The Fallen

by Charlie Higson

  ‘We kill him,’ said Blue. ‘End of.’

  87

  ‘I’m supposed to be in Justin’s meeting,’ said Boggle, who was pushing Robbie’s wheelchair for him. ‘But Jackson’s gonna find out what it’s all about and give me notes.’

  ‘Christ,’ said Robbie. ‘It’s like school, isn’t it? Missing a lesson and getting your mates to fill you in. Justin’s getting worse and worse.’

  ‘You have to have someone like him,’ said Maeve. ‘Someone who’s interested in the boring stuff. Someone to hold it all together. You put an ordinary kid in charge and it’s all going to fall apart. People like Justin know what’s important for survival. It’s not all running around shooting guns and making rabbit traps.’

  ‘That’s just it,’ said Robbie. ‘That’s what I want more of. I want to be setting rabbit traps. Hunting in the woods. I don’t want to be stuck here, back at school, living in a bloody museum. We got the whole world out there.’

  ‘Yeah, but you still haven’t told me how you’re going to get there in that wheelchair,’ said Maeve. ‘And where exactly we’re going right now.’

  ‘You’ll see.’

  They had left the museum grounds and gone out on to the Cromwell Road, then headed left past the Victoria and Albert Museum. The building next to it looked like a big church of some sort and they’d gone up the side of it towards the back.

  It was quiet, and Robbie was confident that it would stay that way. He knew the area around the museum well. Had insisted that they wouldn’t accidentally stumble across a gang of hungry grown-ups. But the three of them were still tensed and ready to bolt to safety if they sensed anything dodgy.

  ‘You really thinking of leaving, Rob?’ asked Boggle.

  ‘Yeah, I’ve had enough, Boggo. You want to come with us?’

  ‘No way. No way, man. It might not be paradise here, but it’s safe. At least it will be when we get Paul. Oh Jesus. Let me tell you. I am not going out there. Not after what happened to Einstein’s lot. That was cold, man. Bare harsh. I don’t want none of that.’

  ‘That’s the way everyone thinks,’ said Maeve. ‘The only kids left who say they want to come with me are Ella and Monkey-Boy.’

  ‘Them two little kids?’ said Robbie and he laughed.

  ‘Yeah. They’ve got it into their heads that I saved their lives. Though I really didn’t do anything. They won’t leave me alone.’

  ‘Holy crap, you need me bad, Maeve.’

  ‘Yeah, right, cos it’s really going to help having a cripple along as well.’

  ‘Oh, that wounds me,’ said Robbie.

  ‘I’m serious, Robbie. I can’t go through with this.’

  ‘But once we’re out of London there’ll be other kids,’ Robbie insisted. ‘We can find a community, you know, like farmers and that, real life, not this scavenging crap.’

  ‘I’m not arguing with you on that,’ said Maeve. ‘You’re probably right, but how the hell do we get out of London?’

  ‘That’s what I’m about to show you.’

  ‘Well, go on then. Where? What am I supposed to be looking at?’

  ‘Over there.’ Robbie grinned at Maeve.

  They had come to a small car park behind the church where four abandoned cars sat rotting beneath some trees, patiently waiting for their long-dead owners to return. Three of them had flat tyres and were covered in bird droppings and general dirt. Now that she looked Maeve saw that the fourth one was in slightly better condition. It was a black Range Rover with tinted windows. Boggle wheeled Robbie over to it. Robbie carried on grinning at Maeve.

  ‘What do you reckon then?’

  ‘What do I reckon to what?’

  ‘The wheels.’

  ‘Yeah, lovely … Wait a minute … You’re not saying …?’

  ‘I am saying. I’ve been saving this up for the right time. And now is that time.’

  ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘You don’t have to get it. Just get in.’

  Robbie dug a key fob out of his pocket, aimed it at the car and pressed a button with his thumb. The indicators flashed and there was a satisfying thunk as the doors unlocked. Maeve felt a little surge of excitement in her guts.

  Robbie got up out of the wheelchair, opened the driver’s door and climbed in with some difficulty. Maeve hurried round to the passenger side while Boggle stayed outside to keep watch.

