Twenty-Five Percent (Book 2): Downfall (8 page)

Alex handed the card back to him. “Well that’s, um, nice. But why were you walking right into the middle of a horde of eaters? You could have got yourself killed.”

“I have decided to make the ultimate sacrifice,” Sam said proudly.

“Ultimate sacrifice?” Alex glanced towards the eaters, even though he couldn’t see them from where they were hidden by the trees. Then understanding dawned. “Wait, do you mean you were going to feed yourself to them?”

“Yes.”

“Why on earth would you do that?” This was extreme, even for a Meirite. Mostly they were just occasionally violent perverts.

Sam frowned, dropping his gaze to the ground. “While we revere all those infected by Meir’s, it’s obvious this outbreak is not natural. Meir’s is meant for a select few, not everyone. And the infected aren’t behaving normally. So I thought if I sacrificed myself, it would cleanse this new outbreak and the suffering would stop.”

He continued to stare at the grass. If he’d been a suspect Alex was interrogating, he would have thought he was lying.

“Why did it have to be you?” Alex said.

Sam looked up. “Why not me? It is a great honour to give one’s life to the infected.” He smiled. “Your blessing in my endeavour would be very much appreciated. And, if it’s not too much to ask, I would very much like to experience my first sexual encounter before I die. With a Survivor.”

Micah clamped a hand over his mouth. A snort escaped.

Alex stepped back. “Wha...? No! No. To anything. Everything. All of it. You’re not going to die and I’m not... we’re not...” He huffed out a breath and pointed at the ground. “Sit down and stay here.”

Sam immediately dropped to the ground, crossing his legs beneath him. “As you wish, blessed one.”

“And stop calling me blessed one.”

“What would you like me to call you?”

“Alex. Alex is fine.”

He jerked his head at Micah to follow him and walked to where he could still see Sam, but the young man wouldn’t be able to hear them.

Micah was doing a terrible job of trying not to laugh as he walked up to him. “You really attract the weirdest people. But on the plus side, I think you’re in there.”

“Funny.” Alex glanced past him to where Sam was sitting in the grass. Sam waved. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Well we can’t do anything with anyone until we deal with that horde. After that, if you’d like some privacy with your new fan...”

“Oh, shut up. Okay. Let’s do that, then we’ll think of something.”

“At least it will be entertaining,” Micah said, smirking.

“As long as you’re happy. So who’s luring the eaters away?”

Micah heaved a sigh. “Oh fine, I’ll do it. But I’m warning you, there is a limit to how much you get to milk the whole I-fell-off-a-motorbike thing.”

“It was more like flying off a motorbike...”

“Don’t push it.”

Alex snorted. “Alright, come on, acolyte.”

“Not funny.”

“I think it suits you.” Rejoining Sam, who was still sitting obediently in the grass, Alex pointed at him. “Stay here and do not move until we get back. Understood?”

Sam nodded emphatically. “I will not move from this spot, no matter what happens, until you tell me to. I live to obey you.”

Alex opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He shook his head and turned away.

“What if an eater gets past us and finds him?” Micah muttered. “He’d probably just sit there.”

Alex sighed and turned back. “New orders. Stay there unless you are in danger, from eaters or anything else. In that case, run away. Okay?”

“Stay here and if danger comes, run away,” Sam said, nodding. “You can rely on me.”

Alex stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning away again. He wasn’t sure what was freaking him out more, Sam’s whole attitude, or that someone was actually doing what he said without complaining.

He and Micah returned to the corner where Alex stopped to watch as Micah made his way towards the small horde, keeping to the trees and bushes at the side of the road. When he got within twenty feet or so, he stepped away from the cover and shouted at the crowd, splaying his fingers and waving his hands to either side. Alex had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from laughing out loud. Jazz hands.

A few eaters raised their heads to look at Micah. Moments later, the circle came to a standstill and every eater fixed their attention on him. The cloying pheromone smell drifted through the air and the horde charged, or shuffled as quickly as they could, as one.

Micah turned and plunged into the thick undergrowth. The horde plunged after him.

Alex ran back towards the bikes. Sam, still sitting obediently in the grass, waved as he passed. Alex had gone several more steps before the idea came to him. Skidding to a stop, he beckoned to Sam.

“Come with me.”

