. You can hardly contain yourself, your eyes fixed on the doors eager for them to open. Why won’t they open already?
*CLUNK*
Was that the door? Is it time yet? Your eyes dart towards the doors for the slightest glimmer of light creeping through the crack. What must lie behind the doors?
*CLICK*
Okay, something must be about to happen. It’s been long enough. You’ve been stood for what seems like an eternity with your heels slowly sinking into the tiled floor. The helpful lady said it was only going to be a couple of minutes when she dropped you off. Maybe it has only been a few minutes, but minutes can seem like a lifetime when you’re willing away each and every second just to get this started.
*CLUNK*
What could be happening behind there? It’s clear that something is going on behind the closed doors. Your eyes peer through the gap between the two pieces of metal.
*CLUNK CLUNK*
Your bum hits the cold floor as you fall backwards startled by the noise.
*CLUNK*
The noise has begun to get louder now; more fierce, more alive
*CLUNK*
- and faster.
*CLUNK*
You try to drag yourself onto your feet, but you buckle again. The room has started to shake just as a large whirring has started to drown out the clunking. The ticket escapes your grip.
You look around to see the room is now tinted with ruby red.
“Attention all crew and personnel!” Your head whips towards the speaker. “The air shuttle is ready for loading. Please make your way outside to the launch pad now.”
Finally. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for ever since you laid your eyes on that letter at your front door. The honour! You’ve been selected above thousands of other applicants to get this position. A chance to experience more out of life; a chance to make a difference for everyone; a chance to be part of the team combatting antibiotic resistance. Today will be your first day as a trainee agent in the Anti-Bio Squad.
The metal doors slide open. You take in the fresh air. Without you realising, your foot has made the first step towards the aircraft, almost as if it’s being pulled that way. You’re ready.


Chapter 2
The door to the plane flings open in an upwards direction and a set of stairs slide down to your feet inviting you on. Climbing the stairs, you look to your right to see the initials ‘ABS’ between the plane’s two sets of wings. The ‘Anti-Bio Squad’. This is really happening.
You turn down the aisle as you enter the plane. It’s like no plane you’ve encountered before. Pairs of seats facing each other, with a brown table in between. It is more reminiscent of a train than anything else. Each table has a monitor in the middle of it, probably to display missions on. You take your place on a seat of four in the middle of the plane – not the first face at the front that everyone will see, but not hidden away at the back. You’ve picked the ideal spot to take in everything that is going to happen.
You start to hear muffled voices slowly make their way up the runway and onto the plane. They have probably made this journey time and time before and so do not have that same buzz to get to the aircraft. Or it may seem that you were more under control by the excitement that you rushed onto the aircraft slightly quicker than you intended. Either way, you were the first to board and your heroes would become your colleagues as soon as their feet step onto the aircraft. You crane your neck forward trying to pull the first face onto the plane with your vision.
The voices patter their way onto the steps of the plane from faint whispers to fully understandable words and sentences. Each step on the stairway is like a volume button on the remote, becoming louder and louder. You begin to feel the leather under you become slippery as you continue to lock your eyes onto the doorway.
Your eyes nearly fall out of their sockets as the first face finally emerges into sight, followed by more voices and faces. It is not long until it becomes a steady stream of faces, all the bright and brave boys and girls, the coolest teens that you have ever looked up to – both figuratively and now, finally, physically. Everyone knows anything and everything about the squad. Their every move is watched and reported because they mean so much to the world. They are true heroes, let alone celebrities. They are the ones that help to keep everyone safe from bacterial danger. Without them, the world would not be the place it is. The world would not be as safe and healthy as it is. Each person that passes you puts another muscle in your face to work to add to your already beaming smile. The Anti-Bio Squad are here!
The Anti-Bio Squad members pass you by, taking their own seats on the plane. None of them really give you much attention but your mind begins to go into overdrive, picturing the poster pinned to your wall back home and ticking each member off as you see them. They are all here. And you are here with them.
“Hey there!” You turn your head to the direction of the voice. “Nice to meet you. The name is Max.” Like you needed to be told. He is just as he appears in your poster. A tall, slim teen that stands bold and brave to any obstacle put in front of him. His dark hair is in tight curls poking out of his baseball cap that he is wearing backwards – although you’re used to seeing him with a short afro. His uniform matches his dark and mysterious aura, a mixture of greys and blacks with the red trim detailing along his shirt is the only colour to stand out. He has the circular Anti-Bio Squad logo on his chest, although you noticed that there seems to be a mixture of different shapes on everyone’s uniform. Something about Max made him appear to always be smiling, even in some of the tougher situations that have been reported on TV. He just has a calming nature around him. His coolness oozing out. Max, and the whole Anti-Bio Squad, are as great as superheroes. “I hate to say this to you but you’re kinda in my seat.”




Oh no.
You had every intention to do all you could to fit in and be a proper member of the squad and be accepted, not to stand out from the start and upset them – especially over something so small. You gaze down at the armrest and it indeed says, ‘Agent Maximus Addison’.
“Max, it’s their first day, leave them alone.” The voice joins the conversation before the face does. “He is just joking around. He is always like this. He doesn’t need to sit there – do you, Max?” It was Georgie, another hero of the Anti-Bio Squad. She is known to be a fiery member in the squad. She is no pushover to the baddy bacteria; she can more than hold her own. Georgie always gives her all and gets right into the thick of the action and yet still is able to keep her blonde ponytail intact. Her uniform is similar to Max’s except with a blue trim detail and her squad logo being an upside-down triangle.




“Yeah, I’m kidding, honest. You’ll learn that I like to have a joke around here, it’s always good to keep a bit of humour when you do what we do. Fighting germs all day, every day, can get to you after so long so there’s no harm in a bit of playful banter. I hope you don’t mind?” You didn’t mind at all if it meant you would be hanging around with the likes of Max and Georgie.
“So, you must be the trai