The Fallen (52 page)

Einstein got up and started pacing about. He was behaving like someone who’d been given some bad news that they didn’t want to accept.

‘Disease doesn’t give us special powers,’ he insisted. ‘It’s not like Spider-Man. Disease takes things away.’

‘What about kids with autism?’ said Maxie. ‘You know, like the ones who can do amazing things – I don’t know, maths and that. I saw this documentary about a kid who could just look at a building and then draw it exactly from memory.’

‘That’s just because some of the noise is taken out; some parts of their brains are wired, like, wrong, so other parts develop,’ said Einstein. ‘But doing hard sums is not a superpower, unless I missed that comic. Autistic kids may be different to us, but they’re still human. Disease destroys us. Simple as that.’

‘What about bacteria then?’ said Maxie.

‘What about it?’

‘You know, like in our guts. That’s not part of us, it’s other living beings. But without it we’d get sick and
couldn’t digest things properly. There are lots of parasites in the world that help the creatures they live on.’

‘Here’s the science part,’ said Einstein sarcastically. ‘Bacteria in our guts can’t turn us into living mobile phones.’

‘Not bacteria,’ said Maxie, refusing to be fazed by Einstein. ‘The
disease
. The disease, that you and everyone else know sod all about.’

‘Are you saying the disease might be some sort of parasite?’ said Einstein.

‘It could be, couldn’t it?’ said Blue. ‘It came out of the jungle with them Stone Age tribesmen, the Inmathger. You saw the show. They passed it on to the people who were studying them, the Promithios scientists, who brought it back here, only they didn’t realize because it was a new disease they’d never come across before. Nobody knew they had it for ages. So what if it was some new sort of parasite, and it’s the parasites that are talking to each other, you know, the way some insects can communicate with each other?’

‘If it was a parasite it would have shown up,’ said Einstein. ‘We’d have seen it under the microscopes.’

Blue looked at the bench where Einstein had been working. He recognized the transparent plastic box that Einstein had used to pick up some of the grey stuff that had come out of Seamus when Ollie killed him. The stuff had stopped moving and looked just like grey sludge.

‘You could be wrong,’ said Blue. ‘You’re not the real Einstein after all, are you? Face it. You’re just a kid, mate.’

‘It’s not possible,’ Einstein protested. ‘It can’t be. I mean, it’s a great story. You should sell it to Hollywood. Oh no, I forgot, Hollywood doesn’t exist any more. That is
not
how the world works.’

‘Well, the world has changed, geek-boy; it has jumped up and bitten us in the arse. You said it yourself, Hollywood don’t exist no more. Who saw that one coming? Before all this, would you have said that every adult in the world was gonna get wiped out? No. Except the ones that fancied theirselves as cannibal zombies? No. Nothing’s real until it happens. And this
has
happened and we’ve got to get on it. We’ve got to solve the problems it’s given us before it’s too late. So maybe you need to keep a more open mind.’

Before Einstein could respond to Blue they were interrupted by the arrival of Maeve, who had Ella and Monkey-Boy with her.

‘Whassup?’ said Blue. ‘Everything all right?’

‘Yeah.’ Maeve sat at the workbench and the little kids climbed up on to stools on either side of her. ‘Can I talk to you about something?’

‘Sure. What?’

‘Maxie knows about this.’

‘I do?’ Maxie looked intrigued.

‘Yeah, about me leaving.’

‘You’re leaving?’ said Blue.

‘In the morning. Us three and Robbie.’

‘You serious?’ Blue stared into Maeve’s eyes, trying to see if there was any trace of doubt there. He didn’t know the girl well. She wasn’t one of his Morrisons crew; none of the kids leaving were.

‘Deadly serious,’ said Maeve. ‘We’ve been over and over it.’

‘But where you gonna go?’

‘We’re getting out of town. Heading west. To the countryside. Out the way you went, past Heathrow. We’ll keep going until we find somewhere safe.’

‘You might keep going till you fall off the edge of the world, girl.’

Maeve smiled. ‘If that’s what it takes.’

Blue looked at Maxie, who shrugged.

‘I can’t stop them,’ she said. ‘But I wish you weren’t going, Maeve.’

‘Oh, come on!’ said Blue. ‘Four of you? Two little ones? Another kid who can hardly walk. You won’t stand a chance.’

‘It’s a risk we’re willing to take,’ said Maeve quietly. ‘We’ve had enough of London. All this …’

Blue turned his attention to Monkey-Boy.

‘You sure about this?’ he said.

Monkey-Boy looked very scared. He gripped on to Maeve’s jumper.

‘I’m not leaving Maeve,’ he said. ‘She looks after me.’

‘And I’m sticking with Monkey-Boy,’ said Ella. ‘We’re a team. There’s nothing for me here.’

‘What about your brother?’ said Maxie. ‘What about Sam?’

‘He’s dead,’ said Ella quietly. ‘I’m never going to see him again. And I don’t want to stay here in London,’ she went on. ‘It just reminds me of him. We got so far, we did so well, and then …’

Blue didn’t know what to say. He went round the bench and gave Ella and Maeve a quick hug. What he’d seen of Maeve he liked. She was quiet and serious and calm. A good kid to have around.

‘It’s your decision, doc,’ he said. ‘But we could do with you here. What with you knowing about medicine and all.’

‘I don’t know half as much as him,’ Maeve said, throwing a look at Einstein. ‘I think you’ll do just fine without me.’

She stood up and gave Maxie a little kiss.

‘I miss you already,’ she said. ‘But one day … I’m sure we’ll all meet again. In better times, yeah?’