Sam leaped to his feet, a huge grin on his face, and followed Alex back to the motorcycles.

“Can you ride a motorbike?”

The grin disappeared from Sam’s face. “No. I’m sorry.”

Alex cringed inwardly at his look of disappointment. It made him feel like he’d kicked a puppy. “That’s okay, we’ll just push them.”

Sam’s smile returned. “I can do that.”

When they reached the empty car the horde had been circling, none of the eaters were in sight. Although Alex could hear them blundering through the undergrowth somewhere amongst the trees. He could also hear Micah loudly cursing trees the world over, and plants in general.

Sam was turning out to be stronger than he looked. He was skinny, and a good five inches shorter than Alex’s six foot one, looking like he couldn’t push a half-empty wheelie bin. But even though it was obviously a strain, he was managing to propel Micah’s heavy bike along the road at a good speed.

It took them five minutes to get through the small forest and out the other side where they stopped to wait for Micah.

“Where are you...?” Sam stopped abruptly as a lone eater stumbled from behind a tall hedge running along the side of the road. He seemed to freeze, staring at it in horror as it lumbered towards him.

Alex stepped in front of him and pulled one of the skull-spikers from his pocket. As the eater reached him, he darted to the side, swept one leg from under it, and dropped to one knee beside it when it fell to finish it off. When he stood again, Sam was gazing at him in awe.

“Wow,” he whispered. “You’re just like a superhero.” He gave a shy smile. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to... you know? While we’re waiting for Micah?”

Alex replaced the spiker in his pocket and took a slow step away from him. “No. Thanks for the offer, but no.”

Sam nodded, continuing to gaze adoringly at him. Alex stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned away to look back towards the wood, silently willing Micah to hurry up.

A very awkward few minutes later, Micah emerged from the trees and strode towards them. Pieces of bramble and bracken clung to his clothing. The lower half of his jeans were covered in tiny tears. He pushed his tangled hair back from his face, dislodging a few dead leaves and a small moth.

Stopping in front of Alex, he jabbed a finger at him. “Next time either of us has to do
anything
unpleasant, it’s going to be you.”

Alex struggled to hold back his smile. “Shall I just call you Bear from now on?”

“Shut. Up.” He looked down at himself. “And help me get all this
nature
off me.”

Having rid Micah of the bits of forest he’d brought with him, they prepared to start off again. Sam stood nearby, looking uncertain.

“Are you still planning on sacrificing yourself to the nearest horde?” Alex asked him.

Sam glanced down at the eater Alex had killed. “No, bles... Alex. I hadn’t thought about how hard it would be. I suppose I’ll just go home.” He stared at his shoes.

“Where’s home?” Micah said.

“Peterborough.” Sam looked around. “If you could just point me in the right direction? I was thinking this would be a one way trip, so I didn’t really look at where I was going.”

“Didn’t we pass Peterborough a while ago?” Micah said to Alex.

Alex dug the appropriate map from beneath the bike seat and unfolded it. “About twelve miles back, give or take.”

“Twelve miles,” Sam said. “Which way?”

“Do you have anyone anywhere you could go to? Family? Friends?”

Sam looked at the ground again, shaking his head.

Alex sighed internally. “Would you excuse us, Sam?”

He and Micah walked along the road until they were out of earshot.

“How on earth did he make it twelve miles without getting seen by eaters?” Micah said quietly.

“No idea, but I can’t see him making it back. When that eater came at us, he didn’t even try to get away. He just stood there, terrified.”

“Do you want to take him home?”

“Into the middle of a big place like Peterborough that’s probably crawling with eaters? We’d be lucky to get out alive.” Alex glanced back to see Sam watching them. “Plus, I feel sorry for him. Something bad must have happened for him to just want to end it like that.”

“So, what? You want to take him with us?”

“Not really, given that we’re heading for what is probably eater central. But I don’t want to leave him alone either. Maybe we can find somewhere safe to drop him off.”

The corners of Micah’s mouth twitched. “Are you sure you don’t just want your adoring fan around for a bit longer?”

Alex drew himself up, looking down his nose at him. “What I do is no business of acolytes such as yourself.”

“It doesn’t take much to inflate your ego, does it?”

They returned to Sam who looked at them expectantly.

