The Fallen

by Charlie Higson

  84

  Maxie was ready for him this time. She stood in the centre of the hall, close to the diplodocus, her feet planted wide apart, tensed, knees slightly bent, katana held high, up behind her head. She would get him this time. Whatever his problem was – and right now she didn’t really care – he wasn’t going to do any more damage.

  She’d watched him push past the other kids and go round the upper level into the tree room at the back, and out into the west gallery. And there he was, at the top of the flight of stairs that went up the left-hand side. Down he came, jumping three steps at a time, four, his long legs pumping away, arms flailing, knife waving in the air.

  ‘Over here, dickhead,’ she shouted as he reached the bottom. ‘Come and get it.’

  He skidded to a halt, hesitated, weighing up his chances, trembling. Close enough for Maxie to see the sweat pouring from his forehead. His red, feverish eyes. His teeth yellow against his bone-white skin.

  He tilted his head back and howled like a trapped animal and Maxie ran at him, ready to swing, ready to take his bloody head off. Roaring.

  He wasn’t going to fight, though. Instead he turned and bolted towards the green zone, Maxie hard behind him, calling to the other kids to come with her.

  As she ran, she was aware of footsteps. Turned to see Boggle and the big-nosed boy who’d come with them from the palace. What was his name? He’d been guarding David’s sick-bay.

  Andy?

  She was pretty sure he was called Andy.

  Only three of them then. But they had the upper hand: Paul was on the run; Maxie had her sword. He was racing ahead of them, into the dark maze of galleries and passageways at the back of the green zone. Maxie didn’t fully know her way around here yet, wasn’t so confident away from the main hall. They ran round behind the insect and bird galleries and then Maxie realized she’d lost sight of him. She pulled out her torch and flicked it on. No sign of him.

  ‘Stop!’ she called out. The other two stuttered to a halt. ‘What?’ said Boggle.

  ‘Be quiet … Listen … We’ve lost him. Can you hear him at all?’

  ‘No.’

  Nothing.

  Just the sound of their own breathing. Voices behind them in the main hall. No hurrying footsteps. Maxie knew there was a way through here to the other section of the museum. The red zone. The doors were usually kept closed and locked, but Paul had keys.

  And then there was an urgent shout and, from their right, running footsteps.

  ‘Come on!’

  They threaded their way through the bird gallery, past the weird dark shapes in the cabinets – parrots and eagles, an ostrich – and came out into a long, wide corridor with fossils of marine creatures mounted on the walls.

  And there was Paul, up ahead. He’d done a big loop and doubled back towards the main hall. Kids were falling back, keeping out of his way. Maxie sped up, her sword held out to one side. She forced her legs to work harder, but unless he stopped she knew she wasn’t going to catch up. There was a knot of kids in the hall up ahead and Paul barrelled straight towards them. They scattered as he approached and, in the confusion, Maxie again lost sight of him.

  ‘Stop him!’ she yelled as she burst out into the hall. ‘Where is he?’

  A terrified girl looked towards the main doors that stood partially open. A boy sat with his back to them. He’d been knocked down. Maxie couldn’t tell if he’d been stabbed.

  ‘Stay with me,’ she bellowed at Boggle and Andy, and she squeezed through the gap in the doors, her katana held out in front of her. As she came out, blinded by the bright light, she saw a movement, swatted pathetically with the blade, aware that she was off balance and helpless. She slipped and slid down to the ground. Even more useless. She swiped desperately at the pair of legs she saw in front of her and they jumped back out of her way.

  ‘Maxie! Stop it!’

  She blinked, shielding her eyes, slowly getting used to the light. Aware that there was more than one person out here. And the person she had nearly hit was …

  ‘Blue?’

  She struggled to get up from her undignified position, sprawled on her arse half out of the door. Blue gave her a hand, pulled her up with his strong, muscled arm.

  She looked around. Coming up the slope were several kids pushing trolleys. No sign of Paul.

  ‘Did you see him?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘A tall boy, dressed all in black, carrying a knife.’

  ‘Nobody came out except you.’

  Maxie looked at Blue now. Felt hot tears spring into her eyes. He was back.

