Vengeance (Twenty-Five Percent Book 3) (16 page)

Alex’s bike swerved around corners and abandoned vehicles at a speed he didn’t care could be dangerous.

He was an idiot.

He should never have left the people hiding in the blocks by the river without more protection. He’d assumed Boot would concentrate on him. It didn’t even occurred to him the psycho would try to go through his friends to get to him.

He was an
idiot
.

How did Boot even know to go after Patrice, Emma and Katie? Then he remembered the helicopter in the park, watching as Emma held onto him.

He was an
IDIOT
.

He reached the group of flats and drove straight over the grass to the smashed front entrance of the building Leon had been staying in with his family. There was no one in the lobby, but he could hear voices coming from up the stairs. He took them three at a time until he reached a group of people clustered around the second floor landing.

Sam was sitting on a step, holding a red stained cloth to his face. Beside him, Leon was lying on the floor, his head on a pillow. Claire knelt next to him, pressing a bloody towel against his side.

Alex dropped to his knees beside his friend. His hands hovered over him, wanting to do something, but not knowing what.

Leon opened his eyes. “They took Pat and the girls,” he said, his voice tinged with pain, barely above a whisper.

“I’ll get them back,” Alex said fervently. “Whatever it takes, I won’t let Boot hurt them.”

“I should come with you,” Leon said. He tried to sit up, but only rose an inch before gasping in agony.

“Stop trying to move!” Claire exclaimed, gently pushing him back down. “You’ll make the bleeding worse. The doctors are coming from the lab,” she said to Alex. “They’ll be able to help him.” Her voice sounded confident, but he saw uncertainty in her eyes.

“Sam?” Alex said, moving his attention to the young man. “Are you all right?”

Sam’s eyes were fixed on the floor. “I failed. I wanted to stop them, but I couldn’t.”

“They knocked you out, Sam,” Claire said. “It’s not your fault.”

Sam didn’t answer. Alex reached out and moved his hand away from his face. Beneath the cloth, his jaw was swollen and bruised, blood congealing where a one inch cut sliced through the skin.

“They left this,” Claire said, handing Alex an envelope covered in her bloody fingerprints.

He pulled out a piece of paper and read.

Dear Mr MacCallum,

It is with great regret that I have had to resort to this, but you leave me no alternative. Your betrayal and subsequent destruction of my laboratory cannot go unpunished, but this doesn’t have to result in more harm to your friends. The woman and her daughters won’t be harmed as long as you and Mr Clarke come, unarmed, to the Premier Inn and give yourselves up. When you do, they will be released.

Please don’t disappoint me again.

Harvey Boot

Alex read the letter three times before crushing it into a ball and hurling it against the wall. “Unpunished? Who does he think he is?” He took Leon’s hand. “I swear I won’t let anything happen to Pat and the girls. You know I would give my life for them.”

Leon sighed, managing a small smile. “I know. Try not to have to do that though.”

Alex tried to smile back, but couldn’t. He turned to Sam, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Sam, stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault. If anything, it’s mine, but I’m going to fix that.” He stood and walked down the stairs a few steps before looking back at them. “When Micah gets here, tell him not to come after me. I have to do this on my own.”

Turning away, he jogged back down the stairs. A Prius in the car park caught his eye and a quick look inside revealed the keys in the ignition. Not caring whose it was, he jumped in. He would need something that could carry all of them.

He was going to save Leon’s family and kill Harvey Boot. And he wasn’t going to risk anyone else’s life this time.

Darren strode along the hallway, fuming.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got to Boot, but he was going to do
something
. He couldn’t quite believe it, even of his increasingly deranged boss.
Children
?

“Bish?”

Chester was walking towards him from the direction of Boot’s room. Darren’s frown deepened as he reached him.

“Now calm down, Bish,” Boot’s right hand man said. “You don’t...”

“Children, Chester?” Darren was struggling to keep his anger in check. “Is this what we’re doing now? Kidnapping children?”