“Do you want to go home, Sam?” Alex said.

He shrugged.

“Would you like to come with us for now?”

Sam’s face lit up. “Really? Yes! I’ll be no trouble. I could even help, with, well, whatever you need me to do. You won’t regret taking me, I promise.” He was bouncing up and down like an excited five-year-old. “Where are we going?”

“This is just temporary,” Alex said. “A day at most, until we find you somewhere safe to stay. It’s going to be very dangerous where we’re going and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Sam looked like he might cry. Before Alex could stop him, he rushed forward and threw his arms around him.

“Thank you so much for caring about me,” he said, his voice muffled against Alex’s shoulder.

Embarrassed, Alex glanced at Micah for help, but by the smirk on his face it was immediately clear he wasn’t going to get any.

He tried to pat Sam’s back, which was a little awkward with his enthused hug pinning Alex’s arms to his sides. “You’re welcome.” Sam continued to hug him. “Okay, you can let go now.”

Sam released him and stepped back, wiping at his eyes and smiling. Alex felt a little like he’d just taken in an orphaned kitten. He climbed onto his motorbike and beckoned to Sam who got on behind him, sitting far closer than socially acceptable. A sigh tickled Alex’s ear. After a few seconds, Sam rubbed his cheek on his shoulder.

Alex shot off the bike as if he’d sat on a porcupine. “Get off,” he growled.

Sam looked at him in shock. “Did I do something to offend you? Please tell me what it was, so I can never do it again.”

Alex looked at Micah, who was barely containing himself. “He’s not riding with me. You take him. And this is not funny.”

They drove for a couple of hours, stopping occasionally to check the map and once to eat the sandwiches Micah had made back at the house, which didn’t go very far split between three people.

By one in the afternoon, the previous night’s ice-cream was a distant memory and Alex’s stomach was very pointedly telling him it needed filling. While driving along a single track lane between fields of contented looking cows, a light illuminated on his bike’s dashboard to tell him it felt the same way.

Alex raised his hand to indicate he wanted to stop and pulled to the side of the road. Sam grinned at him from behind Micah as they stopped beside him.

“Only swallowed two bugs this time,” he said.

“We’ll get you a helmet as soon as we can. Or at least a scarf. Just try to stop smiling.”

“I can’t help it,” Sam said, his eyes bright. “I’ve never been on a road trip before. It’s so much fun.”

Alex climbed from his bike, his sore, stiff body protesting, and opened the seat.

“We’re going to have to find somewhere to stop,” he said, studying the map. “Both me and the bike need to refuel.”

Micah flipped up his visor. “Will petrol pumps work if the power is still out?”

“I don’t know, probably not. But if we find a place that does repairs, they may have a store of fuel, or at least hoses so we can siphon some.”

. . .

The small town they found was bigger than it looked on the map. They entered along a street of expensive looking bungalows, following the road signs to the town centre. It looked like it had been a pleasant place to live, before the eaters came.

It was obvious a large horde had swept through. Haphazardly strewn abandoned cars on the roads, suitcases and belongings scattered over the ground, once neatly kept flowerbeds trampled by thousands of heedless, shuffling feet. Torn clothing waved in the breeze, tangled around piles of blood stained bones. Alex heard a sniff as they slowed at a junction and looked over to see Sam’s head down, his eyes closed and forehead pressed against Micah’s back.

They passed a small Sainsbury’s Local, but the windows were smashed and the shelves Alex could see were empty.

After driving around for a while, they came across a vehicle repairs garage and pulled onto the forecourt. Alex climbed from his bike and looked around for any potential danger. Driven by the wind, a plastic carrier bag bounced along the pavement into a garden across the road, lodging in a rose bush. In the distance, a dog barked.

Another sound caught his attention and he looked up into the overcast sky. “Hear that?”

Sam walked up next to him and followed his gaze. “Is it a plane?”

Micah hung his helmet on the handlebar of his bike and looked up, shielding his eyes with one hand. “Helicopter.”

They watched the black chopper fly past high overhead.

“Doesn’t look military,” Alex said, sneezing when his nose tickled.

“Government?” Micah said.

“Here? Why would anyone be interested in here?”

Micah shrugged as Alex sneezed again. “Hay fever?”