  Maeve settled in next to Robbie, who was sitting behind the steering wheel with a huge smile on his face, like a kid on Christmas morning with a new toy.

  ‘Does it actually work?’ Maeve asked.

  By way of a reply, Robbie stuck the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine came to life with a deep rumble.

  ‘Oh my God. Oh my God,’ said Maeve, trying not to sound like an overexcited little kid herself. ‘We can drive out of London. That is brilliant.’

  ‘Well, yeah,’ said Robbie. ‘There’s a slight problem, though.’

  ‘You can’t drive? You’re just going to sit there revving the engine and hooting the horn?’

  ‘I can drive. Least I can drive this baby. Not very well, to be honest, but I can do it. It’s automatic so there’s no gears, just two pedals, stop and go, and I can work them both with my good leg.’

  ‘So what’s the slight problem?’

  ‘Petrol.’

  ‘It’s empty?’

  ‘No. There’s some. Remember the first thing that happened when the disease came down on us?’

  ‘Yeah, the pumps dried up. All the petrol ran out.’

  ‘Exactly, there was no more deliveries. The tankers stopped sailing, the lorries stopped driving, there was panic buying, petrol riots. You remember how everything just sort of … stopped?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Maeve, remembering those scary times. ‘We were all stuck.’

  ‘Most of the cars you see just sit there reminding us of how useless they are, how useless we are. No gas in them. No keys to start them. But not this one. Not my Raymonda.’

  ‘It’s called Raymonda?’

  ‘Why not? Gotta call it something. It was parked outside this house we was scavenging. And on my way out I’ve seen the keys, just sitting there on this shelf near the front door. I thought I’d give it a go and hey presto, hocus pocus, it started first time. So I drove it back here and parked it out of the way. It’ll be our freedom bus.’

  ‘So how much petrol is there then?’

  ‘There was a bit left in the tank when I found it, enough to get it here with some left over. Since then I been collecting it from other cars when I can, but she’s a big old tank really; she uses a bare lot of gas.’

  ‘How far will it get us, do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know. See that?’ Robbie pointed to an illuminated display. ‘Forty-five miles till tank empty. That’s what the computer says.’

  ‘Forty-five miles? Forty-five miles, Robbie? That’s further than Blue went, further than Heathrow. That’s out of London. That’s the countryside. That’s all we need.’

  Robbie looked unsure. Turned off the engine. Sat there in silence.

  ‘Don’t you believe it?’ Maeve asked. ‘Do you think the computer’s broken or something?’

  ‘No. But it’ll change when we start actually driving. I used to watch it on my dad’s car. It changed all the time, depending on how fast you were going. Or if you were going uphill.’

  ‘But still, Robbie, even if it’s only forty miles …’

  Robbie brightened up, smiled at Maeve.

  ‘I figure if we keep going slowly to save petrol we’ll get far enough to find some other kids, and take it from there. Yeah?’

  Maeve giggled and leant across to kiss Robbie. He blushed.

  ‘You’re the genius,’ she said. ‘You fixed it. Why didn’t you say anything about this before?’

  ‘Oh, you know, I kept it quiet. My little secret. Only a couple of my mates know about it, like Boggle. Didn’t want Justin finding out, thinking he needed to keep it for himself. It wou
ldn’t have been mine no more. He would have sent Einstein’s lot off in it. And they’d have ruined it like they ruined everything else. I always knew that one day – you know, like today – the time would come. So, we on then?’

  Maeve’s mind was a blur, thoughts racing and falling over each other. This changed everything. ‘We’ll have to get ready,’ she said. ‘Pack what we need. Food, water, weapons …’

  She stopped, overwhelmed by the reality of it all. She was going to get away. For the first time in a long while she was actually looking forward to the future.

  She started to cry and Robbie put an arm round her.

  This was their bus to freedom …

  88

  Blue was hacked off. They’d spent all morning searching and found nothing. Not even a trace of where Paul might have been hiding out. He’d been hoping they’d find him quickly and get it over with, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. The tension of the first couple of hours had slowly drained away and changed to boredom as they trudged round the galleries, checking every cabinet, every cupboard, every door, every dark corner. And the more bored they got, the less care they took, until they were poking around aimlessly and half the kids were mucking about and playing stupid games.