  ‘You OK, Max? What’s going on?’ He put his arms round her.

  Paul must still be in the museum. He hadn’t come out through the doors at all. They’d have to find him …

  Later. Right now all she wanted was to hold on to Blue.

  ‘It’s a long story,’ she said into his neck, her voice wobbly.

  ‘I’ve got time.’

  85

  ‘Look, see, I can walk. It’s not so bad.’ Robbie was half hopping, half limping around the room. Maeve sat on one of the beds, watching him, unimpressed.

  ‘You need to rest your leg, Robbie,’ she said. ‘It’s too early to be walking around on it. You’ll pull out all the stitches.’

  ‘Nah, it’s fine. Million times better. Hardly hurts at all any more. Well … It’s still sore, obviously, but it don’t burn at all. The stitches are holding up fine. The antibiotics have kicked in. You fixed me up. You’re a genius.’

  ‘Yeah, but if you open the wound then it’ll really hurt some. Trust me, Robbie. Plus, you’ll let infection back in. What’s the big hurry anyway?’

  ‘I want to come with you.’

  ‘You what?’ Maeve straightened up, looked hard at him, trying to work out if he was teasing her.

  ‘I know you’re planning to leave, Maeve,’ said Robbie, and he sounded genuine. ‘I know you’ve been asking around, seeing if anyone wants to go with you. Well, you never asked me.’

  ‘That’s because you couldn’t come, Robbie, because of your wound. You know that. It’s nothing personal.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I’m going to come with you. Simple as that.’

  ‘Well, you can’t. Simple as that.’ Maeve flopped back, leaning against the wall behind the bed. The only other person in the sick-bay was Cameron, who was fast asleep, as usual. The wound in his neck wasn’t too bad, but he’d still lost a lot of blood, and without a proper diet it was going to take him a while to get strong again.

  ‘Anyway,’ said Maeve, ‘I’m not sure I’m going any more.’

  Robbie sat down next to her, sighing with relief. His leg was obviously hurting more than he was letting on.

  ‘Why not?’ he said, rubbing his thigh. ‘What’s the matter? What’s changed?’

  ‘It’s what happened to Blue’s lot,’ said Maeve. ‘It was awful. I couldn’t bear it. All the crying. So many kids killed.’

  ‘But how does that affect you? They weren’t your friends.’

  ‘There’s still a lot of sickos out there, Robbie. It just reminded me, is all. It’d be too dangerous trying to get out of town. I couldn’t ask anyone to go through that. They don’t want to anyway. Every kid who said they wanted to come with me has backed down now, changed their mind. I need to wait now till I can convince them it’s the right thing to do. Till I’m sure it’d be safe. Once we’re out of London I know it’ll be different, I just know, but it’s getting there that’s …’

  ‘If you wait you’ll never go,’ Robbie interrupted her. ‘You’ll be stuck here.’

  ‘Yeah … Maybe … I don’t know.’

  In truth, Maeve didn’t know what she wanted to do any more. She was scared to go and scared to stay. It had been three days since Blue had got back. Three very dark, very bleak days, as the local kids learnt what had happened to their friends. And it had also been three very strange days as everyone got used to the newcomers, Skinner and Fish-Face and Trinity.

&nb
sp; They’d seen nothing more of Paul. He’d disappeared into the depths of the museum somewhere. Blue had wanted to search the place from top to bottom straight away, but Maxie had persuaded him to rest up first. The trip had taken a lot out of them physically and emotionally and Maxie didn’t want a load of kids to go running around the museum half-cocked. So they’d been talking to Justin and putting together a plan of action so that Paul could be safely flushed out.

  ‘You don’t have to ask me to come with you,’ said Robbie. ‘I’m volunteering. It’s my choice.’

  ‘It’s sweet of you, Robbie,’ said Maeve, ‘but you can’t. How can you walk anywhere like that?’