‘I hope you’re right,’ said Maxie. ‘I hope there’s an amazing new life waiting for you out there. Send us a card, won’t you?’

‘I’ll send flowers,’ said Maeve. ‘From the countryside. Freshly cut and smelling of … I don’t know – life.’

‘Good luck,’ said Blue, and as he said it the whole lab was lit a brilliant white as lightning flashed in the sky overhead. ‘Better times.’

92

David was stomping down the stairs from the royal bedroom at Buckingham Palace. In a
bad
mood. The storm had passed, but he still had a headache. Thunder
always
gave him a headache. So did problems, and this was a night of problems.

The last surviving members of the royal family, whom he kept in the room upstairs, had gone weird on him. They were standing there, frozen like dummies, holding their arms out as if they expected him to give them a tip. He’d been looking after them and keeping them alive in the hope that he could eventually use them to take over London. They were his mascots, the symbols of his authority. At least that was the plan. He was beginning to wonder if it was a huge waste of time and he shouldn’t just use them for target practice instead. He’d been tearing into his quite frankly useless head of security, Pod, when they’d been interrupted by one of David’s guards, who said he had a visitor. A visitor who wouldn’t give his name.

Who the hell came visiting in the middle of the bloody night?

Some
idiot
probably.

Bringing more problems.

The world was full of idiots.

‘It could be Nicola, or someone from the Houses of Parliament,’ said Pod, plodding along behind, trying to keep up with David, who was walking angrily fast.

‘Yes, and it could be Father Christmas,’ said David.

‘Wrong time of year,’ said Pod, who had no sense of humour.

‘Well, the Easter Bunny then,’ said David.

Pod chuckled.
Idiot
.

David pulled open the door to his study and went in.

Oh. It was
him
then. The weird boy from the museum. Another born idiot. What was his name? Peter, or Richard or something. John?

‘Yeah, hi, Paul,’ said Pod as he came in. ‘How goes it?’

Paul
. That was it. He looked terrible. Thin and wasted. Soaking wet, black hair plastered to his white face. Shaking. Eyes red and bloodshot. Feverish. David hoped he wasn’t going to infect them all with some boring disease.

‘You’re back then,’ he said. ‘What a lovely surprise.’

‘Yes.’

‘So what happened? The last we saw of you, you were going back to the museum to stir things up a little.’

‘Did you let the strangers out of the cellar, dude?’ said Pod. ‘Did they, like, attack?’

‘Yes.’ Paul nodded. Didn’t look like he was going to say anything more.

‘Cool,’ said Pod.

‘So what happened?’ said David impatiently.

‘Some others turned up.’

‘Other grown-ups?’

‘No. Kids. A whole load of them. Good fighters. They killed my sickos.’

‘Epic fail,’ said Pod, and then he frowned. ‘That was the
same night that Maxie and Blue and the north London guys left here,’ he said to David. ‘You don’t reckon …’

David sat down at his desk. Oh, that would be a great joke, wouldn’t it? If those bastards had double-screwed him. He was trying to help – why couldn’t anyone see that? He was trying to unite all the kids in London under his rule so that they could be one single force. But as long as any of them held out, like Justin and his nerds at the museum, that was never going to happen, was it? He’d hoped to show them how vulnerable they were, how much they needed him, by getting Paul to set up an attack. And if the bloody Holloway kids had rescued them, then …

‘I heard those names,’ said Paul, who was dripping on to the carpet.

‘Brilliant,’ said David. ‘Just brilliant. This night gets better and better. We should celebrate with a cup of cold sick. So what do you want now then? A medal? World’s biggest screw-up?’

‘I had to leave the museum,’ said Paul. ‘There were too many of them. They were too strong for me. They were going to kill me.’

They had the right idea,
thought David. This guy was a total waste of space.

‘Yeah?’ he said. ‘And what exactly do you want me to do about it? Quite frankly you look unwell. I’m not sure I want you here stinking the place up.’

‘I can help you,’ said Paul.

‘
You?
I very much doubt it.’

‘You have sickos upstairs.’

‘That’s no secret.’

‘I can help you with them. I know sickos. I used to look
after them at the museum. Ones we kept in a cage. I can look after yours.’

‘I already have people to do that. People who aren’t crawling with germs.’

‘I can help,’ said Paul. He was pleading now,
pathetic
really.

‘So you keep saying. But tell me in one short sentence exactly how you can help me.’

‘I can talk to them.’

93

Lately everything had started to change. Brooke wondered if things were falling apart. It had all begun with the arrival of DogNut. Before that, for the last year, they’d been getting sorted, making the museum a safe place to live, finding food, growing food, learning what they could about their new world. It had felt like things had slowly been getting better. Tiny steps, sure, but going in the right direction at least.

And then DogNut had showed up out of nowhere and it had all started to come undone. First she’d tried to go back with him across London, and that had turned into a disaster. DogNut killed. Her oldest friend Courtney killed. Robbie wounded. Brooke herself wounded, cut across the face by a crazy mother. And then Paul had flipped out and let the sickos out of the lower level. And then Einstein going off to get supplies. Half the kids getting massacred …

All those kids not here any more. A small selfish part of her thought that there would be more food to go round. That’s what happened to you. You grew hard and cold. All that mattered was survival.

She was sitting on the steps in front of the museum, making the most of the warmth from the sun. It was spring: leaves were opening on the trees. Summer soon.

Brooke sighed.

Things always seemed better in the summer. There was more to eat. It wasn’t so cold and wet. Winter was one long nightmare. The images she had in her mind of the winter weren’t great. Burning anything they could find to keep warm. Scraping the last bits of food out of cans. Breaking the ice on the water tanks in the roof. Dark most of the time.