“It’s just to bring MacCallum and Clarke to us. You know Boot won’t hurt them. He’s not a monster.”

Darren stared at the older man, trying to work out if he believed what he was saying. Finally, he shook his head. “It’s wrong. And on top of everything else.”

Chester frowned. “Everything else?”

That was a mistake. Darren’s finely tuned sense of self-preservation kicked in and he forced himself to calm down. “You know what I mean.”

Chester’s eyes narrowed. “You need to watch what you say.
Other
people might not know what you mean.”

“I didn’t mean I was questioning Mr. Boot.” A disturbing thought occurred to him: did Boot not trust him anymore? Did he purposely leave Darren out of the loop, sending the others to pick up the woman and kids while he was out rounding up eaters? “Does he... have doubts about me?”

“Not that he’s said to me. Should he?”

“Of course not. You know I’ve always been with him one hundred percent.” Darren was mentally kicking himself. If Boot thought he was no longer loyal, he was in deep trouble. Maybe it would be better for him to leave now, get out while he still could. If he ran he was fairly sure Boot wouldn’t be able to find him, at least not straight away. Although his parents and two sisters and their families lived in Bristol. Would Boot go after them?

Chester smiled. “Look, Bish, bringing that family here is a
good
thing. I don’t know what the connection is between them and MacCallum, but Tim said it was obvious he cares about the kids. This could save us a lot of trouble. If you ask me, it’s lucky they were there when that horde attacked.”

Lucky because it gave them the chance to kidnap a woman and her two small children and not because they saved a group of innocent people from being torn to pieces?
Darren wanted to ask, but didn’t.

“When MacCallum and Clarke get here, we’ll let the woman and her kids go,” Chester said, as if the whole thing was perfectly reasonable.

“Is that what Mr. Boot said?”

“Yes. You can go and ask him, if you like.”

That was what Darren had been intending to do, when all he was feeling was anger. Now he realised how stupid and potentially dangerous that would be. And Chester knew it.

Darren gave a brief shake of his head. “That’s okay, I don’t want to disturb him. I’m going to check on them. Where are they?”

“Room forty-eight, but Vince is up there, and they’ve got food. They’re fine.”

Darren grunted and turned away.

“Watch your step, Bish,” Chester called as he walked away.

Darren wasn’t sure if it was a warning or a threat. Chester always seemed to have their backs, acting as a buffer between Boot and the rest of them, but lately Darren wasn’t so sure of his motivations. And he certainly didn’t trust the man. Chester had, after all, been with Boot a very long time.

When he reached room forty-eight there was no one outside the door. Darren looked around, worried. Where was Vince Packham? It wasn’t like him to leave his post.

Darren heard voices from inside. He pressed his ear to the door.

“Please, not in front of my children,” a woman’s voice was saying.

Darren grasped the handle and shoved the door. It flew open and banged back against a wardrobe.

On a sofa to his right, two children were huddled together, looking terrified. To his left, a red headed woman was sitting on the bed. Beside her was Craig Simmons. He snatched his hand from the woman’s thigh as Darren strode in.

“Er, Bish,” Simmons said, standing. “What’s going on?”

Darren looked from him to the woman. Her wide eyes stared at him for a moment before moving to the two little girls.

“Where’s Packham?”

Simmons paused before answering. “Chester wanted him somewhere else. I offered to take over.”

Yeah, right.
“Could I speak to you outside?”

“Uh, sure, Bish.”

Darren led the way back into the corridor, closing the door behind them.

“Will this take long?” Simmons said, smirking. “Because, you know, I’ve always had a thing for redheads...”

Darren drove his fist into his face.

Despite the pain, it felt good.

He’d never liked Simmons. The man was a worm, albeit a worm with an incredibly hard skull. He shook his hand out as Simmons staggered backwards, clutching his jaw.

“What the hell, Frobisher?” He backed away further, glaring at Darren.