  The more they searched, the more Blue became aware of just how huge the museum was, how many places there were to hide. He remembered the first few days they’d been here, flushing the grown-ups out of the lower level. The time that had taken. And it wasn’t just the galleries they had to search; there were all the areas that hadn’t been open to the public – the offices and back rooms, the storage areas …

  It was going to take them ages and, no matter how careful they were, Paul could easily just keep moving around and stay one jump ahead. He had keys and they could hardly change all the locks. They could be at it for days, weeks, months. All Blue really wanted was to sit on his arse and spend some time with Maxie, just jamming.

  They’d taken a break in the middle of the day for some lunch – a thin, watery soup with tiny scraps of vegetable in it. And now, still hungry, always hungry, they were chilling in the minerals gallery before setting off to search the next section of the museum. Stretching the minutes out, making the most of it until Justin came in and told them it was time to get going again.

  Blue was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, Maxie slumped next to him, playing with the little puppy that used to belong to Joel. Joel. He’d almost forgotten the guy. Poor little kid. He’d been killed by diseased apes that had escaped from the zoo. Too many memories. They crept up on you when you were like this, your guard down. Maybe, after all, it was better to keep busy and not leave yourself too much time to think.

  ‘I know it was our plan,’ he said, ‘but I don’t reckon it’s gonna work. I reckon we ought to just set some kind of trap for him. Stake the place out and wait for him to make his move.’

  ‘What?’ said Maxie. ‘Tie some little kid to a pole and wait for him?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Blue gave a humourless little laugh. ‘Something like that.’

  ‘Seriously, Blue, what other way is there?’ Maxie wasn’t even looking at him. Too interested in the puppy.

  ‘Can I talk to you?’

  Blue looked up to see Skinner. He still hadn’t got used to how the guy looked, all those folds of skin. Tried to hold his eye. Act cool.

  ‘Whassup?’

  Skinner shuffled about nervously.

  ‘He’s not here,’ he said after a pause.

  ‘Who’s not here?’

  ‘The one you’re looking for.’

  ‘Paul? How do you know? You seen him leave or something?’

  ‘No. No. It’s Fish-Face. She told us.’

  Blue very much doubted it. In all the time since they’d left the warehouse he hadn’t heard Fish-Face make a sound, let alone speak. Not to him, nor the museum kids, not to her own friends, not to anyone.

  ‘She says he’s not here,’ Skinner went on, the words coming out in a muffled rush. ‘He was here when we arrived, she could hear him, but soon after that he left. He’s not here.’

  ‘How can she know?’

  ‘She knows.’

  With a grunt Blue hoisted himself up.

  ‘Let me talk to her.’

  ‘Oh no. No, she wouldn’t like that …’

  Skinner backed away, even more uneasy now. ‘No, she won’t talk to you. She’s shy. We all are. Being here, with all these boys and girls. We’re not used to it. They look at us, and they don’t look at us, I don’t know which is worse. Fish-Face wished she’d stayed behind, but she had to come, The Warehouse Queen told her to.’

  ‘If she knows something I want to speak to her.’

  Skinner thought about this for a while and eventually he nodded.

  ‘You can try.’

  The warehouse kids had made their own little camp in a room at the end of the minerals gallery. There were no doors or windows in there, just glass cabinets with precious stones in them. There was a large door that used to slide shut like the door of a bank vault. Blue supposed these exhibits must have been pretty valuable and this had been a specially secure area. Well, they weren’t valuable any more, were they? They were just shiny stones. No use to anyone.

  Fish-Face was sitting on the floor with Trinity, playing cards. Blue thought that was pretty funny. Trinity was playing as two players, with two hands of cards. Blue wondered how that worked. If they shared any thoughts.

  There was a bad smell in the vault. A rotting smell. Blue wondered if it was the Twisted Kids, then told himself not to be a jerk. Why should they smell any worse than anyone else? He hadn’t noticed any kind of stink at the warehouse. He tried to put it out of his mind.