  ‘Who said anything about walking?’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  Robbie lay back on the bed, rested his head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

  ‘I want out, Maeve,’ he said. ‘I’ve always wanted to get away from here. I’ve never liked it and I never meant to stay. The thing is, not many of them here are fighters. When Justin and Brooke and the rest of them tipped up on that lorry of theirs I was amazed they’d made it this far. Just nerds and wimps and little kids. I only ever meant to stay here till I had a proper plan, enough food and water and that. But I stayed on because they needed me. I had no choice. I never wanted to be needed. Never wanted to be wanted. Never really wanted to be in charge of security neither. But there was no one else, see? Least I didn’t think there was.

  ‘I don’t like it, Maeve. I don’t like being responsible. In charge. Oh, it made me feel good, I guess. Made me feel big. And once I was in charge of security I didn’t want no one else to do it. All along, all I’ve ever thought about, though, is getting out into the countryside, like you. It’s what I dream about. I grew up in the country, only moved to London a couple of years back when my dad got a new job. I was out in Essex. I miss it. I never liked all these houses and buildings. It’s cramped.’

  He sat up suddenly. ‘You and me, Maeve,’ he said. ‘We can do it. We can get away from here. I been lying here in bed and when I close my eyes I picture fields and sky and trees. We can grow things. My mum used to grow stuff. I helped her now and then. I know about that sort of thing. And your lot getting here – it’s taken a load off of me. Blue and Maxie and Achilleus and the rest can look after this place better than I ever could. They’re some well hard dudes. Way better than me. I think it can be safe here. Properly safe. And now Einstein’s got all his medical supplies and stuff. Finally I can get out, Maeve. I can go free.’

  ‘Yeah, Robbie, but that doesn’t change how you are, does it? You wouldn’t get a hundred metres like that.’

  ‘It’s getting better every day, Maeve. You fixed me. I owe you.’

  ‘You don’t owe me anything, stupid.’ Maeve took hold of Robbie’s hand.

  ‘I was hoping you’d do that,’ he said.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Hold my hand. Next thing I want is a snog.’

  ‘Idiot.’ Maeve shook her head, but didn’t let go of his hand. He wasn’t the best-looking boy. He was short and stocky, and put horrible gel in his hair, but she liked him. He was one of those boys who’d talk to you. She hadn’t been expecting this, though.

  ‘I like you, Maeve,’ he said. ‘I like you a lot.’

  ‘Yeah, and I like you, Robbie, but this conversation is getting us nowhere. We’re going round in circles and you’re ignoring the main point. The fact of the matter is – you can’t walk anywhere.’

  Robbie struggled off the bed and eased himself into his wheelchair.

  ‘Come with me, Maeve,’ he said, scooting towards the door. ‘I want to show you something …’

  86

  Kids were gathering in the Hall of Gods, taking their places on the seats between the two rows of statues. Maxie was sitting next to Blue. If she thought she could get away with it and not be laughed at by everyone she would have been holding his hand. Since Blue had got back from the expedition she hadn’t left his side. The two of them showed a strong front to the other kids, accepting no criticism for either the deaths here at the museum or the ones at Heathrow. In private, however, when they were alone together, they shared their doubts and fears and pain. Blue told Maxie how shaken he was by Big Mick’s death, and Maxie told Blue how terrified she’d been to wake up and find Paul about to kill Cameron. It helped to talk things through. It helped not being alone.

  Justin had called this meeting, despite the fact that it was Maxie, Blue and Jackson who had worked out most of the plan to catch Paul. Justin was the guy in charge, though, and wanted to be the one to explain it.

  He’d only told the fighters to come to the meeting. Those kids who could look after themselves. The rest of them were back in the minerals gallery with the doors securely locked.

  Justin waited until he was sure that everyone was there and settled in their seats and then he raised his hand for silence. The local kids fell quiet pretty quickly, but some of the Holloway crew ignored him and carried on chatting. The loudest of them was Achilleus, who was telling a dirty joke to Paddy.

  ‘Oi,’ Blue shouted. ‘Give the man some respect. Shut it, the lot of you. We got to get this crap sorted.’

  In a few seconds they’d all stopped talking, though there had been some laughs and insults thrown around along the way.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Justin. ‘This shouldn’t take too long, I hope. Now you know the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the plan for finding Paul.’