Darren advanced on him until the smaller man was backed into a corner. “What were you planning on doing? Raping her right there in front of her children?”

Astonishingly, Simmons looked indignant. “Of course not. I was going to put them in the next room.”

Darren felt his hand clench into a fist again almost of its own volition. He turned away before he did something he wouldn’t regret, but may suffer for later.

“What are you getting all holier-than-thou for?” Simmons said. “I was on the front door back at headquarters when you threatened Sanderson in the eater cells. I saw it all on the monitors.”

Darren spun to face him. Simmons flinched a little.

“I did that to keep MacCallum in line. I never would have touched her.” He stepped forward and Simmons pressed back into the corner. “Only pathetic cowards force themselves on women.” Darren took his radio from his belt, not taking his eyes from Simmons. “Jessup?”

After a couple of seconds, Jessup’s voice answered. “Yeah?”

“Could you come to room forty-eight? I need you to take guard duty on our prisoners.”

“Be right there.”

Simmons glowered at him for a couple of seconds before sliding along the wall out of the corner and stomping away. Darren couldn’t help thinking he’d have to sleep with one eye open from now on. Not that he didn’t do that already.

He returned to the door and opened it slowly. The woman was now on the sofa, her arms wrapped around the two girls. She stared up at him, her expression defiant.

“He won’t bother you again,” Darren said.

As he pulled the door closed, he saw her slide a pair of scissors out of her sleeve and push it beneath a cushion. He wondered if he should take them from her. He kept wondering as he nodded to Jessup coming up the hallway, gave him strict instructions to not let Simmons anywhere near the family, and walked away.

The Sarcester Premier Inn was situated to the north west of the city, just off the main ring road, a three storey building, about twenty years old, with a large car park wrapped around the front and one side.

Alex crouched in the cover of the wall of a house far enough away that he wouldn’t be seen, but close enough that he could see if anything was going on outside. It wasn’t.

All three helicopters were in the car park and he could only assume they expected him to come and were marshalling the troops. There were no eaters anywhere in sight.

All the way to the hotel he’d been planning his rescue of Pat, Emma and Katie, and subsequent killing of Boot. So far, he had nothing. Well, not completely nothing. What he did have was, march into the hotel, give himself up, wait until they let Pat and the girls go, then attack Boot and hope he managed to snap his neck prior to his own bloody death in a hail of bullets. He was calling that plan B.

His other option was to sneak in, find Leon’s family, and get them all out without anyone inside being any the wiser. The problems with that were, it was a big hotel and he had no idea where they were being kept, it increased the risk to Pat, Emma and Katie, and he’d have to get them out and
then
go back in to take care of Boot. He was hovering between making it plan A or plan C.

He whirled around at the sound of rustling behind him, pulling his pistol out as he turned. Micah waded through the long grass behind the wall and crouched down beside him.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” Alex said, re-holstering the gun. “I could have shot you.”

Micah leaned around the edge of the wall to study the hotel. “If I’d been trying to sneak up on you, you wouldn’t have heard me coming.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, we all know how one with nature you are. What are you doing here anyway? I told them to tell you not to come.”

Micah pulled back. “And you expected me to do what you said? Have we met?”

Alex turned away to check the hotel again. Nothing had changed. “I can handle this myself. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

“Wow, you’re stubborn. You also have the world’s biggest ego. You’re so determined to think this is all about you.”

Alex huffed in irritation. “How can I not think this is about me? I’m the one Boot’s angry with. I’m the one he wants.”

“Funny, but I could have sworn I saw my name on that letter too.”

“I...” Alex stopped. Why
was
Micah’s name there?

“See?” Micah said, pointing at him. “Can’t answer that, can you?”

“Can
you
?”

He sat down and leaned back against the wall. “Maybe he saw it was me who blew up the lab at Omnav.”

The lab at Omnav. Alex had an idea. He took his radio from his pocket. “Brian, are you there?”