  ‘Skinner says you want to tell me something,’ he said to Fish-Face and she bowed her head on her long neck, embarrassed, and then looked at him sideways, out of one big eye. Like an emo peeping out from under a curtain of hair.

  ‘Says you know something about this kid we’re looking for.’

  Fish-Face just gave a little shrug.

  Maxie squatted down so that she was more on Fish-Face’s level.

  ‘If you know anything you should tell us,’ she said. ‘He’s dangerous. Until we’ve found him we’re all on lockdown.’

  ‘She says she might be wrong,’ said Skinner.

  ‘What do you mean, “She says”?’ Blue asked, trying not to get angry. Fish-Face hadn’t said anything. Were they playing some kind of game with him?

  ‘Just that,’ said Skinner. ‘She might be wrong about the boy. She doesn’t want to cause any trouble.’

  ‘When did she say this?’

  ‘Just now, you know …’

  ‘No, I don’t know. It was you brought me over here. I don’t know what this is all about.’

  ‘I didn’t bring you over,’ Skinner protested. ‘You wanted to come. I told you she’d be shy. And now you’re upsetting her.’

  ‘Not as much as you’re upsetting me,’ said Blue. ‘Now she either said something to you or she didn’t.’

  ‘Leave it, Blue,’ said Maxie. ‘You’ll frighten her.’

  Blue checked himself. Wandered away. He knew he shouldn’t get wound up, and if the morning hadn’t been so frustrating maybe he’d have gone along with whatever the warehouse kids were up to. He had his back to them now, waiting to calm down, and realized that he was looking at a door that he hadn’t noticed before. It looked almost like part of the wall.

  ‘We should get going.’ Justin was striding along the middle of the minerals gallery, down the passageway that the kids had left between all the sleeping cubicles they’d built.

  ‘Where does this door go?’ Blue asked Justin when he arrived. Justin looked at it and frowned.

  ‘Don’t know. Not sure. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it before, to tell you the truth. Must have done, though. We don’t use it anyway.’

  ‘It’s a door into where you sleep,’ said Blue. ‘This is supposed to be a secure area, san
ctuary, and you’re telling me there’s a door and you don’t know where it goes?’

  Justin looked up at the ceiling, went over to peer out of the windows.

  ‘I think it must lead up into the tower,’ he said.

  ‘What’s up there?’

  ‘No idea. As I say, I don’t know anything about this door.’

  ‘You never been up in the tower?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Maybe we should look.’

  Justin checked the door. ‘It’s locked.’

  ‘Oh fine,’ said Blue sarcastically. ‘That’s OK then. It’s not like Paul has any keys or anything.’

  Justin sighed. ‘All right. I’ll open it. I’ll get my keys.’ He went off muttering to himself and Blue banged on the door. It felt solid.

  ‘You think he might be up there?’ said Maxie, coming over to join him.

  ‘He could be anywhere, Max. I’ve got a bad feeling we’re going to spend the rest of our lives looking for him.’

  Maxie slipped her fingers into his hand. He smiled at her.

  ‘OTP,’ he said.

  ‘OTP,’ said Maxie.

  In a couple of minutes Justin returned with Wiki, who was carrying several huge bunches of keys. When Wiki saw the door he simply said, ‘Hmm,’ and then sat down cross-legged on the floor to sort through the keys, while Blue, Maxie, Justin and Skinner watched over him. Slowly a larger crowd formed. Without TV or the Internet or games consoles, this was about the only entertainment to be had right now. Watching a small boy sort keys.

  At last Wiki said ‘Hmm’ again, selected a key and tried it in the lock.

  It wasn’t the right one.

  Blue swore under his breath, wishing he’d never mentioned the bloody door. In the end it took Wiki at least half an hour to find the right key, and when finally the lock clicked open, he said ‘Hmm’ for the last time and stepped back. He’d opened the door, but he wasn’t going through it. Blue looked around at the kids who’d gathered.

  ‘Wiki’s got the right idea,’ he said. ‘You lot stay back. We don’t know what’s behind there.’ Now he turned to Maxie. ‘Grab the rest of our team and we’ll take a look …’