“I don’t get hay fever.” He rubbed his tingling nose as he wandered over to the garage, Sam at his side. “Let’s see what’s in here.”

The big metal security shutter over the entrance was closed and Alex knocked on it, listening for any voices or moans. Hearing nothing, he bent to tug at the handle near the ground. The shutter rattled against the locks holding it in place.

“Maybe there’s a door at the back,” Sam said, stepping back to get a wider view of the building.

“It’s alright,” Alex said, “I’ve got it.”

Wrapping both hands around the handle, he bent his legs and pulled upwards. For a few seconds Alex thought he might have underestimated the strength of the locks as they resisted, the metal bolts scraping in their holes. Then a series of clunks rattled the shutter as screws gave way and Alex stumbled forward when it suddenly rolled up.

Sam stared at him in awe. “You are so cool.”

Micah shook his head as he walked into the building, muttering, “Show off,” as he passed.

Alex straightened his clothing and followed him inside. He couldn’t help it if Sam thought he was awesome. All he’d done was open the door of a building they needed to get into. He was ninety-nine percent certain that did not count as showing off.

A quick search turned up no petrol, but Sam found a siphon pump and, eager to help, set about refilling the tanks of both bikes from a car in the garage itself and, when that ran out of fuel, a truck abandoned at an angle blocking the street, its driver’s side door left wide open. Alex noticed him studiously not looking at the large blood stain on the seat inside.

Micah went in search of food, finding a house a little along the road with an unlocked door and emerging ten minutes later with two six pack bags of Hula Hoops, a pack of four Snickers bars, and three twin packs of Scotch eggs.

With nothing else to do, and reluctant to leave Sam on his own, Alex plotted the next leg of their journey on the maps. At the sound of the helicopter returning, he looked up to watch it pass overhead again, this time lower. There was a small logo on the tail, but it was too far away to make out.

“Same one?” Micah said, walking towards him while looking up at the retreating chopper.

“Looks like it,” Alex replied. He grabbed a tissue from his pocket to sneeze into.

Micah frowned at him. “You’re not getting ill, are you?”

“I hope not. I feel fine, other than all the aches and pains. I’ll have one of the beef Hula Hoops.” He stretched out a hand for the packet.

Micah backed out of his reach. “What kind of savage are you? Main course first.” He handed him one of the packs of Scotch eggs.

“Oh yes, this is so much healthier. Give me the Hula Hoops too. If it makes you feel better, we’ll call them a side dish.” He open the Scotch eggs. “How are these still cold? Is the power on here?”

“No, they were in the freezer. Another day or so and I wouldn’t have risked it.”

Sam bounded up. “All done. Ooh, I love Scotch eggs.”

“Go and wash your hands first,” Micah said.

“Okay.” He ran off again, into the garage.

“Are you channelling Mrs Doubtfire today?” Alex said.

Micah ignored him, sitting on a nearby garden wall and ripping open his eggs. “He seems happier,” he said, nodding towards where Sam had disappeared into the garage employee toilets.

“Maybe,” Alex replied, sitting next to him and taking a bite of hardboiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and breadcrumbs. “But I think he’s lying about sacrificing himself to the eaters. I think he just wanted to die. Two months after I finished my police training, I was called to a flat where a man was threatening to jump from a ninth storey window. I had to try to talk him down. He had the same expression of hopelessness Sam had when he was walking towards those eaters.”

“So that’s why you wanted to bring him with us.”

“Partly.”

“Ha! So you admit it was partly because you like that he thinks you’re a superhero?”

“I admit no such thing.”

Micah chewed for a few seconds. “So what happened to the suicidal man on the ninth floor?”

“I failed. He jumped.” Alex stared at a red Japanese maple across the road, remembering what it felt like to watch, panicked, as the man disappeared over the edge of the window. “But on the way down he hit an awning which slowed his fall just enough that he survived. Broke most of the bones in his body and spent the next three months in hospital, but he survived. He ended up marrying one of the nurses who looked after him.”

Micah stopped eating to stare at him. “Is that true?”

Alex chuckled. “I swear it is.”

Sam came jogging back from the garage. He was carrying two motorcycle helmets, grinning as he handed them to Alex. “Look what I found.”