After a few seconds, Brian replied. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m with Leon. The docs are here. We’re on the way back to the lab where they can work on him.”

Alex was almost afraid to ask. “How is he?”

“Dave says the bullet’s still in there. They need to take x-rays and then operate.”

Alex wished he could be with his friend. “Make sure you have enough people with you at all times. All three helicopters are at the hotel now, but I don’t know if that will change.”

“Will do. Is Micah there?”

“Yeah, he’s here.”

“Claire says to tell you it’s not her fault and he’s as stubborn as you are.”

Beside Alex, Micah snorted a laugh.

“Tell her I’m painfully aware of that fact,” Alex said. “We’ll have to turn the radio off for a while, but I have a question. Did Boot have any other laboratories apart from the one at Omnav and the one here?”

“I don’t think so. None that I’ve heard of. Hold on, I’ll ask Ben and Rick.” There was the sound of muted voices. “No, they don’t think there are either.”

“Okay, Brian. Thanks. Tell Leon...” He stopped, suddenly feeling choked up. “Tell Leon to concentrate on healing and that Pat and the girls will be back with him before he’s out of surgery.”

“I will,” Brian said. “Good luck.”

“So are you thinking this has something to do with the labs?” Micah said as Alex put the radio away.

“I’m just wondering if this has less to do with me than we’ve been thinking.”

“You mean than
you’ve
been thinking.”

“Whatever. So what do we know about Boot’s plans?”

Micah looked up at the branches of a tree moving in the breeze above them. “He wants to become a Survivor. He also wants to become wildly rich by selling the new Meir’s strain to any megalomaniac who can pay for it.”

“But the virus hasn’t been perfected yet,” Alex said. “We’ve demonstrated that with the way we’ve been able to overcome the fake pheromones with natural ones. They can’t control the eaters well enough. The outbreak interrupted his plans, forced him to test the pheromones before they were ready.”

Micah nodded slowly. “So he needs to continue the work on the virus and the pheromones. But for that he needs a suitably equipped laboratory and scientists who know what they’re doing.”

“And since we destroyed his lab at Omnav,” Alex continued, “the only one left is here. And Dave, Larry and Pauline are here too. But he knows the two of us will try to stop him.”

“So he has to get rid of us because he knows that, even with thousands of eaters on his side, we are badass enough to take him down.” Micah held out his fist.

Alex bumped it with his own.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, listening to the leaves rustling overhead.

“So what was your plan?” Micah said. “March in there, exchange yourself for Pat, Em and Katie, and get yourself killed?”

“No. Yes. Well, not the getting myself killed bit. I was still ironing out the details.”

“Hmm.”

Admissions that he might be wrong didn’t come easily for Alex. Neither did apologies. He rubbed at his face and leaned back against the wall, breathing out a sigh. “You were right and I’m sorry. I know I’ve been reckless. I don’t want to die, I’m just...” He sighed again. He didn’t know what he was.

“I do know how you feel,” Micah said, not looking at him. “You’re tired of all the death and killing and pain and you can’t see any end to it.” He placed a comforting hand on Alex’s shoulder for a moment. Then he used it to slap him. “Snap out of it.”

Alex leaned away, covering his stinging cheek. “Stop hitting me!”

“If this was two months ago I’d tell you to take some time, relax, go see a therapist, have a spa day, whatever. But you only get to deal with stuff that way when the world isn’t going to hell in a handbasket. So pull yourself together.”

Alex stared at him in disbelief. “Snap out of it and pull yourself together? That’s your sage advice?”

“Yep, that’s it. What were you expecting? Hugs, hot chocolate and hair braiding?”

“I...” What
had
Alex been expecting? A small smile crept onto his face. “I have no idea.”

“Good. Now we’ve got that sorted, let’s go and rescue Pat and the girls.” Micah stood and offered Alex his hand.

He stared at it for a moment before taking it and rising to his feet. “Just don’t hit me again.”

“I make no promises.”