  ‘Yeah, we know, nerd,’ Achilleus called out. ‘Can we go now?’

  ‘You don’t know the exact plan,’ said Justin. ‘Listen, can’t you?’

  ‘I’m listening. Get on with it.’

  ‘I would if you didn’t keep interrupting.’

  ‘Go on then.’

  ‘Right. We have to work methodically through each part of the museum, starting in the green and blue zones. All the doors through to here and the orange zone will be locked, as well as the doors through to the offices, and library, and the lower level.’

  Achilleus stuck his hand up and Justin looked irritated.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Does that mean I won’t be able to use the library, sir? I wanted to read the Twilight books. I hear they’re awesome.’

  Paddy tittered and Blue looked at Maxie. Achilleus was one of her crew. Not his responsibility.

  ‘Don’t be a twat, Achilleus,’ she said. ‘The quicker we can get done here, the better.’

  In reply Achilleus stretched out his arms and gave a big, theatrical yawn.

  ‘Wake me up when it’s over,’ he said and slumped in his chair, to the delight of Paddy, who copied him.

  Justin pressed on. ‘Then we widen the search to the red and orange zones. If we still haven’t found him we’ll go up on to the roof and even check the gardens. Basically we’re going to keep looking until we find where he’s hiding.’

  ‘Maybe he’s disappeared up his own arse,’ Achilleus whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear him. Justin didn’t rise to the bait.

  ‘Anybody not in a search party,’ he said, ‘will be locked in the minerals gallery for safety. As the museum is so big, there’s a danger that Paul might be able to move from hiding place to hiding place, so you’ve been split up into six groups. That way you can spread out. All six search parties will work at the same time, and as each gallery is cleared it’ll be locked down. Each search party will be controlled by a squad leader, and after this talk I want to keep the squad leaders here for a final briefing.’

  ‘Roger wilco,’ said Achilleus and Justin took a deep breath, trying not to lose his temper.

  ‘The squad leaders are: Blue, team one; Achilleus, you’re team two; Boggle, team three; Ollie is team four; and Jackson, team five. Lewis, you’re team six.’

  Justin went on to explain the plan in detail, but Maxie had stopped listening. She knew what the idea was after all. Justin had wanted her to lead a team, but she’d refused and quietly explained that from now on she and Blu
e were always going to stick together.

  She wished it was over, that Paul was gone and the museum was safe. She wished she could sleep at night and not be poisoned with worry. It felt a lot better having Blue around, and sharing problems made them seem smaller, but she longed for life to be boring again.

  It was never going to be over, though, was it? Not until every last grown-up was dead.

  Justin droned on for a while until even he seemed fed up with the sound of his own voice and finally he stopped.

  ‘OK,’ he said. ‘So I hope that’s all clear. Blue, Achilleus, Jackson, Lewis and Ollie, stay behind, and you as well, Maxie, if you want. And Boggle … where’s Boggle? He should be here. Bloody hell, when I call an important meeting I expect everyone to turn up. It’s not good enough. The rest of you can go back to the minerals gallery and check the list I’ve left there explaining what teams you’re all in. And remember – we’re going to find him and stop him. Any questions?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ve got a question actually, Justin,’ said Achilleus.

  ‘OK …’

  ‘Have you ever kissed a girl?’

  ‘It’s not funny, Achilleus,’ said Justin, going red in the face and losing his temper at last. ‘Paul’s already killed at least three kids that we know of. He’s sick and he’s dangerous. He has to be found. This isn’t like hunting sickos, who are stupid. He’s clever.’

  ‘OK then, one more question.’

  ‘Not if you’re just arsing about.’

  ‘No, is a serious question.’ And Achilleus’ whole manner changed. It was as if he’d got the reaction he wanted out of Justin and now he could get down to business. ‘What do we do with him when we catch him?’

  ‘Well, then … then we …’ Justin looked flustered. ‘You just catch him, basically, and we’ll lock him up somewhere.’

  ‘No,’ said Blue, getting out of his chair. ‘Too risky. When we find him we kill him.’

  ‘No, no, no,’ Justin protested. ‘He’s one of us, he’s …’