One of the helmets was blue and had obviously seen better days, its surface covered in scuffs and a couple of dents. The other was shiny and black and had orange flames running along the sides. Sam’s smile grew as Alex handed the black one back to him.

“Wow, thanks.” He placed it carefully onto Micah’s bike, running his hands over it for a few moments before returning to them. “The water was weird. First it ran, then it stopped, then it started again. But I found wet wipes and some of that anti-bacterial stuff so I could do them properly.” He held his hands out to Micah for inspection, flipping them over. “See?”

Micah handed him the third pack of Scotch eggs. “Good enough.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean the water is going to stop altogether,” Alex said.

“Could be something to do with the power supply,” Micah said. “They must pump it round the system somehow.”

Alex sighed. “That’s just great. If the water stops, no more showers.”

“No flushing toilets,” Micah said.

There were a few moments of thought before Sam summed it up for all of them. “Yuck.”

They ate for a while, listening to the occasional bird chirp or dog bark. A door opened some way along the street and a middle-aged woman stepped out, saw them, and ran back inside again. Alex thought he could hear the helicopter in the distance.

Another sound wormed into his consciousness, faint to begin with, but increasing in volume as he listened. The sound was so unexpected that at first he wondered if he was imagining it.

He could hear a vehicle approaching.

Micah glanced at him, looking concerned as he chewed his last bite of egg. Alex felt the same apprehension. They’d seen no more than a handful of others travelling since they’d left Sarcester, and then only from a distance. He couldn’t help but feel someone heading straight for them might not be a good thing.

Alex fetched his bike from next to the truck where Sam had been siphoning petrol into it, and moved it onto the garage forecourt beside Micah’s. Micah was packing the remaining food into his under seat storage.

“What’s wrong?” Sam said, glancing around them nervously.

“Probably nothing,” Alex said. “But we want to be ready to leave in case whoever is coming isn’t friendly.”

“But they wouldn’t bother a Survivor,” he said.

Alex wished that were true. “It’s just a precaution.”

Seconds later, a military vehicle that looked like a Land Rover on steroids rounded a corner back along the road at speed, its tyres squealing on the asphalt. It careered towards them, breaking abruptly when it reached the abandoned truck blocking the road.

Four soldiers jumped from the vehicle, ran for the truck and tried to move it, but sideways on it had no room to manoeuvre. Over the idling engine of their vehicle, Alex heard a faint sound, almost like rushing water.

“Hey, you!” One of the soldiers, a man with ridiculously broad shoulders and blond hair buzzed so short he was practically bald, strode towards them, swinging his assault rifle from his back and aiming it at Alex. 

Alex noticed Micah’s hand move to the pistol beneath his jacket.

“You, get over here,” the big soldier barked.

Alex kept his arms loose at his sides, unthreatening. “What’s going on?”

“Get over here and move this truck, white-eye.”

Sam gasped. “That’s a disgusting word. You shouldn’t use it.”

The soldier glared at Sam, moving the rifle to aim at him. “I’ll use whatever word I want, you little prick.”

Anger boiled in Alex’s gut. He stepped in front of Sam. “If you want my help, you’ll lower the rifle and apologise to my friend.”

The man looked like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or shoot him. “I don’t remember saying you had a choice.”

“Listen you muscles-for-brains moron,” Alex growled, “I don’t care who you are or how many big guns you need for penile substitution. You have insulted my friend. So my response is that you can go f...”

“Hell, Hudson,” a second man said, jogging towards them, “we don’t have time for you to piss off every person we meet.” He stepped in front of Hudson, facing Alex. “There’s a big horde coming. They’ve been on our tails all day. So you really need to get out of here. And if you could give us a hand with moving this truck so we can get past, we’d appreciate it.”

“Why don’t you just hide out in one of these houses until they pass?” Micah said.

He shook his head, making his dark, curly hair bounce. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but this horde is following us. We’ve tried changing direction, hiding, even circling around behind them. They always know where we are.”

The sound of rushing water was becoming louder, separating into thousands of shuffling footsteps.

The soldier stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Please. We’ve already lost someone today.”

“Stop being so damn polite, Ridgewell,” Hudson said. “Just make him do it.”

“Be ready to go,” Alex said to Micah as he started towards the truck.

Glancing in the window of their vehicle as he passed, he saw a blonde woman occupying the driver’s seat.